"Does everyone always tell you that you have a terrible personality?" Ishtar's temple throbbed.
Wasn't this just him getting back at her? Swapping her 'I'll tell you because you're foolish' line with his own 'I'll let it go for the Celestial's sake' retort?
This petty, vindictive side of him had Ishtar seriously considering whether she ought to teach him a lesson.
"While I disagree with you on many things, on this point alone I can sympathize." Ana, of course, spared no effort in disparaging rlin, casually reeling back in the chains that had been restraining Ishtar.
"Fou! Fou!" Fou too began hopping and dancing around.
While Ritsuka also found rlin's personality a bit odd, she didn't exactly dislike him, so she just offered an awkward smile.
Just as the atmosphere was finally settling down, Amber sensed sothing slowly encircling them from outside.
"Sothing's coming."
"Sothing? Doctor?" Mash was taken aback for a mont, then looked at Ritsuka's wrist device.
"Huh? The surrounding mana readings are normal, there shouldn't be anything there...?" Romani double-checked the information on his screen.
"No, there's definitely sothing. Are they wandering spirits? Erging from the underworld under cover of night... or perhaps..." Brought forth by soone.
rlin glanced at Ishtar, who was looking rather embarrassed.
Ishtar, who had initially planned to cause so trouble for the group to make her escape, had completely forgotten about it during the conversation.
Now, faced with the horde of spirits outside, she found it hard to et their gazes and could only hurriedly change the subject: "Ohohoho... To think they'd dare trouble a goddess like ! They're rely a bunch of lingering dead!"
rlin: ...
You're really digging your heels in, aren't you?
Seemingly sensing their scornful looks, 'Ishtar' burst directly through the roof of the house, soaring out and shattering the wandering spirits—these souls clinging to skeletal remains to move about—before sending their souls back to the underworld.
"Anyway, let's call it a day for this eting! I'll look forward to our next encounter!" With a stiff expression, the goddess uttered these words and then flew off into the distance.
'That goddess and rlin seem to share so unspoken understanding between them,' Fu Hua hinted to Amber.
'Mhm.' Amber nodded, pondering Ishtar's recent strange behavior.
'A goddess's actions and attitudes are inherently beyond human comprehension.' On this point, Fu Hua shared the general consensus. 'Moreover, that particular Ishtar has always been an unpredictable deity.'
Fu Hua had always been soone she could trust. Except when it ca to matters of emotion, especially the more nuanced kind—Amber wasn't so confident in this blockhead's perception in those areas.
The aura she'd felt from the other party earlier was undoubtedly Ishtar's, yet Amber still felt sothing was off.
Fu Hua, once again being compared to a block of wood: ...
She finally couldn't help but defend herself. 'The Herrscher of Sentience... While I never actually encountered her, based on the story you know, my actions therein can't be considered low emotional intelligence.'
'Unless she was defeated in terms of spirit and consciousness, with my body, my martial arts, and her authority over consciousness, she would have been undefeatable.'
'Furthermore, even setting aside the need to defeat her, I didn't want her personality to beco rely a shadow of soone else. So, my actions in that narrative were not inappropriate. The Herrscher of Sentience and the other Seele are not the sa.'
Hearing the explanation from the woman herself, Amber hesitated but nodded, though it seed the preconceived notion hadn't truly been lifted.
Fu Hua felt a wave of helplessness.
Because of the spirit incident, Kutha could no longer be considered a safe base. Even though they'd have to travel by night, everyone had no choice but to return to Uruk.
On the road, with rlin's help, Ritsuka deciphered the Tablet of Destinies written by Gilgash.
They discovered that the entity behind the Incineration of Humanity was not the true Solomon, but so other being rely claiming his na.
Amber wasn't very knowledgeable about all this. Currently, she had been pulled by Fu Hua into the Realm of Consciousness created by the Fenghuang Down. While keeping watch in the real world, she was simultaneously getting beaten up in the ntal space.
This ti, Fu Hua wasn't just teaching her moves or assisting her training; she was coming at her with real, unadulterated fists and feet, pumling Amber until her head spun and her vision swam.
As she took the beating, a part of Amber's mind wondered if this was Fu Hua's way of venting her annoyance at being called a blockhead, but she quickly dismissed the thought, feeling Fu Hua wasn't that kind of person.
So, what was Fu Hua's evaluation of Amber's thoughts, given she could likely hear them?
The evaluation was that the beating wasn't severe enough, since Amber still had ntal energy to spare for idle speculation.
Another night's training concluded. When Amber woke the next morning, she felt phantom pains all over her body.
A whole night of taking a conceptual beating had left her unusually weary, a rare state for her. But her progress was also evident; the proficiency with her offensive and defensive sword forms had been forcibly sharpened.
For the ti being, she didn't dare think any disparaging thoughts about Fu Hua, even in the privacy of her own mind.
The group didn't return to Uruk until nearly noon, heading straight for the Ziggurat to report their experiences to Gilgash.
Upon hearing their tale, Gilgash imdiately burst into laughter. "Stop, stop! That's enough!" he roared between guffaws. "You fools should learn when to quit!"
Learning that Ishtar had been tied up and interrogated, then let go out of re mortal kindness, only to end up saving face by helping them out of a tight spot, had Goldie laughing so hard he thought his abs would cramp.
"This version of Ishtar is sowhat amusing. While it's only a slight improvent, it does warrant a reevaluation."
He had to admit that Ishtar, after rging with her host, had changed significantly.
"Perhaps that goddess can be reasoned with," Ritsuka said, glancing at Amber. "According to what that Ishtar said, the Celestial is her friend. Maybe her true nature isn't evil."
"A Celestial who protects humanity, and a willful, capricious goddess." Gilgash frowned, reassessing Ishtar in his mind once more, but soon shook his head.
"No. Precisely because her nature isn't purely evil makes her difficult to deal with. If she were simply wicked, it would be straightforward—just eliminate her. If she were purely good, then befriend her. But she's a fool who, without any real malice, causes trouble everywhere she goes."
"Aha ha..." Ritsuka had no rebuttal.
"However, these are not matters for you to concern yourselves with now," Gilgash moved on to business. "The city of Nippur is currently under attack by the demonic beasts. The latest tablet states they cannot hold out much longer."
"In this era, every human life is a precious resource. Now, during this lull in the beasts' offensive, Chaldea—the task of evacuating the citizens of Nippur and bringing them back here falls to you!"
"Understood!" Ritsuka and Mash nodded firmly.
Then, Gilgash shifted his gaze to Amber. "Ally of Uruk, preserver of humanity's ember. While I have entrusted the primary mission to Chaldea as their trial, this expedition involves anomalies that can interfere even with this king's Clairvoyance. Thus, your power is required to handle the unforeseen complications that are sure to arise."
In short, he wanted her to be the insurance.
Amber nodded in agreent.
"Then set out now!" Gilgash declared, a smile spreading across his face as he rose to his feet. "Bring the people of Nippur back to Uruk!"
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.
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