Dio nodded solemnly. "This matter is of grave importance. I must return to the Alliance and report it to the Alliance Council."
He then turned to Cipher and the others. "What are your plans now?"
Without hesitation, Aria declared, "We're going to find the other Divine Artifacts! We need to prepare before the Prophecy's disaster arrives and save the world!"
Ever since Cipher first met Aria, she had proudly proclaimed herself an "Apprentice Hero," tirelessly striving to become a true Hero. Now that a genuine opportunity to "save the world" had presented itself, she couldn't possibly back down.
Collecting Divine Artifacts, gathering companions, and ultimately confronting a world-ending catastrophe to save the world—it all sounded like something straight out of a legendary tale, a narrative Aria found utterly irresistible!
Hearing this, Dio's expression turned wistful. "What a pity... If I could, I'd love to join your Hero Party and embark on this adventure with you. It would undoubtedly be thrilling, but I have responsibilities within the Alliance... Alas..."
Dio continued, "I don't have any more information about the other Divine Artifacts, but I know of a place where you might find some."
Aria naturally asked, "Where's that?"
"Chaos City, also known as Mantra," Dio explained. "That name might not ring any bells, but it's also called the Ruins of the Former Demon Lord's Castle—the site where the seven Heroes battled the Demon Lord three hundred years ago. Afterward, it became a penal colony for criminals, and it remains so to this day."
"The city is now within Alliance territory, theoretically under their jurisdiction. However, due to its distance from the Alliance capital, its proximity to the northern border, the harsh climate, and its history as a penal colony, the Alliance exercises virtually no control over it. It's essentially left to govern itself."
Dio paused briefly, his gaze sweeping across the Hero Party. "With your strength, you shouldn't face any real danger there. If you're planning to go, I can even give you a ride part of the way."
It's worth noting that Aria didn't need to consciously train to improve her strength. By simply upholding her vows and living by her convictions, her faith would grow stronger, and her Paladin abilities would naturally increase.
In essence, Aria could gradually become stronger by helping the weak and defeating evil. Of course, studying swordsmanship and combat techniques would also be another path to improvement.
As for Douglas, the method of strengthening differed for priests of each god. As a priest of the God of War, Douglas only needed to constantly engage in combat with formidable enemies to earn the God of War's favor, which would slowly enhance his priestly abilities.
Feidric, being a Wizard, had only one path to power: study. He devoted every spare moment to this pursuit, such as being awakened by Douglas's snoring and getting up to read at three or four in the morning.
Of course, a quieter, more conducive learning environment would have allowed Feidric to improve his skills more rapidly. But the point was that Aria, Douglas, and Feidric could all grow stronger through their adventures. In fact, after everything they had experienced on their journey from Stone Pine City to Cloudsea City, they had all become somewhat stronger.
Chaos City, also known as Mantra, was undoubtedly far more dangerous than Cloudsea City. However, with Aria and her companions' current strength, venturing there shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
When Dio extended his invitation, Aria didn't immediately accept. Instead, she consulted with her companions. Cipher, Feidric, and Douglas all agreed without hesitation to make Chaos City their next destination. After all, what kind of adventurers would they be if they turned down such a thrilling challenge?
Just as before, Aria made the final decision, and everyone casually agreed.
Aria couldn't contain her excitement. "So, it's settled then? Is our Hero Party truly embarking on a quest to save the world?!"
With that, the group unanimously decided to rest for the night and formally begin their journey the next day.
On the road back to Cloudsea City, Cipher couldn't resist glancing at her System Page. The White-Bearded Old Mage's recent Legend Lore spells had caused her Fame to skyrocket by over three thousand points, a testament to the outrageousness of Mydei's Legendary Feat.
Without a doubt, once news of Mydei's exploits reached the Empire, the Alliance, and the Arcane Federation, her next lottery draw would be guaranteed. In other words, she could now sit back and let her Fame soar effortlessly—a truly blissful situation!
Cipher raised her arms above her head, stretching languidly. Her full chest and slender waist formed a flawless hourglass figure, with curves in all the right places. Her physique was simply perfect.
Dio, standing nearby, froze at the sight. Then... he felt a scorching gaze burning into him. It was Aria, staring intently.
Stare—
Dio's lips twitched slightly. Silently raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, he averted his eyes.
The group quickly returned to Cloudsea City, where a large crowd of residents had gathered at the city gates, gazing at the colossal spear in the distance. Though the battle was over and Mydei had left the battlefield, the spear remained standing, likely to become a landmark for years to come.
The crowd buzzed with speculation about what had just transpired. The sheer density of the crowd made it difficult to squeeze through the city gates.
After reaching the Adventurer's Guild, Cipher excused herself to the washroom. Once alone, she immediately activated Divine Speed, raced outside the city, retrieved Mydei—who was idling in a random corner—and attempted to store him in the System Warehouse. To her dismay, she discovered that the warehouse could only hold "characters," not items.
Cipher stared at the Travel Book in her hand, debating what to do. Finally, she tucked it into her backpack. Aria and the others won't rummage through my pack... right?
She then used Divine Speed to return to the washroom. Next, she carried a wooden bucket outside, filled it with hot water, and lugged it back inside. Exhausted from the day's events, she was desperate for a long, soothing bath.
Cipher swiftly shed her sweat-soaked clothes and plunged into the wooden tub filled with steaming water. Leaning back against the rim, she gazed up at the plain wooden ceiling and exhaled deeply, her entire body instantly relaxing.
To be honest, she had felt adrift in this world until today. Suddenly thrust into this new reality with no purpose or direction, the only thing that seemed to motivate her was grinding for Fame to draw gacha. Even then, she wasn't sure why she kept summoning more characters.
That was why she had readily accepted Aria's invitation to join the Hero Party. But after learning about the twelve Divine Artifacts and the potential world-ending disasters looming, coupled with Aria's unwavering declaration today about saving the world, a new idea struck her.
Since I arrived in this world with the System—this powerful cheat—and the world is on the brink of destruction, isn't that just too convenient? Should I try saving the world for fun?
Perhaps, if simply saving the world held no appeal, she could try nurturing Aria, guiding her to fulfill her own dream of saving the world in her stead.
The thought instantly invigorated Cipher, but she knew she'd need a carefully laid plan to make it happen.
Then, she remembered the question she'd set aside during Mydei's battle: the absurd disparity between his Strife Ability and her Trick Ability.
When Mydei summoned the spear from the heavens, he had felt a distinct drain on his energy—perhaps divine power, or something else entirely. Cipher wasn't sure, but for now, she decided to call it "Mana."
The initial Mana expenditure had been minimal, quickly replenishing. But this raised a critical question: Mydei consumed Mana when using his Strife Ability, yet Cipher had never felt any such drain when using her Trick Ability, even Divine Speed. In fact, she hadn't even been aware she possessed this Mana reserve until now.
Now that she knew of its existence, Cipher focused inward, carefully sensing the energy. She could undeniably perceive it. So why hadn't she ever experienced Mana depletion when using Divine Speed before?
Cipher closed her eyes, delving deeper into the energy. As she pondered and sensed, she felt as if she had touched something tangible within it. In that instant, information flooded her mind out of nowhere:
The true nature of the Trickster Authority!
In this world, the precise definition of a Demigod was a being who had transcended mortality, had begun to touch Divinity, but had not yet solidified their Divine Authority. Although Cipher, Mydei, and the other Chrysos Heirs were also referred to as Demigods in the game, the term carried fundamentally different meanings in these contexts.
In reality, Cipher, Mydei, and the other Chrysos Heirs weren't Demigods at all in this world. They were full-fledged Ancient Gods with complete Divine Authority!
As for the "thing" Cipher had just sensed and touched, it was none other than her own Divine Authority—the ability to transform lies into reality.
Cipher instinctively tried to stand up, forgetting she was curled up in a wooden tub taking a bath. With a sudden jerk, she tipped the tub over sideways, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Eek~!"
Hot water splashed everywhere from the overturned wooden tub. Hearing the commotion, Aria rushed over, "What's wrong? Sister Cipher, what happened?!"
She opened the washroom door to find Cipher shaking her head vigorously, like a wet cat trying to dry itself.
Splish, splash!
A shower of water droplets drenched Aria. Wiping her face, she surveyed the chaotic washroom before her gaze finally settled on Cipher. With a sigh of admiration, she murmured, "Sister Cipher, you have such a lovely figure..."
"Uh..." Cipher paused, momentarily stunned, then quickly grabbed a damp bath towel and wrapped it around herself, her cheeks flushing slightly. "There was a little accident. I'll clean up later."
After a moment, Cipher continued, "Oh, Aria, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
Aria tilted her head, puzzled. "What is it?"
Cipher said, "Actually, I have an incredible ability. I can multitask my thoughts like a supercomputer. Drawing circles with my left hand while drawing squares with my right? Child's play!"
Aria, puzzled by Cipher's sudden declaration, didn't dwell on it. She immediately raised both hands and tried drawing a circle with one and a square with the other. Unsurprisingly, she failed. "Ugh... this is really hard..."
At that moment, Cipher distinctly felt a tiny sliver of her mana being consumed—almost negligible, but enough to suggest her Authority had successfully activated.
She promptly tested her ability, effortlessly drawing a circle with her left hand while drawing a square with her right. For an even greater challenge, she wrote words in the air with her left hand while painting with her right, without the slightest strain!
Aria watched in astonishment. "Sister Cipher, you're amazing!" she exclaimed.
In other words, from now on, Cipher would likely have no problem controlling multiple bodies and multitasking. The Trickery ability was just too convenient!
Of course, it could also be because Aria was so easily deceived. She believed everything Cipher said without question.
Suddenly, Cipher realized that when she transmigrated, Honkai: Star Rail was only at version 3.2. She had learned about Cipher's Divine Speed ability from a preview livestream, so could it actually be fake?
Perhaps Cipher's true ability wasn't Divine Speed at all. She had simply convinced herself it was real, and that belief had somehow manifested into power. And because she was still dazed from the transmigration, she hadn't noticed the Mana consumption at the time.
The Trickster Authority seemed to only drain Mana during the instant a lie transformed into reality. Once the lie of Divine Speed became real, each subsequent activation of Divine Speed drained Cipher's Strength instead.
The moment Cipher realized this, she tried activating Divine Speed again. To her astonishment, it worked!
Although she had exposed her own self-deception, many others still believed in her unparalleled speed. This belief had sustained her ability.
Cipher gently pushed Aria, who was biting her lip and struggling to draw circles with her left hand while trying to draw squares with her right, out of the washroom. After closing the door, she carefully dried herself with a bath towel.
Once she was dry and had changed into loose pajamas, she rummaged through her satchel and retrieved the Purify scroll Feidric had given her earlier. Gathering all her clothes and boots into a pile, Cipher tore the scroll in half.
Under the spell's effect, her clothes became spotless in an instant. "Magic is so convenient," she marveled.