If Gray really was related to him, then wouldn't all that previous courting have been completely wasted? [T/N: Lmao!]
"Forget it, let's talk about it later."
Alvin gently shook his head. Meeting Morgan's scrutinizing gaze, he smiled and said, "Is there anything else you want to ask me?"
"For example, about Gaia."
"Since Britannia can now see a large number of traversers appear, it wouldn't be strange even if that drew the attention of the two great Counter Forces," Morgan said, "But the fact that you were able to take the Promised Sword of Victory from Gaia's hands was still somewhat beyond my expectations."
"Although I already knew the White Dragon possessed an incomparably violent physique, using your body to forcibly withstand the Holy Sword's repulsion, that really is a rather unfair kind of power."
There was sincere admiration in Morgan's tone.
Although she harbored special feelings toward Alvin, the always-proud Morgan had never spoken like this before. From that alone, it was clear just how unexpected Alvin's performance today had been to her.
"I haven't seen you these past couple of days. Lily probably kept you in the bedchamber, didn't she?", Morgan asked casually.
Alvin's heart jumped, "Morgan—"
Before he could say anything, Morgan spoke in a languid tone, "Don't worry. After that night, I thought it through. Forcing you to choose between her and me really was asking too much of you."
Alvin looked at her in shock.
Morgan said calmly, "I won't force you to make a choice. But there is something I'd like to ask you to help me with."
'Is this really the Morgan I know? She can actually say something this considerate?', Alvin said, "There's no need for us to draw such a clear line between us, what do you need me to do?"
Morgan le Fay nodded in satisfaction and smiled, "Can you give me a bit of mana?"
'Mana? You've already swallowed all of Britannia. What do you need my mana for?', The thought had just flashed through Alvin's mind when he saw Morgan smiling, her tone cold and utterly devoid of emotion.
"What I want is the mana Tiamat gave you."
Alvin's smile slowly froze.
.
.
.
There was no way Tiamat's mana could be given away. It had already fused completely with the White Dragon core, and there was no way to extract it anymore. An hour later, Alvin dragged his exhausted body out of Morgan's bedchamber.
A woman like the Queen really was far too perceptive. Even Lily hadn't noticed anything abnormal about the White Dragon core, yet Morgan had merely observed from afar today and already guessed that the White Dragon core might have received a special mana boost from Tiamat.
Filled with emotion, Alvin unknowingly made his way once again to Tiamat's room.
The moment he pushed open the door, he saw another figure inside. Ishtar.
After fully releasing "Manifestation of Beauty," Ishtar's looks and aura had risen by more than a single level, though she now also carried an added air of aloof divinity.
Resting her cheek in her hand, she looked at the boy, her left leg crossed over her right, "I've been waiting for you for a long time. Why are you only coming now?"
"Why are you here?", Alvin subconsciously glanced at the blue-haired shorty. She'd been terrified stiff when she first saw Tiamat before, yet now she dared to share a room with her?
"Didn't you say you had something you wanted to tell me? I figured you'd come back to look for Mother later, so I waited here."
Ishtar immediately stood up and walked up to Alvin, her manner aggressive as she stared at him, "You know who I'm looking for?"
Logically speaking, Alvin should never have been to Uruk. Yet when she had questioned Gaia today, the answer she received had been very firm: he knew who she was looking for.
If not for the fact that Tiamat was right behind them, Ishtar would probably have already dragged Alvin outside to interrogate him alone.
"I think I do," Alvin came back to his senses and replied in a somewhat subtle tone.
"Then why did you say you didn't know when I asked you before?", Ishtar pressed.
Savith. In Mesopotamian mythology, a violent being that even the gods feared.
No one knew His true identity, because He always wore a mask. Some said there was an incomparably ugly face beneath it, others said He was a very handsome youth. In any case, stories about Him spread wildly among the gods.
He didn't get along with the gods, and in the end, even brought an end to the age of the Mesopotamian gods.
But Ishtar had never hated Him. Even after the gods disappeared, she still wanted to see Him, to the point that this obsession eventually became the reason Gaia secretly summoned her.
"This is a long story," As Alvin spoke, he glanced again at Tiamat behind him.
She had propped up her little notebook, wearing an earnest, peacekeeping expression as she wrote, [Don't fight. You're both good children.]
Then she gestured at the meat buns on the table and continued writing, [One for each of you.]
In Tiamat's world, there was nothing that couldn't be solved with one meat bun. If there was, then two.
"We're not fighting. You can rest assured," Alvin said.
Then he looked up into Ishtar's pale gold eyes and said, "Let's go outside first. Don't disturb Mother's rest."
Ishtar was more than happy to comply and immediately nodded.
The two quickly left the room. Feeling Ishtar's gaze fixed on him, Alvin thought for a moment, then smiled, "How about going out for a walk? Staying in the palace too long can get stuffy."
"You just expended such an enormous amount of mana today, and you still have the leisure for that," Ishtar said, casting him a sideways glance, "Fine. Since you helped me last time, I'll accompany you for a little stroll. Feel honored, White Dragon of Britannia."
'Blonde plus tsundere. That combo's already out of fashion, isn't it?', Alvin paused, "Then maybe forget it, I'll head back."
"Do you have any idea who you're trying to threaten?"
Ishtar crossed her arms and snorted, "Back in Uruk, the people who wanted to date me were as numerous as the stars in the sky. This is a privilege granted by this goddess... hey, don't walk away!"
"Alvin, I'm warning you. If you take one more step back, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"
"Y-you stop right there!"
As she spoke, her voice suddenly cut off.
Alvin turned around in confusion, only to see the blonde twin-tailed Ishtar biting her lip, looking utterly aggrieved.
Alvin couldn't hold it together anymore.
'What the hell, how did this turn into an emotional breakdown?'
'Why does Ishtar in Manifestation of Beauty EX mode still feel kind of unreliable?'
———
In the end, Ishtar still left the palace together with Alvin.
To avoid drawing too much attention, Alvin deliberately had a carriage prepared.
With the steady appearance of more traversers, the streets of the royal city had grown increasingly lively. Whether it was pedestrians or carriages, their numbers had far surpassed those of the past.
"Next time we have the chance, we really should take Tiamat out to have some fun. She finally left the Imaginary Numbers Sea. If she just stays in the palace the whole time, she'll get bored too," Alvin said from inside the carriage, lifting the curtain to look at the bustling streets. Tiamat's dazed, adorable face couldn't help but surface in his mind.
"She's such a cute woman. Why were the gods over there so set on targeting her back then?", Alvin couldn't help but sigh.
Ishtar sat opposite him, draped in a black cloak that faintly revealed a lock of beautiful golden hair. Even dressed modestly, her sharp, stunning beauty was impossible to hide.
"Mother's power was simply too great. As long as she existed, the gods could never feel at ease," Ishtar said softly, "Just like Him back then. The only difference, perhaps, is that He wasn't as gentle as Mother, willing to let others slaughter Him."
Savith. That was what that person had called HIM.
He had once been the Hero King's right-hand man, always wearing a white mask. Perhaps influenced by that short-tempered golden bastard, when the gods sensed His threat and repeatedly tested His limits, Savith directly flipped the board and refused to play anymore.
No, to be precise, the Hero King had already intended to part ways with the gods. He joined forces with Savith to set this up, waiting for the gods to strike first so they could have an excuse to start the war of separation.
The final outcome was obvious. The age of the gods came to a complete end. The few gods who survived were those who had either remained neutral from the beginning or had good relations with Savith.
Ishtar was one of them.
Looking at Ishtar's nostalgic expression, Alvin also found himself sinking slightly into memories.
In the Type-Moon simulation game, the Uruk chapter didn't actually have much plot. Most of the CGs were related to battles with the gods. The only real highlights were probably the Venus goddess Ishtar and the underworld goddess Ereshkigal.
As for Tiamat, even after experiencing the Uruk era, Alvin had never met her.
Because long before that, Tiamat had already been personally exiled to the Imaginary Numbers Sea by her own children, the gods of Uruk.
"If I remember correctly, you were a goddess beloved by the gods, but the person you're looking for seems to be an enemy of the gods, doesn't he?"
Alvin suddenly asked with a hint of "curiosity," "What kind of relationship do you have with the person you're looking for?"
Ishtar froze, then quickly turned her gaze away in embarrassment, "For now… for now, you could say we're lovers."
In the Uruk chapter, Alvin had indeed confessed to Ishtar. However, the one he had truly been confessing to at the time was actually Ereshkigal.
In the Type-Moon simulation's setting, the Venus goddess and the underworld goddess, the sisters of Uruk, shared a single body. During the day it was Ishtar, and at night she would become the underworld goddess Ereshkigal.
'So Ishtar is actually quite devoted, huh?', Alvin thought.
After all, without such a powerful wish, even Gaia wouldn't have been able to use King Marco's hand to summon Ishtar.
"You still haven't told me where that person is right now."
Ishtar stared straight into Alvin's eyes, "Is he also in this era?"
'How should I explain this? Come to think of it, Britannia's situation is already chaotic enough. If Ishtar gets added into the mix too, I might really need to start researching long-term underground shelters.'
Feeling Ishtar's intense gaze, Alvin opened his mouth, thinking about how to phrase it.
At that moment, the corner of his eye caught a flash of crimson.
Alvin instinctively looked over. His gaze passed through the carriage window and landed in the direction of the northern forest.
The White Dragon possessed extremely sharp perception, especially toward mana. He could even sense the threat brought by fluctuations in mana.
And at this moment, he could clearly feel a dangerous wave of mana coming from that northern forest.
The mana spread outward from the forest in ripples.
At some unknown point in time, above the sky over that forest, a faint crimson smoke could be seen slowly rising.
Then, that mana quietly condensed, forming a blood-red moon.
Alvin's gaze sharpened slightly as a window silently popped up before his eyes.
[Attention of an Extraterrestrial Being A]
[After obtaining the Promised Sword of Victory and reaching an agreement with Gaia, an unknown extraterrestrial lifeform has taken a strong interest in you. From here on, please proceed with caution.]
'Attention of an extraterrestrial being?'
When he heard this, Alvin's first reaction was shock. Although the system had warned him earlier that touching that sword would draw the attention of beings from beyond the heavens, he hadn't expected it to happen this fast.
But he quickly came to terms with it.
In truth, Alvin hadn't accepted Gaia's "invitation" solely for the Promised Sword of Victory.
After all, would he really avoid drawing the attention of extraterrestrial beings just by not touching that sword?
Now that ancient Britannia had seen a large number of traversers appear, no one knew whether that would attract the notice of certain alien lifeforms.
Rather than scrambling to respond only after those beings noticed, it was better to prepare in advance.
That said, what exactly was that strange phenomenon that had appeared in the forest just now?
Alvin couldn't help but think of the blood-red moon he had seen earlier. For some reason, despite never having seen it before, it felt strangely familiar.
Alvin wasn't the only one who noticed the disturbance in the forest. Many traversers from the modern world sensed it as well.
The moment they became aware of the activity in the northern forest, they set off immediately, intending to investigate.
Ishtar also looked intrigued. She grabbed Alvin by the wrist and said, "That thing just now looked like a 'meteor' falling from beyond the heavens, didn't it? Come on, let's go take a look too!"
'This goddess really does love trouble.'
Still, that blood-red moon was indeed concerning. In the end, Alvin nodded and headed for the northern forest together with Ishtar.
Along the way, they could see many carriages. Judging by their direction, they were clearly all headed toward the forest.
"Looks like this really caused quite a stir," Alvin said softly from inside the carriage.
'Who would've thought such a huge commotion could happen in ancient Britannia. Did Gaia know an alien lifeform would descend at this moment, and that's why she timed her move to recruit me?'
Thinking this, he looked up again at the goddess sitting opposite him.
She still seemed unaware of what was happening, her expression full of anticipation. Her beautiful eyes sparkled. Rather than going to investigate something dangerous, she looked more like she was heading out on a date.
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