Otherwise, you can find another savior.

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Scáthach raised an eyebrow: "I am not Eve, and you are not Adam. We don't need to taste the forbidden fruit to know how to distinguish between good and evil."

“But Master really doesn’t mind walking around in this garden without clothes on,” tide Jian complained.

"Do you mind?" Scáthach asked.

"I don't really mind, since it's really just me and my master here." tide Jian shook her head. "So I don't really have the right to talk about my master."

“Hmm.” Scáthach took his hand and led him back to the tree. “While we still have time, I’d like to teach you a few more things.”

"Wait...didn't Master say that he had taught me everything he could?" tide Jian was taken aback.

Scáthach nodded: "Actually, it would be more appropriate to say we're discussing it together."

"I just finished bathing. I wanted to talk to Master a little longer," tide Jian said with a hint of helplessness.

“You can talk while we're discussing things.” Scáthach gently touched his cheek and kissed him. “Just think of it as your master wanting to cherish the time he spends with you and create more precious memories.”

"Master..."

tide Jian was momentarily speechless, and could only let her words be swallowed up by her tongue.

He actually had a vague feeling that perhaps after saying goodbye to his master, he would have to leave this place soon.

Go to the real world, experience a full life as a human being, and only return here after death.

The voice he heard on the day his master discovered him was definitely not a hallucination of near death.

and so……

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but hug his master even tighter.

Sensing that her beloved student's response had become more enthusiastic, Scáthach understood and said nothing more.

Now that they are in sync, all that's left is to leave it to the thread of destiny.

"No matter how many years pass, I will always love my master."

"That's enough."

Chapter 81 Waiting for the Right Opportunity

"We have information about Sakura and the others."

With the sound of flapping wings, a jade-green raven familiar landed in Shiomi's hands, pulling Scáthach, who had been lost in thought, back to reality.

She turned her head and saw tide Jian retrieving the message transmitted by the raven. He chuckled and continued speaking as if talking to himself:

"It seems to be going smoothly. Because we've drawn their attention, Olympus hasn't noticed them. They've already made contact with the advance team of the Pan-Human History Followers..."

But her initially joyful voice quickly faded, which surprised Scáthach.

"What happened? Did something happen to them?"

“They’re alright. They’ve already settled in the underground factory in the interstellar city.” tide Jian shook her head. “But just as we guessed, the vanguard of the Pan-Human History Followers has been completely wiped out.”

“…After all, we are facing the Olympian gods. If we cannot gain the upper hand in terms of power and affinity, this outcome is inevitable.” Scáthach shook her head. “Therefore, we must resolve this Lostbelt and not let their sacrifices be in vain.”

"Hmm." Shio nodded, then sent the new information back to the raven before releasing it again.

The raven flew to a dense treetop and touched another raven. They rubbed heads together like ordinary birds to greet each other, and then flew off in different directions.

One headed to the God-Breaking Alliance base, while the other flew back to Storm Border to relay the progress to the others behind.

The forest in the western part of the interstellar city is the area where the Storm Border signal disappeared. After Demeter was shot down, and for more than half a day, no trace of Shiomi and the others could be found, so they would definitely turn around and search that area.

The only question is how quickly Olympus will realize this and begin to abandon the search for the missing Shiomi and the others.

This is a psychological game. The gods, led by Zeus, or rather the Kirshtalia, could give up the search, but they couldn't guarantee what Shiomi would do.

"Are we about to set off?" Scáthach asked.

"Let's wait until it gets dark," tide Jian said, glancing at the sky.

“Okay.” Scáthach nodded slightly, then lowered her head and leaned against his shoulder in a relaxed manner.

tide Jian noticed her master's expression, looked down at Morgan who was sleeping peacefully with his head on her lap, and then asked softly, "Master, is something on your mind?"

"What makes you say that?" Scáthach asked in return.

“Master didn’t doze off, he just closed his eyes to rest, and he looked like he was thinking about something,” tide Jian said. “I thought that spending time with Master would make things a little easier for you.”

“It’s already much easier.” Scáthach smiled. “After a bloody battle, having time to relax with my beloved disciple is more meaningful than any supply.”

"That--"

“Just a little bit of what happened before,” Scáthach said, “the time between when you graduated and when you left the Land of Shadows.”

tide Jian was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

That was indeed an incredibly happy time.

There was nothing to consider; it was simply that, as a man and a woman, with hearts in harmony, they did their best to enjoy each other's tenderness.

"Is it because we're in this forest that Master remembered what happened back then?" tide Jian asked curiously.

“Hmm…” Scáthach pulled her legs back, hugged them with her arms, and looked at him with her cheek resting on her knees. “There’s no reason, I just suddenly remembered it.”

“That’s true.” tide Jian also felt that her question was rather abrupt.

People can be inexplicably nostalgic. It's not necessarily because they're dissatisfied with the present, but it could be because this moment happens to coincide with a certain time in the past, thus evoking a feeling.

So Xijian silently grasped her master's hand, interlocking their fingers and pressing their palms tightly together.

This action made Scáthach pause for a moment before revealing a gentler look in her eyes, and her smile became even more charming and alluring.

"Um..."

Morgan then murmured softly in his sleep, and slowly opened his eyes.

"Awake?" tide Jian touched her cheek. "Did we disturb you with our conversation?"

"What are you talking about?" Morgan rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Discussing how to deal with the Olympian gods... Haaaa~"

As she spoke, she yawned very loudly, looking relaxed and at ease, clearly having had a very good nap.

"No, we were just chatting about things from the past." tide Jian raised her hand and tidied up Morgan's hair, which had become messy from his nap.

“What? You were just chatting.” Morgan closed his eyes and scrutinized Scáthach with a mischievous look. “I just felt a magical fluctuation and thought it was something like an Olympian scout familiar.”

Shiomi was immediately at a loss for words: "It's not Olympus, it's my familiar."

“Is that so?” Morgan said with a knowing look.

"How can you be so relaxed during a nap? What if you were suddenly attacked by the enemy?" Scáthach retorted immediately, not wanting to be outdone.

“If that’s the case, my barrier will react first,” Morgan said dismissively. “And you’ve set up a barrier too. If someone can pass through both of our barriers silently, even if we’re both on high alert, it won’t be as effective as my husband taking action.”

“There’s some twisted logic to it,” Scáthach chuckled and shook her head.

tide Jian scratched her cheek: "Um, is it really necessary to start bickering as soon as you wake up..."

“My husband, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a warm-up after waking up.” Morgan looked at Shiomi with a deep smile. “I’m actually more curious about what you two were talking about earlier.”

"Uh... it's just some things from my time in the Land of Shadows," Shiomi thought for a moment.

He didn't exchange many words with his master, and most of what he wanted to say didn't need to be conveyed through words.

“That’s really nothing new.” Morgan didn’t press further, since he already knew everything in detail. “It’s already evening. Does my husband intend to camp here until tomorrow morning before setting off?”

“Wait until dark,” Scáthach said. “The citizens of the interstellar city should be resting at night. Then we can launch a deliberate operation and quickly force the Olympian gods to respond.”

“So far, we have successively defeated Artemis, Poseidon, and Demeter. The only ones left, besides Zeus, are Aphrodite, who appeared earlier, and—” Shiomi counted on her fingers.

“Hera, the Queen of the Gods,” Scáthach added, “provided that Demeter wasn’t lying to you at that time.”

"Whether it's true or false, we'll know once all the gods except Zeus have disappeared."

As Shiojian spoke, she looked out at the twilight sky beyond the woods and noticed an incredibly bright star in the sky that was already covered by night.

Chapter 82 "Pollution"

Noticing this, he widened his eyes slightly, confirming that it was not a bright celestial body, but rather something floating in the eastern sky above the interstellar city.

Its name is the True Body of the Machine God.

Because Shiomi's gaze froze, Morgan and Scáthach also noticed it. The three of them stood up and moved to the side of the forest to find a cliff with a better view to look out over the eastern part of the interstellar city.

As the field of vision widened and the sky quickly darkened, night fell, and the huge and bright star finally became visible.

In addition, a series of alarms echoed throughout the eastern part of the interstellar city, turning the entire western part of the city into a giant megaphone, the piercing alarms causing the forest grounds to tremble.

Huge, yet strangely shaped mechanical gods.

This being is completely different from the true form of every previous Machine God, and at first glance, it might remind people of something like an early warning aircraft.

That was the true form of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love. After being introduced into the Roman mythological system in pan-human history, she was also called Venus, meaning "worship" or "benevolence".

A deity that guides humanity through both ideals and reality, and whose own definition serves as a guiding principle for humanity.

"This feeling... is it Aphrodite's true form?"

Scáthach, who had once fought against that goddess, quickly identified the other party through the immense magical energy she felt.

"But we haven't even found any trace of us. What are we trying to do?" Morgan wondered. "Especially since we're not even in the city right now."

Shiomi took a deep breath: "Without a doubt, Aphrodite... no, it is the Olympian god who has given up searching for our whereabouts and intends to deal with us in a more direct way."

"Indiscriminately launching a large-scale annihilation operation, friend or foe?" Scáthach frowned.

This was true of Demeter before, and Artemis even earlier, so it's not surprising that Aphrodite is now in this situation.

In any case, most of the decisions were made by Zeus, and they were merely responsible for carrying out Zeus's decisions and powers.

To the Olympian gods, the prosperity and luxury of the interstellar cities were gifts they bestowed upon them, and could be taken back at any time.

In the eyes of the inhabitants of the interstellar city who believe in the gods, life and death are all gifts from the gods, so they naturally have no complaints.

Then, the melodious sound echoed in the western sky above the interstellar city.

"Beauty is domination, love is domination. O citizens of Olympus, those who know my love and beauty, weep with joy, for I will not let your suffering be in vain—"

Just as Demeter had declared before, Aphrodite proclaimed her divine love for the citizens of Olympia, and then delivered her verdict from her lofty position.

"--The pollution has begun."

The magical reaction of Aphrodite's true form suddenly intensified, reaching a dangerous critical point.

Logically speaking, there was no need to worry about Shiomi and the others who were far outside the city area, but he had a strange premonition.

Especially as that enormous true form shone brighter and brighter in the night sky, illuminating the city as if it were daytime, Shiomi's strange premonition began to come true.

Even more outrageous and excessive than Demeter's actions, it was no longer confined to the city itself, but rather spread massive 'pollution' from the western part of the city to the entire interstellar city.

It's not pollution at the material level, but something at the spiritual level.

The city was not damaged, and no citizens were deprived of their lives.

That's precisely why it seems even more terrifying.

In just a moment, nearly 90% of the citizens in the western region were driven to mental breakdown by the "pollution" launched by Aphrodite.

“Ugh…” Scáthach groaned, her legs went weak, and she half-knelt on the ground. “The voice… just rang out in my mind.”

“That was thorough. The flow of magic… has become difficult. What a unique experience.” Morgan frowned deeply. “My mental defenses are already at their highest level, is this what authority is…”

Then, less than half a minute after the "contamination" began, Morgan and Scáthach were also affected.

The entire western part of the interstellar city and the surrounding area have been 'contaminated' by Aphrodite.

Even they were not spared.

"Don't force yourself, calm your breathing, don't think about anything, surrender your body and mind to me."

Then, Shio's voice rang in their ears. He held them in his arms and whispered comforting words.

As beings who were able to maintain their individuality even under Aphrodite's "contamination," Shiomi managed to protect them from Aphrodite's influence.

But this is only a temporary measure.

Shiomi is not an expert in mental manipulation, neither as a magician nor as a god who has not yet come into being.

Moreover, although she can maintain her individuality, staying here without moving is not a good thing for Shiomi.

Aphrodite's "contamination" is likely also her Noble Phantasm; if we don't do something to stop the true form of the goddess floating in the sky...

If this goddess is allowed to continue unleashing her Noble Phantasms, it will eventually affect the entire interstellar city. At that time, neither Sakura's special operations team nor Storm Border will be spared.

But the problem is... even if he could reach Aphrodite's location, if he couldn't effectively deal damage, his immortality would only make him a sitting duck.