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"It seems my husband hasn't completely lost his mind after all." Morgan shook his head. "Now that we've had our fill, I'd like to ask my husband what he plans to do with the powers he left with me. Now's the perfect time to take them back, isn't it?"
“As I’ve already said, I’ll leave it with you for now.” He slightly raised his hand, placing his palm on Morgan’s chest. “You see, reclaiming power like this puts a burden on your body. The most appropriate way is to transfer power in the One God form.”
“That being said—” Morgan thought for a moment, “wouldn’t the burden be even greater if all the powers were reclaimed at once?”
“No, the power you possess will also influence your spiritual level,” tide Jian said. “Do you remember the previous battle? You felt like your power had increased a lot.”
“Hmm.” Morgan nodded. “So what exactly happened?”
Despite possessing only one-third of the power, the power of the One God is already comparable to the original state of complete power.
"Because the One God himself practices 'gaining greater power through sacrifice'," Shiomi stated bluntly.
At this moment, Skadi sat up: "Like the great god Odin sacrificing himself to obtain the primordial runes that symbolize wisdom?"
“That’s one way to understand it,” tide Jian explained methodically. “Power and divinity are the foundation of a god’s existence. By giving these things over, one can gain even greater power. The cost and the benefit are commensurate.”
Therefore, the unified god was able to fight the "alien god" to a standstill.
“This act itself carries risks. Even a wife you trust deeply is ultimately an external entity.” Morgan understood the principle: “Giving away everything inherently carries the risk of having everything taken away.”
She would never betray him; the risk simply exists.
“But this time is different. My powers were forcibly stripped away and divided into three parts,” Shiomi said. “Azuma, due to her perfect adaptability, became the subject of the powers returning on their own—”
Skadi suddenly realized: "In other words, this, to some extent, constitutes Tianxi's complete abandonment of its original powers. The excessively high price of 'sacrifice' will naturally yield a higher reward."
“Is that so?” Morgan nodded in agreement.
Regardless of whether this action was voluntary, Shiomi's lack of haste to reclaim her powers gives this outcome sufficient legitimacy.
Therefore, after regaining his status as a unified god, he was able to exert power far exceeding his full state with only one-third of his power.
“This is also my personal reason,” tide Jian said. “You have seen the power of the alien god. In their original state, they were evenly matched. If losing my power can give us a better chance of winning, I would be willing to give you my divinity as well.”
Morgan couldn't help but chuckle: "I'd rather not. Just the power I possess is already incredibly tempting. If even divinity were to become mine, I'm afraid I'd turn into a demonic spirit that despises all living beings."
"Will it?" Shiomi asked Skadi for her opinion.
“In my opinion, Morgan doesn’t have an obsession with power,” Skadi shook her head. “Just like you, you are strong because you are inherently strong, not because of a distorted desire for power that leads you to seize things that are not in line with your own nature.”
It could even be said that power is something that Shiomi and Morgan can give up.
All for the sake of protecting everything that is more important than power.
“Look, even the goddess says so.” tide Jian rolled over and snuggled into Skadi’s arms, hugging her soft waist. “Sigh, it’s still so hard to get used to. I hope I can go back to how I was before soon.”
With Shiomi ending the topic, Morgan stopped dwelling on it.
The answer is already clear.
Since it's more advantageous to have power in one's own hands, it's better to maintain the status quo for now.
"Wasn't my husband just enjoying himself?" Morgan stroked Shiomi's body from behind. "Taking advantage of his size, he was rolling around on our bodies and doing things like that?"
"A pool of wine and a forest of meat," Skadi described it wistfully.
"Yes, yes, I am the current King Zhou, then who is my Daji?" Xi Jian buried her face in Skadi's arms.
Then, those words made the women who were lying down to rest and listening to the three of them talk about serious business sit up.
“That’s quite an interesting topic,” Scáthach said thoughtfully.
“Uh…” Shiomi realized she had said the wrong thing.
“You’re so easily frightened.” Morgan laughed happily as she stroked Shiomi’s back. “But it’s incredible how such a slender and petite body can have such inexhaustible strength.”
Shio breathed a sigh of relief, then said with great pride:
"Don't underestimate human desires."
“We certainly didn’t underestimate you, which is why we’re keeping a close eye on you.” Orange smiled and grabbed Shiomi. “In this Lostbelt, where ORTs could awaken at any moment, what kind of fleeting romance could you possibly have…”
“That just shows how charming my student is,” Scáthach said, shrugging. “But we still need to keep an eye on him, at least to keep him from having the energy to flirt with other women.”
"I'm really too tired right now." Shio nestled in Orange's arms. "Anyway, we're supposed to meet everyone in Chichen Itza tomorrow, so let's enjoy this rare vacation and not worry about anything else?"
As soon as she said those words, tide Jian regretted it.
He experienced for the first time what it meant to be in a state of utter chaos, working day and night.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Investigation Along the Way
After spending a day and a night relaxing on the island in the middle of the river in the First Underworld, Shiomi and the others set off from the First Underworld to a deeper part of Miktland, preparing to meet up with Storm Border in Chichen Itza, the city of Dinos on the fourth level.
The investigation into the remaining traces of the Magic Workshop was just a pretext; Morgan and her team didn't really have high hopes of finding anything out.
Of course, that's just the original version.
"As expected, the 'she' of Pan-Human History intends to use Terratrauki as a huge workshop, thereby interfering with the spiritual veins of the entire Miktland." Morgan said after analyzing the remaining traces. "Because she cannot fully adapt to Wufu's power and can only use it partially, she wants to capture Wufu alive as a catalyst for transforming power."
"Ultimately, they probably want to use this workshop to acquire all the power, and then completely transform it, so that they can achieve near-godhood and seek actions similar to those of the 'Alien God'," Orange said, looking at her surroundings and offering her further speculation.
For example, by merging with ORT, one could seize that power that exceeds the scale of a planet, and then use it to transform the planet's surface into a fairy realm.
“The plan was ambitious, but unfortunately it failed at the very first step,” Scáthach said, shrugging.
"Could it be that they were scammed?" Shiojian made a hypothesis.
Artoria shook her head: "No... the Queen doesn't seem like the type to be deceived. Perhaps it's because even if the whole plan has a low success rate, since they're all Servants, there's no loss if it fails, so she—"
"Judging from the obsession she showed in the battle, there's no mistake." Morgan rubbed her temples. "Even if I told her that establishing a kingdom with only fairies wouldn't last long, she still insisted on it."
“Obsession is such a terrible thing,” Shiomi said. “Artoria should know this all too well…and Skadi, of course.”
"It's good that you can let go." Skadi didn't seem to care, and simply hugged Shiomi tighter in her arms. "Is there anything else to investigate? If not, can we go now?"
There wasn't much else here, and after a day and a night of leisure, she learned many new ways to have fun.
Once we get back on the ship, maybe next time I can try it with Shiomi alone; it'll definitely be a different experience.
“Yes, it’s time to go.” Shio pointed to the other side of the First Underworld. “After all, ORT is still sleeping here. We don’t know how long it will take for him to awaken. We need to hurry and find ORT’s location.”
“Under normal circumstances, the ORT would definitely be sleeping in the deepest part of this Miktland,” Scáthach said. “In any case, the Imaginary Tree here has been devoured by the ORT, merging with them and becoming the cornerstone that maintains the Lostbelt.”
"This is such a hassle," Shiomi couldn't help but complain.
If the ORT can be dealt with successfully, it means that the Lostbelt will also disappear quickly, and Storm Border will most likely need to prepare for Imaginary Submarine during this process.
Although it can now be basically concluded that even if the seven Lostbelts are resolved, Earth will not recover from its blank state.
Considering various issues, Shiomi and the others left the First Underworld and officially stepped into the third layer of Miktland.
On the way, Shiomi contacted Storm Border to confirm that they had landed near Chichen Itza under Tepeu's guidance.
Right now, Group A is conducting an inspection inside Chichen Itza, guided by Tepeu. We'll have to wait until Shiomi and the others arrive to discuss the specifics.
After confirming everyone's situation, Shiomi was relieved and moved towards Chichen Itza according to the coordinates provided by Storm Border.
“Speaking of which, the teacher’s power was divided into three and taken away. ‘Severity’ was taken away by Morgan of Pan-Human History.” When it was Olga Marie’s turn to hold Shiomi, she asked, “Then, what about ‘compassion’ and ‘balance’?”
She already knew that the "Alien God" had taken one-third of the prize, but who had the last third was unknown.
At first, Olga Marie thought that Tescatelli Pochettino and his group had taken it, but judging from the battle the day before yesterday, it didn't seem like that was the case. Otherwise, after Shiomi and Morgan merged, they wouldn't have been so focused on fighting Vizilo Pochettino.
"Oh, I haven't mentioned that yet," Shio-mi said, remembering what she had just said.
After all, the mere appearance of the pan-human Smogen attracted everyone's attention, causing them to forget to ask further questions.
He thought for a moment, then shook his head:
“I don’t know who the guy who took the last third of it is. All I know is that Tescatlipoca calls him Kamazoz,” Shiomi said.
"Kamazotz?" Skadi asked curiously.
“The bat god in Mayan mythology, whose name itself means ‘death bat’,” Morgan said. “From that point of view alone, it’s not surprising that he’s involved with Tescatlipoca.”
After all, Aztec mythology and Mayan mythology are quite related.
Both Tescatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl were worshipped by humans on both sides.
It's somewhat similar to the relationship between Greek and Roman mythology, but not entirely the same.
“Perhaps, but we need to investigate further to find out the specifics,” Shiomi said. “But there is one thing I must point out: I sensed the presence of the Beast in that bat-like man.”
"Beast?!"
His words surprised Olga and the others.
It's already troublesome enough that the "Alien God" possesses the Beast spirit origin.
Now that Beast has joined the fray, the situation is even more complicated.
“The Lostbelt Beast…” Artoria pondered. “In any case, let’s send this message back to the Storm Border in Chichen Itza and tell them to be on high alert.”
"It's already been sent," Shiomi replied decisively. "Of course, with the current combat strength on the ship, even if the 'Alien God' attacks, we can hold out until our reinforcements arrive."
This is one of the reasons why they are able to act alone like this.
The group began discussing how to deal with Kamazotz, who might be the Beast, as they ventured deeper into the third layer of the area.
This place is not much different from the first level. It is still a terrain dominated by a large area of tropical rainforest. Along the way, we can find traces of the leopard-faced bandits, but we have not actually encountered them.
On the contrary, the group encountered Dinos, who had become a Dead Apostle, several times. Although they resolved the situation easily, it still made them worry about the reason for Dinos's Dead Apostle transformation.
According to Tepeu, it is speculated that Dinos himself degenerated due to his long lifespan.
But after investigating several batches of the remains of the Dead Apostle Dinos, they have a different opinion.
"After analyzing the condition of the corpse, it is more likely due to external factors rather than degeneration leading to intellectual decline and reversion to ancestral traits."
Orange shook her blood-stained hands.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Death and the Bat's Path
As she swung her hand, the others instinctively flinched to avoid getting Dinos's blood on their clothes.
“I’m telling you, Orange…” tide Jian said helplessly, “You’re too reckless. What if there’s some kind of curse on the corpse of the Dead Apostle Dinos?”
“But how can we analyze the situation inside without reaching in?” Orange said matter-of-factly. “And despite being a dinosaur, it possesses intelligence that rivals that of humans. Dinos’s brain is indeed extraordinary.”
In short, from the perspective of brain analysis alone, even though they have lost their intellect, it is still evident that before they became like this, the brains of these Dinos possessed functions no less than those of humans in the pan-human history.
"So you're saying it's due to external factors, meaning someone deliberately made it this way?" Morgan continued the previous topic.
“Yes, similar to the principle of the birth of Dead Apostles in Pan-Human History, it is not formed naturally, but rather caused by a higher level of life with this ability.” Orange stood up. “In other words, it should be that someone hunted Dinos in this Lostbelt, and these dinosaur humans were transformed into Dead Apostles after being sucked of blood.”
“Vampire…” Skadi mused, “Hinako Akuta…”
If we're talking about bloodsucking, it's essentially about vampire spirits that have gained a physical body.
However, although she can drink blood, she is not a vampire, nor does she have any issues with the urge to drink blood.
This is somewhat similar to Bavan Shi.
Therefore, it is more appropriate to regard them as beings like fairies.
“If that’s the case, then in the pan-human history, the pillar god Kamazot also drinks blood. The problem is… even if a god drinks blood, they wouldn’t create Dead Apostles.” Shiomi crossed her arms. “Or is there something special about Kamazot in the Lostbelt…”
"Just be careful anyway, and be extra cautious when you encounter enemies that can suck blood," Orange said.
Because she spoke up, everyone shifted their focus to him.
"Orange." tide Jian swallowed.
"Why are you making that face?" Orange asked.
“Your hand…” Morgan sighed.
"Ok?"
Orange looked down, raised her hand, and found that the blood standing on her hand was emanating a curse, corroding her body.
It seems that the sensation in the hand was numb, making it impossible to notice immediately.
"Sigh, just don't move around." Skadi patted her shoulder and held out her hand.
So Orange cooperated by extending her hand and watching Skadi and Morgan perform the antidote magic on her left and right, dispelling the curse and summoning water to wash her hands.
"I never thought even blood could contaminate the body. We really need to be careful." Orange looked at her hand, now completely healed. "This is a valuable lesson learned."
"Be more careful next time. What will we do if you become a Dead Apostle?" Shio scratched her head. "Are we supposed to kill you and then resurrect you?"
"Hmm?" Orange showed an interested expression. "Tianxi should have this kind of power. Now that you mention it, I want to experience it myself."
Orange, who takes life and death in stride, sees experiencing death as a rare and precious experience.
“I’m telling you…” tide Jian felt a little tired.
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