Chapter 132: Divine Power Advances Once More

“It really is a long way,” Wen Hui said. “I wonder how we managed to get here. We actually went straight from the southeastern side of Central City to the southwest. The distance from this city to Central City is even a little shorter than the distance from Maple City. I suppose that counts as the only good news.”

She tapped the three circles on the map, a faint note of puzzlement in her voice. Unless one could move through space, there was no way to travel such a vast distance so quickly.

“We were pulled here through a spatial rift.” Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s expression grew solemn. She thought again of that earlier “dream.” No, calling it a dream was no longer appropriate. It had been something that truly happened.

“Whatever the reason, our primary objective now is to reach Central City safely. Of course, we can’t forget the divine artifact either.” Wen Hui noticed the change in Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s expression but did not question her further. Instead, she flashed a bright smile and pointed toward Central City. “Heh.”

“Of course not. Let’s get some rest early tonight. Tomorrow we’ll find out exactly what that thing is. Once we’ve taken it, we’ll leave these ruins and head for Central City. Sister Jing and the others should have arrived by now, right? Uncle Feng and the captain are probably still on the way. We can’t let ourselves fall too far behind them.”

Seeing Wen Hui’s cheerful smile, the gloom in Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s heart scattered, and a smile appeared on her own face.

So I will become an evil god? What of it? Even if the me who became an evil god still protected Wen Hui in the end—protected that beautiful smile—then whether I am human or an evil god makes no difference. All I need to do is guard what I must and ought to guard.

Still, judging from what happened before, that transformation probably occurred when I was blinded by despair and hatred. If I avoid falling into that state in the future and keep myself optimistic at all times, perhaps it will never happen again. I must become stronger. I need greater power to protect everyone—and to protect myself.

After seeing Wen Hui’s bright smile, Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s thoughts became clear. The past was already behind her. From now on, she would focus on the future. She had failed to protect them before, but she would never lose them again.

Much later, Zhuang Xiaoyuan slowly opened her eyes after cultivating divine power. Feeling the golden nebula vortex spinning rapidly within her chest, she knew that she had advanced.

At last, she had reached the God-Descended Rank.

She extended her right hand, and a card with a black border and a blank white center appeared in her palm. Zhuang Xiaoyuan let out a quiet sigh of relief. After her previous dark transformation, she had truly feared that her abilities might have been affected and that she would be left with a black card she could no longer use. Fortunately, aside from the half-dark card that had appeared inside her body, there were no other abnormalities.

“Come on, random generation. I hope my luck won’t be too terrible this time.”

She had not chosen linked generation. The medium character required for it made her hesitate. Huang Xiaoyan’s world had few truly powerful individuals and was filled mostly with the weak, making it far too unstable.

In Yoshino’s world, most of the powerful beings were spirits—and every spirit could undergo inversion. Although Zhuang Xiaoyuan had already untangled the knot in her heart after her previous dark transformation, she still instinctively wanted to avoid them.

Chloe’s world belonged to a different timeline from Fate/stay night, and the heroic spirits in Chloe’s world were all in darkened states. Needless to say, there was also Artoria, who was herself a dark card.

In the end, Zhuang Xiaoyuan left everything to fate. Perhaps random generation would bring her an unexpected surprise.

A faint golden radiance shimmered as the rapidly shifting figure finally came to a stop. A girl appeared within the card, dressed in a white gown, tied with a red ribbon, and wearing a white hat. The unmistakable signs of her inhuman nature were plain to see.

A strange smile curled the corners of Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s lips.

“So I left everything to fate. It really was fate’s arrangement.”

She drew the new card into the Nebula Vortex, unable to calm the excitement surging through her heart. At last, she had obtained a card focused primarily on attack.

That was not to say the previous cards were weak. It was simply that, in terms of pure offensive power, they had all been somewhat lacking.

Huang Xiaoyan’s Five Thunder Orthodox Technique possessed formidable attack power, and after Zhuang Xiaoyuan advanced to the God-Descended Rank, its might would increase even further. However, the technique required a long preparation time, and using it at lower ranks brought aftereffects. Relatively speaking, Huang Xiaoyan’s greatest contributions came from the Celestial Eye and the Heaven-and-Earth Wonder Gourd.

Yoshino and Miku also possessed a certain degree of offensive power, but their abilities were mainly focused on control, defense, and support. In terms of pure attack power, they were genuinely unimpressive.

Chloe’s offensive ability was not weak, especially at range, and she also possessed transfer magecraft for rapid movement. However, close combat was unquestionably her weakness. Moreover, her ultimate technique had been unusable before, and judging from its nature, even reaching the God-Descended Rank might not be enough to activate it. Most importantly, because of the serious injuries she had suffered earlier, it remained unavailable.

As for darkened Artoria, a card that could not be used was not worth considering.

The card generated this time, however, granted its wielder an inhuman body, strength far beyond that of an ordinary person, speed imperceptible to the naked eye, and powerful regenerative abilities. She possessed long-range attacks as well as considerable close-combat strength.

Although Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s own rank limited the extent to which her power could be displayed, and one of her ultimate techniques remained sealed, the abilities currently available already made her somewhat stronger than the previous characters. Without the restriction of rank, she might even have been able to contend with darkened Artoria—or perhaps surpass her.

Still, her personality was another regrettable matter.

Whenever she thought of the girl’s temperament, Zhuang Xiaoyuan felt an urge to press a hand to her forehead and sigh. Could she have been cursed with some strange fate that allowed her to generate only characters with bizarre personalities?

First had come Erina Nakiri, a tsundere queen. Next was Huang Xiaoyan, a violent tomboy. After that came the timid and introverted Yoshino, the lily-scented Miku, and Chloe, whose personality resembled that of a mischievous little witch. Even Artoria, summoned in a darkened state, had changed from a serious, well-behaved girl into a cold and ruthless tyrant.

Amid her many wandering thoughts, Zhuang Xiaoyuan drifted unknowingly into a deep sleep. Whether her dreams were pleasant or not could probably be judged from the smile spread across her face.

She slept soundly through the night. The sun sank in the west and rose in the east, bringing with it another new day.

“Xiaohui, wake up. Xiaohui.”

Standing beside Wen Hui, Zhuang Xiaoyuan nudged her in an attempt to wake her. Even she found it difficult to disturb Wen Hui’s blissful sleeping face, but they really had to pay attention to the time. It was already past nine o’clock. No matter how happy someone looked in sleep, it was surely time to get up.

Zhuang Xiaoyuan did not want to lose another day because someone had overslept.

To be continued...

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