Chapter 185: This Is the Change Brought About by the Alchemy Revolution
Manaka Sajyou had obtained a portion of Mary's memories from the Distortion, giving her some understanding of Mary before she was sent to this world by the Distortion—which also made her quite averse to Mary.
When presenting the first three tokens of allegiance, Manaka Sajyou had been relatively calm, but upon mentioning Mary, she immediately began to vent.
"That person lives almost solely for the pursuit of amusement, yet in such a state, she possesses eyes capable of seeing through the present."
"Moreover, that person is the Merlin of our world. Though female, she might actually be even more... well, to put it bluntly, scummy than the Merlin of this world."
"After all, Merlin is essentially a Nightmare devoid of human emotions. They inherently understand very few emotions, with most of their feelings being simulated later in life."
"I suspect the Merlin of this world simulates humans, while the Merlin of our world might simulate Fairies."
"...The Fairies of our world are also somewhat different from those of yours. Based on what I saw in the memories swept over by the Distortion, the Fairies of our world are quite detestable as well."
Once Manaka Sajyou started talking about these matters, she hardly stopped.
At first, Mary had intended to intervene, but she soon realized she couldn't stop her at all, so she fell silent and cautiously observed Noah's reaction.
She had expected Noah to be shocked, to find it hard to believe, and had even considered the possibility that Noah might refute Manaka Sajyou—
But in reality, she found that Noah appeared surprisingly calm, seemingly not the least bit surprised, and occasionally even agreed with Manaka Sajyou, expressing that if such monsters truly existed, caution was indeed warranted.
Even after Manaka Sajyou had finished sharing everything she knew, and Noah had Vivian take her to the room prepared for her long ago, Noah still showed no sign of surprise.
This led Mary, after Manaka Sajyou had left, to tentatively call out to Noah in his mind.
"..."
Having just sent off Manaka Sajyou and planning to study the Holy Grail a bit, Noah suddenly heard Mary calling him and simply responded.
"What's wrong?"
"...Aren't you at all surprised by what Manaka Sajyou said?"
Hearing Mary's question, Noah shook his head with a smile.
"Rather than saying I'm not surprised at all, I'd say I was more surprised when I first met you—when it comes to a Merlin from another world, I thought you'd be the type to say something like, 'Are you surprised to see me? But I can understand, after all, suddenly meeting a beautiful girl so similar to the great mage Merlin, anyone would be surprised.'"
"Or perhaps introduce yourself as Merlin's sister or the Lady of Avalon... That would fit my impression of a feminized Merlin."
"But it's actually your current demeanor that surprises me."
Hearing Noah say this, Mary was momentarily at a loss for words.
After all, upon careful consideration, if she hadn't come to understand love due to the memories swept over from Manaka Sajyou by the Distortion, then she, or...
Perhaps, maybe, probably... could it really be like this?
Noah noticed that Mary had fallen silent, so he continued speaking.
"Plus, we've known each other for a while now, haven't we? During this time, we've been able to communicate anytime, never separated for a moment. Although I'm not someone skilled in schemes and strategies, when it comes to matters concerning you, I trust the experiences we've shared during our time together more than my own assumptions or others' opinions."
"Every time I made mistakes in the details of my plans, it was you and Morgan who helped fill in the gaps. Whenever I needed information, I relied on your Clairvoyance. Even when I wanted to slack off, I'd hand over the work to you... Others' impressions or evaluations of you have nothing to do with me, right?"
"Don't feel uneasy because of such things. Face your past, and believe in your present."
"At the very least, you can try to trust me, just as I trust you."
Noah...
Hearing Noah say this, Mary felt as if, for a moment, she had genuinely been moved.
It wasn't the gradually deepening affection born from understanding and companionship, but something more sudden, more direct, and more pure... This feeling left Mary feeling all tingly.
Fou, her Incarnation, buried its entire face in Noah's embrace, refusing to look at him.
Then, in Noah's consciousness, came a very faint voice from Mary.
"Mmm~"
Seeing Mary like this, Noah still found it quite novel.
But he didn't say anything at the moment, simply holding Fou and stroking its fur with one hand, as if comforting it.
Only after confirming that Mary's emotions had gradually calmed did he place Fou back on his lap, pat its head, and then begin studying the Holy Grail—or rather, the Third Magic.
If one seed was enough, then he would choose the Excalibur from the second volume's simulation—and this time, he would select the Excalibur from a parallel world to increase flexibility.
If having an extra seed would be more beneficial... then he would first ask Manaka Sajyou if she could create another Holy Grail by hand. If she could, he would still choose the Holy Sword; if not, he would consider other options.
Soon, Noah confirmed that indeed, one seed was enough.
Having more would be useless.
Then he opened the simulation page and set the item he could obtain in the second volume as the Excalibur from the world of Mary and Manaka Sajyou.
Now he had three Excaliburs.
If he included the Crown of the Gods, he would be able to unleash three consecutive full-power releases of Excalibur against anyone!
If facing a Star Enemy, with the Crown included, he could unleash three full-power releases, plus one pseudo-full-power release using the Crown as a cost—four in total!
With these four attacks, even against Crimson Moon, Noah felt he had a real chance to fight!
Thinking this, after obtaining the item reward from the second volume, Noah continued studying the Third Magic.
Meanwhile, Fou, placed beside him, lifted its head and looked at Noah.
The moment Mary thought about being held in Noah's arms just now, she faintly caught his scent once more... that clean, sun-like smell made her want to lean in close even now as she looked at him.
As this thought arose, she unconsciously crawled onto Noah's head, settling atop it.
At this moment, Mary felt she might never want to leave this spot.
But after having this thought, Mary also came to a realization.
Initially, she had stayed by Noah's side to freely investigate the Distortion and Manaka Sajyou, thinking she would return once she retrieved Excalibur.
But Manaka had been found, and Excalibur was now in Noah's hands.
And herself... how long had it been since she last investigated anything about the Distortion?
Mary couldn't quite remember herself.
So...
Had she actually harbored these current feelings since long ago?
Thinking this, Mary felt her face grow warm again.
She never knew she could be shy—and so easily at that!
With this realization, as she watched Noah intently studying the Third Magic, she finally clarified her true feelings—not simulated, but genuinely from her heart.
Therefore.
She decided not to return!
She would stay here forever!
Just as Noah had settled matters with Manaka Sajyou and Mary, over with the Huns, their forces had already encountered Altera!
They watched helplessly as the nearly twenty-meter-tall giant crushed their ranks with an all-destroying stance, declaring herself the new emperor sent by Rome—by Noah—and demanding their surrender.
After several attempted charges, the Huns essentially confirmed they stood no chance against this giant.
Their attacks were completely ineffective, while a single casual strike from her could effortlessly annihilate a large portion of their forces.
This situation directly extinguished their will to fight.
But they did not fall into despair.
After all...
"Damn giant, and emperor—don't think just because you have such power you can run rampant here! Our great king is the true Incarnation of Destruction, her strength is ten, a hundred times yours!"
"Even if you kill us all, you'll ultimately die beneath our king's sword!"
He shouted arrogantly, having already sent someone back to seek Attila's aid.
Hearing this, Altera simply sat down on the ground.
Her mission included capturing Attila alive.
Moreover, she felt somewhat concerned about how her Terminal was faring now—if she had to describe it, it was like a mother worrying about her daughter, or an elder sister caring for her younger sister.
As for devouring the other...
After nearly having her self erased by Velber, she considered such actions deeply wrong.
So now she waited, anticipating Attila's arrival.