After a brief conversation with Hector, Herta gained a basic understanding of the Flesh Gods in this world and learned the universally known fact that directly gazing upon an Evil God could very likely lead to corruption.
In an instant, she understood why Hector had nearly killed himself earlier. Clearly, he mistakenly believed he had been corrupted by an Evil God.
Herta felt a mixture of amusement and frustration. Honestly, explaining the situation would be nearly impossible. Hector was convinced she was an Evil God, so any attempt to reassure him—"I'm not an Evil God, and you haven't been corrupted by me"—would fall on deaf ears.
It was like a mental patient in an asylum insisting they weren't mentally ill. No matter how eloquently they argued, no one would believe them. In fact, the very act of trying to prove their sanity would be taken as further evidence of their condition.
Herta's predicament was even more complex. She had to convince someone who believed they were insane that they weren't. That was a truly daunting task.
Herta decided it wasn't worth the effort to explain. Rather than waste time and words, she resolved to find another local official like Hector to question for information. With that thought, she retrieved the Great Key, straddled it, and slowly levitated into the air.
Although the Great Key's primary function was still under development, Herta had added auxiliary features, such as manned flight.
She crossed her legs at the knee, her black-stockinged limbs intertwined, and steadied the brim of her wide-brimmed hat with one hand. To Hector and Eve, she exuded an aura of profound mystery, elegance, and power.
Then, Herta casually chose a direction and swiftly departed. The Herta Puppet had vanished without a trace. By the time Hector reacted, he realized the restraints on his body had disappeared, allowing him to move freely.
He stared at the small knife in his hand, hesitating over whether to resume his suicide attempt, when Eve rushed over and slapped the weapon from his grasp. "What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded.
The perspective shifted back to Herta. High above, the once all-encompassing dark clouds had parted, allowing a sliver of moonlight to spill down and illuminate her tea-colored hair, which swayed gently in the breeze.
Reviewing the information she had gathered so far, Herta first considered the Dimensional Rift itself. It had appeared because of the 'Key' she had invented, and the data used to create this Key was precisely the data from the Submarine Dimensional Rift in the Main World. This strongly suggested a connection between the two.
Secondly, Hector's earlier remarks revealed that a century ago, an Evil God called the Flesh God had torn apart the sky and descended from the Void. This was almost certainly caused by a Dimensional Rift, and it sounded like a Birth-type Rift.
If that were true, wouldn't the Dimensional Rift in this world have existed for a full century already? Herta frowned slightly. She had already ordered her Puppet to search the planet. Even without knowing the Evil God's exact location, given that it had conquered and corrupted an entire continent, surely circling the globe would eventually uncover its whereabouts.
This was also why Herta hadn't personally gone to search. While sitting sideways on the Key with her legs crossed might look cool, it wasn't exactly a practical mode of transportation. It was fine for the occasional stylish entrance, but circumnavigating the globe on this thing would leave her backside aching terribly.
Herta was currently soaring leisurely through the sky. She passed over a small town and several villages without stopping, sensing that these places wouldn't yield any useful information. Finally, after about twenty minutes, she spotted the silhouette of a city on the horizon.
Herta gradually lowered her altitude. As the city came into sharper focus, she immediately assessed the world's technological level: roughly equivalent to the early stages of the First Industrial Revolution. The kerosene street lamps and the flintlock rifles Hector and Eve had used earlier served as clear indicators.
While pondering this, Herta noticed a group of individuals in matching black uniforms gathering on the city's outskirts. They mounted their horses, apparently preparing to ride out. She recognized the black uniforms instantly—the same ones Hector and Eve had worn. Clearly, these men, like Hector, were officials of this world.
These were the reinforcements Hector had summoned, preparing to leave the city under cover of darkness. Their leader urged them on relentlessly:
"Final gear check!"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Time waits for no one! Every second we save could mean one less death!"
After a moment's contemplation, Herta descended to the ground a short distance ahead of the group. Normally, when entering a new world, the best approach would be to disguise oneself as a local and cautiously gather information bit by bit. While slower, this method was undeniably safer. However, given Herta's current capabilities, she saw no need for such elaborate pretenses. She cut straight to the chase: "Greetings. I'm from another world and new to this place. Would you mind telling me about it?"
To say this introduction was shocking would be an understatement.
The eight Secret Keepers, who had just finished preparing for their mission, froze in their tracks, staring at Herta as she descended from the sky.
The sheer absurdity of the situation naturally prompted immediate skepticism. It was like someone walking down the street suddenly claiming to be Qin Shi Huang, recently resurrected, and asking for $50 for a "Crazy Thursday" meal. Who would believe that?
Yet Herta sat cross-legged atop a bizarre key, floating mid-air in a way that defied skepticism. Her beauty was so otherworldly that she truly seemed not to belong to this realm.
Consider the earlier example: when you questioned Qin Shi Huang's identity, he conjured several terracotta soldiers out of thin air. Who wouldn't be dumbfounded by that?
The leader of the Eight Secret Keepers stammered, "A-another world?!"
Realizing that explaining dimensional rifts or her technological artifacts would be too complicated, Herta decided to give up entirely. "What's so strange about it?" she retorted. "If evil gods can cross into this world from other realms, why can't a witch from another world drop by for a visit?"
The explanation was almost too reasonable. The leader paused, then thought, "True. If we already have evil gods, what's so weird about an otherworldly witch showing up?"