That gesture, which seemed to see right through her thoughts, made Amber's heart clench for a moment before quickly settling again.
Merlin made no attempt to hide his odd demeanor, and everyone turned their eyes toward Amber.
"I… don't wish to make an enemy of Tiamat," Amber said without hiding her feelings, speaking directly.
Her words drew puzzled looks from the others. As the Phoenix Celestial, guardian of human civilization in Shenzhou, even if she privately didn't want to oppose Tiamat, she shouldn't be voicing it now, of all times.
Amber knew her statement was out of character.
Yet her expression remained unchanged. Even if she didn't wish to fight Tiamat, her actions wouldn't change—no matter what, she stood on humanity's side.
Seeing this, Merlin spoke up, "After the Phoenix Celestial entered the underworld, she used the power of imaginary number space. This briefly synchronized her consciousness with Tiamat's. I believe something must have passed between them during that time."
Hearing this, the others understood.
No wonder Amber had seemed preoccupied during that period.
"But you have no intention of siding with Tiamat, correct?" Gilgamesh said. Though phrased as a question, his tone suggested he already knew the answer.
"Mm," Amber nodded. "I understand her thoughts and actions, but…"
No one was surprised by her response.
What Tiamat sought was not the destruction of human civilization itself, but the end of its current form, so she could birth it anew.
The Phoenix Celestial was a guardian of human civilization, yet the line between "the present" and "the future" was a shifting, uncertain thing.
Moreover, before Merlin spoke, Amber had shown no reluctance to fight. This proved that, despite her understanding, she had no intention of wavering in her stance—much like Ereshkigal before her.
Had Amber leaned toward Ereshkigal's side, the situation would have been entirely different.
They felt both exasperated and relieved—exasperated that the Phoenix Celestial was so deeply humane, yet relieved that Amber's stance remained firm.
Her heart was full of feeling, yet unshaken… Quetzalcoatl quickly reined in her wandering thoughts, forcing down the emotions that threatened to spill over.
Merlin chuckled lightly and said, "The Phoenix has already made her choice twice now. Facing a foe she understands, even sympathizes with, yet must oppose—that can't be easy, even for a Celestial. That's why I've made this proposal."
"Proposal?" Ritsuka thought of the Holy Grail Merlin mentioned earlier.
"Exactly. We're not suggesting Chaldea take the Grail and simply leave. Rather, we take it to weaken Tiamat. With that level of contribution, even if the Phoenix Celestial only plays a supporting role from then on and doesn't take part in the direct assault, I believe it would be enough to satisfy her conscience."
Merlin nodded, then looked at Amber. "What do you think?"
…I'll look from right here, thanks.
"If we're talking about someone who can resist the Chaos Tide and retrieve the Grail, the only one who comes to mind is the 'undying' Phoenix Celestial," Merlin explained.
"But as you know, that black mud doesn't so much kill as 'assimilate.' If anything goes wrong, we'd just be adding a powerful general to the enemy's ranks."
"Then why take the risk?" Quetzalcoatl looked at Merlin, puzzled.
Gilgamesh frowned as well, but as one who also possessed Clairvoyance, he understood—if Merlin proposed this, then the risk must be necessary.
"Because Tiamat is immortal. Even falling into the underworld won't change that," Merlin's usual easygoing expression turned serious.
"Her immortality isn't just due to Roman's paradox. It's because, as the mother of all life, the very origin of life, the concept of 'death' does not apply to her."
A shadow fell over everyone. So even the plan to lure Tiamat into the underworld wouldn't be enough to decide the battle?
"So that's why this proposal…" Everyone's brows furrowed deeply.
The proposal was clearly a workaround—a way to skip the hardest part.
With luck, it would weaken Tiamat enough for them to come up with another solution—sealing her in the underworld, perhaps, or banishing her back into imaginary number space. And if luck wasn't on their side, they could always take the Grail and retreat, leaving the problem to the Counter Force.
But the issue was…
"If Fu Hua ends up on the other side, wouldn't all hope be lost?" Ishtar frowned, pointing out what seemed like an overlooked detail.
But Gilgamesh replied, "There is still a way."
A shimmering golden portal appeared beside his hand, and an ornate golden dagger dropped into his grasp.
He held it out toward Amber. "If you feel you can't hold on, use this to stab yourself. It has a high chance of forcing your exit from the battlefield. But it's not a perfect solution. Whether to carry out this plan is your choice."
All eyes turned to her. Amber hesitated, then called out inwardly, 'Mr. Navigator, I remember we're supposed to go to another world after this, right? Do we have to defeat Tiamat to proceed?'
She hadn't decided whether to accept yet, but it didn't hurt to have an escape route ready. If the dagger didn't work, she could always ask the Navigator to teleport her away.
[When approval rating is sufficient, the host may proceed to the next world at any time,] the Navigator's flat, electronic voice replied.
Only then did Amber check her current approval rating.
'14,000?' How had it jumped so much?
[From Ereshkigal: 4,000. From Tiamat: 8,000. Secondary approval collection: 2,000.]
She remembered that repeated approval from the same character would drop significantly… but Tiamat had given her that much? This was the first time she'd received such a large amount.
'So how much approval is needed to go to the next world?'
[1,000,] the Navigator's voice remained even.
[Primary character approval in current world has been collected. Recommended duration of continued stay: 12%. Recommended priority for next world: 88%.]
'So… I could choose not to leave at all?' Amber asked curiously.
If that were the case, then she wasn't too keen on this proposal anymore.
[Possible. However, this world is a Singularity. Once the Holy Grail is retrieved, it will rapidly undergo Quantum Time-Lock correction and revert to proper human history.]
'Huh?' Amber was taken aback. 'Proper history?'
Wasn't this the Age of Gods? Though, this wasn't exactly the Age of Gods either—more like a reimagining of it. This was the Fate universe, after all.
[Chaldea will depart. Gilgamesh will die. Ishtar, Ereshkigal, Quetzalcoatl, Jaguar Man ,and Ana will return to the Throne of Heroes. Merlin will return to Avalon,] the Navigator outlined the future.
[Thereafter, history will proceed as originally recorded.]
In short… all the friends she'd made would be gone.
Amber felt a pang of sorrow. She had almost no friends in her real life. Was she to lose the ones she'd made here in less than a month?
Rather than endure farewells from everyone else… it would be better if she were the one to leave.
"I accept."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.