"Old Timer!? What the hell is going on here!?"
The moment Fu Hua returned to the surface, before anyone else could even speak to her or share the joy of victory, the voice of the Herrscher of Sentience, brimming with confusion and irritation, rang out.
As the Herrscher of Sentience, she knew exactly what was happening with Fu Hua's current condition.
If Amber were present, Fu Hua shouldn't be the one in control of the body right now. But forget being in control—Amber's consciousness had completely vanished.
Though she'd only known Amber for a few days, bonds weren't something you measured by time.
It was one of those instant connections. How a relationship would develop could often be guessed from the very first meeting.
Having someone who understood her and trusted her unconditionally was a comfortable presence for Fu Hua. For the Herrscher of Sentience, it was even more so.
Amber's personality and temper suited her quite well.
She wasn't exactly fond of being called 'Little Senti' or whatever, but as the magnificent Herrscher of Sentience, she could certainly tolerate a little brat's willfulness.
In fact, she was actually rather pleased that Amber could interact with her so freely and without reservations.
Tiamat had never been a concern in her eyes, so she hadn't taken this so-called final battle seriously at all. Yet, she never expected that in the brief moment she looked away, Amber would end up in such dire straits.
"...It was my error."
Fu Hua had no excuses. This was the result of her own carelessness.
The others watched the exchange between the two with confusion. Gilgamesh frowned as he observed Fu Hua, who now clearly seemed less than human.
[A/N: Don't everyone get hung up on why there's Divinity now. I mentioned it before in the story—Mesopotamia is different from other places. It's not about whether you want to be a god or not. You can't just choose to be one, nor can you simply refuse. Anywhere else, Fu Hua wouldn't have this Divinity, but in this land, whether you want it or not, you're stuck with it. Neither Little Senti nor Fu Hua have any interest in being gods, but the rules are the rules.]
The situation between the two quickly dampened the celebratory mood.
"Sorry, Am— I have other matters to attend to. I'm afraid I cannot stay to say my goodbyes."
Fu Hua initially wanted to explain that they weren't the same person, but remembering Amber's persistent role-playing, she ultimately held her tongue.
She felt that Amber deserved to have her name remembered, but if doing so would only cause Amber distress, then it was better left unsaid.
The Herrscher of Sentience shot Fu Hua a puzzled look.
The Old Timer didn't say anything? Normally, she'd just lay it all out plainly, wouldn't she?
But seeing her suddenly become so cautious was rather amusing in its own right. As her anger subsided, she realized that while Amber was in trouble, it probably wasn't hopeless. If she could be saved, then of course she'd lend a hand.
"I'm going with the Old Timer. You all can hold your victory celebration, basking in gratitude for the magnificent Lady Herrscher of Sentience!"
With a grand wave of her hand, the Herrscher of Sentience followed Fu Hua.
"...?"
Three of the biggest contributors had left. Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Sentience had vanished without a trace, and the Old Man of the Mountain had slipped away without a word.
The excited mood among the others cooled considerably. But… fine. They'd meet again someday. For now, celebrating this hard-won victory was the priority.
Meanwhile, Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Sentience arrived at a lifeless mountain valley peak. With Fu Hua's permission, they both entered the space of the Fenghuang Down.
"She's been corrupted by that black mud?"
Seeing Amber's condition firsthand, the Herrscher of Sentience immediately understood.
"Amber's situation isn't critical, but it's far from good."
Fu Hua frowned as she explained. "We both have mastery over consciousness. Let's first help stabilize Amber's spiritual core and try to awaken her consciousness."
The Herrscher of Sentience looked deeper into the Fenghuang Down, where a formless, black mass of consciousness writhed, radiating pure violence and malice.
Just looking at it was enough to make one uneasy. She frowned. "You didn't dispose of this thing?"
"...The situation was urgent. I had to eliminate the threat quickly to free up time to tend to Amber's consciousness. Besides, this particular consciousness isn't so easily dealt with."
In short, she hadn't had time to deal with it.
But now that things were settled, she added, "Amber's condition isn't an emergency. Let's deal with this consciousness first, to prevent any potential complications."
"Not so fast."
However, the usually impulsive Herrscher of Sentience suddenly grew thoughtful. Her eyes shifted to the unconscious Amber, then back to Fu Hua with a playful glint.
"You know, Old Timer, I've had this thought since I showed up. Don't you think our Amber here strongly resembles someone?"
"?"
Fu Hua pondered but came up blank. In theory, their memories were nearly identical, differing only by the year or two since the Herrscher of Sentience's birth.
Finding no answer in her memories, she simply asked, "Who?"
"Seele!"
The Herrscher of Sentience wore an expression that said 'how could you miss that?' "I've been meaning to say it. Don't you think if you just changed her hair color to blue, her eyes to blue, and gave her a short haircut or something, she'd be the spitting image of Seele?"
"Well…"
Fu Hua had little basis for comparison. "I've never met Seele in person, only seen the '2D' version from Amber's memories… So I really can't say if they look alike or not."
"Ah, right."
The Herrscher of Sentience remembered this and nodded helplessly. "Fair enough."
But she quickly moved on to her next idea. "So, since she looks so much like Seele anyway, wouldn't it be fun if she had an interesting second personality too!"
"..."
Her words reminded Fu Hua of a term from Amber's memories. "Don't tell me you plan to treat that consciousness as some sort of substitute for the other Seele. They are fundamentally different."
"Substitute? What do you take me for?!"
The Herrscher of Sentience was indignant. "I just think that Seele is interesting, what are you even implying? Besides, that consciousness hasn't fully formed yet. In other words, it hasn't even been born. Are you really going to erase it just like that?"
Finally, Fu Hua understood.
The Herrscher of Sentience was feeling merciful.
It was true. While this mass of consciousness had harmed Amber, it wasn't the true culprit.
Moreover, stained with Amber's 'colors,' one could almost say it was another consciousness born from Amber herself. This was different from the Herrscher of Sentience's origin, but there were similarities.
"If we can ensure it poses no threat to Amber, then I have no objections."
Fu Hua nodded.
"Don't you trust me? We're both masters of consciousness. If anything happens, couldn't we just suppress it?"
The Herrscher of Sentience laughed, confidently thumping her chest.
And so, within the Fenghuang Down, the two began their work, dividing the tasks of nurturing the two consciousnesses.
--+--
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.