Thank goodness I'm not your subordinate.
Thank goodness I originally descended in Fontaine.
These were the thoughts Ye silently held in response to Ei's words.
"Alright, let's be honest—what are you really here for?"
Well, it was painfully obvious that Ei hadn't believed a single word Ye had said.
With no other choice, Ye sighed and repeated, "Rest assured, I promise the final outcome will be good for you, and of course, good for me as well."
Hearing this, Ei's expression softened slightly. "Fine. Whatever you're here for, if I sense anything off, I'll just cut you down."
Though her words were a bit unreasonable, they also showed that she did trust Ye's promise to some extent. Ye couldn't help but feel a little moved.
See? See? People always say I'm full of lies, but if I were truly a liar, why would Ei believe me?
As expected of a god—she has discerning eyes and knows I'm an honest man who hates lying.
"Next is the final location. I'll accompany you."
Hearing this, Ei shot Ye another wary glance before nodding slightly.
"Fine."
Keeping an eye on him was better, after all.
As for Sen'emon, she was still mulling over Ye's earlier words.
"The final outcome will be good for everyone..."
But we'll set aside Sen'emon's thoughts for now.
In any case, with the addition of the Supreme Bishop of Fontaine to their ranks, the group—along with the god—headed to the last known location of the Riftwolves.
The Riftwolves: "..."
If they could speak, they would undoubtedly be cursing loudly at this overkill of an extermination squad.
But in a way, wasn't this also an honor?
Of course, Ye wasn't actually skilled in combat, so he mostly just spectated. The real work was done by Lumine and Ei, while Sen'emon—following Ei's silent cue—also refrained from acting, staying by Ye's side instead.
"How can I fight that Reinhard?"
Hearing Sen'emon's question, Ye tilted his head. "Eager to face him?"
Sen'emon smiled. "After all, you said that only by defeating him would I earn the right to challenge you again. I haven't read your novel yet—did you write Reinhard as incredibly powerful?"
"It's less about power and more that he's a monster like you."
"A monster?"
"His strength isn't defined by how strong he is now, but by how strong he can be—that's what you two have in common. Though, luckier than you, Reinhard isn't cursed by the heavens. Instead, he's the heavens' favored child."
"How enviable," Sen'emon sighed. "Why am I so hated by the heavens?"
I'm sorry, it's my fault. I shouldn't have kept this flaw in your character just to make you more compelling.
Ye was overwhelmed with guilt!
Back when he created Sen'emon as an alt, Ye had directly transplanted the Seventh's innate traits onto her—and the Seventh's talents came with a heavenly curse. Powerful? Absolutely. But doomed to die young? Also absolutely.
After much deliberation, Ye had decided not to remove this flaw, all for the sake of enriching her character.
Think about it: a pure "genius" born invincible versus a prodigy so extraordinary that she's cursed by the heavens, afflicted with millions of deadly viruses, never knowing when death might come—which one would players love more? Which would leave a deeper impression? Which would make them empathize with Sen'emon more?
The answer was obvious.
In fact, it was precisely because of this "cursed by heaven" trait that Sen'emon's popularity now rivaled Longhua's. Ye's creation of her hadn't been a loss, and without this trait, it would've been a straight-up deficit—her earned popularity wouldn't have made up for the cost of her creation.
So... everything about Sen'emon's current state was entirely Ye's fault!
Though that had been the plan all along, hearing Sen'emon say it now filled Ye with genuine remorse.
After all, while these alts were just "alts" in name, in another sense, they were also his children, right?
What kind of father treats his child like this?
With that in mind, Ye decided to give Sen'emon an opportunity.
"If you really want to duel Reinhard, I can arrange that."
Hearing this, Sen'emon cut straight to the point. "How? Are you going to create a world based on your novel?"
"That'd be too much trouble. It's easier to just send you directly into that novel's world."
Ye looked at Sen'emon and said softly:
"When the time comes, I'll send you away from this world—to the one where Reinhard exists."
With that, the topic was closed. Ye ended it with one final remark.
"Oh, and when you go, do me a favor and find a spirit named Beatrice. Give her my regards. Tell her—'Ye says, I miss you so much.'"
Strangely enough, whatever the "Master" had done, Ye's alts didn't seem to fall under the "gods'" gaze.
Meaning Sen'emon could leave this world.
That thought aside, Ye turned his mind to another matter—the current plot progression.
Logically, the Raiden Shogun should have been trying to log in by now.
In fact, she'd already attempted it earlier.
Yet, against all expectations, ever since Ye joined the party, the Raiden Shogun hadn't made another attempt to take over. Ei's actions had remained seamless.
Or perhaps it wasn't so unexpected—Ye had anticipated this.
The Raiden Shogun possessed self-awareness.
And her consciousness wasn't some mechanical executor of Ei's rules; she had her own thoughts, her own reasoning, no different from Scaramouche in that regard.
Earlier, she'd tried to log in because she sensed something amiss with Ei—she believed Ei was succumbing to erosion and wanted to stop her.
But now... under Ye's implicit threat, the Raiden Shogun had abandoned her insistence on confronting Ei immediately.
Well, while the lack of trust stung a little, it was a perfectly rational decision.
Ye understood.
So here was the question: if Ye had predicted this development, why had he chosen to appear now and disrupt the original plot progression?
Heh. The answer was simple.
He wanted to add some scenes for himself.
When it came to popularity, why let good opportunities go to waste?
All Chapter has been Translated
Sad News this is the last chapter the author has uploaded ¯\_(ツ)_/¯