As knights following her, Phoenix resolved to grant them a set of Stigmata each. After all, she had no use for three- or four-star Stigmata herself, and they were merely taking up space in her inventory.
"About 10:30 at night..."
"Go to the King's room after bathing?"
Upon hearing Phoenix's words, Liliana and Erica immediately looked up at her, their troubled moods instantly forgotten.
"Do you have any questions?" Phoenix asked, looking at the two young girl knights before her. Their faces were now slightly flushed.
"N-no... we don't... we understand!" Liliana and Erica quickly responded.
"Right, 10:30... we'll be there," the two European girls said, recovering from their momentary confusion.
"Good. Go wash up yourselves! I need to clean up too," Phoenix nodded, turning to head back to her room. After the battle and sandstorm, she also felt the need to wash off.
Once Phoenix had left, Liliana and Erica hurried back to the room they'd been assigned, preparing to bathe.
As they parted, Erica winked at Liliana.
Liliana hesitated for a moment before giving a slight nod.
The little fox Higokumaru watched their movements from the side, her expression filled with suspicion. After a moment's thought, she turned and walked toward Phoenix's room.
-
Back in her room, Phoenix changed into pajamas and headed straight for the bathroom.
While washing up, she didn't waste time and began examining her newly acquired powers.
This time, Phoenix's luck wasn't particularly good. Despite defeating two Heretic Gods, she only obtained three powers.
She received two from Aphrodite and one from the Phoenix.
Aphrodite's two powers seemed promising. Phoenix hadn't gotten any of the goddess's useless abilities, but instead received two related to her divine functions.
Aphrodite was the supreme symbol of feminine physical beauty, a blend of grace and charm. All her actions and words were worthy of preservation and imitation.
When Aphrodite was born, the wind god Zephyr carried her gently to shore on a warm breeze. Pink and white roses drifted around her, while Pomona, the goddess of fruit trees, had prepared a red robe for her. The calm green sea and vast blue sky created a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere...
She was... the epitome of beauty.
The first power: [ Absolute Beauty ]
This was an auxiliary power. When activated, the user's attractiveness would multiply by several to dozens of times.
She would exude an overwhelming charm towards all living beings (including animals, plants, insects, and highly intelligent creatures). Anyone who saw her would be unable to harbor even a shred of hatred, and would instead feel an intense desire to approach her.
There was even a thirty percent chance that enemies who witnessed the user... would fall instantly in love.
Additionally... there was a permanent passive effect: Charm Amplification...
Phoenix looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She hadn't noticed before, but she seemed... significantly more beautiful now. This was even without activating the power. "This power is incredible... I'll be unstoppable when it comes to seducing women..."
But... did she even need to seduce women?
No, she didn't!
This power was kind of useless...
Then there was Aphrodite's second power. As the goddess of love, Aphrodite possessed the ability to make people fall in love.
The second ability was truly remarkable. Without any conditions, it could make someone of lesser power than the user fall in love with a person—or anything else.
This ability didn't just make people fall in love with others; it wasn't limited to humans.
For example, you could make an enemy fall in love with a pig, a tree, or even a rock.
[ Specified Love ]!
As long as the target's power didn't exceed the user's, this ability could force anyone to love a person, animal, or object.
However, such a ruthless ability naturally had limitations. It could only be used approximately once per week.
"This ability... is truly poisonous..." Phoenix couldn't help but remark. The ability was too domineering! Love was inherently unpredictable, yet now she possessed the power to forcibly control it.
"When leaving... this world, I must take this ability's optimization with me."
Phoenix made a solemn resolution. While other abilities could be left behind, this one she absolutely had to possess.
When someone annoyed her, she'd simply use this ability on them... Or if she took a liking to someone, she could make them fall in love with her. Simple! Direct! Brutal.
The perfect ability!
As for the final ability, it's quite a remarkable one—perhaps even the best ability of the undying phoenix!
The undying phoenix's ability: [ Rebirth Through Flames ]
[ Rebirth Through Flames ]: After death, the undying fire burns the deceased body. If the fire is not completely extinguished within one minute, the phoenix will immediately be reborn.
If the undying fire is extinguished at any point during the minute, the rebirth will fail.
The limitations were equally significant. Upon resurrection, his strength would only recover to 70% of its original level. Moreover, he could only use this ability once every month or so.
-
This summoning of Heretic Gods... had proven quite costly overall...
Summoning two Heretic Gods consumed 2,000 Crystals. Defeating the undying phoenix yielded 55 Crystals, while slaying Aphrodite produced 140 Crystals.
Then there were Aphrodite's two powers: Peerless Beauty valued at 280 Crystals, and Specified Love worth 560 Crystals.
The Rebirth Through Flames ability was priced at 390 Crystals.
When all the Crystals were added together, the total barely exceeded 1,000, falling short of the 2,000 spent.
Of course, this calculation isn't entirely accurate. Ai-chan must have deliberately undervalued these authority abilities. Their true worth far exceeds this paltry amount of Crystal. Phoenix estimates... Ai-chan has embezzled at least three-quarters of their value.
However... if these abilities can't be enhanced through Divine Protection, they'll be lost whenever using another Valkyrie's body.
Moreover, their effectiveness in other worlds remains unknown. Under these circumstances, it's better to sell them cheaply and optimize the most suitable abilities through Divine Protection.
Take the current [ Specified Love ] ability, for example. It's clearly worth enhancing - an utterly unreasonable power.