---o---
A "maid" is a type of profession. The main duty is to manage household chores for an employer. The title may vary with the era, but the fundamental nature of the work remains the same. They can handle most of a family's domestic tasks.
"So, how about being my personal maid for a while?"
"After it's over, I'll teach you Demon-Man Forging."
These were the conditions the Immortal's husband had given her after learning she wanted to save her own world.
It was, by all accounts, an incredibly good deal.
To acquire the method of Eternal Destruction—a power that forces the universe to bend to one's will—in exchange for just a short stint as a maid was a blessing that couldn't simply be described as a pie falling from the sky.
Even when he later added the rather embarrassing task of warming up his quilt before he slept, it was still a heavenly windfall.
The true nature of this job is probably a gift from that lecherous Immortal as part of his pursuit of me, the girl thought, recalling the man's face. She was keenly aware that her work was in no way worth the so-called Demon-Man Forging method.
In exchange, she had to stay by his side until she officially received the Soul-Forging method.
That bastard...
Could it be that he only plans to give it to me after I've fallen for him?
Standing before the stove, the girl, whose fondness for the man was not particularly high, flipped through the instruction manual for the modern kitchen appliances, her heart feeling a little heavy.
Although the man's official line was that he would teach her the method to "reverse all of creation" after dealing with some Mithra from Persia...
When the time came, whether he would actually give it to her or not would depend entirely on his mood, wouldn't it?
The girl, who harbored doubts about whether he would deliver on his promise, recalled the man's utterly inscrutable demeanor, and a sense of anxiety welled up within her.
If he insisted on not giving it to her, she would be helpless. She would have to continue revolving around him, trying to find a way to coax the method of Eternal Destruction out of him.
If that was his plan, then he was simply being shameless!
Miss Stargazer couldn't help but stomp her foot.
---o---
In truth, Miss Stargazer's current worries were entirely groundless.
Regardless of her attitude towards him, Li Zihan fully intended to gift her a divine tool—perhaps even the Divine Sword of Salvation—and teach her the method of Eternal Destruction after he and Rama took down Mithra.
It might sound a bit like simping, and there was a chance that Miss Stargazer might just take the gifts and run.
That would be a classic case of drawing water with a bamboo basket—a completely fruitless endeavor.
But Li Zihan had his reasons for doing so.
The reason was simple.
Miss Stargazer was a total noob.
Judging by her performance so far, she was in no way capable of mastering the power of Eternal Destruction on her own.
The method of Eternal Destruction has four stages.
Derived from the Kabbalistic Tree of Life system, where the Tree grows downwards from the heavens and is divided into four worlds, these four worlds correspond to the four stages of Eternal Destruction.
First Stage • Activity (Assiah): By combining the user's soul with a Holy Relic, the user can wield a portion of the relic's power with their physical body.
For example, in Dies Irae, the protagonist Ren Fujii, at the Activity stage, could use a part of his Holy Relic's "Guillotine" ability, allowing him to cut objects without physical contact.
—However, while this stage can easily defeat ordinary people, it cannot be used for true "combat."
It's less about wielding the Holy Relic and more about being controlled by it. The probability of going berserk or self-destructing while at this stage is extremely high.
It was obvious that the still-immature Miss Stargazer would have immense difficulty overcoming this hurdle. When she inevitably failed, she would likely need a certain someone to rewind time and save the day.
Second Stage • Formation (Yetzirah): The stage where one materializes their Holy Relic as a weapon, transcending the limits of humanity to reach the realm of a superman.
—If the Holy Relic has devoured the souls of a hundred people, the user possesses the life force of a hundred people, literally becoming "a warrior worth a thousand." They transform into a demon-man that an ordinary person has absolutely no chance of defeating.
At this level, one was unlikely to be killed by their own Holy Relic.
However, to grow stronger, one needed to constantly devour souls. With every soul consumed, the impulse to kill would grow, and problems would inevitably arise sooner or later.
At that point, she would still need Li Zihan to save her.
Miss Stargazer was a good girl.
When choosing a partner, good girls are easily moved by things like genuine feelings, persistence, and companionship. Add to that the debt of having her life saved multiple times, and the probability of her not developing feelings was touchingly low.
Therefore, Li Zihan had no need to play dirty.
---o---
However, the current Miss Stargazer was unaware of the man's thoughts and was still lost in her anxious musings.
For now, though, there were other matters to attend to.
Her duties were only laundry, cooking, and playing music for him at night. Miss Stargazer stared at the densely packed instruction manual, her delicate little face a mask of woodenness.
Although Miss Kirie Kagarino had taken over the laundry, leaving her only with cooking, for Miss Stargazer, who had been pampered since birth, this was still a daunting task.
The reason wasn't just that she had never done something like this before.
There was also...
What the heck was all this stuff?
The imperial princess, who had once snuck into the imperial kitchens to watch the chefs cook, stared at the bizarre kitchenware, feeling a sense of bewilderment she had never known.
She had never cooked, but she had seen it done. She could probably copy the motions.
But—
How was she supposed to use these things?
Having just painstakingly peeled a potato and cut it into shreds (?), then chopped some green peppers, the girl's expression was one of deep conflict.
How on earth did these things work?
She had been fiddling with them since the afternoon and still had no clue how to operate them.
She couldn't help but glance out the window.
The evening sky wasn't dark but a brilliant blue. The mountains, bathed in the light of the setting sun, were tinged with a faint blush of red.
Clearly, it was getting late.
If she delayed any longer, dinner would become a midnight snack.
If she couldn't even handle cooking, the only things she would be good for were playing the zither and warming his bed.
If this continues, I'll probably end up as a servant-concubine.
Having absolutely no desire to become a servant-concubine, Miss Stargazer surveyed her surroundings, her gaze finally landing on a pot.
If I light a fire under this, I should be able to cook, right?
Feeling a surge of confidence, Miss Stargazer's eyes lit up. She took down a pot and propped it up with other kitchen utensils.
And then—
She began to chant an incantation to summon flames.
---o---
The sun gradually sank below the horizon, painting the entire sky. It was tinged with faint purple, or blazed red like fire, or glowed orange like maple leaves—a beautiful and magnificent sight.
And then—
The sky turned dark.
Soon, the city lights illuminated the urban sky.
On the roads, vehicles flowed like long dragons; at intersections, traffic lights flashed in an endless cycle. It was as if they were playing a symphony for the city's night.
Even though a tremendous amount of danger lurked within this city, on the whole, it remained a bustling metropolis.
However, this prosperity was built on the premise that the fear remained hidden. If the demons and ghosts lurking under the veil of night were to fully reveal themselves, could this prosperity continue?
It was a profound question.
But one that required no thought.
A meme is the unit of cultural information transmission, the process by which an idea, behavior, or style spreads from person to person.
The definition of a meme is still under debate due to the lack of a consistent, strict, and precise understanding of the units that constitute cultural transmission.
And the truth behind the Authority of the Eighth Herrscher—the Herrscher of Sentience—was memetic infection.
Upon seeing or speaking a word it had contaminated, a person's mind would be infected, and they would fall into a dreamscape under its control, eventually ceasing to breathe in their sleep.
Because he had consumed a part of Fenghuang Down, Li Zihan also possessed this Authority.
And because the civilization of the Type-Moon Earth—encompassing humans, Phantasmal Species, and gods—was far more developed than that of the Honkai Earth, his Authority, responsible for testing all races on that world, was far more precise than the Herrscher of Sentience from the Previous Era.
He could contaminate not only "words" but also "actions."
The moment he activated his Authority and contaminated "actions" like "cannibalism" or "vampirism," these intelligent monsters would fall into a deep sleep.
Someone with mental fortitude five times that of Kevin might have a chance of escaping the dreamscape. For everyone else who entered, the only outcome was to suffocate within the dream.
How long the so-called demons and ghosts could dance depended entirely on when Li Zihan felt like activating his Authority.
Li Zihan gazed at the distant night sky, then began to ponder another question.
What to eat for dinner tonight.
This was a problem that had plagued humanity for thousands of years.
Furthermore, it was a grand problem that neither the Authority of Sentience, the Authority of Erosion, nor the Authority of Reason could solve.
Evidently, Li Zihan too was lost in deep thought over it.
Dull Goose's hometown was Russia, and she had lived in Austria for years; she would clearly prefer European cuisine.
Fu Hua obviously liked Shenzhou cuisine, and with a relatively light palate.
Miss Stargazer also liked Shenzhou cuisine, but she had the typical palate of a child—she loved sweets and pastries.
The Black Princess was simple. As the undisputed King of Vampires, she would eat with relish as long as blood was added to her food.
The same applied to Kirie Kagarino.
But speaking of which, was it his imagination?
Kirie Kagarino hadn't drunk any blood these past few days, yet she seemed much more energetic than before.
A vampire of Altrouge's level would weaken without blood, so why was she completely fine?
The young man, not quite understanding this, fell into contemplation.
Whatever, I'll just check the past another day.
The young man, who had always possessed eyes that could see through the past, couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore.
Because of that strange thing called fate, he had chosen to pick up the Black Princess, who had been beaten half to death by Fu Hua. When Fu Hua returned, he was bound to get a beating for this.
He had to quickly cook something delicious to appease her. Otherwise, their "evening exercise" might turn into an exercise of fists meeting flesh.
With that thought, Li Zihan rolled up his sleeves and headed towards the kitchen.
And then—
Before his bewildered eyes, black smoke was billowing out of the kitchen.