Chapter 113 – EPISODE 113 – JOINING
The main forces of the east and west headed towards Snow Breeze Plain.
If they continued moving forward, the two sides would face each other three days from now.
Morale was very high on both sides.
The east had a great cause of saving the wild lands from the demon followers.
The wild G.o.ds were also with them, so their morale couldn’t be low.
“But we shall win.”
There was a reason why the morale of the west was high.
Since its first military expedition, the Angry Bull tribe had never been defeated.
Their wins and victories kept piling up like a mountain, giving confidence to the Angry Bull tribe but fear to the defeated and absorbed tribes.
“In the end, it’s a head-on fight.”
The pitched battle in Snow Breeze Plain would determine the fate of the wild lands.
“However…”
Haraken, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil’s Eye and the one in charge of the plan in the wild lands, suppressed his angry voice from coming out.
The reason was simple.
‘They were annihilated?’
The demonic humans and troops he had prepared to infiltrate and corrupt the eastern dragon veins were annihilated.
At first, he thought there was a problem with the Demon Record, because seven mid-ranking demonic humans suddenly disappeared, but it wasn’t that.
Seven mid-ranking demonic humans really died and disappeared.
‘There’s only one possibility.’
It was highly likely that the western troops who infiltrated the east by taking a detour to the south, ended up meeting eastern troops who also planned to infiltrate the west by going on a detour to the south too.
And there was one group which came to his mind when it came to infiltration.
‘Duo of Death.’
A duo of a man and a woman.
An evil witch of explosions who blew up anything that got in her way, and a coldblooded black-haired cultivator.
They got this information by combining the pieces of information left behind in the thoughts of the demonic humans who died, so they had no specific information about the Duo of Death, but it was clear that the two were the ones who defeated the mid-ranking demonic humans dispatched to the east.
‘And this infiltration group too.’
The eastern side must have also sent the Duo of Death as infiltrators, so they had annihilated the infiltrators dispatched from the west.
‘If it’s true…’
And if those two hit the rear of the west…
‘No, it’s not a problem.’
Haraken pondered for a moment but soon suppressed his thoughts and made up his mind.
The rear of the west was not empty.
Everything that was happening in the wild lands was for two goals, and one of those goals were a.s.signed to those who were left behind so that they could proceed with the ritual.
‘It will be to our advantage if there ever was a confrontation.’
The power of those who were left behind greatly exceeded that of a mid-ranking demonic human.
Even if the Duo of Death had interfered with everything in the east, they were clearly no match for those left behind in the west.
‘And there’s only two of them in the first place.’
The situation was different from the east where the duo had to find and kill the infiltrators.
What could only two people do in the vast west?
‘Yes, there’s only two of them.’
Even if they were strong, there were limits to what two people can do.
No, even if they took more people to infiltrate, what could they do? Were they going to contaminate the dragon veins like what the Devil’s Eye did?
‘Let’s focus on the head-on fight.’
If they destroyed the main forces of their enemy, everything would go according to plan.
Haraken regained his composure and covered the Demon Record.
He repeated again to himself.
“There is nothing you can do in the first place.”
At best, they would attack the logistics, but in main areas, ‘they’ were there. So it was okay. There was nothing the Duo of Death could do even if they infiltrated the west.
‘What I should focus on more is this.’
Haraken stroked his long white beard. He sharply looked at the east with his compound eyes like that of an insect.
***
The sleeping Cordelia, who was curled up on the bed and drooling, suddenly raised her upper body and shouted.
“Explosion!”
Her shout seemed like a response to something.
And Jude thought after he had entered the room at that perfect timing.
‘What the h.e.l.l were you dreaming of?’
What kind of dream did she had that made her talk in her sleep and shout ‘explosion’?
Jude had a hunch but decided not to think too much about it as he approached Cordelia.
“My princess, are you awake?”
At his gentle question, Cordelia replied by sniffing with her nose.
Because she smelled something delicious.
“Au… Aaa…”
Cordelia said in a blank voice as she sniffed and began stretching her arms. She seemed to have woken up.
“Eueueu…”
Cordelia’s waist bent like a bow as she did some stretching.
Instead of falling down, she leaned forward and said in a still sleepy voice.
“Jude? You’re there, right?”
She could smell Jude together with the delicious smell.
Despite catching his scent, Cordelia asked in confirmation because of her eyes.
“I’m here. Can you still not see?”
“Uh, my sight is worse than before…”
Cordelia’s blue eyes didn’t have any focus.
Jude frowned and replied.
“Melissa said that it’s a temporary disability caused by straining yourself. But all your external wounds have been perfectly healed, so you’ll recover in time.”
“That’s a relief.”
She was pretending to be calm, but she was also scared of the possibility that she wouldn’t be able to see permanently.
“But I can feel that something’s growing. If I become stronger than I am now, I think I’ll be able to use the Evil Eye of Paralysis without any difficulty.”
In the beginning, she had to make eye contact with the specific target in order to paralyze it, but now, she could paralyze anyone within her line of sight at the same time.
The duration of the paralysis was obviously shorter, and she lost her eyesight as a price, but her skill had clearly grown.
“Haa, even if I tell you not to overdo it, you wouldn’t listen.”
No, wasn’t it my fault in the first place that she overworked herself?
Jude sighed and sat in a chair next to Cordelia’s bed. He placed the tray he was carrying onto the bed.
“It smells good. What food is it?”
“It’s soup.”
Cordelia’s face brightened at Jude’s answer.
“Wow, I’m really hungry.”
She reflexively pat her stomach before her hands groped and touched the air.
She seemed to be looking for the tray and spoon, so Jude clicked his tongue and said as he grabbed Cordelia’s wrist.
“Stop, how are you supposed to do it if you can’t see it? I’ll feed you. Ah~”
“Eh?”
“I’ll be feeding you, so say ‘ah.’ Ah~”
Cordelia blinked at Jude’s words.
If it was the usual – no, if it was the Cordelia back then at Frost Anvil, she would have asked him to feed her and opened her mouth, but it was a little different now.
“I-I’m fine. I think I can eat it with my own hands?”
Why is he treating me like a kid?
“Okay, then don’t spill it.”
“I can do it.”
Cordelia said before she focused on her senses. Her eyes weren’t completely blind, so as soon as she grasped the position of the tray, she stretched her hand and grabbed the spoon. She then began eating the soup with good skills.
“How is it? Can you eat well?”
Being able to eat soup without spilling was not something a 17-year-old girl should be proud of, but he certainly found it admirable that she could do that despite being somewhat blind.
“Wow.”
Wouldn’t it be normal if something spills? This isn’t something that people usually train about.
While Jude was admiring her, Cordelia felt better and said with a smile.
“Hehe, you’re not the only one who’s good at moving your body, okay? I’m also good at moving my entire body.”
“Tsk, I should have tied your hands.”
“What?”
Jude pretended not to hear Cordelia’s question. With a look of regret, he put away the bib he had intentionally prepared before he spoke again.
“Now then, listen while you’re eating.”
“Wow, this is really delicious. Can I have another bowl?”
Cordelia continued to eat while Jude spoke. He replied that there were three more bowls before he returned to their main topic.
“First of all, we did a good job. Although the development room collapsed, we secured the core of the Snow Queen. There was no explosion, and the dragon vein was safe. Don’t be sad. We’d all be dead if it exploded, right?”
“No, I’m not sad. I was just a little disappointed.”
With a spoon in her mouth, Cordelia made a regretful expression, and Jude wondered how she ended up like that, but soon realized why.
‘Ah, she was originally like this.’
Because Yellow Storm wasn’t called a human disaster for no reason.
She had liked explosions and destruction in the first place.
“Why, why, why… Are you thinking of something strange right now?”
“No, I’m thinking about something nice and proper. Anyway, we have prevented the birth of Light Dragon Yalavaska, so one of the seven major calamities is gone. This may perhaps be the biggest b.u.t.terfly effect that we have ever done.”
“It’s quite unbelievable.”
If they hadn’t gone to the Sky Roof mountain range.
If they didn’t have the Phoenix’s feather.
“Everything led to this result. You can’t say that it’s all luck.”
The smiling Jude continued his words.
“Anyway, we got the Snow Queen’s core, right? Now that the development room is gone, we can’t just leave it alone in this place. So I’ve decided that we’ll take it.”
“That’s a good idea, but did Melissa agree?”
“Of course. Melissa even helped.”
Jude said and then lifted up the Moonlight that was under the bed.
“She implanted the Snow Queen’s core into the Moonlight.”
“Ah! That’s right. Moonlight has sockets.”
The sacred rod originally had socket holes for the purpose of strengthening it, but she was a bit uncertain if the core could be implanted there. However, the implant went more smoothly than she had thought.
‘Perhaps Moonlight was also made by Magellan’s high elves.’
In any case, the Snow Queen’s core was implanted into Moonlight, and as a result, the B-rank Moonlight was now reborn as an item with a minimum rank of A.
“Not S or SS?”
“Because the Snow Queen’s core is imperfect. We don’t know what’s going to happen if we use it at full power. But…if we find a way to stabilize it, you may be able to use the same power as Light Dragon Yalavaska one day.”
“Wooow.”
A wand with the same strength as Light Dragon Yalavaska, one of the seven major calamities.
“Is it mine?”
“Can I use it then?”
“Hehehe, I love it. It’s a powerup, powerup.”
It was nice that Jude got stronger, but the best thing was that she could become stronger too.
“Wow, the ice attribute was added, huh?”
“Because it’s the Snow Queen.”
The moon attribute, which could be called the basic attribute of Moonlight, was a good match with the ice attribute.
“I’ll be able to use ice magic.”
“You should study then.”
“Yes, teacher.”
Cordelia cheerfully responded as she put her spoon down and began to grope the sacred rod.
And at that perfect moment, Melissa entered the room.
“Is your body okay?”
“Melissa? Is that you, Melissa?”
Unlike Jude, Melissa had no smell because she had no substance.
When Cordelia asked as she looked in the direction of Melissa’s voice, Melissa nodded her head.
“Yes, it’s me.”
She warmly responded before standing next to Jude and asking in a low voice.
“Jude, have you told her?”
“No, I was about to do it now.”
“I will tell her then.”
“What are you talking about?”
The last one was Cordelia.
Melissa had a small smile before she spoke.
“I am very thankful to the two of you. Because of you two, we were able to avoid the worst.”
“Ah, that. Hehehe.”
Cordelia was weak to praises, so he cheeks quickly turned red.
“I’ve already told Jude, but I’ll guide you to a shortcut to cross the mountain range. It’s a pa.s.sage that my masters used.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, it’s a tunnel through the mountain, so you don’t have to go outside. You can also save a lot of time.”
“Wow, that’s the best. Thank you very much.”
Cordelia was more pleased in being able to avoid the murderous cold than the time being shortened.
“But Melissa.”
“Yes, Cordelia.”
“What will Melissa do now then?”
“Eh?”
“I mean, you said that the development room is gone.”
“Yes, it’s gone.”
“Then, there’s nothing for you to do now, right?”
Melissa was an artificial spirit that was created to manage the facility where the development room was located.
The reason for Melissa’s very existence was gone, so at Cordelia’s question, Melissa thought as she frowned and then replied with a slightly lonely voice.
“But I don’t know when my masters will return. I should tell them about what happened here when they come back…”
“You can write a letter.”
“Eh?”
“A letter, letter. I’m leaving because of and so on.”
Melissa blinked at Cordelia’s words.
Because she had never thought of that.
“I’m leaving…after leaving behind a letter?”
“Yes, wouldn’t that work? No, I mean, you’re leaving to find your masters, right?”
“Find them?”
“Yes, to find them. Jude and I will be going around the ruins of Magellan anyway. Then, wouldn’t it be possible to meet your masters there? We might also get clues there.”
Magellan’s high elves were beings with a transcendent lifespan.
And there were survivors of Magellan in Pleiades, though not as playable characters.
‘We met a few of them in the second half of the game.’
So wouldn’t it be nice if Melissa went with us?
Cordelia turned to Jude, and Jude understood what Cordelia wanted to say, despite her inability to communicate with her eyes. He nodded and added something more convincing.
“You don’t have to worry if it’s the way to go there. Moonlight has one more socket left. We can put Melissa’s core there.”
“Re-really? Can you do that?”
“Of course. And this is actually something I’d like to ask you to do. We need Melissa’s help in stabilizing the Snow Queen’s core.”
If she could really do that, they would be able to increase the output of the Snow Queen even more than now.
In other words, the Moonlight that had been upgraded to A rank would immediately be upgraded to A+ or S rank now.
“That’s the best thing to do. Come with us, Melissa. Will you be my spirit?”
As Jude and Cordelia persuaded her, Melissa struggled for a while before she nodded.
She didn’t like being alone anymore.
Moreover, as the two said, there was no reason for her to remain in this facility.
“Okay, I’ll come with you. I look forward to working with you.”
Melissa accepted, and Cordelia widely smiled. Her heart had ached when she thought of leaving Melissa in a place where there was no one.
And Jude smiled in a different way.
“Then Melissa, let’s clean up this place while you are out.”
“Eh? Clean up?”
“Yes, clean up.”
The items left in the storage room.
Jude and Cordelia also had a conscience. Therefore, they did not completely empty the treasure room of the wild fairies back then.
Even before they fought the guardian this time, they only took enough to take care of the guardian.
But things had changed.
They would now vacate the facility.
They were thinking of taking Melissa along as well.
“There’s no reason to leave it behind.”
Jude’s argument was persuasive, and Melissa unknowingly nodded.
And Cordelia thought.
‘He’s reliable.’
As expected of my Jude. He’s a first-cla.s.s groom, the best one you could ever have.
If it’s Jude, wouldn’t it be possible to bathe in the desert and drink orange juice full of ice?
And half a day later.
Jude and Cordelia eventually packed their luggage into the s.p.a.ce expansion bag they had and began their journey to the west again.
Their purpose was to blow up the contaminated dragon veins and cause confusion.
At first glance, it seemed to be a terrorist’s goal, but their actions were legal because they had the permission of the landlord.
“We have to pop it in a star shape.”
I’ll make it pretty when I blow it up.
Cordelia babbled as she moved while her rabbit tail shook, and the love-blind Jude didn’t say anything as he just stared.
And two days later again.
The first explosion that heralded the second and third ones had begun.