Chapter 724 The Only “Path“
"Alina, you"ve been hounding Professor Frances about that battle for many times already. Can you just stop doing it and let her off?" Wisteria muttered behind the duo as she crossed her arms.
She was visibly upset from seeing the argument between the two women, and the impending fight between the two just jostled her mood more.
"And as for you Professor Frances, do you really have to act this smug? You may have saved Queen Mother from her abnormal state, but you also brought her to a near-death state. I don"t think that warrants you to be this confident."
Wisteria"s body language made it apparent that if she had the capability, she would already start separating both Alina and Professor Frances away from each other. Unfortunately for Wisteria, her power level is still not enough to make her a physical intermediary between the two.
So she can only resort to verbally rebuking the two women, which to her surprise, had actually worked here.
"You"re right, Wisteria. I should have not let my anger get the better of me. I should not have done something like this to my ally…." Alina shook her head with a sigh before she started pulling herself away from the professor. "Tsk, I must be able to control myself next time…
u003cHmph, if this were any other day Alina, I would be happy on making you realize your mistakes. But since today is an important day, I will reluctantly let you off. Do thank Wisteria for that.u003e Wisteria muttered as she mimicked Alina"s retreating motion.
u003cBecause it weren"t for Wisteria, I might be blasting you with my improved Soul Beam today….u003e
The professor moved in a manner that was as just as casual as Alina"s retreating movements, although her words were still as sharp as ever.
And these words slapped through the air as if they were stinging barbs, enough to stiffen even those who watched her.
Alina only casually flicked these words though, as if she was already used to them.
"Oh, so you"re saying that you can deal with me, Professor Frances? Hoho, I am curious to see on how you can do that…."
u003cIf you want, I will show how I can easily deal with you right now, Alina. The question is, are you brave enough to face me?u003e
Both women still retained their tense expressions as they moved back, but the gloomy atmosphere that surrounded the two had already disappeared.
Small smiles could even be seen on their faces, a slight indication that their moods could have already improved.
"I am having the great urge to make you eat your words, Professor Frances, but I won"t bite your bait. Don"t you remember what Wisteria said? We should be cooperating today instead of fighting like this."
u003c…You don"t need to tell it to me twice. I know that we have to be cooperating here. But don"t expect me to be amicable to you.u003e
"I don"t need you to be amicable to me, Professor Frances. Just following my instructions will be enough…"
u003cFollowing your instructions? Hmph, let"s see if these "instructions" of yours are worthy to be followed...u003e
"Oh, it is easy to be followed. You just need a brain and a body, two things that you fortunately have."
u003cIs that an insult or a compliment? Your cryptic words always don"t fail to confound me, Alina.u003e
"…."
The words uttered by the swordswoman and the mad scientist might still be provocative, but the nearby Wisteria began sighing in relief after hearing them.
After all, there are no more signs that the two will start fighting, and they seem to be acting like reluctant allies now.
This was leagues better compared to how the two women acted days ago, which for Wisteria is the best thing that she could wish right now.
"Sigh, I never expected these two women to be acting this badly after that fight. Well, I can see why they are this angry at each other." Wisteria thought to herself as she felt more and more relieved from the alleviating tension around her.
She also seemed to be feeling better at this time, and the sudden disappearance of her pale pallor just made it more apparent.
"But does this warrant them to be his angry? I don"t know, but I can understand why they are acting like this…."
The removal of the tension on her surroundings allowed Wisteria to think faster for herself, a state that brought her memories of the past week flas.h.i.+ng inside her head.
"After Alina and Astria got freed from the Pope"s spell, we immediately rushed towards the battle between Queen Mother and Professor Frances. There we saw the professor unleas.h.i.+ng one attack that almost brought Queen Mother to death. Fortunately for us, Queen Mother survived that ordeal, and she was able to return to her normal state…."
"Because of that "deadly" fight, Alina became incensed at Professor Frances, since the former thought that the latter was trying to kill Queen Mother. That is of course not true since Professor Frances had explained herself well."
"But Professor Frances did not sound apologetic even when she almost killed Queen Mother, and she had the audacity to act like she was a savior."
"Well, the professor did save Queen Mother, but I think it was just a fluke that her attack had helped the tree woman…"
"With that smugness, it"s no wonder that Alina became p.i.s.sed with Professor Frances. That led to an almost endless quarrel between the two, which up to this day, still had not abated."
"Sigh, even right before we entered the tunnel towards the Ancestral Tomb, these two women are still quarreling. But at least they are not close to fighting at this point, which is the best that I can wish for right now."
Her remembrance of the past made Wisteria pucker her lips in dissatisfaction, as she could still feel the frightening aura released by the two women in all of their arguments.
This frightening aura almost made it impossible for the two women to cooperate, but with the help of Wisteria and the a.s.sistance of the newly-recovered Queen Mother, the situation was still stable up to this day.
Speaking of Queen Mother…
"When I saw Queen Moher attacking Professor Frances 1 week ago, she looked like a monster who had no remorse for killing any living beings. That was seriously scary, and even now I could not help but s.h.i.+ver from remembering her face..."
Wisteria thought blankly as she moved her attention away from the arguing women, while also sneaking a small glance on Queen Mother, who stood unmoving on her spot.
"…"
The tree woman was silent up to this time, but her current silence was one that exuded tranquility and peace. It was unlike her silence before, which was like a pent-up volcano that was about to explode.
This contrast made Wisteria look at the tree woman in a disjointed manner, as she found it hard to relate the two different demeanors shown by Queen Mother.
"The one I saw before was a rabid tree woman, while the one I am seeing now is a lesbian tree who is busy checking out my a.s.s… Is this really the same woman who looked like she wanted to eat me before? I find this hard to believe…"
Since Queen Mother was busy on checking out her a.s.s and not thinking of eating her, Wisteria just allowed the latter to do what she wanted.
This was way better than becoming a food target, and quite frankly, Queen Mother was not the biggest problem for Wisteria right now.
Alina and Professor"s argument was also not Wisteria"s biggest issue, since it has been resolved already.
"Since the problem with Alina, Professor Frances, and Queen Mother had been dealt with, then it is time for us to face the main issue. Which is of course our excursion towards the Ancestral Tomb."
What plagues Wisteria"s mind right now was of course the issue of the Ancestral Tomb, the place that she and her allies were extremely interested on visiting.
"Sigh, with all the things that had happened for the last week, I thought that we won"t have the chance to even leave and visit the Ancestral Tomb…. But because of Alina"s perseverance and Alex"s nefarious deeds, here we are on the outskirts, waiting for our chance to leave."
"Now all that we have to do is wait, and see if our deal with the others had worked out…"
With a blank look on her face, Wisteria idly looked up to the skies, with her eyes slightly widening as she observed the ma.s.sive, gaping mouth that was hovering above her head.
This mouth was as large as a country, and it loomed over the four women like an asteroid that was about to hit the ground.
"Ugh, this mouth really looks disgusting… Is this the "path" that will lead us to our destination? It seems like Alex could be lying to us…"
Yes, Wisteria was looking at a gaping mouth right now, one that seemed to belong to a monster due to its large, crooked teeth and the countless infections that infested its entirety.
These infections had made it so that the whole mouth was manifesting an aura of decay, one which was enough to make even the hardy Professor Frances scrunch her nose in disgust.
"Ugh…"
Just these infections alone were enough to make the whole mouth a "no-entry" zone for anyone who saw it. Wisteria agrees with this notion fully, and there is no way in her life that she will even try to set her foot inside this mouth.
But the current Wisteria had no choice but step inside the mouth, as this monstrous ent.i.ty was the object that she and Alina had been looking for in the past week.
This object was actually the way towards the Ancestral Tomb, and there are no other possible objects that have the same properties!
""…"
The treasures that Alina had scoured from the Church of Wisdom were not able to give them a path towards the Ancestral Tomb.
Not even the ones that Wisteria detected with her scanner helped them out, and those gathered and researched by their helpers were of no use either…
It was only this disgusting mouth that can actually bring them to the Ancestral Tomb, and it appeared to be the only way there!
"Blergh. I think I am feeling sick just by looking at this mouth. And we have to enter it? Is this really the right "way"? What if Alex was just tricking us?"
Just the notion of stepping inside the disgusting mouth was already bad enough.
But there is something else that made it worse.
And that was the fact that it was not Alina or her allies who discovered this "path".
It was actually Alex who knew the entrance towards the Ancestral Tomb, and he offered this "path" to be used by Alina and the others for free.