Chapter 257
Chapter 257
After revealing his inner thoughts, Tiotudo worked with Plu-El to come up with a plan . They had to somehow acquire the outsiders" help, and at the same time, convince their comrades that it was the right move .
Despite brainstorming, they failed to form a clear plan . Neither of the two could comprehend how the outsiders" society worked, and they didn"t know who was an ally and who was a foe . When they had made contact with the outsiders the first time, the worst possible outcome had occurred .
Just when their minds had stopped working, something favorable happened .
“Look at this, Plu-El!”
Tiotudo raised his Device .
“This is… . ”
Plu-El’s eyes turned round . One of the Gems mounted on Tiotudo"s Device started glowing . It was the copper-colored Gem .
“Yes! The Warrior Gem is awake . ”
The Warrior Gem was one of the special Gems alongside the Royal Gem and the Shaman Gem, and that same Warrior Gem was announcing its presence .
“It is as I had thought . The Royal Gem and the Shaman Gem awakening around the same time isn"t a coincidence . ”
“You were right . Congratulations . ”
Plu-El congratulated him, but she looked wry . Tiotudo had awakened his Warrior Gem, which had remained non-respondent over a very long period . It should be an occasion for a celebration, and being his friend, she was happy . Moreover, the might of their people had increased, and Tiotudo"s influence would grow amongst his people . He would be able to encourage others to join forces with the outsiders .
The scary part of this awakening was that it gave more credence to Tiotudo’s theory about the creature’s seal unraveling . Tiotudo knew it as well, so he wasn’t disappointed with Plu-El’s lackl.u.s.ter reaction .
Plu-El soon got rid of the bad aftertaste and focused her attention on the Gem .
“What ability does it have?”
“I only awakened its basic ability . ”
“Do you mean the Mental s.h.i.+eld?”
This power s.h.i.+elded the user from any negative influence on their mind .
“You have to quickly awaken the other abilities . That’ll give us some leeway . ”
“We have work to do . That’s more important than awakening my abilities . ”
“What work?”
“Our plan . ”
Plu-El scrunched up her face .
“Are you talking about the cooperation with the outsiders?”
“Yes . ”
“You"re rus.h.i.+ng this . ”
Plu-El said in a tense voice . The distrust of outsiders had taken a deep root within their people . Even if Plu-El and Tiotudo raised their voices at the same time, the probability of their comrades listening to them was slim . Rather, the move might buy enmity from their own people .
However, Tiotudo didn’t back down .
“We have no time . Magical energy is starting to leak out of the labyrinths . It"s proof that the unraveling of the seal has begun in earnest, and soon, their officers won’t be so pa.s.sive . We have to set up a cooperative system before that happens . It’ll increase our chance of victory by a little bit . ”
“Even if we try to convince them, how many would listen to us?”
“You"re missing the forest for the trees, Plu-El . ”
Tiotudo spoke in a low voice .
“The chances of us winning the fight against the creature is minuscule in the first place . ”
Plu-El had no response to that .
“Don’t worry . I have a plan . ”
Tiotudo spoke .
“We use the authority pa.s.sed down for generations amongst our people . ”
“What authority?”
“The descendants of the royal, the shaman, and the warrior families hold no sway over our people now . You, me, and Aruwen do not have much authority over our people . ”
In spite of that, some followed Aruwen . This remained true for Plu-El and Tiotudo too, but the number of their followers was tiny . Them being descendants of these important families didn’t earn much prestige .
“However, it"s an entirely different story if a real royal, shaman, and warrior show up . ”
Their people longed for the days of their past: the golden age of peace in their large kingdom . As they faced more adversities in their lives, the yearning only deepened . This yearning was what gave Aruwen, Plu-El, and Tiotudo a modic.u.m of power .
“Soyoung is the daughter of an outsider, yet she can somewhat live amongst us . It"s because your husband was one of the few outsiders who took our side . At the same time, you awakened the Shaman Gem and received the authority that came with being a shaman . You used this authority to s.h.i.+eld your daughter . ”
Plu-El didn’t deny Tiotudo’s a.s.sertions since it was all true .
“Yes . It also bought Soyoung much more hate . ”
Tiotudo didn’t deny it either . Plu-El possessed proof of the power they revered, yet she had a daughter of mixed blood . This colored the eyes of those around her when they viewed Soyoung .
“You can be the proof that the authority of old is still alive . Let’s break this down . You have the authority of the shaman . I awakened the Warrior Gem, so I have the authority of the warrior . If these two pillars join forces, we can create a once in a lifetime opportunity . ”
That opportunity was the opportunity to come in contact with outsiders .
“Moreover, Aruwen no longer has the authority to oppose our opinions . No, his opinion is worthless . He lost the Royal Gem, and the one who stole it awakened it . ”
Tiotudo stared straight into Plu-El’s eyes .
“You don’t have to do anything . I just want to borrow your authority as a shaman . I’ll carry out the plan, and if things go wrong, I’ll bear the responsibility . ”
Tiotudo"s eyes remained firm, and it was enough to make her want to trust him . He was blunt and wooden, and on top of that, he was the friend she trusted the most .
“Alright . I’ll trust you . However . . . ”
This time Plu-El spoke in no uncertain terms .
“Do not say that you’ll bear the responsibility by yourself . You might have overlooked it, but I’m the one who activated my special Gem first . I"ll not be pushed around like this . If we"re carrying this out, both of us will bear the responsibility . You got that?”
She winked at him . Tiotudo just silently looked at her for a while . He then smirked . It was a very rare smile from him .
“This is why I like you . ”
“Oh my! Are you trying to seduce a married woman? I’m sorry, but you aren’t my type . My only love is my husband . ”
“I was dumped even when I’m not even interested . That isn"t fair at all . ”
The two of them b.u.mped fists as they laughed for a long time .
“Let’s go do this . ”
“Alright . ”
They had to convince their comrades, so they moved to gather them . However, someone had already done what they went out to do .
“Hey! You"re finally here . ”
A familiar face was standing at the center of a crowd . Aruwen had shut himself inside his room for a long time, so he looked gaunt . However, his eyes were sharp .
‘This isn’t good . ’
Tiotudo didn’t know what was happening, but he knew it couldn"t be good . Plu-El had the same thought, and she frowned .
“I was planning on calling you guys here . You have excellent timing . ”
Aruwen pushed past his comrades as he approached the two of them . Unlike his rough outer appearance, his eyes were full of killing intent .
Tiotudo spoke in his usual tone of voice .
“Did you make peace with yourself?”
“Why would I make peace with myself?”
“I’m talking about you saying farewell to the Royal Gem . ”
All expressions from Aruwen’s face disappeared, and his eyes became empty as if they belonged to a dead person . Plu-El felt a physical aversion to him, so she took a step back .
Aruwen laughed as if the previous blank face had been a lie . However, the sound of his laughter gave away that it was forced .
“No way! It"s the treasure of our people . We can’t let that go away so easily, right? We have to get it back, and we had already decided to do that . ”
“About that… we should discuss our plans again—”
“Wait a moment . I received some very good news . ”
Aruwen stopped Plu-El from speaking . He then brought forward a short man who looked like a mouse .
Tiotudo and Plu-El felt a sense of crisis . This man was supposed to be monitoring the person who had the Royal Gem .
“Can you explain it to the two of them?”
“Understood . ”
The short man stood in front of Tiotudo and Plu-El and proudly spoke .
“Magical energy is leaking toward the city built by the outsiders . Of course, the monsters followed the magical energy . So the outsiders are sending patrols out of their city to kill the monsters . Our target is part of the patrol . ”
The faces of Tiotudo and Plu-El hardened; in contrast, Aruwen’s face brightened .
“You hear that? After we ambushed him, he hid in the city like a coward . But now, he has finally crawled out . We’ll never get a better chance . We have to kill him before he gets corrupted by the awakened Royal Gem . We have to kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d and recover the Royal Gem . ”
A faint trace of madness appeared in Aruwen’s eyes .
“Of course, you"re going to help me, right?”
***
Sungyoon took a stride . The combination of his enormous strength and the low gravity of the Moon allowed him to jump high .
‘It"s scary every time I try this . ’
Sungyoon glanced upward . He felt that the abyss of s.p.a.ce would pull him in, and he would disappear into the black sky . Fortunately, the gravity kept him bound to the Moon, and Sungyoon could look at his surroundings without worry . He used his excellent eyesight to aid in the search .
His gaze stopped somewhere in the distance .
“What do you see?”
Sungyoon heard Tim"s voice through the communication device installed in his helmet . He kept his eyes fixed on his target as he answered .
“I found one . I believe it"s a Troll . ”
“Is that so?”
Sungyoon pointed toward the troll . Tim pushed off the ground and his body also soared upward .
“You"re right . ”
While Tim was in ascent, Sungyoon approached the descent part of his jump . After landing on the ground, he approached Grace, who was holding a tablet displaying the terrain around Armstrong city .
“It"s around here . ”
Sungyoon took a stylus and drew a circle around the region where he saw the Troll . Tim soon rejoined the party .
“Let’s move . ”
Sungyoon’s party jumped across the surface of the Moon to the shallow crater where they had spotted the monster .
“I see it . ”
They caught sight of it .
‘Did it come out of there?’
Sungyoon saw a labyrinth entrance next to the Troll . The labyrinth was also marked on the map . It was a mid-rank labyrinth, and the party didn"t have much interest in it .
“I’ll kill it . ”
Tim accelerated, and his ax flashed when he reached the Troll .
Suh-guhk!
If there was air, that was the sound the attack would have made . The Troll’s head was lopped off way too easily .
Sungyoon, Emily, and Grace arrived after the Troll’s corpse turned into a moonstone .
“Here . ”
Tim handed over the moonstone to Sungyoon . When he was done, he looked up .
“Let me check if there are any monster—”
Tim stopped speaking . Sungyoon, Emily, and Grace looked toward the labyrinth . They had spotted some people coming out of it . The party knew them, but also didn’t know them .
“They came out again . ”
Tim spoke as he raised his s.h.i.+eld .
The group that had ambushed Sungyoon’s party not too long ago once again encircled them .