Release that Witch

Hackzord opened a Distortion Door abruptly and sent both Silent Disaster and himself to Roland, as though having the intent of abducting him.

However, the G.o.d"s Punishment Witches formed a tight circle around Roland and activated an anti-magic area. Both sides were unrelenting, and just like that, daggers were drawn. If not for Lightning"s prompt relay of new information regarding the decrease in speed of the descending floating island, Serakkas might have unleashed her sword and resorted to blows.

This made Roland realize that although both parties were temporarily collaborating, they were not on the same page with regards to their interests—or in other words, aside from Valkries, they had not realized the true threat of G.o.d. Everything that they did were only for Nightmare Lord who was trapped within the Dream World.

Regardless of that, the stabilized Deity of G.o.ds meant that Celine had successfully gained control of the core and the disaster was averted.

Further reports brought in good news; no one in the First Army was lost, and only three sustained injuries during the fall. The antic.i.p.ated Spider Demons did not appear, and the Mad Demons that were under control did not break loose from the incident. Though a harrowing experience, they went through the entire operation without any mishaps.

Up till when Celine arrived before Roland did he realize that the situation was not as simple as it looked.

If it were any other time, she would be gesticulating with joy, recounting everything she had seen and heard while controlling the Deity of G.o.ds.

And reality was just as he had antic.i.p.ated, or more accurately, rather incredulous.

Mask had gone so far as to use the race"s parent body and magic power cores as a node and built up a "demon network" that spanned across the two large continents, and remotely activated the descent of the Deity of G.o.ds. And the crux to turning all of this around was actually the Ancient Witch that remained a thousand miles away—more accurately speaking, the Ancient Witches.

They were led by one of the Three Chiefs of the Union, Eleanor.

"She wants to meet me?" Roland asked.

"To be more precise, I hope that you"ll meet her." Celine voiced her worries. "Although she said she isn"t qualified to be one of the Three Chiefs, she did make great sacrifices and contributions for the Union. Everyone is aware of what she has done… It wasn"t easy for her to be able to see the light of day today, so I do not wish for her to disappear just like that."

"The Deity of G.o.ds can"t last much longer…" Roland mumbled to himself in thought. The Quest Society had confirmed that the obelisk would crumble without a G.o.d"s Stone. And with the Mother of Soul being the foundation of the entire building, it was bound to die as well. The only way to avoid this eventual outcome was to find a new source of magic power before it died.

He had never attempted such a thing before, and with his knowledge of the Mother of Soul being close to zero, it might had been possible if there was a timespan of a year or two. Roland then recalled that he had Valkries"s and Hackzord"s help, which was a factor that could alter the destined outcome.

"Your Majesty…"

"Relax," Roland consoled her. "She is the heroine that saved both Graycastle and the Kingdom of Dawn. Even if you didn"t mention it, I would have done all I can to keep her around."

Since there was no lack of feasible options technologically, the most important thing was to change Eleanor"s mindset, which, in a sense, shared the same principles as providing treatment. A person that harbored faith had a higher probability of surviving than one that had given up.

And Roland was confident that he would never lose when it came to sophistry.

…

On top the Deity of G.o.ds, Roland stood before the magic power core and nodded at Celine.

It was different from the Realm of Mind; Roland was unable to intrude like how a carrier did and required Celine as an intermediary to form a connection with Eleanor.

The latter extended her main tentacle into the core and, very quickly, a voice sounded inside his head.

"Let me guess, you must be the human king."

"Roland Wimbledon," he closed his eyes and replied in a relaxed manner. "It is our first time meeting each other, I am glad that you were able to free yourself from the central carrier, Eleanor of the Three Chiefs."

"A pity you can"t see the real me, I am but a hideous demon now."

"That is only temporary. Since your consciousness is able to be here, there will come a day when you can enter the Realm of Mind. There, not only will you be able to regain your former self, you will also be able to see your past comrades."

"The Dream World, huh… I have heard about it from Celine; it is indeed a fascinating place." Eleanor paused for a moment. "But she should have informed you that the G.o.d"s Stone mine in this city is close to exhaustion, I can"t wait till then."

"All that needs to be done is to change locations so that you can wait," Roland replied bluntly.

"What?"

"Neverwinter has a G.o.d"s Stone mine, I can s.h.i.+ft you there. The skills involved will indeed be troublesome; for example, how will you get out of the Red Mist Lake, and can we s.h.i.+ft you to Neverwinter with no Red Mist supply. But I believe that with careful preparations, it can be realized."

"But the price of doing so will be huge." It sounded as though Eleanor had chuckled. "Doing this doesn"t benefit you at all. Did Celine make you promise something?"

"Lady Eleanor, I did no such thing—" Celine tried to explain herself.

"What do you mean by it bringing no benefits!?" Roland interrupted her. "Your existence is extremely vital to humanity; it"s just that you have not realized that."

Eleanor was startled. "Extremely… vital?"

"Mask was able to use this "network" to gain control over the core instrument, and there is no doubt to that. The cores are obviously important tools to study magic power, and at present, you are the only one capable of expelling him. That itself is something extremely important." Roland spoke frankly. "Of course, that"s not the most important—"

He suddenly slowed down his speech and enunciated each and every word. "If humanity gains a similar floating island, the entire war situation will tilt in our favor!"

This time, even Celine was astounded.

"You want to build a Deity of G.o.ds?"

"Why can"t I? And we are not even beginning from zero; there is this perfectly tuned core instrument made by Mask here, with a suitable controller. All we are lacking is an obelisk." Roland shrugged. "But neither do I have the need such a large territory that can rise. A floating island of spanning about one to two kilometers is enough for large caliber bombers to take off and land, and even bring an army straight to the Bottomless Land. The prerequisite being you capable of grasping the structures of the magic power cores, and even use them with a new G.o.d"s Stone mine. I know it will not be easy, so even if it doesn"t succeed, I will not think of you as inferior to Mask either. At the very least, you would have tried it, don"t you think so?"

You don"t think that you"re qualified to be one of the Three Chiefs? That"s fine, I"ll give you a new goal. With this undisguised form of goading you on, and with such motivation, how are you going to reject me?

The voice in his head suddenly fell silent.

A long while later, Eleanor said with a sigh, "I understand now, what being "the most unsuitable King" means."

"Huh? What"s that?"

"No, I said nothing." The other party sounded as though she was free from a burden. "Just one thing, Mister Roland. You seemed to have made a mistake with the premise. Everything that you planned is based on the fact that you are able to s.h.i.+ft the Mother of Soul successfully. I know that it will not be easy; if it doesn"t succeed, I will not blame you either."

"Lady Eleanor—!" Celine squealed with joy.

"Of course." Roland smirked. "All of us have our respective responsibilities."

"Then quickly decide on the landing spot; this thing can"t last much longer."

"I"ve already thought about it." He looked southeast. Regardless of where the Deity of G.o.ds fell on, it would become a large obstruction, and only the large ocean could hold such a large inverted mountain. And if the landing spot was appropriate, it might even increase the land of Graycastle—a subsidiary island. "Drop it near Seawinds.h.i.+re."