Chapter: 643
In the embrace of the Fairy Queen, Joy touched down to the ground, collapsing to catch her breath.
She thought she had successfully cast the teleportation spell as her master taught, but why on earth did she land on a cloud!?
If it weren’t for the others, she would’ve nearly died! Imagining the scenery of her brief fall caused Joy to hug herself and shiver.
“For your first time, you did well. Joy.”
“Is that what you call doing well? If I had gone solo, I’d be planning that guy’s funeral now.”
As Lina shot back, Joy shrank her shoulders. But Erginius merely smiled and shook his head.
“Either way, the coordinates were spot-on. And no one was left behind either. To achieve this level on the first try, it’s nothing short of genius. You know that.”
In defense of his own experience of once falling in the middle of the ocean, Erginius caught Lina glancing at Joy, who sighed.
“I’m sorry. I was just irked and spat out unnecessary words.”
“Huh? Ah. No, I was indeed wrong.”
Lina awkwardly smiled at Joy’s apology while the Fairy Queen gasped in astonishment.
“Has Miss Lina always been this composed?”
“She was always fine. It’s just Lucy’s fragrance that tipped my sanity over the edge.”
“She should stand next to Lady Alrn like this all the time.”
“Then I wouldn’t even hear the insults. I prefer it when Lucy finds me repulsive.”
As Lina pouted, her mouth forming a long line, she suddenly stiffened, clicking her tongue and brushing her hair back.
“Queen, could you send a message through the fairies?”
“I already did. They are on their way here.”
No sooner had the Fairy Queen finished speaking than a giant tree appeared before them.
Having a persona of its own, the tree seemed to move its roots while noticing them and then vanished from sight.
Moments later, a top-hatted gentleman emerged from deep in the forest and bowed his head.
“It is an honor to meet you, revered ones. Encountering those spoken of only in legends is truly…”
The old gentleman attempted to greet respectfully but got interrupted by Lina.
“Let’s save the pleasantries for later. We have a more pressing issue at hand.”
“…What might that be, Miss Lina?”
“It’s about Lucy. You remember the child who saved you back then, right?”
“Please, go on. Though troublesome, she is still a lifesaver in my eyes.”
Having heard the events from the palace and Lucy’s message, the old gentleman pondered before shaking his head.
“I have no leads on her whereabouts. It seems the other old trees have also heard nothing.”
Erginius interjected upon hearing the old man’s answer.
“Can you talk to the other old trees?”
“Living for so many ages grants us a certain intellect and strength. With my powers, communicating over distances is entirely plausible.”
“And yet, you still have no clues.”
“There’s been no standout individual like her. And still, there’s no information at all. There must be no connection between her and the old trees.”
Despite the firm response, Erginius and his companions didn’t give up.
They relentlessly pressed for more details, trying to piece together some clues.
However, the more they asked, the clearer it became that the old tree had no ties to Lucy.
“Did that guy pass along incorrect information?”
“It seems the connection was off. Perhaps I misheard.”
“Not yet! Lucy brought up ‘old tree’ for a reason! She wouldn’t engage in meaningless actions!”
As each of them voiced their thoughts, Joy suddenly perked up with a realization.
“Wait! The Pope!”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward her large voice, but Joy was too busy expressing her thoughts to notice.
“Lucy must have relayed two pieces of information to us! Her location and the Pope’s intentions! If there’s no link to Lucy’s location, it has to be related to the Pope’s motives!”
Hearing Joy’s words, Erginius blinked in surprise before slowly turning toward the old gentleman.
“Is there an old tree that survived from the mythological era until now?”
Erginius didn’t expect a positive answer. No matter how long a tree lives, surely no ancient tree could endure hundreds of years of chaos.
But the old gentleman’s response was something completely different from what Erginius had envisioned, fulfilling his hopes.
“Yes, there is.”
The life of the tree was much denser than Erginius had imagined.
—
Previously, when I faced Lasha in the fallen castle, I managed to easily block her first attack, but not her second one.
With just one clash, she understood how I deflected her strike and then simply broke through my defense the next time.
After that, Lasha continued to pummel me with her attacks.
A boss able to adapt their strategies to counter the user’s tricks? What kind of crappy game is this!?
I cursed inwardly over and over again, but reality was far crueler and more merciless than any creation.
There was no option to abandon the game, escape, or restart from the beginning.
All I could do was to give my all in adjusting to the situation.
If everything isn’t in place, there won’t be a next time.
Since my opponent had no malice, I could hold back for now, but that wouldn’t last next time.
Next, I’ll be facing the Evil God Agra.
He’d genuinely try to kill me and erase my voice with his powers.
So, I must be able to respond in this way. For the sake of protecting everyone.
My body rose into the air with the shield, crashing into the wall.
Feeling a dull thud as I thumped to the ground, I forced myself to rise, my shaking hands pressed on the floor for support.
My vision blurred for a moment, but my body didn’t collapse.
For now, I can hold on. Under normal circumstances, fear would have consumed my mind, but I was still intact.
Was this the influence of obtaining the Hero skill?
“Sure does feel good to take a beating. If I had one more year, this would’ve been real fun.”
Barely steadying myself, I heard Lasha lightly speak while waving her hand.
There was no sign of fatigue, distress, or anger on her face. Only curiosity and slight pity.
Right now, I was nothing more than an inconvenience to Lasha.
“Still going, huh? Don’t die on me. I’ve got a problem if you do.”
That irritated me.
The grandfather heard my concerns about my timing before I asked Lasha for a match and said it was really just a matter of timing.
It’s about whether I can hold on until my opponent completely loses their rationality.
If I can provoke her with my Mesugaki skill, I’ll have the chance to toy with her freely. But if I end up smashed beforehand, then none of it matters.
[How about taking a breather? Even if you recover physically with Sacred Magic, the fatigue of your mind remains. You’ll break soon.]
‘Not yet!’
[Didn’t I say it earlier? You don’t need to dream of perfect defense. Just endure and minimize the damage!]
‘Exactly. I agree with what you said. But in this condition, it’s not enough.’
While it was true that Lasha was one of the strongest on the continent, I shouldn’t be this crushed.
At the very least, I needed to endure until her sanity slips away before discussing any future moves.
[I understand your anxiety, but rushing in fruitlessly isn’t going to work! You need to find improvements before trying various tests!]
‘Vision.’
[Vision?]
‘The most annoying factor is the vision.’
With the first-person view, the amount of information I received was far too little. The gap between me and my opponent made this issue feel even more pronounced.
I understood it was an unavoidable problem for a human with two eyes.
That makes total sense.
But still, from my accustomed third-person perspective, it felt extremely limiting.
[Vision, huh.]
‘Strength, size, techniques—things like those can’t be resolved right now.’
Yet the issue of vision was different. Changing from first to third-person would create dramatic changes.
It might take time to adjust, but with more information, countering the opponent would be way easier.
[Well, there’s a simple solution to that.]
‘Simple… you say?’
[Ask the fairies for help.]
The fairies formed a sort of colony centered around the Fairy Queen.
They never had any objections about sharing their sight. That was just a given for them.
“…Those bugs.”
– Lucy. Are you okay?
– They’re bad people!
– If we were in the forest, I would’ve taught them a lesson!
“I’m gonna give you a chance to help me out.”
After hearing my grandfather’s words, I suggested it, and they nodded eagerly.
While something like this would be impossible for regular humans, I was sure Lucy could manage it.
– Lucy’s more fairy-like than fairies!
– It might get a bit dizzy!
– I fainted at first!
Listening to the worried voices of the fairies, I closed my eyes.
The fairies placed their hands upon my head.
As pain threatened to shatter my skull, I bit my lip, prompting the fairies to draw back in haste.
“Stay still, you bugs! I was just starting to feel better; why are you panicking now?”
As I urged them not to leave, their hands returned to my head.
How long passed? Colors other than the black that had clouded my vision began to etch themselves into my sight.
The spectacle seen by others, rather than myself.
– Are you okay?
– Let me know if it’s too much.
“It’s delightful to know your disgusting gazes. Not bad at all.”
Objectively, it wasn’t a pleasant view.
It felt as if I might vomit from motion sickness at any moment.
However, I wasn’t about to give this up.
This was precisely the vision I desired and sought after.
“Let’s wrap it up, shall we? With this much, I’ve vented my frustrations enough, so it’s time to…”
“You really wanted someone to bother you this much?♡ Looks like you enjoyed it a lot?♡”
With a sly grin while raising my shield, Lasha’s eyes narrowed.
“Are you doing it again?”
“Be honest. You want me to hit you with my mace, don’t you?♡”
“Haha, but if I die, I won’t be responsible for it!”
“The dog’s barking makes no sense~♡”
Once again, Lasha charged at me.
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