“It certainly was strange.”
With a peculiar expression, Ser opened his mouth while gazing at Hermila.
“From what I’ve silently listened to so far, Hermila’s plan is entirely to subjugate Valoran.”
“Well, that’s obvious… Ah, could it be…”
“Hm, I’m not sure whether we were mistaken or if Hermila intentionally kept this hidden… but it seems like that woman is just plain crazy.”
Ser, who had been looking at Hermila, turned to look at me.
“Did you understand, Noah?”
“W-What…? What about?”
What is it?
That we need bait?
Or that we’ll subjugate Valoran… what was it again.
“Um, since it seems you don’t understand, let this kind Ser explain it clearly for you.”
“Uh… Y-yes.”
“Noah, do you understand the difference between subjugating Valoran to protect Cartia and protecting Cartia by subjugating Valoran?”
“…Uh. I-I don’t really understand.”
What is he even talking about…? Isn’t it the same thing?
“Either way, both lead to the same result: Valoran gets subjugated, and Cartia doesn’t perish. But the processes are completely different. In the former, the priority is to protect Cartia. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“In the latter, the most important thing is the subjugation of Valoran.”
“Uh… th-that’s right?”
“Yes, that’s how it is. If you choose the former, you’ll aim to minimize damage in order to protect Cartia. Conversely, in the latter…”
Ser’s gaze shifted back to Hermila.
“They’ll do whatever it takes to subjugate Valoran.”
“Right. Yes. My plan is strictly to subjugate Valoran, excluding everything else.”
As if it were just natural.
As if that were the correct answer.
“So, any damage caused in the process will solely be my responsibility.”
Hermila, whose voice was soaked in strong conviction and deep madness, smiled sweetly.
“If you’re willing to take responsibility… that’s certainly something that cannot be disputed in this situation.”
“W-What… what crazy nonsense is this…?”
Rubia said with a voice tinged with anger and disdain.
“Sure, if I had tried to reject Noah too… I would’ve said I don’t care if he lives or dies. But… this is different, isn’t it? How is this any different from us killing him ourselves?”
“Rubia, we’re not killing the residents. Valoran is killing the residents.”
“That’s… well, yes, but…”
“Because of Erden’s surveillance, we cannot evacuate the residents. Of course, if I ordered everyone to leave right now, we could force them out. But doing that could only exacerbate the chaos and lead to even more deaths. If things go poorly, Erden might hasten Valoran’s summoning.”
Rubia’s face twisted at Ser’s horrifyingly rational words.
“Sacrificing a cow for the sake of the tribe. That doesn’t mean it’s a good method. To be frank, it’s terrible. But I believe it’s an unavoidable choice in the current situation.”
On the surface, it might seem okay, but Ser’s condition wasn’t good either.
A fierce heartbeat, blood rushing rapidly.
Occasional gritting of teeth and nails digging into skin.
“Well, if the residents are too pitiful, we could use adventurers or knights as bait. In that situation, they’d have to protect the village. I would have thought Hermila-dono would plan accordingly; am I right?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“Then let me ask just one thing. Is there a future in which Valoran can be subdued using humans as bait?”
“I’m sure there is.”
“…Is that so.”
After a deep sigh, Ser nodded and stretched out.
“I feel quite irritated. It’s been a long time since I felt this way.”
Rubia, who was chewing her lips, struggled to speak.
“…Then please tell me the reason. Why do we need bait?”
Hermila, still maintaining her calm demeanor, began drawing on the ground with a twig again.
“When Valoran spreads its wings, it will start releasing orbs made of magical energy. While that might sound normal, those orbs will chase nearby living creatures and not disappear until they kill their target. They are entities of magical energy with self-awareness.”
“Can’t I deal with it using my spirit?”
“No. It only chases humans.”
“Tsk.”
“…Then why can’t we evacuate all the residents and let them target us instead?”
Hermila shook her head.
“It’s impossible because the orbs have a wide detection range.”
In the newly drawn circle, dozens of points began to appear.
“The range covers about 30% of Cartia. It would be less damaging to gather the people together and limit the range.”
“In that case… how many will die?”
“I haven’t counted precisely since it happens too quickly, but roughly about one hundred fifty. So, every hour, we’ll need about two hundred.”
“Every hour…? Then… does that mean they’ll keep using that attack?”
“Yes. The orbs will be sent roughly every hour. Continuously until the subjugation ends.”
“Hahaha…”
Finally, Rubia let out a hollow laugh, drooping her head and wiping her face.
“…How many hours will it take? To subjugate.”
“The shortest time I’ve seen in the future was 52 hours.”
“Ah…”
After that, Rubia couldn’t open her mouth again, only sighing in self-contempt.
“When Valoran spreads its wings, it grows exponentially stronger. You can consider that the real subjugation battle begins at that point. It truly shows the extent of absurdity.”
That’s true.
Valoran until phase two isn’t all that hard to deal with.
Phase three of Valoran is considered the true raid’s beginning, making the previous battles seem easy.
Phase three Valoran…
Just as Hermila said, it fires guided missiles relentlessly and can hit you with attacks in just 0.2 seconds.
Besides those, there are also area attacks and various status-ailment curses that it conveniently forgets to use.
And… even one hit can drop your HP to 1 with a sync attack.
Er… what was the rhythm again?
Whoosh- Woosh- Whiz- Whiz! Whoosh- Whiz- Whoosh- Whiz- Whooooosh- Kaboom– Whiz, Whiz Kablamm!* something like that.
Anyway, if you endure and overcome all that… a more annoying and challenging phase four awaits.
Soaring through the sky like a pigeon, it conjures a wall of magical energy, and if you’re just half a second late, you’re sure to get hit, summoning forth the very words it absorbed into the air.
And then! If you manage to endure that!
The coveted phase five awaits!!!
In phase five, Valoran casts a death curse on a random player.
A curse that kills you just by grazing Valoran.
A ridiculous curse that would kill you even if you merely stepped on its pinky toe.
But, I… I!
I had no friends at all!
So I always received that curse!
Did I fail to kill it?
Of course not.
I!
Alone.
In just my underpants, set the record for the shortest time clear without getting hit.
In Valoran raids, I can confidently say that I’m the best.
So…
“Rubia.”
“Yes, Noah…”
“It’s going to be okay.”
I hugged Rubia’s cold body as tightly as I could.
“I’ll… take care of it all.”
“W-What?”
“Just trust me.”
Just a moment ago, I couldn’t stay still because I lacked certain information about Valoran.
That doesn’t mean I can say with 100% certainty now, but… I don’t want to see Rubia suffer like that anymore.
“Um, Noah, are you going mad now? Not a bad idea. In this case, let’s all break free from being monkeys and become humans.”
“…N-No, it’s not that at all.”
I stuck my tongue out at Ser and turned to Hermila.
“Hermila, I need a favor.”
“…What is it?”
“Please trust me.”
“Noah, in this situation—”
“I also trusted you, Hermila. So… if we’re friends… please trust me too.”
Hermila, who had been looking at me silently with a serious expression, sighed and spoke.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yes. You don’t need to endure it, Hermila. There’s no need to draw them to the central plaza… you don’t need to use people as bait.”
“I… don’t understand at all. You’ve never seen Valoran, yet how do you plan to solve this?”
“I don’t know Valoran, but…”
I lifted my right arm and waved the bracelet connected to Cartia.
“Ca-Cartia knows.”
I’m sorry, Cartia.
This… this was unavoidable.
Are you angry?
Are you annoyed?
Are you completely mad and incredulous?
Then come out and say it right now.
You’re not coming out?
You’re not going to come out?
Really?
Well then.
I’ll just do as I please.
The bad lady… the bad aunt will just stay quiet.
“So… please trust me.”
“That’s strange. No matter how much a hero who’s lived through the chaos of the era, you wouldn’t know about Valoran. Even if you did, I heard from Sirin that Cartia has mostly lost her past memories.”
“W-Well…”
“Noah, friends shouldn’t have secrets. Please tell me. Is there something you’re hiding?”
-What a cocky brat. Didn’t see you for a while, and now you’re just so brazen.
At that moment.
-Friends don’t lie to each other, and yet you’re the one lying; what’s your game here?
I heard Cartia’s voice mingled with laughter in my head.
-Tsk… Wondering about that in this situation? Well, okay. I don’t know what you want or what you know.
Then the bracelet started to tremble.
-I trust you, so I’ll help you this one time. You little brat.
Cartia appeared.
“C-Cartia?!”
“Ah, it’s been a while. Rubia.”
“It’s been a while, Cartia. By the way, didn’t you have something to take care of?”
“Ah, Ser, it’s been a while too. Take care? I did. I’m just shitting.”
Rubia and Ser’s faces turned pale in horror as they heard that.
Seeing their expressions, Cartia chuckled as she looked at Hermila.
“Then… are you Hermila?”
“Ar-Are you really Cartia…?”
“Yeah. I am Cartia. The one who banished Valoran into the rift back in the days when tigers used to smoke.”
Huh.
“Why? This brat isn’t treating me like an adult. Are you ignoring me? Huh? Don’t look at me like that?”
