Ch.140139. Journey (8)

# 139. Journey (8)

The second battle of Eden began about two weeks earlier than expected.

Those surprised by this sudden battle weren’t just the participants themselves.

The Persian Kingdom, which could be said to have no connection to that battle.

Even there, the battle became a major topic of conversation.

“It started earlier than scheduled.”

Princess Luna of the Persian Kingdom had always been interested in other races and the world outside her kingdom.

Her Highness was keeping a close eye on this battle as well.

Just like the previous one.

“Wow… there’s even a dragon…”

An unidentified flying object, the creation of the Persian Kingdom’s greatest inventor.

Luna was able to use this invention to watch events unfolding in that distant place from her current location.

And as she was watching the war with eyes full of interest, someone approached her.

“Luna, how is it going?”

The owner of that voice, Diamir Crystal.

Luna’s grandmother and the former queen of the Persian Kingdom.

Unlike Luna, Diamir had no interest in human affairs, but she did take an interest in this particular war.

“It’s really tight, so much that I can’t tell who will win. Would you like to watch together, Grandmother?”

“That’s alright. Let me know when the situation changes.”

She seemed interested only in the outcome of the war, not wanting to watch the process.

And she was also more concerned about something other than the war.

“More importantly, didn’t you say humans would be arriving soon?”

“Yes! They should arrive sometime today! If they know the way.”

Luna, excited about humans coming here, showed an even brighter expression than usual and was curious about the reason.

“But why are they coming?”

“That’s obvious, they’re coming to form an alliance.”

“An alliance suddenly? Even though they’ve been like that for hundreds of years, they’ve never asked us for an alliance.”

There had been countless wars before this one.

However, throughout its long history, the Kainis Empire had never received help from any country except the Orion Kingdom.

“And now they suddenly want an alliance with us?”

“This time is different. Do you know why the Demon King hasn’t engaged in battle for such a long time?”

“Because of the Emperor and Merlin?”

The Emperor of that era and Merlin had participated in many of those numerous battles, but Bael himself had not directly participated in combat very often.

You could count those occasions on your fingers.

“That’s right. He couldn’t win against those two unless he was on his home ground. And conversely, those two never invaded the Babylon Kingdom.”

“That’s true…”

“But now Merlin is nearing the end of his life.”

“Already?”

With Merlin’s magical power, he could live at least 500 more years at his age.

However, he had lived his life too intensely.

To the point where his body could no longer endure the fatigue.

“He’s been fighting like that since that age, so it can’t be helped.”

“If he dies, the Empire will certainly be in danger.”

“That’s why they’re asking for our help, and there must be other reasons too.”

From various perspectives, it was the right situation to ask for help.

And that alliance would bring many benefits to the Persian Kingdom as well.

“So we’ll… accept, right?”

Luna’s face showed quite a bit of anticipation, though she didn’t know why.

“Probably. There’s no reason not to.”

“Then does that mean we can travel to other countries too!?”

Luna was extremely excited, and Diamir smiled at her cute question and answered.

“If we form an alliance, it’s entirely possible.”

“Really!?”

“Of course.”

Hearing that answer, Luna was as delighted as a child receiving a birthday present.

“Are you that happy?”

“Of course! It means I can meet people my age!”

The Persian Kingdom is a country of elves and dwarves.

Elves and dwarves are quite few in number.

And among them, young individuals like Luna are even rarer.

“Didn’t you say you met someone before?”

“Yes, he’s the one who’s coming now. But he’s separated from the main group, so he’ll arrive a bit later.”

“Is he finding his way here well?”

“Yes.”

Despite being separated from the main group, Albert was finding the exact path to this place.

And Diamir found this fact puzzling.

“That’s strange…”

“What is?”

“If he’s separated from the main group, then he’s also separated from that elf, right?”

“Yes… Oh? Then how is he finding his way here?”

“That’s why I said it’s strange.”

Realizing this fact, Luna recalled what had happened before.

Especially the last words he had said to her.

-“I’m not rude enough to ignore a princess’s greeting.”-

Those words and the actions he was showing now.

They seemed incredibly strange.

“It really is… strange…”

“You should ask him later. It would be awkward for me to ask.”

With those words, Diamir left Luna’s room, and after confirming she was alone, Luna continued what she had been doing.

The image of Eden came into Luna’s view.

The battle was still ongoing in Eden.

“I think I’ve seen them before too…”

A priest engaging in close combat against demons and a warrior cutting down demons with just his bare hands.

These people showing such unbelievable feats were also children she had seen before.

“They’re incomparable to before…”

The uniquely rapid growth rate of humans.

Luna marveled at that tremendous speed of growth.

“I still only have one unique skill…”

Of course, the awakening methods for elves and humans are different.

Very different, but still, the speed was ridiculously fast.

“Then how much stronger has Albert become?”

Seeing how quickly they had grown, she became curious about how much Albert, who had been the strongest among them, had grown.

So she used the flying object circling around the Persian Kingdom to check on him, who was separated from the main group.

However, she couldn’t quite capture his image.

“Wait… that!”

Luna seemed startled by something circling near him.

She hurriedly gathered her weapon, which was like an extension of herself, and immediately rushed out of her room.

Luna, who had rushed out of her room in a hurry.

Diamir asked her:

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back quickly!”

***

A massive presence felt in the surroundings.

The direction of that presence was moving at an incredible speed.

As if it were surrounding us.

“Ridiculously fast.”

Normally, just running away would be enough, but that wouldn’t work with this creature.

Not only was its basic speed impressive, but it could also freely navigate the rough terrain, which made it even more formidable.

“We can’t escape.”

However, the woman and I accepted this fact calmly.

Even in this situation, she confidently followed the movement of that presence with her eyes and said:

“If we don’t run, that’s fine.”

“Can we… win?”

“With that thing, it should be enough.”

“It’s difficult against that creature. Just stopping its movement? And only temporarily.”

No matter how formidable the Abyss might be against living beings, that only applied to low-level monsters.

For a monster like the King Snake, as I mentioned earlier, it would only stop its movement temporarily.

“That’s enough, isn’t it?”

“Please block it well. It seems like I’m finally in the mood to do this.”

The ominous presence, having changed its mind, was now rapidly approaching us.

I prepared for battle against that presence.

-Woong!!-

Due to the characteristics of this place, I hadn’t activated [Mortal’s End] for a while, but this time I didn’t hold back on using the skill.

And I even summoned my sword in the form of a dagger.

‘This should make it more even.’

Agility raised to the highest level I could currently achieve.

Thanks to that, my body felt as light as a feather.

So light that the sword in my hand felt heavier.

‘Even so, you’re still inferior. At best, we might be equal.’

And since it was a somewhat developed specimen, there was no need to consider the other stats.

There would obviously be an overwhelming difference.

But looking at her expression, it seemed like I didn’t need to worry about that.

“Of course, just trust me.”

Along with her confident assurance, a strange creature appeared.

A life form in the shape of a snake, but too enormous to simply call it a snake.

That creature finally appeared before us.

-Ssssss!-

An even more massive form than the shed skin I had seen before, with fangs as thick as my forearm.

It was certainly a sight that would make an ordinary person lose their will to fight just by appearing.

I raised my sword, facing such a monster.

“Can you also block the poison?”

“I’ll try my best.”

A somewhat ambiguous answer.

However, since the poison was also created with magical power, she should be able to detect and block it.

Believing that, I recklessly charged toward the monster.