Chapter 126 – Crossroads (5)

“It certainly is strange.”

Serr, who had been observing Hermilla with a perplexed expression, finally spoke.

“From what I’ve heard so far, your plan, Hermilla, focuses entirely on subduing Baloran.”

“That’s only natural… Ah, unless…”

“Hmm. I’m not sure if we were mistaken, or if you were intentionally hiding this… but frankly, it seems like you’ve gone mad.”

Serr shifted her gaze from Hermilla to me.

“Noah, do you understand?”

“Wh-What…?”

What?

That we need bait?

Or that we need to subdue Baloran to… what was it again?

“Hmm, since you don’t seem to understand, this kind Serr will explain it clearly for you.”

“Uh… yes.”

“Noah. Do you understand the difference between subduing Baloran to protect Cartia, and protecting Cartia by subduing Baloran?”

“…Huh? I… I don’t know.”

What’s she talking about…?

Isn’t it the same thing?

“The outcome is the same either way. Baloran is subdued, and Cartia isn’t destroyed. But the process is entirely different. In the former, the priority is protecting Cartia. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“In the latter, the priority is subduing Baloran.”

“Uh… W-Well, yeah?”

“Yes, that’s right. If we choose the former, we’ll minimize casualties to protect Cartia. Conversely, the latter…”

Serr’s gaze returned to Hermilla.

“…will do anything to subdue Baloran.”

“Yes. That’s correct. My plan excludes everything else; it’s solely focused on subduing Baloran.”

Hermilla spoke as if it were obvious, as if it were the only right answer.

“Therefore, I will bear full responsibility for any casualties that occur in the process.”

Hermilla answered in a voice laced with unshakeable conviction and a deep madness, then smiled sweetly.

“If you’re willing to take responsibility… then there’s nothing to argue with, given the current situation.”

“Huh…? What… What kind of crazy talk is that…?”

Rubia’s voice dripped with anger and contempt.

“No, look. I said I wouldn’t care if Noah was ostracized… whether she lived or died. But… but this is different! How is this any different from killing them ourselves?”

“Rubia, we are not killing the residents. Baloran is.”

“That’s… That’s true, but…”

“We can’t evacuate the residents because of Erden’s surveillance. Of course, if we rushed in right now and told everyone to leave, we could probably drive them out. But that would only increase the chaos and could lead to even more deaths. In the worst-case scenario, Erden might even accelerate Baloran’s summoning.”

Rubia’s face crumpled at Serr’s terrifyingly rational words.

“Sacrificing the few to save the many. I’m not saying this is a good method. To be honest, it’s utterly fucked up. But in the current situation, I think it’s a necessary choice.”

Though outwardly calm, Serr wasn’t in a good state either. Her heart hammered against her ribs, blood rushing through her veins. She intermittently ground her teeth, her fingernails digging into her palms.

“Well, if you feel too bad for the residents, we could use the adventurers and knights as bait. If things get to that point, they’ll be obligated to protect the town. Hermilla, I imagine you’ve planned for that possibility, correct?”

“Yes. Precisely.”

“Then I have one question. Does a future exist where Baloran is subdued using humans as bait?”

“It certainly does.”

“…I see.”

Serr let out a deep sigh, nodding and stretching.

“This feels incredibly fucked up. It’s been a… long time since I’ve felt this shitty.”

Rubia chewed her lip, then spoke with difficulty.

“…Then at least tell us why we need bait.”

Still wearing a serene expression, Hermilla picked up another twig and began drawing on the ground again.

“When Baloran spreads its wings, it starts releasing orbs of magi. It might sound simple, but these orbs are sentient clusters of magi that chase living beings until they die. They don’t disappear until then.”

“Can’t your spirits handle them?”

“No. They only seem to target humans.”

“Tsk.”

“…Then couldn’t we evacuate all the residents and use ourselves as targets?”

Hermilla shook her head.

“The orbs have a wide detection range, making that impossible.”

Dozens of dots appeared inside the newly drawn circle.

“The range covers roughly thirty percent of Cartia. It would be less damaging to gather everyone in one place and limit the affected area.”

“Then… how many people will die?”

“It happens so quickly it’s hard to get an exact count, but roughly one hundred and fifty. So, we’ll need about two hundred people every hour.”

“Every hour…? Does that mean… it keeps using that attack?”

“Yes. It fires the orbs roughly every hour. Continuously, until it’s subdued.”

“Ha… Haha…”

Rubia let out a hollow laugh, then lowered her head and covered her face with her hands.

“…How long will it take? To subdue it?”

“The shortest time I witnessed in the future was fifty-two hours.”

“Ah…”

Rubia fell silent, only releasing self-deprecating sighs.

“Baloran grows exponentially stronger once it spreads its wings. That’s when the true subjugation begins. It’s truly… the epitome of absurdity.”

She was right. Baloran isn’t difficult to deal with up to Phase 2. Phase 3 is when the real raid begins; the previous battles are comparatively easy.

Phase 3 Baloran, just like Hermilla said, fires those homing missiles constantly. There are also attacks that hit within 0.2 seconds. Besides those, there are the AoE attacks it uses every so often, and various status-effect curses.

And… the off-beat attack that leaves you with 1 HP even if you only get hit once. Uh… what was that rhythm again? Swoosh— Whoosh— Whiz— Whiz! Whoosh— Whiz— Swoosh— Whiz— Whooooosh— Boom— Whiz, Whiz, Boom! or something like that.

Anyway, if you somehow endure all that, then… the even more annoying and difficult Phase 4 awaits.

It flies around like a pigeon, constantly creating unavoidable walls of magi that you can only dodge if you react within 0.5 seconds, and even summons the horses it absorbed, making them appear out of thin air with a pop.

And then, if you still somehow manage to survive that…

The grand finale, Phase 5, awaits!!

Phase 5 Baloran casts an instant death curse on a random player. A curse that kills you if you even graze Baloran. A ridiculous curse that kills you even if it just steps on your pinky toe.

But I… I…

Because I didn’t have any friends!

I always got that curse!

Did that stop me from killing it? Of course not.

I,

Alone,

In my underwear,

Achieved the fastest no-hit clear.

When it comes to the Baloran raid, I can confidently say I’m the best.

Therefore…

“Rubia.”

“Yes, Noah…”

“It’s okay.”

I hugged Rubia’s cold body tightly.

“I’ll… take care of everything.”

“Huh…?”

“Just trust me.”

Until now, I couldn’t do anything because I wasn’t sure about the details of Baloran. Even now, I can’t say I’m 100% certain, but… I don’t want to see Rubia suffering like this anymore.

“Hmm, have you decided to go mad too, Noah? Not bad. Let’s all shed our monkey skins and become human.”

“…Th-That’s not it.”

I stuck my tongue out at Serr, then looked at Hermilla.

“Hermilla. I have a request.”

“…What is it?”

“Trust me.”

“Noah, in the current situation—”

“I… I trusted you, Hermilla. So… if we’re friends… please, trust me too.”

Hermilla stared at me, her smile gone. She sighed and spoke.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Yes. You don’t need to endure it, Hermilla. You don’t need to lure it to the central plaza… and you don’t need to use people as bait.”

“I… don’t understand at all. You’ve never even seen Baloran, Noah. How do you intend to resolve this?”

“I don’t know about Baloran, but…”

I raised my right arm and jiggled the bracelet connected to Cartia.

“C-Cartia does.”

I’m sorry, Cartia.

This… This couldn’t be helped.

Are you angry?

Annoyed?

Furious and bewildered?

Then come out and say something.

Not coming?

You won’t?

Really?

Okay, then.

I’ll just do as I please.

Bad… bad lady… just stay quiet.

“So… trust me.”

“This is strange. Even a hero from the Age of Chaos wouldn’t know about Baloran. And even if she did, I heard from Sirin that Cartia has lost most of her past memories.”

“Th-That’s…”

“Noah, you said friends shouldn’t have secrets. Tell me. Are you… hiding something?”

-Impudent brat. Gotten awfully bold while I wasn’t looking.

At that moment…

-You said friends don’t lie to each other, yet you’re lying yourself? What’s the big idea?

Cartia’s amused voice echoed in my mind.

-Tsk… It’s pointless to argue about that now. Fine. I don’t know what you want, what you know…

Then, the bracelet vibrated intensely, and…

-…but I trust you, so I’ll help you this once, kid.

Cartia appeared.

“C-Cartia?!”

[Oh, hey. Long time no see, Rubia.]

“It has been a while, Cartia. By the way, didn’t you have something to do?”

[Yeah, Serr, long time no see. Something to do? Yeah, taking a piss.]

Rubia and Serr’s expressions turned to shock.

Seeing their reactions, Cartia chuckled and looked at Hermilla.

[So… you’re Hermilla?]

“A-Are you… Cartia…?”

[That’s right. I’m Cartia. The Cartia who banished Baloran to the dimensional rift, back in the day.]

Huh?

[What? This kid’s ignoring me when I’m talking? You think I’m some ghost you can dismiss? Huh? Don’t you roll your eyes at me! Why, I oughtta…!]