Chapter 259

Chapter 259. Reunion and Infiltration (2)

Having confirmed the events happening beyond my sight, there was no more time to delay.

‘I have to avoid losing the initiative due to procrastination.’

Parting from my siblings who urged me not to go was heavy, but I had promised to return, and to keep that promise, I had to give it my all.

After passing through the gate located in Loborre, I used the voucher roulette obtained from the emergency defense battle.

Again, Karlos intervened, and as I wished, I received the “authority of Finelpenia.”

Clutching the voucher tightly, I made my way to Habon to gather Rice Cake; it was about time my stomach was empty.

In the process, I encountered some familiar faces but had nothing to say to them.

The destruction and obliteration of Biharin remained inevitable.

‘I don’t know a concrete method to save them.’

I only saw a faint glimmer of hope, with no guarantee of realizing it. Thus, to avoid any slip of the tongue, I left the place.

Having left Habon, my final destination was Alder Momen— a forest located in the central part of the continent now overtaken by monsters.

I had seen something peculiar in Irel’s records before.

Trees with distinct arms, legs, and even mouths and eyes; surely trees, yet living and moving species.

“The Ventri race.”

I had seen Irel standing among some players with the Ventri race, who had arms and legs, screaming.

Thanks to this, I gained a hint on where I should go.

“The areas where the Ventri race can survive are limited.”

Whether due to the ley lines or the difference in mana, as a non-scholar, it was hard to pinpoint the exact reason.

The place where the Ventri race could live and move was just one—here, at Alder Momen.

“A forest so vast it stretches to the sky without an end.”

It had earned the nickname ‘Sea of Forest’ for a reason.

Its infamous reputation stated that without guidance from someone familiar with the place, passing through on one’s own was impossible.

After five days of non-stop travel along the sky path, I stood at the edge of the sprawling forest.

“I’ll start by finding the pile of Ventri corpses.”

I had seen Irel slaughtering the Ventri race in her records. Backtracking from there would make the search easier.

I planned to proceed with the search using the authority voucher obtained from the emergency defense battle reward.

I had also brought along the authority voucher newly obtained by Kim Yul, just in case.

I didn’t bring any party members for this endeavor.

It was unwise to take those who had not yet reached the Platinum rank into the mages’ den, and I needed people to stay by my family’s side if another hole appeared in my absence.

“If there’s no result here, I’ll have to come up with an alternative plan.”

With that in mind, I set my feet towards the expansive forest, treading aimlessly, relying on my unwavering stamina, for days on end.

Eventually, I discovered a place where ancient trees, each likely several meters tall, had fallen.

A detailed examination revealed the distinct differences—they had eyes and mouths that set them apart from ordinary trees.

It was the corpse of the Ventri race, with the top split and a hole gaping wide.

Seeing this, I briefly debated whether to use the divinity here.

If the pile of corpses were found in multiple locations, I may not find Irel here.

“But it shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Instead, I could follow the traces of others and pursue them.

“Whoever gathered the corpses in one place must have some connection with Irel.”

I decided to use the authority of Finelpenia here.

And in the records left on the ground, I discovered a truly unexpected being.

“This guy is…?”

It was someone I recognized remarkably well.

A being whose small wings shed light dust every time they fluttered.

He had passed through this place not once, not twice, but several times, carrying fruits or mushrooms as big as his body.

His traces appeared in records dated two days ago, five days ago, and then a week ago.

While using the authority, I let my gaze follow the path he had moved.

There was no hesitation or doubt. If anything, this guy belonged to the same faction as Irel.

Tracking his movements could potentially yield more useful insights than the inaccessible records on the ground.

Standing up, I began walking in the direction he had moved.

How far had I walked when I sensed mana that lay beyond my detection range?

“Blue…”

According to the map’s colors, it was Biharin.

The unique point was that there were several, not just one.

A feeling of déjà vu washed over me.

“This was a similar situation the first time I met him.”

After a brief silence, I deliberately moved with evident footsteps.

I watched as the blue dots on the map began to restlessly wander and lowered my posture.

I reached into a crevice between the piled Ventri race corpses.

Soon, crunch.

I effortlessly lifted a Ventri race corpse, which resembled a giant tree, with one hand.

“Eek!”

“Kyaa!”

“Uwaaa!”

As buzzing noises started to echo, I spotted a being standing at the front, barely larger than my little finger.

It was spreading its tiny arms wide, looking resolute as it glared ahead.

With pink hair and a familiar face, it was the same fairy I encountered during the main scenario.

The fairy who had informed me about Messeo being a sacrifice.

Gathered behind it were much smaller beings than the pink-haired one, clearly indicating they were young fairies.

Having quickly grasped the situation, I looked at the pink-haired being and spoke.

“It’s been a while,”

I said.

Seemingly shocked by the unexpected reunion, the being’s wide-open eyes contorted with complex emotions.

A moment later,

“Human!”

The pink-haired fairy cried out, rushing towards me.

Startled by the sudden reaction, I reflexively swatted it away.

The pink-haired fairy, having been sent flying, crashed onto the ground.

… It wasn’t intentional.

* * *

“Click!”

The experimental subject used in the research began to crumble rapidly.

Seeing this, Irel grimaced and waved a hand.

A bubble of water in mid-air cleaned away the now disintegrated experimental subject.

“Annoying, really.”

This marked the 4,251st failure.

Irel let out a long sigh, running her hand through her hair in frustration.

Contrary to the boasts she had made to the outsider who had no choice but to cling to her, the research on forcibly injecting divinity into outsiders had yielded no significant results.

Despite thousands of experiments, there was only one instance of success.

And it was that despicable trash, parading around with an arrogant demeanor.

Even that was a partial success, leaving him unable to directly wield the divinity.

‘He can only store it at best.’

It was inevitable; without the means to wield the power, having it was pointless.

Like someone with neither a driver’s license nor a car, possessing fuel was of no practical use.

Irel was acutely aware of that reality more than anyone else.

However, the longer no second success came, the more anxious she grew.

“I thought I would succeed immediately when I could experiment on outsiders.”

They were mutants, artificially infused with power to grow.

It seemed it would be easier than conducting experiments on Biharin.

But in reality, there was little difference based on the type of experiment subject.

Moreover, having recently relocated the laboratory hastily added to the chaos.

A situation unconducive to focusing entirely on the research.

“It’s all because of that outsider.”

She didn’t expect to be ambushed while under the illusion by an unknown creature.

Getting wounded by such a being was disgraceful enough.

The real trouble was that she had fainted, leaving the despicable outsider unwatched.

“I heard from the extremists that Senoa made his body capable of withstanding all divinity,” she recalled.

This required hurried relocation of their base.

There was always the possibility that the records had been accessed while she was unconscious.

Fortunately, they had been constructing a new base to escape the dimensional collapse.

As it was nearing completion, they began the relocation a little sooner.

They completed everything just a few days ago and left the previous base.

Irel felt relieved at last.

‘No matter how legitimate his succession may be, even he wouldn’t chase us to a floating island in the sky.’

They had already performed an Invisibility operation over the entire island and traveled several days’ distance away.

Even if the haughty outsider came looking for the previous base, he would only find an empty forest.

No matter how hard she thought about it, there was no way that arrogant outsider could track the new base.

Still, just in case, she enlisted the help of the radical faction within Finelpenia’s order.

“Sending a priest to Alder Momen’s forest would reveal many things.”

They needed to buy time until the records were erased by the dimensional collapse.

The very people who would do anything to fill their coffers didn’t care about betraying gods, violating doctrines, or even selling out their kin.

“To them, it’s just a means to an end.”

So feeding their greed to block priest dispatches seemed easily manageable.

The stress accumulated due to that audacious outsider melted away with relief.

Irel redirected her focus back to her research.

At that very moment, clatter, clatter.

The box prepared for experimental materials began to rattle noisily.

Surely the material inside the box had regained consciousness.

“Now even some mere…?”

With a twinge of annoyance, Irel picked up the box, slightly larger than her fist.

Immediately, she poured in the poppy mana stored within the mana accumulation tool.

Soon, the resistance ceased.

“Why wake up and annoy me?”

She murmured under her breath.

She tossed the box aside impatiently.

Thump, thump-thump.

The cubic box rolled across the table and stopped perilously at the edge.

Where it had rolled, gleaming powder was scattered.

Irel, glowering at the silenced box, sighed again and reached out.

She intended to check the condition of the materials inside.

When the magically sealed lid was opened, a fairy, unconscious and limp, came into view.

Checking the fairy just in case, Irel sighed in relief.

Fortunately, the exterior of the material wasn’t greatly damaged.

The wings, most crucially, were intact.

“Fairy dust is essential for amplifying the fantasies or desires of the experimental subject.”

More accurately, the sky dust created by those wings was the key material.

For the freshness, she kept them alive, but once the wings were stripped, they would be disposed of.

“I need to use them sparingly.”

Right now, the fairy wings were a limited resource.

During the relocation to the artificial island, there was a commotion as the fairies staged an escape.

During that chaos, the fairies encountered the unintelligent ordinary monsters, and many were eaten.

As a result, not many fairies remained.

Irel, still pondering, fed a potion to the fairy and locked it back inside the box.

Simultaneously, she cast aside the lingering thoughts swirling in her mind.

Now was a time to ensure success in her experiments as soon as possible.

To release the shackles set by the gods.

“When results come, I’ll figure out how to remove these damned constraints, too.”

Divinity was clearly a power superior to mana.

Once she could handle it, there would undoubtedly be a way.

With hope in her heart, Irel focused on her task.

Unaware of the events unfolding beneath her feet.

Damned System