Chapter 583.2: An Encounter (2)
Nora took those words seriously, knowing that Charlotte’s bloodline, the Arbiter, had the power to peer through the fabrics of the world just like the Goddess of Fate. She also knew whom ‘that woman’ Charlotte had mentioned was referring to.
Lilian Ackermann, the imperial princess of the Austine Empire.
Through accruing merit on the battlefield over the past year, she was now a celebrated general who commanded a third of the Austine Empire’s troops on the frontlines. She used to be Nora and the others’ nemesis, but their tense relationship had recently eased.
There were reasons behind that, such as the camaraderie as fellows fighting for humankind’s united army, their shared pain during the year Roel disappeared, and Lilian’s proactive gestures of goodwill.
It was not just once or twice that Lilian had led her troops to save Nora, Wilhelmina, and even Charlotte, whom she had been on terrible terms with. That dissipated some of the prejudice they held toward her, which was why Charlotte wasn’t so averse to mentioning her in the letter.
Nora fell into a dilemma.
The Genesis Goddess Church believed that the Austine Empire’s emperor wasn’t trustworthy, but it would be foolish to disregard Charlotte’s warning. They would have to decide whether to include Lilian in this operation or not.
After some discussion, Holy Eminence John entrusted to Nora the right to decide that.
“The political situation inside the Austine Empire is too complicated. We don’t have enough intel to make a call on this matter. We’ll go with your will.”
Those words from Holy Eminence John put Nora at a loss.
Charlotte’s divination had revealed that their rescue operation wouldn’t go smoothly, but that didn’t mean that it would fail. It was hard to tell whether informing the Austine Empire of their plan would improve or worsen the situation. A misstep here could plunge Roel deeper into danger.
Nora stared out of the window in a daze, feeling burdened by the responsibility weighing on her shoulders. Before she could make up her mind, emergency military reports from the frontlines suddenly arrived one after another. She was forced to snap out of her daze to check on them.
“W-wait a moment, this…” Nora exclaimed in horror while reading the reports.
As she pored through one report after the other, her eyes widened and her face turned pale. She realized that all of the reports were pointing toward one thing: the deviants were mobilizing their army toward Hawe Desert.
“Did they… discover him? Impossible!” Nora was stunned.
Her body trembled uncontrollably as her unease swiftly magnified into her worst nightmares. Knowing that she mustn’t lose her composure at times like this, she forced herself to calm down and analyze the current situation.
“It looks like a frontal confrontation is inevitable. Since that’s the case…”
Nora sharply eyed the map plastered on the wall before she sat back down, picked up her quill, and started writing a letter.
“Lilian Ackermann…”
…
Something is wrong here.
In the middle of a white desert, Roel grimly examined a deviant carcass lying before him.
Two days had passed since he entered the desert. He had already completed nearly half of the journey as he had planned with Nora, but just today, an uneasy feeling suddenly swelled in his heart. Being one to trust his instincts, he made sure to stay extra-vigilant of his surroundings.
It didn’t take long for him to notice some alarming signs.
The deviant carcass basking under the scorching sun he had stumbled on had yet to decompose. Carcasses were common in this treacherous desert, be they deviants, or humans; fresh or old. Roel wouldn’t have halted his footsteps for this under any other circumstances.
But there was something very unusual about this carcass—it was killed by a demonic beast.
There were indeed snakes and scorpions lurking in this desert, but they would have dragged their victims into their lair and devoured them whole. Food was scarce in the desert, after all. It didn’t make sense for them to leave their hunted prey out in the open.
Furthermore, the deceased deviant’s wounds appeared to have been inflicted by a large aerial demonic beast, but demonic beasts native to the desert had already adapted their traits to better conserve energy in order to survive the food scarcity. There shouldn’t have been any flying or large demonic beast in Hawe Desert.
There was only one possibility Roel could think of that explained this bizarre occurrence.
Someone must have brought that aerial demonic beast here.
.
“Is it the deviant sentries?” Roel murmured under his breath.
He stared at the road ahead with a grim expression. A single thought arose in his mind after he compiled and analyzed all of the information together.
They found me.
Roel’s first instinct upon the realization of that was to escape from this desert, but he halted in his tracks as soon as he turned around. It dawned upon him that it was already too late.
There was little doubt in his mind that the deviants had prepared a trap for him up ahead, but it was too late to retreat. At least the deviants wouldn’t be able to properly employ their military prowess due to the quicksand in Hawe Desert. It would be a nightmare to confront the deviants on Tark Prairie.
Even when the deviants had already discovered his whereabouts, it was still safer for him to navigate the desert. His best bet was to try his luck and push on. So, he decided to hasten his footsteps and hurry ahead.
But the world suddenly changed just as he was about to take a step forward. He was crushed by pressure so immense that it felt like an invisible serpent was pouncing to devour him whole.
In response, Roel’s golden eyes lit up as he wrapped himself with a layer of frost aura. He turned his gaze toward the source of the pressure, where he found a terrifying beast that stood as tall as a giant.
It was covered in bizarre scales that extended all the way into its fanged face, exposing not the slightest bit of skin. However, the most unnerving element about it was the third arm sprouting out from its shoulder.
A three-armed giant deviant.
As soon as Roel laid his eyes on that terrifying monster, he was immediately reminded of the intelligence Nora had provided him about the remaining three Origin Level 1 deviants.
One of them was shaped like a bird and could soar freely through the sky. One of them had blood-red eyes and a warped body, and brandished a sword. One of them was a three-armed deviant with impenetrable defense.
Roel knew how powerful his enemy was, but his attention wasn’t focused on it, for he knew that it wasn’t the biggest threat. While he might not be able to defeat the three-armed Origin Level 1 giant deviant, he, as an Origin Level 2 transcendent, wasn’t completely helpless against it either.
As a matter of fact, the immense pressure he felt didn’t come from the three-armed giant deviant but from the thing on its shoulder.
It was a squirming patch of darkness that felt reminiscent of the black sphere he had encountered not long ago, but the energy it harnessed was at a completely different level. It kept converging and diverging, releasing an unbelievable amount of mana.
As soon as it noticed Roel’s gaze, the patch of darkness suddenly stalled to a halt before it began manifesting into a humanoid form.
It first formed a muscular physique, followed by brawny arms. As it came into form, the pressure it exerted on the surroundings noticeably intensified. Just as it was about to form its head, Roel raised his hand and directed it toward the dark monstrosity perched on the three-armed giant deviant’s shoulder.
“Magma Core,” he coldly uttered.
A roaring inferno gushed out and seared the surroundings.
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