Chapter 430
"Become the king. You're young, strong, and clever. You also have plenty of justifications..."
"I don't like doing annoying things."
Arcturus looked at Davey in disbelief when he heard his words. However, it didn't take too long for him to regain his calm and composure. Then, he left after saying his piece.
The humans needed an anchor, a central figure, and the most suitable person for that position was none other than Davey. In fact, when the resistance was revived with a series of victories, those who were hiding and living as if they were already dead once again raised their heads and joined forces, monitoring the situation from this place.
It was quite funny to think of becoming mankind's king; however, it was not something that he should ignore. Even if they wanted him to ascend to the throne and become their king, it wasn't essential to Davey. What was more important to him were the words of the Observer.
"Tell me the details."
[It would be better if you see it for yourself.]
Davey began to move at his words.
"Where... are you going?" Aeria ran quickly and caught up with Davey when she saw him leaving the area where the festival was being held.
Aeria was also aware that she shouldn't meddle with this world. Because of that, she might have been feeling alone and lonely in her own way.
"I'm going somewhere for a moment."
"Is it a dangerous place?"
"Yes."
Aeria clenched her fists at Davey's blunt and straightforward reply. Then, she took out the ring that she was wearing on her finger and held it out to Davey. "This, this is a ring that my father gave me when I was younger. They said that it contains the power of the Imperial Family's Guardian."
She did not elaborate much on the effects of the ring. Well, Davey also did not have many expectations for it. However, he was very grateful for her consideration.
"Please wait here. After I finish my work here, I will help you, the Imperial Princess, recover your memory, and return you to the imperial palace."
"Sir Davey is really kind."
Davey patted her head lightly when he saw her smile. However, Aeria quickly withdrew in surprise.
"Ah! I'm, I'm sorry. I also didn't know..." Aeria averted her gaze and made excuses for the confusion that she felt.
"Was I rude?"
"N-No. That's not it, but..." Aeria mumbled, her face turning red as she bowed her head. "I'm sorry! I'll go back first. You must come back safely."
Then, Aeria stepped out of his reach and ran away, her retreating figure looking strangely flustered.
***
Aeria hurriedly ran away from the festive scene, heading straight to the accommodations provided for her and Davey. The building used to be something that the demons occupied not too long ago, but the humans were able to live there after driving the demons out.
"Haa... haa..." Aeria breathed heavily, her hand weakly lying on her chest. She felt dizzy as her heart started to thump wildly. It was strange. Why did she feel so reassured when the man just patted her on the head?
For Aeria, Davey was the first person she met here. They were in a situation where it might be true that she was kidnapped, but none of the explanations she was given seemed realistic. Yet, for some strange reason, she trusted and relied on Davey.
Why was that the case? Her head was telling her to reject such feelings, but there was this small part in her mind that felt an unbearable happiness whenever she saw the man smile and pay attention to her. That small part made her want to reach out to him.
The man was very considerate of her. However, as someone who was wary of others, she knew that being considerate did not necessarily mean she could trust that person. The Imperial Palace was a place where people could stab others with their swords while showing a soft attitude and a bright smile.
But Davey was different.
She knew she had to be wary of him, but for some reason, she felt strange whenever she was with him. Her heart would beat wildly, and her face would turn red without her realizing it. It was definitely weird, right?
‘There must be something wrong with my heart. Is it time for me to see the doctor?’
Aeria worried that perhaps she really had an arrhythmia, just like what Davey had said to her in passing the other day.
***
Davey left the fortresses and headed toward the direction that the Observer had told him about.
In terms of speed, the best and fastest choice would always be the Azure Sky's Storm Dragon King, Megalodria. The black wyverns were pretty good, but they could not compare to the speed of the King of Mythical Beasts.
If they were talking about the fastest way to arrive at their destination, then warp would be the best option. However, it was quite difficult to determine the exact coordinates of the location that the Observer had mentioned to him, so he had no choice but to fly over.
The area where Davey arrived was most definitely a volcanic region. Even the air was boiling hot, so hot that he was sure no life could ever survive in this place. In the Tionis Continent that he knew of, this place had a dormant volcano that had not shown any activity for thousands of years and was even covered with lush green vegetation. But now, the ground beneath them had turned into boiling magma, while the air was chock full of volcanic ash. It was like hell on earth.
[It's around here. Ah, please watch your step. The magma is already contaminated. You might get in trouble if you step on something unknowingly.]
At the Observer's words, Davey silently looked down at the magma.
Magma, which would usually reach a temperature of a thousand degrees, could burn people to death just because they were near it. However, this very same magma did not even have an effect on Davey as he approached it. In fact, he even dipped his hand inside, and it still did not affect him.
[Y-You! Do you want your hands to turn into ashes?!]
The Observer sounded frightened. However, Davey did not care. He just continued to dip his hand inside the magma.
"…As expected, the temperature is really different. This is not good."
The magma's temperature was unusually high. When Davey pulled his hand out and the red magma flowed down, he could feel his hands cool down quickly. For Davey, who had endured flames with temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees, the magma's thousand-degree temperature was just the perfect temperature for a bath. This was all because of that damned Spirit Queen Yuriana, who had let Davey experience something that had transcended the limits of a human being.
"Come to think of it, this is the place where one of the treasures of the King of Assassination was hidden…"
But with the current situation… It would not be strange if everything had already turned to goo.
“Was it Sleesia? The one that made this volcanic region active again? Isn’t this too simple?”
It was quite absurd to describe the act of turning an entire area into a volcanic region by the word simple but considering the opponent’s power? It was really far too simple.
[No. She personally planted a tumor here. And as we speak, terrible beings are being born from that tumor. Because of that, the once dormant volcano was stimulated which eventually caused an eruption, as you can see.]
“Is it that guy?” Davey asked, as he stretched his finger and pointed at the pitch black eyes that stared at him from the center of the area that the red magma covered.
It was something that could easily be glossed over. But if one looked closely they would be able to see a pair of eyes.
[Goodness! It’s much bigger than when I first saw it! We need to take care of it before it gets any bigger!]
As soon as the Observer shouted, the magma boiled as something began to climb out.
Boom!!!
A gigantic tail popped out along with a huge explosion. The gigantic tail immediately snatched Davey and tried to pull him down the magma before he could come back to his senses and escape.
Swoosh!!!
It would have succeeded if it wasn’t for the flash of Red Ribbon’s afterimage.
[Roaaaaaaaaaaaar!!!]
The monster’s tail was instantly cut off, eliciting a loud roar from its mouth. Davey took the opportunity to pull out Red Ribbon and let it out in the air.
[Transcendental Longsword]
[One Swing Cut]
[Splitting the Mountains]
Davey cut through the magma, briefly revealing the bizarre appearance of the lifeform that was hiding within it with one swing of his sword. The being had the face of a fish covered with fur instead of scales, and it sported eight eyes along with some gills and fins, with hundreds of thin and long tentacles protruding from its body.
This wasn't a monster that had turned into a mutant; this was a problem that was far beyond that. All the beings that came from the Abyss were monsters with bizarre forms.
[It’s here! It’s under the magma! However, it would be much easier to look inside if you can clean up the magma…]
“Then, let’s dig everything up,” Davey said, patting Red Ribbon’s blade and asking quietly, “Can Red Ribbon do it?”
—Red Ribbon can do it well!
Davey’s eyes flashed when he heard Red Ribbon. It seemed like she was getting better with her pronunciation by the day.
[Longsword]
[Splitting the Ocean]
It was not at the same level as Sword God Ares’ Splitting the Ocean. However, it was more than enough to cut off a sea of magma that was only several meters in radius.
Swoosh!
Just like how Moses split the red sea, the magma split open to reveal what was inside it.
Fwoosh!!!
Before the magma could recede and cover the entire area once again, Davey clapped his hands together and changed the terrain, creating walls that prevented the magma from coming back to the center. Davey unintentionally divided and separated the magma but it did not matter.
Clack.
Davey slowly walked to the center after separating the magma. There, in the middle, where the magma was just earlier was a huge lump of flesh. The lump of flesh was twitching and thumping as if it was alive.
[That lump of flesh has been sending hundreds of strands of roots underneath it, and it is still growing as we speak. It has already planted hundreds of tumors all over the land as of the moment. I know that war is war, but if these things are disrupting the rules of the world where God's influence is unstable, then it's no wonder that the effects of the Silver Chime are being weakened.]
Davey took Red Ribbon out and cut the flesh with those words. With a flash of light, a burst of purple liquid spurted out of the flesh as it got sliced in half. Not long after, the roots that were embedded deep underground came out and began to dry out.
—Ssssssshhaaaaaaaaaaack!
At the same time, as if noticing that something was wrong with the lump of flesh, something charged at Davey at breakneck speed. What charged at Davey was another creature of the Abyss but it looked a bit different from the monster that he had cut down earlier.
‘Where the hell did these guys come from?’
[They actually came out of her body. They were born to protect this lump of flesh.]
“From her body?”
Davey was sure that Sleesia’s body was not big enough to birth these kinds of guys. Perhaps, she laid eggs or something? The thought flashed in his head but Davey quickly left it behind after hearing the Observer’s explanation.