511 Evanore Hallewell
Although Vaan could achieve more incredible speed in deep space, he also lost the potential to use greater power.
After all, there was little-to-no resistance to affect his speed in near-vacuum space. Thus, he would stay in motion after using the initial momentum to travel. This was not even accounting for the acceleration factors to bolster his speed.
On the other hand, because it was also a near-vacuum space, there were basically no natural forces to strengthen the power of universal laws.
In other words, Vaan could only purely rely on the power of his comprehended laws and personal strengths and nothing else.
Given the present situation, Vaan had no effective means to defeat the pure earth elemental worm. This was the difference in their ranks. Vaan was too weak to compensate for the absolute gap in their strengths.
'I don't need to defeat it. I just need to lose it,' Vaan thought.
During the past several exchanges with the pure earth elemental worm, he noticed instances where the pure earth elemental worm's attacks were slightly more intense and swifter than others.
It just so happened that during those times, his aura was also more vigorous than usual.
Suddenly, Vaan thought of an improbable possibility.
Since the pure earth elemental worm only targeted Vaan on the basis that he was an organic living being and for no other reason, it would imply it could sense his vital energy. After all, it didn't have eyes and, therefore, couldn't possibly see him.
In other words, he just needed to hide his vital signs to become invisible and escape the pure earth elemental worm's life detection.
'I can do a lot with this information,' Vaan thought pleasantly.
So far, he might be the only person who realized such an important piece of information. If his enemies couldn't figure it out as well, they would have hell to pay.
Basically, the pure earth elemental worm could become a powerful fighting force for him – but only if used correctly. After all, it was no different to playing with fire.
In the process of burning his enemies, he could also risk burning himself.
Nevertheless, this wasn't the improbable possibility he thought of.
There was a chance the pure earth elemental worm was born with the instinct to devour life in order to achieve its spiritual evolution. In other words, it needed to consume other intelligent lifeforms to acquire spiritual intelligence.
Without completing its spiritual awakening, the pure earth elemental worm was just a powerful, mindless, moving mass of earth born to extinguish life.
But why was such a terrifying celestial existence born?
If the pure earth elemental worm was born with divine-rank strength right from the start, it could be said that heaven was fair for robbing it of its spiritual intelligence.
However, that also made it a natural calamity.
That said, Vaan couldn't help but think about the 'what if.'If the pure earth elemental worm could complete its spiritual evolution, it would be no different from a Divine-rank Earth Spirit. And once it had its spiritual intelligence, it could grow to be even more powerful than a Divine-rank Earth Spirit.
Such a mighty existence could, without a doubt, play a key role in winning the war against Gehenna and the Seven Great Devils.
Suddenly, Vaan shook his head with a wry expression.
That was a lot of 'what ifs.'
"There should be differences between elemental spirits born on Pangea and those outside of it. Even if the pure earth elemental worm acquires spiritual intelligence, it might not necessarily be kind; it could even turn into a bigger calamity,' Vaan thought.
There was no need for him to be greedy. He had already gained a lot on this trip.
Just as Vaan suspected, once he withdrew all the aura back into his body and hid his vital signs, the pure earth elemental earth stopped pursuing him.
In fact, it stopped all movements completely. It simply floated lifelessly in the outer regions of the debris field.
For a moment, the possibility of the pure earth elemental worm being an unnatural creation bred for killing by a more mighty existence crossed his mind.
However, the thought vanished once he saw the pure earth elemental worm moving again.
It headed back in the direction of Pangea—or rather, the moon.
There was a high possibility that the pure earth elemental worm was returning to the underground space in Chaos to slumber in dormancy. Still, Vaan couldn't be certain.
Thus, he followed it in case he needed to attract its attention away from Pangea.
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Three days later
Black Rose Kingdom, Blackthorn City
Inside Henrietta's grand magic tower's great hall floor, Henrietta sat on her high throne.
In front of her, the newly appointed prime minister and a group of high-ranking matriarchs gathered around a battle map laid on a large, round marble table, discussing development plans and defense strategies.
The newly appointed prime minister was called Evanore Hallewell. She was a High Witch from the neutral faction and the ex-matriarch of the Hallewell Household.
She once published a book on management ideas on how to create a powerful kingdom - its name was called Hallewell's Ideal Kingdom.
While Henrietta was searching for the ideal candidate to be her prime minister, she recalled the book and re-read it to refresh her memory.
Much to her surprise, the management ideas recorded within Hallewell's book were similar to the notes she took from Vaan.
Unfortunately, such a knowledgeable book was never popularized. In fact, it almost faded into obscurity due to the suppression of the supremacist witch faction.
After all, Hallewell's book suggested the abolishment of male enslavement and equal rights and opportunity for all men.
Naturally, such suggestions were no different from the preaching of heresy to the ears of the supremacist witches. As such, it was also no surprise that they heavily criticized and suppressed Evanore Hallewell and her book until they almost disappeared from the public.
Evanore Hallewell was also forced to step down from the matriarch position in order to guarantee that the animosity she attracted didn't fall upon her family members.
However, that was all in the past.
Now that she had been specifically scouted and appointed as the kingdom's first prime minister, a position that was second only to Queen Henrietta and also represented her, the several ex-supremacist matriarchs attending the meeting no longer dared to direct their scorn and hate toward her.
At the very least, they wouldn't dare to do so openly.
After all, Evanore Hallewell didn't just represent Queen Henrietta; she also represented the ideals Lord Vahn wanted to introduce to the kingdom.
Thus, going against her was also the same as going against Lord Vahn, the one person they absolutely could not defy, lest they want to suffer or even die under the Oath of Magic.
"Prime Minister Hallewell, the three lines of defense had been completed and strengthened. Why have you summoned us back today?" the ex-supremacist matriarch, Samera Strain, asked.
Since all the attending ex-supremacist matriarchs were in charge of constructing and strengthening the defensive lines outside the city's northern wall, she suspected the new prime minister called them in today to nitpick details in their construction efforts.
However, no such intention could be seen in Evanore Hallewell's calm, peaceful expression.
"Yes, I am already aware of your efforts, and I thank you on behalf of the kingdom for that, Matriarch Strain," Evanore casually acknowledged before moving on to the main topic, "However, there have been some changes since last night."
"Based on the data submitted by the observation team this morning, the fluctuations in Gehenna's Gateway have become more unstable and dangerous. There is much concern during the weak fluctuation period. The issue is the peak fluctuation period."
"During the peak fluctuation period, the Gehenna's Gateway has become dangerous close to Blackthorn City. If Pangea experiences any more major spacequakes, there's a high possibility that part of the city's northern parts will also be swallowed during the peak fluctuation period," Evanore stated gravely.
When everyone at the meeting heard this piece of information, they also couldn't help but wear a somber expression.
They all knew what the possibility entailed.
"As such, I've called everyone today to prepare for the worse possibility. Should Gehenna's Gateway reach our doorsteps, the threat we will have to face will be unlike anything before," Evanore added seriously.
"This..." Samera and the other ex-supremacist matriarchs suddenly felt ashamed of their thoughts.
Evanore had not tried to single out an ex-member of the supremacist witch faction and suppressed them with her authority for revenge. She only had concerns for the kingdom and Pangea as a whole that she wanted to address.
The new prime minister had a big heart and didn't seek petty gains.
Seated on her throne, Henrietta slightly nodded with acknowledgment. She had carefully observed Evanore in the past three days and grasped a slight understanding of the person's nature.
As such, she knew she had picked an excellent person to be the prime minister.
Although Evanore suffered to the point that much of her hair had turned grey from stress over the last several decades, it still could not hide her natural beauty and the sincerity of her heart that wished for the betterment of all humanity.
"I must confess; I am ashamed for thinking you called us here to find faults in our construction efforts. Please forgive me, Prime Minister Hallewell," Samera expressed with a guilty look.
"You don't need to mind this matter. Please, let us focus on the more important subject," Evanore implored, casually evading the sensitive topic.
Naturally, she couldn't forgive the supremacist witch faction for everything she suffered. Even so, she didn't intend to abuse her newfound authority for
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