Chapter 440

Great Ancient Mage. Found the secret's fragment (5)

"That's too bad; I was supposed to train Lian."

"We can't do anything because we've already arrived at the tower."

When Evan confirmed the existence of the aptitude that he had only dreamed of so far, he became excited and set up a camp to train Lian, but the tower that the party was looking for came into view. Furthermore, the presence of a giant snake that engulfed the tower's outer wall was so outstanding that they were hesitant to do anything.

"That's a dragon?"

"See, I told you, it looks like a dragon. Or is that not a dragon?"

Evan was struck by a truly mysterious feeling when he saw it. He wondered about this since he heard there was a dragon in this world, but that wasn't a dragon. In terms of appearance, it was rather a large snake called Imugi.

'Of course, there is no way in this world that there can be a succession of the Imugi that becomes a dragon only after training for a thousand years, so it will only resemble its appearance. Anyway, let's call that Imugi.'

However, the most important thing was that Evan had never seen that Imugi in the main game, DLC, or in the back settings on the website.

"Okay, that's how the Demon Realm should be. Well, it's obviously stronger than a Dragon...I haven't fought any strong enemies in a long time."

"Did you catch a dragon before?"

"I'm actually wearing gear that's made from a dragon right now."

"What about me? Where's mine?"

"After talking about it with Grandpa Leo..."

"You son of a..."

Looking at the Imugi, they seemed to understand why Leo and Aria hadn't dared to attack the tower and decided to retreat. The monster wrapped in the scales formed by the condensation of black magic was stronger than any other monster Evan had ever met.

"It's much stronger than the Demon King..."

"I already know that, so please give me another comparison, Master."

"I haven't even met the Demon King yet, but why do I feel closer to him..."

Evan decided to look at the Imugi a little more. Its head was biting the spire at the top of the black tower, with a thick, long body that ran below it wrapped around the tower, and it completely wrapped about half the height of the tower. They could only see the bottom of the tower, and the magic felt from the tower itself was very unusual. It felt as if it was designed to serve a special purpose.

"Isn't that building creating a Hell Ruby? And that Imugi is after the Hell Ruby."

The setting was becoming more and more similar to the Imugi of the East. However, the fact that it was biting the tower greedily was a pretty convincing idea. How could the production team and users have prepared such a tacky and traditional dungeon that the users couldn't even see!

"There's plenty of possibilities. Besides, I can feel the energy moving in there..."

"Huh? Everyone, stay still."

At that time, Aria made an invisible wall to separate the group's space and undermine their awareness. The reason was that the Demon Tribe appeared from far away and was walking straight toward the tower. Their whole bodies were covered in blood, so it was assumed that they had fought with someone else not long ago.

"Manager?"

"I don't think so..."

"They're going in."

"Yeah"

Surprisingly, they went inside the tower without giving any attention to the Black Dragon (Imugi) surrounding the tower. Their voices were interfered with by the many other powers operating in the tower and soon became imperceptible.

"Uh...?"

"..."

Evan agonized alone while others tilted their heads, not knowing what was going on. The Demon Tribe already had a rough idea of the structure of the tower.

"Do we go inside or just break it from the outside?"

"If we're going to break it, I'll lend you an arm. I developed a new unique technique..."

"But if we break it, we may not get the Hell Ruby."

It became clear what they needed to do. Yes, breaking the outside tower may make it easier to catch the Imugi, but the Hell Ruby would be hard to get.

'Then, we can go inside the tower, clear it, get what we want, and then deal with the Imugi.'

"How can we deal with this Imugi separately?"

"He's assimilating with the tower. That's why the Demon Tribe didn't recognize him and went inside."

"Huh?"

All the people here were at a high level, so they were naturally aware of the Imugi, but the Imugi was using a high-level technique and was assimilated with the tower. They couldn't touch him unless they do something about the tower. On the contrary, it was highly likely that the tower now had the same power as the Imugi.

"It's like a dungeon in the Demon Realm."

"You're going in, Master?"

"Yes, there's definitely something in there that's enticing the demon families."

It occurred to them that the final destination of the Demon Tribe that had been making a fuss outside was that tower. Then there was no time to hesitate. Evan pulled something out of his inventory with a stiff look on his face. It was today's lunch.

"Let's eat first and finish talking about Lian's training."

"No, why? We were going to do that after we attacked that tower."

"I'm going to enter that tower alone."

"What?"

Leo had a nasty look on his face, but Evan wasn't the type that would change his mind because of that.

"That tower is just for the Demon Tribe. There's a restriction on entering it."

"Why did you think so?"

"It's a gut feeling, but I'm sure that I'm right. It's hard to withstand that pressure if the person's body isn't made up of Dark Magic. You can tell when Grandpa Leo and Aria stepped out from that suspicious place."

To put it bluntly, that tower would have a one-man entrance limit. That was why Evan decided...this was also a gamer's intuition because the entire Demon Tribe that just entered the tower was covered with blood.

"It was a sign of a battle from a while ago. Why? I think that's because there's only one person who can enter the tower at the same time."

"Why the hell do they need to do that?"

"That tower is a dungeon for only one person."

Evan also talked about the bloody battles between Demon Tribes that had been spreading around the area. Of course, the Demon Tribes were a crazy group, but if they were fighting like that every day, the Demon Realm couldn't be maintained. Then there must have been a reason that they had gone crazy. It was the tower.

"To be honest, I can't believe that. But your gut feelings have never been wrong, so let's just say I believe what you've just said."

"Thank you."

"But there is a fatal problem: you're not part of the Demon Tribe."

"That's right, Master. Then, I should rather go in."

Evan grinned.

"It would be better if Maybell went in, but the Imugi would be a problem. Inside the tower, it's like the stomach of the Imugi, so it'll be hard for you to cope perfectly with the sudden change."

"No way, so how are you going in?"

"Grandpa Leo, dungeons that are restricted like that always have a side road to get in."

Evan had two things he could guess. If they didn't work, he decided to just break the tower from the outside.

"Is Master going to fight that snake?"

Lian stared blankly at the Imugi covering the tower, gnawing at the piece of bread Maybell had torn up. Evan realized something strange.

"Lian, do you see that snake?"

"Yep."

As expected, this kid was special. Evan gradually began to look forward to Lian's future. He threw the remaining piece of bread into his mouth and stood up from his seat, and spoke to Lian.

"Okay, if you're done eating, shall we start training?"

"So I'm going to be as strong as you?"

"You might be stronger than me."

"Wow!"

"No, that can't be."

"That's not true, Master. You shouldn't be lying to a kid."

"Zero, it looks like you like children a lot, too."

"..."

* * *

After successfully taking the leap, Elizabeth noticed that she had already entered the forest. It was also a forest with refreshing air that was qualitatively different from all the forests she had ever experienced before.

"Oh, my gosh!"

In front of her eyes, a slightly edgy handsome guy appeared. It was none other than Bernard.

"What, where did you suddenly...Huh? Are you Elizabeth? How did you grow so suddenly?"

"Hi, Grandpa Bernard!"

There had been no contact between Bernard and Elizabeth, but Bernard was around when Elizabeth had almost died, so she was quite friendly to him.

"I'm here for Eir to find Evan Oppa!"

"Elizabeth, first of all, how did you suddenly appear in front of my eyes—"

"—You're looking for Evan!?"

When Bernard was about to ask Elizabeth about her leap, Eir appeared like a ghost and clung to Elizabeth. Eir had grown quite well, but she was a complete child compared to Elizabeth, who had undergone a near cataclysmic change in the dungeon.

"Liz, why are you so big?"

"Eir is still small!"

"Wow..."

Eir patted Elizabeth with a look of discontentment. Elizabeth giggled at her cute grumbling and hugged her tightly.

"Did grandma Illoin have a second child?"

"Don`t call Illoin that in front of her. And not yet."

"Then just the two of us should go look for Oppa!"

Elizabeth was making an ambitious statement, and Bernard couldn't figure out where to tackle it.

What he wanted to know right now was, of course, the trick she used to show up right in front of him. Going to the ancient forests wasn't like a trip to the market, nor were they easy for unauthorized humans to sneak into.

"So, tell me where Evan is, Grandpa Bernard!"

"Huh, well, I want to know where Evan is. Furthermore, knowing where he is one thing, and getting there is another problem..."

"It's not a big deal!"

Elizabeth smiled brightly and flicked two-morning stars in the air in her hand. The air was torn apart, and there was a howling scream in the air.

"I can go if I know where he is!"

"..."

'Evan, you must have succeeded in raising your little sister like the monster you are.'

Bernard murmured with a real sense of misery. He wished that his daughter wasn't like that, but when he watched her shooting pistols these days, he could see that his innocent daughter was also lost. He became depressed.

"Ber-Bernard!"

It was then. They heard Illoin shouting out loud in the cabin where Mr. and Mrs. Garcias lived.

"A message! I'm getting a message from Aria!"

"What?"

Bernard rushed through the door of the cabin. Elizabeth and Eir followed without hesitation.

On the table inside the cabin, Illoin sat in a chair with her big stomach. Also, there was a crack in the middle of the cabin that was big enough for one person to jump in!

[Oh, Bernard and Illoin will come first. Um, is the signal okay? Evan, can you say something?]

The voice heard in the cabin is definitely Aria's, the priestess. What's more, the message meant...all the people in the hut froze. However, there was one person who didn't hesitate, and it was Elizabeth. As soon as she heard the name Evan, she grabbed Eir's hand.

"Elizabeth, it's not a warp gate. It's just communication magic."

"I found the location!"

Elizabeth smiled and bent her knees, holding a Morning star in one hand and Eir in her other hand. She was on the verge of taking off.

"Then let's go, Eir!"

"Yes!"

Eir nodded even though she didn't know what was going on. Bernard and Illoin didn't know what they were going to do. They reached out to stop them, but they couldn't. Rose was the one who acted faster as she was lighter than the two. She flapped quickly and clung to Elizabeth's back.

"You little girls are getting very naughty..."

Then, Elizabeth leaped into the crack. The three figures disappeared at once, and the energy of the crack was greatly weakened.

[Huh? Why all of a sudden...]

Aria's surprised voice could be heard from across, but Bernard and Illoin were even more surprised. The two had been standing still for some time, but nothing changed.

Elizabeth, Eir, and Rose.

The three never returned to the forest again.