Chapter 585.11: The Secret Quests (part 11)
The ancient-looking ruins covered the entire mountain, the massive marble columns were sprouting up from the ground like the ribs of the gigantic beast - although if someone really wanted to compare the structure to bones, the entire mountain would have to be a necropolis.
In one short sentence - it was the final location of the game.
A group of people appeared amongst the ruins overtaken by vegetation and was looking around in shock and awe.
"Where exactly are we supposed to be? I would remember a place like this being recorded in the chronicles written by my family!"
A snow-white undead with brown hair gasped and run over to the nearest column and touched it with excitement.
"Claymore - this might not be the best time for sightseeing."
A handsome young man with a tired expression and dark bag underneath his eyes - that somehow only added to his charm instead of being a demerit - breathed out and approached the androgynous snow-white undead.
"Isn't that right? Miss priestess...?"
The man put his hand on Claymore's shoulder and looked back at the light-brown-haired girl standing in the middle amongst the rest of the group.
"Lord Severine is right - the seal of the eternal hangs on one percent - if we will not hold it back here until the avatar of pride arrives, that primordial god of destruction will lay waste upon this world."
The girl that seemed to be slightly older than the rest of her the people surrounding her, bowed her head down respectfully and declared with a calm expression.
"Yes, yes - the elven prophecy and whatnots - just to let you know, miss Caramel - if it wasn't for me dying and getting resurrected by the ashen undead knight you've sent, I wouldn't be helping you out at all."
Claymore shook their head and glared at the priestess while leaning away from behind Severine.
"I know that the Lust family doesn't really like the church of the system's faith, but as the avatar of lust, you have the responsibility to protect the world. Avatars powers come from the sin of origin nucleus - it's something very similar to the system and what equals it in power - but while the system encompasses the whole world with all the creatures within it, the sin of origin nucleus only feeds the powers of sin. You and the other avatars are the only beings capable of stalling Eternal long enough for all the special quest to be completed which in turn will weaken that monstrosity enough so that it will be possible to kill it once and for all."
The priestess declared, without raising her head while her voice was the embodiment of composure and respect.
"Apparently - though I still believe that you should have just given us the location of this place so that my artillery would level this entire mountain. That whole eternal might be powerful, but so are the titan-class monsters that my family had been keeping at bay for generations."
Severine twitched after hearing the girl's words and crossed his arms, fully turning around and looking down at the top of her head with a slightly annoyed expression.
"Lord Severine, please - the beast that is sealed here is far stronger than the monstrous being lurking in the far north - even after weakening it with the help of the special quests reward, it would still be too much for the Sloth artillery."
"...that's what you say..."
The priestess shook her head and explained without changing her tone - which caused the avatar of sloth to roll his eyes and scoff in complain.
"Oh, I actually fully agree with Sevie here."
Claymore joined in and declared while hugging the young man's arm and leaning on it while glaring at the light-brown-haired girl.
"And in the first place, I didn't question the elven prophecy at all - what I have a problem with - is you."
The avatar of lust declared in an annoyed tone and motioned at the surprised priestess with their chin.
"Me...? Why is that? I most definitely never interacted with you and also never had a fight with the Lust family - where is this anger coming from, my avatar?"
Caramel straightened her back and tilted her head in confusion while her expression was the embodiment of innocence and cluelessness.
"Oh, you know what I mean. Mary and Roan know what I am talking about too!"
Claymore scoffed and their face became even more grim which only resulted in them looking much more beautiful.
"You are Zombie's older sister - Cranberry warned us about you many times - you certainly aren't a good person and this whole noble serving the world cause can't be the only reason why you are here with us today."
"..."
The snow-white undead avatar of lust declared, waiting for a reaction from the light-brown-haired girl - but she didn't even blink, remaining stoic through their speech.
"Avatar... as much as I wish to explain myself and refute all the lies that have been said about me behind my back - that would surely take more time than what we have at our disposal in this situation. For now, to appease your worries so that fear of getting stabbed in the back I will tell you just this - even if I am as bad as lady Cranberry and the undead who calls himself Zombie and was my younger brother when he was alive had described me as - I cannot put any of those vile schemes into action if I am dead along with the rest of the world - and if Eternal gets away from this mountain then it will mean the end of the world as we know it."
The light-brown-haired girl merely shrugged her shoulders and declared sounding as indifferent as it was humanly possible - which resulted in Claymore being the one with a sour expression.
"It is like the priestess is saying - for now, let's put aside our differences and concentrate on preventing the literal end of the world."
A tanned muscular man joined in the conversation, stepping in front of the light-brown-haired girl shielding her from the annoyed looks of the avatars of lust and sloth.
"Wow - as if words of a mingy perverted piece of trash have any worth in this situation - she only said that she will not do anything before the Eternal will be defeated - what about after? According to Cranberry, Zombie wants her dead no matter what - I am not saying that he is some kind of saint, but he is a lot more reasonable than a lot of the creatures of his kind - similar to how Claymore is now."
Another person joined in and this time it was no other than the brown-haired heroine who scoffed at the avatar of gluttony while hiding behind the avatar of greed.
"That's not a nice thing to say..."
"Fuck off."
Arion furrowed his brows and breathed out before looking at the brown-haired girl - or trying to catch a glimpse of her since she shivered with disgust and cowered behind the blond prince to not let him see her face.
"Wait - hold on - I was not told that Zombie had a problem with this woman...! Both he and Cranberry were very important friends of my late sister, and I absolutely refuse to help their enemy...!"
The avatar of envy, Mason, the young man with curly brown hair and shockingly green eyes gasped and immediately stepped away from Caramel and Arion, glaring at the priestess of the system's faith church.
"...lord Mason... even the avatar of lust had admitted that the elven prophecy is real - that means there actually is an extremely powerful monster sealed on this mountain - I will keep an eye on the priestess so that hse will not do anything suspicious, so could we just go? If the world will get destroyed that will include your precious friends too, right"
Arion sighed and rolled his eyes while spreading his arms as a testament to his transparency.
"..."
...and instantly got glared at by basically everyone except for the light-brown-haired priestess herself...
"Sorry - someone like you, the head of the family who is well known for having a close relationship with the church of the system's faith all while being extremely devoted believers, your words hold very little value."
The white-haired avatar of wrath, Corvus, waved his hand dismissively and started walking forward.
"...that is why I will keep an eye on both of you just in case - if our opponent really is as strong as you claim it to be, ou fight with it will be long enough for the Ira skill to truly shine and boost my strength so much that in the worst-case scenario of this girl betraying us, I will be able to deal with anything that either of you will be able to throw at us."
He declared, raising his head pridefully before glancing over his shoulder at the priestess and the avatar of gluttony.
"Since you don't have any bad intentions, you surely won't mind that, right?"
He asked, glaring at them coldly.
*RUMBLE*
"...!"
Suddenly the entire mountain shook in a tremor shocking every single one of them.
"...but of course..."
Caramel declared straightening her back after she almost lost her balance due to the earthquake.
"But now, as all of us felt - the time of the Eternal's awakening is near - so let's move to the actual location at the very top.
She added for the first time sounding a little bit distressed...
"I trust the avatar of wrath - let's go and deal with that creature - and just so we are on the same page - Zombie will arrive in time, right? The objective of his quest is to face the eternal, which apparently means that he has to arrive after the battle starts - but will he manage to show up on time since we teleported here by using the artifact from the church of the system's faith? will he be able to find this place before all of us get killed?
Roan, the prince and the avatar of greed, declared before asking cautiously, looking at the light-brown-haired priestess.
"She said that he will, so he will - priestess's visions are always correct."
His question wasn't answered by Caramel but by Arion, who shrugged his shoulders and declared with conviction