Locations

"A Basilisk?"

The frown on his eyebrows got deeper after being taken back by surprise. The descriptions he wrote about in his work came back flowing back to him.

- A huge black snake with a thick coating of feathers. The moment it detects prey, it starts lurking around it before finally devouring it whole.

"Certainly. I thought maybe I had mistaken some other beast for it, but it seems like it's not an error."

Blaise had a murky expression on his face, remembering his encounter with the said monster. His wind magic had successfully allowed him to throw some dirt into Basilisk's eyes.

Other elves would've taken a fight and lost without even getting a chance to resist. Thankfully, Blaise asked them to retreat.

"What are we going to do now...?"

Diona approached Blaise with a tense expression. They couldn't have been going around asking Eleanor or Sierra for help.

Ting

Blaise spun around to face Diona. The thumb he pointed behind him made Jaden's face lose its colour.

"They will be joining us."

All sorts of thoughts came to a stop after hearing those words. Jaden was aware that it wasn't a monster he could face at the moment.

Even though it was just through some scenes he had described in his novel, Jaden was certain that fighting was a futile thing to do.

Unlike Jaden, Adrienne had a wide grin on his lips. The eyes, filled with excitement and fun, glowed black.

"So... Who else is going...?"

The long eyelashes didn't move a bit when he said that. Blaise smiled awkwardly at the cold tone of speaking.

Then he raised his hands near his shoulders, gesturing that he had no one else on his mind. Diona was trying her best to hide her expression at Blaise's absurd reaction.

Jaden regained his composure before trying to check what their party consisted of. A swordmaster, a grand mage, a hunter, and a novice swordsman.

A cold sweat formed on his forehead at the words in his mind. There was a time when the protagonist's party faced a basilisk.

- Lenon's Frozen Rose couldn't pierce through the thick skin of the beast. The potions used by Claire didn't affect it either. The same went for the party's other members.

'Their party was made up of eight talented individuals. Yet they failed to do a thing.'

The grim expression on his face made Diona relate to how nervous he would be feeling. She had observed how low Jaden's skills were.

It was a relief that Adrienne was going to accompany them. Despite that, Jaden had a feeling that the Basilisk wasn't an easy foe.

That wasn't solely based on his gut feelings, but on the knowledge he possessed. Jaden's bitter smile matched the words on his mind.

- Basilisk never saw the party as its enemy, but only as prey. The expedition was an utter failure.

The members of the party, formed by Lenon and Claire, were famous individuals in their respective roles. The fateful encounters they had made it possible for them to get closer.

The first two roles were Claire, the alchemist mage, and Lenon, the swordmaster. Those were followed by six others.

The third was a dwarf playing the role of tank. Healer was being played by a priest they happened to meet before taking up the request of subduing the beast.

The next two people were an archer and a spearsman. These two would be distracting the target while Lenon and Claire dealt damage to it.

Hunter was a special role where a person would use bows and arrows along with daggers laced with poison. The person was a female half-elf.

And the last role was that of a summoner who never revealed his identity. The person wanted to tame the basilisk so he would grow stronger.

That quest was a total failure. It was a losing game they had bet on since the beginning.

'Can we even win?'

Jaden's face was displaying his worries quite clearly. Blaise let out a sigh at the sight of Diona's and Jaden's pale faces.

"We can win..."

The words made Jaden flinch. It had been a long time since someone actually responded to his thoughts like that, since the time before Lenon's birthday banquet.

After that, for some reason, Aliana rarely sparked up any conversation with Jaden. He didn't think too deeply about it, though.

"How so...?"

Diona was confused since Basilisk wasn't supposed to be taken down by just four people. Maybe if Sierra or Eleanor joined them, it would've been possible.

Sadly, Sierra was bound to the Elven Village due to the restrictions. The seals Aliana had undone on her were all those that sealed her powers. The last seal left would fade away with time, but that was far from happening.

"I have a plan."

The confidence that brimmed in his eyes made Blaise look a bit reliable to Jaden and Diona. Adrienne couldn't care less what plan he had and how he would be executing it.

The mad emperor was thirsty for an insane fight with the monster that was feared by everyone. Mostly, he had killed only assassins that the Terminus Consortium had sent after him.

"Elaborate."

A crazy smile crawled on his lips as the corners of his eyes moved up. Adrienne was being impatient since what he had done for the past four days was train Jaden non-stop.

Blaise shuddered intensely, finding his expression a bit disturbing. Then a sigh escaped his throat before he spoke.

"We need to discuss this with others."

The other three could get a clue as to who Blaise was talking about. That made Diona and Jaden nod in unison.

There were three individuals within the Elven Forest who held the highest powers.

The first was Sierra Starcrest Yggdrassil, the guardian of the elves. The second was Eleanor Starcrest, the queen of elves. Lastly, Diona Ainforć, the commander of the elven battle forces, was also Eleanor's personal guard.

Blaise paused, observing the trio's reactions. Then he continued.

Sigh

"Follow me. We are going there."

-----------------

"B-brother..."

Her voice cracked, with a hint of confusion in it. The blue crystal that had the shadowy figure of the girl made scribbling sounds from time to time.

Hearing those words, the man's eyes widened before narrowing down. He could tell that the girl wasn't being like her usual self.

"What happened?"

He expected an answer when he asked that, but to his surprise, the silence was strangely loud.

He wasn't a patient person when it came to such things. Yet when he was going to part his lips, the girl spoke while panicking.

"I-i can't find his location."

The face, filled with visible confusion, lit up with a smile. The laughter that burst out of his mouth made the girl shudder. 

This was the first time she had heard him laugh like that. For a moment, she wished that she shouldn't have witnessed what she had just seen.

Hahaha

"He must've gotten tired and hid himself in some other dimension!"

That sounded like the most possible explanation to the girl, too. After all, the person talking with her, along with other members, had sent countless assassins after the person they were looking for.

That person must've gotten tired of spending sleepless nights and ran away. There was no person who would fight without getting any sleep.

"B-but... B-brother Ace, h-he is 'that' A-adrienne Agus-"

Pff-

Hearing her words, Ace scoffed them off with his laughter. The girl could tell that her words weren't managing to reach his ears.

Then again, it was Ace she was speaking with. There was no reason for her to be worried about him since he rarely failed his missions.

"He must be hidden within his palace using some relic from the treasury. Heart, you are worrying for nothing."

The Agustus Kingdom's treasury held quite a few relics and items that would help someone hide in different dimensions. Adrienne had never even tried to enter the said place.

Currently, Adrienne is sitting with Blaise and others in a different dimension created by Sierra. That was the reason Heart wasn't able to pinpoint his location.

Jack would've definitely gotten suspicious of it, given the timing of their attacks failing. Unlike him, Ace came to a conclusion too quickly.

There were still five hours until Jack returned. Ace had missed the opportunity to contact Heart by an hour. Had he been on time, Adrienne's location would've been exposed to him.

"S-since you say s-so..."

She sounded flustered when she said that. In her eyes, Ace was the most perfect person within the organisation. The reason behind it was that he was being kind to her, unlike others.

Jack and Ace were calculative people when it came to befriending others. Heart's ability was too good for them not to treat her as if she were important to them.

Though even Heart was aware of their behaviour, she didn't feel any anger towards them. And her being clear about that fact was known to both Ace and Jack too.

They never felt the need to bring that up since Heart decided to take her eyes away from it. That didn't mean that Heart was a totally foolish person.

"B-by the w-way..."

The laughter came to a stop as he heard her words. She was trying to say something, but the hesitation she displayed gave Ace a bad feeling.

He pursed his lips, awaiting her continuation. She took a long breather to try to calm herself down. Finally, the silence broke.

"S-sister K-knight r-resigned and lef-ft-"

THUD

Upon hearing those words, Ace felt as if his whole world had fallen apart. The mana that swirled around him twisted even more while forming huge dents and cracks in the ground.

He couldn't bring himself to believe what he just heard. Then he tried to settle down his own emotions since he could've been exposed to the elves if he continued doing so.

"When and from whom did you hear that?"

He was doing his best to maintain and not lose his composure. There was a chance that it was just a baseless rumour spread by someone to distract him.

Ace had no idea that it was something Heart had heard about just a while ago. Luckily, when she was about to contact Ace, he contacted her.

Since she thought that it was something important, she felt the need to relay it to Ace.

In truth, she was going to tell him about it once he finished his mission, but she ended up doing it before that. Maybe that wasn't the correct step.

"J-just an hour ago..."

An eerie feeling crawled its way into his heart. He felt as if something odd was going on without his knowledge.

At this point in time, Adrienne and the World Tree weren't even of his utmost concern. The person who was important to both him and Jack had left the group, but why?

"Q-queen asked me t-to look f-for h-her... b-but I can't f-find her t-"

Craccccck

The crystal in his palm broke, making his blood trickle to the ground. He had analysed the situation using what Heart had told him.

Puh

The laughter, filled with a sense of anger, emerged from his throat. He wobbled while walking near the tree next to him.

Thud Thud

The tree that stood tall just a moment ago broke into tiny fragments when his fists landed on its bark. The drops of blood that flew in the air reflected his exposed canines on their surface.

"You are done for, b*tch."