Volcanic Desert (3)

After speaking with Bernard and returning to the HQ, Serena was waiting for him. She was smiling while Anastasia and Shine, who were next to her, had a pale expression that made it clear something was going on.

“Gnar…did you release it?”

“Yup!”

“…Shine, the King was shocked, you know?”

Evan ignored Serena, who replied brightly, and he asked Shine a question. Shine spoke as he slowly nodded.

“I thought he had a heart attack. It seemed like you guys were coming for an armed protest…”

“Riding a dragon.”

The news of the appearance of a dragon in Sherden had spread throughout the Kingdom. It was guaranteed that the guards, magic brigade, and the nobles were flipped out when a dragon showed up in the Kingdom’s sky. That was pretty much expected, so Evan told them to use the gate until they reached the Kingdom. Maybe she wanted to brag to her father about the winged worm…no, the dragon she raised. In other words, it was a display of Sherden’s power by showing the difference in strength between the Kingdom and Sherden so that the Kingdom couldn’t interfere. As Evan stared at Serena, she puffed out her chest with a sense of satisfaction, misunderstanding that she was about to get praised by him.

“Everyone was blankly staring, so I asked Gnar to put up a fire show. I was excited!”

“Ray, is fire breath the fire show you’re referring to?”

“Yup! Oooooouch.”

She seriously planned to scare them! Evan pinched Serena’s cheeks ruthlessly. It was soft and elastic, so much so that it could be mistaken for a rice cake.

“Oww! Oppa, you are a meanie. I did it all for you.”

Evan sighed at Serena, who was grumbling while holding her reddened cheeks.

“I know that. But you understand me so well that you exaggerate my intention. Don’t just think about me but also yourself.”

“I’ll stay at Sherden forever, so I’m all right, am I not?”

“He’s your father.”

“You are more precious than my father.”

And this is why people preferred a son over a daughter…Evan lamented over what happened. Although he wasn’t on good terms with the king, Evan pitied him this time. The king sent Serena to the rampaging Evan (he knew that he pushed the Kingdom too much to the edges) to make him the Kingdom’s ally. Still, Serena allied with Evan instead and blackmailed the Kingdom…

“You can’t make him feel bad all the time. Let’s greet him together one day.”

“We can invite him to our wedding!”

“…Ray, you are a princess of this country. You aren’t thinking of holding a wedding in Sherden, are you?”

“Huh?”

Serena was genuinely surprised.

“Then, am I going to have two weddings?”

“If you want to have it once, we’ll have it in the Kingdom.”

“I don’t want to be the only one getting married late!”

“All right, then we’ll have the ceremony in Sherden and another one in the Kingdom. I planned to do it in the first place.”

“Then, can I wear two different dresses?”

“Of course, you should.”

“Yay!”

Serena’s pink eyes sparkled intensely. Evan considered that Serena was a princess, so he suggested two weddings.

“Oppa, I love that idea!”

“Yeah, yeah. So, if we are to meet His Majesty, treat him nicely. I can’t be on edge with the Kingdom forever.”

“Okay!”

While petting Serena, who was hugging Evan happily, a giant water tank was created on one side of the HQ lobby. In it was, of course, for an octopus, the Kraken. It was transformed into an adorable size, unlike its original fear-inspiring figure.

“…”

―…

The Kraken ran towards the edge of the water tank as soon as it saw Evan. It was useless to hide since the entire water tank could be seen at a glance, so what it was trying to do was a mystery.

“I think the sea worm almost grew to its limit. If I make it become that small, it will only need to eat a little, so I’ll raise it there.”

“Sure, it looks pretty good at that size.”

Raising an octopus in a tub would sound weird, but raising a Kraken? …Nobody would raise a question. Yes, this was the right method.

“Great, then let’s get going. Everyone, be ready.”

“Roger!”

All members were gathered in one place. Evan took a look at his Junior group members and briefly spoke.

“After this conquest, you will be assigned with a really important mission. And that is why we need to conquer the dungeon first. Understood?”

“Roger!”

“Good answer.”

The members, who were jealous of Lin and Lan leveling up so fast as they were in a different group, showed their enthusiasm through their eyes. Especially the glares that Jhin and Ena gave were no joke. What made those children so passionate? Evan didn’t ask.

“Good, then let’s go.”

―Kyuuuuuuuu!

Gnar released its true power and became a huge dragon through Serena’s power. The crowd on the street murmured at the dignity of a dragon flying over Sherden’s sky.

“Here we go!”

Evan was the first one to jump onto Gnar’s back. Shine jumped on while holding Anastasia in his arms, Belois used her levitation, Arisha and Mirole used the power of Wind, and lastly, Serena…

“Oppa, hug me too! I can’t get up there by myself!”

“What a big baby…”

If she asks for a hug from the start, she might be interrupted by Belois, so she waited for Belois to mount the dragon first! Evan willingly went down from the dragon to lift her, as she worked cleverly to be hugged by Evan and charm him.

“Gnar, let’s go!”

―Kyuuuuu!

After checking that everyone was aboard, Gnar flapped its wings in the empty air once, and it used its mana to fling its body upward. At that moment, its speed was faster than a jet. If it weren’t for the help from the Senior group members who maxed their dungeon levels, everyone would’ve bounced off at that pace.

“Mirole, please cast the Wind Barrier.”

“It’s not a difficult request.”

A buff that allows the target to assimilate Wind to reduce wind resistance to a minimum and hasten the speed with the Wind’s help was cast on everyone, including Gnar. It was a tremendous scale of support magic that no one but the high elf could cast. Gnar was already moving at high speed, but it flew twice, or maybe even thrice, its former speed with that buff. A creature that unluckily entered Gnar’s path just got shredded into pieces. Evan guessed the current speed of Gnar, and he ended up laughing.

“I can’t believe I’m experiencing supersonic flight, which I’ve never experienced before in real life.”

Perhaps entering the atmosphere was possible by now. Entering the atmosphere by riding a dragon, maybe such a system would be possible in Yo-Ma Great War 7. Holding a lance would make the overall picture perfect. As Evan was lost in such thought, Serena suddenly interrupted him.

“Oppa, you can just take one step forward mid-air.”

“Actually, that feels more like a teleport and not flight, so I can’t get the feeling of speed.”

“Master, just in case that you don’t know, your skill is far more superior.”

Well, that was true. Even Evan didn’t completely understand which principle his power was created from, but wasn’t that what makes this understandable situation look more impressive!?

―Kyuuuuuu!

Even Gnar let out a happy growl as if it were ecstatic, flying fast with Mirole’s help. At some point, Gnar flew past the territory of the Silk Line and entered the sky of Mana Road. He would soon reach Houmi. Houmi was a country known for its agriculture. Although it didn’t have any dungeons within its territory, it had maintained good trade relations with all other countries.

‘In Yo-Ma Great War 2, the hero’s party, including Grandpa Leo, was a bit late in stopping the Mahwa Tribe, so the damage Houmi suffered was huge…’

Several decades passed since then, and Houmi entered its golden age, so that was nice. There was a quest in Yo-Ma Great War 4 that involved heading to Houmi to receive military provisions. But the real problem was Eskarothi, which was known for being the hottest southern region on the continent. The hero’s party and the Mahwa Tribe had their final battle in Eskarothi. Half of its population was obliterated due to the devastating strength of the Mahwa Tribe.

It wasn’t just half of its population affected. Still, even the land’s life force and its industrial foundation got absorbed, which made Eskarothi fall into despair. Many ethnic minorities went on their own path to survive, and several people were naturalized in Houmi. Most regions of Eskarothi were abandoned, and other countries didn’t take any interest in it due to its lack of resources and hot weather, which made it hard for people to live in.

“And among all the regions of abandoned Eskarothi, the most infamous one is…the Volcanic Desert.”

“I think we are getting close to it, aren’t we?”

The Astray Senior group flew past the sky of Houmi in seconds with the help of Gnar’s hypersonic speed and Mirole’s wind blessing, soon entering the sky of Eskarothi. A big change in the geography could be instantly spotted since they were at a high altitude…Evan was able to see the dark region with his eyes.

“That’s the sight of a true hell…”

The Volcanic Desert’s environment was known for its harshness since even the monsters were burnt to death. The severity far exceeded the Eternal Glacier’s cold. At least having a high level would protect the person from the weather of Eternal Glacier. Still, it didn’t work that way in the Volcanic Desert since tremendous fire damage was dealt with continuously the moment the person entered the area. To exaggerate it further, the entire area could be considered a volcano.

“I believe everyone brought their clothing, right?”

“Yes.”

Therefore, what was needed was this special armor. The Senior group members were equipped with it, which was crafted from the precious Glacial Tear. Thanks to discovering an unexpected ancient ruin in the Eternal Glacier, more than thirty tears were obtained, and the tear was so precious that finding one of them by searching through the entire area of Eternal Glacier was already considered lucky! So, Evan used them all to create armor that looked like a long coat.

“It has both cold and fire resistance, so we can call it the endgame item against environmental hazards. This doesn’t even exist in the game.”

“Sure, we’ll treasure it.”

Additionally, it was simple why armor crafted from the Glacial Tear didn’t exist in the game. Only Yo-Ma Great War Zero, among all other series, had an endless supply of Glacial Tears that could be used to craft armor, and this was because the Great Ancient Wizard, the protagonist of Yo-Ma Great War Zero, had an absurd ability that nullified all elemental damages through an anti-Demon barrier.

‘Such a ridiculous barrier that doesn’t even require casting actually exists as the wizard’s passive. It is maintained even in the fields that nullify magic, so how on earth is that barrier created?’

An absurd rumor among the fans goes that the wizard had already reached a stage where rationality and logic didn’t apply, so no elements could hurt him; this theory gained the most support. The next-in-line hypothesis went that the Great Ancient Wizard trained his body to its limit, so environmental damage couldn’t hurt him, and Evan regarded this as crap. If his body were trained that much, why would he bother casting spells when he could just beat the Devil to death with his fists?

‘…Maybe? Perhaps he used magic to defeat him, didn’t he? He would have used his magic since he is the Great Ancient Wizard, didn’t he?’

Evan glanced at Mirole at that point, who answered with her gorgeous smile. And his sigh became heavier. How should he deal with this anxiety that kept on growing bigger each day?

“Master, we have arrived.”

Belois put her hand on his shoulder at that moment. It was true; they were landing in the middle of the Volcanic Desert. Evan held Belois’s hand out of a guilty conscience. She smiled as if she understood everything, and that made her even scarier.

“Will you protect me, Lua?”

“Of course, Master.”

Belois gave a satisfying answer like always to Evan’s question that was flooded with emotions. The two held each other’s hands as they set their feet on the Volcanic Desert.