Volcanic Desert (4)

As they took part in activities related to the rift for the last year, the Astray Senior group members were experts in searching. They roamed around in a harsh environment where ordinary people couldn’t survive, find the evidence of the rift, and destroy it. Perhaps it could be considered as a dynamic experience when compared to the conquering of the Sherden dungeon, which Evan knew all the appropriate tactics about. But even for those members, the Volcanic Desert was a tough place.

“Without this armor…we wouldn’t have been able to even enter in the first place, would we? I’ve experienced all kinds of environments, but it’s my first time entering a place as hot as this one. Can this even be called an atmosphere?”

“I can’t hear nature’s voice well. Commander, this place weakens Druid’s power. Maybe it applies to everyone else that uses magic…”

Shine grumbled as he felt dumbfounded while breathing in the burning air, and Anastasia spoke while testing her Druid powers. Belois concluded the current situation.

“This place has distortion that’s more severe than the dungeon. This might be the effect from the volcanic ashes.”

“…I agree with it.”

Mirole mumbled as she bent and touched the black volcanic ashes that covered the ground.

“The entire region is within the influence of an ancient mystic area. How is this…”

“Even the Eternal Glacier had remnants of the ancient ruin. But still, the entire region is within the orbit.”

Nobody had ever set foot in the Volcanic Desert. It was just mentioned in the main story, so Evan thought that this might be the most dangerous place on the continent. But it was out of his expectations that the entire region was maintaining the ancient environment from Yo-Ma Great War Zero. Presumably, one could hypothesize that the region encroached so that the activities within the volcanic region wouldn’t get interrupted as it contained powers from ancient times. If not…

“Or maybe some other factor was involved.”

Evan was looking at his Rose Vine Ring on his middle finger. It was at that moment Gnar growled deeply to inform the members about something.

“Enemy spotted. Requesting to engage.”

Along with a brief report, Belois lifted her hand, and several purple crystals floating around her flew away. They clashed with something so far away that it was almost impossible to recognize with the naked eye! Right after, a giant pillar of flame arose.

“…Lua, is that your magic?”

“No. It’s defense magic from the enemy. Quite strong. Perhaps stronger than the Four Heavenly Kings.”

The pillar was so powerful that the heatwave from it was reaching them despite the distance. And the pillar was growing even bigger. The enemy was approaching. Belois cast a defense spell that emitted cold air, and Mirole shot a few arrows as a precaution to slow the enemy’s movement. Maybe she could have killed it, but it seemed like she wanted to check out the enemy at close range.

“Is there a possibility that the monster we accidentally encountered is a boss monster?”

“Nope. It’s just that the level of monsters in this area is ridiculously high.”

Evan smiled and dropped his head at Arisha’s question. Yeah, a typical situation just happened.

“There was a mention about an enemy…an entertainment for those psychopaths with an ability to complete any quests and the hard mode dungeons with just Devil’s boots…”

“Have you spoken to God?”

People’s opinions were divided into two when they heard about the final content released as the DLC for Yo-Ma Great War 4 and the release of Yo-Ma Great War 5. The first was about the dungeon city of Merdin being the starting ground for the storyline, but many arguments stated that the Merdin Story would be released as the next series and not the DLC. The most convincing opinion was the second one, about the Volcanic Desert contents, which were only mentioned in Yo-Ma Great War 2. The reason why such an idea was acceptable by most was that the Demon King, the final boss for Yo-Ma Great War 3, was sealed in Eternal Glacier, the exact opposite place of the Volcanic Desert. If so, it wouldn’t be weird if the hidden boss that surpassed the Demon King of Yo-Ma Great War 4 was also sealed in the Volcanic Desert!

“But still, the entire region is harsh.”

“It’s approaching.”

Mirole spoke briefly as she charged a Wind Arrow on her bow. Everyone became silent and watched the incoming monster. It was flying low above the ground, and a trail of fire that looked like lava was dripping on its path, which was very threatening.

―Esssssh…

Red hair all over its fat body, giant compound eyes, six legs that are shaking, and flame wings that constantly flapped and dropped fire. It was a giant tiger moth.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

Arisha was terrified as she clung to Evan.

“Arisha, do you hate insects?”

“I hate the feeling of powder on my finger when I touch them!”

“An odd yet precise description.”

“Cute!”

On the other hand, Serena loved creatures like worms, so she seemed to like the tiger moth. Her eyes just popped out in hearts at the sight of the moth, which flapped its wings and had its edges on them.

“Won’t I look like a fairy if I ride it?”

“If you want that picture, can you at least make it from moth to butterfly? No, a butterfly that big would be gross.”

That couldn’t be tamed in the first place. Since…Evan felt his ring shaking, and he let out a heavy sigh. He expected something like this would happen, but it seriously happened.

“You. Are you from the Mahwa Tribe?”

―…

The moth didn’t attack but rather observed them, or Evan is more precise. Perhaps it was feeling the same too. That Evan had an unusual item and that it was most probably related to the Mahwa Tribe. Quite some time passed, and it suddenly turned its body when Evan decided to attack it. It flapped its wings and flew to somewhere else as if it were telling them to follow.

“What does it mean?”

“Shall I kill it now?”

“Let’s follow it for now.”

And after checking its strength from up close, it was surely strong, but it wasn’t undefeatable. For sure, it was according to the standard of the Senior group members. They obtained the power to destroy the balance of the world, thanks to Evan’s powering-up plan. However, it still was stronger than the enemies in the ancient ruin of the Eternal Glacier.

‘And a monster like that is a little monster and not a boss. What on earth were the developers thinking? No, the stats have definitely changed when compared to the game.’

The story in the game…in other words, according to the given story, the Mahwa Tribe had completely become extinct by the epilogue of Yo-Ma Great War 2. They had no chance whatsoever to crawl into the Volcanic Desert to create a new force. But in this world, Leo’s party lacked power, so they missed capturing the core force of the Mahwa Tribe, including Queen Rose, and the Mahwa Tribe that successfully entered the Volcanic Desert was successful in breeding strong monsters in the area. Therefore, in conclusion, it resulted in tremendously strong endgame monsters. What if they invaded the other areas before Evan visited them? It was a horrible assumption.

‘That Rose, she would have known that some of the Mahwa Tribe entered the Volcanic Desert.’

Perhaps she foresaw the future from the moment she gave Evan a ring. She had to side with the humans now and eliminate those who took a different path. Still, it would hurt her conscience to kill them by herself, so she entrusted the annoying work to Evan by giving him the ring! There was another possibility that Rose tipped off Bernard regarding the matters on the Volcanic Desert. No, Bernard couldn’t possibly be fooled by her.

“Good, I’ll pluck about three handfuls of petals when I meet her later.”

“…The Mahwa tribe, they sure are scary ones. It feels like they lifted the limits off their existences.”

“It’s quite similar. They are capable of expanding their abilities by taking over the fully grown body of a being and then mixing their spirits into it. It was horrendous, as they became humans if they parasitized on humans, and monsters, too, weren’t an exception.”

“The Mahwa Tribe can’t be tamed…”

Other members were amazed for a moment by the strength of the Mahwa Tribe, while Serena was disappointed that she couldn’t tame the moth.

“There was a reason why Yo-Ma Great War 2 didn’t have a tamer class…give up peacefully, Ray.”

“How about if I make it hatch eggs?”

“That’s not a moth but rather a Mahwa Tribe member with a resemblance to the moth.”

As Evan was having a foolish conversation with Serena, the tiger moth started climbing a gigantic volcano while making its way through volcanic ashes and lava. Evan sensed that there are numerous others that climbed the mountain, and most of them were suspected to be Mahwa Tribe.

“The aura from the summit is immense. Mahwa Tribe…I believe they were unbelievably powerful.”

“I guess so. If they pair up with excellent hosts, they can become this strong, which makes me think that Grandpa Bernard was really lucky…”

Considering that Bernard had become stronger as he moved into Sherden, this was a speechless situation.

―Tssssya…!

The tiger moth bellowed lightly. The members realized they’d reached the summit. Red magma that could erupt any time bubbled in the crater of the active volcano. It wouldn’t be a surprise if it were about to erupt. There definitely was a living creature inside.

―Are you the one with the proof of the queen?

As it opened its eyes and spoke, Evan suspected whether the Mahwa Tribe gobbled up the entire volcano. But it didn’t, fortunately. Or rather, unfortunately.

―It’s certain—proof of friendship and not of theft or domination. So, the queen really turned to the side of the humans.

It raised its body from the crater and flapped its wings to levitate slowly. Evan laughed loudly. He was so dumbfounded that he just laughed.

―We need to talk. About the surviving Mahwa Tribe on this land…and about the queen who decided to live in a different place from us.

It was believed to be a cliff-hanger since it didn’t appear even in Yo-Ma Great War Zero, which was the comprehensive guide to all myths and legends. Let’s be happy about being able to acquire its feathers, and that’s how Evan tried to forget about it.

―Strong human. Tell me about the queen. Did the queen send you to us after learning of our existence?

The Mahwa Tribe spoke, or rather, the leader who represented multiple Mahwa Tribe members that gathered on the summit of the volcano. The Mahwa Tribe acquired the immortal body of the Divine Bird that only appeared in the legends of the Yo-Ma Great War series. A giant bird with an overwhelming size, the King of all myth that even looked down on dragons! While looking at the absolute existence that came to birth miraculously, Evan thought…

‘If I pluck all those feathers, how many Elixirs will I be able to produce?’

He started to plan on mass-producing the Elixir.