Volcanic Desert (6)

“Won’t there be any problems?”

“Safety measures were already taken. Ah, forget it if you don’t want it.”

“Who said I don’t want it?”

Shine held the red crystal tight as if someone might steal it from him. It was the Blood Crystal left behind by the phoenix. Although it was ripped apart while it was alive, obtaining the crystal was lucky for them to the point that if a screenshot of this was posted on the fan page, the server would definitely overload and go down.

‘Well, the same would happen if any of our information were disclosed…’

It was a useless thought. Serena, who was brainwashed by the enemies and appeared as the sexy female officer in Yo-Ma Great War 4, caught the most attention as she grew up to be a dragon tamer…

“Commander, what’s going on?”

“No, nothing.”

Evan took back what he thought. Serena was amazing, but the High Elf Mirole, who charmed most of the Elf maniacs as she made her appearance in Yo-Ma Great War Zero, was the most surprising one.

“Can I absorb it now?”

Shine held the crystal tightly as he looked at it with shivering eyes. If this crystal withheld fierce fire energy, Evan would have stopped Shine, but it didn’t. Then, within this crystal, there was a high possibility that some other feature of the phoenix was contained. Evan pressed Shine with his enthusiasm.

“Just stop with your hesitation and use it.”

“Haat…argh!”

Shine breathed in and out deeply and hit the phoenix crystal on top of his Twin Bloodhorn. And it was absorbed by the dual dagger. Right after, the dagger glared with an ominous light, causing Shine to let out a weird groan.

“I feel something is twitching within my body…”

“Did the genes of the Mahwa Tribe remain or something? Maybe Shine turns into Mahwa Tribe just like this.”

“Don’t be too scared of the Mahwa Tribe. Aside from their strength, it’s just a common pathogen if you know how to control its contagiousness.”

Could someone get infected by the Mahwa Tribe’s gene just by letting the weapon absorb the crystal? If it were that dangerous, Evan wouldn’t have let Gnar feast on it. Although the Mahwa Tribes were amazing, they were once defeated by Bernard after he invented a vaccine against them. Moreover, Evan and Bernard cooperated in creating more advanced weapons, so Mahwa Tribes that thrived by evolving in terms of battles and not in parasitism couldn’t possibly survive.

“So, Shine. How are you feeling?”

“This…hmmm. I feel like my body became stronger, and all my muscles have strengthened. Moreover, the sensation of something gradually swelling…it’s like the type of power I can’t experiment with by myself.”

Evan nodded and replied as if he expected Shine to murmur.

“You’ve received the regenerative trait of the phoenix?”

“Master, if you have a slight sense of conscience, don’t even call it a regenerative power. We just witnessed how the phoenix was ripped apart to death without being able to regenerate.”

Losing the power through plucking all the feathers that were the core for its regeneration and having its power interrupted by stopping the time so that the flesh couldn’t regenerate resulted in a successful extraction without wasting the heart, the source of its regeneration. It truly was a 12 out of 10 approach in obtaining the phoenix’s drop items, but the process’s cruelty was unspeakable.

“It’s the Mahwa Tribe. Such treatment is considered all right for the Mahwa Tribe.”

“But it didn’t happen only to the Mahwa Tribes…”

“Well, Shine successfully absorbed the crystal. Then let’s observe the heart.”

A large number of phoenix feathers were of better quality than those obtained from the dungeon. Perhaps it was the result of the Mahwa Tribe surpassing its limit as it obtained the phoenix’s body. That was for the feather, so how much more was it with the heart! Evan observed the heart that he had successfully extracted thanks to his Annihilation skills.

“Intense fire, and the regeneration ability that dwells within…it has dual attributes. The feather was already too good, but this heart surpasses it.”

The heart had the strongest ability among all the items that Evan had ever confirmed. Its destructive tendency was far too great to be used as an ingredient for the Elixir. It surely had a transcendental regeneration, but it was for the immense destruction it contained. The heart had both incredible destruction and regeneration.

‘If I use this as the ingredient for the unique weaponry…’

As Evan was experimenting on the unique weaponry with Bernard and was lamenting on the insufficient data, they came to an understanding that the unique weaponry shouldn’t be focused on simply maximizing its destructiveness. It was because the unique weaponry was refined by the spirit of the wielder. It was the same as using one’s own spirit to fight, so the unique weaponry itself could become the wielder’s weakness.

‘So, we concluded that the unique weaponry must be destructive and protective at the same time…’

The heart in Evan’s hand was just the item for that need. It additionally contained fire attributes that could calm down the severe chill from the already obtained King Ice Spirit’s heart. The reason why Evan came to the Volcanic Desert was to find the ingredients for the unique weaponry so the result could be called a huge success. Evan sealed the phoenix’s heart into the case that had alchemical protection, and he stored it into his inventory. Gnar looked as if it really wanted to consume it, but Evan couldn’t give it away. This was to be kept as a secret even from the owner who was in charge of the Knighthood food. He hoped that the owner of Brotherhood Skewers was satisfied with the phoenix’s flesh.

“Is there anything inside the crater?”

“Only magma.”

“All right, then let’s go.”

Thanks to how the phoenix gathered up everyone, the monsters that dwelled in the Volcanic Desert were completely eliminated. The Volcanic Desert’s intense heat was due to the horrible monsters that dwelled in it, so the temperature would go down since all of them were eliminated. Of course, as long as the volcanic activities continued, humans couldn’t easily enter the region, though…

“Lua, how’s your mana?”

“The phoenix had been suppressing the mana of the area. I can gather it easily now.”

“How about Anastasia?”

“So can I. I can now hear the whispers from nature.”

“Then…”

Evan hesitated for a while, but he nodded and made a decision.

“I should just stop this volcano. Anastasia cast buff magic on Lua. Lua, cast the highest spell of ice magic around the area with this volcano as its center.”

“Alright.”

“Understood.”

Evan’s members rode on Gnar’s back, and they flew up to a safe altitude. First, Anastasia cast the druid’s blessing to Belois and asked nature to lower down the heat in the area. Belois cast her best ice magic with all her might towards the volcano.

“Ice Age!”

At that moment, everything within the sight froze. Shine doubted whether Evan cast his Annihilation once more, but it wasn’t so.

“I think the entire area has frozen…”

“She consumed several items for it.”

Witches’ magic was strong as it was. Still, they were superb since the destructiveness could be amplified based on how much preparation the caster did, unlike other jobs that used magic. One typical method was the magic circle, but others included magic potions and ingredients.

“But it won’t last long. The ground temperature is insanely high.”

“This is enough. We don’t need to be bothered by it more. Then let’s go.”

Although Evan expected to spend as much time as they had in the Eternal Glacier to pursue the ancient ruin, everything concluded faster than his expectations.

“Gnar, let’s head home!”

―Kyuuuuuuuu!

Gnar’s condition was at its peak since it was able to eat its fill. The body of the phoenix was surpassing Keiha, the best food Gnar had ever eaten so far! It was able to become even stronger thanks to it.

“I guess the others will be in the dungeon when we get back.”

“Isn’t Save’s party doing their best in leveling up? What should we do until they come out?”

Actually, the Senior group felt a bit uneasy right now. They were given four days’ worth of rest to fight, and everything ended in a split second.

“Well, it seems nice to explore the wilds of this continent with this opportunity, but that would take up too much time, so let’s do that next time…”

The continent was vast. The areas mentioned in the main story of the Yo-Ma Great War series, such as the Eternal Glacier and the Volcanic Desert, were huge. There were a bunch of regions that weren’t mentioned at all in the game. Half of the map was unexplored.

“Let’s train. I think Miraseul’s necklace is almost complete. Join me and hunt the slimes.”

The several jewels on Miraseul’s necklace didn’t shine at first. Still, while summoning and defeating endless slimes, it lighted up one by one, and now, there were only two jewels that didn’t shine. Evan promised himself that he would complete the necklace no matter what since he was curious about what would happen next. This sure was the mind of a maniac.

“Master…didn’t you say that raising my existence level is difficult and useless since I’m from the god race?”

“But it’s better than leaving it be. Don’t you want to fight? Have one with the slimes.”

“…”

‘I’ve said nonsense,’ Evan regretted his words. The Senior group members stared at Shine. They realized that they had to join in the Slime training since Evan mentioned it.

―Kyuukyuuuu!

“You’ve become faster, Gnar. I think we’ll soon arrive!”

After freezing the entire Volcanic Desert and escaping from it, they passed Eskarothi, Houmi, and Mana Road. They were already in the middle of the Silk Line.

“Hmm?”

That moment, there was an incoming transmission to Evan. It was from Diona, who stayed behind in the HQ.

―Master, the Marquis, was looking for you. I believe there’s a guest. I know that you are in the middle of a busy schedule, but can you return a bit quicker?

“Is it, father? He won’t call me unless it’s important…do you know what it’s about?”

It was great that everything was completed fast. Diona explained to Evan.

―An envoy from a different country came for a visit.

“The envoy should visit the palace first, so why Sherden?”

―Guess he is looking for someone.

Diona continued without hesitation.

―The envoy is from the Beifeka Kingdom…is looking for Luden—Ms. Louise—the rightful heir of Merdin.

“Oh.”

Evan laughed. He let Louise join the front with Save to show her power and intentionally spread the rumor that Louise was the second child of Merdin, Luden, hoping for something like this to happen one day…

“Those Beifeka people, I guess they are more excited than I’ve expected them to be.”

Evan giggled and told Diona that he would arrive soon. Diona was surprised as she replied, “Soon!?” But the transmission ended, so she wasn’t able to get the details.

“Ray, let’s have Gnar put on the fire show one more time when we arrive at Sherden.”

“Roger!”

Serena replied happily as she saluted. Arisha pitied the envoy from Beifeka, whom she hadn’t even met yet, and let out a deep sigh.