ebonymovies Chapter 166 : Meeting - 1
Chapter 166 : Meeting - 1
My jaw dropped.Surprisingly, the others didn't seem particularly shocked.
Karin muttered cynically,
“Of course it's your fault. You're Magireta.”
“That's really harsh.”
“What kind of grudge did you have against Drod's wife to give her Madness?”
“It wasn't out of malice. I turned his wife into a Monster... and she happened to become a Berserker.”
“A Berserker?”
“A rare Monster. There's only one of its kind in all of Hell.”
“One of my masterpieces.”
Out of habit, I tried looking up Berserkers in the Encyclopedia.
But there was no need.
Magireta explained it herself.
“A Berserker is a Monster that grows stronger and more violent the crazier it becomes.”
“Why would you make a Monster with a setting like that? It sounds terrible.”
“Why?”
“Isn't it fun?”
“......”
“Anyway, if you removed the Madness from a Berserker, it could no longer be called a Berserker.”
“I don't want that.”
“That's why the Scale of Trade is tipping in little brother's favor.”
Hmm.
So that was the situation.
Magireta continued.
“Besides... Drod has already begged me several times to cure his wife.”
“I examined her personally many times.”
“But you never cured her. You just pretended nothing was wrong.”
“That's right.”
“Why?”
“I already told you.”
“A Berserker is the only one in Hell. It's one of my masterpieces.”
“What kind of craftsman ruins her own masterpiece?”
That information hadn't been included in Drod's Encyclopedia entry.
Then again, my Encyclopedia was only Level 2.
‘That's such a Magireta way of thinking.’
There was no doubt that Magireta cared about Drod as an MVP.
But apparently...
Not enough to ruin one of her own masterpieces.
“Anyway, if I suddenly cure her Madness now, he'll obviously ask why I didn't cure her all the other times I examined her.”
“I won't have any excuse.”
“You'll have no choice but to tell him the truth.”
“That his wife's Madness was originally your fault.”
“And that you deliberately refused to cure her in order to preserve your masterpiece.”
“Are you joking?”
“Yes.”
“That part is a joke.”
“But if you don't grant my request, there won't be any Rule modification.”
“That part isn't a joke.”
Magireta stared at me silently.
I met her gaze without flinching.
After a long silence, she finally spoke.
“I refuse.”
“Really?”
“You won't regret it?”
“That's what I should be asking.”
“Won't you regret this, little brother?”
“No.”
“I won't.”
“Then today's negotiations have failed as well.”
“Please leave.”
Crunch.
Magireta ground her teeth.
Everyone swallowed nervously.
For a moment, I wondered whether she was going to explode.
Instead, she quietly disappeared.
As though he'd been waiting for that moment, Benjamin spoke.
“Mason.”
“Are you alright?”
“As you can see, I'm perfectly fine.”
“I don't mean physically.”
“I mean this situation.”
“No matter what, we'll need Magireta's cooperation if we're going to resolve this...”
“Who do you think is more desperate right now, Benjamin?”
He hesitated before answering.
Before he could, Karin cut in.
“Obviously we are.”
“Our lives are on the line.”
“True.”
“But we're not about to die today or tomorrow.”
“Drod intends to kill us after all the Games are over.”
“And precisely because of that...”
“We'll remain safe until every Game has ended.”
“......”
“On the other hand, if Magireta misses this opportunity...”
“She'll lose the chance to kill Odline for a very long time.”
“Perhaps forever.”
I continued seriously.
“I guarantee it.”
“The one who's desperate right now... is Magireta.”
Everyone silently nodded.
After taking a sip of tea, I said,
“Just wait.”
“She'll definitely come back before long.”
Three days passed.
During those three days, Magireta visited us twice a day.
The first time, she came with an overbearing attitude.
“I'm starting to get annoyed, little brother.”
“Is that so?”
“That's unfortunate.”
“Enough talking.”
“Just agree to the Rule modification.”
“Stop attaching all these unnecessary conditions.”
“No.”
“I won't agree until you grant my request.”
“Sigh...”
“I'll come back.”
“Think it over until then.”
With those words, she disappeared.
But she returned again that evening.
“Have you thought about it?”
“Yes.”
“I gave it a lot of thought.”
“And I reached a wise conclusion.”
“Good.”
“So now you're finally being reasonable.”
“There will be no Rule modification until you grant my request.”
“That's my conclusion.”
“......”
The same thing continued afterward.
Magireta kept coming back.
Sometimes she threatened me.
“If you keep this up, I might start hating you, little brother.”
“Think carefully.”
Other times, she tried to persuade me.
“I've thought about it...”
“What you're saying isn't entirely unreasonable.”
“I still can't grant your request.”
“But I'll compensate you with something else.”
She even appealed to my sympathy, which didn't suit her at all.
“Do you have any idea how much Odline has tormented me mentally?”
“If I can't get rid of him this time, I'll never be able to live in peace.”
“Do you really want to see your big sister die?”
I almost answered, “Yes.”
Fortunately, I barely held myself back.
In any case, I ignored every one of her attempts.
Then, after three days—
Whoosh.
Magireta appeared.
She looked utterly exhausted.
Having become quite used to her visits over the past three days, Karin greeted her casually.
“Morning.”
“Had breakfast yet?”
“......”
“We made the potato soup properly today.”
“Want a bowl?”
“Sigh.”
After letting out a deep sigh, Magireta looked at me.
“I lost.”
“Hm?”
“I'll grant your request.”
“Well... more accurately, we'll make a trade.”
“That's right.”
“I merely requested the same kind of trade we've always made.”
“And yet you dragged things out this long over something so simple.”
“Because I'm the one making a losing trade!”
She shouted without thinking.
A moment later, she pressed a hand to her forehead and muttered,
“What is this...”
“I think that's the first time I've shouted in millions of years.”
“I'm honored.”
The corner of my mouth lifted slightly.
Magireta frowned.
“You should be the one to tell Drod.”
“Tell him what?”
“You know...”
“That his wife's Madness was my fault.”
“Hmm...”
“Are you sure about that?”
“You could just keep it hidden and cure her.”
“Yes.”
“But one thing is guaranteed to come out.”
“That I could have cured her long ago...”
“And deliberately chose not to.”
“If it's Drod...”
“He'll be able to figure everything else out from that alone.”
“......”
“He'll ask himself...”
“Why did she hide it?”
“Why didn't she cure her when she could?”
“Did Magireta actually like my wife's Madness?”
“Or perhaps...”
“Was Magireta the one who caused my wife's Madness?”
“......”
“He'll be able to deduce at least that much.”
Well...
She wasn't wrong.
Even if I were Drod, I'd come to the same conclusion.
Of course...
I didn't feel the slightest urge to comfort her.
She had brought it upon herself.
Shrugging, I nodded.
“Alright.”
“I'll explain your side of the story as gently as possible.”
“Whew... Good.”
“Let's complete the trade first.”
“Then we'll modify the Rule.”
“No.”
“Ah, what now?!”
Karin scratched her ear and interrupted.
“Calm down.”
“Menopause?”
“Be quiet, Karin.”
“I wasn't talking to you, Sienne...”
I calmed everyone down.
Then I rubbed my palms together and continued.
“There's something even more urgent than the trade or the Rule modification.”
“Or rather...”
“Something that has to come first procedurally.”
“What is it?”
“Isn't it obvious?”
“We need to meet Drod.”
“......”
“I'm planning to do him a favor.”
“If I'm going to do that, I need to let him know.”
“Otherwise, I won't get any credit for it.”
In a way...
This was the most important part.
Before anything truly began, I had to meet Drod.
That was absolutely essential.
Magireta looked troubled.
“I wouldn't recommend it.”
“Hm?”
“His territory is a complete mess right now.”
“Right.”
“You said the war had already begun.”
“Yeah.”
“They've already been fighting for three days.”
“I don't know when it'll end.”
“That's why I've become so desperate.”
Naturally...
I wasn't desperate at all.
“How's the war going?”
“They're evenly matched.”
“I thought Drod was incredibly strong.”
“To think they're evenly matched...”
“That maggot Odline is more capable than I expected.”
“He used dirty tactics.”
“Anyway, it could be dangerous if you go looking for Drod right now.”
I shook my head.
“Even so, we can't exactly summon him here.”
“We have no way of calling him.”
“And he doesn't seem like the kind of Monster who would leave the battlefield in the middle of a war.”
“Have you ever met him?”
“We'll have to go to him.”
“Brother, please cast a defensive spell.”
With the Infinite Power ability...
Protecting ourselves in the middle of a battlefield shouldn't be difficult.
Versium nodded and cast his spell.
Wooooong.
A bluish barrier immediately formed around us.
Holding the Teleportation Orb, I looked at everyone.
“Shall we?”
The first thing we saw after teleporting with the Teleportation Orb...
Was a black sky.
Armelia muttered,
“Was Hell's sky always black?”
“I'm sure it was purple during the Cold Season.”
“...No.”
“Hm?”
“What do you mean?”
“That's not the sky.”
“It's insects.”
“More specifically... flies.”
“Flies?”
Something suddenly flashed through my mind.
Come to think of it...
Wasn't that one of Odline's abilities?
The maggots inside a Monster's body laid eggs.
Using the Monster's body as nourishment, they formed an enormous cocoon.
When that cocoon hatched...
It gave birth to an almost endless swarm of flies.
‘And the flies kill every living creature... wasn't that it?’
Just then, part of the black sky descended toward us.
In an instant, it surrounded us.
I nearly panicked.
Fortunately, the flies couldn't penetrate Versium's defensive spell.
Karin spoke.
“We teleported into Drod's territory, right?”
“So where is he?”
Since Magireta had warned us it might be dangerous, we deliberately avoided teleporting directly beside Drod.
Wherever Drod was...
Would naturally be the fiercest battlefield.
“Hold on.”
I opened the Compass and checked it.
After confirming the red dot on the map, I spoke.
“About two kilometers northeast of here.”
“Good.”
“Let's fly.”
Whoosh.
Karin immediately commanded the Spirits to lift us into the air.
We continued rising through the swarm of flies that I'd mistaken for the sky.
Eventually...
The purple sky welcomed us once more.
Benjamin looked down and said,
“From up here, it's obvious.”
“Drod's entire territory is covered with flies.”
“So this is what Magireta meant by 'dirty' tactics.”
“Hm.”
“Odline can move through space using Black Holes.”
“He probably laid the maggot eggs in his own territory beforehand.”
“Then he simply sent the swarm of flies through the portal.”
“While staying safely far away himself.”
“Just like master, just like servant...”
Listening to everyone's conversation, I spoke.
“Why did Magireta say they were evenly matched?”
“Hm?”
“Drod's claws can erase anything they touch.”
“But against an overwhelming swarm like this, they aren't cost-effective.”
“Shouldn't he actually be at a disadvantage instead of evenly matched?”
“Does it really matter?”
Well...
She had a point.
I nodded and handed the Compass to Karin.
“The red dot on the Compass marks Drod's location.”
“Fly us there.”
“Got it.”
We flew through Hell's skies for quite some time.
Before long, we spotted a gigantic creature coiled atop the roof of an enormous castle.
Yes.
A monster.
“Whoa.”
“What is that?”
“It's unbelievably huge.”
“Almost as large as Helena.”
“It looks like an enormous lizard.”
“If it weren't for those wings.”
“Its entire body is black.”
“What an ominous appearance.”
I quietly spoke.
“That's probably the race known as Dragons.”
“Dragons?”
“Not Monsters?”
“Well...”
“Technically, they're Monsters.”
“But when Magireta transformed Drod into one, she preserved the form and abilities he had while he was alive.”
“Why?”
“Because she liked Drod.”
“So she gave him special treatment.”
Just then—
Fwoosh.
Drod lightly flapped his wings and rose into the sky.
Then the enormous reptile opened its mouth.
Something poured out from within.
-ROOOOOOOAR!
He spun in a full circle, melting the flies in every direction.
‘So that's it.’
‘That's the Breath I saw in the Encyclopedia.’