◈ Episode 298 Second (1)
Ludger stares at Bellaluna, lost for words.
‘Why were you hiding such an important fact?’
Bellaluna avoided Ludger’s gaze as if she had no face.
Even thinking about it herself, it was because she knew it wasn’t usually her fault that she had been hiding it all this time.
By the time Ludger’s gaze became more intense enough to pierce her skin, Bella Luna suddenly felt sorry for her.
She didn’t give up right away and glared at Ludger.
‘No, but you’re not in a position to tell me that.’
Bellaluna was also kicked out of the elven kingdom as if she had committed a crime and fled.
After all, isn’t Rudger’s history not easy?
‘Jack the Ripper’, the shadow of the 1st princess and known for tearing people to death.
‘Abraham Van Helsing’, the hunter of the century and the man who ended the nightmare night.
‘James Moriarty’, a criminal police officer who made a nation buzz.
The legendary mercenary who ended the civil war in the Northern Kingdom, ‘Machiavelli’.
besides that and so on.
Among them, the status of hunters and mercenaries did not do anything bad.
Then what about the rest?
Isn’t even the identity of Rudgar Celish that he currently holds a false identity and is a party to the disguised employment that violates the laws of the empire?
What Bellaluna did was definitely a sin, but if Ludger added more, it was more, never less.
Knowing that, Rudger also flinched involuntarily.
However, he glared at Bella Luna with even more bewildered eyes.
‘At least I didn’t hide it.’
‘Hick!’
At least, this side is in a situation where they claim indulgence for revealing all their cards to their colleagues.
Bellaluna also had nothing to say about that part. The courage he had barely managed to gather shattered again.
‘Details will have to be done after everything is done.’
‘…yes.’
In the end, I wanted things to be organized like that, but an unexpected interruption came in.
“for a moment.”
Chris glanced at Rudger and Bellaluna once with a sharp gaze.
“The two of you are exchanging glances with each other right now. Have you ever known each other?”
A mixed tone of speech towards Ludger and respect towards Bellaluna.
In particular, Chris’ eyes staring at Ludger were unusual.
Rudger felt a sense of crisis that he had to say something right away, even though he wanted to know why this person was doing this.
“I am not acquainted. It was just absurd that they were hiding such an important fact.”
“Mr. Rudger Celish. It seems that you need to consider the position of others a little more. Anyone looking at you with that kind of look will find it difficult for you.”
is that what you mean?
Ludger usually calmly accepted whatever Chris said, but this time it was difficult to do so.
Ever since Chris’ involvement with Bellaluna, a strange, insurmountable annoyance was brewing.
“Above all, since you are an elf recommended by the princess herself, there shouldn’t be any problems?”
“….”
Come to think of it, I said that when I introduced Bellaluna.
There really was no one-size-fits-all.
Of course, this was all Bellaluna’s fault for hiding the fact that this had happened.
“All right. The important thing right now is not Belaluna-san’s past, but the root of the world tree right in front of you.”
Bellaluna opened her mouth gladly at the thought of being able to get out of this situation.
“First of all, let’s get this sorted out. Demonic power lies dormant within the roots of that dead world tree. I don’t know who, when, or where put that stuff… ….”
“You mean that devil’s power is struggling to come out of the root right now.”
“yes. And it’s likely that’s why the warlocks study the World Tree here. They must be trying to use that power.”
Are you trying to use demonic power?
The three of them realized that this issue was not usually serious.
However, this is still mere speculation.
I wouldn’t believe it if I told this to anyone unless there was some clear evidence.
At that moment, Rudger spotted a small butterfly fluttering.
‘That’s it.’
Rudger lightly held out his hand, and the butterfly rode on top of him.
Eventually, the butterfly slowly unraveled and turned into a small note.
‘It’s Sedina.’
And since there would be no way for Sedina to send this note all the way here by herself, it was clear that Hans had helped.
Rudger immediately scanned the contents of the note with his eyes.
It turns out that Hans’s words about watching the situation through the Chimera are true.
The contents inside were written about what he saw through the chimeras.
‘A culture facility that produces chimeras. They said that the warlocks there are researching something.’
What else are the warlocks who are already mass-producing chimeras trying to research?
The answer was already out there.
‘They’re really trying to do something with the devil’s power.’
It was the power of the devil, so it felt like all the doubts in my head were cleared at once.
Why did the Liberation Army and the black magicians wage a hopeless fight?
Why did he just buy time even with special gunpowder and a card called Chimera Legion?
“…I think we should come back soon and let this know.”
Chris and Bellaluna also nodded at Ludger’s opinion.
The seriousness of the situation was such that both of them were fully aware of it.
First I had to go back to the barracks and tell them what they had seen and what the warlocks were doing inside.
It might take quite a while.
However, at least right now, it would be much better for as many people as possible to put their heads together and think about it, rather than making individual judgments and handling things on their own.
“First of all, if we take a sample of the World Tree as evidence, everyone will believe it….”
It was the moment when Rudger spoke like that.
Kugu Palace———!!!
A huge vibration began to reverberate through the entire underground cavity.
The moment when both Rudger and Chris Bellaluna panic at the underground ruins shaking as if an earthquake had occurred.
Something even more amazing happened to them.
cooong!
The bulkhead at the back of the aisle the three of them came from went down, blocking the way back.
It wasn’t just a roadblock.
The scenery around them was also changing.
Rudger thought of something similar in the changing scene.
‘Is this a maze?’
The structure of this underground facility itself was a maze moved by someone.
Eventually, when the vibration subsided and stability came back, the place where the three of them were standing had changed to a completely different place.
“How did this happen?”
“I don’t think this underground space itself was an ordinary facility. Originally, it was a complex structure like a maze, but I never thought it would be possible to move like this.”
“So, does this mean that this place itself is literally a facility that changes its structure?”
“That’s it. And the guys who can do this have been decided.”
“The Liberation Army and the Warlocks.”
“Unless they’re stupid, they’ll know that an intruder has entered. And that you can’t handle it with just a chimera.”
“Do you intend to deal with us by blocking our escape route and isolating us like this?”
“At least I think so.”
Chris frowned.
It must be because he did not expect to be in this situation as he entered the analysis team.
“Is there any way out?”
“It will be difficult to find even if you do not know the geography. Or maybe they blocked the exit.”
“…The idea of getting out is, in effect, throwing it away.”
Rudger lightly checked his condition.
“It would have been better if it was like this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Since the other side found out and blocked the means this side should take, isn’t there only one way left?”
I can’t go outside and communication is jammed.
And enemies never know when they may suddenly use demonic powers.
Knowing that the power of the capital is gathered in one place, but committing such a thing would mean that the devil’s power is at least enough to affect the entire capital.
“…You’re crazy.”
Chris understood what Rudger was saying, so he muttered as he adjusted his glasses.
However, he did not show the light of rejection by saying that he would not do it.
He knew too.
That there is no way out of here anyway.
Knowing that the other side was plotting something to deal with the devil’s power, this side had to actively stop it.
“If you are not confident in fighting, you can leave that to me.”
Rudgar said so in his usual tone.
However, Chris got the feeling that the words were subtly mixed with self-reproach and ridicule.
“…don’t look at me funny Pharmacy is just a specialty, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight in real combat.”
“For that matter, you didn’t participate in Dalian in the magic festival.”
“Because I don’t feel the need to do that. Even if it looks like this, I have been through rigorous training since childhood. Don’t judge me the same as everyone else.”
Chris glared at Ludger with an unwavering gaze.
Its momentum was sharp enough to go into a fight right away, so Ludger nodded in satisfaction.
“great. In that case, Mr. Chris, please protect the elf girl over there as hard as you can.”
“what?”
“Do you like it?”
“…No way. Even if you don’t say so, I will protect Lady Bellaluna.”
“Miss Chris…!”
Bellaluna called Chris’ name as if she was moved.
Of course, considering Bellaluna’s skills, there was no need for Chris to step in and protect her, but since she was nominally a non-combatant, it was inevitable.
“Is it better than that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Even if we decide what to do, this is their home base. I can’t move carelessly. In the first place, since the terrain changes like this, it is difficult to pinpoint the location of the enemies.”
If you move blindly and the terrain changes again, you will get lost again.
It was no different from saying that all the process that had passed would be in vain.
I didn’t even know if I would have to go around the same space for the rest of my life.
However, Chris’ concerns were dismissed lightly by Rudger.
“Miss Chris. See the roots over there?”
“…Why is the root of the world tree that Lady Bellaluna and I were studying?”
“When the structure of the entire terrain was changed, a road that did not exist was created and the existing road disappeared. Perhaps this is a facility where the topography moves in a three-dimensional structure.”
“How is that?”
“But the location of the root over there is just the same. So, that means that blocks with protruding roots cannot move.”
“…!”
At that, Chris’ eyes widened.
“indeed. Does that mean that the section through which the roots of the World Tree penetrated is fixed and cannot move?”
“yes. And if you trace the direction of these roots, you might be able to find their hideout.”
This underground facility was in the form of a giant disc.
There was a large cavity in the center, which I guess was where the core of the Dead World Tree was.
The roots of the World Tree, which spread from the center, spread all over the place, destroying the outer walls and taking over the facility, so only part of the facility was able to move.
So, if you look in the direction the root came through and follow it, you will reach the center of the root, so at least you should not get lost.
“But as we might think, they know we can find ourselves back through our roots.”
“yes. That’s what it says.”
“Then, isn’t changing the terrain like this virtually meaningless?”
“I thought so too at first, but now that I see it, it’s not all that.”
“what?”
“Look ahead.”
As Ludger spoke, Bellaluna and Chris were also able to belatedly find themselves in the front.
The figure of an uninvited guest staring at us from the other side of the long archway, where light enters even though it is underground.
The opponent also roughly guessed the strength of this side, so there was no way they sent an ordinary liberation army.
If that were the case, the Liberation Army, especially those with skills, as well as black magicians would have come to support them.
No matter what, the enemy was never an opponent to be laughed at.
“I came because I knew they couldn’t be stopped by changing their location.”
Rudger lightly checked his condition while saying that.
good physical condition.
Good horsepower.
And the condition is also good.
“So wouldn’t it be comfortable?”
Ludger held a long black staff with a raven-shaped tip in his hand.
The wriggling mana was neatly captured and contained in the staff.
“Because this side came to me on its own without having to go looking for it.”
without having to say hello to each other.
Rudger immediately manifested his magic.
* * *
“This is true.”
Looking at the changed internal structure, Pasius sighed in dismay.
It wasn’t lost.
Although the topography has changed, the topography centered on the roots protruding through the wall remains fixed.
If you follow the root, you will never get lost.
However, it was absurd to hear that an underground facility operated in this way.
It is surprising that a facility like this exists under the capital city, but it is still working fine even after hundreds of years have passed.
‘What did you do in the former kingdom of the Empire 500 years ago?’
Is this the power of the ancients who only heard about it?
It would be possible if you try to make it now, but it was amazing to hear that they made something like this a long time ago in an era where science had not yet developed.
Contrary to what Pasius was thinking, the iron-masked Roteron, who came with him, was just staring at the front in silence.
The reason was nothing.
This is because the enemy appeared in front after the structure of the underground facility was changed.
“Did you say Lord Roteron?”
“Feel free to call me Roterone. Mr. Parsius.”
“Then let’s do that. More than that, enemies appeared over there. What will you do?”
“Is there such a thing as a choice?”
Roteron immediately went into battle preparations.
“We have to fight.”
At that warlike statement, Pasius laughed.
“That’s a word I can relate to.”
