[The edited files are missing… These are last-minute edits done by a less skilled floater. Tomorrow’s batch is done by the usual editor.]
Great Ancient Mage, Destroy (5)
The depths inside the Eternal Glacier felt colder, and the density of the different mana soared, too. Mirole started to think about whether this is a land abandoned by the gods.
“Even the power of the Great Mother Earth can’t reach this place. So, you are not completely wrong.”
“Maybe, this is the reason why this place is connected with the Spirit Realm… Zero, something else is coming out!”
Evan was walking as if he was strolling, but Mirole wasn’t.
She was alerted against all sides like a rookie on her first duty in the guard post, and she maintained her real-time report to Evan.
“Ah, nostalgic scene.”
The monster spotted by Mirole is a species from the Spirit Realm that is famous for having a crushed spider body with a giant pair of crab hands.
When that crab hand gets hold of its target, a lot of mouths around that hand open up and tear the target apart, so all the nutrients are focused onto that hand.
“…Nutrition?”
“It tastes good.”
“No! I told you I don’t want it!”
However, Evan didn’t listen to what she said, and he was already activating his Annihilation.
The monster spotted Evan and his members, and it approached them while rattling its arms, but it got crushed by the Annihilation.
Mirole didn’t look pleased, but she shot an arrow to finish it off like Evan directed her, and it disappeared while leaving just a pair of its crab hands.
Not just one but the whole pair.
“What will it taste like?”
“Ah, aaaaaah…”
In fact, they didn’t have a single meal ever since they entered the Eternal Glacier.
They simply weren’t sparing any time in order for Mirole to level up.
“First, you need to wrap around the crab hand tightly.”
“Why is that?”
“If you just cook it, all the mouths will open, and its content will come out.”
If Evan talks about the story of the Great Ancient Mage who had to eat this in the game, Mirole would shed tears on it.
But Evan sealed the hand and cooked it.
A nice smell filled up the space.
“Krgh, why does it smell so good…?!”
“It’s because these hands ate only creatures with high mana.”
Actually, if these crab hands are cooked well through a recipe, it becomes a magic food that increases the status.
Most of the ancient monsters yield the same result. So, they can be one of the factors that make the Great Ancient Mage gain monstrous powers.
“Mirole, won’t you really eat it? Then, Maybell and I will eat each hand, is that all right?”
“Master, let me peel it off for you.”
“…Hmm, I will take a bite.”
Mirole couldn’t hold herself back at the savory smell from the cooked crab hands, so she took a bite after Evan offered her some meat from it.
“Aah, it has a sweet taste that stings the nose, like some spice. Moreover, I can definitely feel its soft yet crunchy texture…!”
“Nice narration while eating it off my hand as if you’ve waited for it!”
Evan knew she would eat whatever he prepares, so he expected something like this to happen once he cooks the hands.
Especially when the flavor of this monster mostly resembles the king crab among all other ancient monsters, she will be amused by the taste since she hasn’t tasted any seafood!
“It’s really delicious… why is it so good…?”
“Have some more.”
Until the status increase effect takes place.
“This place is really wide, Master. Although we traveled slowly for Mirole to level up… this place must have a barrier that distorts space, doesn’t it?”
“Yup. And it also has a large-scale recognition denial barrier on top of it. These guys don’t like people to find out ‘the origin’.”
The origin. A giant gate where Middle Earth got connected with the different world for the first time.
A large number of monsters spawned from the gate that’s called the origin of the Spirit Realm.
The horrible thing about that gate is that monsters that get spawned through it will be recreated into new forms as they will be combined with other monsters.
“The arrival point is fixed onto Middle Earth, but the starting point isn’t. The monsters end up getting twined with each other as they enter the gate from different worlds at the same time.”
Like how a fly-human gets created when a fly and a human get warped together.
Maybell narrowed her eyes as she heard Evan’s explanation.
“Then that gate is like a cradle.”
“Yup. Although its recreation is by force.”
“Zero, eat first.”
“Oh, thanks.”
The members completely ate up the content of the crab hands and threw them away while trying their best not to look at the mouths.
They killed a few more monsters as they started moving after having a meal.
Stronger yet more bizarre monsters started to appear as they entered deep into the center of the Eternal Glacier.
“But, Zero… what will you do once we reach the rift?”
“Hmm, I only thought of cleaning up the monsters that were gaining power on this land.”
But if he really finds the rift of the Spirit Realm… and if it’s possible for him to close it up at this stage.
There won’t be any serious problems when the monsters of the Spirit Realm are excluded from the future scenario.
“Something is bothering me.”
“Something?”
“Yeah. That’s the reason why I’ve come down to this place first…”
Yo-Ma Great War Zero, the final chapter.
Some of the Ten Knights who were in hiding make their first appearance at that moment.
Receiving the power of the Spirit Realm, they come in the form of horrendous monsters and not pure Demons.
Their visuals are terrible, and handling them is very tiresome as they cause too many casualties in the scenario, so Evan doesn’t want to encounter them if that’s possible.
‘A point of contact between the demons and the Spirit Realm is bound to happen. And I’d like to find it and cut it out, so I’ve come all the way here…’
Well, closing the rift in the Eternal Glacier won’t completely cut off the connection with the Spirit Realm.
As the rifts are opening everywhere, even at this moment, Evan and his members will have to see the ugly appearances of the monsters.
“I’m weighing on all possibilities, though, and I’m certain that things will be beneficial for Middle Earth if we take care of this place. Ah, another monster.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
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Maybe it was due to numerous repetitions that Mirole’s combination with Evan in cleanly finishing off the monsters was becoming better.
But as Mirole killed it off, she suddenly flapped her eyes while she experienced a level up.
“Why didn’t I recognize this until now?”
“Mirole?”
“Zero, this way.”
Mirole held Evan’s hand and led the way. Evan was bewildered, but he followed her.
There are too many barriers in the Eternal Glacier, which made it impossible even for Evan and Maybell to detect the entire area, but Maybell may have acquired a method to do a deep search through spirits as she leveled up.
It wasn’t the rift of the Spirit Realm when Evan arrived with Mirole after breaking through several layers of barriers.
A familiar yet strong aura kept on leaking out from the door. It was dark-reddish mana.
“Is this… a joke?”
“As expected.”
Mirole gritted her teeth as she spoke.
“It has the most energy in Middle Earth, so it is the best place to hide the gate of the Demon Realm.”
“Demon King, you bastard…”
Evan mumbled in astonishment.
“I didn’t expect you to play games.”
* * *
Elizabeth was told that Evan wouldn’t be coming back soon, so she didn’t seem so well.
“Fake Oppa? A doll? I wish I had that, too.”
“Apologies, my lady. There were no other reports aside from them.”
Maybe it’s because Belois killed it on the spot after finding it, but Shine explained that she was fully into finding Evan’s fragments, so Elizabeth’s encounter will be unlikely.
“Anyways, did you really clear the dungeon? In just two months? By yourself?”
“Oppa said that it’s a reasonable thing to do when you are not bothered by people’s judgment.”
“Well, that’s true.”
When Evan was clearing dungeons with the dungeon knights, including Shine, Shine knew that he was adjusting his pace as he was conscious of how people would take it, and it was not that Evan had a hard time in clearing them.
“Well, I guess things were different for the Junior group, though.”
That means Elizabeth, who spent a shorter time in training than the Junior group, has a higher potential than everyone in the Junior group… Soon, Shine shook his head.
“Well, she is Master’s little sister.”
“Family lines don’t matter! The eldest Oppa is weak.”
“He is very conscious about it anyway, so please refrain from talking about it in front of him, my lady.”
“You know, Evan Oppa made me strong. I was born again when he took my hand and let me defeat those slimes.”
“Is that so? Ah, do you want some juice?”
“Yup!”
She isn’t possibly recalling the time during her childhood. Shine smiled and offered her a juice. At that moment, the Marquis of Sherden and his second wife, Miriam, arrived at the Astray HQ.
“L-Liz!?”
“Ah, Mom!”
Elizabeth, who became at least 20 centimeters taller before entering the dungeon, welcomed her mother and hugged her while smiling.
“…Liz, can you let me go since it’s difficult to breathe?”
“Oh my. I failed to watch my daughter grow at her side…”
“I don’t think that is a problem, my lord.”
The Marquis couple was taken aback by their daughter, who grew up so fast. And they were at a loss for words when they heard that she solely cleared the 100th floor of the dungeon.
“Honey, this matter…”
“Must be confidential. Thank goodness Arisha took care of the report beforehand.”
“She is really admirable. Such a smart girl.”
Shine, who becomes somber whenever Arisha comes up in the conversation, quietly looked the other way. The Marquis couple doesn’t know the pregnancy news of Evan’s wives yet.
“Liz, why were you in the dungeon?”
“I thought that I needed to become strong in order to find Oppa.”
Miriam spoke while acting like she was blacking out when Elizabeth spoke more confidently than anyone in the dungeon knighthood.
“Liz! A fine lady shouldn’t talk like that!”
“Miriam, I think we should give up on our plans for her.”
“Honeeeeey…”
“Our daughter is destined for the dungeon. There is quite a number of similar people in Sherden lately, but she is the strongest in the world who stands on the apex of all humanity. There’s no need for us to cling onto the ‘noble lady’ that appears in fairy tales.”
It’s definitely true. But for Miriam, who dreamed of her daughter becoming the queen of the high society, her heart was falling apart.
“Haaa, I shouldn’t have let Evan take charge of her education…”
“She’s well in terms of that part, too, so no need to worry, my lady.”
“Be quiet!”
“Why is it just me…?”
Shine pouted. At that moment, Elizabeth stood up as if she had a great idea.
“I want to see grandpa first!”
“Grandpa?”
“Grandpa Bernard!”
Elizabeth’s eyes were glaring like the Milky Way.
“I’ll meet with Eir, and we’ll look for Evan Oppa together!”
“I believe even Bernard has a plan for that, Liz.”
“But I am strong now with my power!”
Liz smiled brightly,
And leaped.
“…Huh?”
“…Liz? Liz? Liz!?”
The three were bewildered and looked for her everywhere in Sherden, but they failed to find her trace.
And they barely manage to calm down after Belois searched for her location and informed them that she is in the ancient forest.
…Well, in fact, nobody was calm at all.