NOVEL WEB Chapter 158
Euna, busy regenerating her magic, perked up at the sight of the White Deer returning, only to realize there was an invisible face and she instantly turned gloomy.
“Are you sighing at the deer face?”
“Ah, no, it’s not that.”
“Right. I know.”
Feeling awkward under those piercing eyes, Euna turned her head away, realizing she didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye before feeling gloomy again.
Then she shook her head. There was no time to dwell on this; she needed to get into the dungeon quickly. Alpha was bouncing around over there, and she couldn’t afford to lag behind.
After all, she knew how lucky she was to receive help from the White Deer in the Fantasy World.
“The competition is fierce.”
“Huh? What noise?”
“Well, I might be different, but I’m still a beast. Yet you all are completely different, right?”
As Euna blinked in confusion, the White Deer nodded as if it understood.
“I see. I get it.”
As Euna continued to look puzzled, the White Deer began to ponder deeply.
Thinking back, it appeared that wolves surprisingly got along with humans. The red-haired mage girl was one, and so was the black-haired girl. And then there was Euna, with her brown hair.
Maybe the wolf’s taste was leaning toward humans rather than its kind. The thought of human females… The White Deer shook its head as it seriously considered the wolf’s preferences.
More importantly, preparations needed to begin. At the wolf’s request, Fairy-type monsters would gather to help him, and when the young dragon finished its shedding, they would head to the Square.
Right now, planning for that was the priority.
***
Being alone… that felt surprisingly new. Even though she hadn’t entered the dungeon yet, she was making quite a long trek on her own.
For a while now, she had been with Fairy, so she had been relying on Fairy more than she realized. It seemed her heart felt empty already.
To distract herself from such thoughts, she decided to focus on defeating the Plague and Disease.
They were monstrous, terrifying beasts. Just holding back their impact was overwhelmingly burdensome. Where they passed turned into tainted, lifeless land.
Moreover, by mere status alone, they likely surpassed the Volcano Ceratops. Their durability proved it.
The Volcano Ceratops endured three of Hong Yu-ri’s Great Magic, but with the Plague and Disease, even pouring all the magic from the Square couldn’t bring them down.
Of course, they had been wounded, but they fled every time, making it challenging to kill them. At the rate of the Floating Island, there was no way to catch up, and if they came down to the ground, it would be over for her in an instant. No matter how she thought about it, it was hard to believe they were below the Volcano Ceratops.
Unlike the purplish-black tiger crouching on Baekdu Mountain or the sea disaster swimming through all the waters, it was the Plague and Disease that were directly threatening humanity.
If she could kill them, it would mean they removed the imminent threat to humanity, at least until the purple-black tiger or the Master of All Things made a move.
But there was no way to defeat the Plague and Disease. No, there hadn’t been until she faced the Master of All Things.
Seizing the moment when she let her guard down, the Void consumed her hand, causing the skills—including the Partial Feed—to progress further.
[Devour (B): Exhausts and fatigues the target, gnawing at it]
At first glance, it seemed a plain explanation and felt like nothing but a sub-par version of Partial Feed, leaving her disappointed. However, upon testing it, she became convinced.
This skill would undoubtedly be the teeth that would bite into the Plague.
Also, besides Devour, her Regeneration rose to grade C for excellent recovery, and her Magic Regeneration also increased to grade C, obtaining an excellent modifier.
Of course, that didn’t mean she could defeat the Plague. The monsters humanity couldn’t defeat weren’t that easy. She had just a slight chance now. But if she could spend all her skill points to gain another A-grade skill, who knows… maybe she could reach it.
Still, she was lacking. Even with newly gained teeth to bite them, the gap hadn’t vanished.
Moreover, if both creatures appeared together, that meager chance would disappear.
Therefore, the first thing to do was to separate the Plague and the Disease. If that wasn’t possible, there would be no fight. And if possible, inflict as many injuries as possible before fighting the Plague.
She still needed more help for that. Having secured the help of the Beasts, it was now time to enlist the help of the Mages.
She left that task to Hong Yu-ri. Hoping everything went well, the wolf dashed toward the Square.
***
As sunlight filtered through the bars, Dorothy rubbed her eyes while stretching.
Yawning blissfully, she couldn’t remember when she had fallen asleep, no matter how hard she tried.
What had she been doing last? Oh, right… she remembered chasing after Hong Yu-ri as she suddenly raced somewhere into the Butterfly Castle.
But somehow… the memories after that were hazy. No matter how much she thought, they eluded her. It was as if someone had stuck an eraser into her mind and scrubbed things away.
Finally, dismissing her lost memory as insignificant, Dorothy attempted to rise, only to tilt her head in confusion.
It felt damp beneath her. Lifting the covers slightly, just as she feared, she saw her pants stained the color of forsythia and squeezed her eyes shut.
Why, why did it come to this? What on earth happened? Even trying to force memories back only brought frustration as the erased parts seemed messily wiped away.
Frantically trying to collect her thoughts, Dorothy furrowed her brows at the sound of someone banging on the door. Had the idiocy of knocking this hard really come to this? Who dares disturb the home of the heir of Red Square so early in the morning?
Dorothy immediately activated Magic Detection and realized it was Hong Yu-ri on the other side of the door. Why would she ever let her in? Dorothy scoffed, but that thought changed quickly.
Now that she thought about it, even if it had been forced, wasn’t Hong Yu-ri the one who entered the Butterfly Castle with her? Could both have forgotten everything? That sounds impossible.
Asking would reveal all. As she pondered, Dorothy furrowed her brows again. If she hadn’t lost her memories, then why had Hong Yu-ri come looking for her? It was well known that they were rivals.
No, they were rivals, right? Dorothy scoffed again. While wasting time as a Hunter, she had strong-armed her way, growing strong like a gorilla, but still hadn’t gained any Great Magic. The gap between them was now glaringly obvious.
In reality, she was the heir, and Hong Yu-ri was just nothing but an outsider who had bolted from the Square.
With that thought, Dorothy’s nose raised with pride.
Alright then. She must have had fun at the Butterfly Castle? Sure, it was like that there, but things were different here.
This time she’d make sure to make her feel the gap painfully. She wouldn’t let her become a nuisance again and would dig out what happened at the Butterfly Castle.
—And just as she was preparing to do that, an urgent banging startled Dorothy into rushing out of her bedroom, sighing heavily.
On the other side of the open door stood the red-haired girl, hands on her hips, one foot raised.
“What? Why are you just standing there without saying anything?”
“H-Hong Yu-ri! Do you seriously lack any common sense?!”
Goodness! There has to be a limit to everything! How could she even think to kick down someone else’s door? The hinges looked like they might break off at any moment, and exasperated, Dorothy sighed deeply.
Had she really not fixed that personality outside? So dumbfounded she was speechless, Hong Yu-ri, completely unfazed, frowned as she stepped inside.
She seemed to glance around before her gaze landed on Dorothy, who stared back, tilting her head. Seeing her own bizarrely colored outfit, Dorothy’s face flushed hot like a kettle.
She should have at least changed clothes. Caught off guard by those outlandish actions, it didn’t matter how groggy she was from just waking up…!
As Dorothy clenched her teeth, she almost wished to drop dead from shame as Hong Yu-ri surprisingly said nothing.
Oh. Did she think something had spilled? Yeah. It’s typically what someone would assume… Just as Dorothy began to think positively, Hong Yu-ri nodded.
“What are you doing? Change your clothes, it smells!”
As Hong Yu-ri pushed the creaking door closed, clearly disgruntled, Dorothy felt her strength drain away. She realized… or rather, thinking it through, her bed hadn’t been stained, meaning someone had cleaned it up. Most likely, it had been Hong Yu-ri.
Feeling miserable over that, Dorothy experienced a peculiar sensation of her vision fading away. As humiliation washed over her, it sapped her willpower to even change clothes, and she now just wanted to vanish…
Why, why had it come to this? Raking her fingers through her hair while again attempting to reel back memories, Dorothy grimaced at the throbbing headache.
“……”
Nothing came to mind at all.
As if her brain was rejecting it, an ominous feeling crept in, warning her that she shouldn’t remember it. Finally pushing herself upright and holding onto the bed, Dorothy stumbled her way into the room, where Hong Yu-ri was sitting on a chair, waiting for her to come out.
She shouldn’t really have come looking for her, but since it was a favor Alpha had asked, she had come.
Moreover, what he wanted to do was something that would fulfill humanity’s hopes. Alpha was determined to directly tackle the Plague and Disease. Though she had warned him it was dangerous… he wouldn’t stop and couldn’t be stopped.
Just like before the Volcano Ceratops. She couldn’t sit idly by, even if it meant seeking help from that jerk. Hong Yu-ri shook her head vigorously.
Anyhow, only four mages knew of Alpha’s existence in the Square. If Dorothy, the heir of Red Square, could cooperate, things would progress much more smoothly.
With that in mind, she had brought along negotiation materials. Hong Yu-ri continued to wait silently for Dorothy to come out.