Chapter 274 Believe It Or Not
"Argh…my head…" A weak and pained voice echoed through a small wooden hut that was placed high up on a tree.
The voice reached the ears of all the Elves and the human Originals nearby. Their ears perked up at the sound of Nial's voice.
A bunch of Elves, who released an intense pressure that suppressed everyone around them, jumped up from the ground and entered the wooden hut in an instant.
They released uniquely transmuted mana and filled the entire hut with it instantaneously.
Followed by the Elves, a few humans rushed up the wooden stairs before halting in front of the wooden hut.
"You are not allowed to enter the hut. Your mana will only disrupt the healing process," One of the Elves warned, lifting his flat hand to indicate that they shouldn't even think of stepping into the hut.
Miranda frowned deeply when she saw this, but she could only nod her head. It was not as if the Elves were trying to kill Nial. They wanted to help and avoid the possibility of him receiving permanent damages in his fight against Silvian.
'If I ever meet Silvian again, I will tear his head off!!' Miranda could only think while sighing deeply. She stepped back and went to the side of the wooden hut to sit down on the bench.
The bench was located right below the window near Nial's bed. That was where Miranda, Mathias, Hana, and a few others had occasionally sat when they had been worried about Nial's well-being.
Right now, Miranda and Mathias were sitting on the bench with gloomy expressions.
"I still cannot understand what happened last month…" Mathias said, revealing his honest thoughts. The battle against the Dryx was already insane enough. Nial's sudden emergence out of nowhere was even weirder, including the fact that he ended the battle by scaring away the Dryx.
All of this was already beyond Mathias' wildest imaginations. However, when he got to know that Silvian, the Sacred Knights leader, had been the Incarnation of a God, an 'evil' God at that, he felt like his head was bursting apart.
It made no sense, even less when Mathias got to know that Silvian had been in control of the Dryx.
"Nial knew everything, didn't he? Why didn't he tell us?" Mathias continued to ramble, asking questions that were self-explanatory.
Who would believe Nial if he were to say something as nonsensical as, "The Sacred Knights leader is an Incarnated God, he controlled the Dryx to gain everyone's trust, and he attacked the Elves to strengthen the Dryx…Ah and by the way, he wanted to get his hands on the Elven Empresses' manifested Divinity fragment as well?"
Nobody would believe it.
Even Mathias had a hard time believing it, when Master Crevian revealed the truth to Miranda and Mathias.
And that was also only the case because both Miranda and Mathias were adamant in finding out what had happened to Nial. They even threatened the Elves to attack them.
The threat was downright hilarious because it was obvious that neither Mathias nor Miranda were strong enough to fight even one Prometheus Elf.
Nonetheless, they made their stance clear, showing that Nial was very important to them. In fact, even Hana wanted to know what was going on. She might not have known Nial for long but Hana could tell that something big had happened.
Nial was different than anyone else, and Hana doubted that ordinary existences could force Nial to nearly sacrifice his life to fight someone.
When the Old Elf Crevian sensed the genuine concern and their sincerity, he told Mathias, Hana, and Miranda about the truth.
At first, they didn't believe it, but both Miranda and Mathias were left with no other choice but to believe it, once they connected the dots.
Nial talked often enough about the Sacred Knights leader, the Dryx, and various other things that were simply too weird.
Everything made much more sense when they connected the dots, but at that time another question flashed through their mind.
"So…is Nial also an incarnated God?" Mathias had asked at that time. Crevian shook his head in response to the question.
"I have no idea what Nial is. I can only tell you guys that he is likely to have received many memories from his Innate ability. Other than that, I am even more confused about his existence than anyone else.
After all, all Elves should hate him for the simple fact that he is in possession of this weird highly destructive dark energy. But we don't."
Master Crevian's answer had been weird, but nobody asked about it in-depth. As long as Nial was not some psychopathic incarnated God, who wanted to create his own territory by sacrificing the human race, they were fine with everything.
Miranda sighed as her head turned to Mathias.
"Incarnated Gods…other races….dungeons created by Divine Existences and Gods, Divinity Fragments…are we even able to face all of that with our strength?" She asked, not sure about a positive answer.
It was great that they could create runic armaments by now, and that the Elves seemed to be on their side, but Miranda felt like death followed the human race like a shadow, wherever they went.
Everything they got to know during the last few months seemed to make things worse for mankind than it improved. It was certainly advantageous news but the incarnation of Gods in the human body turned things upside down.
Now, it was even difficult to trust their own kind. Miranda questioned the real identity of various powerful humans when she found out about the incarnation of Gods. She could tell that everything would question one another if the truth were to be revealed to the public.
For now, only Miranda, Mathias, and Hana were let in on the truth. As the only beings, who had been truly accepted by the Forest of Life, they were trustworthy.
Nobody knew the requirements to be accepted by the Forest of Life, but all of them believed that it was related to the fact that Nial was connected to all of them.
"We will survive…" Mathias just mumbled, clenching his fist tightly as he added, "I am sure of that…"
Mathias sounded determined, but he also knew that it was not only his battle to fight. For their entire race to survive, they had to grow stronger, altogether.
It was useless if only a bunch of Originals would be strong enough to face their future opponents. The entire human race had to grow, and get to know about the truth, including the facts which the government hid from public view to prevent mass panic.
"The planetary mana awakening theory should be disclosed to the public…" Mathias mumbled while supporting his arms by pressing them against his thighs.
He wanted to say more, reveal his honest opinion about everything, but he remained silent as he heard that someone was approaching them.
"This will cause a mass panic, you know that, right?" Kirlia Maverick asked as she walked up the stairs to the wooden hut. Hana was right next to them, bowing lightly to show her respect to both Mathias and Miranda.
She was not sure why exactly she was doing so, but it felt correct. Everyone, who fought relentlessly for several hours against the disgusting and dreadful Dryx deserved her respect.
Mathias smiled faintly at Hana before he averted his focus to Kirlia, whom he frowned at.
"I guess Hana told you about everything, or am I wrong?" He asked without a trace of respect in his voice.
"You little pi–" Kirlia growled, but before she could finish her words, Miranda lifted her hand.
"Don't fight," Miranda stopped both of them from getting at each other's neck.
"Kirlia, I think you know everything by now. Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. You can tell that everything over the last few months is a little bit odd. If you cannot see it, you are definitely blind," Miranda replied in a calm voice.
Kirlia wanted to say something. She had already opened her mouth, only for Miranda to glare at her childhood friend, quieting down Kirlia at once.
"Please don't be so narrow-minded, sweetheart. Think about everything Hana told you, how suddenly Silvian grew influential, why he became so influential to begin with, and how it was possible for someone so strong to appear out of nowhere.
"Then tell me how to force the entire human race to desperately fight to grow stronger," Miranda had to prevent frowning at Kirlia, and to keep her voice down while stating what she wanted her to do.
Kirlia Maverick might be her childhood friend, but she was definitely not the brightest one in certain scenarios. She was just too narrow-minded and stubbornly held on to her beliefs.
Nonetheless, she could think for herself and make her own decisions. It was just the fact that it would take a little longer for her to comprehend everything if she had to get out of her comfort zone.
"Well, shit…" Kirlia muttered and clenched her fist. She took a few deep breaths and frowned at Mathias for a moment before her expression softened.
It was not as if Mathias was at fault for feeling tense. She was not faring well either. Her entire being screamed that the future would be dangerous and that it would be best for them to leave as quickly as possible.
However, there was no place to leave, and running away would do little good.
"The President won't allow us to do anything that may cause mass panic within the shelters," Kirlia revealed all of a sudden. Even if she didn't want to accept it, the situation was certainly not great.
She had read through the planetary mana awakening theory, connected the dots related to Silvian, accepted that he may be some sort of Incarnated God and that he wanted to get his hands on something inside the Forest of Life.
The Forest of Life was a clear sign that other Gods or Divine existences were capable of transporting their own race and their 'territory' to Jundra even before the awakening.
It might be difficult but it was possible.
"Shit will get real the moment Jundra awakens its planetary mana core…" She suddenly blurted out and ran her hand through her hair. It was disheveled but her appearance was the last thing Kirlia could be bothered about right now.
"And that's what we have to be prepared for…with the Elven race's help," A new voice joined their discussion. It resounded from within the wooden hut, and it was a mere moment later that a familiar young man took a peek out of the window.
Nial's voice came out like a croak and his expression was riddled with pain, which Nial ignored completely.
Simultaneously, he also ignored the fact that the newly arrived Elves with healing abilities had told him not to move for the next two weeks.
"We can use the black market to reveal the hidden information to all the different influential families. Wouldn't they be interested in all the detailed information about the planetary mana awakening, the truth behind the creators of the dungeons, and potential 'rumors' about the incarnations of Gods in the midst of our race?" Nial asked in a weak voice before he smiled faintly.
"They would be interested if they were to hear some insane rumors, wouldn't they? Gods descending on Jundra…that would be motivating enough to desperately become stronger."