Chapter 973 Asher's Choice
Teleporting to the med bay, Isilia felt tears well up as she saw Edvimar sitting on the bed with a soft smile.
Flashes of memories of when they were together in the elven continent filled her mind as she wrapped her arms around him.
Holding on tightly, afraid that he might disappear, Isilia looked up at him before kissing him on the lips.
"I thought that you had died." Isilia said as her voice quivered.
Seeing the tears that rolled down her cheeks, Edvimar smiled softly before placing his hand on her face.
"I did. But now I'm back." Edvimar replied with a smile as Lyrica took a step out of the room, leaving her parents to have some private time together.
Looking back into the room, Lyrica couldn't suppress her smile as the day seemed brighter than ever.
Stretching her body, she thought back to how she wanted to venture out on her own for a bit.
'Maybe I should delay that.' She thought to herself while quickly doing some last minute checks on the barriers.
After all, this is Shiro they were talking about. No amount of preparation was enough.
While she was checking on the barriers, she noticed Yin walking with the humans that had been teleported in earlier.
Realising that she forgot all about them, Lyrica couldn't help but facepalm.
'Sh*t…'
Quickly jogging over, she apologised since she was too preoccupied with her father.
"It's fine Miss. Since it's your father, it's understandable." Asher chuckled.
"Still I forgot about you lot even with an injured patient next to you." Lyrica said, looking at Lyle who was unconscious on Gordon's back.
"He's just knocked out." Gordon shrugged.
"Speaking about Lyle, there's something I'm curious about though." Cadmi spoke up as Yin glanced over.
"His brother was killed in front of him by a Queen and the white haired girl who saved us said that she had to knock him out before he became a fallen. Can you explain to us in more detail about that?" Cadmi asked as Asher nodded his head since he was also curious.
"Is that what mum said? Perhaps it might not be a good choice for you to stay in this city just yet. It's not that I want to kick you out but rather the fact that there are three Queens living here. If a Queen killed his brother, there's a high chance that seeing a Queen anywhere would trigger his transformation." Yin spoke seriously as the party listened.
"When your friend becomes a fallen, you can say that he will lose all chances of becoming human again. It's best that you let him become stronger mentally before coming here or else it's over."
Hearing this, Asher frowned before sighing.
"I suppose that's true. Plus, I planned staying outside anyway." Asher smiled as Cadmi and Gordon widened their eyes.
"Eh? Isn't this the paradise that we've been looking for? A safe haven?" Cadmi asked as Asher nodded his head.
"It is. But here's the thing, I think there's so much more I can be doing outside. While it's more dangerous, it feels like I'm fulfilling my purpose in life." Asher smiled as he looked down at his hands.
"Plus, from what I know, your mother only saves those with good souls right?" Asher said as Yin nodded.
"Yeah what about it? Those with dark souls must have done something evil. Letting those people in would only ruin things." Yin shrugged.
"Yes but there is a chance of redemption even for those with darker souls. I can't say much about those that have committed truly heinous acts but I'm sure that there is always a chance for them. I want to keep roaming the world, get stronger on my own and help those that are in need. Plus, I also want to show them that it's perfectly fine to live without a Queen. While we might be lucky in finding someone like your mother to help us, others might not have the same luck. I don't want them to stay further and work for an evil Queen like some of the ones that we had seen in the forest. So thank you for the offer of living here but I think I'll be roaming the world some more." Asher smiled as Gordon and Cadmi looked at one another before sighing heavily.
"He's right. Living comfortably like this is good but I also want to help people who have suffered just like me. I was a thug in the slums when my life was changed. I want to give others this second chance as well." Gordon sighed as he scratched his head.
"I'm just tagging along with my friends." Cadmi chuckled.
"Mn that's quite admirable. But surviving out there is hard. Obtaining food for yourself is difficult and it becomes harder when more people are involved. I'm sure mum doesn't mind giving you a hand in providing food for the people. Or at least I won't as the guild master of the food hall." Yin grinned as Asher nodded his head.
"That would be helpful but I won't resort to this unless I'm backed into a corner. If we want people to believe that they can survive without Queens to avoid being used by them, we can't get help from one. It's a matter of building trust with them." Asher replied.
"True. Very well then. But you have to let us provide you with a bit of protection before you leave and venture off into the world. It's not much, just some weapons, armour and a way to contact us if things get rough. Oh and some rations too before you leave." Yin smiled
"If it isn't troublesome then I would appreciate it." Asher nodded.
"Of course not. Oh by the way, if you want to stay a few hours I'll see if I can help Nitha out a little. For now though, let's go to the food hall, I'll cook you something myself. I'll also make sure that your little friend is in his state of sleep for a little longer so that he doesn't become fallen after seeing things related to Queens." Yin chuckled as Asher nodded his eyes.
However, when Lyrica heard this, she was surprised since everyone knew that Yin's dishes were hit or miss. It either tasted like the best thing you had ever eaten or it tasted god awful. It was a gamble.
If it turned out good, you'll be the happiest person alive for the duration. If it wasn't good, at best you'll be hospitalised. It was roughly 70% chance of it being good and 30% chance of it being bad.
Yin was quite… experimental in one sense when it came to her cooking.
As they were making their way out of the tower, they noticed that the sky started to darken as more tier 7 and 8 magic circles appeared like a web in the sky. The mana that was being released into the atmosphere started to dense into light mist but was soon dispersed due to the overbearing power being radiated from the magic circles.
Standing in front of the tower, Yin frowned at the magic circles in the sky before continuing towards the food hall.
Seeing this, Asher and the rest of the group was a little confused since Yin seemed to not care about this phenomenon.
"Erm if you don't mind me asking is this not something that you're worried about?" Asher asked as Yin glanced over.
"You mean the tier 8 magic circles? Not really since I know it isn't an attack. It's just a phenomenon caused by the relic appearing. If anything, I'm more worried about what my mum is going to do. I can already sense that mum is straining herself quite a bit so the weapon she's preparing must be rather crazy." Yin shrugged while the party followed behind her.
Little did they know, crazy was a bit of an understatement as Yin's dictionary had become just as dysfunctional as Shiro's. After witnessing quite a few of Shiro's achievements, she has been desensitised by the acts.
Meanwhile, Shiro was looking down at the Earth with narrowed eyes.
She could see the magic circle forming as it was visible from space. All of the tiny tier 8 magic circles seemed to form a pattern when they're viewing it from this height. Similar to her formation that she had created back in Tokyo, the sheer size of this formation was one that Shiro had never seen before. If all of this energy was converted into a weapon, the outcome would be devastating.
'No wonder the mass of flash that appeared killed everyone. With this much energy being pumped into it, I'll be more surprised if it didn't kill everyone.' Shiro thought to herself.
With the formation being visible from this height, it was quite simple to determine the centre of the formation even without the prior knowledge of the twin peaks.
Taking a deep breath, Shiro did some final calibrations to make sure that the weapon was aimed properly.
Waiting patiently, she could sense the power of the gods increasing within her body as Madison opened her mouth.
"The relic has appeared!" She shouted out, knowing that Shiro couldn't see the system right now.