"Finally." Seris whispered quietly but even though they had succeeded, there was no smile or relief on either of their faces.
First, it had been an excellent battle, the two of them had worked together perfectly and managed to crush and defeat their enemy, however, the words he had said before his death did not let them relax for some reason.
And second... they still had a bigger problem.
And at that moment—
THUMP.
The Cocoon pulsed again and the System appeared.
[Calamity Gestation Progress: 99.0%]
One percent, only one percent remained!
Lian took a deep breath, part of his Mana had been used during the battle, there were several wounds on his forearm and shoulder and a cut on his cheek.
But compared to Seris, his condition was still very good, the girl placed her sword on the ground and leaned on it to keep her balance.
"What are you going to do now? It’s at ninety-nine percent, with this situation, I don’t think we have any other choice except destroying it." And then her eyes moved to the Cocoon.
Lian was still silent and looked at Selina’s face, black veins had almost covered her entire neck and part of her face.
The white roots of the Cocoon were now more black than gold and his System Quest appeared in his mind.
[Evolution Quest]
[Objective: Devour The Black Silence.]
They still did not have all the pieces, they did not know many of the secrets, and they still did not know exactly what they were dealing with.
But there was one possibility, a completely stupid and very dangerous possibility and perhaps the only option that could both save Selina and make his Quest possible.
"I’m going to replace Selina." Lian said quietly.
Seris did not react.
Three seconds, four, five seconds and then she slowly turned her head toward him.
"I think I heard wrong, what did you just say?"
"I’m going to replace her, I will become the Vessel myself."
"You’re crazy." The young Pendragon became completely silent, even with half of her face covered in blood, her disbelief could be seen.
Lian shrugged and did not seem to want to give an answer.
"That thing is a Calamity." Seris pointed at the Cocoon with a frown.
"I know."
"Not a normal Monster."
"I know."
"It might destroy you the moment it enters your body."
"I know."
"Then why are you answering like I’m talking about the weather?" Seris became truly angry this time.
He did not answer, this was the only way he could think of for Evolution, unfortunately he thought Glutton might be able to help him but it did not seem that way.
Although maybe it was because it was not fully available yet, it was still inside an incomplete process, if Black Silence was transferred to the Vessel, maybe it would exist in a more focused form for a moment.
And if he himself was the Vessel? He would not have to take it from outside.
The Calamity would enter him, where Glutton might be able to directly fight it.
His innate skill could only devour skills and talents, maybe it could also devour the Calamity in the same way.
But he was not sure, all of these were assumptions without any base or logic and were based on luck.
Maybe if he became the new Vessel, he would not even need to do anything else and the System would directly register it as Devouring.
But there were many risks... such as the fact that he did not even know if he would still be himself after becoming the new Vessel.
"Maybe if I become the Vessel and that thing enters me, I can destroy it." Then he slowly added.
"And are you sure you can? How exactly are you going to replace her?!" Seris asked seriously.
"No, I’m not sure and I have no idea either."
"That was a very hopeful answer."
"But Selina can’t do it, I at least have a chance." The young Vorhelm looked at the Cocoon again.
Seris opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment Lian’s entire body became stiff.
Predator’s Instincts.
The warning moved like a wave of needles from the back of his neck to his spine, but this time it was not one danger, he sensed several dangers.
He slowly raised his head and the young Pendragon also sensed something at almost the same time.
Several powerful presences were approaching from far away.
One.
Second.
Third.
Fifth.
More.
"Again?" Seris frowned and raised her sword again.
Her tone was more tired than angry, even she no longer had the desire for another battle.
They guessed that probably several Cindari or infected Monsters were coming toward them.
One was still unable to move, Aren was lying on the ground without both hands.
Seris herself had lost one eye and her Mana was very low.
Lian had also used a significant amount of Mana on the way to Rootcrown and in the two consecutive battles.
And more importantly, they had a very important problem that they had to deal with!
And now several presences were getting closer to them.
Both of them turned their eyes toward the place where they could feel the presences... at first nothing could be seen, only the gray sky.
Then a point appeared in the distance.
A human figure, in the air, not on a Flying Beast and not on an Artifact but floating by itself!
Then a second figure.
Third.
More.
They entered their view from different directions and slowly moved along the same path toward the Forgotten Tree.
They were in no hurry, as if they were sure that no one could stop them and the closer they got, the clearer their appearance became.
"These..." Seris frowned even more for a moment.
They were Cindari, at least they had once been Cindari, but the appearance of their bodies looked more like corpses than living beings.
White skin, not the normal pale color but white like the body of someone who had not had blood normally flowing through their body for years.
Dark veins could be seen on their necks and faces, some of their eyes were half-open and the hair of some was completely white, their bodies were dry and their clothes did not belong to the current era of the Cindari.
One wore armor whose design looked like nothing worn by any soldier in Vhalaris.
Another wore a long and rotten robe with old royal symbols.
One had a broken Crown on his head.
Another carried a sword that even from a distance had a very old aura around it.
The System reacted one after another.
[Cindari — Lv.34]
[Cindari — Lv.36]
[Cindari — Lv.35]
[Cindari — Lv.38]
[Cindari — Lv.37]
"You have to be kidding." The young Pendragon looked at the panels for several seconds and then said in a dry voice.
No one answered and she lowered her sword slightly.
"Who the hell are these people?"
Lian did not look at the others at first, from the moment the central figure came out of the fog, all his attention had been locked onto that one person.
A very old robe, black and white and parts of it were rotten, but it was still decorated with golden lines.
Long white hair reaching the back of his shoulders, dry and pale skin and sunken cheeks, dark veins.
Exactly the same face and exactly the same body that he had seen several hours ago inside the coffin, under the First Archive.
Without movement and in a state between death and life, the same Cindari who had been almost dead and yet now that corpse was floating in the sky.
His eyes were open.
Cindar Vael.
The founder of the Cindari race!
Lian remained silent and Seris noticed that his eyes were fixed on one person.
"Do you know him?"
He did not answer immediately and only the last words Caelus had said before his death came back to his mind.
"I was only buying time until the family arrived."
At that moment Lian had not taken those words seriously and did not think they were important, thinking they were the nonsense of a madman before his death.
Now he understood that he had been wrong, he meant exactly these people, people who should have died years or even centuries ago.
"These are people who should be dead."
"I guessed that part myself." Seris moved her eyes across the group.
"Especially that one." Lian did not take his eyes off the man in the center, pointing at Cindar with his finger.
"Why?" The young Pendragon looked at the white and dry figure in the center of the group.
"Because he is the founder of the Cindari race."