Chapter 688 (2/2)

Although she wasn’t too familiar with it, Lucretia reached and touched the essence of this place. As she did so, something... changed. Where once the world felt vibrant and full of life, now there was dryness and sense of loss and hollowness. The energy tasted like ash.

But it answered Lucretia’s call. Beneath the female monster’s feet, the ground erupted, a spray of molten metal burning away her skin and bones of her left side. She fell to the ground screaming and the White Martyr pounced on her.

As Lucretia opened her mouth to engage in a harmless quip, something else happened.

The ground began to shake. Once more, all eyes turned on Lucretia as the trembling of the ground became true staggering vibrations. Lucretia just became tight-lipped. She hadn’t done this... Right…?

Soon, the vibrations were so violent that the building around them began to groan and creak. One of Lucretia’s talons snaked out backward and seized Alta’s waist. After all, a wall falling on the foolish girl and killing her was a real danger.

“Fuck! Rialta, we are leaving!” The Spriggit bellowed. He produced a dozen or so metal disks and flung them at the White Martyr. He could easily dodge the disks, but the spots he moved to were dotted with the lava bubbles. Overcome by pain from one of the attacks, the White Martyr staggered sideways.

The Spriggit made a beeline for the female monster, but how could Lucretia allow it? Even though beams above them were splintering, her right talon slashed forward to intercept him. Hissing, he twisted away from the attack, but with sheer force, she smashed him backward away from the moaning figure.

“This will mean the end of you,” The Spriggit said quietly. Lucretia wasn’t sure whether he was talking to her or Rialta. But then he turned and leapt out the window, leaving them in a rapidly collapsing room.

Lucretia cut her way out, not bothering to hide the ability of her talons to expand and tear everything to pieces. Hopefully, the damage would just be attributed to the earthquake.

She also carried out Alta, the wounded Rialta, and the White Martyr, who seemed to accept her intentions weren’t malicious. Without bothering for subtlety, Lucretia uses her talons as giant legs to walk across the splintering and cracking suburbs of Taft.

Even when they arrived at the Bounty residence, they were not yet safe. Quickly, Lucretia used some of the engravings she had managed to bind the monster woman and used drugs to knock her unconscious. There wasn’t enough time now to talk to the White Martyr, but they did the best they could to wait out the Earthquake, but it wasn’t until the morning that the tremors stopped.

After a long conversation with the White Martyr, Lucretia went to find Alta.

It was almost midday, but neither Cierce and Danz came to work in the morning, likely due to the quake. Across Taft, the damage was catastrophic. And early reports were that it struck the entirety of the seven lands. As she expected, she found Alta in the workroom.

What she hadn’t expected was that the exposed vein of sap they had found would have ruptured in the quake. Most of the room was covered in the energy-rich substance, which resulted in the papers and recordings and experimental technology they had sitting in the area being reduced to nothing. It was a steaming pile of metal and glowing orange sap.

All the years of work melted away in one tragic accident.

Lucretia’s heart dropped out of her chest. “Alta, I have spoken to the White Martyr. Finally, we have some solid leads on the Council of Fates.”

Alta didn’t respond. She simply looked at the strange, orange-green liquid that had reduced half of the workshop to slag.

Taking a step closer, Lucretia said. “Although the research was important, if we can figure out who is the cause of-”

“Creta,” Alta interrupted. “Do you know how long I’ve stood here?”

Lucretia fell silent.

“Almost six hours,” Alta said, answering her own question. “And this sap… it's throwing off a crazy amount of energy. Everything that was here was destroyed. Look at the warping of the ground at such even distances. Even the high water marks of the voltage from before doesn’t match this. Something changed in the world tree. And it…”

Alta gestured helplessly. Lucretia’s eyes didn’t miss that Alta’s hands were burned. Without the resilience that Lucretia borrowed from Randidly’s Skills, the energy radiation thrown off by the exposed sap was enough to char the edges of Alta’s body.

“I’m sorry,” Lucretia said quietly. And she meant it.

But to her surprise, instead of speaking, Alta just turned and looked at her. Her eyes were sparkling with joy. Within her chest, the was a shudder. Then the blooming pale flower soon became two flowers, and then three.

“You don’t get it,” Alta whispered. “The energy radiation, Lucretia. It’s been constant. For six hours. Look at the lines! If this stays… hell, with this much power, I could make a reactor that will ruin war. The power will be so frightening that no one would dare step out of line. With that power… what does it matter who we are facing? They all will… turn to ash.”

The pale flowers in Alta’s chest looked increasingly grey, to Lucretia’s eyes.