Chapter 219 – Alice the Queen of Thorns 1 (2/2)
“I can’t even see a single ant. What happened here?”
“If a battle took place, even a trace of battle would remain…”
“It feels as if everyone passed out and was dragged away.”
Each party member tilted their heads. They couldn’t understand the situation.
Unable to make any headway, Woohyuk summoned Petos, a high-level demon.
“It’s been a while, Asura. What did you call me for?”
“There were a lot of elves here, but they suddenly disappeared somewhere. I want you to investigate your tracking ability.”
Petos had a specialized ability to pursue souls.
He sniffed and flew back and forth over the pure white snowy field. He soon came to a conclusion.
“Hmm… they weren’t dragged out by anyone. They just left on their own two feet.”
“You’re saying that they just walked away?”
“Yeah. But there seemed to have been another existence with the elves. However, I don’t recognize who it is or what it is.”
At that moment, Aleister popped up in Woohyuk’s mind.
He pondered for a moment and then spoke,
“Then it turns out that the plague in the Lydia Kingdom was also caused by Aleister.”
“That’s right. At the time of the outbreak, I was among the villagers there,” Hong Yuri said in agreement.
Then Maria, who had been silent for a while, muttered in a small voice,
“… Group hypnosis.”
“Group hypnosis? Can Aleister do that?” Sieg asked in confusion.
“Of course. Don’t look down on him. Since the establishment of the Witch Cult, he’s been picking up all kinds of esoteric abilities,” Helena replied.
Even Ibn Rusud nodded in agreement.
“Certainly, he can do that sort of nonsense without batting an eye. Maybe this is also related to the King’s Book.”
“Wait, he wouldn’t offer the elves as a sacrifice, right? Like the summoning technique written in the King’s Book…”
Brynhildr looked worried.
Then Petos smiled and stuck his chin out towards a direction.
“They moved over there. If they’re performing the summoning ritual, you’d probably find them over there.”
“… That’s the direction of the capital of the Principality of Croix.”
At the moment, Woohyuk felt that his worst fears were becoming a reality.
Elf Queen Ophelia.
Aleister gave up the Enoa Kingdom to come here and sacrifice her.
The other party members also expressed surprise as they all reached the same conclusion.
“Absolutely, the blood of the elf queen is of higher value as a sacrifice. One may be able to summon something stronger than usual.”
“The Principality of Croatia doesn’t have many dragon tribes, and the proportion of Elven people is overwhelmingly high. If the epidemic spreads rampantly, it wouldn’t be too difficult for Aleister to capture the Elf Queen.”
It seemed that Aleister’s master plan had been belatedly revealed.
He earned time to carry out his plans by throwing one of his toys, the Demon King Alliance, at Woohyuk.
Woohyuk clenched his fist at the thought that he was being toyed with again.
“I will surely get rid of him this time. No more conspiracies of evil.”
“… Please calm down. Don’t you remember what I said last time? If you fall into Aleister’s provocation and can’t control your demonic powers, in the end, it’ll be you that loses,” Helena said as she looked awkwardly at him.
Ibn Rusud was also cognizant and wary of Woohyuk’s potential explosion, so he stated,
“If you lose your temper, we may be forced to use the Holy Grail. You know what the world will be like if we had to do that, right?”
When the power of a Demon is combined with the Holy Grail, the system is rebooted.
This iteration would end, and everything would go back to the beginning.
For Etheria Rodinus, who wanted to change the future in a desirable direction, such a result was not desirable.
When the brother and sister siblings reminded him of the worst ending, Woohyuk calmed down.
“… I’ll be mindful. I also don’t want to repeat my previous failures.”
“You must have seen memories of a previous life in Cruella’s imaginary world. If you want to protect her, make sure everything is properly finished this time around.”
Helena spoke to Woohyuk in an unusually serious manner.
Instead of answering, Woohyuk swung a whip at his horse.
Slap!
“Nay-He-He!”
His horse sprinted through the vast snowy field.
Woohyuk’s party followed closely behind.
Woohyuk lowered his posture atop the galloping horse and fell into thought.
‘I will be the one who decides the future of this world.’
The fate of having to challenge a transcendent, the Creator, through repeated reincarnations…
If he couldn’t break the Moebius link this time around, he may never have another chance.
To overcome the limits and reach a new throne.
Correcting an absurd system.
The target, which used to be ambiguous, was now clearly revealed like the landscape in front of him.
‘If destiny tests me, I will overcome that as well.’
Woohyuk’s determination took firmer hold as he imagined Leifina, who was studying how to cook without knowing what was going on, in the Rhine Kingdom.