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[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 117: [Asterisk: Countdown] (3)
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As soon as Noelle opened her eyes, the view of the ruins that were still the same as before was the first thing that greeted her.
It seemed to take about 30 seconds for the crystal that all Asterisk members had to activate teleportation magic together.
After leaving the strange place filled with fog, Noelle was now confronted by hundreds, or even thousands of questions that invaded her head.
There was so much he wanted to ask about the Asterisk, but for now, he would ignore it.
Because, there was something more important that he had to make sure of.
Noelle immediately jumped as high as possible, and utilized gravity magic to fly in the direction she wanted.
For now, he had to immediately return to the city, and give the report he had prepared beforehand, to the Earl. Then, he would ask Olivia about what happened there as he left.
Thanks to the connection she had with《Oath of Blood》, Noelle naturally realized that something was wrong with Olivia while the Asterisk member meeting was still going on.
To make sure of that, he had already sent Colyn and Tania as reinforcements, but the two of them had not told Noelle anything when they returned.
Colyn simply shook her head limply while saying “Ask the girl.” As for Tania, he did not even say a word, and directly asked for a reward from Noelle.
For payment, Noelle gave Tania some high-purity magic crystals, and a large lazy pillow, as well as a thick book containing hundreds of magic for everyday use.
Noelle was only able to smile wryly as she recalled the innocent smile that Colyn made once she received a new pillow from Noelle.
While thinking of some brief answers as to what happened today, Noelle quickly flew away with her gravity magic, and immediately returned to the city.
Based on the position of the sun, it should have been around 4 or 5 p.m., but he was still not completely sure as he felt he had not left for that long.
Noelle had thought of meeting Cryll first, but she immediately rejected the idea and went straight home. After all, he had not had time to make a point-gathering appointment with Cryll before.
While on air travel, Noelle also processed any information she would provide for the report. It was a little troublesome since the existence of the Asterisk should not be published prematurely.
Although, the existence of Asterisk is actually already known because of the actions of a certain girl who easily declares his power.
It didn't take long for Noelle to finally get a clear view of the city.
Inside the city fortress that looked solid, there was a lot of chaos that Noelle had never thought of before.
Several ice and blood pillars still stood towering in a certain area. Houses and many important buildings that had previously been reconstructed, were now completely destroyed leaving nothing but shapeless debris.
Noelle didn't know the situation, but it was clear that it was very bad.
Thanks to his sharp kiss, he half understood about what was happening.
The pungent aroma of hot lead mixed with gunpowder, as well as the sweet smell of blood that froze into a giant pillar around the city.
Just with that all was enough to give Noelle a rough idea of what really happened.
Noelle immediately increased her speed and landed on a river not far from the city. After that, he continued on with a run.
As soon as he arrived, he was further startled by the sight of some of the corpses of the soldiers still using the complete set of armor on their bodies.
The only scars that led to their deaths were only those shot-scar holes that were right on the forehead.
“Wound shot ... And this gunpowder smell .. “
Noelle had quite a lot of knowledge about firearms, so she was also quite familiar with the scent of gunpowder.
Even so, Noelle still frowned when she saw the former shot. How not, he really never expected that there would be enemies who attacked using firearms.
Noelle tried to search the body, and took one of the bullets that stuck on the ground where the body was.
The bullet he found was a bullet with a sharp tip. The tip of the bullet was already slightly flat due to the impact of the hard metal armor, but still Noelle could still see its true form quite clearly.
“Penetration hunter, yes ... It must have come from a long barrel gun.”
In his mind, he automatically sorted out and guessed the type of weapon the perpetrator used to carry out this attack. Although, it was actually a useless action.
As Noelle was deep in thought, some quite powerful existences approached her with a run.
“Noelle.”
Olivia approached him with a face that showed a worried expression.
Noelle frowned and looked around. Besides Olivia, only Chloe and Stella, as well as Brackas, come to her.
Naturally, Noelle realized something lacking.
“Where is Charl? “
Olivia gloomily shook her head, then said, “I'll tell you what happens next. For now, Noelle will have to meet with Earl to confirm a few things.”
Tilting her head in confusion, Noelle then walked following Olivia from behind, while feeling the anxiety-filled atmosphere emanating from everyone.
“Umm .. “
Stella approached him and pulled his sleeve slightly, then asked with a worried look on her face.
“Where ... Cryll? “
“Eh? “
The question Stella asked was very unexpected, even for Noelle. At first Noelle thought that Cryll might have gone back to town, but seeing how Stella asked him, it was clear that he had not returned.
Automatically, Noelle immediately thinks that Cryll is also taken to a place full of fog like himself, but he immediately erases the thought.
Noelle left longer because there was a meeting with the Asterisk members, but if she did not experience it, she would probably return sooner. And Cryll too.
Cryll should have come back first because there was nothing important in the ruins of their investigation site, so they could have come back early to give a report.
Noelle frowned at the thought of that.
“Let's meet Earl first. Maybe he knows something.”
Stella could only nod gloomily at Noelle's proposal.
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After going through all the official emergency procedures to meet with the Earl, Noelle without making small talk immediately asked him. Behind her, Olivia and Stella were still waiting for her to finish with worry.
Chloe did not come along as she had to take care of Levina who had fallen unconscious while unleashing all her previous strength. There was a lot Noelle wanted to ask about Levina's figure, but for now, she would ignore it.
“Even if you ask me .. There's no way I know.”
Earl answered Noelle's question in a low tone and a very clear tired face.
Naturally, the city in its shade had been destroyed right after the monster raid incident, as well as the coup that occurred a few days ago.
There was no way he would not feel dizzy after having this successive incident.
Noelle could only sigh and mourn for him.
“ ... How many died? “
“Cannot be ascertained. Likely, more than 300 people were killed when the ice pillar sprung up.”
Earl answered Noelle's question quickly. The number of casualties is still relatively small for large-scale attacks that appear suddenly. But, it is still undeniable that there are many who die.
While admiring how the speed of the evacuation process so that the number of casualties can be minimized, Noelle thought of several things related to the ice pillars that have sprung up.
“ ... Hey ... Who is the attacker this time? “
“ ... He calls himself the eighth [Archon], Nix Regina. God-killing weapon created by a person called ‘Iza’.”
Noelle's forehead twitching. Fortunately, he managed to hold back his facial muscles and maintain a flat expression.
“For the rest, you can ask him,” said Earl while pointing at Olivia who was standing behind Noelle.
Olivia looked down gloomily when she was appointed. Noelle did not understand, but she naturally knew that this had something to do with Olivia.
“Then, there is a little bad news for you.”
“What is it? “
The Earl then took out a grip-sized metal slab with a red magic circle pattern in the center.
“A moment ago, someone who called himself Nuko suddenly just appeared here and gave this thing to me.”
Noelle received the metal plate and noticed every feature on the magic circle.
Both the pattern, as well as the sigil letter were arranged in a strange way, it made Noelle unable to read and analyze the contents.
“She said that this is a recording device. You can activate it by pouring your magic into the magic circle. I've watched the contents first, so you can see it immediately.”
Noelle without saying anything else instantly poured her magic energy into the magic circle pattern which then shone with a faint light.
A hologram screen that was quite familiar in their eyes suddenly appeared before everyone, and showed a slightly startling sight from there.
On that screen, there was Cryll sitting with his body tied to a metal rope, and surrounded by dozens of sharp spears growing from the ground.
“Cryll! “
Stella reflexively moves to reach the screen, but is soon stopped by Olivia who is also watching the screen with a frown.
Shortly after, a voice emerged from that screen and made everyone instantly focus on it.
『Hmm ... Is this on? Then ... 』
A man with a body covered by a long robe suddenly appeared on the screen. Her face could not be seen as it was covered by a robe, but Noelle samar² knew the face.
『Just get to the point. We already have hostages with us, and not only him, but we have also taken hostages of all the people you hide underground. Obey the orders, and grant our wishes, or everyone's body will explode. The deadline is three days, and two nights.』
The man swung his arm, then continued,『Don't hate us for what happened. This is penance for all of you.』
“Omong blank what he was talking about.”
Noelle said that while frowning.
『Ahh, one more thing. Since it seems that this is still lacking to punish all of you, every hour, there will be about 10 people of your citizens who will die.』
That way, the hologram screen disappeared, and the metal slab that was the source immediately stopped shining.
“Cryll .. “
There was only an anxious voice from Stella filling the room.
Noelle thought for a moment, then tried to calm Stella down with the information she found while watching the tape.
“Yahh, at least Cryll will be fine.”
“Eh? “
Stella looked at him confusedly. Seeing that, Noelle smiled wryly.
“Did you really not see the code that Cryll said earlier? “
“But .. Cryll does nothing .. “
It looks like that at first. But, if he focuses his gaze even further, he can see the various micro-movements that Cryll does. On a whim, Noelle tried to convey the contents of the message she saw gradually to Stella.
“During the recording earlier, Cryll taps the floor with his finger based on a certain pattern and rhythm.”
However, the one who answered his guess was not Stella, but Olivia who had advanced and stood beside him.
“Morse code.”
Noelle smiled wryly, and continued, “That's right. He hinted that he was fine.”
Although the anxious expression had not been completely erased from her face, Stella was already much calmer due to Noelle's explanation.
“Well, than that ... What did he mean by ‘redemption sin’ earlier, do you know anything? No, you must know something.“
Noelle asked the Earl, but he didn't seem to be answering anything. It made Noelle naturally frown at her in annoyance.
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