[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 172: Getting Stuck

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His eyes slowly opened, but his gaze was still too blurred to know the conditions around him.

Even so, when he recalled what had happened, he reflexively jumped up and watched his surroundings in panic.

There aren't. The worst he could think of finally happened. She was separated from Olivia.

Noelle's widened eyes became empty and lifeless. His legs were so limp and seemed to have no more energy until he finally fell and sat on the ground helplessly.

He tried to detect Olivia's presence using the bond from《Oath of Blood》, but it was in vain.

Not only could he not detect Olivia's presence, he could not even access《Reign》, which then made his eyes become more lifeless.

Its fault. Those words instantly filled his head for a moment. She and Olivia can be separated for sure because she encourages Olivia to stay away. It was because of the reflex function that his body possessed. He intends to protect Olivia, but ends up in vain because he is unaware of all the magic circles that appear under everyone's feet.

For a moment, Noelle really felt like she was losing hope. But then he remembered it again.

Just then, he pushed Olivia towards everyone. Which meant, if all those magic circles were the same teleportation magic, then Olivia would definitely be teleported in a place close to everyone.

The light slowly re-filled Noelle's eyes. He got up and watched his surroundings with a level of alertness that would not even miss a single small movement.

Then, Noelle felt the presence of two people. The location is not far from where it is.

Noelle vigilantly walked up to the two presences, only to be made disappointed afterwards.

All he finds there is Cryll and Norman lying on the ground, just like he was just a moment ago.

Noelle unhesitatingly kicked the bodies of Cryll and Norman, making them both instantly wake up and hold the part of the body that Noelle kicked with an expression of pain.

"What are you doing?! "

Norman looked angry, but he immediately regained his senses and stood to pay attention to his surroundings.

" … Where are we?! "

Cryll seems to have been fully conscious. He ignored the physical pain Noelle had just given him, and anxiously looked around.

It's clear that he's looking for Stella's whereabouts.

"I don't know. When the magic circle appears .. We immediately move from where we were before. And I guess .. We're separated from everyone."

As soon as Norman and Cryll heard it, they could not hold back their facial muscles which naturally made a very clear expression of shock.

That's natural. After all, everything happened so fast. The magic circle appeared, and they were instantly moved from their previous location, without being able to perform any form of protection.

Noelle also felt anxious that she had been forcibly separated from Olivia. But there was no time for him to be silent.

If it was Olivia, Noelle was sure that she would definitely find a way to get back to her.

It's not just a hunch, but Noelle is convinced that Olivia must have the same idea as him.

For now, he must get out of this place. If he can do that, then maybe he can meet Olivia back.

Fortunately, Noelle was not alone here. There's Norman and Cryll who just happen to be stuck with him.

It was probably because the two of them were within a short distance of him when the forced teleportation took place.

He and the two of them should be able to find a way out of this place quickly.

"But ... Really, what is this place? "

Noelle could not help but reveal her question.

Since then, he has focused on his goal of being reunited with Olivia. But, on the other hand he was also confused by the strange surrounding conditions.

Both Norman and Cryll had the same question as him.

The three of them stared at each other, then nodded, before finally dispersing in different directions to conduct an investigation.

The result, however, is not clear.

The direction that Noelle came to had an environment similar to that of a green forest. With trees and shrubs that filled all over the place. But Cryll instead finds giant mushrooms with a completely different soil than Noelle found.

On the other hand, Norman actually found several caves with many stalactites that dripped water.

All the three of them could not have been in the same place. So, it's really confusing.

"Land of mycelium, green forest, and stalactite cave .. What the hell is this?! "

Noelle vexedly scratched her non-itchy head, and pondered for a moment.

It's indeed a world filled with various oddities, but there's no way those three different biomes can fuse together for no reason.

Is it because of magic? It's probable. But what magic can cause that? Noelle couldn't think of it.

In his memories, there was absolutely no magic that could unite such a different environment. The only thing he knew was that magic could inflict such great damage that it would cause a great change to the climate or topography.

The answer is there is only one.

It was because this place had indeed been tuned like that.

Noelle didn't want to think about it, but it was the only answer she could give.

Noelle opened her eyes, and looked at Norman and Cryll who seemed to be waiting for an answer from her.

"I guess .. We were sent to a dungeon."

" "Suckhead! I guessed! "

" … Why are you compact? "

Noelle wasn't too surprised when that rude line came out of Cryll, but even Norman was? It never crossed his mind.

It was quite interesting to notice, but he would ignore it for now.

"You just said that you were expecting it .. Do you know anything about this? " ask Noelle to the two of them.

The two of them simply nodded while folding both of their arms.

"Well, something like this can only happen inside a dungeon" Cryll replied.

"He's right" Norman said.

They both have the same answer. Noelle nodded understandingly, and continued thinking. But, he soon gets a pretty confusing question from Cryll.

"You asked as if you knew nothing about dungeons. Have you never entered one of them? "

"Ahh .. Not yet. For some reason, my residence used to have absolutely no dungeons that could be entered for the public. You need a permit issued with military authorities to enter it."

Noelle was a little confused at first. However, it was fortunate that he was able to answer with a trustworthy lie.

About the part he never entered the dungeon was true, and about his residence that did not have the dungeon was also true. So, technically he's not lying.

He just added some lie-flavored spice that can make all the sense because of his background.

"So, yeah .. It was a little unexpected" Cryll said.

" … Okay. I think we agreed that we were stuck in a dungeon. But ... What kind of Dungeon is this? And where exactly are we at? "

Noelle had absolutely no experience in exploring dungeons, so this was completely new to her. That's why he became a little curious.

"Seeing from the environment and the lack of presence of monsters .. I think we are still in the early stomach … I don't know if it's true or not because we haven't met a single monster here."

The depth level of the dungeon was not measured by the number of floors, or how far the hallway was. But the power of the monsters that inhabit it.

The absence of monsters around them indicated that they were still not far from the surface.

That's good because they've found a way to get out quickly. But, the problem is, they have absolutely no clue as to where everyone is. It was possible that they had all been teleported to a dangerous area and were full of powerful monsters. And clearly, the three of them would reject that scenario so vehemently.

The lack of options that could be taken made the three of them only able to venture further and further into.

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"Mhmm .. No. Elle … "

Elsewhere, Olivia desperately tried to open her grit that felt very heavy.

Noelle's name naturally came out of her lips, but she could not find the warmth that usually always greeted her after she woke up.

The awkwardness made him reflexively instantly wake up and bulge backwards. At the same time, he also narrowed his eyes while increasing his detection range and perception.

There was absolutely no sign of Noelle's existence. Anxiety instantly filled Olivia's heart. He tried to reach his existence by utilizing the connection from《Oath of Blood》, but the result was nil.

Olivia's eyes instantly became empty She helplessly fell down and sat on the ground with a face that had no expression whatsoever.

Has her connection to Noelle been severed? How did that happen? The two questions continued to rush Olivia's mind incessantly. Even so, he could not find the answer.

The only thing that was certain was, he had been transferred with teleportation magic, and was forcibly kept away from Noelle.

His eyes slowly turned increasingly dark, and a large amount of magic energy gradually began to come out.

"Wait, it's cold! "

Suddenly, a voice appeared behind him. The voice came from a girl.

Olivia turned her head and looked at the girl, and found out that she was Anzu hugging herself to warm herself up.

The temperature changes that Olivia caused must have been a heavy thing for a normal person like Anzu.

Right behind Anzu, Olivia can also see the figure of Iris along with Rias.

"Please hold your magic power! There are a lot of people here! "

When Iris said that, Olivia instantly came to a realization. He immediately reabsorbed his leaking magic energy, and began to pay attention to his surroundings.

Iris's right. There are a lot of people in this place. At least, almost everyone who was with him before was here.

Noelle, Norman, Cryll, and Stella were not there. Maybe because their positions were far apart earlier made them teleported in different places.

However, Olivia then regained her senses. She fearfully tried to contact Chloe by telepathy. "C-City … "

There's no answer. That was enough to make Olivia understand him. His connections with everyone associated with him had been cut off. She can't even access《Reign》, and Chloe doesn't answer her calls either.

One thing that made Olivia anxious was Levina. But, the little girl was taking refuge inside《Reign》 with Chloe earlier, so she should have been safe.

(What would Noelle do at a time like this? )

Various negative thoughts began to cross her head, but Olivia quickly shook her head to get rid of all that and tried to stay positive.

He bit his own thumb nail, and started muttering, "What should I do … "

"Olivia, do you have any idea what we should do now? "

Anzu called out to him, but Olivia simply frowned in annoyance. "I'm thinking about it! "

(Yahh, I think I guessed this .. )

Anzu was not at all surprised when she got such a reaction from Olivia. Part of her had predicted that Olivia's mind would become slower if she were forcibly separated from Noelle.

It was probably due to the sudden feeling of panic and anxiety filling him.

Olivia's emotional state and mind are heavily dependent on Noelle. That's why, with the sudden disappearance of Noelle, it will be very influential on him.

Realizing that the current Olivia will not be able to make a good decision, Anzu can only take over the situation for a while.

He took out two marbles from his pocket, and shot them around.

The two marbles darted quickly and bounced strongly every time they hit a wall or ceiling.

Rather than having to be silent, it would be better if he gathered everyone together.

The marble that he shot will make a sound that is quite loud every time it hits the surface of an object. So, Anzu could use it as a signal to her friends.

And as he had expected. Slowly, everyone started to gather around him.

Anzu looked towards all of them, and counted the number of people who were absent.

"There were six people including Norman, Rico, and Kaira. Damn, they might be teleported to a faraway place."

Anzu clicked her tongue and returned to Olivia.

"Olivia, we're separated from all of them. Now, what are you gonna do? "

Even without asking, Anzu himself knew the answer.

At a time like this, there was no way Olivia would be silent. If it was Olivia, then she would definitely make the same decision as Noelle.

Olivia closed her eyes for a moment, before finally reopening them and showing a gaze as if she had made a decision.

"I've got a rough idea of where we are. Now, we just need to go further. That's what Noelle's gonna do."

The decision was a little heavy, but Olivia was convinced by it.

In times like this, he was sure that he would not make decisions that could end up being miserable.

Anzu nodded and turned to everyone. "Then it's decided. We investigate this place and go deeper! Don't let your guard down, we don't know where we are, so you need to stay alert."

Anzu himself had realized that this was a dungeon. But, he couldn't tell everyone for now as he was a bit hesitant with that.

To strengthen his premonition, he had to obtain as much information as possible.

(Damn you Iza.)

She did not know if all of this was part of the scenario Noelle was designing. But, somehow he had a premonition that Noelle must have been involved.

His mind naturally connected Noelle's figure with all the problems that were happening around her.

"Iris, for now, we're gonna find Noelle and Norman first. It would be nice if we could find Kaira and Rico too, but .. Alan, I'll hand over their search to you with Waka and Muku."

"You sure? "

Alan raised his brows in confusion while folding both of his arms. He seemed to be in doubt about the decision Anzu made.

After all, there was no way he could cooperate effectively with Muku and Waka. If paired with the two of them, Alan would obviously be left behind.

In return, Anzu gave him a cynical smile. "Do you not believe in your own strength? Then, you really suck as I thought. Just tell me if you disagree, I'll replace you with Werli."

Alan seemed undisturbed by Anzu's provocation. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I didn't say I was going to refuse."

"Good then. Werli, Liscia, I want you two to look for any clues you can find. And in order to do that, you guys will cooperate with Rias."

It was the arrangement of the group with the weakest members, but it shouldn't be a problem since Anzu felt this place was quite safe.

"Olivia, can you make something like an emergency weapon using your magic? If you can, I want you to give it to everyone."

Olivia felt somewhat objected to receiving orders from others, but she reluctantly nodded in agreement. In a situation like this, it would be better for him to adapt to everyone.

Olivia opened her hand and flowed her magic energy there, creating a wisp of magic energy that slowly condensed into a sphere.

It was a bright white ball with a size like a tennis ball. Because of Olivia's magic energy that created it, it naturally had an extremely powerful ice element.

Olivia then gave it to each person while giving an explanation of what the ball really is. "Throw this towards the enemy when you are in a state of urgency. This is an ice bomb, the enemy will instantly freeze when the magic inside is spontaneously released. Be careful not to get too close to the range, or you will also be affected by it."

Each of them accepted it without much talking. And that way, they all began to split in the direction that had been provided for them.

Now, there's only Olivia with Iris and Anzu left. They have not moved from their current position.

" … You look quite experienced in this kind of thing" Olivia told Anzu.

Olivia was just aware of it, but since the first Anzu always had signs that she was experienced in taking care of things such as organizing.

Olivia doesn't know why, and she doesn't care either. But, somehow he had a premonition that everything was related to Noelle.

Anzu seemed to be aware of his thoughts. She folded her arms while floating her cynical smile at Olivia. "You're aware of that? That's right, I could be like this because of that damn Iza who always dragged me into various problems before."

" … Can I hear the details? "

This time Olivia showed an expression as if she was interested.

"Why don't you just ask him? It'll be easier."

" ……… "

There's no way he could. Olivia naturally thought that way.

If it had to do with secrets, Noelle had kept too much of it. Olivia hesitated that Noelle would just say it. Even Olivia was sure, that all the secrets Noelle had revealed were only a small part of all the secrets she had.

Therefore, seeing Anzu who seems to know a lot about the part of Noelle that she does not know, makes Olivia feel a little envious.

Olivia never asked Noelle directly, but it was because she wanted to respect Noelle's privacy.

(If I ask Noelle ... Will Noelle answer her bluntly? )

This could not be expected, the feeling of jealousy was only becoming stronger at all times.

Whatever answer Noelle gave later, it would be very influential on the relationship they both had.

"You guys, can the two of you focus on what's going on?! You guys think about things that make me sick! "

Disturbing the strange atmosphere that filled the air around the two of them, Iris's shout instantly made them come to a realization.

His red hair seemed to flutter in an ominous manner as he walked away leaving the two of them.

" … Was he always like that? "

"No, it's usually worse."

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