[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 293: The Catastrophe Experiment

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(Ahh, this dream again …. Now I remember ..)

Noelle slowly opened her extremely heavy eyelids, and found a strange, yet familiar sight.

Pure white. That's the only way to explain it. There was nothing, until a bright red collection of flower petals emerged from the empty air, and added color to the world.

What is around him is not emptiness. Noelle was convinced that she was resting on a beautiful, pure white flower garden, holy and far from stain.

The sky had turned red as if to be a canvas for the red petals to paint, and Noelle who saw the scene with that contrasting color would inevitably squint her eyes.

This is really weird.

He had a physical sensation, but he could not find his limbs anywhere. There was a feeling like he had raised a hand, but he could not see that hand at all.

After the entire world was separated by two colors, red petals mixed with pink then appeared, forming a vortex not far from Noelle's current position.

That was when, a wisp of black smoke appeared, and drowned out the beautiful vortex of flower petals.

The figure of the white-haired young girl emerged from the vortex, but was then overwritten by something that seemed to be a 'blanket' of black smoke.

The girl tried to rebel, controlling all the surrounding flower petals to ward off the black smoke. However, he could not do anything. The black smoke slowly began to drown itself.

Illusory blood began to flow from the flower petals composing his body, dripping onto the pure white petals that were to become the land of this world. It also caused the white petals to turn blood red, as if they had been stained by the girl's blood.

In a desperate attempt, the girl raised her hand, trying to run as if she wanted to grab Noelle.

But Noelle can't even do anything. He can't move. Suddenly, he could not feel his illusory legs.

The collection of red and white petals around Noelle began to move, and surrounded her like a dome. But then black smoke appeared and dispersed the vault of flower petals.

Noelle was slowly enveloped by the same black smoke.

In a situation where her senses began to fade, a scream came from the direction of the girl, instantly discharging Noelle's imaginative consciousness.

"—iza! "

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Waking up from a blow to the head, Noelle looked around in confusion.

He was still in the inn room, and the sky was still somewhat dark outside.

A frustrating pain ran through her head, leaving Noelle only able to grit her teeth while pressing on the temple to endure the pain.

No doubt about it. He must have just been dreaming. Unfortunately, he did not remember what happened in the dream.

"Hey ... What exactly are you doing? "

Although she could not remember, Noelle could faintly see a collection of black smoke at the bottom of her consciousness before she woke up. There was only one thing Noelle could think of when she recalled the black smoke.

『Keh—Hehe …. Not many. I'm just preventing bedbugs from getting into your ears.』

—That's absolutely no excuse. Noelle wanted to say that, but she realized it was a waste. No matter how Noelle asked, Noir would not answer twice.

Now that Noelle thought about it, she realized that she had rarely had strange dreams since making a contract with Noir.

Or, he often dreams, but never remembers? Whatever happens, it doesn't affect Noelle that much right now. He was just curious about the situation.

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On the dining room table of the inn, Noelle silently turned the pages of the novel, regardless of the gaze that led to her.

This action of his might not match his appearance as Grei Noctis, therefore many were astonished. But, Noelle ignored all their attention while waiting for the arrival of the guests she had been waiting for.

The book she is currently reading is a novel written by Fuu Kafhka, titled 'Shepherd and the Skinwalker'. Noelle, who has read half of the book, is now impressed by the effort Kafhka has put into this one.

Next to her, there was a small notebook that Noelle had poured in some criticism and advice to then leave to Kafhka.

Then, from where she sat, Noelle could see the figure of the tall black-haired girl—Tania, who was casually walking towards her.

Noelle's attention is separated from the novel, and leads to her.

Tania brought him a large paper bag full of warm bread, and Noelle noticed it.

"Did you wait long? "

Pulling the chair in front of Noelle, Tania finally sat down.

"Not really," Noelle replied.

Now the two have met. For now, Noelle was about to talk about her plan. However, Tania seemed to be busy with all that bread.

Noticing Noelle's gaze on her bread, Tania immediately moved to keep the bread away from Noelle. He looks alert.

"Calm down, I won't eat it. Well, I'm not too interested." Noelle shrugged lightly while inserting her novel book and notes into the spatial warehouse, then took out a map that encompassed the entire Republic.

Tania noticed it, but her focus was instead shifted to the words Noelle spoke.

"Not interested? How could anyone not be interested in this delicious warm bread? "

『That's because she doesn't need to eat, Tania. His tongue is too sensitive to enjoy what you eat.』

Navi's voice echoed in her head, but Tania still did not understand; it was not on the matter of why Noelle was not interested in food, but on 'how Navi could find out about it'.

『You can find out if you're a little more sensitive. But it seems pointless to expect that from you.』

Somehow Navi seemed to be sighing there, even though Navi actually had no physical form at all.

As Tania's attention is diverted by Navi, Noelle has given her mark on the route she will take to head for the Cold Forest, a place in the north that hosts the Spirit Hunter.

"I'd like to explain immediately, but .. for now, I'll ask. Are you busy or in a hurry? "

Tania's daydream instantly dispersed after getting a question from Noelle. He looked at Noelle in a daze for a moment, before shaking his head.

"That's great, because chances are this will take less than a week."

Noelle pushed the map she had marked, and Tania looked at it with a heartless look.

"This is the fastest route I can think of. We will pass through the city of Brunsil to reach the Cold Forest in the area of Lurkuv."

That said, the fastest route to get to the destination is by a straight line. And actually, that was exactly what Noelle had planned at first. However, he could not do that due to considering the rest time to be taken.

Noelle had absolutely no intention of stopping by the city, and that was why she did not use the straight-line route as she had planned. But instead, Noelle carefully chose a route based on the Republic's fairly well-ordered geographical conditions.

Of the many comparisons, the route he chose now was the fastest one.

(Learning to read a map is not a waste, huh ..)

Although it was difficult at first because this map had no comparison scale at all, Noelle could still set the right route for her journey.

Tania now focuses on the map and the route Noelle marks. His mind then turned to the question regarding the method of transportation to be used.

There were absolutely no train tracks on that route, and some areas were clearly plateaus filled with steep cliffs and deep ravines.

"Method ...transportation? " Tania bertnya while tilting her head.

Getting that question, Noelle smiled faintly.

"We'll fly right away."

Tania's eyes narrowed. "I .. Can't fly? "

Somehow Tania said it as if she was asking, and hearing that made Noelle chuckle a little.

"Don't worry about that. I guarantee you don't have to do anything along the way, because I'll take care of everything. You're just a guide."

Despite feeling bad, Tania still nodded.

"Then, everything is clear. We'll go for four hours, and then rest for an hour before proceeding with lap–"

Noelle knew Tania's intentions. Although the trip will only last for four hours and be interspersed with rest, an hour may be a little too soon. Although it's actually quite normal.

"Alright, we'll rest for two hours before continuing the four-hour journey. How about that? "

This time Tania nodded, and finally stood up from her chair while carrying the bag of bread that was beginning to cool down.

"Let's put that into my spatial warehouse. At least let it stay warm."

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After getting out of the city and stopping in a somewhat hidden place, Noelle immediately unfurled the padded carpet she had once bought as a local product in Suiren.

"Take off your shoes and sit there" he told Tania, pointing at the carpet.

Tania did not ask much, and took off her shoes as Noelle had said. He then climbed onto the carpet, and sat down after feeling a comfortable softness on the soles of his feet that were only covered in thin black socks.

Noelle sat on the carpet, and instantly, the carpet began to float.

For a moment, Tania was shocked, but she regained her composure after noticing the presence of accessories such as a silver sword chained to Noelle's wrist.

He knew that this was done by Noelle by utilizing the power of his weapon. And although Tania herself did not know much about the power of Noelle's weapon, she at least had a little confidence that Noelle's sword was also special like her scythe.

In reality, Tania did not even know anything about the Zephiroth scythe. He did not know why the scythe could exist in the underworld, nor did he know why it had such immense power, which strangely only he could use.

Shortly after coming out of the underworld, Tania once experimented with lending her scythe to others. But, in their hands, it was nothing more than a sharp and heavy giant scythe, completely useless in combat.

Their comments were very different from the facts Tania knew.

The Zephiroth's scythe was indeed quite heavy, but its weight was perfectly suited to Tania's needs. Because of her weight, Tania can perform various movements and maneuvers that are usually not possible by normal humans.

In addition, Zephiroth has the power to absorb magic power that touches its blade or hilt, but that power doesn't seem to work when someone else is holding it. Rather, it seemed like it was their magic power that was slowly being sucked in by the Zephiroth scythe.

Of all the experiments, Tania was able to deduce a few things.

First, the Zephiroth scythe cannot be used by just anyone. Only people with certain qualifications, or those who are selected can use them.

Second, the special power of the Zephiroth scythe as a magic eater would be useless when others touched it. It just makes their magic power sucked.

However, that second conclusion led Tania to another thought; what if, the Zephiroth scythe actually sucked all the magic that touched it? Even if it's from its own holder. Tania thought about this because she realized that she was different from everyone else.

He used to have mana flowing in his magic circuit, but then it disappeared after he entered the underworld.

It's not like his magic circuit is disappearing. It was still there, just that nothing was flowing.

Perhaps that is why Tania was able to use Zephiroth freely, even though Zephiroth had a tendency to eat all the magic that touched her. It was because Tania had absolutely no edible magic energy, so Zephiroth's power had no effect on her.

Tania looked at the sickle-shaped accessories in her hand. He then stared alternately between Noelle and the scythe.

Seconds later, an idea popped into his mind.

"Noah."

Noelle turned her head back, and found Tania who was looking at her expressionlessly, as usual.

"With this form, please call me Grei."

Noelle was really worried because Tania could have called her name wrong at an important time. Even so—

"Noah."

"Create."

"Noah."

" ………."

While continuing to control the carpet to keep it flying in its path, Noelle looked at Tania.

Both of them had absolutely no special expression on their faces, only a bored look that was always on their faces at all times. In fact, even in the midst of the rushing wind, the two did not blink at all.

Noelle finally relented, and sighed.

"Alright, call me as you please. But, remember to call me Grei when there's someone other than the two of us."

"Grei ... in this form? "

Noelle nodded. "Yes. This form has its own identity, Grei Noctis. Don't let you call me Noah in front of other people when I'm wearing this shape."

—Because after all, Noah Ashrain's figure is dead. It would be dangerous if anyone who knew Noah suddenly heard the name coming out of Tania.

Even so, there shouldn't be much trouble created. From the beginning, the name Noah is a rare name, but that does not mean no one else has it. Noelle only wanted to reduce the excessive attention she would get if someone heard Tania calling her Noah.

"I understand." Tania nodded attentively. He tried to remind himself not to call him Noah in the presence of others.

(Having more than one name is definitely troublesome.)

『Clear.』

Tania and Navi secretly agreed on their own thoughts.

"alright. So, what do you want? "

Tania finally remembered that she had previously called Noelle to conduct a trial.

"This. Can you hold it? "

Stretching her hands to Noelle, Tania handed over an accessory—sabit Zephiroth which she changed into a— to Noelle.

(Isn't this ..)

Noelle of course knows what it is. Instead, Noelle had a better knowledge of Zephiroth than Tania who was the owner.

"Sure," Noelle said as she brought her finger closer to the resized Zephiroth scythe.

Since Zephiroth had no trap function, Noelle dared to touch him. But, actually it was a mistake.

A moment after her finger came into contact with Zephiroth, Noelle felt her concentration break out along with the rush of magic energy that was forced out. All of that magic energy flowed from all over his body, towards the fingertips that came into contact with Zephiroth, then transferred to Zephiroth itself.

The effect of that concentration rupture, is—

"Uwaa–?! "

Tania unintentionally let out a small scream as a strong gravitational pull suddenly dropped her entire body, along with Noelle, the carpet, and all the items on it.

Due to the rupture of Noelle's concentration, the actual flying carpet controlled by Verstand's telekinesis power inevitably spirals out of control, making the carpet he originally controlled fall free.

Due to the shock, Tania accidentally released her grip on Zephiroth, which made the scythe fall without me in the air, a bit away from where it was.

Noelle who had come to her senses instantly understood the situation.

Spreading both hands, Noelle exerted blood tendrils that each captured Zephiroth, Tania, glued her body with a carpet, and caught several other objects that had previously been carried by the carpet.

He then exerted his focus on controlling the carpet using Verstand's strength, and restored the situation to its original state.

"Sorry, my focus is gone for a moment." Noelle shook her head to get rid of the dizzy feeling she had after the mana drained from her body.

It didn't take long until the amount of mana lost was replaced with a new one, but still the resulting headache made it difficult to focus.

Noelle tried to stabilize the carpet, but then she realized what had just happened.

The Zephiroth absorbs all the magic that touches it. But, why didn't Zephiroth absorb the magic energy contained in Noelle's blood when Noelle was controlling her to capture Zephiroth?

"Sorry .. I won't bother you anymore."

At that time, Tania promised; that she would never bother Noelle with her experiments while Noelle was concentrating.

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