[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 311: The Figure with the Arm (1)

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"I had expected this, but still .. I did not think this area of the Cold Forest was so vast! "

Two figures can be seen running through the unspoiled Cold Forest area. One of them, who was a young man groaned in annoyance to vent his protest.

What can I do? On the map, the Cold Forest region itself was not very large, but all of it was different from the reality.

Cold Forest itself is a forest area with an area that reaches more than hundreds of kilometers. So vast, it might take months or even years to explore the entire area.

And fortunately, Noelle holds an exclusive map showing the exact location of the Kingdom of Fortenia.

There are several routes to choose from to reach the place, but Noelle and Tania chose the fastest route that can be taken for two days by walking briskly without stopping.

That fastest route required them to traverse the Cold Forest area, which was an area dangerous to ordinary humans. If they could not bear it, then they would just freeze in place without ever reaching the destination.

However, here Noelle and Tania are different. Both of them were able to run at full speed even though the temperature in this place was completely piercing.

Moreover, this route could not be chosen haphazardly as it required them to determine the benchmark location. In this case, the location listed on the map is the location where the settlement of the Artof tribe is located.

From the village of the Artof tribe, they could directly walk towards the southwest. No need to turn, no need to turn. Just need to walk straight.

"Is this okay? "

While running, Tania jumped up and threw the Zephiroth scythe towards the left with the aim of a monster lurking.

Indeed, the monsters living in the Cold Forest area were not aggressive creatures at all, but later on they continuously targeted Noelle and Tania. Maybe because they feel the air of their presence is very different from other forest dwellers.

(Hehe, introduce yourself, introverts.)

Noelle threw her sword in one direction, and a lizard-like creature, just having an icy body, instantly fell helpless.

After killing the unknown monster, Noelle directly put it into the spatial warehouse for examination one day.

"Noah .. You better not bother them too much."

"I know, I know."

Noelle pulled back her sword with a small chain attached, then continued on her way in the direction she was heading.

Everything in the Cold Forest was quite surprising, to the point of making Noelle's attention distracted and hampering her journey.

The cycle continued to repeat until they finally arrived at a hill.

"Noah."

Noelle immediately nodded in response to Tania's call.

His eyes narrowed, and he quickly analyzed the scene that was far ahead of him.

That place is completely abandoned.

A ruined royal capital that has been abandoned for 600 years. No wonder there is so much destruction there. However, be it Noelle or even Tania had not expected this at all.

From the hill where they stood, the view of the former capital of the Fortenia Kingdom could be clearly seen.

And instead of the ancient ruins, the place was truly like it had just been destroyed yesterday.

The fire had been extinguished for a long time, but there was still charred jehak from everything that was there.

What was more, what attracted the attention of the two of them the most was the dozens of tall towers soaring into the sky, completely made by the blackish-purple crystal that Noelle had suspected as the Virus Apocalypse crystal.

"This place includes sealed areas, so no wonder no one takes care of it."

The reason makes sense. Tania nodded her head as she pulled the little edge of Noelle's clothes.

"We have to go there? "

Noelle nodded. "Is there a problem with that? "

Noelle didn't mind Tania wanting to protest. However, he was not sure he could change his decision.

Right now, the only way to fulfill its purpose was to pay a visit to those ruins.

Tania shook her head, denying Noelle's question.

"Just .. Navi warned me there would be great danger there. In addition, Zephiroth was also acting strangely."

Both of these stories surprised Noelle.

Noelle still doesn't know who Navi is, but she has a guess. It could be, Navi is a figure similar to Noir, a parasite that hides in the soul or body of Tania, has high intelligence so that it is able to communicate smoothly.

The reason was quite strong, considering Noelle had witnessed how Tania was able to drastically change her personality in just a matter of seconds.

What made Noelle curious was Tania's statement about Zephiroth.

It is true that Zephiroth is one of the weapons that belong to the category of 'Star Weapon'. And as the weapon that bears the 'name', Zephiroth has a pseudo personality that allows him to choose his own users.

However, more than that, as the inner relationship between weapons and users intensifies, there is a possibility that they can communicate. Although of course, the communication in question is in a minimal capacity considering the awareness that the weapon has is only pseudo-consciousness.

It seemed like the relationship between Tania and her scythe had surpassed the inner relationship between Noelle and her two swords. Because unlike Noelle, Tania could clearly feel what Zephiroth was feeling.

If Zephiroth was acting strangely at a time like this, then there must be a cause. And the point of the matter was definitely not far from the capital.

Noelle silently watched Tania who was looking confused at the large scythe in her hand. It shook, and Tania held it tightly as if she was trying to calm it down.

Noelle turned to see her own two swords, which were in mini form as bracelet accessories.

The two swords were—Langen and Ber stand looked to vibrate slightly. The vibration was not so strong, but Noelle was still able to see with her own two eyes.

(I'm worried now.)

Noelle sighed and made the two swords return to their true form. He walked one step forward, trying to find a foothold so he could land safely when jumping later.

"I don't know what's in there, but be sure to tell me that Zephiroth is acting all the more strange."

As Tania strengthened her grip, the tremors on Zephiroth finally stopped. Tania nodded, and was ready to take the same steps as Noelle.

Both jumped at the same time, and landed for a moment to then take another big leap to get to the destination quickly.

"Is it just the capital we should check out? "

Amidst that huge leap, Tania suddenly asked curiously, making Noelle happy that she had been waiting for that question.

"Most likely so. Of all the parts of the Kingdom of Fortenia, only the capital city had still not been taken over by the Republic. The villages and towns that once belonged to the Kingdom were taken back by the Republic as they tried to minimize the spread of the plague."

There is only one reason why the capital has not yet been taken over by the Republic, and it is a fact that the capital is the highest concentration point of the virus, he said, so no one really dared to come to him.

Even until now, the virus is still a frightening specter for many people. There is no definitive solution that can be taken if this outbreak spreads again.

Perhaps, the only option left is to repeat the tragedy that occurred 27 years ago.

The goal is in sight. While on this journey, Noelle continued her explanation. "And although it has been a very long time since all the areas were taken back by the Republic, they did not use the place at all to build new settlements or just add assets. Do you know the reason? "

A few seconds later, he opened his mouth again. "Is it because they're afraid the outbreak is still active? "

To that answer, Noelle immediately nodded. "That's right. And that's enough to prove how dangerous this crystal plague is."

In addition to being filled with mystery, the impact it caused was extremely terrifying. No wonder the governments of all countries are trying to suppress information about this outbreak.

Now, the ones who know about the crystal plague are the ones who are indeed tasked with keeping it secret, and the ones who do intend to find it.

Other than that, maybe no one will remember.

That was what made Noelle shudder in horror. The government can easily control the minds and memories of its residents so that all goes according to their wishes.

"Well, we belong to the class of people who are not affected by 'mass brainwashing'. So we better be grateful for it—"

Unfinished he spoke, a black spear shot out at an unreasonable speed, and triggered Noelle's reflex motion to immediately duck down.

But that might be a mistake. Because the spear was now even ready to hit Tania at any time.

"Tania! "

The sudden call from Noelle made Tania wake up, and immediately used her scythe to block the stab from the spear.

The sound of two powerful metals clanging loudly made Noelle regain her consciousness. He rose back to his upright position and caught the tip of the spear handle with his own right hand.

As a result, instead of being caught, the spear disappeared.

However, the spear again appeared above his own head, with a sharp tip that pointed straight down.

As the spear fell down with a strong gravitational force, Noelle had already jumped back and given a powerful kick to the spear shaft. However, before it actually hit its foot, the spear had already disappeared.

Then reappeared right behind Noelle, immediately darting forward, piercing from the back and penetrating up to Noelle's chest.

Her position back then was very unlikely to allow a counterattack, but there was still Tania behind her.

Tania immediately ran over and swung her scythe at the spear shaft, but again the spear disappeared, leaving a rather large hole gaping across the chest and penetrating all the way to Noelle's back.

Such injuries were not a serious matter for Noelle. He could regenerate a broken body at any time. However, right now the most important thing was that spear.

Noelle maximized her detection to immediately attack when the spear reappeared.

From the speed just now, Noelle wasn't sure if the spear was moving physically. At least, it looks like teleportation.

The spear reappeared in front of Noelle, and Noelle this time managed to predict her so that she was able to dodge.

But still, it was difficult to fight back when his opponent was just a spear that could teleport.

Compared to that, fighting against real people felt much easier.

Noelle received the attack from the spear several times, but shortly after, Noelle had already gotten used to the pattern of his attacks.

(From the way he attacked, this spear was probably controlled by someone. Then ...)

Noelle expanded the range of her detections, and managed to find one powerful existence that was not too far away from the former capital gate. Surprisingly, the person's existence could not be felt at all before the spear attack first began.

Noelle asks Tania not to interfere in the fight, and continues moving her body to avoid the puncture of the spear that continues to teleport nonstop.

Jumping backwards as the spear was about to stab from her head, Noelle then directly swung her own sword in full circle shape. As a result, he was able to fend off the spear that targeted his back in time.

However, the result was not what Noelle had expected.

(Not cut?! )

This fact made him frown. He was very sure that he had activated the power of Langen's black sword, but why was the spear completely unaffected?

Langen's black sword, had the ability to slash and cut through everything, depending on the ability of the user. However, so far, there was one thing that Noelle knew would not be able to cut with her strength.

And that's another star weapon.

Noelle's been doing a lot of experiments with Olivia. The experiment was conducted by pitting forces between their two star weapons. As a result they knew that star weapons would neutralize each other's effects when they came into contact.

Just as Achto was unable to blow up Langen, and Langen was unable to cut Achto, it seemed like the spear Noelle was currently fighting was included in one of the star weapons.

And Noelle knew what a spear was.

Noelle stopped moving, and sheathed her sword. He also calmly stared at the spear that was only still in the air as if he was waiting for his movement.

(I'm guessing, there's a human controlling it. And he's not stupid either.)

Noelle stopped giving a hostile look, and simply smiled faintly instead.

"Why don't you just go out and talk! "

An all-out fight would be useless. It seemed that the true owner of the spear was also aware of it, because when Noelle's attention was shifted for a while, there were already the sounds of heavy footsteps accompanied by the clattering of small metals colliding with each other.

The figure slowly approached from within the gate. Using a pitch-black armor that covered his entire body. The way it goes looks so light, but at the same time it also feels so heavy.

Despite looking careless, Noelle did not find a single gap she could use to attack.

Lastly, what made herself and Tania so wary, was a blackish purple crystal that seemed to grow straight from the surface of her armor.

"Create …."

Tania anxiously called out Noelle's pseudonym, and Noelle responded with a small nod.

(Is he infected? )

From his posture and size, Noelle was sure that the figure was a man. Moreover, in his right hand, he was holding a black spear that was the same as the one that had previously attacked Noelle and Tania.

Noelle could only force her laughter.

"I thought the Republic was so stupid to leave this place unsecured, but I was wrong. You alone might have been enough to secure this place."

One of the things that made Noelle feel so awkward was the lack of security around the ruins of the capital Fortenia.

Although it is completely isolated, the Republic should still place a security unit to guard this place. Even though they were at a safe distance, that was quite far from the walls of the capital.

But, there's no one here. It was as if this place had really been ignored because it was too dangerous.

(I guess they don't count people like us.)

Perhaps one of the reasons the Republic did not bother to give the guard units this place, was the fact that no one would want to visit. In this case, they completely failed in predicting the possibility of the people to come.

There was no hostility coming from her, but Noelle did not let down her guard at all. He is ready to attack at any time.

(Eh–)

Noelle was ready to draw her sword as the passionate figure drew closer. However, his eyes instantly widened when he realized something.

(How can .... still be alive?! )

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