Volume 7, Chapter 24 – Planning an Active Counterattack

Translator Note

The original text inconsistently refers to Silvar as both an empire (帝国) and a kingdom (王国). For clarity and consistency, it will be rendered as Kingdom throughout.

If I remember it correctly, I have been making a notice about this too back then. but I accidentally reverted to Empire in an early chapter of Volume 7, My apologies….

“Dofi, you went to the Milcandis Holy Kingdom again? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Inside the bright, grand hall, Yelido frowned in front of all the assembled nobles and officials. His serious face, framed by loose golden hair, didn’t look as though it had aged with time; instead, he looked younger, appearing at first glance like a man in his late twenties.

As Yelido finished speaking, the nobles and officials began to whisper among themselves, turning the hall into a buzz of activity that rivaled a marketplace. It wasn’t that these nobles were speaking ill of Fia—anyone brave enough to do so had long since been silenced by the Prime Minister using the pretext of Prince Schain—rather, they were worried about Fia’s reckless behavior.

Prince Kalsey was gone, and Fia, the Crown Princess, had once met with disaster in the Holy Kingdom. If something were to happen to her now, the throne would fall to Liti, who was the least favored and lacked the temperament to be King. That was not a good option. It would be better to let the rejuvenated Yelido and his consorts like Yulisha produce a new heir; with the long lifespan of Elves, they had plenty of time to wait for a new successor to grow up.

Fia remained unfazed and continued.

“There is nothing in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom that can threaten me. The fact that I stand here unharmed is the best proof. The issue at hand isn’t where I went, but the fact that the divine oracle of the Goddess of Life is a reality likely to manifest soon. As I stated, while I was obtaining the oracle for Anastasia, I encountered an attack from Chaos, a creature previously only mentioned in legends. Their objective was clear. Even while they held Pope Schneider in their grasp, they did not kill him. This proves they are no longer non-intelligent creatures that attack indiscriminately.”

“While this Chaos was no match for me, the fact that they could use such elusive abilities once means there’s no guarantee they won’t use them a second time. Their movements warrant vigilance. If they truly possess the ability to crawl up from beneath the World Tree Continent, our eastern side—which we have always considered a safe zone—will become our greatest weakness. We should terminate our war in the central part of the continent and shift our attention to the eastern cliffs, where no defensive lines have ever been constructed.”

As Fia’s words landed, the nobles and officials, who had only been whispering, instantly erupted into an uproar. They gathered in small groups, their expressions a mix of confusion and alarm. After a long while, an elderly noble Fia wasn’t very familiar with stepped forward and asked with a wry smile.

“Your Highness, isn’t Chaos just something used to scare children? I have lived for over seven hundred years and have never seen the legendary Chaos. Could this ‘arm-like Chaos’ you speak of be a trick by Schneider? Perhaps he fabricated an enemy to reduce the war reparations.”

Not just the elderly noble, but a younger noble who had once followed Kalsey also voiced a suggestion.

“Princess, if Chaos had truly descended, why would only the Goddess of Life have an oracle while our Elven God remains silent? Besides, aside from the so-called Holy Sons, there is nothing to prove the existence of gods. Legends are, ultimately, just legends. Taking stories as truth is merely borrowing trouble.”

Not all the nobles opposed Fia, however. An elderly woman standing behind her frowned slightly.

“The Princess’s predictions have rarely been wrong. Three years ago, if she hadn’t sensed the Holy Kingdom’s movements in advance and kept the troops meant for the southern front stationed in the west, the Holy Kingdom might have actually marched to the gates of Blossom City. The Princess hasn’t mentioned Chaos for the first time either; it was the culprit behind the threat to the Third Princess’s life in the Holy Kingdom and the destruction of Count Oro’s territory in the Byrne City. I believe there is no harm in trusting her.”

“The Lady Librarian is correct. The Princess rarely misjudges a situation. However, in the past, while she did not enjoy speaking with us, she would always provide evidence to convince us, allowing us to draw our own conclusions. Now, expecting us to believe that a world-destroying disaster is imminent based on a single trip is truly…”

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The first elderly noble stroked his beard, looking at Fia with a troubled expression.

“If the Princess could show us what Chaos is, I would be willing to support her decision with all my might. This is not a selfish decision, but one made for the future of the Kingdom.”

The hall fell silent as everyone waited for Fia’s response. Anastasia, whom Fia had forcibly dragged into the hall, wanted to step forward and say something, but Fia subtly held her back and offered a smile.

“Finding Chaos is not difficult. However, I hope you all prepare yourselves mentally. It is a monster that even gods would avoid. When the time comes, I hope you will all work together and not distinguish between ‘you’ and ‘me’ before the disaster arrives.”

“That goes without saying.”

The nobles nodded in unison. No rational person would choose to change the direction of a war without seeing Chaos with their own eyes.

Seeing the topic concluded, Yelido, seated high upon his throne, waved his hand to shift the discussion.

“Very well. Since the direction will be decided once Dofi brings back evidence of Chaos, let it be handled that way. Next item: Erin Slate, have there been any leads on Kalsey recently?”

…

By the time the court session ended, it was already eleven in the morning.

Fia, dressed in her dark red gown, was the first to leave the hall, followed closely by Anastasia. Because Fia walked so quickly, Anastasia practically had to run to keep up.

“Your… Your Highness, why didn’t you let me tell them about the horror of Chaos? If I had told the story of what happened in the other world, they would definitely have believed you. Even though you’ve nipped the current threat in the bud, it doesn’t mean Chaos won’t appear again.”

“…”

Due to the presence of the guards standing solemnly nearby, Fia chose to remain silent.

Anastasia was right. It was for this very reason that Fia had come to the court so early in the morning.

Previously, she hadn’t cared about Chaos because it always appeared alongside the Darkborn, and the Darkborn rarely showed themselves in the outside world, which failed to demonstrate the catastrophic nature of Chaos. Thus, Fia hadn’t taken it to heart. Now, not only were The Sovereign and the Eldest Princess anxious, but Chaos had even come to provoke her directly. Therefore, she had to treat Chaos as a true opponent. The World Tree Continent itself was a natural barrier that prevented communication between the two continents; otherwise, she would be heading down there every day to fire off some massive spells.

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No, since the World Tree Continent and the original continent were closely connected, if she used earth-attribute magic to dig a tunnel connecting them, couldn’t she send warriors through that tunnel to begin clearing out the Chaos on the original continent? Since she already knew the true form of the Apocalypse was Chaos, she didn’t have to wait for it to arrive before dealing with it. Taking the initiative was also a viable plan.

Of course, an active counterattack faced some issues. First, once a tunnel connecting the two continents was opened, how could it be guarded to prevent Chaos from using it? Second, would attacking Chaos cause it to lash out like a mad dog and hasten the Apocalypse?

For now, it was best to raise the priority of this counterattack to just below retrieving Anastasia’s soul—at the same level as breaking Claire’s curse. The Apocalypse was a disaster that threatened everyone, not just strangers but also people important to her, like her mother Yulisha. She couldn’t wait until the fire was at her doorstep to find a solution.

Fortunately, new research results had appeared at the Witch Hall; perhaps they could be used in the future war against Chaos—

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

Anastasia’s confused voice echoed in her ear. Fia snapped back to reality. While she was thinking, they had already left the hall and reached a secluded courtyard. No Royal Guards were in sight, and the scorching early summer sun was dazzling.

Fia remembered she hadn’t answered Anastasia’s question yet.

“Ah, the reason I didn’t let you answer is because even if you said it, those nobles wouldn’t believe you. Telling people you’re a soul from another world would only make them think you’re a lunatic. Not to mention, those nobles still hold prejudices against you.”

“But His Majesty and Lady Claire both believe me…”

They believe you because of me.

Fia didn’t say it out loud. Although it was the truth, saying it was too hurtful.

It was better to change the subject.

“How is the connection on your end, Anastasia? Has it gotten stronger?”

Anastasia’s expression froze instantly. She intentionally stayed half a step behind Fia to prevent her from seeing her face, then forced a smile and answered.

“No. After all, only one night has passed. It’s been five days since I came to this world—today is the sixth. It took five days to strengthen the connection only slightly; it shouldn’t change after just one night.”

Fia didn’t doubt her and continued to think, resting her index finger against her chin.

“True. I thought about it carefully last night. I think what happened was some unknown change in Anastasia that caused her soul to weaken—perhaps my presence influenced the order around her. In any case, the Anastasia of this world should be sleeping within this body. So, if we just wait patiently, she will eventually recover.”

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“As for me, I need to hurry up and create a perfect vessel to hold her soul. That way, we can avoid having you vanish because you have no physical body when she wakes up.”

“I… I see…”

“Your voice sounds a bit unhappy, Anastasia. Are you unwell?”

“I-it might be the heat. I feel a bit of heatstroke.”

“Then let’s head back to the Twilight Palace. If you’re really uncomfortable, I can carry you.”

Fia turned back with a playful expression while secretly using [Airflow Control] to stir up a breeze around Anastasia to cool her down. The latter half of her sentence was a joke. This was the Royal Castle; they could run into maids or guards at any moment. Anastasia would never agree; given her personality, she would only be embarrassed to the point of being flustered.

However, to Fia’s surprise, Anastasia didn’t react to the joke at all. She bit her lip, her brow deeply furrowed.

She looked as though she had a heavy heart.

She was like this last night when we shared a room too. Not like her at all.

“Are you hiding something from me, Anastasia?” Fia asked instinctively.

“Ah… I’m just a bit unwell. With your magic, I feel much better. Didn’t you say you were going to the Witch Hall when we left? You don’t have to change your schedule for me.”

As if feeling this wasn’t enough to distract Fia, she added.

“What you said earlier—’my presence influenced the order around Anastasia’—what did you mean by that?”

“That’s a long story. Let’s talk while we walk. It’s a good chance to ask Laplace if there’s a way to speed up her return. At the rate of strengthening the connection slightly every five days, who knows how long we’ll have to wait.”

Realizing this statement could easily be misunderstood, Fia quickly raised her hands in a gesture of surrender and explained with a wry smile.

“I’m not saying you aren’t good enough, Anastasia. It’s just that if I don’t see the original her for even one day, I can’t be at peace. Once I’ve made a vessel that can hold her soul, there will be two of you, just like Milu. I wonder if you’ll fight each other. I’d be happy to see two Anastasias—oh, right, you should keep wearing this purple outfit then; it’ll make it easier for me to tell you apart.”

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If she were an eight-year-old girl, she would definitely be hugging both Anastasias. For instance, at dinner, she’d have the Anastasia on the left feed her first, and then once she finished, she’d open her mouth to wait for the one on the right to feed her. Just thinking about it made her feel so happy she could faint.

Unfortunately, Anastasia wasn’t listening to Fia’s self-muttering. Her attention was on her lie. Although she had tried to delay the time it took for the connection to strengthen, Fia would eventually discover the truth as time passed. When that day came, how would she explain to Dofi that she had deceived her?

Anastasia didn’t dare think further.

Calm down. I can’t let Dofi see that I’m hiding something. Even if I’m taking it one step at a time, I must mask my expression well from now on.

Anastasia looked at Fia’s back. The latter had her index finger to her chin and her head tilted slightly as she talked to herself, clearly dreaming about the future. Anastasia took a deep breath to adjust her expression and answered with a smile.

“That day will surely come. Although it’s a bit shameless of me, I hope you’ll allow me to stay by your side even after the real Anastasia returns.”

“That goes without saying.”

Fia waved her hand, then slowed her pace as her expression turned serious.

“We’re about to leave the city gate. I was stuck in the archives for a while and haven’t had time to deal with the various letters sent to me. Laplace and the Knowledge-Seeking Demon General said they’ve not only perfected the mana transmission device but also created a prototype mana cannon powered by it. With the threat of Chaos looming, I need to check its reliability. Plus, I have my own ideas about creating a mana vessel; I need to find someone to test them out.”

Among the many spells recorded in the Human Alliance script she possessed, there was one called [Particle Repair]. Because its precision was so high, it required an understanding of an object’s microscopic structure before it could be activated. Thus, Fia had never been able to use it—she simply didn’t have a spell that could analyze objects at a microscopic level, so how could she repair them?

However, last night she had found a faith-attribute spell in the Holy Kingdom’s archives used for analyzing and repairing sacred relics and divine weapons. If she could master that spell, combined with the reliability of [Hyper-computation], she might be able to analyze objects down to the microscopic level.

In that case, even if she couldn’t analyze them to the point where [Particle Repair] could function, she could use second-tier nano-robots to reconstruct flesh. Of course, the prerequisite was analyzing and mastering every part of Anastasia’s body structure and then refining the operation of the nano-robots until she could use them to create something from nothing. Currently, the nano-robots could only be used for healing, and their application was too crude.

One of the reasons Fia was going to the Witch Hall was to understand the body of the Witch Lianne. That way, she could start with Lianne, a complete soul entity, and learn how to drive the nano-robots to create something from nothing. If she could reconstruct a body for Lianne, she could do the same for Anastasia.

…No, those things were too far off. It was better to think about how to get started with faith magic for now. She had always studied elemental magic and was completely ignorant when it came to faith-based spells.

At the end of the day, however, it was very likely that the Goddess of Life wasn’t even on the World Tree Continent anymore. Why faith magic could still be used remained an unsolved mystery. Could she really learn it?