Volume 7, Chapter 30 – The Second Abyss

The Land of Exile, situated at the border between the Barony of Yarua and the Netherworld, was a vast expanse of wasteland roughly half the size of the Barony of Yarua itself. Eroded by the aura of death emanating from the undead, the Land of Exile struggled to support dense forests; most of the region consisted of marshes and wetlands, making it unsuitable for living beings.

Consequently, the Kingdom was unconcerned about convicts escaping from the Land of Exile. To its north lay the Barony of Yarua, to its south the Netherworld, and to its east were sheer cliffs with no way forward. The only side near the main road between Cold Night and Silvar, the west, was guarded by soldiers. Combined with the treacherous marshes scattered throughout, there was virtually no chance of escape once someone was cast into the Land of Exile.

Grand Duke Herr, Erin Slate’s father, had only managed to escape back then through a combination of luck and a massive sum of gold to bribe the guards. Ninety-nine percent of those in the Land of Exile possessed no such wealth to make soldiers willing to look the other way.

“The environment here is beyond wretched.”

Standing in the marsh, Fia wore a look of utter disgust. When they had visited the Land of Exile previously, Erin Slate had led the way, so the group had traveled along the main roads far from the Netherworld to facilitate the army’s movement. Now, since their goal was to eliminate the undead, they had no choice but to trek deep into the difficult southern swamps.

What appeared to be turf on the surface turned into soft, rotting mud the moment a foot was set down. Combined with the thick fog drifting through the air everywhere, Fia felt that if there were just a few moss-covered abandoned cars, the place would look exactly like a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The group was forced to advance using flight magic, hovering to avoid soaking their stockings and skirts in the sludge.

“Is Your Highness pitying the criminals?”

Flying at the front and using a Mithril sword to cut through obstructing reeds, Anastasia looked back. Her voice held no hatred for the criminals, only curiosity. As for why they didn’t simply fly over the reeds, it was because the air above them was filled with a significant amount of foul-smelling gases.

“Exile and the death penalty must be approved by His Majesty before execution. There are very few cases of wrongful conviction; those sentenced to exile or death have mostly committed serious crimes like robbery or murder. There is no need for pity.”

“The Anastasia here said something similar to me.”

Fia gave a wry smile.

Anastasia paused her reed-cutting for a moment as if realizing something, then followed Fia with a wry smile of her own.

“I suspect you countered her then by using me and Lady Erin Slate as examples.”

“Sister Anna has already mastered Sister’s personality.”

Liti, also in flight, praised her.

“Although I’ve only been in this world for a week, hearing so much about Her Highness from Princess Liti has given me some understanding of her current personality. Hmm… I suppose I could say that the current Her Highness has finally learned how to express her feelings; in other respects, she is exactly the same as before— Who? Come out!”

Anastasia’s tone was suddenly filled with killing intent, and a green radiance swirled around her Mithril sword. She stared at a patch of ground obscured by reeds to the left, prepared to strike instantly if the target made any suspicious movement.

After a wait of about two seconds, a rustling sound came from behind the reeds. Two small elf girls in tattered clothes raised their hands, standing up timidly. They carried baskets on their backs that had turned black with age and wear, clearly having been used for a very long time.

“P-Please, don’t kill us…”

The eyes of the two elf girls were filled with terror. Fia caught sight of the Sinner’s Marks on their faces; these two were also inhabitants of the Land of Exile.

Judging by the youthfulness of their features, they might not have even reached the elf age of adulthood.

Rеaԁ οո КαtRеadіոɡСafе

There shouldn’t have been any minors left in the Land of Exile.

Anastasia lowered her Mithril sword and warned them in a stern tone.

“It’s getting late; you should go home.”

“But we haven’t found anything to eat yet…”

“Going hungry for one night won’t kill you. If you stay out here, do you want to fill the belly of a slime or become a wolf’s dinner?”

Anastasia’s blunt tone reminded the girls of the horrors of monsters, and both showed terrified expressions. Anastasia then tilted her head toward the direction they had come from.

“Go back.”

“Thank you!”

“Wait.”

As the two were turning to leave, Fia called out to them.

“How old are you?”

“Ei… eighty years old, roughly.”

“An army should have taken you away from the Land of Exile before. Why are you still here? Did the Baron of Yarua disobey the Eldest Princess’s orders and send you back?”

Hearing Fia’s words, the two thin elf girls bit their lips with looks of regret.

“We were outside at the time, so we missed it…”

Outside? Meaning they were searching for food in the marshes like they were now?

Fia didn’t know the ecology of the Land of Exile and could only guess from the baskets on their backs that they might be searching for edible wild plants. She thought for a moment.

“How many more underage children like you are there in the Land of Exile?”

“There should still be… over a hundred in our village. Are you a noble lady? I heard from a noble who came to the village yesterday that those taken by the Eldest Princess would stay in a large house and have food just by sitting on a stool every day. I… we also want to…”

Before the girl could finish, the older girl quickly tugged at her collar, signaling with her eyes for her to stop talking.

Fia knew without being told that the older girl was afraid of offending a noble.

Fia maintained a neutral expression.

Rеaԁ оո KatRеaⅾіոgСаfе

“I understand. Go back now.”

“Thank you, Miss! Thank you, Miss!”

The older girl hurriedly pulled the younger one into a bow, and then, under the younger girl’s longing gaze, they disappeared into the reeds.

“Little Fia actually didn’t take them with her. That’s not like Little Fia at all.”

Watching the direction where the two elves had departed, Claire rested her index finger against her chin with a surprised look.

“Do I look like the type of person who just takes anyone with her?”

“You do. For example, I was only away from Little Fia for a month or two, yet she already has two more cute girls by her side. You’re full of charm and don’t know how to hold back.”

Claire’s words made Milu blush. She turned her face away and hunched her shoulders as if trying not to be recognized.

Liti, with her long lavender hair loose, lunged forward to hug Fia’s arm, her energetic movement causing Fia’s body to sway.

“Exactly! If Miss Estelle didn’t have her duties as a lord, she would have definitely followed Sister. That woman looks like the type who would immediately seize the chance to stick close the moment Sister relaxes even slightly. She’s more dangerous than a Fire Cat.”

“What do you mean by ‘seize the chance’? Estelle and I are just very good friends. It’s very impolite of Liti to speculate about others like that.”

“I’m not speculating; Sister is just too dense. My intuition as a woman tells me that Miss Estelle’s feelings for Sister aren’t that simple. Perhaps every night she uses Sister as an object of fantasy and quietly practices—”

Before Liti could finish, Claire, like a neighborhood older sister, lightly pinched Liti’s cheek.

“You mustn’t speculate about a lady like that, Liti. You need to be more of a lady yourself.”

A little girl whose chest hasn’t even grown talking about a woman’s intuition.

Fia didn’t voice this impolite thought; she only found it amusing.

“We’re about to fight the undead. Taking those two children with us would leave them with psychological trauma. It won’t be too late to have the Baron of Yarua send people to take them away after we return tonight. I’m also worried that an advance announcement might cause a disturbance—for example, some lunatics being jealous that children get special treatment, or some families refusing to hand over their children and hiding them in advance. While it’s best for children to stay with their parents, if even basic food and safety cannot be guaranteed, it’s better to have them raised by specialized institutions.”

“Ooh…” A look of admiration appeared in Liti’s rose-colored eyes. “As expected, Sister is very smart as long as she isn’t dealing with emotional problems.”

What do you mean, “as long as she isn’t dealing with emotional problems”?

Rather than a compliment, Fia felt she was being teased.

However, it was also a fact that she was not good at emotional issues, so she wisely didn’t dwell on it.

Reаⅾ оո KаtRеaԁіngСαfe

As the group continued forward, more people similar to the pair of elf sisters appeared in Fia’s sight. These elves and beastfolk were either carrying baskets or holding burlap sacks. Upon seeing Fia’s group, their expressions held both fear and greed, but when Anastasia cast a sharp glance at them, they quickly looked away and hurried back toward the Land of Exile.

According to Anastasia, these elven and beastfolk criminals were struggling for their livelihoods. Although the area of the Land of Exile was vast, only a few scattered places were suitable for survival, and these regions had formed villages or small towns.

Naturally, people had to find ways to fill their stomachs to survive. Given that the land was difficult to cultivate, going out to search for edible things became the only option. Whether it was entering the marshes to catch snakes or rats, or gathering lichen and edible ferns, these were their means of survival.

Going out at dawn to “scavenge” and returning with tattered sacks at the end of the day had become the tradition of the Land of Exile. Because they lacked weapons, the people here couldn’t even hunt large animals.

But this was their just deserts, not something to be pitied. Before the Radiant Era, they would have likely only been used to generate electricity.

Without interacting with these people, Fia’s group crossed the marshy area and arrived at the true edge of the Netherworld.

—A vast, pitch-black landscape shrouded in dark clouds.

No vegetation or soil could be seen on the ground, only an endless expanse of exposed rock. Even the mountain peaks had been weathered into giant spikes that stood straight up toward the sky. If there were some lightning and thunder in the sky, Fia would have taken this place for the demon king’s base in a fantasy story; a sense of deathly silence washed over her.

However, rather than the Netherworld itself, the group was more concerned with the giant rift stretching several kilometers before them. This was one of the abysses that had appeared at the edge of the Netherworld before Fia returned to Blossom. Yelido had been investigating the abyss in this vicinity and suppressing the counterattacking undead.

Dry air mixed with the stench of decay brushed past their faces, accompanied by the faint sound of roaring in the wind, making one shudder. However, except for Anastasia, no one in Fia’s group showed an expression as if they were facing a great enemy. Liti was even very curious about the abyss; if Milu hadn’t grabbed Liti’s waist, the latter would have already stood by the edge of the abyss, curiously peeking down.

“Fly across the abyss, and the undead will be on the other side.”

Dense blue-purple outlines appeared in the [Airflow Control]. The undead here were the same as those in the Weeping Mountains; as long as a living being stepped onto their land, they would emerge from the ground like swarms of ants.

Low-tier undead weren’t enough to provide an improvement for Anastasia; they had to go a bit further in. Although she wanted to use [Orbital Beacon Bombardment] to clear a path, the scorched earth after the bombardment wouldn’t be conducive to her and her partners walking; it was better used when they left the Netherworld after nightfall. The undead subjected to the bombardment might even form a large number of high-tier magic crystals, similar to the monsters in the Great Desert.

Speaking of which, once Anastasia’s soul problem was solved, it would be about time to put searching for the remnant soul of Estelle’s sister, Noreen, on the agenda. An incomplete soul couldn’t enter the Land of the Dead and could only linger before its gates. Although Fia hadn’t been to the Land of the Dead, she could imagine that its gates definitely wouldn’t be at the edge of the Netherworld; using the [Orbital Beacon Bombardment] here wouldn’t harm those souls lingering before the gates.

“What is it? You have such a preoccupied expression.”

Claire, who was slightly shorter than Anastasia, tilted her head to look at her. At this moment, Anastasia was standing by the abyss, peering into its depths with a preoccupied look.

Anastasia’s expression was complex as if she were confirming something, and she hesitated for a long time before murmuring.

“This is an entrance to Chaos. When the Chaos hadn’t yet formed on a large scale and had just swallowed the Barony of Yarua, the Queen of the Land of the Dead came here and marked this as the second place where Chaos would erupt, after the Weeping Mountains. At that time, the Queen of the Land of the Dead used eighth-tier earth magic to seal the abyss, but it wasn’t long before the Chaos broke through the shackles of the earth again. After that, the Alliance wanted to suppress this place but no longer had the strength. Although this is a world where Her Highness is still alive and the Chaos is suppressed by her, I didn’t expect there to be no movement here at all; it’s almost as if it’s already dead…”

Following Anastasia’s murmuring, Fia also peeked into the abyss. Below, like the abyss near Blossom, it was shrouded in mist, the bottomless height enough to make her head spin.

However, unlike the abyss at Blossom, Fia sensed an extraordinary feeling from the abyss before her; to describe it, it was as if this place was sharper, giving her the illusion that she could be attacked at any moment.

She scanned it with [Wind of Exploration] and [Mana Vision] in succession, but found no anomalies.

“How does Anastasia know this place was marked by the Queen of the Land of the Dead? I remember Anna said she always hid behind the front lines and never went to the front.”

Rеаԁ οո ΚatReaⅾіոgCafе

“The Alliance and Chaos fought for fourteen years; news of the second rift was already known to everyone. I lived in the Land of Exile, so I could guess that the one before me should be the second rift. Was this place also suppressed by Her Highness? According to the Alliance records, Chaos should have already surged up from below at this point in time.”

“No, it wasn’t. This is my first time here.” Fia shrugged. “It’s possible the Chaos in the Weeping Mountains didn’t appear, so the Chaos here was also affected; it’s best if it doesn’t come out. It’s still in time to station people to guard it. But speaking of which, since the Queen of the Land of the Dead was willing to form an alliance with the living to protect the continent, doesn’t that mean she possesses great wisdom?”

“Yes, the Queen of the Land of the Dead was the person with the highest status in the Alliance.”

“Meaning, as long as we find the Queen of the Land of the Dead, there’s a possibility of discussing a truce with her and ending this long-drawn-out war?”

“Uh…”

Anastasia’s expression froze, and even Liti had a subtle look on her face.

“Um, Sister, I don’t think that’s possible. We elves and the Netherworld originally had no conflict. It was only later, after our national strength grew, that we occupied land that originally belonged to the undead in order to expand our territory. That’s how it became like it is today. If we don’t return the land we’ve taken, the undead definitely won’t agree to a truce…”

Hah?

Fia’s eyebrow rose in a subtle arc.

Not only did they not go around the undead when they saw them, but they even actively fought the undead for land; could such martially-inclined creatures really be called elves?

After a brief shock, Fia decided not to dwell on these matters. As long as the Queen of the Land of the Dead possessed wisdom, there was room for discussion; the undead didn’t need to eat or drink and had no sensory organs, so whether they had land or not made no difference to them. The war might be due to simpler reasons, like pride, or perhaps just pure amusement.

Thinking carefully, the Queen of the Land of the Dead was a ninth-tier entity. If she were serious, Silvar would definitely be no match for her. Her constant refusal to appear and only sending low-tier undead to attack was likely just a winter offensive meant as a warning.

Fia also wondered what the Queen of the Land of the Dead looked like.

Ruth was a great undead at the peak of the eighth tier, yet her physical age was about the same as Fia’s, and she even had cute pink hair and pink eyes. If the Queen of the Land of the Dead turned out to be a young girl like Tilulu, she might not be able to bring herself to strike her due to her youthful appearance—in terms of fighting, of course, not in a criminal sense.

How cunning, using a cute appearance to beg for mercy.

Arbitrarily labeling the Queen of the Land of the Dead, Fia spread her dazzling butterfly light wings.

“Then let’s fly across. I’ll test Liti’s and Milu’s training results first, and then I’ll take Anastasia deep into the interior to find high-tier undead.”

There was one more thing Fia didn’t say: after her companions returned, she would delve deep into the abyss once more. This was both to check the status of the Chaos and to record it into a recording crystal.

Once people saw the endless black ocean, they would surely become tense.