Volume 8, Chapter 26 – The Stirring Thing

This was a dark, bottomless cave.

Faintly blue ore, scattered like stars, illuminated the cavern, casting crooked shadows of vines clinging to the edges. At first glance, it was a scene full of romanticism. But what was terrifying was that these blue-glowing ores now seemed to have a life of their own, their light pulsing rhythmically. Coupled with the turbid air faintly wafting from the depths, anyone who came here would think they had entered the body of some giant beast—the cave was breathing.

“How’s the inspection?”

A man dressed as a military officer led a squad of soldiers into the depths of the cave. Probably out of fear of this ominous place, the officer’s movements were timid, and his voice was clearly suppressed.

“We’ve only been down here for less than a quarter of an hour. Give us some more time.”

The outstretched hand withdrew from the blue ore. The purple-haired girl who spoke stood up, her furrowed brow indicating to outsiders that she was deep in thought. However, the officer clearly had no more patience to wait, his uneasy expression gradually being replaced by anxiety.

“This is the barrier that seals the World Dragon. Any deeper and we’ll be in the most dangerous core area. If the magic power erupts, we’ll all be torn to shreds. You should know that!”

Is he afraid already?

Although she despised the officer from the bottom of her heart, the purple-haired girl did not let it show on her face. To always maintain a gentle smile was the biggest reason for her popularity. In the face of her affability, even her alluring figure had to take a backseat. And as long as she was popular, many impossible things would naturally become convenient.

The girl with long, deep purple hair showed a smile. Seeing the thoughtfulness in that smile, the officer’s anxiety lessened somewhat, and his tone softened slightly.

“How much longer do you need?”

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“If you can’t wait, sir, you can go outside and wait for us… hehe. You know that analyzing a magic formation is a job that requires patience and time. As magic chanters, we know how to protect ourselves. You don’t need to worry about us.”

“Alright.”

Although he felt it was a loss of face to just leave—even women younger than him dared to stay in the cave, while his group of soldiers had to flee—the officer cared more about his own life. He beckoned to his men and, as if some terrible thing were chasing them from behind, fled the hall.

As for the mission Duke Wozwahl had given them, to protect and monitor the three girls, the officer paid it no mind at all. When the three girls had first arrived at the army garrison, some of the soldiers who hadn’t seen a woman in a long time had tried to hit on them. The result was tragic. All the soldiers who had made a move were, without exception, knocked to the ground by the red-haired girl. And because the three girls were helpers invited by Duke Wozwahl, and the soldiers had been the first to act, it was the defeated soldiers who were punished instead. This also served as a harsh blow to all the soldiers in the garrison—these three were overwhelmingly strong and were not to be trifled with.

So the so-called protection mission was really just a symbolic saying. Their group was more responsible for surveillance. But in such a bottomless cave that sealed a giant beast, the officer couldn’t believe the three girls could do anything. Even if they were strong, they couldn’t possibly act recklessly in a seal that could erupt at any moment. One had to know that the dark clouds currently shrouding the Royal Capital came from this very seal. The magic power it contained was naturally too great for humans to bear. The slightest touch would be enough to be torn to shreds by the turbulent magic.

However, after only a few steps, the officer turned back as if he had remembered something.

“What about the red-haired one and the black-haired one? Why aren’t they with you?”

“Ah, they went to a deeper area. They’re not as good at analyzing magic barriers as I am, so I had them do some miscellaneous work like observing the flow of magic.”

“I see. Remember not to go too deep. Otherwise, if you have an accident, we’ll be punished by the Duke as well.”

“Thank you for your concern, sir.” After seeing the officer off with a smile, the long, deep-purple-haired girl’s face was quickly filled with contempt. She pursed her lips in disdain. “Tch, cowards who cling to life.”

“Don’t be too hard on them. They are different from us. This is how ordinary people should be.”

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A cold voice came from the depths of the cave, accompanied by the footsteps of two people—the black-haired girl named Lin and the other red-haired girl.

Turning around, the deep-purple-haired girl showed a look of helplessness.

“Lin, even if they are ordinary people, they should still try a little harder. That’s the only way they can contribute to us in the future. You always spoil them. Even if you’re being kind, you don’t need to do it at the cost of your own hardship.”

“That’s right,” the red-haired girl chimed in. “I think Purple is right. You’re too tired, Lin.”

Ignoring the two girls, the black-haired girl named Lin said faintly.

“I’ve already scouted the inside. We can start preparing at any time.”

“Changing the subject again. Lin, if you could just treat those humans like cats and dogs like I do, you wouldn’t have so many worries.”

“Wait, what did you just say to start, Lin?” The red-haired girl keenly sensed that her companions were hiding something from her. “Did you and her make another decision behind my back? I’m angry now.”

As if she were pouting, the red-haired girl hugged the black-haired girl from behind. The black-haired girl calmly pushed her away. The purple-haired girl on the other side said with a smile.

“With your personality, Red, if you knew the plan we discussed, it would surely be written all over your face. So it’s better not to tell you and let you be a mascot to lower others’ guard.”

“How could you!”

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“Alright, alright, let’s tell her the plan. This operation is very dangerous. Everyone needs to be on their toes.”

As if a switch had been flipped, Lin’s words made the two girls drop their relaxed demeanor. Their expressions were filled with seriousness, their bodies exuding a resolve to die for the command at any moment.

The purple-haired girl began to explain seriously.

“It has been a week since we arrived at the garrison. In this week, Lin and I have figured out the loosened part of this barrier. With just a little nudge from Lin’s power of death, we can make the seal, which had just barely reached a balance, have another opening due to elemental chaos. At that time, we can take advantage of the opening to sneak into the seal and get a chance to make contact with the World Dragon’s head.”

“What are we going to do with the World Dragon?”

“Of course, we’re going to provoke it and make it go berserk again. That way, the already loosened barrier will become even worse. The reason for this endless rain is not because the World Dragon used magic, but because its impact loosened the water element barrier that seals it. The immense magic power leaking from the barrier is what caused this heavy rain. Therefore, if the barrier becomes more chaotic, the torrential rain in the kingdom will become even more severe, which will in turn make the kingdom’s nobles more and more anxious.”

“But wouldn’t that be bad for us too? We were supposed to be here to repair the barrier, but not only did we fail to fix it, we made it worse. If Duke Wozwahl finds out we’re behind this, it will definitely be bad for us, and we won’t be able to search for the angel anymore.”

The red-haired girl’s words made the purple-haired girl wag her index finger, a playful expression like that of a predatory cat on her face.

“The condition of searching for an angel was to make the kingdom’s nobles believe that we are in a cooperative relationship. As long as we create an accident at the time of the incident—’a group of cowardly soldiers tried to harass us during a mission, and in the process of using violence against us, they touched the magic barrier in the cave, causing it to erupt’—and tell Duke Wozwahl this reason, with a precedent and sufficient evidence, he will only blame it on those lechers.”

“Creating an accident won’t be difficult. We just need Lin to secretly do something when they make a move. But are you sure that group of cowards will harass us?”

Smiling, the purple-haired girl pulled open the collar of her clothes in front of the red-haired girl, revealing an alluring snow-white cleavage. If there were any men here, they would surely be gulping by now.

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“I’ve always been very confident in my charm.”

“But what’s the benefit for us if the kingdom’s nobles become anxious?”

“As long as the number of refugees outside the capital increases, those nobles will become more and more anxious. If they still want to ensure their own safety, they will have to find a way to solve the refugee problem. There are only two ways: the first is to deal with the refugees directly, either by appeasing or suppressing them, but this will only delay the inevitable outbreak. The second is to solve the problem at its source, that is, to solve this torrential rain.”

The black-haired girl took over the conversation, explaining for the purple-haired girl.

“There are only two solutions. The first is to follow Duke Wozwahl’s path and believe that we can solve the seal. If so, we just need to keep using the excuse of ‘we’re filling the barrier, just wait a little longer’ to delay and make the nobles more anxious. The second is to use the plan proposed by the kingdom’s court magic chanters: to use pure and powerful magic to seal the hole like a patch. And if this plan is adopted, the nobles will have to, as in the past, join forces to force Duke Wozwahl to hand over Alice Wozwahl, and at the cost of sacrificing the Fallen Alice, fill this hole.”

“Oh, oh, oh! I get it!” at this, a starlight-like gleam appeared in the red-haired girl’s eyes. “This matches the Pope’s interpretation! To sacrifice Alice, the nobles will have to persuade Duke Wozwahl. And once Duke Wozwahl sacrifices Alice, the doting Cynthia will have a falling out with her father. In the end, Duke Wozwahl will also lose his loyalty to the kingdom out of guilt for his daughter. Then, the vengeful Cynthia will lead an uprising within the kingdom, and we will take advantage of the kingdom’s exhaustion to attack the Ymir Territory. Is that right?!”

“Precisely.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get started. I’ve been wanting to go back to my own little nest for a long time.”

Full of anticipation, the red-haired girl urged the other two. Lin and the purple-haired girl exchanged a look, a hint of a smile in their eyes.

“Lin, let’s start setting up.”

“Mm.”