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Chapter 184
Perhaps Coral believed that successfully clearing the Ruins Rift would give them a solid means of claiming ownership over the disputed territory.
With the mindset of “if you don’t like it, go to war,” they pushed ahead with the operation.
On the other hand, Bata, wary of war, found themselves in a tricky situation—they couldn’t just sit back and let it happen, but sending a subjugation force was also a bit much.
In such a predicament, someone came to mind.
That someone turned out to be me.
The conditions matched perfectly.
The maximum number of Rift explorers was ten—five from each side.
Regardless, it was clear that Coral was dead set on this.
“What does Her Highness wish of me?”
“Can I borrow your strength? Some even said you should be the final member, but I want to respect your opinion.”
Cascadia has a decent relationship with the royal family.
If I helped here, the royal family would likely continue supporting Cascadia.
Not a bad outcome.
But to me, this felt like a bit of a missed opportunity.
I didn't care much for myself, but wasn’t this a golden chance to put Melissa to good use?
“If you command me, I’ll act. However…”
“Is there a problem?”
“I just think this could be an excellent opportunity for my younger sister, the Countess of Cascadia.”
At my following words, she looked at me with surprise.
“You mean Countess Melissa Cascadia?”
“Yes. There will be a number of personnel supporting the exploration anyway, so I’ll accompany them as well.”
“Understood. Then I’ll entrust you with full authority in the field.”
* * *
“So you’re saying Coral threw ashes on the ruins rift that appeared in the disputed territory?”
Melissa doesn’t like Coral.
During a past war with Coral, our grandfather had returned seriously injured.
That memory stuck with her.
And Coral hadn’t always been this militarily powerful.
Not until they received military aid, technology, and weapons support from the damned Eastern Continent.
Anyway, Melissa, who’d been fond of our grandfather as a child, couldn’t help but hold a grudge against the Coral Kingdom.
“According to Bata’s intel, not only did Coral dispatch a sizable force to tackle the ruins, but they also roped in people from the Eastern Continent.”
“Any personal info identified?”
“Only from our side—those who expressed intent to participate and are reasonably capable.”
The list I showed had four names.
“Farell Berli… the Berli Duke family’s mage. Rinne Lobel… spirit-user from the Lobel Marquis family. Ospa Decon from the Decon Count family… and Gale Travan, firstborn of the Travan Viscount family…”
She scanned the list and asked:
“Yeah, those are all proven talents according to Bata. So the final spot…”
“Seems they were unsure who to fill it with and ended up asking me for help.”
The Princess of Bata doesn’t know my exact capabilities yet.
Still, from the reports floating around, she probably sees me as one of the talents secured by Bata.
“Then why don’t you go? Why shove it on me?”
“Because real combat experience matters.”
She narrowed her eyes at my reply.
“Getting pounded daily by Luna and seeing your life flash before your eyes thanks to your sword—isn’t that real combat experience?”
“Exactly why you need real combat. You don’t even have a grasp on your current level.”
No matter how much theoretical training she had, real experience only came from real confrontation.
Not drills—actual danger.
“To be honest, you’re already good enough to hold your own. And if anything goes wrong, I’ll be there to back you up.”
Of course, I’d have to take Arsha along too, given her separation anxiety.
“What’s the difficulty of the ruins?”
“If they’re restricting entry to those under 20, it probably means the rift was activated at great cost. I expect it won’t be too hard to clear.”
After thinking it over, she nodded.
“Alright. If you’re that confident, I’ll trust you.”
What Melissa needed most now was real combat experience.
Not the harsh training from Luna and me that merely resembled combat—but actual real battle.
It’s a bit ironic though…
The training Luna and I devised was so harsh that real combat might feel easier by comparison.
Because of that, Melissa had developed a kind of subconscious intimidation about real battle.
And this mission was the perfect chance to shake that fear off.
Sure, she’d had some experience through the Demon Realm expeditions, but those were more about maintaining status quo than actual fighting.
“…Okay. Got it.”
Whatever thoughts crossed her mind, Melissa soon grabbed her sword and headed straight to the garden’s training ground to practice alone.
* * *
A lot of people had already gathered at the border conflict zone.
It wasn’t just a matter of random adventurers exploring a dungeon—both nations were officially involved, so naturally, they wouldn’t just send a small team and call it a day.
I could see the banners of the Berli Duke family, the Lobel Marquis family, the Decon Count family, and the Travan Viscount family.
Along with each house’s flag came troops, knights, attendants, maids, and even royalty.
They were already well-settled and looked busy with preparations.
Each family seemed to flaunt their status with the size and grandeur of their tents.
In contrast, Cascadia’s area was still an empty lot.
To avoid unnecessary chaos, I had Shadow Dragon Baril land somewhere inconspicuous before unsummoning him and walking in on foot.
We didn’t bring many attendants because we had others to handle the grunt work.
“Alright, let’s get to work.”
As I kicked the shadow-darkened ground, undead began pouring out from within.
They rose with sharp discipline and quickly began unpacking the items I pulled from my subspace, erecting our tents in an instant.
While a few attendants and maids worked with the undead to organize our supplies, I headed toward the ancient ruins alone.
“Fascinating.”
Although labeled as ancient ruins, unlike normal ruins, the flow of mana here felt unnatural—as if something within was actively moving it.
The ruins themselves were old, but the rift had only appeared recently.
It felt like something had triggered the rift into activation.
This rift was different from the ones that sporadically appeared across the continent.
This one had been created by the ruins.
It was a massive rupture, about 5 meters in diameter.
Like shattered glass, the rift gaped open, releasing an intense stream of energy.
There were no entry restrictions—except that if the team exceeded the headcount limit or anyone over 20 years old entered, attacks would no longer work inside.
I was tempted to test that out…
“What are you looking at?”
Suddenly, Luna’s voice rang out behind me.
I turned to see her standing there, blankly staring up at me with Arsha on her back.
“Big brother!”
Arsha climbed down from Luna’s back and ran straight into my arms.
“Arsha, are you feeling okay? Anything uncomfortable?”
“No, I’m fine.”
She looked okay—thankfully.
“Wanna take a quick look inside?”
“I’d trigger the restriction.”
“I know. That’s why I’m taking you.”
I couldn’t leave Arsha alone, so I carried her on my back and stepped into the rift, with Luna following silently behind.
The inside of the rift took the form of a massive ruin.
But as soon as Luna entered, the air changed drastically.
Not just a feeling—the environment itself reacted.
She may look like a girl under 20, but Luna is an ancient being, so of course she triggered the restriction.
“Trouble the moment we step in?”
The first thing approaching us… was a massive stone golem.
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“Eek!! A-a monster!”
As the terrified Arsha screamed and trembled, I lightly jumped and kicked the creature away as if to shove it.
Boom!!!
With a heavy thud, the giant creature was flung backward.
“Hmmm...”
I felt a strange resistance at the tip of my foot.
But the massive golem stood up as if nothing had happened.
If it had been a regular stone golem, it would've shattered to pieces from that hit, even with magical reinforcement.
And yet it didn't even have a scratch?
The restrictions are tougher than I thought.
Just the fact that Luna is inside the rift causes this much change.
That must mean the party size restriction applies too.
Still, it didn’t seem like my attacks were completely ineffective.
But the efficiency is so low it's practically meaningless for a normal strategy.
According to Her Highness, if Luna leaves the rift, things will revert to normal.
So far, we've only seen golems, but I recall that there should be monsters like Living Armors and undead as well.
Judging by how the mana flow is layered several times, it seems this rift is one of those that changes environments in stages.
“B-Big Brother...”
Seeing Arsha trembling in fear, I realized there was no point in staying any longer.
“Arsha, shall we head out now?”
“Y-Yes!”
Seeing her nod vigorously, I let out a small laugh and lifted the arm supporting her legs.
But before that, there's something I should check.
[7th Circle – Lightning Element]
[Astrapē]
Crackle!!!
[Discharge]
With a command spell, a lightning spear charged with massive thunder energy shot forward and struck the golem directly, instantly blackening and shattering it.
Lightning magic doesn’t usually work well against stone golems, but not even their high defense could withstand a thunder spear reinforced by command incantation.
Even so, the efficiency was still terrible.
They’ve put some serious restrictions in place.
Still, that one strike gave me all the information I needed.
“W-Wow...!”
Arsha exclaimed in awe as she gazed at the blindingly bright lightning spear.
“Let’s go, Arsha.”
“Ah! Wait a moment!”
Just then, Arsha tugged at my sleeve as if she sensed something.
“B-Big Brother! Over there!”
I turned in the direction she indicated.
It was the complete opposite of where we were supposed to go to explore the rift.
Just decorative scenery, really.
Even the golems that had blocked our way before were no longer pursuing us.
“Here?”
“Someone’s calling for Arsha from this direction.”
“This way?”
“To the right!”
Still on my back, Arsha pointed her tiny finger at what appeared to be empty air.
* * *
Around the same time, when Leon had gone to scout the rift in advance—
Melissa moved on her own to meet those who would be exploring with her.
Maybe they’d already gathered.
When she entered the shared tent prepared for negotiations between Coral and Bata, a fierce argument was already underway.
“What did you say?”
Hearing the uncharacteristically heated voice of Farell, Melissa’s steps paused momentarily.
But she quickly resumed walking.
Inside, there were four people who seemed to be from Bata—two men and two women—and two in military uniforms representing Coral.
Two more wore Eastern-Continental style clothing.
Was one person missing?
“Want me to repeat myself? I said I was disappointed. You’re not up to par. They said you were promising talents from the Kingdom of Bata, but as expected of a minor nation—subpar.”
“Does Coral not have any sense of manners?”
“Did I say anything untrue?”
The boy spoke coldly, like addressing a servant, and Farell clenched his staff tightly.
What the hell is this about?
“If you don’t like it, get stronger. Strong enough that we can’t say anything.”
Despite the boy’s provocation, Farell didn’t say more.
He judged that letting personal emotions ruin a formal setting wasn’t worth it.
“We’re about to explore a rift with unknown danger levels. Your behavior is nothing but childish interference.”
Even with Farell’s sound reasoning, the boy just shrugged.
“Ha... haha. That’s right. You’re scared of a rift like this because you're weak. Mentally unprepared and rotten to the core.”
As Melissa listened to their argument, she started walking again.
What would Leon have done?
The answer came easily.
“Is this how Coral handles diplomacy?”
“Who the hell are y—”
“Don’t speak informally. Do I look like your friend?”
Melissa’s presence cut him off as she radiated pressure, drawing everyone’s attention.
And when Farell recognized her, his eyes widened.
“The Countess of Cascadia?!”
The people around them began murmuring.
Melissa wiped the smile from her face and spoke coldly.
“So you think you're good enough to belittle others. But you’re really not.”
You're not qualified to judge anyone.
If you want to put others down, you should at least be on Leon’s level.
“If you have a problem, let's fight. I’ve had enough of watching you lose every time.”
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