< Chapter 111 - Jainan Canyon #2 >
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The fourth stone tablet of the Solari Order.
The only stone tablet discovered during the original story was in the Jainan Canyon.
To be more specific, somewhere in the messy Zainan Canyon.
Cordelia blinked. She looked back at Uther, forced an awkward smile, and said,
“Oh, no?”
Isn’t it there?
Outside the damage range?
Uther answered Cordelia’s question honestly.
That is, he shook his head.
“That’s right.”
“Ugh.”
I came to find the fourth stone tablet, but it’s gone!
It was a familiar sentence, but that made Cordelia feel even sadder.
“W-Wouldn’t that be okay? That’s right! Even if it’s a stone tablet, it’s still a sacred object of the Solari Church!”
If it had been a normal stone slab, it would have likely broken, but even if it was rotten, it would not have broken so easily as the water in it.
Uder also nodded, though with difficulty.
“Yeah, it’ll be okay.”
maybe.
But the problem still remained.
Earthquakes and rockfalls.
It was a truly chaotic situation.
In the original, the fourth stone tablet was contained in a small stone chamber, but it was questionable whether the chamber itself was safe, let alone the stone tablet itself.
“still······.”
Yuder, whose words had been trailing off, stood up from his seat and quietly looked toward the Jainan Canyon.
It was clear that there had been a large earthquake, but even if the stone chamber had collapsed, it seemed like it would be possible to find it somehow if the stone slab had not been broken.
“Let’s hope it didn’t go too far.”
To be near where you are supposed to be.
Cordelia, who understood what Uther said, put her hands together and prayed.
And about ten minutes later.
“Huh······.”
Kirara, who was being carried on Yuder’s back, opened her eyes with her characteristic crying sound(?).
She had not initially lost consciousness, but she was so shocked and exhausted that she had lost her mind.
“Are you coming to your senses?”
“Lord…?”
Kirara blinked her eyes and slowly checked her surroundings.
Cordelia’s voice can be heard slightly below Yuder’s broad, sturdy back.
Because Uther was so tall, Kira, who was carried on his back, was naturally higher than Cordelia.
So Cordelia stretched out her hand, standing on tiptoe, and was finally able to pat Kirara’s head.
“It’s okay, it’s all over. Are you really surprised?”
Kirara, who had been reflexively lowering her head and enjoying Cordelia’s caressing when asked affectionately, flinched.
“Hieee.”
You could call it a kind of PTSD.
The Aquarius had aspects that were closer to beasts than humans, and when they experienced too much fear or shock, they would often act like beasts.
As Kirara trembled with a pale face and her tail wagging stiffly, Cordelia’s face became even more pitiful.
“Ugh, our Kirara is pitiful.”
[Hey, isn’t it because of Cordelia that it turned out like that?]
Melissa’s points were always valid, but as always, they were ignored.
Cordelia stroked Kirara’s head a few more times, and Kirara purred cat-like, mixed emotions of fear and relief.
“But Cordelia.”
“huh?”
Uther, who was slightly lowering his posture so that Cordelia could easily stroke him, gestured in a certain direction with his chin.
The head of a large white snake with its tongue sticking out, lying under large rocks.
“That thing… looks like it’s still alive?”
“uh?”
Cordelia, startled by Uther’s words, turned to look at the Serpent King – Naggaroth.
‘I clearly got the experience by hitting the last blow?’
A ring of white light also appeared.
Moreover, Cordelia did not seem particularly alive. Her eyes were closed and she did not move at all.
“Are you alive?”
“Oh, it’s weak, but I feel some energy.”
After saying that, Yuder put down Kirara, who he was carrying, and approached Naggaroth.
As it was a monster with a body length of several tens of meters, its head was also huge, and it seemed like it could easily swallow a person.
“Nagaroth, the serpent king.”
Raid boss in Jainan Canyon.
Each and every one of them is valuable, including leather, teeth, and poison.
Yuder, who was mumbling softly and narrowing his eyes, suddenly jumped up over the bastard’s head.
“Yuderya?”
Instead of answering, Uder concentrated a little more.
Using his clairvoyance, he saw through it and then stabbed the water pipe into the center of Naggaroth’s head.
“Black Dragon Tentacles.”
[Later? Are you really going to go by that name?]
Even though Uder fought while shouting out the names of his skills, Velencia didn’t say anything.
This is because Belencia also often shouted out skill names like Uder during his lifetime.
But even technical names have their own dignity and class.
Black dragon tentacles! Black dragon tentacles!
Uder pursed his lips at Belencia’s tackle, but continued to display his skills.
It was a technique that was first used when fighting the Sword Masters of the Empire, and it involved controlling multiple Black Dragon energy sources like tentacles. It was also possible to make them small and thin and control them precisely like now.
[Ummm··· Intuition is also one of the things to consider when naming a technology. But still······.]
At that moment, when Velencia could not let go of her foolishness, the small black dragon’s energy extended from Yuder’s fingertips and dug deep into Naggaroth’s mind. Yuder controlled the black dragon’s energy while looking into Naggaroth’s mind with his clairvoyant eyes, as if he were a doctor operating an endoscope, and soon he was holding tightly onto something small and fragile.
“Kiaa!”
The little squeak sounded like the cry of a baby.
Uder grabbed the neck of the small snake that was being dragged out by the black dragon.
Cordelia asked in surprise.
“Are you a child of Naggaroth?”
“No, rather… a regeneration of Naggaroth?”
Regeneration of the snake.
Since ancient times, the shedding snake has been considered a symbol of immortality.
And indeed, Naggaroth, the King of Serpents, was able to rise from the dead like a phoenix.
“It really is like a phoenix.”
Even the phoenix seen in the wild land was reborn as an infant instead of being resurrected in its original form.
It seemed difficult to say that the current Naggaroth was completely the same as the previous Naggaroth.
“What are you going to do?”
When Cordelia asked again, Uther looked down at Naggaroth for a moment.
Naggaroth, with his shining white scales and yellow eyes, knew very well what to do at this moment, as befitting a spirit.
“Keeing······.”
It was a moment that proved that snakes also have facial expressions.
Nagaroth tried his best to look pitiful, and Uther smiled and turned to Cordelia and Kirara.
“Let’s go, Kirara.”
“yes?”
“oh!”
Kirara was embarrassed, and Cordelia was the one who clapped her hands in admiration.
“That’s right, that’s right. I’d like Kirara. He’s just a baby now, but he’s still the king of snakes, so he’ll be helpful. Right? Yes?”
At Cordelia’s suggestion, Kirara blinked several times and looked at Yuder and Naggaroth again.
“Keeing··· Kieeing······.”
Maybe because it was still a baby, it couldn’t speak properly, but I could tell just by looking at its eyes and listening to its voice.
Please save me.
Anyway, save me.
These guys are scary.
A cry that was almost desperate.
Like the Phoenix, it was because some of the memories from his previous life remained.
“Okay, I’ll try!”
Feeling a sense of compassion and a sense of sympathy, Kirara raised her hand and spoke, then climbed onto Naggaroth’s head while groaning.
“That… Nagaroth! Won’t you come with me?”
Kirara’s monster taming was a skill closer to a supernatural ability than magic.
When Kirara, whose face turned red from inexplicable embarrassment, reached out her hand to express her affection, Nagaroth immediately responded. She nodded fervently and twisted her body.
“Ha, I see.”
Why do I keep thinking of the Phoenix of the Wild Lands?
As Yuder relaxed his grip, Nagaroth quickly moved onto Kirara’s arm and settled on her shoulder as if it were a pet snake that had been raised for a long time.
“Wow, it worked? Huh?”
Cordelia jumped up with her telekinesis and asked excitedly. Kirara nodded happily as well.
“Yes, it’s a success. Now he’s my friend.”
“Wow, our Kirara is amazing. My sister praises her a lot.”
A smile spread across Kirara’s face again as Cordelia affectionately stroked her head.
And Uther, who was watching the scene, thought to himself.
‘It’s a happy ending.’
Naggaroth saved his life, Kirara got the Serpent King, and Cordelia is happy that Kirara is doing well.
Yuder, who especially liked the last part, nodded with a satisfied expression and said.
“He may be small, but he is the king of snakes, so he must have strong venom. Use it well.”
“Yes, master.”
Kirara answered shyly and smiled while stroking Nagaroth’s small head with her fingers.
What a truly heartwarming and warm sight.
But it didn’t last long, because the important thing wasn’t Naggaroth.
“Then… shall we go?”
The location of the fourth stone tablet in the original.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that it has now disappeared as it collapsed along with the canyon, but the coordinates still existed.
‘Even if it gets swept away and buried, it’s probably still nearby.’
It’s probably within a radius of about 100 meters.
Yuder, who laughed bitterly at the number he had come up with himself, took Cordelia and Kirara to the designated location.
But it was right after I arrived.
“uh?”
Cordelia suddenly tilted her head and spread her wings. She took out the ring and transformed into a full-fledged angel, flapping her wings and speaking.
“I think I know where it is.”
After all, it was a sacred water of Solari.
It was a stone tablet that emitted energy similar to that of Cordelia, an angel of the Solari lineage.
Cordelia flapped her wings and flew to a certain spot, then used her telekinesis to clear away a pile of rocks.
About 5 minutes like that.
Cordelia, sweating profusely, jumped up from her seat and shouted.
“Found it!”
The fourth stone tablet of the Solari Order.
It was emitting a faint white light, perhaps in response to Cordelia’s power.
“Ohhh.”
Admired, Yuder clapped his hands and lifted the fourth stone tablet that Cordelia had found.
It was definitely authentic.
And as expected from the last stone tablet, something different from before happened.
The moment I found the fourth slab, the remaining three slabs all resonated and glowed.
“Take it out quickly!”
Urged by Cordelia, Uther searched through his space expansion pouch and took out the remaining three stone tablets.
Two of the three were real, the other was a copy of the text that Uther had copied, but the important thing was not the stone tablet but the engraved text, and all three showed the same reaction.
Pure white light radiating from the letters.
The stone slabs floated into the air. They seemed to interlock and spin around, and soon a key-shaped light formed between the slabs.
‘Matter creation!’
It was just as Yuder had thought. The key-shaped light that absorbed the surrounding materials, including the debris on the ground, soon became real and physical.
Krrrr!
A loud noise was heard one after another.
It was no coincidence. In the direction from which the sound came was the place where the stone slab had originally been placed.
“The slabs are falling!”
At Kirara’s shout, Yuder quickly turned towards the stone slab.
The slabs landed on the ground with a thud, just as they had when they first took flight, and Uder retrieved the key that was stuck in midair.
It was a large key, almost as big as a person’s forearm.
“Cordelia.”
After handing the key to Cordelia, Uther retrieved the stone tablets and ran towards the direction from which the sound was heard.
He activated his clairvoyance, clearing away the rocks that had been piled up layer by layer.
What exists under the rock.
A rectangular solid that anyone can tell is an artificial object!
After clearing about ten rocks, a white light began to appear between the remaining rocks. Yuder increased his speed and cleared the rocks, and finally he was able to face flat ground.
Solari’s prayers are engraved on a floor as smooth as metal.
Yuder lightly touched the letters that were emitting white light, then moved away some more rocks nearby and excavated the side of the stone chamber.
“There is a keyhole.”
The side of the stone chamber. A large hole in the center of the carved picture, as if it were a door.
Cordelia’s face flushed with excitement.
There is a key and a hole, and if you don’t put it in here, you’re not human.
“Let’s open it!”
Cordelia put the large key she was holding into the hole and turned it with force.
Then a clicking sound was heard again, along with the rumbling mechanical sound.
“Hiyaa.”
Kirara’s admiration and the light that gently leaked out.
The door to the stone chamber opened wide.
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< Chapter 111 - Jainan Canyon #2 > End
