Chapter 90: The Moon on a rainy night [2]
Even if the progress of the story fell by 74%, Leon knew he would still get into the top three ranks.
’Did I overdo it?’
Leon had a sudden thought. By now, Eula must have seen everything.
But he wasn’t worried. Eula wasn’t someone who would snitch to anyone—and besides, he knew her biggest secret.
’The Twilight Order... some members are still sceptical about me. Well... this little show of mine will let them clear things up.’
"W-Why are you h-here?!" the succubus stammered, shivering.
If one of the Calamities were here, then there was no point in fighting. This calamity-ranked human wouldn’t even let her raise a finger.
The Silvermoon Goddess gently placed Alice’s corpse on the ground, away from the mud. She didn’t bother replying to the demon.
Leon watched her.
’She looks cooler than the actual thing.’
Even now, he couldn’t help but admire the quality.
"Hooooo..." The Silvermoon stood up and turned away from Alice, facing Leon with a piercing gaze.
Her emerald eyes scanned him from head to toe. Crossing her arms, she said, "You have no mana left."
Leon just stood there.
"I didn’t come first. I thought you’d at least be able to save her... but I guess I misjudged you."
She was referring to Leon. All this time, she had seen him take down demons in a second, so saving Alice should have been easy for him.
"I didn’t take into account your physical condition." Her tone softened, almost apologetic. "Forgive me for your loss. Your partner’s death is upon me."
Because she overlooked Leon’s condition and thought too highly of him, she hadn’t intervened when the succubus killed Alice. And now, she was taking all the responsibility.
"I... I couldn’t do anything. It was because of me she was attacked first. I should’ve warned her." Leon made his voice turn sullen, his face reflecting regret and fear.
"No need to blame yourself. A loss is still a loss. My sincerest condolences, but..." her voice grew cold, "you should’ve listened to the sword lady and stayed outside."
’Ah, she even heard Miss Lumina.’
Scary.
But then he noticed her gaze shifting toward his chest.
"Your mana core will shatter at this rate." After saying that, she looked up at the succubus.
"Humans aren’t like demons. You’ll die of core corruption if you keep pulsing unstable mana into your core."
Unlike humans, demons wouldn’t die from core corruption. In fact, the Demon God’s Dark Affinity was a form of core corrosion itself. It could infect any human or other race, overriding their cores and turning them corrupted and, eventually, shattered.
Listening to her, Leon saw a chance.
"Is there any solution for it?" He asked.
The Silvermoon was known for her wisdom. She had to have something.
"There exists one solution... but," she said.
"But?"
"...I don’t see any reason to share it with you."
"Hm?"
Leon blinked, not understanding.
’Ah, I forgot she loves to gatekeep things.’
There was no point in asking her again. Knowing her character, she wouldn’t even glance his way next time.
"You’re not scared of me?" she asked suddenly.
"Scared?" Leon tilted his head slightly, still speaking in his sullen tone. "Why would I be? You saved my life. In fact, I should thank you."
"Is that so..." she murmured, once again staring at his mana core.
This time, Leon asked directly, "Do you want something? You keep looking at my... uh..."
The Silvermoon, unbothered, nodded. "Yes. There’s something that’s been bothering me."
Leon gestured for her to continue.
"Your mana... I sense something similar to my sister’s." She paused, observing his reaction. "You know who my sister is, right?"
Leon didn’t bother hiding it and simply nodded. "Yes. Who hasn’t heard of Lady Auriala?"
Lady Auriala, the Silvermoon’s sister, was another Calamity and the creator of the Moon Tower. History called her the Everbright Goddess.
Then, the Silvermoon suddenly asked, "Are you her secret son? No... wait. She never went outside. Then... but I do recall her having a lover."
Leon’s eye twitched.
’Where the hell did she get that idea?’
She must have sensed the Light Affinity within him. Since Auriala was the only known Light user in this era, she probably assumed he was related to her.
’Can’t she just assume there can be two Light Affinity users in one era? Why the hell her son?!’
Leon sighed inwardly.
’Let’s just change the topic. I met her, got my reward, and now it’s time to leave and say goodbye to Miss Lumina.’
Leon and Alice had told her they would wait at the Zone. And knowing the story, Miss Lumina would soon drop a nuclear bomb on this Black Mountain.
’If I die too, then neither of us would get a top-three rank.’
Before turning to the succubus, the Silvermoon said one last thing to Leon.
"Well, I don’t know what your relation to her is, and I don’t care either way. But I can tell you this: if I hadn’t seen your face before, I might have mistaken you for Auriala."
"Eh? Isn’t that too much?" Leon, stunned, scratched his cheek.
That meant the Silvermoon thought of his Light Affinity as her sister’s equal. That his Light mana’s frequency was similar to hers.
Only Ethan had that, and Leon doubted this body was different enough for its Light Affinity to come from some other source.
But that didn’t make sense to him at all.
’Ethan was one thing, but the old Leon had no connection to the Everbright Goddess whatsoever.’
He thought about it and soon reached a deduction: this body gained Light Affinity after he transmigrated.
And only one person could bless someone with her Light. The same person who allowed Ethan to awaken his.
The Everbright Goddess. Lady Auriala.
’That means she knows something about my transmigration?!’
That was a huge discovery. If the Silvermoon said his Light was similar to her sister’s, then it had to be true.
’Auriala...’ Leon repeated her name inside his head.
In the game, Auriala would appear much later in the story.
Leon still had time on his hands, enough to level himself up.
A few minutes passed, and the Silvermoon finished her job. She didn’t kill Nora, the succubus; instead, she captured her alive, probably for interrogation.
Leon watched as she restrained the demon in golden and white chains, wrapping her entire body in a cocoon.
Zoooop!
"Haaah, my work is done." She wiped her forehead clean and glanced back at Leon.
"I have to go back now, otherwise your mothe— I mean, my sister, will do something foolish. Hope we meet again soon, Leon."
With that, her figure vanished in a blink.
"..."
Leon stared at the empty space.
"Again, I am not her son," he sighed.
"Wait... when did I ever tell her my name?"
She had addressed him as Leon, but he didn’t remember introducing himself.
’From how long was she keeping an eye on me?’
Leon thought about it one last time before brushing the idea aside.
Holding his Moonblade, he turned to leave.
But as he stepped forward, his foot hit something.
He instinctively looked down.
"Oh."
It was Alice’s severed head.
Her crimson eyes stared blankly, as if still screaming unhinged words at him.
He wanted to ignore it, but remembering all the things Alice had done during the test, he felt she at least deserved a respectful farewell.
Bending down, he picked up the severed head.
"Heavy."
He walked toward her torso and placed it beside it, covering the body with a piece of cloth.
Then he folded her hands together, clapping two times, and bowed twice.
Clap–! Clap–!
"May your body turn into the finest fertilizer this mountain has ever seen."
Leon still had to fulfill his promise to Alice: the research papers and also the library of the Blood Tower.
"I will just copy and paste her own future research," he muttered.
— — —
Five minutes passed, and Leon successfully crawled back outside the Black Mountain.
Story Progression: [|||||||||||||||||||79%------]
"Oh, it rose again."
That meant Miss Lumina was almost done.
She had said she would return after a five-minute stroll, but Leon knew better. It would take her more than that.
The progress should have hit 99 to 100 percent, indicating successful completion of the story. But because Leon had sacrificed 10 percent in exchange for the reward, the progress bar stopped at 90 percent.
’It’s a small price to pay.’
"This is just a Class Allotment Exam," he muttered.
Leon sat on a boulder near the Zone, looking at the Black Mountain and the sky above, which was almost dark now.
He had achieved all of his goals.
He gained the Moonblade, learned techniques from the Swordmaiden herself, and even fulfilled the condition to receive the Silvermoon Goddess’s reward.
Now all he needed to do was wait.
More than an hour passed.
Progress: [||||||||||||||||||||89%---]
Seeing that, Leon stood up.
Right before the progress hit 90 percent, an explosion, like a mini supernova, blasted rubble out of the Black Mountain.
The sky lit up for a brief moment, glowing as if it were morning.
"..."
He felt his bones rattle and the ground shake as the gust of wind hit his head.
Progress: [||||||||||||||||||||||||||||90%--]
[The story ’The Shattered Swordmaiden’ had reached its conclusion]
[The Astral Transfer will begin in two minutes]
Lines appeared before his vision, and not a second later, he felt a presence standing beside him.
His head turned, and there she was, Lumina.
"Where is Alice?" she asked.
.
[A/N]: Support me with PowerStones and Golden tickets. To keep me motivated to write 2 ch/day!! Thanks.