Chapter 159 - 86: Making a Scene on Principle

Chapter 159: Chapter 86: Making a Scene on Principle

Victor.

’Why would he do that?’

Lilia wondered, then asked the question aloud.

Jennifer considered for a moment. "If... of course, this is just my speculation."

She continued, "If Mr. Rockwell destroyed the Array to make it easier for him to get in and out, then his goal was most likely the ’Treasure’ placed at the center of the Spirit Vein."

Lilia repeated, "...Treasure?"

"Yes." Jennifer pushed up her glasses, then gave an awkward, uncertain smile. "Of course, that’s just a guess on my part, too."

"It’s fine," Lilia said. "Go on."

"Of course, Princess Lilia."

Jennifer collected her thoughts. "Generally speaking, when Mages spend a fortune to create Artificial Spiritual Veins, it’s either to build their own workshop on top of it or to preserve something."

"Considering that Demonic Qi was just discovered in the Spirit Vein, I personally think it’s very unlikely that a High-level Demon would have built it just to establish a workshop. It was most likely to store some kind of precious and special item—the ’Treasure’ I mentioned."

Lilia frowned slightly. "What kind of Treasure would be worth a High-level Demon going to such great lengths to preserve it for all this time?"

Jennifer replied, "That, I don’t know..."

A thought suddenly struck Lilia. "Could it be a living creature?"

Jennifer had said there was an offensive Array around the Spirit Vein.

The Array was bidirectional. It would activate its attack protocols whether someone invaded from the outside or something within the Spirit Vein awakened.

’If it were just an inanimate object sealed in the Spirit Vein, there would be no need for such a design.’

Jennifer, of course, understood what she meant. "But... if the living creature inside is so precious that the High-level Demon was willing to pay such a huge price to preserve it, why would it specifically set up a Magic Circle to prevent it from awakening?"

’That’s a complete contradiction!’

’Or maybe we’re just overthinking it. Perhaps when the Demon set up the Magic Circle, it didn’t consider any of this and just used that Array because it thought it was good enough and advanced enough?’

’Or maybe there isn’t a living creature in the Spirit Vein at all. Since the thing inside can’t move, there’s no possibility of it awakening and being attacked by the Array.’

’The design could be to prevent cunning Mages from using special methods, like Teleportation Magic, to invade the interior and bypass the Defensive Array... which is why it employed such a drastic, catch-all solution?’

’Hmm... that explanation seems a bit more plausible.’

The two of them discussed it for a long time but couldn’t reach a conclusion.

They were outside the Spirit Vein, so no matter how reasonable their guesses were, they were still just guesses. As for what was truly inside, they would only know after going in and seeing it for themselves.

Lilia had only suggested the possibility of a living creature to raise one potential scenario.

If a powerful Demon was truly sealed inside, and they barged in recklessly, they could easily become its next meal, replenishing its energy as it awakened from its slumber.

No matter how small the probability, they had to prepare a contingency plan before officially starting their investigation.

Fortunately, Jennifer had learned of a method from her mentor’s reply.

A Demon’s body is formless and shapeless, composed of pure Demonic Qi, but similar to a human body, it also possesses "Key Points."

Just as one only needs to destroy a few key nodes to disrupt a Magic Circle, a similar method can be used against a Demon. By using special weapons blessed by a God to seal several of its "Key Points," one can obstruct the flow of Magic Power within its body and prevent it from awakening at minimal cost.

Of course, this method was only effective on a Demon that was just lying there, letting them do as they pleased. After all, these so-called Key Points were hidden and difficult to find. In a real battle, trying to defeat a Demon this way was less practical than simply detonating the surrounding Demon Crystals.

Jennifer’s face turned pale when she heard Lilia’s idea.

With the amount of Demon Crystals stored inside the Valgipps Mountain Range, if they were detonated... the Demon would be dead for sure, regardless of whether it was a High-level one or not, but they wouldn’t be able to escape either.

One wrong move, and the entire mountain range, and even Navia Town, would be razed to the ground.

Lilia nodded to show she understood, then changed the subject. "Speaking of which, when can we go in?"

"Soon. Tomorrow night at the earliest, or in two or three days at the latest."

Lilia nodded. "I’ll go with you then."

Jennifer hesitated. "That... it could be very dangerous."

’Dangerous?’

Lilia didn’t think so.

’In terms of combat ability, Jennifer and all her subordinates combined might not even be a match for me.’

’Even setting aside combat, just in terms of Magic Level, I’m already a Mid-level Mage, just one who hasn’t been officially ranked by the Magic Association.’

Seeing Lilia’s insistence, Jennifer tried to talk her out of it, but to no avail, so she could only agree.

「The next day.」

Come hell or high water, Lilia went to find Victor under the bright sun.

As usual, she sat on the wall for a while, watching the morning sun climb higher and the pure white clouds drift by on the wind.

CREAK...

With a soft sound, Victor’s door was pushed open from the inside.

Lilia leaped lightly from the wall and was by his side in a few quick steps.

She was just about to say something when she suddenly froze.

The moment she got close to him, Lilia smelled it.

There was a very light, very faint, but definite scent of blood on Victor.

She frowned slightly. "...Did you go out last night behind my back? Or did you perform some kind of dangerous experiment in your room?"

’Why would he be injured for no reason?’

Victor clearly hadn’t expected her to be so perceptive.

He didn’t answer her question directly. "...I’ve already treated it. It’s nothing serious."

Lilia’s frown deepened. "Are you going to hide this from me, too?"

Victor remained silent.

’This guy...’

Lilia felt a surge of dissatisfaction.

’He wasn’t like this in the first playthrough. I don’t know what he went through this time to become so withdrawn.’

’Not cute at all.’

Lilia decided to ignore him and turned to walk out of the courtyard gate.

Victor silently followed her.

They left the residence and walked out of Belmont Castle.

Outside was a main road that led straight to the town gate.

Over the past few days, the two of them had explored nearly the entire town. Standing at the castle gate, Lilia suddenly didn’t know where to go.

Victor stopped beside her and turned to look at her. "Where do you want to go today?"

Lilia bit the inside of her cheek.

’Trying to pretend nothing happened? To fob me off with another topic and evade my question?’

’Lilia had used that trick far too many times herself. There was no way she’d let him get away with it.’

She spun around to face him. "To the Valgipps Mountain Range."

Seeing the almost frozen expression on Victor’s face, Lilia felt bold despite knowing she was being unreasonable.

"We’ve already been everywhere else. It’s boring."

She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him. "I want you to take me to the Valgipps Mountain Range."