Chapter 109: Event #002 Completed

Vincent had shifted to sit beside the enormous black body with Vivienne next to him.

Now that he knew it was a Dragon, calling it a wall felt stupid, but there really wasn’t much difference from this close. One of its scales was almost as tall as him.

Vincent had one hand resting against the cold black surface while Vivienne’s palm remained beside his.

The Dragon breathed slowly.

Every breath made the huge body beneath Vincent’s fingers rise slightly before sinking again.

Just a few steps behind them, Linda was still treating Anastasia.

Vincent turned his head when he heard a quiet hiss of pain.

Green light covered Anastasia’s sword arm while Linda’s fingers moved along it. The smaller wounds across her body were already closing and some color had returned to her face, although she still looked exhausted.

Anastasia glanced toward Celeste lying several meters away.

“Linda, can you please treat her as well.”

Linda turned to look at Celeste.

Vincent looked over as well.

Celeste was still curled on the ground where Severing Sky had thrown her. Her arms were broken, blood covered her robes and she had not moved since the fight ended.

Anastasia continued, “And restrain her afterward. She must not be allowed to sit.”

Vivienne also looked toward Celeste.

Vincent nodded. “Use the Belt.”

Linda finished what she was doing with Anastasia before walking toward Celeste.

She knelt beside the unconscious woman and placed one hand against her chest.

A soft green light appeared.

Vincent saw Linda treating him before but wasn’t able to see how she did it properly. With Anastasia it was over in an instant too.

But now with Celeste, he could clearly see her healing magic.

Celeste’s broken arm shifted.

Crack.

The bone returned to its proper position.

Another sound came from her shoulder, then several from her ribs. Bruising disappeared underneath the torn purple robes while cuts closed almost immediately.

Even the wound in her back where she had struck the broken Dragon scale began healing.

‘…’

Vincent stared.

‘Shouldn’t she be healed without those bone cracking and all? Where is the magic?’

Linda was fixing her like she had fallen down some stairs.

After several minutes, Celeste’s breathing became normal and there were barely any injuries remaining on her body.

It made Vincent wonder why Linda did that to her and didn’t do the same as him, but then he remembered he wasn’t fully healed like Celeste.

Linda said that something seemed wrong with his condition and needed a proper and thorough examination later. She was only providing something like first-aid for now.

Her first-aid was quite amazing too though.

Vincent didn’t feel a splitting headache or broken bones anywhere. He seemed in good condition already, but well, if the expert said he needed treatment, then he needed treatment. He wouldn’t argue with her on it.

Linda was done in a few seconds and then stood up and grabbed the Wayfarer’s Belt.

Celeste was moved against a nearby tree and the Belt was wrapped around her several times. Her arms were pinned against her body while another section bound her legs and waist firmly to the trunk.

There was absolutely no way she could enter a lotus position like this.

Vincent looked at her for a second.

The woman who had almost killed all of them was now tied vertically against a tree like some purple package.

‘Good.’

Linda checked the restraint once before returning toward them.

Vincent didn’t pay Celeste any more attention and turned back to the Dragon.

He placed his hand against the scale again.

The creature still felt cold.

“Mom.”

Vincent turned to Vivienne.

“Hm?” Vivienne looked back at him.

“Can you save her?” He said while pointing at the dragon.

He didn’t know if his mother was a healer, but she had a healer under her. So even if she didn’t know how to save someone, asking her was the correct choice in Vincent’s opinion.

Vivienne looked along the Dragon’s massive body.

Several wounds were visible between the scales. Some looked old, but others remained open and strange dark metallic lines had spread through the flesh around them.

Vivienne was quiet for a little while.

Then she moved her hand farther along the scale.

“Let’s see if we can save her.”

While Vincent and Vivienne remained beside the Dragon, Linda reached them with Anastasia right behind her.

Nobody was looking at Celeste anymore.

Being healed now, her eyelids slowly opened.

Celeste remained completely still for several seconds.

Her body felt better. There was no pain anymore and she tried moving her fingers, then arm, and eventually felt them but couldn’t move them.

Her eyes lowered and she saw the belt wrapped around her chest, waist, legs, and hands to a tree.

She frowned and tried moving but understood that the treasure was still as durable.

Her gaze then shifted toward Vincent.

The goblin-like man had his hand against the dark wall while the blonde girl was nearby. There were two more people whom Celeste didn’t recognize.

Whatever the case was, Celeste knew it was over for her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

‘Mission failed.’

There was no point denying it.

She had lost her treasures, failed to kill Anastasia, failed to handle Vincent and was now going to be imprisoned and interrogated by the enemy.

Even if she was not imprisoned, there was just more punishment waiting for her from her organization.

Maybe it was something worse than punishment, but at least she would get to live.

There was no saying what these people who imprisoned her here would do to her, and she couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

Celeste slowly pressed her tongue against the small bead hidden near the back of her mouth.

The Red Bead had always been the last resort.

It was not an escape treasure or something that would save her immediately, but a signal.

Her jaw tightened.

Crack.

The bead shattered between her teeth.

Celeste’s entire body stiffened.

Her eyes widened as something hot spread through her mouth and throat before disappearing almost instantly.

A strange pressure passed through her head.

Then it was gone.

The signal was sent at last.

Celeste lowered her gaze.

Now all she could do was wait.

A few seconds later, her stomach suddenly twisted.

“Cough—!”

She turned her head as much as the restraint allowed and violently coughed.

Dark phlegm mixed with blood spilled onto the grass beside the tree.

Several tiny red fragments were mixed inside it.

Celeste breathed heavily through her nose.

Thankfully, none of the people had looked back at her.

She shifted her attention to them and watched what they were doing.

Vivienne had already closed her eyes while her palm rested against the Dragon.

The air around them changed.

Vincent immediately felt it.

The temperature dropped.

The faint wind moving through the Highlands disappeared and the entire area became unnaturally quiet.

Pale mist gathered around Vivienne’s fingers before slowly spreading into the Dragon’s body.

Vincent watched the wounds.

The dark metallic lines inside them were moving.

He hadn’t noticed before because the movement was incredibly slow, almost like roots growing underneath the flesh.

They stopped.

All of them.

Blood leaking from one enormous wound slowed until it no longer came out.

The Dragon took another breath.

Its chest rose beneath the massive scales.

This breath sounded stronger.

Vivienne opened her eyes.

“She won’t die now.”

Vincent looked at her.

That was it?

This creature had apparently been lying here slowly dying, and Vivienne had just decided it wasn’t going to happen anymore.

His mother was a healer too or some terrifying entity he wasn’t aware of? Or was this the power of motherhood similar to the power of love and friendship?

Remembering the R-18 things he did before arriving here, this did not seem like the shounen genre, but oh well…

‘My mom seems like a jack of all trades. Lovely.’

Vincent was happy with this development and wasn’t complaining.

When Vivienne was done and moved her hand away, Linda stepped forward.

“Allow me, Madam.”

Vivienne nodded while Vincent wondered, ‘The treatment wasn’t done yet?’

He watched what Linda was doing with an interested look.

Linda placed both palms against the Dragon.

Green light spread from her hands.

The reaction was completely different.

Small plants growing between the rocks straightened. Leaves trembled on nearby trees despite there being no wind, and a thick feeling of vitality spread through the air.

The Dragon’s flesh began healing.

Torn muscles slowly joined together around one of the wounds. Blood vessels disappeared beneath newly formed flesh and several damaged scales shifted as the tissue underneath them repaired itself.

Linda did not completely heal the deeper wounds.

She only repaired what she could before her expression changed slightly.

Vincent noticed this.

Before he could ask, the Dragon moved.

The huge tail shifted.

Vincent frowned and was about to be on guard when he saw that the tail wasn’t attacking, but shrinking.

“What…?”

The enormous tail shortened rapidly while dark-purple light appeared between its scales. The massive folded wing followed, pulling inward as the Dragon’s entire body began contracting.

Vincent stared while the thing he had mistaken for part of the landscape became smaller and smaller.

Trees hidden behind its body became visible.

The gigantic black wall disappeared.

Scales shrank.

The wing vanished inside the dark-purple light.

And within moments, the enormous Dragon was gone.

A young woman in her most natural state lay where the Dragon’s body previously had been.

Long dark-purple hair spread over the broken ground. Her skin was extremely pale and two small black horns protruded from the top of her head.

Vincent barely had time to properly look at her when he heard a ringing sound in his head followed by a line of texts appearing before his eyes.

[Ding!]

[Fate Deviated!]

[Fate Deviated!]

[Fate Deviated!]

[Ding!]

[Major Fate Deviation!]

[Ding!]

[Fate Anchor Identified.]

[Anchor #1: Monster Rat Infestation]

[Status…]

[…]

[Destabilized.]

.

.

[Anchor #2: Monster Tide]

[Status…]

[…]

[Destabilized.]

.

.

[Anchor #3: Valley Kingdoms Collapse]

.

[Destabilized.]

.

[Anchor #4: Aerial Monster Tide]

.

[Destabilized.]

.

[Anchor #5: Dark Dragon’s Death]

.

[Destabilized.]

…

[All anchors linked to event #002 have been destabilized.]

[Calculating…]

[…]

[…]

[Event #002 can no longer occur.]

[Reset point updated.]

[…]

[Ding!]

[Major Fate Deviation!]

[Ding!]

[Event Altered Permanently!]