Ch. 117: Battle after Appearance
“To think that you would come out yourself. I’m honestly surprised.”
Stoos laughed at Dia’s words.
When she did so, Lapis took a step back, her expression stiffening, and Loren stepped up, with his great sword ready, to be the front line.
“Are we doing this? This isn’t in our favor at all.”
Although Lapis had said something downbeat, Loren couldn’t help but agree.
After all, even though their opponent was unarmed while he had a great sword, his hands were sweaty, and a cold chill was going up his spine ever since he saw Stoos.
Even to Loren, who was battle hardened, the pressure he felt from her was so great, he thought that his knees would buckle.
“To think that an Elder that isn’t hiding her animosity would be this much…”
Lapis as well, who was able to go toe to toe with ease against a True, was being pressured like Loren, with cold sweat running down her cheek and neck.
Although a bead of sweat ran down Lapis’ white, glossy skin, she didn’t bother to wipe it.
It was because if she did so and lost focus for even a moment, there was a chance she could be killed before she could even finish wiping it.
“I guess it was true that there is an unscalable wall separating Elders and Trues…I’d rather punch through a hundred Trues than face her.”
“You think only a hundred or so would balance it out? You’re cute.”
Stoos smiled, as if she had heard a funny joke.
She was completely looking down on them, but it was with good grounds, and since Loren knew that as well, he couldn’t say anything back.
Although the woman was just standing there, he couldn’t see an opportunity to rush in and attack.
No matter how he attacked, he only saw himself being killed immediately, so naturally his hands, which were holding onto the grip of his sword, was moist with sweat.
“No good Lapis?”
“If I at least had all my limbs…but there’s nothing I can currently do.”
“As expected of an Elder, I guess.”
“It would be different if Dia could join us.”
Loren glanced at Dia at Lapis’ words.
She was biting her lips and looking at Stoos in frustration, but when she noticed Loren’s gaze, she managed to shake her head slightly.
Race wise, the two of them were equal, but there was a definite difference between the them.
“I’m sure you know already, but I know her True Name.”
As Stoos said so playfully, two things became apparent.
One was that Dia’s master, Sierra, was siding with Stoos to disrupt Dia’s exam.
The other was that if a fight broke out, Dia couldn’t be counted as any help.
“I don’t need to tell you where I got that information, right?”
“I didn’t realize that I was so hated.”
When Dia managed to moan out, for some reason, Stoos’ eyes widened slightly, as if she was surprised.
“Dia, you’re misunderstanding something.”
“What?”
When Dia questioned the word misunderstanding, Stoos, still smiling, started to explain what she meant.
“Sierra didn’t plan on killing you or anything. She doesn’t hate you at all, in fact, she loves you so much it disgusts me.”
“Huh?”
This time Loren was the one who let out a stupid voice.
Since Sierra had leaked Dia’s True Name, as well as sent hordes of undead, anyone who heard that she loved Dia would have the same response as Loren did.
“To put it simply, what she didn’t like was that the topic of Dia going on her own came from other Elders, not her.”
According to Stoos, when it came to Dia becoming a full fledged Elder, Sierra had planned everything carefully, and was going to do it when she thought the time was right.
But the other Elders caught wind that Dia’s skill in magic surpassed that of Sierra’s and decided that it was a waste for such a powerful Elder to not be on her own.
Sierra had been against giving Dia the exam, but since majority ruled, the exam was to be held.
Stoos then went on to explain that Sierra wasn’t satisfied, so she did all those things.
“I thought it was stupid as well, but if I went along with her plans, I could absorb her into my side, so I decided that it was worth a shot.”
“What the hell…So what would happen after.”
“If Dia fails the test, it would mean the reputations of the Elders who recommended her to take the exam would crumble, and the exam would completely be under the management of Sierra, wouldn’t it? If that happens, it means that things would go back to how she planned everything to be.”
“She’s definitely loved…quite heavily.”
As Lapis sorely said so, Dia blushed and looked down.
There was no way to tell if she blushed from happiness or embarrassment.
“So, anyways. I want you to retire here.”
“But selfishly…”
Dia couldn’t help but mutter, but Loren agreed with her.
A student being pushed around by her master wasn’t the most uncommon thing, but just because of that, on top of taking advantage of a power struggle, as well as wasting such forces, including a True, which had been destroyed by Lapis.
Loren thought it was way past the boundaries of selfishness, but it seemed that Stoos didn’t like it either, so she said in a tired voice, combing her red hair.
“If all goes well, Dia as well as Sierra would join our side, so a True and a dragon zombie is worth losing.”
“Is it alright for you to say all that?”
The things that Stoos said wasn’t for Dia to know about.
Since she had revealed everything, Loren asked her, wondering what she was thinking, but Stoos just shrugged.
“It’s cheap for the price of two Elders, but it’s true that I spent a lot of my forces. On top of that, Sierra told you earlier that I was involved, didn’t she? It’s just a bit of retaliation.”
Stoos complained that she didn’t like that Sierra had interfered with the exam and had told them of her involvement.
It meant that Sierra did so to convince Dia that she had nothing to do with all that happened during the exam, as well as make Stoos the enemy.
“Isn’t this all a bit too careless? It would be obvious that the master is the mastermind the moment True Names pop up.”
“Both Sierra and I thought you would wipe out with the second attack. She must have thought she could just make up an excuse for why Dia couldn’t move. Even if that didn’t work, if Dia became unconscious, manipulating her memories wouldn’t be too difficult.”
“What about the difference in strength between Elders and Trues? If that True went against Dia without knowing he True Name, I don’t think he would’ve been a match.”
Stoos easily answered Lapis’ question.
“There are Trues that specialize in combat and could go toe to toe against an Elder. But although, it seems that the one I sent was crushed by that girl over there.”
Stoos’ gaze turned to Lapis, as if she was looking at something creepy.
Dia seemed to have a good guess of what Lapis was when she met her, but it seemed that Stoos still had no idea.
With just that, it was obvious how capable and better Dia was.
“That’s the whole story of this exam. And going back to the beginning, I’d love it if Dia would just retire the exam here. Fighting you and chasing you off is another method, but that would be tiring, and you two don’t want to die either, no?”
“Well, if I were to choose between dying and not dying, I don’t really want to die.”
But Loren didn’t lower his great sword or let go of his stance.
He didn’t take his eyes off Stoos, who was smiling slightly, not even considering him a threat, as he asked Dia behind him.
“You’re our client. We have no choice but to go with your decisions.”
“I’d like to retreat if it’s too much, though.”
Lapis said with a nervous laugh, but she was glaring at Stoos too, still ready for anything.
“Give us orders, Ms. Client.”
“I…”
Dia stuttered for a second, but immediately looked at Stoos straight in the eye, and said in a clear voice.
“I’m not going to move based on my master’s expectations. Since I started this exam, I’m going to do my best to finish it.”
“That’s what she says.”
“So, negotiations broke down? It might be okay for Dia since she doesn’t die, but the two of you could. Are you sure?”
Stoos said to Loren and Lapis, telling them to convince Dia otherwise if they wanted to live, but Loren scoffed at her words.
“One thing you should know about mercenaries. We don’t betray our clients unless they betray us first.”
“You’re currently an adventurer, though.”
When Lapis cut in, mentioning that titles were important, Loren couldn’t help but give her a dirty look.
Ignoring it, Lapis gave Stoos a hard look.
“Our opinions are set. What are you going to do now?”
Stoos folded her arms in front of her chest, looked down, and sighed deeply.
The act was full of openings, and although it looked like there were many opportunities to attack, Loren still couldn’t think that he could charge.
“I guess it can’t be helped then. All I can do is eliminate the obstacles, defeat the examinee, and call it a day.”
Stoos spread her crossed arms and spewed words filled with hostility, a twisted smile appearing on her face.
“Come, mortals, if you think you’d be a match for an Elder. With everything you’ve got, so you would have no regrets on the road to the underworld!”
Even though the intimidation within the words was so great it seemed like physical pressure, Loren gripped his great sword tighter, and ran straight towards Stoos without hesitation.