Is this a fucking joke? Rael thought with furrowed brows, inspecting the weird, key-shaped item in his hands.
—Fragment of the Plague Lands Key (???)
Collect all 3 pieces to reveal its effects!
Rael cleared his throat and turned to Caedia, who hadn't noticed the item in his hands. "Hey, you did say the other empresses had gathered their keys, right?"
Caedia tilted her head. "Of course? The officials sent me a message a few days ago claiming the empresses gathered everything on their part. I'm the only one left... but didn't I already tell you that?"
"Yeah, don't worry, my memory isn't exactly shit," Rael said and pulled out the small key-shaped item. "It doesn't happen to look , does it?"
The moment Caedia saw it, she froze. "...Where did you get that?"
"I found it beside the pedestal. Convenient, right?" Rael chuckled. "But that also means that whoever messaged you lied."
"But why would they..." Caedia muttered. "I established a food source, I solved all our money issues... why would they try to betray me?"
"My guess is, they're afraid of what else you can accomplish," Rael remarked, storing the key fragment. "I'd recommend not saying anything, or showing that you know. I'm pretty sure our welcome will be well received."
Or not, we might just be bombed before even entering the city, who knows, Rael snickered. "On the other hand, this used to be a beautiful place. I can tell just by the church."
Despite his attempts at small talk, Caedia remained rooted in her place, not even uttering a single word.
Therefore, he decided to leave her alone for the time being and went outside the church.
There weren't many landmarks here that he could check out, as aside from the church and the signs, everything else had fallen.
Still... a water-based merchant city. This world really is interesting. Though I wonder if it fell because of the serpents, or some other factors, Rael pondered as he finally approached the coastline.
There weren't any serpents in sight, when just a few days ago, some flew hundreds of meters into the sky just to get him.
Rael walked closer to the water, yet just as he was about to lean in and dip his hand inside, his Primordial Sight skill stopped him.
It always acted out, but its passive effect was great. Furthermore, if he could master the Foresight option of being able to see 1 second into the future at all times, then he'd become truly overpowered.
Nonetheless, in this scenario, his eyesight suggested he not go anywhere near the water, and that was exactly what he did.
I'll go swim with the fishies some other time, I guess, Rael sighed, and after circling around the Ruins of Saltmere a couple more times, he was ready to leave.
Therefore, he went back into the church and found Caedia, who had finally sat down.
"You're not planning on sulking the entire way there, right?" Rael asked with a frown. "I know it's a lot to take in, and I can't possibly understand what you're feeling. However, think of it this way—they don't know you know. So when you arrive, you'll have some leeway over the city, and you can do whatever you want."
That seemed to stabilize her mood slightly, as she gazed back at him with her brown eyes.
She didn't say anything. Instead, Caedia stood up and began walking back to the car.
Rael trailed not too far behind until eventually, the two arrived at the car and got in.
Seryn, or rather, the Beast, was still asleep, and Sweepus Prime had been keeping an eye out this entire time.
He didn't waste much time and began speeding toward the monument that was just slightly above the Ruins of Saltmere.
After roughly four minutes, he finally arrived and stepped out of the car.
To his surprise, he was met with humans instead of monsters—and better yet, they were tinkering with the bonfire.
He saw the ember floating down toward some burly man who seemed to be the group's leader.
However, before it could fully land, Rael dashed forward and within seconds, he was right behind the burly man.
And with that, he jumped up, grabbed the ember, and perched himself on the side of the obelisk by stabbing his rapier in it.
"Who in the fuck do you think you are, huh!?" the burly man shouted. "That was rightfully mine, yet you stole it from right under my nose!"
"It was above your nose, mate," Rael remarked with a chuckle. "But on a side note, I don't give a shit."
Having said that, to the shock and surprise of everyone present, Rael swiftly stuffed the ember inside his mouth.
<+4,000 Constitution>
<+2,000 Intelligence>
"Yum..." Rael said with a wide smirk. "I solved the problem. Now there's nothing to fight for, see?"
"You fucking maniac!" the burly man exclaimed when all of a sudden, a fierce pressure descended down on Rael, knocking him off the obelisk.
[HP -489,585! 39,822,815/40,262,400] (Gravity)
"Ouch?" Rael exclaimed, yet as his eyes met the angered man's, he could only let out a sigh.
Ah shit... here we go again.
"I don't suppose we can have a civil talk here?" Rael asked nicely, but was once again met with that strange gravity attack.
[HP -998,114! 38,824,701/40,262,400] (Gravity)
"Alright, so I'll put it this way," Rael glanced into the burly man's eyes before putting on a cold smile. "If you do that one more time, I will kill you."
And just as he expected, the man didn't give up and tried doing it again.
However, before his attack could even go through, his head fell to the ground—and right behind him, Caedia stood with her sword drawn.
Blood coated her blade, and rightfully so. After all, she was the one responsible for killing this fucker.
"Rael," Caedia called out, not meeting his gaze. "These remaining cretins were all a part of my mercenary militia. I have not given them orders to loot this place, so I'd appreciate it if you let me deal with them."
Rael raised a brow as a wide smile formed on his face.
"Did someone say food?" the Beast asked, slowly making its way over to them. "Oooh, humans! Rael, you shouldn't have!"
The moment the Beast finished its words, it disappeared. However, less than a second later, the remaining militia's bodies fell to the ground with their heads missing.
And of course, there was the satisfied Beast, glancing at Rael innocently.
Rael's brow twitched.