Chapter 150

Fernan had suggested to Professor Rosalia that she attend the Continental Congress, but there was a mountain to climb before doing so.

“As you say, brother, I’ll pass on the request for now.”

The Cult of the Dragon God. To be exact, they were eccentric mages obsessed with Rosalia’s research.

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“On the surface, no problem. She was going to present at the order’s congress, but if she changes her mind, that’s her freedom. The problem is too many priests are interested in the fusions…”

“And how much is the preservation deposit?”

That issue was resolved with a few coins.

“Then we’ll deliver everything clean to the Golden Turtle Guild.”

“Good.”

After speaking with Jace, Fernan went back to see Professor Rosalia.

“You want to go too?”

“Yes. I’m a stakeholder as well. If there are problems, I take the biggest loss, not you. You wouldn’t suffer any tangible loss, but I’d face a massive financial one.”

That’s why, until the end, he wanted to transport and manage the material himself to be at ease.

After Kimaris’ death and the annihilation of the corrupted in Frazia, their movements had slowed, but not vanished. And from Fernan’s experience, trouble always surfaced during these moments of apparent calm.

“I invested a huge amount of time. And time can’t be bought with money, Fernan Pellenberg.”

“Yes, it can.”

“What did you say?”

“I bought your research with money, didn’t I?”

“…”

Rosalia fell silent but shot him a sharp glare.

“Are you insulting me with your eyes?”

“I just can’t argue because your logic is sound.”

Still, she added a rebuttal.

“But you’re still a student. You can’t be absent from the Academy for too long.”

The congress hadn’t been originally planned, so there wouldn’t be a long three-week break like before.

“Aren’t you a professor? Shouldn’t you be under the same restriction?”

“In these cases, you request permission from the rector and it’s considered an academic trip.”

“Then if you request it under my name, isn’t it the same?”

It wasn’t uncommon for a professor to take students on an academic trip. Even more so for something as significant as the Continental Congress.

“I’m a professor, and you’re a student.”

“Everybody knows that.”

“But sometimes it feels the other way around. You’re the one making proposals, when it should be me.”

“Because now we’re investor and sponsored mage.”

Fernan had no intention of backing down, so Rosalia eventually gave in with a nod.

“This will be the last time I tolerate your stubbornness.”

She bit down on her cigarette and dismissed him with a wave.

“Thank you, professor.”

Fernan bowed and left her office. He immediately went to see Luina.

There wasn’t any particular reason. He just couldn’t shake the unease after seeing the vision of her ruin.

“What a relief…”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I saw something strange.”

But in Luina’s sincere blue eyes, there was no trace of bloody tears.

“Want some chocolate?”

“I’ve got some too.”

“This one’s new—infused with distilled liquor from the Taklakan Desert. Just came out.”

“…Just one. Can I try it?”

The bottle-shaped chocolate went into Luina’s mouth. As she bit down, the subtle aroma of the liquor mixed with the chocolate’s sweetness and drew a smile on her face.

“Well?”

“It’s good.”

“How good?”

“Good enough to want more right away.”

“Hm, then this new product is at that level. Got it.”

Fernan nodded, and Luina narrowed her eyes.

“…What?”

“You’ve only ever said the best chocolate was the Kraken Ink and World Tree Bark ones. The Ice Crystal one you rated the same as this—‘I want to eat it often.’ Below that is just normally good.”

In other words, this was a 4 out of 5. Normal was a 3.

“It’s hard to reach 5. Elves make very good chocolate.”

“…Are you using me as a guinea pig?”

“Guinea pig? I’m giving you the honor of being the first to try a new product. I’d never give you trash.”

“…Well, that’s true.”

Luina felt something odd but ended up nodding anyway.

***

The compound of magic stones was delivered to the Golden Turtle Guild.

Fernan stored it in a special box and finished preparations for departure.

He unfurled a map.

“First, we sail to Evgena. From there, we go by land to Valerich. It’s a straightforward route.”

As an escort—just like before—he summoned the Red Turtle Order and additionally hired priests from the Cult of the Dragon God.

Thirty elite knights, twenty high-level mages, and fifty veteran soldiers.

A force capable of devouring anything.

Hiring the priests had cost a fortune, but money wasn’t the concern.

‘Abel Kalens said it. To be ready for what’s coming.’

Hoarding wealth meant nothing if you died before using it.

Fernan had no intention of being the kind of fool who left his fortune untouched when he died.

With the caution of someone who checks every stone before crossing a bridge, he was especially careful leaving the Academy, where the archmage rector resided.

Thus, three ships loaded with workers and soldiers set sail together.

The first two days passed without incident.

Clear skies, calm seas, smooth sailing.

The problem came on the third day.

Rumble—

Black clouds began to cover the sky, rain fell, and lightning struck.

The waves grew wild, and the ships rocked violently.

“Hold the rudder!”

“Keep your distance so the ships don’t collide!”

The sailors fought to withstand the storm, occasionally supported by the priests’ magic.

“I don’t like this.”

Fernan, standing on the swaying deck, looked into the distance. There, the sky was clear—in stark contrast to where they were.

“They say this is common at sea.”

“Yes, but it brings back bad memories.”

“Bad memories?”

“It’s just…”

Thump, thump.

Wooden, somewhat calmer after his constant complaints of pain, gave a light tap. That was all Fernan needed to be sure.

“…Monsters are approaching.”

Professor Rosalia’s face hardened an instant later.

“Everyone to combat positions!”

“Monsters attacking! Prepare yourselves!”

At Fernan’s command, the sailors moved swiftly despite the rocking.

“They respond quite well.”

“That’s why I hired the best sailors from the guild.”

Amid the storm, the heads of Sea Serpents emerged.

Ten in total. Not a normal occurrence—especially with swarms of sea worms around them.

“Fire!”

“Fire!”

Crack— boom! Screeeech!

The massive ballista bolts pierced through the thick scales of the sea serpents. The beasts shrieked in pain.

Immediately—

BOOM!

The ballistae exploded on impact, blowing off heads or entire torsos. No matter how thick the hide, nothing could withstand an internal explosion.

“…Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes, they’re the magical ballistae of the Cult of the Dragon God.”

They were single-use weapons, extremely expensive—but their effectiveness was guaranteed.

“Ever since the Sea Serpent incident, we always carry a few. This time, I brought even more.”

Taking out the large serpents in one blow, the rest were no problem.

“Don’t let a single one board the ship!”

No matter how many sea worms there were, they couldn’t sink that force.

The storm remained the greatest obstacle, but it was quickly dealt with.

Crack— shhhhhh

“This will eliminate any risk of shipwreck.”

Rosalia froze the sea and anchored the ships onto a massive iceberg, reducing the rocking.

Additionally, sea worms were weak to cold. Climbing the ice slowed them down, making them easy to slaughter.

“Professor, you’re the best.”

“I don’t need obvious flattery.”

“I mean it. Thanks to you, the ships didn’t sink.”

After clearing the marine horde, the ships resumed their course and, days later, safely arrived in Evgena.

The magical stone compound was transferred to five carriages to continue by land.

“Will there be more attacks on land? This is Vienderk—it’s not easy to gather enough monsters to break this escort.”

“Have you forgotten we already fought inside Vienderk?”

Yes, he remembered. When they relied on Rosalia to catch a corrupted and killed the wrong one, letting the real one escape.

“But at least we got a clue.”

“That he was bald?”

“Exactly.”

“There are lots of bald people in this world.”

“But not many powerful, corrupted bald ones.”

Maybe so. But there weren’t many corrupted to begin with.

Rather than argue, Fernan lit Rosalia’s cigarette.

“If the corrupted attack the carriages, what method would they use? Block the path and engage?”

“The most common is collapsing the ground and dragging us underground. They seem to have the means to move freely down there.”

“If that’s true, it’s not a bad method. That way they could bring in more monsters and stage a massive assault…”

At that moment—

Crumble— rumble—

As the saying goes, “speak of the devil and he shall appear.” Upon reaching a deserted road, the ground opened beneath their feet and everything collapsed.

The terrain swallowed the entire convoy.

In the bottomless abyss, the carriages began to float on their own.

“Protect the people!”

“Stop the fall!”

The mages of the Cult of the Dragon God cast anti-gravity spells, halting the fall of people and vehicles.

Thanks to that, everyone landed safely dozens of meters below—unharmed.

“…Did you also enchant the carriages with flotation spells?”

“Yes. We lived through this once. We prepared for it this time.”

Last time, they’d lost an entire carriage. This time, they wouldn’t repeat that mistake.

“Monsters attacked you here before?”

“It’s a long story…”

Fernan fell silent. In the darkness, a sinister energy and a pungent stench filled the air.

They were Shades. Thousands of them, indistinguishable from the shadows themselves, advancing toward the convoy.

“Enemies!”

“Hold the line!”

The knights unleashed their auras, the priests summoned sacred flames.

But the Shades were countless and attacked from all directions—front, rear, flanks, even from the ground.

Soon, some managed to lunge toward the chest containing the magical stone compound.

These weren’t ordinary Shades.

“Kohx?”

Shadow-like, but larger and stronger—class 5 monsters. They were mixed in with the horde.

And then—

BOOM— BOOM!

The monsters’ bodies inflated and exploded in a chain reaction.

The blast tore at eardrums, and the shockwave rocked the entire area.

Men screamed and were flung away. Fernan barely held on, swallowing a groan.

Even so—

“…What the hell is that thing made of?”

Not even that destructive force had broken the chest. It was only dented and scratched.

“I reinforced it with adamantite.”

The hardest metal in the world.

“After what happened, I wasn’t going to take any chances.”

‘Come on, you damned corrupted. Whoever you are.’

I don’t stumble over the same stone twice.