Chapter 42: Black, You're Finished! No One in Heaven or Earth Can Save You!
"You say?"
Standing in a corner of the hall outside the imperial treasury, a silver-haired girl tilted her head and said to her brother with some confusion, "What will our future be like?"
"Even if you ask me..."
After a moment of silence, the black-haired youth replied flatly, "I don't know either."
—This conversation took place before Joshua emerged from the treasury.
Tucking his shoulder-length black hair behind his ears, Lin naturally knew what his sister was thinking about right now.
It was nothing more than the realization that, as their master grew stronger, they, as weapons, were being used less and less frequently.
This was indeed a terrible thing. Even he had to admit it. The black-haired youth had long known that his master, the warrior named Joshua, had reached a level where every move he made was a lethal weapon. With his bare hands, he could tear through steel and wrestle with demons. Even dragons had to bow to his superiority.
His body was armor, his fingers were spears, his fists were hammers, and his palms were blades.
When such an existence used a weapon, it was mostly just because it was convenient to grab one... Perhaps also to take care of his and his sister's feelings. Lin knew that their master still cared about how they felt.
But no matter what, if a weapon reached the point of being used 'just for the sake of using it,' there was no difference between that and being shelved. Its own meaning was lost, and it was precisely this that Ying was troubled by.
However, although Lin shared her feelings, he had a different perspective.
"No matter what the future holds, it doesn't matter."
The black-haired youth stared into his sister's green eyes and said seriously, "As long as we can stay by our master's side, what difference does it make whether we are Divine Mechanisms or humans?"
He chuckled lightly and said, "Our master has always treated us as humans. There's no need to dwell on an identity."
"But we were manufactured, created, to fight—to let our master fight better!"
The silver-haired girl was still very conflicted. She lowered her head and looked at her fair hands, which shimmered with a faint fluorescent light. After thinking for a moment, Ying turned her head in confusion and said softly, "I also want to not think about anything, just simply follow our master. Whether I'm used or shelved, that's the duty of a weapon. But maybe you're right..."
The girl's voice was very soft, and only Lin, who was beside her, could faintly hear it: "Because our master has always treated us as humans, it's given us human-like desires. I... maybe I don't want to be used, I just want to be needed..."
This sister...
Lin couldn't help but shake his head.
Perhaps it was because she was initially identified as a defective product and was only chosen by their master by accident, which led to some inferiority complex deep in her heart. Although Ying appeared fine on the surface, she was always a bit insecure, worrying about whether she would be abandoned or not needed.
"Alright, aren't you being needed right now?"
Taking a step forward, the black-haired youth simply gave his sister a hug. He smiled and whispered softly in the silver-haired girl's ear, "Just as I help our master with government affairs, you help our master with household chores—we are always being needed. So there's no need to worry so much."
"There are still many things we can do. A Divine Mechanism is not just a weapon."
—When Joshua came out of the treasury, everything returned to normal.
The group walked through the palace corridors. It was almost midnight now. Joshua and the others were preparing to return to the Radcliffe family's estate in the imperial capital to rest. Alfonso had already prepared a banquet, but it seemed this dinner would likely turn into breakfast. As for Brandon and Nostradamus, they still had some matters to attend to. The swordsman was going back to the Mage Association's laboratory to organize some items, while the old mage needed to go to the scene of the demon's appearance to investigate.
"Remember to come back to Moldavia often."
Arriving at the main entrance of Morlai Palace, under the awed gazes of the imperial guards, Joshua bid farewell to Brandon and Nostradamus. The old mage disappeared with a teleportation spell. As the swordsman was about to leave, the warrior smiled and said to him, "Verdani and your two daughters miss you very much."
"I will, for sure. But, Joshua."
Brandon nodded seriously, looking very solemn. But then, a teasing smile appeared on his face: "You're getting older too. Now, shouldn't you be thinking about finding yourself a Lady of the Manor?"
"Haha."
Joshua shook his head with a laugh. Just as he was about to respond, Ying suddenly let out a surprised sound. She took out a communication device from her waist and said with some confusion, "Who is it, at this hour..."
This was a rectangular metal instrument engraved with a two-way communication array, custom-made for the warrior by the spell professors at Winterfell Academy. This magical tool allowed for long-distance, lag-free communication. However, although the connection range was long, it could only be used for fixed two-point communication and was not universal. When Joshua was away, he generally used this device to contact his territory.
And now it was late at night. Unless it was something important, normally, the territory wouldn't be contacting him at this time.
"Give it to me."
Taking the communication device from Ying's hand, Joshua frowned and activated it.
Brandon and the Divine Mechanism siblings watched as the warrior confirmed identities with the person on the other end of the device, then began discussing serious matters. Joshua's expression started off serious, then turned to shock, followed by anger, and then gradually calmed down: "Alright, I understand. Thank you very much, Loranda. This has nothing to do with you; don't blame yourself."
"It's fine. I'll come back and handle this matter... It's not a big problem. The victory celebration isn't just for one day. If it really doesn't work out, it doesn't matter if I don't attend. I've already met His Majesty the Emperor."
"Understood. Stabilize the situation around you, take care of the environment, and I'll be there right away."
With that, he closed the communication array, his face expressionless.
"What's wrong, my friend?"
Brandon looked at the warrior's dark expression and asked with some concern, "Is there a problem in your territory?"
He could vaguely make out that something had happened in the territory, and it seemed serious, requiring Joshua to return quickly.
"Nothing, Brandon. Just a small matter."
Handing the communication device back to Ying, Joshua let out a cold laugh, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes. "My mount at home isn't being obedient. It's been running around everywhere and caused some trouble."
—I said it clearly: watch the teleportation array, don't move around recklessly. And yet it still ran over there! It completely ignored my words!
Thinking of this, the warrior's expression turned even colder. "I'll go back and teach it a lesson."
Ilgena World, the following afternoon.
Under the guidance of Professor Nelson, Hei and a fully armed armored military unit arrived at the largest coastal port in Babel Province, Sapphire Harbor.
Sapphire Harbor was a large port located on the northeastern coast of the Bay Federation. It had a naturally advantageous geographical position, being a deep-water port by nature. Years of artificial modifications had increased its cargo throughput to a terrifying level. In addition, Sapphire Harbor had beautiful scenery. Due to the constant calm winds, the placid seawater sparkled like a gem under the sunlight, which was also the origin of its name.
The reason Hei was brought to Sapphire Harbor was that the capital of Babel Province was completely unable to meet the dietary and living requirements of such a behemoth. Due to the eruption of Mount Sigma, hundreds of thousands of refugees had wandered into various cities, with the capital receiving the most. With the Bay Federation's flourishing national strength, providing food, clothing, and shelter for the refugees was not a problem; they even had the surplus energy to hold a carnival to boost morale.
But a massive existence like the half-dragon was different. Although Hei was close to the elves, letting it roam freely without knowing that its dragon's might would scare countless timid elves to death was a problem. Moreover, the daily food requirements of a dragon could not be provided by a city that didn't produce grain. Furthermore, according to the researchers' judgment, the half-dragon was an aquatic species. Although it might live in magma or hot springs, seawater was clearly more suitable for it than land.
And there was plenty of food in the sea, which would alleviate the pressure on food supplies. Even if Hei didn't want to hunt, transporting food by sea was more convenient than inland.
During the entire journey to Sapphire Harbor, Professor Nelson never gave up trying to communicate with Hei. He even had his students bring out their long-cherished research materials on the language of the Plains People and did his best to correct his pronunciation. But Hei's spirits were not high.
Because it always felt a chill running up and down its spine, as if it was being targeted by some extremely terrifying existence. As a half-dragon with the blood of an ancient dragon, it rarely felt such danger anymore.
What's going on? It was feeling restless. Even though the old elven mage beside it was saying something, Hei didn't pay much attention. This chill was too terrifying, making the half-dragon's limbs feel weak.
And just as the white-haired old elven professor was chattering away at the horse, the team finally arrived at a hill on the outskirts of Sapphire Harbor. From here, they could overlook the distant port scenery.
But every elf in the team, upon seeing the scene before them, was shocked into speechlessness.
Because the sea was turning red.
A commotion was happening in the port. Whether it had been like this for a long time or had just started, under the afternoon sunlight, the originally azure gem-like sea in the distance was visibly becoming turbid. Countless black mud and decaying soil from the seabed were being churned up by some unknown force, dyeing the sea area within tens of kilometers a strange blackish-red.
And as the seawater became more and more turbid, everyone could smell a strange odor. It was a familiar smell, a bit like sulfur, mixed with the stench of dead fish often found in port cities. It seemed a bit like...
"Roar!"
Hei suddenly reacted. It immediately turned its head and looked at Professor Nelson. The half-dragon roared several times, seemingly trying to say something. But the old elf couldn't understand a word. In his anxiety, he suddenly understood something.
"This smell is very similar to the smell of the Volcano Dragon... Sulfur, lava, volcano... Volcano?!"
Stunned, he looked towards the source of the reddening seawater in the distance. It was an area where countless dead fish were surfacing, where the sea seemed to be churning and boiling. A worst-case scenario guess surged into Nelson's mind.
"Could it be... an underwater volcano?!"
(To be continued.)