The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

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Chapter 601: We Must Fight the Dragons (2)

Ghislaine looked at the dragons with wide, curious eyes.

Until now, she had witnessed the wars of the past in dreams several times, but there had never been a dragon involved.

And of all times, why did this dream appear just when they needed to prepare to fight dragons?

“Is this meant to inform me of something? Or was it simply my turn to see?”

The sequence of dreams was beyond her control, and she had no idea how it was determined, leaving her filled with nothing but curiosity.

Whatever the intentions of the Saint, this dream was intriguing. There were dozens of dragons that Ghislaine had never seen before.

A slight chill ran down her spine. The allied forces were struggling to deal with just one dragon, and here they were faced with so many.

If those dragons had been hostile to humanity, humanity would have been doomed long ago.

Fortunately, the dragons weren’t targeting humanity.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Kwooooorrrr……!

From the opposite side, enormous beings were advancing.

On their shoulders were eagle heads, with white giants sporting wings on their backs, giants with heads shaped like cows wielding massive hammers, giants with countless arms, and giants holding massive spears while spewing fire from their mouths.

These were grotesque, terrifying giants that did not belong to this world.

The one thing they all had in common was their pristine white bodies.

‘Lord of the Rift.’

In her past life, those beings were referred to as the Lords of the Rift. Some simply called them gigantic monsters.

At that time, those beings were indeed fascinating. Many were adorned with weapons, armor, accessories, and clothing. It indicated that they possessed or had possessed civilization.

Thus, people couldn’t help but wonder what they were and where they came from.

‘Lower Gods of Another Realm.’

In the myth narrated by Ereness, they were called the lower gods of another world.

While not all myths could be believed, Ghislaine, who had directly faced the giants, found it a quite plausible theory.

They were powerful enough to be called lower gods. That’s why the Human Alliance of her past life had no time to spare for anything else.

If one had appeared, all the strongest beings on the continent had to gather to fight.

‘But they wandered in groups at that time.’

If such a multitude had appeared in her past life, humanity would have been annihilated right away.

Only the rarest of individuals appeared occasionally, which was why they could be dealt with.

In the dream, dozens of dragons and gigantic monsters began to clash.

Kwaaaaaa!

Dragons unleashed their breaths from the sky. The dragons were so tense that they unleashed their strongest attacks first.

Kwoooooo!

The giant monsters weren’t standing idle either. They threw their spears into the sky or flew up to catch the dragons.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwaaaaaaaang!

The fight was so intense that no other beings would dare to intervene.

The dragons, known for their magical manipulation, sprinkled transcendent magic of the 9th circle across the battlefield.

The giant monsters, living up to their renown as lower gods, exuded powerful energies and countered the magic. They didn’t just block attacks but also pulled down the dragons.

Kaaaaa!

The dragon’s teeth sank into the giant monster’s neck. The giant monster ripped the dragon’s wings with its hands.

One of the giant monsters had its stomach pierced by a dragon’s attack. Some dragons were devoured headfirst by the monsters.

It was a painfully brutal and savage fight. Only beings endowed with transcendent powers could engage in such a battle.

The dragons and the huge monsters mercilessly crushed each other.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwaaaaaaaang!

The heavens roared, and everything around shattered into pieces. Huge rocks flew away as if torn by paper.

The shockwaves from the clash of dragons and monsters split the ground, creating deep rifts. Lightning struck mercilessly from the sky, setting the backdrop for this titanic battle.

Amidst the destruction, only the dragons and the giant monsters stubbornly continued their fight at the center.

Among them, one dragon stood out, the Dragon Lord Arterion.

Kwaaaarrrrr!

The white breath emitted by Arterion slowed the movements of the giant monsters. He cast various spells around him, effectively controlling and attacking the huge monsters.

His powerful strength was indeed befitting of the title Dragon Lord. Thanks to Arterion, the tides of battle began to sway in favor of the dragons.

Ghislaine watched the battle with a stiff expression.

‘This is different from what I know.’

Both the dragons and the giant monsters showed much greater power than she had seen in her past life.

‘Ereness has grown stronger since the last time I saw her in Ruthania.’

If her words were true, it meant that as the restrictions were lifted and time passed, their original powers returned.

In her past life, Arterion likely hadn’t been able to use his full strength either. The image of him in the dream was almost equivalent to a deity.

‘I suppose I should be grateful.’

Arterion was urgently moving both then and now. It was a stroke of luck that he could fight before his full strength returned.

She could also guess why the giant monsters were stronger than in her past life.

According to Ereness, in that era, the nemesis was active, and the energy of the demon god spread across the world much more strongly than now.

With that energy, the giant monsters could also exert greater power.

Ghislaine’s heart grew a bit heavier as she observed the fight.

‘The energy of the demon god…’

As time passed, it meant that those giant monsters would grow stronger. If the rift was not suppressed and sealed, eventually, they would burst forth.

Ereness said that the stronger the nemesis resurrected and grew, the stronger the energy of the demon god impacting the world would become.

Whether she could trust that statement was besides the point. It was evident that some unknown power was influencing the world.

‘The nemesis…’

It was still unclear whether the nemesis had truly been resurrected, or who it might be.

The only certainty was that with each passing moment, this world became more perilous. They needed to find a way before the rift opened and its masters emerged.

Ghislaine looked around again.

The battle between the dragons and giant monsters was gradually coming to a close. Both sides had sustained injuries that rendered them unable to move properly.

Paaah!

A nemesis clad in black energy appeared. He moved, leading numerous priests and cracked beings.

From the Human Alliance, the hero moved first. Many companions and soldiers followed behind him.

Soon, the hero and the nemesis would clash once more.

Kwahh!

Watching the fight between the two, Ghislaine’s gaze darkened.

*

Everyone in the alliance was busy preparing for the Dragon Hunt.

Ghislaine was also busy checking the troops and ensuring that necessary supplies were arriving daily.

Amidst that, Ereness came to visit her.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll be sitting this battle out. No matter how I think about it, I can’t do it.”

“Hmm… do you really have to?”

“Yes. Just receiving this news doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Tch…”

Ghislaine clicked her tongue, slightly nodding her head.

She didn’t entirely lack understanding of her feelings. To Ereness, Arterion was a comrade and friend from long ago.

It was too much for her to fight against Arterion. Just conveying this information was already a significant decision for her.

“Alright, I understand. So what’s your plan now?”

Ereness paused for a moment in thought.

She aimed to find Arterion and the nemesis. Her goal was to locate and eliminate the nemesis.

That was why she hadn’t come out into the world as soon as the restrictions were lifted.

After pondering for a bit, she eventually spoke.

“Since it has come to this, I’m going to look for Gathros.”

“Gathros?”

“Yes, that guy is dangerous. We must find him and kill him. After that, we can look for the nemesis…”

Ereness trailed off on her last words, seemingly still suspicious of Yulien.

In any case, Ghislaine partly agreed with her.

She also intended to investigate whether the nemesis had truly been resurrected. Gathros was definitely someone who needed to be dealt with as well.

But there was no need to rush into that right now.

“Gathros was planning on forming a tracking team anyway. It would be faster to look for him together. Instead, let’s focus on something more urgent.”

“What urgent matter are you referring to?”

“Dealing with the remnants. Originally, I was going to assign a tenant to Claude. You need at least one superhuman. How about you go instead?”

“…Go with Claude?”

“Yep.”

“…”

“You’ll need to follow Claude to add the tenant to the monster and dragon hunts. It’s advantageous to have one more person, right?”

“…Hmm.”

Ereness slightly furrowed her brow. Of all people, it had to be Claude!

Chatting with Claude always pulled her into a mess. Just thinking about it made her extremely tired.

After a long period of contemplation, Ereness finally gave a slight nod.

“…Fine. I’ll contribute to the eradication of the remnants for now.”

That seemed like the better option. Finding Gathros was certainly better done with a group.

And anyway, Amelia would be the one leading the eradication of the remnants. Ghislaine had witnessed Amelia’s skills firsthand. She was trustworthy.

Besides, she felt that Claude wouldn’t dare to act up in front of Amelia.

Once Ereness accepted, Ghislaine smiled brightly.

“Great, you’ll be a huge help. I’m counting on you.”

“Sure, I’ll try to handle it as quickly as possible.”

Ghislaine felt relieved. She had only postponed dealing with the Dragon Wave and the dragons because they were more urgent, but eradicating the remnants was also important.

If Ereness actively fought, there was no need for worry. It just took time to move; when it came to fighting, no one could compete with her.

As the conversation ended and Ereness was about to leave, she suddenly paused and stood still.

Ghislaine, perplexed by her appearance, asked.

“Why? Do you have something else to say?”

“…Do you still have the sacred relic?”

“Yeah, I’m still wearing it around my neck.”

Ghislaine took out the necklace to show her.

Ereness watched it for a moment before asking.

“Has… the sacred relic ever shown any reaction to Yulien?”

“…”

Ghislaine hesitated to respond immediately.

Everyone knew that Gathros had initially sought the sacred relic to find the nemesis.

Ghislaine felt uneasy about that part. After all, the relic had indeed reacted to Yulien.

As she pondered how to respond, Ghislaine reluctantly nodded. After all, there were plenty of witnesses, so trying to lie would soon be exposed.

“Yes, it emitted light when I met Yulien.”

“…”

Ereness’s eyebrows twitched.

Arterion had also sought the sacred relic. He was well aware that the relic was needed to locate the nemesis.

That the relic responded to Yulien was a factor stirring her suspicions only further.

Ghislaine shook her head and continued.

“Don’t judge too hastily. Yulien isn’t the only person who caused the relic to react.”

In fact, the relic had saved Gathros when he was on the brink of death. It had reportedly sent a momentary will to Jerome. It had even shown reactions similar to when it responded to Yulien.

Ghislaine shared those stories too.

Of course, she didn’t mention the part about having recurring dreams or that divine power had been absorbed by her.

Discussing that seemed too risky since Ereness appeared to hold many secrets.

“Whoo…”

Ereness closed her eyes and sighed. Hearing that the relic had saved Gathros only added to her confusion.

Moreover, that it responded to Jerome and Ghislaine left her unsure of anything.

After shaking her head, she spoke.

“I understand. I’ll decide when we capture Gathros later.”

With those words, Ereness left. It was clear she didn’t want to think any further.

Ghislaine stared at the spot where Ereness had been for quite a while before bowing her head and returning her focus to her work.

As she glanced at the towering pile of paperwork, checking the troops and strategies of her soldiers, she muttered very softly.

“Before long, I’ll know.”

The truth was she had already developed a few hypotheses. Now, all that remained was to pass the time and verify if they were correct.

However…

Ghislaine silently wished that her thoughts were wrong.