CHAPTER 61: THE PLOT THICKENS

With the help of Ard and Eva, along with their familiars, Vahn and the bandits managed to overcome the monsters around the cave entrance fence leading into the bandit settlement. After that, they immediately walked, cutting through the lines of monsters from behind that were still running down the mountain.

But suddenly, the monsters stopped moving, and their heads turned back. The Orcs looked toward the mountain, as did the enormous Cyclops. Then the Wyverns in the air turned and flew back to the mountain.

Ard and Eva, who were splattered with monster blood, stood motionless, watching everything. They no longer attacked the monsters that were walking back up the mountain, ignoring them. Vahn approached them.

"It looks like it’s over. The monsters are returning to their habitat in the forest higher up the mountain," Vahn said.

"That’s right. Now that Zorax is re-sealed, they can go back to their dens," Ard replied.

"Now we have to get to the village. Come on, Ard," Eva urged.

"Alright. Let me escort you. I also want to meet Claudia, if she really is there like you said," Vahn replied.

"Good, let’s go, Vahn," Ard replied.

The three of them immediately ran, cutting through the forest and heading down the mountain toward the village below. Vahn brought some of his men to accompany them, while many monsters walked back up, ignoring Ard, Eva, and Vahn and his men. A moment later, they arrived back at the village gate. The entire gate looked a mess. Several villagers were working to clear away monster corpses and carry the wounded bodies of the village soldiers inside.

Some residents also began assessing the damage the village had sustained. Ard and the others walked inside. Upon entering, Ard and Eva were relieved to see Alicia, Milia, Geoffrey, Mirea, Claudia, Ainsley, Beatrice, Rosalind, Pyria, and Irwin looking generally fine, although they were covered in monster blood and appeared breathless. When they saw Ard and Eva, who were also messy and covered in monster blood, walking toward them, they immediately rushed over to Ard and Eva, then hugged both of them, forgetting their exhaustion.

Claudia turned to look at Vahn, who was assigning his men to help the villagers.

"Huh... big brother Vahn?" Claudia asked, recognizing Vahn.

Vahn turned back to look at Claudia. He immediately smiled and walked closer to Claudia, then gently held her head.

"How are you, Claudia? I thought we wouldn’t see each other again," Vahn said, smiling.

"Thump," Claudia immediately hugged Vahn, who returned the embrace. Then Vahn looked over at Ard and Eva. He nodded to the two of them, who returned his nod. Dimitri also approached Ard and Eva. They started talking with Dimitri, telling him everything that had happened and about the unsealing of Zorax, who was trapped in the mountain crater. After that, Dimitri invited all of them to his mansion to discuss everything further.

***

After cleaning themselves up and changing clothes, everyone gathered in Dimitri’s study. Ard, Eva, and the others sat on sofas surrounding a coffee table in the center, while Dimitri and Vahn sat across from them. Ard and Eva continued the story about Zorax and how they re-sealed him.

Vahn, who had seen everything, also backed up their story. Hearing Ard and Eva’s tale, their friends, who initially looked calm, suddenly had expressions like they had just watched a horror movie.

"So you mean, Ard... someone intentionally opened the seal?" Mirea asked.

"Something like that, and the scary thing is they have one of our two swords," Ard answered.

"That’s right, because opening the seal can only be done using my sword and Ard’s sword, Exelion and Exgrandal," Eva added, emphasizing her point while showing her sword along with Ard, who also displayed his sword.

"This is... terrifying. Who could do something like that?" Alicia asked.

"Supporters of the goddess Ophelia? Or the demon god Malekh? I don’t know at all. Besides, I only just found out that dragon really exists, not just a fairy tale," Geoffrey said.

"A fairy tale? Oh, you’re right... the evil black dragon mentioned in the fairy tale... five heroes chosen by the Dragon God trapped it, and eventually it was forgotten by the world," Ainsley said, adjusting his glasses.

"If you think about it, that’s right. The fairy tale told of an evil black dragon that terrorized the world... but I never thought the story was actually real," Milia added, thinking.

"Every kid in every kingdom has heard that story. We grew up with it. I thought it was just a childhood tale," Beatrice said.

"That’s right, Princess Beatrice," Rosalind added.

"I’ve never heard that fairy tale," Claudia said.

"Same here, me neither," Pyria added.

"I’m also just hearing about a fairy tale like that. Maybe because I didn’t have a childhood," Irwin said.

"Now you all know, don’t you, that it’s not a fairy tale, and now there’s someone who can open that dragon’s seal. This can’t be ignored. If that person returns one day and finishes the job, the world could be in danger," Dimitri said.

"You’re right, Count. I’ve already assigned my men to keep observing the crater where that dragon is trapped," Vahn replied.

"Alright, I’ll leave that to you, but who do you think could have opened that seal?" Dimitri muttered.

"Like Eva said, Count, they must have used my sword or Eva’s sword. The problem is that no one can lift our swords. Let’s prove it," Ard said.

Ard put Exgrandal on the table, then Eva also put Exelion on the table. After that, Ard turned to Geoffrey.

"Geoffrey, your body is the biggest among us, and your sword is also the largest among us. There’s no doubt your physical strength is the greatest of all of us. Now try to lift my sword," Ard said.

"Alright, I’ll try," Geoffrey replied.

Geoffrey stood up, then moved to the table in front of him. He grabbed the hilt of Exgrandal and tried to lift it, but he couldn’t. Then he tried to exert his strength until his face turned red, but still couldn’t. Finally, he grabbed Exgrandal with both hands, and his face became as red as a tomato, yet he still couldn’t lift Exgrandal from the table. Finally, Geoffrey released the hilt of Exgrandal and shook his head, panting. Then he turned to look at Ard.

"Can’t do it... bro... it didn’t even budge," Geoffrey gasped.

"Let me try," Claudia said, standing up.

She stood up and moved Geoffrey aside, then grabbed the hilt of Exelion and pulled it, but just like Exgrandal, Exelion didn’t move at all. After trying multiple times until she was sweating, Claudia finally gave up and sat back down next to Mirea, panting. Then Ard and Eva calmly picked up their two swords and stored them in their dimensional storage.

"Hmm... that means not just anyone can use those two swords. In other words, the person who opened the seal is one of you," Dimitri muttered.

"That’s right, Count. Besides me and Ard, no one can open the seal, so it makes no sense that Zorax’s seal could be opened when both of us are here," Eva replied.

"Unless there’s someone like you, I mean, who can create a copy of your swords and lift them," Vahn suggested.

"That’s impossible. Both of their swords were forged by the Elven tribe, and the Elven tribe only made the two twin swords, Exgrandal and Exelion. Exgrandal’s black color is because Ashton became the demon king named Azroth," Pyria said.

"Pyria’s right. I’ve also read the text about that. It’s impossible for a copy of those two swords to be made," Mirea muttered.

Finally, all of them fell silent, trying to solve the problem that was plaguing them. A moment later, "knock... knock," someone was heard knocking on the study door. "Come in," Dimitri shouted. A servant entered with a pale face. Dimitri immediately stood up.

"What is it?" Dimitri asked.

"Forgive the interruption, my Lord, but there is an envoy from the Emperor at the front who wishes to speak with you," the servant replied.

"Alright, take him to the parlor. I’ll meet him shortly," Dimitri said.

"Very well, my Lord," the servant replied.

The servant bowed, then left. When the door closed, Dimitri turned to look at Ard, Eva, Vahn, and the others, who were also staring at him with shocked faces.

"Wait here. I’ll meet with them. Don’t leave this room," Dimitri said.

"We understand, Count, thank you," Ard replied.

Dimitri left the study. Then Vahn stood up and walked to the door. He locked it, then walked back and sat on the sofa.

"What do you think they want here?" Ainsley asked.

"They probably want to recruit Count Dimitri to join their war," Eva answered.

"But isn’t the timing a little suspicious? It’s like they wanted to check if we were destroyed or not," Vahn replied.

After that, they all fell silent, making the room quiet, as everyone was lost in their own thoughts, including Ard, Eva, and Vahn. They kept considering every possibility about who could have opened the seal and what the Emperor’s envoy wanted, showing up right after Zorax’s seal was opened in the crater, just as Vahn suggested.