Chapter 111 : Medusa - 3
Chapter 111: Medusa - 3
Karin opened her mouth.
“Hell... Ah, right, you said the moon was Hell.”
“Yeah. He must’ve flown there using the teleportation bead.”
“Then we can just follow him, can’t we? We’ve got two beads ourselves.”
“In the worst case, we’ll have to. But if possible, I’d like to avoid that option.”
I was almost certain that Edgar had made a pact with one of the monsters in Hell through Louis.
But there was no guarantee it was just one of them.
Who knows what kind of trap he might have laid there, anticipating my next move?
“Basically, I’ve always made plans based on roughly reading the future.”
“That’s true.”
“So, I’d rather avoid fighting Edgar in a completely unknown situation. Let’s wait a little longer. Magireta might change her mind.”
“How long is ‘a little’? Ah... since you said we’ll die the day after tomorrow, that means until tomorrow?”
I shook my head.
“Saying we’ll die the day after tomorrow doesn’t mean we can relax tomorrow. It means we have to act tomorrow.”
“Hmm, fair point.”
“So, let’s wait for Magireta’s answer only until tonight.”
“……”
“Ten o’clock. If Magireta doesn’t give us a hint by ten, we’ll fly straight to Edgar. Please make sure you’re ready.”
Saying that, I opened the pouch.
Then I pricked my fingertip with a dagger and let a drop of blood fall inside.
Karin’s eyes gleamed.
“That’s the first-place reward from the Bungee Jump Quest, right?”
“Yeah. If nothing had gone wrong, you’d be the one holding it right now.”
“It’s fine. Honestly, I think you’re better suited to use something like that anyway.”
“That’s only natural.”
“You really are the kind of person I hate to compliment.”
At least, this gave me a minimal countermeasure.
If all else failed, I’d just fly straight to Hell with this and turn the moon into a sea of blood.
One of those monsters must be the one that tried to kill me, after all.
After that, we tried to stay as calm as possible as time passed.
We ate lunch and dinner properly.
Each of us checked our weapons and armor.
Time kept flowing—8 o’clock came.
Then 9 o’clock.
9:30. 9:45. 9:50.
‘Hoo...’
I sighed and spoke.
“Let’s prepare to head to Hell.”
My companions nodded grimly.
Just as everyone finished packing and stood up—
[It’s up. It’s up!]
‘What?’
[Magireta’s finally given in. How delightful.]
‘S-Show me, now!’
Flip—
The diary book’s pages turned.
<※Document written on February 8, Year 325.
-Helena Protro Nine.>
At first glance, it was just one lazy-looking line.
But to me right now, it was the single greatest salvation.
I shouted to the diary book immediately.
‘Encyclopedia!’
[Yes.]
<■ Helena Protro Nine
Race: Former Elf. Current Monster.
…
…
Characteristics:
When she was still an elf, she was the “Setra,” the highest authority ruling over all elves.
In human terms, “Setra” is equivalent to a king or emperor.
Even throughout the long history of the elves, Helena was regarded as one of the greatest tyrants.
She reigned over the world as a being who embodied fear itself to all elves.
Cruel and merciless, yet she bestowed infinite love upon her only daughter.
However, she was dragged into one of Magireta’s Quests and went missing.
Later, she survived until the end of the Quest and obtained the Wish Token.
At that time, Magireta had grown tired of playing games with the elves.
On a whim, she told Helena that this would be the final generation.
She also revealed that the elves would become completely extinct afterward.
Upon hearing that, Helena used her Wish Token to demand the survival of her daughter, “Luna Protro Nine.”
However, Magireta replied that the extinction of the elves had already been decided and that such a wish could not be granted.
Normally, Magireta cannot refuse a wish made with a Wish Token.
However, one of the few exceptions is when someone asks to save a race doomed to extinction as the game board resets.
Thus, Helena changed her request.
She asked Magireta, “Then please, at least don’t kill my daughter.”
Although it might seem identical to her first wish, it was actually very different.
The first wish, for “survival,” meant that her daughter should continue living as an elf.
The second wish, “don’t kill her,” meant that even if she couldn’t remain an elf, at least don’t drag her soul to Hell and turn her into a monster.
Magireta granted that wish.
Afterward, Helena perished along with all other elves.
In Hell, she was later selected as an “MVP.”
Together with the other three MVPs, she currently governs one-quarter of Hell as Magireta’s deputy.
Other Notes:
As an elf, she handled Aether more perfectly than anyone.
However, after becoming an MVP in Hell, she lost that ability.
Instead, she can emit deadly venom and toxins from the thousands of snakes that serve as her hair.
Her most dangerous trait, however, is her golden eyes.
By merely setting a target and looking in that direction, she can turn her opponent to stone.
This ability cannot be resisted by any means.
Those turned to stone return to normal only upon Helena’s death.>
When I had finished reading the entire entry—
[It’s a bit late, but may I say one thing?]
‘Can it wait? I’ve just absorbed a lot of information and my head’s spinning.’
[If your head’s already spinning, you might as well read a little more.]
‘Haa. What is it now.’
<Sudden Quest. Protect Armelia Kerr Dneroum from “Medusa.”>
<Sudden Quest. Protect Aina Noel from “Medusa.”>
<Sudden Quest. Protect Berseum Ferux from “Medusa.”>
<Sudden Quest. Protect Sienne Katrin from “Medusa.”>
<Sudden Quest. Protect Benjamin Noel from “Medusa.”>
<Sudden Quest. Protect Karin Oblang from “Medusa.”>
My eyes widened at the last line.
‘Karin’s included too?’
[It seems so.]
‘Don’t tell me… Karin is one of the Possibilities?’
[Yes. I thought you already suspected that, which is why I added her to the party.]
No. It wasn’t really like that.
My mind tangled up, I sighed briefly.
Then I heard Armelia’s voice.
“Mason. Aren’t you going?”
“What? Ah, no. It’s fine now.”
“……?”
“Magireta gave us some information.”
The faces of my companions brightened immediately.
They were all clearly waiting for me to explain.
But before that, I turned to Karin.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“Your name is Luna Protro Nine.”
“……?”
“That’s your real name.”
Karin went silent for a moment before answering.
“What kind of crap is that supposed to mean.”
I reopened the encyclopedia.
And while I was at it, I searched for information on the MVPs.
<■ MVP
: Whenever Magireta wipes out a race and resets the board, she selects an MVP from among the participants of that generation.
A single individual chosen from the countless final victors of dozens—or even hundreds—of generations: an exceptionally outstanding being.
As of now, there exist four MVPs.
Magireta grants each MVP countless privileges and powers, appointing them as her deputies to manage her domain—Hell.
Among those privileges, the most important are as follows:
Magireta cannot restrict or interfere with an MVP’s actions, nor can she kill or injure them.
However, similarly, an MVP cannot compel Magireta to do anything, nor can they kill or injure her. (Not that they have the ability to, anyway.)
While MVPs are still monsters who show loyalty to Magireta, if the ordinary monsters are her slaves, MVPs would be better described as her retainers.>
That was the gist of it.
‘So there are four MVPs including Helena, huh.’
Previously, when I searched for “Elves” in the encyclopedia, the diary book said they were the intelligent species who ruled the Fourth World.
Since one MVP supposedly appears per race, then—just as the encyclopedia stated—Hell is currently ruled by four MVPs, each overseeing a quarter of it.
I shared all the information about Helena and the MVPs with the others.
They all wore somewhat blank expressions.
“Same as last time with the elves and all that... this just doesn’t feel real at all.”
“Since when has Magireta’s Quest ever felt real?”
“……Can’t argue with that.”
“Anyway, what I’m curious about is what Edgar said to recruit Helena. If we knew that, maybe we could turn it against him.”
Then Aina spoke up.
“Maybe he didn’t recruit her at all. Maybe she joined of her own will?”
“Huh? Why do you think that?”
“Well, that idiot over there is her daughter, right? The one she used her final Wish Token for?”
“…….”
“Wouldn’t it make sense she couldn’t stand by while her daughter was forced to join Magireta’s Quest? Edgar probably told her. In that sense, I guess that is recruiting.”
We all turned our eyes toward Aina in mild surprise.
She tilted her head and asked,
“What?”
“You’re not dumb, just undereducated.”
“I’m not undereducated either!”
“That’s a solid deduction. You’re probably right.”
Berseum picked up my words.
“Then what about letting Karin meet Helena? Maybe she could persuade her somehow.”
“In the future we saw, Karin was with us too. And yet, we all perished.”
“…….”
“Perhaps Helena just wanted to clear away the annoying flies buzzing around her daughter so she could speak with her in peace.”
Karin picked her ear and replied.
“Then I can just separate from you guys.”
“…….”
“What? That way, you’ll all be safer.”
“I didn’t expect you to be the one saying that. You’re surprisingly decent.”
“We haven’t even known each other that long, but you never shut up.”
“Hmm… acting separately, huh.”
I rubbed my chin.
Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea—if Karin wasn’t truly one of the Possibilities.
There’s no way Helena came to the surface just to give her daughter a few kind words.
Even if she wouldn’t harm us directly, it’d be troublesome if she acted uncontrollably.
Karin still needed to stay with us until the final quest.
“Acting separately is out of the question. But trying to talk to her is worth a shot.”
“Huh? But you just—”
“Even if we can’t persuade her, we at least need to know her exact intentions.”
“…….”
“To do that, we first need to find where Helena is.”
Now I knew that the one targeting me was Medusa, and that her real name was Helena.
I grabbed the compass.
Then I set the target to Helena and looked at the map.
It pointed to the southernmost tip of the continent.
But the red dot wasn’t fixed in place.
“She’s moving.”
“Is she heading this way?”
“Seems that way.”
“Looks like she’s tracking Karin with some kind of spirit or familiar, just like Karin tracked us.”
“No. As I said before, after becoming an MVP, she lost her ability to handle Aether.”
“Ah, right. That’s true.”
And her movement pattern was rather strange.
She wasn’t heading straight toward us.
I checked what was in the direction she was moving—only a regular territory, nothing unusual.
I put away the compass and said,
“Then shall we go?”
Everyone flinched in shock.
“Go? You mean to Helena?”
“Yes. I said we’d try to talk to her.”
“I get that, but… it’s still too dangerous. You said anyone caught in her gaze turns to stone immediately!”
“That’s right. Which is why I’m not planning to use a teleportation bead.”
I looked toward Karin.
“Let’s try flying this time.”