Volume 1 – 26. Planning
“You’re asking for recommendations on people to bring for an expedition to the Southern Ruins?”
Seated on the worn green sofa, Lucien found himself sandwiched between Seren and Ava. Across from them, Edric sat in one of the two mismatched armchairs, his brows slightly raised as if asking What for?
“Yes.”
Lucien’s expression grew a little more serious as he leaned forward slightly.
“There’s a Stage 4 Hollow that Ava and I encountered yesterday. It seemed to be patrolling around the Garden District.” He glanced briefly toward Ava before continuing. “We fought it for a while and concluded that a small party consisting of a defender, attacker, and Weaver—or better yet, a priestess—should be more than enough to deal with it.”
A faint glint entered his eyes.
“I want to kill it.”
Seren quietly straightened beside him at the blunt declaration.
“Of course, I plan to fully study its route first before launching a proper expedition,” Lucien added calmly. “I just wanted to tell you early so you’d have time to prepare.”
Starting from Stage 4, Hollows possessed materials valuable enough to make hunting them highly desirable. The most common were Corruption Crystals and Corruption Essence. Some also carried Mutation Tissue—like the claws from the Spider Hollow or even the fused armor from the Hollow Knight.
Naturally, those materials were difficult to obtain. As far as Lucien knew, Stage 4 Hollows were always found in areas with dense Corruption.
Although certain professions received priority access to Corruption treatment, even that privilege had limits. Because of that, hunters generally preferred to eliminate a Stage 4 Hollow in a single short expedition after gathering enough information beforehand—information that usually came from races with naturally high Corruption resistance.
Edric fell into thought, fingers lightly tapping the armrest of his chair.
“I have people that meet all the criteria you want, but…”
He sounded hesitant.
Beside Lucien, Seren let out a noticeably audible sigh through her nose, already seeming to know what he was about to say.
“You mean the four people we originally planned to bring outside the city?”
“Yes.”
Edric let out a weary sigh and rubbed his temple for a moment.
Beside Lucien, Ava raised a brow slightly while resting her cheek against the edge of the sofa, clearly intrigued now.
“What’s with the four people?” she asked. “And did you say you were originally planning to leave this place?”
Seren nodded quietly.
“Yes. We have a small group trying to get out. Not many—just four others.” She folded her hands together on her lap as she explained. “One of them is a half-dwarf. He knows a route leading toward the Hollow Realms.”
She paused briefly, seemingly organizing her thoughts before continuing.
“From there, we’d rely on guidance from a former noble. She’s a Weaver. The plan is to head northeast, toward the Veyran Highlands. There are still noble estates there… and temples dedicated to the Zoḗgennis, Progenitor of All-Living.”
Her expression softened slightly at the mention of it.
“There’s also a wolf beastkin who would guard us during the journey.”
Lucien nodded slowly, processing the information in silence.
“And the last member?”
“A Nephilim.”
Lucien’s brows lifted faintly in surprise.
“Nephilim?”
Seren gave a small nod, her gaze lowering slightly.
“Yes.”
She glanced toward Ava before continuing more quietly.
“As for why we want to leave the city…” Her fingers tightened faintly against each other atop her lap. “There simply aren’t enough Lifebringers here to treat everyone.”
Her head lowered a little.
“Once someone reaches Stage 1-B, the chances of successful recovery start becoming smaller and smaller.”
She looked as though she wanted to say something else after that, her lips parting slightly—only to stop midway, seemingly reconsidering her words.
“As ordinary citizens in most districts, people usually won’t run into too many problems as long as they avoid areas dense with Corruption,” Seren explained after a while. “There’s normally enough time to reserve treatment in advance.”
She sighed quietly.
“But if someone suddenly reaches Stage 1-C, the chances of receiving treatment in time are extremely low.”
A faintly bitter smile appeared on her lips.
“The waiting list for a private Lifebringer is already three months long, while they only have around two months left at best, even with Corruption suppressants.” She shook her head faintly. “The official channels through Temple Vigil take even longer than that.”
Hearing that, Lucien understood just how doomed this city truly was.
Even if the number of Lifebringers and Illuminators were combined together, there were probably only a few dozen of them in total.
And they were expected to treat tens of thousands of people.
“As for this party,” Edric said, leaning back into his chair, “the half-dwarf and the wolf beastkin are both male. Their Corruption levels aren’t really an issue.”
His expression turned more complicated afterward.
“But the other two are a different matter. Especially the Nephilim.”
Lucien immediately understood the underlying implication behind those words.
“Do Nephilim experience unusual reactions around Inferni-blooded races?” he asked.
The question was partly about Corruption treatment and partly about whether they would even be capable of working together properly.
Edric shook his head.
“I don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a tired look. “What I do know is that they’re more prone to Corruption and significantly harder to heal once infected.”
After a brief pause, he added,
“But I do know that Isolde—the former noble lady—hates Inferni quite a lot.”
Lucien let out a dry smile at that.
“Is it at the level where she’d be difficult to work with professionally?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Edric glanced briefly toward Ava before turning his attention back to Lucien.
“Still, I want you to meet them first. There’s a chance they’ll still be interested in the proposal.”
Lucien also understood the implication behind those words.
Truthfully, he was also curious himself. Seren was currently his only point of reference. He wanted to know what kind of effects other races—or people with completely different backgrounds and conditions—would produce to him.
The half-dwarf and the wolf beastkin could also become useful test subjects for purification through other forms of intimacy.
Lucien gave a small nod.
“Sure. I’ll meet them.” He leaned back slightly against the sofa. “Please arrange the time for it.”
He turned toward Ava.
She had already begun frowning faintly, clearly confused as to why he still agreed even after hearing the details.
A small smile appeared on Lucien’s face at the sight of it.
“For now, Ava…” he said calmly, “would you be interested in hearing about a faster and easier way to deal with Corruption?"