276. Glass Ball
Northern City, Northern Coastline, Kim Island, Kim City, Ancorna Empire
The air in the tent seemed to vibrate with the sudden clarity of their purpose.
“Now that everyone is on the same page,” Ryan said, a sharp, determined smirk crossing his face as he reached for the violet-tinted glass frames, “let me explain exactly how we are going to use this 'untainted' knowledge.”
He placed the box on the table and looked at the gathered leadership. “I need everyone to clear a perimeter of at least five meters. Dame Aisha, if you please?”
As Sarah, Nille, and the Junior Priests moved back toward the tent’s entrance, Ryan signaled to a knight standing guard outside. The knight entered cautiously, carrying a glass jar containing a single, pulsating violet flower, a specimen that had literally grown out of the stone near the dungeon’s entrance.
“This is a flower that spawned inside the dungeon,” Ryan explained, his voice hushed. “By every law of the Absolute Being, it is a piece of that other world. It is a manifestation of the 'Absolute being’s will.'”
He connected a thin fuse to the box, trailing the wire back to a manual detonator a safe distance away. Once everyone was positioned, Ryan took a deep breath and looked at everyone.
“Now, watch what happens when the natural laws of the universe are reasserted.”
He slammed the detonator down.
POP.
The box didn't explode with fire or shrapnel. Instead, it burst with a cloud of deep-violet glitter, microscopic shards of treated glass that hung in the air like a shimmering mist.
As the dust settled over the dungeon flower, something impossible happened. The flower began to phase in and out of existence. It flickered like a candle in a gale, its edges blurring and sharpening with a rhythmic, digital-like distortion. To anyone else, it looked like a flickering illusion, but to Ravenna: if she were there, it would have looked exactly like a computer glitch from her past life.
“W-what is happening..?” Dame Aisha asked, her hand tightening on the hilt of her sword. The sight of reality stuttering before her eyes was more unnerving than any monster.
“Like I said,” Ryan replied, his chest swelling with pride. “I am still figuring out the exact physical relation, but this specific kind of glass, a composite we developed by mixing pulverized Broadleaf Arrowhead flowers with mineral-rich sand, makes mana become chaotic. Specifically, it attacks the mana produced by a dungeon.”
He walked toward the table, where the flower finally gave one last flicker and came back to how it was.
“I decided to incorporate the Broadleaf Arrowheads after studying the spellbooks Her Highness provided,” Ryan continued. “The texts mentioned that these flowers were used in teleportation and spatial magic. I realized that if they can alter the coordinates of space, they can also be used to disrupt the 'absolute being’s will' of the dungeon’s mana. We aren't just blocking the magic; we’re making the magic's 'home' uninhabitable.”
“Aren’t Broadleaf Arrowheads incredibly unique and costly?” Dame Aisha asked, her tactical mind already calculating. “Can you produce enough of these bombs to equip a full strike team? We need to reach Her Highness!”
Ryan smiled confidently. “One of the first resources Her Highness identified on this island was a massive underwater vein of Broadleaf Arrowhead flowers growing in the reefs, Dame Aisha. For us, the raw materials are practically free.”
“Then what are we waiting for?!” one of the knights yelled, his voice echoing the desperation of the men outside. “Let’s start mass-producing these glass balls and march into that dungeon!”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from NovelFire. Please report it.
blacksmith Nille, however, shook his head grimly, his heavy brow furrowed. “It’s not that simple is it? , lad. Creating the 'Violet Spectrum' glass must be an incredibly delicate process. It must require a master’s touch to temper the glass so it holds the Broadleaf essence without shattering prematurely, and then it must be ground into a powder fine enough to remain airborne.. huh..”
“That is our current bottleneck,” Ryan admitted, the pride in his voice replaced by a sober reality. “Even if we have the perfect weapon to stun the dungeon and protect our men... we simply do not have the volume of skilled glassworkers or alchemists needed to produce it at scale. We can make enough for one small squad, but a full-scale assault on a twenty-floor dungeon? We're talking about tons of this material.”
The pressure in the tent shifted, all eyes turning toward Sarah.
With Ravenna missing and Alice trapped inside the dungeon as well, Sarah was the highest-ranking civil administrator left. The weight of the entire Kim Dukedom seemed to settle on her shoulders. Her mind raced, spinning through logistical charts, labor reports, and emergency protocols.
Every minute they spent refining glass was a minute Ravenna spent in that dark abyss. But if they sent the knights in without the glass, they were sending them to their deaths. It was a mind-numbing dilemma.
“I... I will find a solution,” Sarah said, her voice small but determined, even as the room seemed to spin. “I will find the workers. I will find a way to save Her Highness.”
She looked out the tent flap at the darkening sky, the glow of the dungeon reflecting in her eyes. The clock was ticking, and she knew that they were running out of time.
“Why not just commission the glass on the mainland and then grind it into powder once it reaches the Dukedom?”
A voice came from outside the tent, clear and youthful, cutting through the heavy atmosphere like a sharp blade. Everyone in the command center turned in unison, eyes widening as two figures stepped past the guards and into the flickering light of the magic lamps.
Sarah and the Junior Priests immediately bowed their heads in deep respect. Dame Aisha, however, looked more like she wanted to scream.
Princess Gracie Solarius and Prince Benric Solarius stood there, their royal attire slightly dusty but their gazes steady. Outside, the muffled thunder of the Kim Troops engaging the Minotaur herds provided a grim, staccato background to their entrance.
“Your Highnesses!” Dame Aisha exclaimed, her voice a mixture of shock and scolding. “I gave explicit orders to the household guard to keep you confined to the safety of the castle! Her Highness Ravenna would have my head if she knew I allowed you anywhere near the front lines!”
Prince Benric let out a long, dramatic sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh, come now, Dame Aisha. The news of Aunt Ravenna’s disappearance has finally reached the city streets. The reporters are circling like vultures. How could we possibly sit still in a dusty castle while the heart of the island is being torn open?”
“Exactly,” Princess Gracie added, her expression softening into one of genuine concern. “The evening editions of the newspaper are already saying that not only is Aunt Ravenna missing, but Marie is trapped with her. The people are panicking. We had to see the situation for ourselves too.”
Dame Aisha rubbed her temples, looking as though she was developing a migraine. She was about to summon a squad to escort them back when Sarah stepped forward, her eyes bright with a sudden, desperate hope.
“The plan... Your Highnesses,” Sarah whispered, her mind already calculating the logistics. “You suggested we have the base glass manufactured in the mainland and then simply crush it into the disruption powder here? right?”
Princess Gracie nodded firmly. “The mainland has hundreds of established glassblowing guilds anyway right. They have the skilled labor that Kim Island is currently lacking. If we send the specifications and material for the 'Violet Glass' they could produce tons of it in a matter of days.”
Blacksmith Nille, gave a slow, thoughtful nod. The soot on his brow crinkled as he processed the idea. “It might be possible. It would mean letting a core technology, at least the glass-making portion of it, leave the island’s secrets. Her Highness might punish us for a breach of intellectual property, but...” He looked toward the dungeon on the horizon. “...but this is the only way we can save them.”
“It’s not like the mainland guilds will know what the glass actually does,” Ryan added, his excitement returning. “They’ll just see a recipe for a specific, oddly-tinted decorative glass. They won’t understand why they have the Broadleaf Arrowhead extract or the mineral salts for the final infusion. We can have them blow the glass into thin, hollow spheres that are easy to crush.”
Sarah’s hands were already flying over her parchment, drafting a series of urgent missives. “Yes! We can order it as a special commission for a grand decorative event in the Kim Dukedom to celebrate the new harbor. The merchants won’t suspect a thing. They’ll just see a high-paying contract from Her Highness's office.”