Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 843: The Kingdom Of Absurdity’s Absurdities - Part 1

Raven had just returned to the spire when Mel and the others were about to go out and look for him. His disappearance had everyone worried as nobody knew where he’d gone, but even now, the girls weren’t cured of their worries. Noticing just that, the hero decided to hold off on telling them the news about Rose and the other women–there were far more important matters for them to attend to, after all.

”Mono wants us at the top to check up on the ships.” Holding Raven’s hand, Mel squeezed his fingers to comfort herself. Looking into his eyes with a brief smile, she took a deep breath and unloaded more news. ”Reina is already there being coached on how the apparatus works. Regalia’s there too, but I doubt either of them can go from coursing a water vessel to a flying one.”

”Hmm,” holding his chin with the free hand, Raven tried to think of who could manage such a ship instead. Not many names came to mind, but there was one person who could possibly handle it well. ”Bring Hayley from Eclanor, she’s an automaton, so it should be easier for her to work the vessel, with some guidance from the other two sprinkled in.”

Nodding her head, Mel began guiding Raven towards the top of the spire. The rest scattered and busied themselves with other important tasks, and the only ones accompanying him at the moment were his immediate party and the monster girls.

While waiting for the elevator, Liliyana and Amedith kept shifting in their place. Taking note of the strange behavior, Raven narrowed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders at the magus. Forcing a weak smile on his face, he gave Liliyana a glance before replying.

”The talk about the candidates, you, Aradin, and his daughter. And then the word the assassin used against Aradin makes it sound like Nerva is orchestrating every step that we take. What if she wants us to do what we’re doing? If nothing else, it sounds far too convenient for me to think that it’s all a coincidence.”

”And the word candidate... It’s obviously a selection of some kind, but for what?” Taking over her lover’s worry, Liliyana spoke her mind as well. ”The only thing that connects you three is the power of corruption, and Kara confirmed that Aradin’s daughter has a fae presence. And since June is an elf, that means...”

”She has Umbra’s essence.” Finishing her daughter’s thoughts, Will-O sat quietly on her shoulders. Staring into the distance, she hadn’t even realized that she’d spoken out loud and not inside her head.

The ding of the elevator, however, sliced through everyone’s thoughts. As they walked in beside each other, each person was left on their own to decipher what was going on. Had they known more about Nerva and how she wished to achieve her end goal of the world’s annihilation, perhaps then they could’ve stumbled on an answer–but for now, what little they knew was far too limiting.

’Nerva wants the world to end and her creations to return to her in death. The nun in white mentioned the candidates, we heard it again, and now all those who can use corruption have been confirmed to be those three candidates. The assassin mentioned a connection between Nerva and Aradin–a candidate, which means these candidates are somehow related to Nerva and are possibly working towards a goal that she wants them to achieve, whether they know of it or not. Lastly, Aradin’s daughter has the potential to be a demon lord, and that should be all. Right?’ Summarizing everything that he knew, Raven felt like he had a clearer grasp of what was happening.

”Do you guys think this candidate deal is related to why I lashed out and attacked you while we were dealing with the evolved horror in Inktaus?” Lifting his head, Raven looked around inside the elevator.

Glancing at each other while considering the question, none of them could help but feel that there might be a connection after all.

”You commanded the horror as if it were your slave.” Taking a deep breath, Erika looked into Raven’s eyes. ”But it was unlike your other abilities. You were just screaming at it, and then it was forced to do it.”

The floors passed on by as the group contemplated the findings. The more they thought about it, the worse the possibilities seemed to be getting.

”Arche said something about you being the same person who saved her life, didn’t she? And if I’m not wrong, she was suspended in a massive crater of dark water for who knows how long...” Leaning against the elevator’s cold walls, Aria’s mind drifted to another memory. ”I... I remember either Tariyaan or Libyan calling her a demon lord’s servant when we visited hell. Or maybe it was Aran–the fucking guy who apparently knew it all. Gods! Haa... Tell me I didn’t dream it.”

With a deep gulp, she looked around, and to her horror, nobody protested against her claim.

”Demon lord’s servant, saved by a mysterious person who she says felt the same as Raven, and we always knew that Nerva’s nightmares are what the horrors are, and if the same is true for the demon lord, then there’s our connection between the two.”

”Aria!” Mel exclaimed at even suggesting such a thing.

”I... I’m probably wrong, but still it’s the only thing that makes sense!”

”What? That Raven and that demon lord are somehow connected?!”

”Nonsense! If he has a part of Nightsilver in him, then how can he also have something to connect him to the demon lord!” Shutting the girls down with sound, irrefutable reasoning, Amedith put his foot down between the two. ”Let’s... Not delude ourselves here! We just don’t have enough knowledge, alright?!”

The door to the very top opened as if to specifically draw everyone’s attention. Looking to the front, everyone saw Mono and the others working on a clutter of ship parts with Reina and Regalia being instructed by Shamisha on the ship’s inner workings. Taking the quiet as his chance to divert the party from wild speculations, Raven took a step forward.

”One step at a time,” and with that, Raven decided to take a moment to just be in the moment and help everyone relax. ”This will be our final stop, so don’t waste it on stressing yourself to the death. Who knows how many of us will return alive, so just enjoy it, alright?”

Already having accepted his death if it does come to be, the hero reminded them of the possibility. Considering his words, the group looked at each other and decided that it was probably worth just living in the moment for a bit. For who knows how long they could enjoy that luxury, living that is.