[Vol. 8] Chapter 26: If You Have the Technology, Why Not Use It?
"Once someone is infected, the only way to resist the [Corpse Transformation] curse is through their own willpower. Many people who are still in the incubation period look completely normal on the outside. Even they don’t notice anything strange. But inside, their bodies are already dead. All they can do is wait in fear for the moment the mutation suddenly takes over, or end their life before that happens."
As she spoke, the Saintess secretly glanced at the priestess beside her again. Seeing that the girl still didn’t show any reaction and instead kept looking around the sky like she was searching for something, the Saintess sighed quietly and pulled herself together to meet Raymond’s eyes again.
"Until now, the cause of the [Corpse Transformations] has always been a mystery, and they only happened within my Holy Empire. If a [Corpse Transformation] really broke out in your fortress, then this isn’t just a simple war anymore. General Raymond, please tell me everything that happened from beginning to end... In the face of disaster, political conflicts should come second."
"Alright..."
The young general nodded deeply, and his gaze toward Frederica now carried respect and appreciation. It was clear that he truly understood how dangerous a [Corpse Transformation] outbreak could be. It wasn’t just because he had collapsed from exhaustion.
To him, this was a gamble. If the Holy Empire was secretly behind this war, then today would be the end for him. But if not, he might gain the support of a group that’s best equipped to handle something like this, and maybe save countless lives.
Luckily, he made the right choice.
Raymond nodded again, ready to explain everything in detail. But before he could start, the quiet black-haired girl who had been listening the whole time suddenly spoke. She seemed to be just a normal young priest traveling with the Saintess, but she brought up something no one had paid attention to before.
“Wait a second. You mentioned ‘messengers’ and ‘scouts’ quite a few times earlier. So I want to make sure I understand, when you say messengers, do you mean the kind who run or ride horses?”
Raymond looked a bit surprised and glanced at her. He didn’t seem bothered that she interrupted his talk with the Saintess, but he did ask in a puzzled tone.
“If not running or riding horses, what else would they use? Magic-powered vehicles aren't widely used in the army yet, and while they’re fast, they’re not flexible enough. Scouts need to be light and quick, and they have to handle tough terrain. You can’t focus only on speed and forget about mobility, so—”
“Okay, okay, stop!”
Before he could go on with his military explanation, Violet quickly raised her hand and cut him off, nodding to show that she understood.
She exchanged a glance with the dragon girl beside her, and both of them seemed to have figured something out.
“I just thought… there seem to be more birds in the sky again.”
………………………………………
As night began to fall, Frederica’s delegation arrived a few kilometers outside the fortress of Iron Ridge.
The Valandia Province is full of steep mountains and dangerous terrain. The fortress built between two peaks is the only main road for large caravans and travelers to pass through within a hundred kilometers.
So, if the delegation wants to return to their home country through the border, they must pass through this Iron Ridge area. Unless they all fly through the air using flight wings or something similar.
During the Fourth Demon War, Violet once provided thousands of man-made flight wings to a surprise attack team led by Edwina. These wings were designed by a brilliant inventor from the Spirit Pupper tribe and helped the team cross the sky and strike directly at the Holy Capital. Of course, these flight wings weren’t made by the priestess herself, she simply shared the method and had craftsmen in the Holy Empire produce them.
Eilush, the inventor, had a generous and open-minded personality. She didn’t stop Violet from spreading the knowledge of how to make her invention. Because of this, the Goddess Church now knows how to mass-produce flight wings.
However, the power core of these amazing devices, far more advanced than even the Austre Empire’s magical technology, comes from high-purity light-element crystals refined by Violet herself. These crystals are nearly impossible to copy or get by any other means.
There is a forest deep in the southern forbidden lands where Violet once used her spell [Eternal Light of Protection]. Some similar crystals can be mined there, but they are too rare and expensive to power many flight wings. Because of this, Violet doesn’t worry that her technology will be misused by people with bad intentions.
In fact, even this Holy Empire diplomatic team, personally led by the Judgment Saintess, doesn’t have flight wings for mobility. Only a few high-ranking members carry them, just in case. So flying over the fortress isn’t really an option.
After careful planning, Frederica decided to first take a small team into the fortress to scout and understand the situation. She hoped to find and speak with the Behemoth chieftain named Tairnak, whom she had mentioned earlier. Once they knew what was really going on, they would decide what to do next.
Of course, the front lines are full of danger, and there’s also the threat of the [Corpse Transformation] that Raymond had mentioned. So there isn’t much time to investigate. They must make a decision by the end of tonight or at the latest, early tomorrow morning. Once the sun rises and visibility improves, their large group will surely be discovered. If that happens, breaking out will become much more difficult.
With all this in mind, the Saintess picked a few elite members from the holy knights to form a small team. She would lead them herself, and Raymond, who knew the inside of the fortress well, would go with them. The two angel sisters, Leila and Rene, stayed behind as backup.
As for a certain priestess...
“Master, why are we going off on our own instead of staying with them? Do you think those mortals will just get in the way?”
Above the fortress, the dragon girl floated beside the black-haired girl. She looked down at the noisy and chaotic scene below. Her golden eyes quickly locked onto the small team that had just climbed into the city. She looked a bit curious.
The priestess, who was also watching silently, smiled without turning her head.
“To use a saying that Sethlin likes to repeat, mortals have their own roles to play, and gods shouldn’t interfere. But there are also things only gods can do. That fortress is full of dangerous and strange beings. If we go with Frederica’s group, we’ll draw too much attention.”
“Hmmm... okay. So what are we doing now?”
“Let’s go check out this [Corpse Transformation] for ourselves. Hearing about it isn’t as good as seeing it with your own eyes. This is my first time encountering something like this. It sounds just like a zombie apocalypse movie... And the fact that it first appeared over 300 years ago, that’s also really interesting~”
As she spoke, the black-haired girl turned to glance at some tiny, palm-sized creatures nearby, darting back and forth through the shadows. She seemed to be thinking about something, then shook her head helplessly.
“They say emperors are heartless… but this one really went too far.”