Chương 233: Chapter 229 - Playing apprehensions

Scarlett's attention was fixed on the broken device before her, studying the damage that had been done to it. She'd had her suspicions, but seeing tangible proof was a different thing entirely. To anyone else, this sight, by itself, might seem insignificant. Even if they recognized it as odd that the device was in the state that it was, they wouldn't understand its implications. Scarlett did, though. With purpose, she crossed the chamber, stopping in front of the round platform on which it stood.

Her attention shifted from the twisted, charred remains of the device's frame to its base. The platform, fractured into pieces by deep cracks, held faint traces of what could have once been runes, now scorched beyond recognition. This was another Zuverian teleportation artifact, similar to the Kilnstones. Unlike the Kilnstones, however, this one established a one-way connection to another set of concealed ruins near Kilsfell. In the game, the player could only use it once before it broke. Just like this one had.

Scarlett wasn't exactly sure why it broke. She vaguely remembered something about age having been a factor, but the specifics escaped her. What mattered was that, in the game, this device was the primary means for the player to access the ruins she was currently in, suggesting it was likely operational just a few months ago, when the game's timeline originally started. Given the activated traps she'd passed to reach this chamber, she felt reasonably sure of her assumption that someone had recently used this thing.

The number of potential suspects wasn't exactly long. In fact, other than the Hallowed Cabal—which she thought unlikely—only three other possibilities to explain this came to mind. One scenario was that this world's timeline had diverged enough from the game that someone unknown to Scarlett had discovered and used the teleportation artifact near Kilsfell. Since she knew the Cabal could defy fate—at least slightly—the events she knew to expect weren't completely set in stone.

That said, she had yet to encounter a situation where a detail like this had changed. Another, more plausible scenario involved Princess Regina. Scarlett knew the princess was going around the empire, exploring Zuverian ruins similar to this one. In the game, including the princess in the party was one of the easiest ways to locate this site. Scarlett had even anticipated that the princess might uncover this place ever since learning that the woman had disappeared. But there was still a third possibility.

One that could very well go hand-in-hand with the second. A 'player' might have been here. Scarlett frowned deeply at the thought. Since her arrival in this world, she had entertained the idea that she might not be the only outsider on more than one occasion. The existence of a 'player' character, filling the same role as the game's protagonist, seemed to fit within the framework of this world. Whether they'd be aware of the overarching meta-narrative, like Scarlett was, remained uncertain, though.

Until recently, she hadn't found any solid evidence that such a person existed. She'd even grown relatively confident they didn't. After all, she lived in Freybrook, a low-level area in the game, and was one of the original low-level bosses in the region. If the player followed a similar progress route to the game, that would have put them squarely in her sights.

Sure, she'd altered events to the point where it was unlikely that the 'confront Baroness Scarlett Hartford' questline would ever play out as it did in the game, but she should still have seen something. She had even tapped into Beldon's information network to check for any promising new Shielders or similar characters running around, but none of the reports had indicated anything that pointed to the existence of a player character. That changed with the news of the first princess' disappearance, though.

While it was entirely possible that the princess had independently decided to run off in this world, Scarlett couldn't ignore the parallel to the game's storyline, where the princess would join the player's party. The idea of encountering a player brought mixed feelings for Scarlett. On one hand, it might be nice to interact with someone from her own world, if they were indeed like her.

On the other, a player character—regardless of whether they were aware of the game aspects of this world—introduced unpredictable variables that Scarlett couldn't necessarily manage. The player didn't have any defined allegiances. If they had access to the same type of knowledge and system that she did, there was no telling what sort of threat they could pose. Any actions on their part could constrain Scarlett's own influence on future events.

If they did exist, she preferred if she could make them her ally, but she also had to accept the fact that they could be an enemy. And there was no telling what effect their presence might already have had on the timeline of this world. What troubled her the most was that she had so little information about this potential player. In contrast, if they possessed knowledge from the game, there was a decent chance that they would know about her, given all the waves she'd made across the empire.

Suddenly, a chill ran up Scarlett's spine. Turning around, she found Nol'viz's robed figure standing at the chamber's entrance, her masked countenance studying Scarlett intently. Then, slowly, Nol'viz's gaze drifted to the damaged device behind Scarlett, her head tilting curiously. The girl's silence was laden with unspoken questions. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Scarlett chose not to answer them, instead walking back across the room and moving past Nol'viz towards the exit. The purpose behind her visit here was to confirm her suspicions, which she had done. While the full implications of what she learned were still unclear, they necessitated considering several new scenarios that she hadn't previously given as much consideration.

The faint sound of footsteps followed behind her as she navigated the corridor, but she relegated that to the back of her mind as her thoughts focused instead on the potential ramifications of this discovery. Reaching the main chamber where the Seal of Thainnith had once been, she ascended the stairs back to the surface. From there, she removed her enchanted glasses and clambered her way over the broken rubble to the courtyard outside.

"We are curious," Nol'viz's echoing voices reached her as the girl moved up beside her.

"What did you learn there?" Scarlett turned, observing the girl in silence for a moment. Even if the Cabal heard of her visit here, it was very unlikely that they'd be able to make much sense of it. Nonetheless, she wasn't inclined to share more than necessary.

"No matter how persistent your inquiries, my response remains the same," she stated, her tone emotionless as she shifted her attention to the volcano at the center of the island. There was a brief silence in return as Nol'viz seemed to digest that response.

"…Are you afraid?" Scarlett's gaze snapped back to the girl, her eyes meeting the impassive mask. The strands of blonde hair framing the mask under Nol'viz's red hood fluttered in the breeze as they faced each other. There was something unnerving in Nol'viz's stare, beyond her trio of blinking eyes.

"I am not," Scarlett said sharply. Nol'viz tilted her head.

"Excited?"

"…No. I suggest you abandon your attempts at interpreting my emotions. Such efforts will prove futile for you." She was similar to Fynn, in a way. They had a certain sensitivity to the emotional states of others, yet both often struggled to decipher those emotions. Nol'viz was probably worse on that front. After a brief silence, Scarlett decided to ask her own question.

"And what of you? While I do not expect you to disclose your reasons for being here, it seems unlikely you would accompany me if you suspected my motives." If the girl really thought Scarlett was up to something that could affect her standing agreement with the cabal, openly following her around would have been the worst thing she could do.

"We do not understand your question," Nol'viz said.

"…Never mind, then. I will refrain from speculating on you or your affiliation to the Cabal." Scarlett shook her head lightly.

"Regardless, I still have further investigation to conduct. If you are going to shadow me, then assist by leading me to Ayrlazkreh's lair." This seemed to pique Nol'viz's interest, as the girl's dark pupils narrowed slightly. Scarlett arched an eyebrow.

"If you intend to refuse, I advise you to reconsider. I may not have been here before and could find it challenging to locate it on my own, but I would manage eventually. Your guidance would simply expedite the process for both of us." Nol'viz considered her for a moment, then turned and started walking. Taking that as a yes, Scarlett followed, maintaining a short distance between them. This confirmed another of Scarlett's suspicions, at least.

That Nol'viz was aware of Ayrlazkreh's lair's location implied the girl's presence here might be related to it in some manner. That narrowed down the potential reasons she was here. Together, the two of them made their way through the desolate ruins of the Zuverian outpost, soon leaving it and reaching a natural ravine at the base of the volcano, formed by rocky outcroppings. Without hesitation, Nol'viz led the way through a narrow gap at the edge of the ravine.

As they delved deeper, the temperature rose, the stone on the sides drawing closer. Scarlett made liberal use of her pyrokinesis to maintain a tolerable temperature around her, while Nol'viz remained silent, seemingly unaffected by the heat. Finally, they reached a point where the ravine opened into a dark, expansive chamber where the air itself was stifling and pressed against the skin. With her enchanted glasses once more donned, Scarlett surveyed the area.

At first glance, it looked to be no more than an ordinary cavern, though there was no visible source for the intense heat. But considering how close they were to an active volcano, it wasn't exactly unexpected. Scarlett walked past a motionless Nol'viz towards the end of the cavern, where a massive section of the wall seemed slightly out of place compared to its surroundings. As she approached, a sudden pervasive pressure caused her to pause in her step, and the rock in front of her began to emit a deep red glow.

A warning. Cautiously stepping back, her eyes remained on the glowing wall as she adjusted to the pressure. At least this matched up with her recollections from the game. If she couldn't proceed further than this, then it was likely that the same applied to the Cabal. She glanced back at Nol'viz, who hadn't moved away from the cavern's entrance.

"I must ask, though I suspect I will not get an answer — has the Cabal attempted to overreach their boundaries in this place?" Unsurprisingly, the girl offered no response. Scarlett turned back to the glowing wall. She had been worried that the Hallowed Cabal would have found some way to exploit the being that resided here outside the scope of the game's narrative. Their assault against the empire was approaching, and it wasn't beyond the Cabal to utilize everything at their disposal, no matter the consequences.

The devastation wrought in the Blasted Lands was a grim reminder of that. And there was no doubt that the creature that lived here was capable of causing destruction on the same scale. This was the entrance to the lair of none other than Ayrlazkreh, after all. An ancient dragon rivaled by few others in this world.

The incident that destroyed most of Fynn's tribe and scorched a significant swath of the empire's land seven years ago was the work of Olgolzkreh, another ancient dragon who dwelled in the Whitdown Mountains. Between the two, Ayrlazkreh was definitely the more dangerous now, especially if the Cabal manipulated it for their own purposes. However, from what Scarlett could see here, it didn't seem like the Cabal could do that. This was a small comfort, as it meant Ayrlazkreh did not pose an immediate threat.

Nonetheless, Ayrlazkreh's presence here on the Resting Eye would eventually spell trouble. The volcano didn't erupt without reason in the game. But there was still time until then. Lots of things could be done to mitigate such a disaster, even if it couldn't be prevented entirely. For now, Scarlett was content with simply knowing that the timeline seemed stable in this particular regard. She continued to contemplate the softly glowing rock before her for a short while longer, then eventually decided to depart.

As she turned and started walking towards the exit, the oppressive pressure looming over her surged in magnitude. What had initially felt like the subtle weight of a dormant colossus now transformed into a focused, overwhelming presence. A tyrannical force, brooking no resistance, pressing down on Scarlett and asserting its dominion. Her breath momentarily seized as every fiber of her being wanted to snap at the sheer impudence of this reaction, then a voice resonated within her mind.

"You… Mortal one who treads on the border of my domain… Halt." Without even realizing it, Scarlett had stopped, even as a scowl formed reflexively on her brow.

"… Excuse me?" the words escaped her lips.