Chương 78: Chapter 77

It was now or never.

"System." Mrs. Blackmore called out for the thing that had been guiding all her children this whole time. The System, who had been gone for quite some time, appeared at her command.

"Yes, Nin..." It paused.

"... Identity mismatch." The System immediately performed a full scan after noticing Nina sitting in the corner.

"Comparison complete."

"No registered match."

"Conclusion: new personality."

"Enough of the formalities. There's no time for that." Mrs. Blackmore spoke calmly.

"I'm sure you've already acclimatized yourself to the situation outside."

"According to my calculations, the current situation is unfavorable. Also, the barrier is considerably disappointing. Its defensive capabilities are far below the previous barrier utilized during the Calamity incident. At minimum, that barrier was capable of containing a Calamity."

"Are you finished?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Mrs. Blackmore looked toward it.

"Does this body have the ability to draw blood?"

"Huh?" The System paused.

"Please clarify."

"Blood."

"B-L-O..."

"Clarification unnecessary." It paused.

"Request confirmed. Blood extraction is possible. Equivalent exchange required."

"So what?"

"So long as it's possible, isn't that all that matters?" The System was left speechless.

"I am going to give you permission. You may choose which exchange you wish to use."

"... Willpower." The System checked this personality's willpower. It froze.

"Measurement exceeded registered parameters."

"Recalibrating..." Just as it was about to speak, Mrs. Blackmore had already sliced open her hand with a ceremonial dagger, gently spreading the blood across the statue. As she did so, the statue began to glow faintly, a crimson light slowly spreading across its surface. At the same time, her own eyes changed. Mrs. Blackmore's expression, however, remained exactly the same. She merely lowered her gaze.

"This will take some time."

"But since the barrier will take another ten minutes to fully dissipate, the people should already be making their way there." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"It'll be fine."

"So it shouldn't matter." She turned her attention back toward the statue.

"Drink up, little one."

"Mama's got more where that came from." Each time the body's healing ability activated, she reopened the wound, then sliced her other hand as well so that both palms rested against the statue. The blood, empowered by her willpower, continued flowing into the statuette. There were five statuettes in total within this world. And in The Revenge Plot, the Hero's Party had managed to find four of them across the various nations, including the Empire.

The only one they never discovered was the statuette belonging to the Holy Nation. Had they found all five beforehand, the Hero's Party would have had a much easier time dealing with the Calamity. But as luck would have it, they never managed to locate the last one. Even so, the other four had still been enough to help them overcome the disaster. Most of the statuettes were golden in color. Which was why Mrs. Blackmore had been confused when she discovered that this one was instead a deep crimson red.

Only a few minutes remained. Just as the monsters finally began passing through the now-defective barrier, banging against the walls and climbing over one another in an attempt to cross... The statuette activated. These were Guardians. And Guardians protected their land. Mrs. Blackmore straightened herself before gripping her staff even more firmly than before. A golden circle appeared beneath her feet. Like those before it, she repeated the oath engraved upon the plaque. Her words shifted into an ancient language.

When she finished speaking, the circle was complete. She could no longer leave the area until this place was safe. Outside, the monsters had already breached the walls by climbing over one another. Just as they surged forward... Millions of swords manifested high in the sky, raining down upon the remaining monsters. Most of them, however, targeted a single being. The final boss. The boss merely staggered. Even after enduring countless blades, it continued forward.

With a deafening roar, it smashed through the gate and stepped into the town. It was enraged.

"How dare you!" it screamed.

"How dare you?!"

"How dare you?!"

"I destroy all!" Just as it was about to take another step... A figure nearly three times its size descended before it. The statuette had come to life. The monster attacked immediately. The Guardian merely waved one sleeve. The monster was instantly torn into countless pieces. Feeling that the disaster had finally ended, Mrs. Blackmore slowly opened her eyes. The golden circle had disappeared. She sat down, breathing heavily. This truly consumed one's life force.

She clenched her fingers, somewhat annoyed now that she understood why the fifth statuette was considered the most dangerous one to use. The others merely required someone to recite the command and touch the stone. No blood offering was necessary. This one, however, was quite the greedy soul. Still... Since its power was more than sufficient, she supposed it was acceptable. Mrs. Blackmore turned toward the System.

"How much willpower do I have left?"

"Previous value: over one thousand."

"Measurement exceeded system scale. Therefore I expanded the evaluation range."

"Current willpower: twenty."

"Recommendation: immediate rest."

"I see."

"No wonder I feel rather lightheaded."

"Seems like I need to rest for quite some time." The System remained silent for a moment.

"... Correction. It is inadvisable to refer to this as 'quite some time.' You have expended approximately ninety-eight percent of your recorded willpower. Recovery period: extensive." The System turned toward the statuette. Artifact identified. Designation: Fifth Guardian Statuette. Public classification: Demonic Artifact. Reason for classification: activation requires an extreme amount of life force. Average unqualified survival rate: negligible.

Public classification is retained to discourage unauthorized activation. Fortunately, Madam understood the activation language. Estimated willpower requirement otherwise: tenfold.

"System?"

"Yes, madam." The System immediately straightened itself. Mrs. Blackmore continued staring at the statuette.

"This information shall not be disclosed to anyone who is not already aware of it."

"Understood?"

"Yes, yes, ma'am."

"May I know why?"

"The destruction of this town..." Mrs. Blackmore paused slightly, almost as though she were reluctant to continue.

"It was orchestrated."

"If the four rifts had truly opened at the same time, the Guardian's attack would have killed every monster except the bosses."

"Even though defeating them would still have required sacrifices and teamwork..."

"The city itself would not have been destroyed."

"At worst..."

"Everyone would have sacrificed themselves."

"But the city would still have remained standing."

"Yet..." Mrs. Blackmore fell silent. Deep within the consciousness, Nina watched everything in silence. Then she murmured quietly.

"Yet, before the rebirth timeline..."

"It was destroyed."

"Completely." After those words, Mrs. Blackmore left the chamber. Before the entrance closed, she looked back at the statue one last time. It had already returned to its motionless state. She frowned.

"Let's not meet ever again." The hidden passage sealed itself. Mrs. Blackmore returned to the consciousness and looked toward her daughter sitting quietly in the corner. Her expression softened ever so slightly. With a snap of her fingers, she officially sealed these memories, preventing anyone who had not already witnessed them from accessing them. Afterward, she glanced at Nina once more. Nina immediately shrank into herself. Seeing that reaction, Mrs.

Blackmore's raised hand, which had been prepared to undo the restriction should Nina ask, slowly lowered. She turned away and walked into the subconscious without another word. Nina was not yet ready to bear the weight of those memories.