171 - - a greedy light

The swirling red lotus fire engulfs Stratchia's entire body in an instant as if licking it.

Immediately, the rotting dragon's armor turns from black to white and burns like a piece of paper, as if it has easily exceeded its limits.

More than half of the body beneath it is already about to disappear into the flames.

Ninessa lets out an inarticulate scream at the sight of the cruelly transformed Straccia.

The girls, too, are speechless, their eyes wide open.

Only Mu, blindfolded by Yuril, struggles to stand alone.

The red-haired man, who is being consumed by the red flames, forms a satisfied smile on his lips as he watches the stunned surroundings.

This ignites Thor's anger.

"You people are all so selfish!"

Remembering his old bearded friend who was about to die in the sand, Thor rushes to him and reaches out his hand.

But then he remembers that the number of times he can use has run out.

Perhaps he knew this and acted accordingly.

Straccia looks at Thor and lifts her chin slightly in burnout.

"Then put it back in..."

Thor's face tightened in surprise when he touched the flames to them.

Every single body from Straccia's past that he could see was on fire.

It must have been only a few seconds ago that he threw himself into the flames.

But the only image that comes to mind is that of a man engulfed in flames, no matter how far he goes.

Thor stops his hand involuntarily at the divine authority of the relic that is about to completely burn away the past.

The man in front of him nodded quietly as he burned.

The look in his eyes, as if he had given up on everything, almost reminded Thor of the day he met the arrogant red-haired boy...

He skips his long reminiscences and his own skill tree.

His goal is to transfer the skill points.

The growing branch, filled with the contents of the water bottle, quickly reaches its limit and produces new fruit.　

"You're making me spend a lot of time and effort.

Thor muttered a few words and glared at his apprentice as he was buried in the flames--.

The next moment, Straccia is suddenly thrown back in front of the burning wall with her arms outstretched.

His body, which had been on fire until a few moments before, is now nowhere near on fire.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Thor slams his fist angrily into his gut.

He grabs Stratchia by the neck, which is bent in a crooked shape, and throws her backward, away from the fire.

Ninessa, limping on one leg, leaps at the man as he rolls spectacularly on the ground.

She puts her hand on his chest and asks him repeatedly and loudly as she holds him.

"Prince, prince!　...... Prince, you're alive, aren't you?"

Shaken, Straccia shook her head lightly and looked alternately at her restored body and at the red-hot flames.

Then he exhaled disgustedly and muttered something under his breath, as if he had grasped the current situation.

"...... I don't even have the freedom to choose where I die?"

"Shut up!"

Thor swung his fist down on the head of the red-haired man who had just let out a bitter, bitter rant.

He also knocks Ninessa, who is standing next to him, over the head with a fist.　

"Why me too?"

"That's what you do when you hide things from us!"

Thor crossed his arms and looked down at them, glaring at them as they hugged each other.

"Why don't you guys ever talk to me about this? First tell me what's going on. Don't act out of the blue. We're not children!

"Tor-chan, this is great! It's full of sprouts!　Oh, it's hot!"

The next thing I knew, Mu had broken free from Yuril's shackles and was looking up at the roaring flames with great interest.

Perhaps he had gotten too close, his face was burning bright red.

Thor stared at him for a moment, and without even touching him, the child's figure disappeared and suddenly appeared in Yuril's arms.

"What!"

"Listen to me. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well, it's a matter of temple doctrine ......."

I don't care. It's more important to have someone burn himself to death in front of you. Besides, there's a child here. Be more careful!

"Sorry, sorry. ......"

"Also, my friend doesn't have much left. Don't reduce them without my permission!"

The two men were silent when Thor pointed out the problem, but they seemed to have lost some of their tension and revealed the situation to us.

It could be said that the way they were able to use their mysterious skills had made them realize their true potential.

The relic "Lantern of Greed" burns away the miasma leaking from the great miasma pit, and has divine authority to suppress the movement of the miasma.

However, even though it is a relic of the gods, it needs fuel to keep burning.

As the name suggests, the "lamp of greed-eaters" needs desire.

In order to gather them, the Temple of Liberation provided a place for gambling and s*xual favors, sucking out the overflowing desires and storing them in the relics.

But there is no such facility here.

Clearly, it will be many years before the city is restored and the temple rebuilt.

"And then?"

"Mm. It is said that it takes a sacrifice to make the flame last."

"So you ran for it."

Straccia, sitting on her haunches, nodded her head with a face that had lost all expression.

Thor looked at her face with a look of dismay and remembered the words they had exchanged a few months ago at the teahouse.

It was about the first forced reconnaissance mission to Bossalia, and Straccia had told him that she would shine a light on the ruins of the city.

That means that he had made up his mind from that moment on.

"Someone else could have ......"

"Only a genuine adventurer can serve as Tribune."

"Is there a reason?"

Of course, the desire to live is the strongest in me.

Furthermore, since it is a relic of the flame god Rafalit, only his people, the Red Tails, are accepted.

It seems that this is not a lie, since Thor, who touched it directly, and Mu, who came very close to it, were not burned by it.

It is said that the "Lantern of Greed," which is fed by the souls of strong adventurers, can keep burning for about a year without any offerings.

Without it?

"One month is the limit. ......"

Thor scratched quietly under his chin at the lack of options.

"But the platinum flame will have a hard time without you. What were you going to do about the underground prison?"

"That is why I invited the brothers. "To see if he is worthy to sit in my place."

No, no, don't force yourself on me. Besides, you don't have enough rank to go there right away.

In the meantime, Kiki and Nene will be--"

"No, I don't want to!"

"I'm not too ....... I don't like those two."

Kugase and Rummella, who had been listening with mysterious faces, started to protest.

Sola, who had also been listening with a somber look on her face, started to raise her voice in protest.

"Oh, Thor, are you going to a different party?"

"I have no intention of doing that, so don't worry. I'm not going to do it, so don't worry.

"So if I'm the sacrifice--"

"That's more like the opposite!　Miss Niné."

"Stop making bad jokes at a time like this, sister Ninessa."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"But ......"

Indeed, if we continue with the project, we will only be able to suppress the miasma for one month.

It seems that the "lamp of greed" used this time took more than ten years to grow to its current state.

So, we should just give up and wait for a chance to seal it up again, but that is not a good idea either.

It was only because the outbreak was less than a year old that we were able to defeat the master of the labyrinth.

The next outbreak is sure to be even tougher.

Straccia and the others thought that they should not let this opportunity pass them by.

Thor looked around at all the faces and thought again.

Abandoning them here would be a bad idea, and would obviously cause problems.

Besides, I've been a little bit poisoned by the rigid class of people.

"Duty of those with power. If ......, there is only one thing to do.

Remembering the situation on the ground, Thor let out a deep breath.