At the very least, he got a Blessing Card this time. Last time, he used Gluttony's Blessing Card to fight and free Cluster from her fate. It was a real Blessing compared to the [Blessing of the God of Hunt] that he got. The God of Hunt was dead a long time ago so the Blessing that Souta receive was too weak compared to Gluttony.
He could use this card in dangerous situations. Sadly, it was only a temporary one so he had to save it until he really needs it.
'The special quest... I didn't trigger any of it. From the looks of it and the unknown visitor just now, it seems that something happened in the dark that I wasn't aware of.'
Souta said inwardly. If he only completed the special quest, then his rewards would probably be doubled.
Well, there's no point in complaining anymore. He only had one thought at that time and that was to destroy the Hall of Power.
Souta shook his head and glanced at his surroundings. After he told them that there was nothing to be afraid of, the people returned to normal. They trusted him, the leader of the Astros.
He already met Gragas, Yuko, Kessa, and Isabella. The only one left was Eilish. According to Gragas, something occurred on the battlefield.
"Should I try to get some information on other people?"
Souta rubbed his chin. He stopped on his track and changed his direction. He went to find the witches that accompany Eilish in that battle. He actually wanted to talk to the Fourth Head who was with her but he was too far away.
'I'm sure that Eilish will not tell me everything... I'll just ask first so that I could get an idea about what happened.'
Souta found a witch that was dispatched to the battlefield. Souta had just awoken from his coma so he haven't read the full reports of the battle yet. He didn't even know how great the casualties that they took in the war were.
He would do that later. His priority right now was to talk with his closest aides.
Some of the people greeted or saluted him when they saw him walking. It was normal for him since he was used to this kind of treatment. Civilians of the Mechanic Country treated him with great respect back in the game.
He asked some of the people that were dispatched to the battlefield. Souta brought them to a quiet spot to have a conversation.
The two witches followed Souta and they were quite nervous.
Souta sat down on a chair and said, "You can sit down."
After receiving his permission, the two witches sat on the chair across the table. They were facing the leader of the Astros and it gives them some sort of pressure. Although they knew Souta a long time ago since in the event in the sub-world, they weren't close to him. He was more like a living legend to them.
Souta observed the two witches for a few seconds. He realized that the two young men in front of him were at the level of intermediate Solidifying Realm. It seems that the individual prowess of Astros was increasing day by day.
"No need to be nervous," Souta laughed lightly seeing their expression. "I just woke up from a coma so I didn't know what happened before I passed out. I just want you to tell me what happened to the battlefield you were dispatched on."
The two witches eased a little bit. They slowly them him what they experienced in the field.
"We fought the tribes for several days. We held on and took over several of their base camps. Thirty percent of our forces died in those battles. The battles were brutal but with Lady Eilish and Eight Head at the forefront, we persisted.
"The enemy set up a trap. Lady Eilish and Eight Head fought enemies that were at the level of Shackled Realm. I don't know the exact things that happened since the shockwaves were too strong but Fourth Head appeared. They fought ridiculously strong people. It became too chaotic and some unknown power was used. It knocked down several thousands of people within a radius of ten kilometers.
"I just heard Lady Eilish's crying voice and Eight Head and Fourth Head saying stop to Lady Eilish. They are saying to stop releasing this power since it affected both allies and enemies. That's what I heard before I passed out. I woke up a week later and the war had already ended."
Souta listened to their words. He raised his hand to stop them from speaking.
The two witches quickly shut their mouths as they stared at Souta, waiting for his question. They knew what they should do and shouldn't in front of the leader.
Souta rubbed his chin before he asked, "What is that power that knocked you out? Can you describe it to me?"
"I don't know what it is My Lord, but it feels like it's some sort of miasma. It's too strong luckily I was far from the center where the miasma was coming from and I used all of my energy to protect my body from harm. That miasma was like a faint dark smoke that spread out on the battlefield at an alarming rate... I..." The young witch hesitated as he glanced at Souta before he averted his eyes.
"What is it? Did you see something there?" Souta raised his eyebrows and asked.
"No, My Lord... But..." The young witch hesitated once again.
"But what? I will not punish you or anything. Just tell me what it is." Souta said.
"The miasma that killed our comrades felt like it came from... Lady Eilish... The energy signature in the miasma is similar to hers." The young witch said before he looked down.
"It came from Eilish...?!" Souta narrowed his eyes. This was the first time he heard this.
"I don't know, My Lord, it has a similar energy signature with Lady Eilish and at the same time, it feels like it something fused with it. There is another unknown energy signature that I didn't recognize. I'm sure that it didn't come from Eight Head and Fourth Head." The young witch said.
Souta could see with his [Galaxy Eyes] that the person in front of him wasn't lying. There were telling him what they saw and felt but there was a chance that they were just mistaken. Nevertheless, this was vital information.
The things that happened there seem not ordinary.
It seems that he needed to free some of his to visit Eight Head and Fourth Head after he finished talking with Eilish.
He was sure that it wasn't simple. There was something behind the tribes in Earthen Woods.
That land... He would clean it later.
He asked them a few more questions before he dismissed them. He got something that he couldn't understand.
Why Eilish was crying?
What was that miasma?
He sighed and walked in the direction of Eilish's room.
After a few minutes of walking, Souta arrived in front of Eilish's room. He raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Knock! Knock!
Souta waited for a few seconds and nothing happened. There was no response at all, but he could sense Eilish's presence inside.
He sighed and decided to open the door by himself.
"Excuse me."
Souta entered the room and surveyed his surrounding. He noticed that Eilish was on the corner with a blanket over her slender body.
"Eilish..."
He stared at her and noticed that she was pretty much weak. Her attention was focused on other things and it seems that she hadn't eaten anything this whole time.
Eilish weakly raised and looked at him with blank eyes.
Souta sighed before he squatted down and looked at her in the eyes. He noticed that she was feeling complicated and it seems Gragas was right. Something really happened in the battle against the tribes of Earthen Woods.
"What happened?" He calmly asked.
"I..." Eilish hesitated for a moment.
"You can tell me everything, I'll lend my ears to you," Souta said as gently as he could. He wondered what happened to her.
Now that he mentioned it, Eilish came to Imperium for a reason. She wanted to come here not just because she wanted to see the Divine World. There was a reason why she insisted on following him.
"If you have any problems I'll help you to the best of my abilities," Souta added.
"I... I've met my brother..." Eilish whispered as she tightened her grip on the blanket over her body.
"You've met your brother...? Here in Imperium?! Isn't that a good thing?" Souta said as he calmly watched the change in her expression.
This was outside of his expectation. But it seems to be the right time to learn about Eilish background. He needed to understand her more.
So her brother appeared on the battlefield... He could a little bit understand why she was sad if the brother she was talking about became her enemy.
It wasn't a sweet reunion.
