[Book II Chapter 148] FILIA: The Answer
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“This is the place.” Sarah declared, pointing down. “We’ll wait for you here.”
Apart from the two immortals who’d rushed off, everyone who’d traveled with her was standing on a rooftop overlooking a mansion. Feeling somewhat pressured, Filia dropped down into the walled garden and approached the Sofix guards by the entrance.
“I’m here to investigate the card the Laughing Man stole.” She announced. “I’m working with Hans Leveson.” This was close enough to the truth.
They conferred with each and soon a man in an elegant suit appeared. “You must be Filia. Hans mentioned you. Please join me.”
“Who are you?” She asked following him. The mansion’s luxurious interior was immaculately orderly.
“Call me Anderson, Mister Anderson.” The man replied. “I look into pressing matters on behalf of the big five.”
They arrived at a large study with a smashed window. The room had been ransacked, with cards and glass littering the floor. Several of Anderson’s assistants were combing through the mess.
“Are we certain he obtained what he was after?” She asked hopefully.
Anderson pointed to a pried-open safe and the series of untouched cupboards to its right. “Whatever was inside caused him to cease his pilfering.”
“We must figure out which one it was.” Filia said resolutely.
“I concur.” Anderson drew out a paper from his vest. “The owner, a Mister Solomon, has provided a list detailing his collection, which should aid us in identifying what is missing. Unfortunately, the place is quite a mess…”
Filia glanced at the hundreds of cards scattered all about and grimaced. Sorting through those will take too long… Plus the Laughing Man may have taken more than he needed to throw us off. She cleared off a table and spread out Geordan Price’s deck. “Hans narrowed it down to this set of cards. Maybe we can narrow it further.”
“We can eliminate any cards not on this list.” Anderson agreed.
In a few minutes, they were down to fourteen possibilities. Still too many… “Was Solomon’s collection public?” She asked.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“No, I don’t believe it was.” Anderson studied her curiously. “Why?”
“Kaygren launched an invasion of Nordric to enable this theft. He never would have committed to such a large scale endeavor unless he was certain it would bear results.”
Anderson’s eyes lit up. “Excellent observation. Allow me to place a call to Platinum Hall.” Public auctions in Chancel were one of few ways to track the movement of ultra rare cards.
“These three were recently purchased by Mister Solomon.” Anderson indicated.
“Great!” Filia smiled. “We might be able to deduce his purpose.”
Her eyes traced over the three possibilities, stopping on the word Dullrock. Geordan Price used this one against us in the tournament… A pang of pain gripped her at the ‘us’, but she shook it away. Then a realization dawned on her.
There was a commotion in the hallway and Sarah burst in, followed by the others. The Sofix guards stumbled after them. “Sorry, Mister Anderson, they forced their way through. They have an immortal with them…”
“Sarah reported Filia had figured out the Laughing Man’s plot, so we came to hear it.” Jayden explained.
Mister Anderson raised an eyebrow. “Miss Filia?”
“Yes, I think I have.” She picked up the card with a depiction of a giant armadillo.
“This sukemon, Dullrock, has a unique ability called ‘earthly sycronization’ which allows it to take on the properties of any material placed on top of its shell. Normally, the hardest metals are chosen. For example, Geordan Price used white mithril on his copy. I suspect that the Laughing Man plans to use this ability with one of Kaygren’s claws to gain access to the Sukemon World.”
“So he’ll have it fuse with a claw and send it back…” Sarah interpreted.
“After one portal is open, Kaygren will be able to open dozens more with ease.” Filia continued. “The Sukemon World is reputed to be larger than Mount Gull and Shangri-la combined. He’ll have no trouble marshaling millions of new demonic beasts…”
This could destroy the franchise. After traumatizing a generation with memories of legions of murderous sukemon, how could everything go back to being a fun children’s game?
“Assuming the HEAVENLY DAO doesn’t intervene…” Jayden said slowly. “Is there any way to stop them?”
Filia grimaced, not knowing what to say.
“There may be.” Anderson grinned. “’earthly sycronization’ is a special type of ability that can only be used at a Transcendent Altar. Furthermore, the ritual involved takes several hour to perform. This was setup to discourage the swapping of fused materials, especially mid tournament.”
“I didn’t know that…” Filia muttered, her spirits rising. “So we may have a chance!”
“Most of Transcendent Altars are in or near major cities, such as the one in Messanic.” Light chimed in. “Those won’t be an option for the Laughing Man.”
“Four.” Jayden added. “There are four Transcendent Altars located apart from civilization. The first is in the western reaches of the Northern Empire. The second is located deep within Sanwue. The third is in the Demonic World’s flaming swamps. And the final one is the Celetect Vortex in the Raging Sands, by far the closest.”
“That’s the one.” Sarah sighed with relief. “That’s where we must go. We’ll obtain a beacon from the Adventurer’s Guild and Filia will guide us through the Ether.”
Filia hesitated. “I’ve little experience opening passageways…”
“Don’t worry.” Sarah smiled. “You’re fated to succeed.”