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Chapter 1159: Furtive Erosion

“What exactly is going on?”

As Marlene hurried into the room, Lilian’s pale face was the first thing that came into sight. Lilian closed her eyes, bit her lip, and lay down on the bed weakly. At first glance, she seemed seriously-ill. Her petite body shivered constantly and she gasped for air, widening her tiny mouth.

Marlene and the others were dismayed as soon as they heard the news of Christie and Lilian being ambushed. They were confident of Grandia’s defenses, but now, the enemies actually sneaked past the defensive network under their watchful eyes and even launched attacks at them? This exceeded their expectations. No, what surprised them more was that the enemies actually succeeded!

“Here?”

Gazing at Lilian’s weakly-extended right arm, Marlene couldn’t help but knit her brows. The petite, fair, and tender right arm had turned pitch-black as though it were contaminated by something. Not only that, but it also discharged a nauseous aura. Marlene gnashed her teeth at this sight.

“Poison? Or curse?”

“It doesn’t seem like poison... and more like a type of curse.”

Christie said softly, standing beside Lilian and gazing at her right arm with a helpless and sorrowful expression. Gillian, who stood beside them, also dwindled her usual, carefree smile. At that moment, she sized up Lilian attentively, but it was a pity that she didn’t have a cure. As a matter of fact, it was basically impossible for Lilian to be poisoned or cursed as she was the Light Dragon. Of course, it would be an entirely different issue if her power were still sealed like in the past. But after she restored her power, she could control the power of the Light Dragon masterfully. It could also be said that she was the existence of sacred power, where harmful curses and poisons would immediately be purified as soon as they got close to her. If one were to give Lilian a cup of poison, as soon as she held the cup in her hand, the poison would be instantly purified, leaving clean, pure water behind. That was why it was impossible for Lilian to be poisoned.

To describe the situation more specifically, Lilian seemed to be ‘eroded’ by that unknown presence.

“Angelina says she sensed a death aura...”

“Do you think this was a trick played by the Dark Dragon?”

“I don’t know.”

Facing Marlene’s question, Gillian spread her arms apart and simply shrugged. Her huge, fluffy tail swayed to the left and right.

“Frankly, it does feel like a death aura. But I think it isn’t exactly one, which was why I took a sample of it for an experiment. How should I put it... Yes, the result exceeded my expectations. Indeed, judging from its appearance and aura, it is close to an undead curse and is dragging Little Lilian’s body toward death. But I think this is some sort of its side-effect and not its main purpose.”

“What do you mean?”

“Easy.”

Gillian said, clapping her hands once. Shortly after, a human model of Lilian constructed entirely from golden lines appeared in front of her. The right arm of the human model was completely black and beside it were some weird characters which made out [Erosion Progress 8%]. After being with Rhode for a long time, Marlene wasn’t surprised by such occurrences anymore. She gazed at the human model and turned to Gillian, apparently waiting for her explanation. Gillian stood up with a smile, retrieved a pair of glasses from the fold in her clothes (not sure where she got it from), put it on, and let out a cough to gather everyone’s attention in the room, including Sonia, Christie, and Marlene.

“Yes... Ehem, I suppose everyone is aware that we aren’t mortals, be it a dragon soul heir, an elemental lord like me, or rule representative like Sonia. Even if you’re one of the lower-leveled ones, you’re still far above mortals. It can also be said that the difference between us and mortals are like two-dimensional versus three-dimensional. Ugh, you may not understand this. But all in all, as we’ve broken away from the mundane world, ordinary objects will basically have no effect on us. Be it poisons or curses, these things have no influence over the origin of rules. So I will be fine even if I drink a bucket of poison. But this thing before us is apparently very different.”

Gillian said, stretching out her hand and pointing at Lilian’s wrist.

“If you take a closer look, you will discover that even though this mysterious black presence exudes a death aura, as a matter of fact, the biggest effect it has is to erode Little Lilian’s rule origin. It is just like an undead army occupying the territory of another country. First, the top priority for them is to control the area, and as to whether they will slaughter everyone, turn them into undead creatures, or confine them as pigs, it is all up to them. And now, that is what’s going on with Little Lilian. The mysterious black presence is eroding and occupying the strength of her rule origin. As it consists of the undead attribute, it causes harm to Lilian’s body. If the attribute of this black presence isn’t ‘undead’, but was something else like ‘elf’ or whatnot, Little Lilian would not be affected this badly... No, I should say that it is due to this undead aura that it is a good thing.”

“How is that so, Miss Gillian?”

Sonia couldn’t help but ask curiously. Judging from Lilian’s painful look, it didn’t seem to be a ‘good thing’ at all.

“Simple. Just like I said, if it were purely an undead aura, Lilian wouldn’t be affected by it at all. What caused her current condition is that mysterious black presence. I’m not sure of the reason, but at least from what I observed, the black presence and undead aura has fused entirely. Due to this reason, it is being resisted by Little Lilian. After all, she is the Light Dragon. If it were other attributes, perhaps the black presence would erode even quicker and we may not be able to discover anything. But well, it can only blame itself for fusing with the undead aura. The undead aura is the natural enemy of all living creatures. Moreover, Lilian is the Light Dragon. The power of light inside her resists undead aura automatically. If it weren’t for the fact that the black presence is able to erode the rule origin, perhaps the instant it entered Little Lilian’s body, it would have been wiped out immediately. Judging from this aspect, we’re really fortunate. If the attribute of that black presence isn’t ‘undead’, which is the completely opposite attribute of living creatures, and is another element or whatnot, perhaps it would be too late after we realize it has eroded her rule origin.”

“... That serious?!”

At that moment, everyone turned pale. After all, none of them could stay indifferent upon knowing that something was capable of silently eroding rules. Moreover, rule representatives like Marlene, Christie, and Sonia relied entirely on rules to exist. If they were eroded and even devoured, that would be the end of their lives.

“Could it be Chaos?”

This was Marlene’s first thought that came to mind. After all, only Chaos was capable of tearing apart rules and devouring Order. That was also why the six deity wardens were domineering in their home ground, but covered their heads and sneaked away like rats in the face of endless Chaos. They were injured, but survived, running to other worlds to avoid disaster. This was also why Chaos was able to devour Order and erode rules.

“Yes, judging from the fact that the rules are being eroded, it does seem like the style of Chaos. How should I put it...”

Gillian said and found it hard to explain. She knitted her brows and pondered upon how she should elaborate her thoughts. In the end, she seemed to have given up as she spread her arms apart.

“To put it simply, this strange presence seems connected to us. How should I put it... Hmm... it is like Windows and Mac. Two entirely different operating systems and yet, both can be run together at once...”

“...?”

“Ah... Seems like due to our different dimensions, it is still unclear for you girls, huh?”

Gazing at the confused expressions around her, Gillian scratched her head helplessly, took in a deep breath, and continued.

“Logically speaking, Order and Chaos are unable to coexist. They are like fire and water; the existence of one is based on the destruction of the other. This is a zero-sum game, so according to the rules, Little Lilian’s Order should dissipate completely after being devoured by Chaos. But the truth is otherwise, which is why I suspect... that the strength of Order is possibly hidden within Chaos, which is why Chaos doesn’t need to enter Little Lilian’s through destroying rules. It can also alter the rule through erosion. In other words...”

“... In other words?”

“We may be facing a variant of Chaos that has never appeared before. It is more cunning, smarter, and comes with more secretive attacks. It no longer devours brutally like in the past. It is like a virus infecting our origins and turning them into...” Gillian said and shifted her gaze to Lilian. “... honestly, I don’t want to know what it will turn Little Lilian into.”

No one wanted to know.

“But why is Miss Christie fine?”

Sonia gazed at Christie curiously and asked. Gillian pondered for a few moments and responded.

“I think it may have something to do with the difference in their battle styles.”

“Battle styles?”

“That’s right, according to Little Christie, she manipulated the world using her scroll and feather pen. From the start, she tried to capture the enemies by writing ‘restraint’. Then, Little Christie realized that the enemy broke free from her restraints, which was why she decisively wrote ‘eliminate’...” Gillian explained and smiled at Christie. “... Little Christie sure is powerful. She is able to control the world and the instant she writes ‘eliminate’ on the scroll, it means that the elimination of that subject is already an established matter. So it doesn’t matter what that black presence is. Its conclusion is to be ‘eliminated’. But Little Lilian apparently used her own power to attack. If she uses the power of rules, maybe she could resist the enemy. But she only used the power of light. Of course, in theory, her power of light can destroy most physical objects. But in terms of essence, the power of light is also an extension of Little Lilian. That is why it doesn’t make a difference even if she grabbed the enemy with her bare hands. Perhaps it is due to this reason that she was eroded by that presence.”

“But Anne doesn’t understand at all. Where exactly did those things come from?”

Anne couldn’t understand what Gillian said. But one had to admit that she asked the most crucial questions at times.

“With the presence of the undead aura, the possibility of it coming from the Country of Darkness is really high... But I don’t think the Country of Darkness is capable of creating something like this. If not, they would have used it a long time ago.”

Marlene knitted her brows, pondered for a few moments, and said. After all, compared to the rest, Lilian wasn’t a threatening force at all. If this mysterious presence was created by the Country of Darkness, it would be more effective on people like them, who were unaware of its existence. Besides, Marlene and the rest were the main forces of the Void Territory. If the mysterious presence was able to cripple them, wouldn’t it be more worthwhile to take them down than Lilian? Furthermore, if the Country of Darkness had created this presence, they should clearly know that Lilian’s attribute was the natural enemy of the undead. Would everything be worthwhile if they exposed their secret weapon like this?

“I know where they came from.”

At that moment, Alice stepped into the room and said in a flat voice. Judging from her look, it was apparent that she was aware of everything that the group discussed. However, the group wasn’t surprised by her vast knowledge. The ability of the History Deity Warden was much more useful than wiretapping at times.

Alice gazed at the group and said.

“I looked back upon the scenes of that earlier battle. I’m certain that the ones who attacked Christie and Lilian is the same group of beings that ambushed Her Highness Erin.”

“...!”

At that moment, everyone’s expression changed.

Marlene and the rest found time to check on the group of beings that ambushed Erin. However, they failed to grasp any of their traces. No matter how they investigated, they just couldn’t find any clues. But they didn’t expect the group of beings to show up here and at this time too.

“Grandia’s defense is insufficient. We need to strengthen our defense.”

Cassidy, who entered the room behind Alice, also gave her suggestions.

“Besides, it seems like there aren’t many of them around. If not, they could have attacked us all at once. Based on Christie’s description and Alice’s tracing, it is obvious that they had no intention of returning alive. That is why attacking together will increase the chances of success. But they didn’t do so, perhaps due to the lack of numbers.”

“No matter what, it is necessary to raise our guard.”

Marlene sighed.

“I will discuss with Lapis to see if we can come up with any useful weapons. Besides, we should also inform Her Majesty Siena and Nalea about this. No matter what, since the enemies attacked a dragon soul heir, perhaps the enemies will also look for them. But before that...”

Even though Marlene didn’t continue her sentence, everyone shifted their gaze to Lilian. It was apparent that they knew this was their biggest problem on hand: how should they remove that mysterious presence that was eroding Lilian’s body?

“Can’t we make Christie use her power again to remove that thing?”

Anne scratched her head and asked curiously. Upon hearing her suggestion, Christie shook her head this time.

“I tried it earlier, but... just like what Big Sister Gillian said, Chaos is eroding her rule origin. If I were to eliminate it entirely, she would be removed alongside it. Even though it has only eroded a small part of her, it...”

To a representative of rules and Order, it would be as painful as tearing off one’s limb alive and might even leave behind mental scars that would lead to a complete mental breakdown. When that happened, Lilian would definitely become a puppet from head to toe.

“Same goes for my Contrast ability.”

Cassidy shook her head, not to mention Marlene and Alice. Their abilities didn’t have any useful effects on Lilian, and not even Alice’s ‘Historical Tracing’ worked. Because this was the rule of the light origin. Even though Lilian was a dragon soul heir and not a deity warden, the rule of light was one of the supreme rules, which Alice’s ‘history’ couldn’t influence.

“Really!”

Cassidy clenched her fists, stomped her foot, and grumbled unconvincingly.

“Argh, we’re just not that good in this area. Purely restricting some existences, eliminating them, and whatnot. The only one who can do it is...”

Cassidy said and all of a sudden, she closed her mouth as though one were strangling her neck. At the same time, the other three young ladies revealed complicated expressions. The heavy atmosphere in the room became even more depressing, and Anne, Sonia, and the others gazed at her curiously, totally unaware of what happened.

After a few moments, Marlene broke the silence in the room.

“All in all, we must come up with more solutions. I think there must be a way to cure Lilian.”