Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Ashen Cemetery (4)
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Seeing Arin's tremendous firepower, my jaw dropped wide open. The capabilities of an SSR-grade main dealer were utterly overwhelming.
Yeah, this was exactly why people got hooked on gacha pulls.
Playing for free, you'd hit a wall eventually, but dropping some cash to pull a top-tier Valkyrie let you smash right through it.
And that's precisely what was happening now.
Our advance was unstoppable. Garujan would spot the targets, and Arin would pulverize the enemies.
"Lije, just keep tracking the Death Knight's presence. We're pushing deeper in."
"Got it."
We skirted around the Death Knights and plunged even further inside.
The deeper we went, the more monsters appeared.
But up front, Lije, Lussera, and Jaira held the line like an iron wall, while Arin and Garujan's explosive damage lit everything up.
Nereisia wasn't doing much directly, but she kept singing songs of encouragement to rally the team.
She even fired off orbs of magic now and then to clean up zombies.
This was on a whole different level from when we'd first arrived.
'High ranks really make the hunting speed brutal...'
Arin, who'd started at level 1, was already at level 10, and her levels kept climbing steadily.
With Nereisia boosting our attack and defense while debuffing the enemies', plus restoring our health, we weren't tiring out at all.
'At this rate, could we actually take down a Death Knight?'
Arin's insane firepower made it seem possible. But after that last disaster, I wasn't rushing into it. We'd challenge it later.
Once the hunting stabilized, I unsummoned Jaira, Lussera, and Garujan, then swapped in Tiny, Sua, and Elastra.
Normally, you wouldn't rotate half your team with new Valkyries, but seeing Arin and Nereisia's levels rise, I figured it was fine.
Sua looked up at me with grateful eyes the moment she was summoned.
She trusted me, sure, but she was still touched that I'd deployed her again.
She'd seen me summon an SSR and two SR Valkyries, so she must have thought her spot was shaky.
I needed to raise Sua's rank soon.
I had about 350 Sua shards right now.
She'd come up a ton in this last pull session, making it possible.
But upgrading her to A-rank needed 1,000 shards, so it was still a stretch.
With Jaira and Lussera out, and Tiny and Sua in, the front line felt a bit shaky.
Tiny's low level and Sua's low rank meant they couldn't anchor like the others.
We dialed back the hunting pace a notch.
Without Garujan's scouting, we had to move extra carefully.
Lije's presence detection was all we could rely on.
Still, the initially tough hunts got smoother as Tiny leveled up.
Elastra's fireballs exploded with massive booms each time, drawing monsters from all around.
Thanks to that, we couldn't catch a break and had to keep fighting nonstop.
Sensing the Valkyries tiring, we fell back gradually while picking off monsters.
The high difficulty kept other pilots away. It'd been my private hunting ground for days now. Great for solo farming, but the risks meant we stayed cautious.
By the time we finally exited the cemetery after clearing enemies, all the Valkyries looked pretty worn out.
Arin especially—she'd been firing nonstop without a break.
"Arin, you okay?"
"Ah! Yes, I'm fine. I'm thrilled to be summoned here thanks to you, Pilot."
Arin replied with a bright smile.
Come to think of it, I was curious about the details on these SSRs. I should dig into their info more.
"Let's call it here for today and rest up."
"Understood."
I unsummoned everyone except Sua. Didn't want to draw eyes yet.
Riding the Valkyrie carriage back to the mansion with Sua, we chatted about each other.
Truth be told, Sua didn't have much to share. No stories from the heavens, just tales from when she was summoned—which overlapped with mine.
I couldn't talk about my past either, so our convos stayed limited.
Still, we kept the chatter going lively and nonstop.
Sua eyed me curiously about my diamond stash but didn't pry.
To other pilots or folks, I'd look like a total bug exploiter.
Only my Valkyries knew about my diamonds.
Even Diana didn't have the full picture. That's why I wasn't summoning the new ones at the mansion.
Before I knew it, we were home, mid-convo with Sua.
I headed straight to find Diana.
She greeted me with a beaming smile when I arrived.
"How'd hunting go today? You look like you've grown a ton."
Diana had guessed from my upbeat vibe.
"Spot on. Prime hunting spot. But I don't get why it's so deserted."
"It's kinda meh there. Gold, diamonds, items don't drop well compared to the level. Only EXP, so most figure it's not worth the cost-benefit."
"Hmm... Yeah, that tracks."
Perfect for me, but not everyone.
"Not hitting Golden Reed Forest anymore? Must've saved up plenty."
"Yep. Your loan, my savings, and the Black Wolf Clan payout added up nice."
"Whoa... You got cash from the Black Wolf Clan too?"
"Of course. They'd have to pay big for a pilot like me."
"Ha... True. But you squeezed me for 150 million gold?"
Diana frowned a bit. Not a small sum for her.
"Heh... Technically a commission fee."
"Haha, fair enough. I'll allow it."
She laughed and conceded quick.
"So, when's moving day?"
"Move? Was gonna bring it up—my dispatch got bumped up. Probably in 2-3 weeks now?"
Diana's timeline was a month ahead of plan.
"Got it. Just say when. Money's ready."
"Hey... Kinda hurts. You seem thrilled I'm leaving early?"
Diana pouted.
"I'll miss you, but I wanna summon my full team."
"Yeah... Fair."
She nodded but couldn't hide her disappointment.
Even during meals, she'd tried getting closer, but I'd kept walls up.
In my uncertain spot, getting too tight with her felt risky.
Didn't mean I wasn't grateful or fond, though.
Just in case I had to betray her someday.
"Let's grab a drink before you go. Don't be sad."
"Eeeh? I'm not sad."
She waved it off in surprise.
Caught off-guard that I'd seen through her.
"Hehe, good then."
"Argh! For real!"
Diana seemed older than me—even my real age—but had cute sides.
Once we warmed up, her initial prickliness was gone.
"Okay, I believe you. For real."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"No, not that."
"Huh?"
"The drink before you go. I've offered before, but we haven't."
Diana really wanted that drink with me.
"Ah! Yeah, for real. I'll make time."
"Good. Get some rest—you look beat."
Her expression finally softened.
"Yeah. You too, Diana. I'm truly grateful. Honest."
Her cheeks flushed bright red.
"O-okay..."
She ducked her head, barely replying.
Leaving her like that, I headed to my room and pulled up Status.
Then tapped messages.
Sender: Isteir.
「Kai: Whatcha up to?」
Reply came fast, like she'd been waiting.
「Isteir: Just showered after hunting. Chilling. Anything up?」
「Kai: Nah. Good hunt. Eaten dinner?」
「Isteir: Not yet. About to.」
「Kai: Wanna grab some together? Free?」
「Isteir: Free? Duh?」
I could picture Isteir's face without seeing it.
「Kai: South commercial district?」
「Isteir: Sweet. Getting ready quick.」
「Kai: Cool. I'll head out first—take your time.」
「Isteir: Mkay~」
Done texting Isteir, I called a Valkyrie carriage and headed to the commercial district.
Thinking of seeing her after nearly ten days, my heart started pounding too.