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Last Embryo Volume 7 Interlude 3

INTERLUDE 3

The sound of footsteps echoes underground.

In terms of location, it would be right below the throne room. The gigantic tree that stretches upwards and the great vein of Orichalcum seemed to be bound to each other.

Two people from 『Ouroboros』: James, the Game Maker and the vampire Lamia Draculea, who have arrived here through a hidden passage in the underground fortress, stop and look at the situation. Especially Lamia was worried about Asuka dying out there. If she dies, the power of her Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi will be forever lost to her

In other words, the means of saving her mother would also be lost.

「Hey, James. Do I really not have to fight too?」

「No problem, my lady. I’ve looked around at the Players participating in the War, and they’re all fairly strong. Even my own boxing skills would not be enough against some of them, you know?」

「Come on, don’t make fun of me like that again! There’s no way there’s a Player who can do anything against James’ martial arts! If there’s someone stronger than you in this war, I’d be surprised!」
Lamia’s face turned bright red with anger, and James laughed troubledly.

「Well, I’m probably the weakest when it comes to fighting. That’s why I have no choice but to use my wits to outwit the other Players. Hmm, maybe the roots around here would be good?」

When he touched a particularly thick root among the large tree roots, he beckoned Lamia to his side.

「Lady. Will you pour your blood on this tree? And I want you to order it to dry immediately.」

「………? I don’t mind it, but can I order it to dry?」

「Of course. Or rather, that’s why I took you here with me.」

Lamia looks more and more puzzled. At the meeting just now, it was supposed to have been settled on the idea of planting the seeds of the 「Star Fruit」 in the ore veins to make a new Star Tree sprout, but James smiled softly and shook his head.

「We are already victorious. From Lady’s point of view, wouldn’t it be difficult for you to stand out with our combat-related deeds?」

「That’s… you’re right. And you said yourself that you’re really weak.」

「So there’s nothing more for us to do on the Atlantis continent. The other Players will take care of the rest.」

「But what will you do with the Star Tree seeds?」

「Of course I’ll take them home with me. There’s no need to consume the rare Star Tree seeds in a place like this. They might be useful for something, and if not, we can just sell them for money. A good idea, isn’t it?」

James smiled, but Lamia frowned her brows.

「That’s fine, but… isn’t that plan going to gather too much hate from the other Players?」

「Haha, as expected of my lady. That’s right. As the winner of the first round, I am already marginalized, so in order not to be shunned any more, we should do at least the bare minimum of reporting and contacting.」

With that, James pulls out an old-fashioned black phone from a Gift Card. Pointing his index finger at the root of the great tree, he smiled as he instructed Lamia.

「I’ll talk to him first, so please let the big tree die, Lady. After that’s done, let’s leave the continent of Atlantis and enjoy afternoon tea first.」

「Ara, how nice. I like the tea that James chose.」

「I’m happy about that. Then I have to prepare the finest of cakes as well.」

When Lamia heard of tea and cake, she got in a good mood and slashed his wrist, dripping vampire blood onto the tree. Then, although the great tree began to swell and grow rapidly, after a few seconds it withered and dwindled as if it had run out of life, turning into a white, dry, dead tree.

James confirms the situation, and he begins to contact Sakamaki Izayoi, since he has secretly obtained his number.

Izayoi answered the phone as soon as the ringtone rang.

「You asshole… what are you up to this time, huh? The roots of the tree that binds Typhon started to die over here!」

「Exactly as I suspected. To tell you the truth, the very same thing is happening in front of me right now. In fact, we even went as far as to visit the largest Orichalcum vein, but as soon as we arrive there, the tree began to wither in front of us.」

「So what are you trying to say, huh? That we have run out of time?」

「Well, I wonder about that. I think it’s more likely that someone has manually interfered with the tree in order to speed up the withering process. At this rate, I don’t know what will happen to the tree itself even if I manage to plant the seeds properly. Right now, what I would like you to do is to endure the situation for a bit together with your forces.」

Lamia was amazed at how he handled confirming the situation with Sakamaki Izayoi.

「… understood. You better hurry up and do whatever it is that you need to do, you bastard.」

「Oh, that was a much calmer response than I could have anticipated. And here I was thinking that, taunted by my words, you would throw many more insults my way.」

「That would be a waste of time, so don’t make me do it after all! Now shut the fuck up, and hurry up!」
Izayoi ends the call while yelling. James covered his ears beforehand. Lamia shook her head and let out a sigh.

「… James. Didn’t you say something about not making him angry on purpose?」

「Haha, people usually don’t listen to me. I was just afraid of being scorned by the heroes fighting on the ground.」

James shrugged it off. However, when further incidents began to occur on the continent, he also put on a serious expression and embraced Lamia.

「It’s only a matter of time until the Atlantis continent is finished. Shall we leave then?」

「Sure~~! Ah, but if Asuka is in trouble, I have to help her! If Asuka dies, I’ll cut ties with James!」

「That…. That’s sad to hear. I’ll do my best to not make that happen.」

Not knowing if she was serious or acting, James suddenly disappeared into the void. The underpass, which lost the support of the tree, collapsed with the earthquake, and the way to know what happened here was naturally lost.