Chapter 1173: Half The Materials, Double The Results

"Hng..." A young man slowly opened his eyes. His cheeks were slightly sunken in while dark circles could be seen under his eyes. Despite ’sleeping’ so often, he didn’t look rested at all.

Clenching his teeth, he forced himself to sit up while the woman next to him placed her hand against his shoulder.

"How long was it this time?" He mumbled, clutching his head.

The woman hesitated for a moment before speaking the truth.

"Three days. You were out for three whole days this time."

". . ." Letting out a sigh, the man tried to stand up only to feel weak in the legs.

"It’s getting longer. Three days today, three days and a couple of hours tomorrow. Sooner or later it’ll be more than a week. I’m going to die like this, aren’t I?" He chuckled.

The woman didn’t say anything.

"It’s fine. Can you help me again today? Let’s make the most out of the time I have awake."

"Try not to make too big of a scene. The Zenia family are still looking for you." Eryn shook her head, standing up while picking up the sword by her side.

There were bandages all over her body as well as signs of corruption peaking from under the bandages. Either way, she managed to return alive. Even if the wounds were severe.

It simply meant she could fight another day.

"I know. And I’m sorry for troubling you." Albert smiled apologetically.

Eryn had already made her stance clear.

As long as he was alive, as long as he was living honourably and with pride, she’ll protect him as his teacher.

But that condition is set on the fact that he must live in a way that would cause Alyss to forgive him.

The moment he starts acting in a manner unbefitting of his promise, she’ll either slap him awake or abandon him.

That’s why Albert had stopped asking whether or not she was fine. Even if she gains new wounds every time he woke up, he won’t mention it.

He just had to keep his head up and do his best in order to be worthy of the attention and sacrifice of Eryn.

###

"Ah! Albert, you’re awake today. Are you sure you don’t need more time? We can handle things here ourselves while you rest." An kindly old lady called out as she noticed Albert stepping out of his room.

"It’s fine ahah, it’s rare for me to be awake since I’m sleeping all the time. It’s why we need to do as much as possible while I’m still awake." Albert smiled, giving her a wave back as he made his way out.

"What’s the situation? What did I miss?" Albert asked after greeting the refugees.

"Zenia family are getting bold. Three Lord level hybrids last time, all designed to specifically counter me. Thankfully, they were split into three otherwise I can’t guarantee victory." Eryn admitted without shame.

She didn’t know how they managed to replicate more of Alice’s blood in order to create hybrids but they were sloppy.

However, even mass produced sloppy products can reach some degree of usefulness as proven last time. They weren’t the best but enough of them could corner any Lord.

"Extalia’s still remaining silent?"

"At least from what we can see. The King is probably preparing a big move. As for the camp..." Eryn paused.

"We’ve lost about 20% in the previous battle but our numbers were replenished by new commers. However..."

"The ’old’ workers are feeling nervous from being replaced right? A lot of the generation one refugees have died, leaving them behind. As more refugees come, they’ll get replaced and turned into meat shields for the new gen. Or at least that’s what they think right?" Albert sighed as Eryn nodded her head.

"Mnm... the main issue is still the battles. Even if they get power from the Nightmare, these are people who are used to dying over and over. But that layer of safety is only in the Nightmare and not reality.

"Even if they were ’godly’ in the Nightmare, they can only perform at around 50% effectiveness at best in reality." Albert folded his arms.

They were currently taking refuge in the Abyss through one of the gateways he knew about. Staying in Extalia was too dangers.

However, though they were in the Abyss, it didn’t stop the Nightmare beasts from encroaching on their location.

From this, Albert could surmise that the beasts were probably drawn to the Nightmare Hunters who got power from the new realm.

Where they go, the beasts will follow.

"I’ve heard rumours of a new resistance rising up and killing any Nightmare beasts they come across. Same with the Hybrids that the Zenia family are sending out."

Albert paused in surprise.

It was one thing to kill Nightmare beasts but Hybrids as well? Could it be...

"Before you ask, no it’s not Alyss. Last news I heard regarding your sister is that she was making her way to the Extalia capital. She’s probably striking a deal with the King." Eryn cut him off before he could make the wrong assumption.

"I see... In that case then who’s responsible for this new faction?"

"Apparently it’s the remnants of the North. Left overs of the Verona Queendom after their Queen’s failed ascension. While I doubt they can recover from the devastation of the failed ascension, it seems like they won’t go down without a fight."

Going silent, Albert weighed up his options.

Ideally, they strike a deal with this new resistance. While their workers aren’t exactly strong, they have Eryn as well as his information on the Zenia family. It wasn’t a big bargaining chip but at least it’ll allow him to sit on the negotiation table.

"I should warn you though. They’re pretty deep within the Layers of the Abyss. Travelling down isn’t an issue for us two but..."

"The others right?" Albert sighed.

Not everyone could adapt to the miasma in the deeper layers of the Abyss. For normal civilians, even if they gained powers of the Nightmare, the pressure they’ll feel down there would be enough to paralyse them.

They were ’fake’ Hunters after all. They couldn’t adapt to the Miasma since they haven’t fully committed to the Abyssal Blessing.

They would either need to brute force it or give up.

"What if we make the journey first then rend the space afterwards?" Albert suggested, causing Eryn to raise an eyebrow.

"If this group can survive while we journey there, maybe. It’ll be tough but I should be able to create a path for them to escape. But... there’s only so much that can be done with haphazard defences while I’m not around.

"And... what’s to say they will absolutely accept us?" Eryn shrugged.

Albert couldn’t reply to that. Though they may have helped Alice escape from the Doctor, they still weren’t exactly allies. They never made an agreement or anything like that.

Even if they were the remnants from the North, what’s to say they’ll absolutely accept them?

However...

"I think it’s still worth to give it a try. Staying here will only result in us slowly getting weaker and weaker." Albert turned to the camp.

Injured people everywhere he saw along with broken barricades.

These raids make the civilians desperate and when the Nightmare happens again, they become almost fanatical when it comes to gaining power.

Even if they don’t fight on the frontlines, as long as they can keep themselves alive, they’ll be happy.

It was a cruel cycle that they couldn’t avoid.

###

"Another failure. I thought you were pretty confident with the product this time?" The doctor leaned against the frame of the door with an amused smile.

He looked at the woman who was currently reviewing footage of the fight between the Hybrids and Eryn, identifying exactly what went wrong and what kind of changes she needs to do in order to perfect things.

Like usual, her hair was a chaotic mess of grey strands that reached beyond her waist, bundling up on the ground.

A signature eyepatch that covered her right eye while the uncovered golden eye stared unblinkingly.

A wide grin revealing her sharp teeth while bandages wrapped around her body, hiding as many stitches as possible.

There was a change however, that would be the fresh lab coat she wore over her shoulders.

Her experiments were... ever so bloody and messy. Even for her, keeping an old worn-out lab coat was too much so she kept a wardrobe of spares.

"Failures are the foundation of success, don’t you think so? In the first place, shouldn’t one look at the overall picture rather than a small failure?" The girl chuckled, spinning herself around.

Crossing her legs, she looked at the Doctor with a haughty look in her eyes.

"You were given so many things to work with and yet the best you could do was a couple of hybrids. But look at me? A fraction of the resources but double the results. Ah~ Truly, I want to get my hands on dear Alice as quickly as possible." She trembled in excitement.

Her face flushed red while the Doctor simply shrugged.

"Think what you will. But let’s get dear Albert back home soon okay? We wouldn’t want the young master to be out in the wild." He turned around and walked away while Elara simply rolled her eyes.

It’s obvious what he was here for. To examine her progress on replicating Alice’s blood.

"Ah~ what should I do. Should I help them or should I help you?" She mumbled. Her eyes wandered to her own room where a bunch of ’clones’ of Alice were strewn out on the bed and floor.

Some had cuts and stiches, others were simply for... pleasure.

Biting her finger, Elara paused her word for now. She couldn’t focus, not when she’s this excited.

Now if only Runi would join her in her fun... but that girl was occupied by something else.

Waving the thoughts away, Elara dropped her lab coat and stepped into her own room.