Chapter 4669: Stunning Revelation

"...Nineteen worlds," Misha quietly remarked after Ria narrated her stories. "You’ve truly worked hard. Our civilization owes you a debt that it cannot repay. I’ve heard that the surplus of esoteric matter coming in from the infected worlds is the reason that we are able to grind down the War of Web’s massive technological superiority."

Ria knew that. It was one of the motivations that pushed her to keep going despite how grueling it could be. She heaved a deep breath. "We should win the war soon, hopefully."

"I don’t know about that." Misha shook her head. "The recent invasion of the Divine Mothers shows that the conflict has escalated. With six of them dead, who knows how the arakai will respond? We may have an all-out existential battle with them if they decide to escalate even further."

Was that why her parents looked as severe as they were when they returned to work? It must have been. She knew that the arakai had more than a hundred Divine Mothers. A hundred of the horrifying alien goddesses that she had faced on Planet Amadeus. Her parents were strong, but could they deal with all of them?

She didn’t know. In the first place, she didn’t understand why all a hundred of them didn’t invade instead of just six. She hoped it stayed that way, however.

"I’ll be taking a break from infection-hunting," she told Misha with a more relaxed voice. "Dad told me that our civilization’s logistics and mining have already been strained beyond the limit. Apparently nineteen worlds in six months was way too much for everybody to handle."

"That is to be expected. Esoteric mining and storage technology is much scarcer and more resource-intensive than regular resources. There is a limit to it and nobody ever prepared to have enough for nineteen worlds at once, because running into that many infected worlds is just impossible." Misha nodded. "What do you intend to do now that you’re back home?"

Ria pondered the question. She had been wondering that herself. In truth, she wasn’t entirely sure. Much of her aversion to home had waned, so she didn’t feel the urge to run away and take shelter in the frontier. Her rising strength gave her more agency while the death of her two friends had... changed her outlook on many things.

She was willing to be paraded around as a princess, for a little bit, if that was the price to be paid to be close to the people she cared for and loved. She had taken them for granted in the past, and it was only when she watched Sternon and Siliscia die in front of her that she realized she needed to cherish them.

"I think I’ll train," she decided. "I still want to get stronger. And recently I was shown how lacking I am?"

"Lacking?" Misha asked in disbelief. "You?"

Ria nodded. "I still have a lot to work on. The past six months have given me a lot of time to consolidate my breakthrough to the Sage Realm with experience in battle, but from this point on, training will help me make more progress. Especially with all the manifolds that have been popping in and around."

Her mother was not going to go easy on her; that was for sure. She wasn’t sure her father had the time to train her, though she didn’t strictly need it.

"Are you going to join the war?"

"No, I have no need to. If things get dire, I’ll join. But otherwise, human civilization can do without me. I’m not that special in the grand scheme of things, combat power-wise."

Not even all of the top-ten had yet to show up because the War of Web had yet to push them that far, though it was getting there.

"Right now, I’m curious about testing myself against other Martial Sages and pathwalkers," she mused. "I haven’t had the opportunity to do so since I’ve mostly been fighting aliens. I want to see how I hold up against other Martial Sages."

"Your identity will definitely come out, though."

"It’s fine. I’m strong enough to withstand the pressure."

Misha nodded. "By the way, have you spoken to Runark yet?"

Ria paused, her expression growing a little pensive. "Not yet. I was planning to visit him right after you."

Misha raised an eyebrow. She knew for a fact that those two were closer than either was to Misha; they were childhood friends, of course. The fact that Ria had chosen to meet with Misha first was telling, but she didn’t linger on that point.

Ria, on the other hand, heaved a deep breath.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to meet him. She did. But... she was guilty and afraid. To this day, she felt guilt about the suffering that he had endured. Misha had managed to shrug off the psychological impact of the coma from resurrection, but Runark hadn’t. He had been profoundly traumatized by the horrifying experience.

And that was because of Ria. Her weakness and arrogance had led to this, and her incompetence had led to his further suffering after she brought him back. On top of that, she ran away to the cosmos in the name of hunting infected worlds. Their communications had been sparse and written. She felt like she had neglected a dear friend after causing him a lot of pain.

By the time she left Misha’s place after catching up, she inhaled deeply before exhaling a shaky breath, heading over to Hajin City, to the familiar Dullahan Manor, feeling a nervous tingle in her heart. She was immediately let in by the guards, who recognized her, and ushered in by a friendly butler to the front door.

"If it isn’t Ria," Fae beamed at her after opening the door, reaching in for a deep hug. "Oh, you’ve grown up so much. You used to be such a small, adorable doll, and you’ve become such a fine young lady."

Fae’s cooing didn’t help her relax, especially when she couldn’t sense Runark’s presence anywhere nearby.

"Oh, Runark?" Fae responded with surprise. "Didn’t he tell you? He’s been training aggressively in the manifold under your father’s tutelage ever since you left. He broke through to the Sage Realm last month."

Ria’s jaw dropped.

"What?!"