[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 249: Doll (2)

...****************...

At the same time, Dexter was running towards the target alone.

Since he had previously conducted his own investigation, Dexter was slightly separated away from all the units, and was now on his way towards the unit led by Tian.

Tian was already far ahead, but with this speed, it shouldn't take long for Dexter to catch up with him.

Fortunately, the city of Fencen is built on a lowland with a fairly flat surface, so the journey is not at all disturbed.

To speed up his journey, he also jumped from one roof to another. That way, he would not be hindered by any obstacles that existed on the mainland.

Dexter had a sullen expression on his face, clearly out of annoyance at himself. If she had not left Mona alone, Mona would not have been hurt.

Although Dexter's appearance looked like a criminal, he basically had a pretty gentle heart, with high self-esteem.

Of course, if someone was injured due to his carelessness, all Dexter could feel was regret and anger.

" … Tch."

After clicking his tongue once, Dexter immediately sped up his pace, unaware of the two figures who were following him not far behind.

...****************...

Noelle saw Dexter slowly starting to move away. It meant that he had accelerated his pace.

Seeing that, Noelle intended to match her speed, but then she remembered that the figure beside her could not possibly do that.

Right now, Noelle was running and jumping roof after roof with someone, who was actually Felice.

A few things happened, and now they both work together as a team, as determined from the beginning.

"Do you want to catch up with Dexter? " ask Noelle.

Mona thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I don't think it's necessary. Dexter .. It looks like he's really sorry about what happened to Mrs Mona .. I don't want to bother him now."

"Yahh, so do I," Noelle replied with a small laugh.

There's no point in chasing Dexter. Even if Noelle intended to chase after him, she herself did not know what to do after.

Noelle felt absolutely no attachment between herself and Dexter. This was completely different from when he found someone he felt 'matched' with.

Noelle smiled faintly after sighing for a moment. His focus then returned to the steps he took carefully.

Beside him, Felice was still silent, looking confused as to what he should say.

However, seconds later, a question flashed through his mind.

"That's .. Noah .. There's something I want to ask you … "

He still continued to run and jump from one roof to another, but his speed was clearly slowing down.

Sensing Felice's change in speed, Noelle involuntarily lowered her speed.

"What's? "

For a moment, Felice was completely confused, but then he immediately shook his head in an attempt to convince himself.

"Actually ... What is your level? "

This question made Noelle almost tear down her expression.

He was actually prepared to accept this question, but he did not expect that it would be asked at a time like this.

Noelle knows. It was possible that his level had already risen to be higher, but he himself could not confirm it.

The reason is clear. Noelle could not check her own status because the 'system' had been 'stolen' by Noir.

Not only could he not see his level, Noelle also could not use some of his additional abilities because Noir stole the system.

Of all the lost capabilities, among them are capabilities that are still in the same set as tracking.

In the past, Noelle was able to use her blood to become a tracking signal, and used a 'system' to see her tracking target directly. However, that ability is gone.

For the answer to Felice's question, Noelle herself is still not convinced. But he already had preparations for it.

"Before I answer it, can I know about your own level? "

If he understood the standards Felice possessed, he could naturally make little estimates about the standard levels that the members of the Lunatic Order had.

"That ... Last I saw it, it was about sixty? I don't know, I haven't seen him in a long time. There are strict rules in the church. They said we shouldn't be accessing that weird system too often … "

This was the first time Noelle had heard of the rule. Even so, he accepted it well.

It is possible, the rule was made in order to prevent the adherents of Goddess Zelica changed direction to worship Goddess Anastasia.

Rather than that, what made Noelle more interested was the level Felice had.

He said it was about 60, and it was the level when he last checked, which was not known when it happened.

Assuming that Felice had last seen her status one month ago, Noelle could have guessed that she might have gone up a level or two by now.

That's pretty good speed for a human. However, it was still shocking because the public had its own level standards.

In the public, the normal standard level is only up to 50. The level did not have much effect on one's strength, but it still gave a pretty good addition to the body stats one possessed.

With Felice's level now, he had clearly exceeded normal human standards.

Before Noelle replied, Felice continued, "I'm a little embarrassed about this, but actually my level is probably the lowest of everyone in the bar. My chances of being able to get a raise were also quite limited, so I was a little behind … "

There are many ways to level up, and the easiest way is to 'take the life of another being'.

Noelle did not know what methods could be used, but she was a little interested in knowing that.

However, the focus was shifted to the first line of Felice's sentence.

He said his level was probably the lowest. That meant that Louen, Rita, Dexter, Mona, Dolf and Tian had levels that were slightly or much higher than that.

(What is this? Is the standard different from what the public has? )

It was a little confusing, but then Noelle realized.

The reason why the standard level is different from that of ordinary people, is because of 'information control'.

It is possible that some upper class parties make ordinary residents have absolute thoughts about the limits of that level. That way, the standard measure of one's strength will remain awake.

The parties left to reach higher levels may be just military units, members of church organizations, royal or noble families, and some other important parties.

Adventurers were not included, but their standard of strength was usually quite high when compared to ordinary people.

Obviously, adventurers always deal with monsters, and they can kill many monsters in a single mission. No wonder their level development was fast enough.

Noelle thought about it for a moment, and soon realized that it made sense.

By providing a limit for ordinary people, some important parties would have a greater chance of reaching a higher level. This is also in accordance with their heavy duty.

If everyone's strength was set to the same standard of strength, then it would be extremely chaotic.

Noelle chuckled as she thought about the truth she had been questioning all along.

Then, he replied, "Last I checked it out, my level was about one hundred and twenty, or so .. I'm not sure about the current one, because it was a statistic two months ago."

Noelle deliberately lied a little about her level. If he was too honest and mentioned the number 160, he was worried that it would be a very surprising thing.

"It was really high ... What did you do until you could reach that stage? "

Even if the level had no effect on individual strength, people still often used it as the standard of individual strength.

The level difference is the easiest way to determine who is stronger. Unfortunately, that's not right.

A person with a low level could have beaten a higher one if he had better abilities.

At the end of the day, levels are just statistics, and not a true measure of the power that a person as a whole possesses.

"Did you forget? Although it is unofficial and has no license, I am a former adventurer who has faced many things. Killing five or ten monsters every day has become routine for me."

He did not lie about that 'routine. In the past, while still an adventurer, Noelle often went around and entertained herself by taking missions.

"Once, yes … "

Felice wanted to praise Noelle more, but she realized that the time was not right.

Now he has to focus on chasing this target named Moldy.

At least, the tension between her and Nosh began to dissipate, and now she could speak normally again to Noah.

Noelle also felt the same way, so naturally she felt happy.

But the fun didn't last long.

Noelle stopped immediately and began to increase her focus on detection. Felice also stopped abruptly, and looked around with an aunt.

Felice didn't see, or feel anything. However, it was different from Noelle who had a sharp intuition above her detection ability.

"What's–"

Before Felice could continue her words, Noelle's index finger had already been on her lips, and made her instantly speechless.

In total silence, where no wind blew, Felice continued to stare at Noelle, while feeling a subtle touch on her lips.

Meanwhile, Noelle, sensed a lot of suspicious presence in the surroundings.

They're everywhere. On the streets, in buildings, in used pipes, underground sewer lines, attached to walls, and many others.

They really are everywhere.

Even more surprising, this presence was not from monsters, but rather a humanoid figure that was not clearly from which race.

Seconds later, one by one their whereabouts were revealed.

Each of them wore black robes that covered the entire body, but Noelle could clearly sense that they all had no life.

It's like they're just consciousnessless people who only move based on instinct.

Their souls seemed to still be there, but all thoughts and sanity had already been dispelled.

"So this is what they call 'Boneka' … "

Noelle remembered the report from Kino. In one of those reports, there was something about a group of people in black robes. Not wrong again, what Noelle sees now is in accordance with the contents of the report.

Noelle did not know how much 'Dolls' the Swallow Life Order could mobilize, but this number could be called very much.

It's about 100, but there may be more. It was an excessive amount just to face two people.

"Elis, I advise you to hide immediately."

"But ... Where is it? "

Felice wanted to obey what Noelle said, but no matter which direction she looked, there were only puppets everywhere. It was impossible to pass by when the bunch of Dolls were all over the place.

Noelle herself was aware of it, and she could only laugh a little in response.

By the time the Dolls got closer, Noelle had already embodied Langen and Verstand to their original size, and of course that surprised Felice.

(Since when did he bring the sword? )

Felice's eyes focused on a sword in Noelle's hand. It was long, perhaps its length could reach Felice's neck if positioned vertically. The most striking thing is the color.

Black and silver. The two colors that were not mixed evenly, made the sword look strange.

Ignoring Felice's astonished gaze, Noelle counted all the enemies that came at her, and began to behave to fight.

One of the Dolls ran very fast towards him. The puppet swung its hand, showing five extremely sharp claws as if it did not belong to a human.

Noelle instinctively slashed horizontally on the puppet's body, and instantly made her body split in two.

However, the movements of the Doll did not stop. Even though she had lost her entire lower body, she still slid and swung her hand at Noelle's face.

Of course, Noelle directly held the claw with her sword, but the power that the Puppet possessed was truly beyond belief.

If Noelle let her guard down just a little, then the doll would definitely push her. It was simply unbelievable that the creature could exert such a huge amount of power after losing half its body.

In a position that still held the claws of the Doll, Noelle immediately pulled her left hand back, and re-launched it with a sharp blood blade.

Instantly, a blade made of blood stuck right on the Puppet's forehead.

Noelle immediately threw the doll's body, and waited for her reaction.

The result, as he thought. Although these Puppets had no sense, they would still stop when their brains were destroyed.

The same thing might have happened if he hit his heart, but he hasn't tried that yet, so he doesn't know.

Even more troublesome, Noelle also had to pay attention to Felice's situation.

Behind him, Felice was also facing a single Puppet, but all of the attacks he gave had no impact on the Puppet.

Felice only used a dagger to attack, but she also used her contract ability to dodge all attacks smoothly.

Despite that, it was undeniable that he might be in a pretty bad situation. Only a fatal attack on the brain or heart could possibly take out the puppets. However, this puppet also had skin and bones so hard that Felice's dagger was unlikely to be able to penetrate it.

After taking care of all the Dolls that came towards her, Noelle immediately approached Felice, and began to finish off all the Dolls present.

Even so, it still seemed that the number had not decreased at all. The dolls are still coming.

Noelle clicked her tongue, then took out a few swords from her spatial warehouse.

Each of those swords immediately shot out and stuck their ends right at the heads or hearts of the Puppets. They died instantly.

There was still a lot to get rid of, so Noelle did not stop. After pulling back all of his weapons, he began to control all of those swords and attacked every Puppet without exception.

"They are endless … "

Noelle intended to use magic to instantly finish them all off at once, but it didn't work. He had already tried to launch low-level magic, and it was instantly neutralized after approaching the body of the Puppet within a half-meter radius.

Which meant, those Puppets somehow had the ability to neutralize all the magic around them. Of course, that did not mean they could neutralize high-level magic.

Despite knowing that, Noelle still did not use magic because she did not have effective magic to finish them all at once.

The easiest way is with blast magic, or ice magic that Olivia once showed. However, unfortunately Noelle could not use that.

Explosion magic would produce uncontrolled damage, and it could be that Felice would be affected. As for ice magic, he didn't even master it.

While Noelle was busy thinking, she could feel an extremely powerful slash befalling the puppets around her.

The bodies of all the Puppets were instantly split apart and shattered into a disgusting pile of flesh, but it did not stop there.

Slash after slash appeared, continuously killing all the Puppets present in his attack trajectory.

The attack came from a scythe that spun fiercely in the air, then landed back in the hands of a girl.

"You–"

Responding to Noelle's stalled words, the girl also looked towards him, and was immediately startled.

...****************...

Just a moment ago, somewhere not far from the adventurer guild of Fencen city.

Tania was enjoying her grilled sausage while walking with a bag full of hot bread.

On his wrist, a sickle-shaped accessory that was actually a Zephiroth scythe could be seen hanging on a thin thread.

After the last Asterisk meeting, Tania got a little inspired by the way Souris kept her weapon. Thanks to that, he desperately broke through the Dungeon of Greed in the Royal capital, and finally gained the weapon manipulation ability that was suitable for him.

Unfortunately, his attempt at conquering the Dungeon of Greed failed, and he was forced to move to another dungeon to begin conquering it.

Tania was in the city just to make a temporary stop, before finally returning south to head for the next dungeon. Therefore, whatever happens today is entirely due to chance.

Just as Tania was about to enjoy the last bite of her grilled sausage, Navi's voice sounded.

『Tania, this is bad. I felt the aura of the underworld from somewhere.』

Tania's face immediately became serious. "Where did it come from? "

『West.』

" … What happened there? "

Tania wanted to think and find the answer, but no matter how she thought about it, she could not find the answer to this situation.

It's late enough now, but there are still a lot of people active at this hour. Supposedly, such a commotion would be detected immediately whether it was by the guard unit or anyone else.

『I don't know the situation, and I myself am not sure what happened either. The aura of the underworld that I feel is arguably weak, but the amount is quite a lot.』

"What monsters from the underworld were pulled out? "

『Not sure. Their presence was too weak to be equated with monsters from the underworld. Maybe ... It was just contamination.』

Hearing that answer made Tania frown.

"Someone has tried to bring chaos to the surface … "

Just the thought of the monsters from the underworld raging on the surface alone had already made Tania tremble. He did not know what would happen if the beings from the underworld were released to the surface of the earth. Clearly, he knew there would be great destruction.

Especially, if there was one upper-class creature that was expelled.

"We'd better go check it out … "

Tania wanted to immediately run towards the direction of that underworld aura, but her footsteps suddenly stopped.

He looked at the paper wrapper filled with warm bread, and was instantly confused by it.

『Just give it up! You can buy it again later!』

Tania gritted her teeth in frustration and went to a nearby alley. There, he placed his bread wrapper carefully, then hid it behind a pile of used cardboard in the hope that wild animals or vagrants would not find it.

After making sure her bread was safe, Tania immediately ran to the location she was heading to, then manifested the true form of the Zephiroth scythe.

...****************...

That's the situation.

Tania accidentally discovers a figure she knows as Souris.

"Sou–"

Before she accidentally called out to him by that name, Noelle had already been by his side and forcibly shut her mouth.

"Call me Noah" Noelle whispered to him.

Tania carefully nodded and replied in a low voice. "Then you can call me Tania."

Looking at Felice, Tania easily understood the situation. He will follow the scenario Noelle is designing now.

"Good," Noelle said as she nodded.

After which, Noelle returned to Felice's side and looked at Tania as if nothing had happened.

"I haven't seen you in a long time. What are you doing here? "

Tania slightly widened her eyes, clearly not expecting that this was the scenario Noelle chose.

"I came just to rest. The aura of the underworld .. Disturbing."

Tania blatantly pointed at one of the Puppets that ran over to her. The puppet was intent on attacking, but the sweep from its scythe instantly severed the puppet's wild instinct.

(Under world?)

Noelle would not doubt her ears. He remembered the underworld that Tania had once explained. It was the origin of the monsters that had attacked Eisen.

(What that means .. )

There was a lot Noelle wanted to think about, but this was not the right situation to do so.

Beside him, Felice hesitantly interrupted, "Do you know each other? "

Noelle nodded. "We were in the same group when I was an adventurer. Her name is Tania."

Felice then smiled at Tania. "S-Greetings know."

" … Ms."

After all, the response Tania was able to give was just a small nod, which at least meant positive.

...****************...