Life, too, adapts to its environment and advances in the direction of growth suited to itself.
Empress Drian of the Silva Empire emerged from her private chamber of life.
When she arrived at the fortress, Tarban and Bramir were waiting there.
Drian opened her mouth.
“There are two conceivable directions for growth. First, further deepening and developing the Slime Core. Second, securing the rocky ridge to the west.”
The rocky ridge located between the Silva Empire and the Terra Empire was a place where the energy of the earth lingered, a region Terra had used effectively to defend against Silva’s attacks.
If Silva secured the rocky ridge, they too could begin research there on harvesting Earth Cores by using Amber Cores.
However, after the clash between Silva and Terra at the time, the rocky ridge had long since fallen into Terra’s hands.
Terra, which likewise possessed the earth attribute, was producing Earth Cores from that rocky ridge in greater quantities than in other regions without any additional research.
Tarban tilted his head.
“Terra already occupies the rocky ridge. Are you thinking of attacking Terra?”
“It is only one option. With the plan to acquire Ignis’s core having ended in failure, what would you say to obtaining Terra’s core instead?”
Bramir hesitated before answering.
“I believe it would be best to decide a little more cautiously. In my humble opinion, advancing into Terra should be done only when we have no other choice.”
“Then……”
Drian looked up as she spoke.
“For now, growing the Slime Core comes first. We already possess even the Biological Absorber, so if we collect more Slime Cores, slime should be able to reach its final stage as well.”
Tarban and Bramir hesitated to answer.
Was it truly all right to grow the Slime Core to the very end?
The Biological Absorber was already threatening enough, but they were curious—and perhaps afraid—of what kind of unit could exist one stage above it.
The two retainers glanced at each other for a moment before Tarban opened his mouth.
“If slime is the only path we can take now, then I believe we should follow that direction.”
Drian nodded.
In truth, the practical authority to decide the empire’s growth also rested with Drian, the empress.
Unlike the other empires, Silva had grown directly through Drian’s hand.
However, in the case of slime, Aqua’s cooperation was absolutely necessary.
Drian said in a low voice.
“We produce Life Cores at a rapid pace, but Aqua does not. It seems we will have to wait for their speed.”
At that moment, a Forest Warrior hurried into the fortress and knelt down.
“Your Majesty! Terra has summoned the Yellow Dragon again!”
Drian, Tarban, and Bramir all looked at him at once.
Drian’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“Montanus…… You mean that infamous dragon has awakened again.”
“Yes, that is correct! However, it does not appear to be taking any immediately visible action.”
After hearing the Forest Warrior’s words, Bramir walked outside the fortress.
He looked up at the sky for a moment before speaking.
“The flow of the air is certainly different. But it is not a drastic change. The Yellow Dragon is indeed not moving right now. And……”
His gaze turned slightly southwest.
“……It seems the dragon is closer to the south. It is not in our direction, nor Aqua’s.”
Tarban thought for a moment, then said,
“The south is Ignis…… Then is that dragon currently taking an interest in Ignis?”
“Ignis, is it……. What on earth are they plotting?”
Drian closed her eyes, then opened them again.
“Ignis has a somewhat ambiguous relationship with Terra. It is not even clear whether they are allies or enemies. However, Terra has certainly provided support to Ignis before. Handing Aqua’s core over to Ignis was one such instance. After severing their relationship with Metallum, are they now attempting to approach Ignis next?”
Tarban responded to her words.
“But that happened a long time ago, did it not? Seeing as no particular relationship between the two has developed since then, whatever scheme Terra had been preparing likely fell through due to their differences in temperament.”
“Even so, Terra will not give up.”
Drian also looked out beyond the fortress as she continued.
“In any case, if a dragon has emerged again from Terra, an enemy nation of both us and Aqua, we must monitor that dragon. Aqua is probably aware of this as well, and they too must be watching.”
Bramir looked around and asked,
“In that case, how about we summon Nemorensis again as well?”
Tarban answered with a displeased expression.
“Surely Nemorensis will not go to Ignis again? As we observed, Ignis’s internal situation has not yet fully stabilized……”
“I think differently. Even if Ignis is currently in that state, they are not in danger of being invaded by Metallum, are they? Ignis does not need Nemorensis’s help.”
Just then, another Forest Warrior appeared and knelt before them.
“Your Majesty, this is grave!”
Tarban asked him,
“What is it? Is it more serious than a dragon appearing in Terra?”
The Forest Warrior answered.
“Our Life Cores are being created in Ignis!”
The inside of the fortress fell into silence for an instant.
Drian asked again.
“What does that mean? By what method could Ignis possibly create Life Cores?”
“They had a forest. The forest was burning because of Ignis’s fire, and they were conducting something inside it. It was undoubtedly Life Cores!”
The retainers who heard the Forest Warrior’s report could say nothing.
After a moment, Bramir slowly opened his mouth.
“So the conjecture that there was a region in Ignis where the energy of life emerged was true. I think I understand why they rejected our proposal. It seems they were already preparing a way to collect Life Cores even without our help……”
Tarban let out a sigh.
“But even if we had known that fact in advance, would there have been any way to stop them? Still, I cannot help feeling displeased. It feels as though the noble value of life that belonged only to us has been violated.”
Drian looked at them and calmed them.
“Remember this. The fact that they have begun collecting Life Cores themselves is not the result of our mistake.”
She continued in a deliberately calm tone.
“Just like the lake we or Metallum discovered, or the rocky ridge, Ignis found a region called a forest somewhere in this world. And no matter what work they carry out in the forest they discovered, we cannot interfere or protest. Did they not say that Aqua also witnessed Metallum harvesting cores from the lake, yet could take no action at all?”
Bramir asked her,
“Then what should we do now?”
“First, I want to understand the actual situation accurately. Do we have detailed information about Ignis’s Life Cores?”
At Drian’s question, the Forest Warrior answered.
“Detailed information is confidential to them, so we could not learn it either. However, what is strange is that the Life Cores they have created are different from ours. Though they are Life Cores, they are said to be mixed with a red, hot energy like theirs.”
“Then……”
Bramir said,
“It seems they are not even pure Life Cores. Life Cores imbued with Ignis’s fire energy……”
Tarban asked,
“In that case, would they not be almost similar to Ember Cores?”
Drian nodded.
“If they obtain Life Cores, the direction they can advance in will be growth into Ember Cores. Surely they will not grow like us with those Life Cores, will they?”
The Forest Warrior answered.
“It is difficult to be certain, but I believe it would be close to impossible.”
In reality, even if Ignis was producing red Life Cores, it was unreasonable for Ignis to produce Silva’s unit types as well.
Furthermore, in terms of compatibility, Silva was weaker than Metallum, so Ignis, which had Metallum as its enemy, did not need Silva’s unit types either.
The reason Ignis had wanted Life Cores was to immediately fuse them into Ember Cores and develop them.
Tarban cautiously opened his mouth.
“Then Ignis will now begin mass-producing Ember Cores. They may have already begun……. We do not know to what stage they have grown their barracks, but judging by their nature, it will only be a matter of time before they grow them to the final stage.”
The expansion of Ignis’s Ember Cores could no longer be stopped by Silva.
Even without Silva’s support, Ignis was now in a state where it could produce as many Ember Cores as it wanted.
Bramir also said,
“The one that should be most tense about those Ember Cores would be Metallum, but Aqua cannot simply stand by either. If the power of embers grows, it will make even water dry up.”
Drian closed her eyes, then slowly opened them.
“That is true. Aqua will handle things well on their own, but we should consider it together as well. Do you think the Slime Cores we possess can stop embers?”
They fell into thought.
Slime was the fusion of water and wood, while ember was the fusion of fire and wood.
The water of slime extinguished the fire of ember, but in exchange, it aided wood.
Furthermore, the wood of slime also aided the fire of ember.
Thus, the relationship of mutual generation was stronger than the relationship of opposition, so slime could not stop ember.
On the other hand, the fire and wood that composed ember did not aid any of slime’s attributes, and if they became even stronger, there was even a possibility that fire would evaporate water through a relationship of domination.
Having finished his calculations, Tarban was startled.
“My goodness……. Slime is useless against ember. At this rate, Aqua is in danger. If even Terra supports Ignis on top of that……”
Drian said,
“Aqua needs a new direction. A core other than slime. Unfortunately, we cannot help them. Then……”
After a moment of silence, she continued.
“Is Metallum’s core the only option?”
“Metallum……?”
“Rather, Metallum……?”
The retainers murmured to themselves.
The fusion of water and metal, the Crystal Core.
The water of crystal extinguished the fire of ember, and metal cuts wood.
Of course, water aids wood, but the relationship of opposition is stronger, so crystal can suppress ember.
On the other hand, the only attribute by which ember can defeat crystal is that fire can melt metal.
The conclusion reached was that when unit types of equal strength clashed, crystal would hold the advantage.
Tarban muttered,
“What Aqua needs is a combination of water and metal……?”
Meanwhile, somewhere on the opposite side of the world, that Crystal Core was being actively utilized.
That place was none other than the lake occupied by the Metallum Empire.
“It’s, it’s working……!”
A researcher shouted.
The Metallum researchers, including him, were watching as an Energy Core was dyed blue by the energy of water.