Will Ashur be Alright?

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[Lusting Water]

Mineral water containing the toxin Lusting.

A glass of water can have a small dose of the toxic effect. Consuming more will cause addiction, and the drinker will start losing control over themselves.

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"So the water is poisoned?"

Cien nodded in response to Halima's question.

He also explained that a glass of water would have a small dose effect, similar to what he was experiencing now.

"What happens if the water continues to be consumed?"

"Let's just say they will turn into animals."

Halima pondered again. According to Dion's report, King Mandora visited all the water sources in Ashur. Halima could interpret this as all the water sources already being contaminated.

She couldn't estimate the exact volume of water that had been distributed out of Ashur. All she knew was that it was not a small amount.

The claim that the water could sustain the entire Mandora was not a lie.

If the water had already reached some cities near Ashur, the toxic effects would appear tonight, which means now.

However, if it was still considered a small dose, the chaos wouldn't happen today.

The horrifying effects of the water coming out of Ashur would only become apparent tomorrow or the day after.

"There's no time. I have to inform the rulers of other regions immediately!"

Halima immediately instructed her servant to promptly instruct the Sonic Bird caretaker to prepare the birds.

She would need a large number of birds at once to minimize the impact of the situation.

Cien was impressed by Halima's swift action.

The woman wasted no time. After giving the order, she immediately took a stack of papers and began writing her emergency message.

Cien had started to feel forgotten until he heard Halima's voice.

"Is there anything else you think needs attention, Little C?"

Halima asked without looking at Cien, her hands busy placing black ink on the brown paper.

"Hmm... I'm not sure. Do you think the other lords will believe this situation?"

"I can only try to convince them. It would be much faster if His Majesty himself sent the emergency order. But now, we don't even know where His Majesty is."

"I hope they believe us. If not, I don't even want to think about what will happen next."

Cien let out a long breath. This problem was now beyond his control.

The only thing he could possibly do now was search for a remedy on his phone and spread it through the influence of Duke Bahman.

Cien opened his phone. Halima had seen this phone several times before. So Cien informed her that the phone was an ancient artifact he had found in Death Valley. It was an artifact with the function of accessing various information.

"Oh, a very useful artifact."

"Yup, this makes my life in that cursed place not boring."

Cien searched for the antidote to Lusting in just a few minutes. Then he asked for a blank piece of paper and wrote down the recipe.

The materials for the antidote were not too rare.

There was only one that might be difficult to find in Ashur: Calming Moongrass. A wild plant commonly found in the highlands of the Huntara Kingdom.

Cien wasn't sure if Ashur or even Mandora had a lot of stock for this particular material.

Likewise, Halima's face immediately turned grim.

"To make the antidote for just one city, honestly, I'm not confident."

Cien couldn't do anything. He then asked about the availability of the material at Duke Bahman's residence, but Halima immediately answered in the negative.

Cien certainly wanted to cure the poison in his body. For that, he had to go somewhere else.

As Cien was about to leave, he suddenly felt like there was something he had forgotten.

Then, when he saw the colorful lights shining into the sky in the city center from the window, it reminded him of the auction. The place where he had ingested the poison.

"Oh no, this might be worse than we thought."

"What do you mean, Little C?"

There were two things Cien realized at that moment.

First, the eye contact and interaction between him and Asmodeus at the auction may have started to raise suspicions about him.

There was a small possibility that Asmodeus had already ordered his subordinates to find out about him.

This would eventually lead them to realize about the figure in the robe with the coffin. His hiding place would be discovered. Lilinette was in danger.

Then the second thing he realized was the auction.

The annual auction was attended by various nobles from different kingdoms, including major kingdoms like Westya.

It wasn't just nobles. There were also many high-level adventurers, wealthy merchants, researchers and alchemists, as well as renowned blacksmiths and craftsmen.

The people who attended the auction could be considered influential figures. They had the power to move the wheels of the world.

Now, if they were to be poisoned, what would happen?

Cien could imagine the magnitude of the loss if Kastia were to lose these influential figures. It wouldn't just be the loss of important individuals, but chaos would also ensue in various kingdoms.

Cien now understood Asmodeus's objective.

The demon not only wanted to destroy the Kingdom of Mandora without war but also wanted to sow the seeds of chaos in various lands of Kastia.

Asmodeus wanted the kingdoms in Kastia to weaken, thus benefiting the Abyss side. It had to be acknowledged that what Asmodeus was doing was incredibly cunning.

This demon didn't need to shed blood, but the resulting impact could be worse than what A'wan did in Huntara.

When Halima listened to Cien's explanation, the woman immediately realized the crisis that was starting to erupt in Kastia.

Halima pondered for a moment, and a sense of unease could be seen in her trembling body.

Halima then proposed gathering them—the auction guests—in one place. Quarantining them until the antidote could be successfully made.

However, Cien immediately rejected the proposal. If Halima were to do that, Asmodeus would surely begin to realize that his plan had been exposed. If that happened, who knows what the Demon General would do.

Asmodeus could easily destroy Ashur.

And with the current power in Ashur, including the high-level adventurers, Cien was uncertain if they could stop the rampage of the Demon General.

Halima felt frustrated. Fighting against Asmodeus would be suicidal. No one could defeat him at the moment. Except for one...

"I will try to contact Prince Hanibal."

Cien, who was about to leave, out of concern for Lilinette's situation, suddenly froze.

Prince Hanibal, the one who had become the Champion of Mandora. If a Champion fought against Asmodeus, there might be a chance of defeating him. But Cien wasn't sure about this.

In Huntara, A'wan could only be defeated by the poison from Bluminous.

The Demon General could fight on par and even surpass the General from Huntara and the Huntress from Marina.

Cien didn't know the true strength of those two individuals, but if they could hold off A'wan, it meant they were not ordinary people.

Now, would one Champion be enough to defeat Asmodeus? Especially when there were no trump cards like Bluminous available at the moment.

Cien carried Crimsonagin, but would that magic spear be enough? Cien was truly uncertain.

But now the problem was...

"Can Prince Hanibal come here before it's too late?"

That was the crucial question. If everything descended into chaos or if Asmodeus realized that his plan was about to be exposed, the arrival of the Prince at a later time wouldn't change anything.

If he could arrive within two days, perhaps the influence of the toxic water could be contained. Because with the command of a prince, all cities would obey without question.

That's what made Cien wonder why Asmodeus was still disguised as King Mandora.

Because the demon wanted to ensure that his poisoned water could be distributed throughout Mandora or perhaps all of Kastia.

"I don't know for sure. Prince Hannibal has a free spirit. For the past two or three years, he has never settled in one place. Prince Hannibal would go to cities and villages in Mandora."

"Doesn't that mean it's impossible to find him?"

"I will send a letter directly to the palace. Maybe they have their own way of contacting Prince Hannibal. As for the time for the Prince to come here… well, the entire Mandora is his playground."

"A playground?"

Halima smiled bitterly, "I don't know what his powers are. But the Prince can dive into the sand and move very quickly within it. Making it possible for him to travel from the western edge of Mandora to the eastern edge in just one day."

"...whoaa…"

For now, Halima planned to summon Prince Hannibal. If the Prince could arrive within a few days and successfully defeat Asmodeus, they could quarantine the noble guests and also issue orders not to consume water from Ashur.

Although Cien still doubted the matter of 'defeating Asmodeus', can they really do that?

Cien couldn't linger any longer. He needed to check the inn. Before leaving, Cien took a photo of Halima and added it to his friends' list.

He bid farewell and said he would contact her if he obtained any new information.

Cien left the residence and ran straight to where his lodging was located. His lodging was quite far since it was in the south of Ashur.

"I hope nothing has happened there yet."

***

After Cien's departure, Halima continued writing dozens of emergency messages.

She even instructed her head servant to copy the messages she had made to expedite the process.

Halima felt chased by time. The issues regarding Dion and her brother that had once consumed her mind now seemed trivial compared to the crisis that was currently unfolding and would happen in the coming days.

'It would truly be a catastrophe if Little C is not in Ashur.'

It seemed like something more than a mere coincidence.

The presence of Asmodeus and his cunning plans, as well as Cien's return.

Halima felt that Cien being in Ashur might be the will of God.

Now, the only thing left was to solve the problems. Whether Mandora would be destroyed or not, Halima couldn't answer that question.

If the situation worsened, Halima also needed to plan the evacuation of her brother and the people of Ashur.

Halima, in her restless writing, grew increasingly agitated. She wasn't even aware that sweat kept streaming down her forehead. The stress was reaching its peak.

"Madam..."

The soft voice of her head servant resonated in her room.

Halima looked up from the paper she was writing on. She saw the worried face of an old man who had always managed to control his emotions.

"Will Ashur be alright?"

Upon hearing that, Halima clenched her teeth. She couldn't give up. Many lives were at stake!

Tears started to well up in Halima's eyes as she lowered her head and resumed writing the emergency messages.

"I don't know. But... are you willing to die with me?"