Chapter 175: Here’s What We’re Gonna Do…

-Ding!

Consequences of that will be unpredictable at best.}

"Damn, I was really hoping to be able to replicate it," I couldn’t help but sigh, "Even without that curse, that’s a top-of-the-line sword..."

"But it’s not worth the risk, I agree with the System," Peko said

"Yeah... Okay, scratch that, I’ll leverage it some other way," I said, turning to Peko, "I need you to extract memories from the cultist’s body... You’ve probably seen it in the inventory. Take your time, do it slow, I need everything. He should know a lot about Entropy’s operations in Fugen... their contacts, their timeline, their objectives for this year’s Red Moon... Once we have the knowledge, depending upon what pans out, we’ll decide our next move."

"Understood," Peko gave a single sharp nod, "My mastery over the spell is still incomplete... But I have discovered a ritual in my Inheritance that will circumvent it. Though I will need a few days to prepare for it."

"Got it... just don’t take too long," I said, before tuning to Nom-Nom. "... Back to the grind... we’re still a long way from the Heart of the False Martyr, and Peko needs to be free of the Blood Pact asap, and you need to be strong and skilled enough to take on anything... I have something going on that’d allow you access to higher-tier dungeons if it works."

Nom-Nom nodded with complete seriousness, putting the slice that was stolen from her fully behind her.

"One more thing...." I said, putting the slice down. "We need to start thinking towards the Destined Journey... Not today, not even next week, but we gotta stop treating it as something we can defer forever. Our little cover won’t last forever. And with the waves we’re making, Pantheon probably already knows we’re here. And once the Red Moon is dealt with, they’ll be after us... Besides, I would rather reach Cardella on our own terms than get forced into it at the worst possible moment."

Peko was quiet for a beat before she said, "And the Tier 9 curse?"

I glanced at my arm stump, and then at the space where my leg had been.

"Working on it," I couldn’t help but sigh, " The Grade 1 Cleansing Potion is... well, it’s not happening. So, I’m betting on Crusaders, best-case scenario, Amaterasu picks one out tomorrow. Worst case, she doesn’t at all, but then again, the path to Cardella runs past a lot of places. We’ll find another Crusader."

Nom-Nom looked at the stump for a moment, and then looked at me, and her expression held something she had not yet found words for, so as a compromise, she reached over and just held my hand in hers in a firm grip that said all she wanted to without uttering a single word.