Chapter 1284: His ex?!
Unexpectedly, Nollura had a chance to stay alive. That day, she had no idea that she would have to fight for her life and that Adam would come to her nest and put her life in mortal danger with just a few attacks.
In a way, it was Adam who provoked the cause of her death and salvation. If he hadn’t needed to fight Ureyn to obtain the Connected Heart, he wouldn’t have gone to her nest.
But if it hadn’t been related to the String Duel and had simply been his desire to hunt some monster, Nollura would not have been able to defend herself, as no one would have given her the black seal with which she blocked Adam’s last attack.
“Black Cut…?” Adam muttered, confused. “Are you sure about that?”
Adam wouldn’t have been so surprised if it had been someone from the White Thread or even the Gray Needle.
Perhaps Gareyna would have told someone about their plans, or Ureyn’s ally would have found out about it somehow. In any case, he had spoken with Gareyna, who was from the White Thread, and was going to fight against Ureyn, who was from the Gray Needle.
Of the three factions, only the Black Cut had no connection to Adam and his future plans at the Forgotten Mills.
However, it was one of them, and not just anyone, but a Lord, who intervened in Adam’s battle against Nollura, albeit not directly.
In response, Nollura nodded deeply. It was clear from her expression that she was not joking. Everything was as serious as it could be, at least for her.
If this Lord had wanted to kill Nollura, for whatever reason, no one would have remembered her. Naturally, she would not have been able to defend herself against such an opponent.
Perhaps she should even thank Adam for showing up at the Forgotten Mills that day. Even if only for a moment, thanks to that, Nollura was able to get the attention of the Black Cut. In these lands, that was worth a lot.
“Yes, of course I’m fucking sure of it. Live in these lands for at least a few days, survive your first encounter with one of them, and you’ll never forget it.”
“And, do you know who this Lord is? I mean, his name?” Adam asked. If someone was following him, he should know about it.
With difficulty, Nollura nodded.
“Yes. Norax, the Abyss Cleave. One of the strongest monsters at the Black Cut or even in all of the Blighted Scar Lands. Anyway… When he came here, I hoped with all my heart that this visit would not end in my death. He warned me that the Phantom would come and that I would need this emblem.”
She showed Adam the emblem, as the diagonal cut caught his attention.
“Here, take this and get out of here. Norax said it would help you arrange a fight.”
Adam took the seal, examined it, and nodded deeply.
“Yes, I came here to participate in the String Duel. Well, that wasn’t my original goal, but now it is.”
As soon as he mentioned the String Duel, Nollura’s eyes widened as she blinked several times in disbelief.
“W-What? String Duel? Shit… So that’s what this is about.”
“Hmm?” Adam raised an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”
Nollura waved her hand. “I can’t remember the last time the String Duel took place in our lands. It must have been decades ago, and it was monster versus monster, not Phantom versus monster. This will attract a lot of attention!”
“Agh?” Adam gasped, puzzled.
Gareyna hadn’t warned him about anything like this.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Adam waved his hand. “What do you mean, it will attract a lot of attention? All I want is to fight Ureyn in a simple, quiet duel. I need to defeat him to get the Connected Heart, or rather, the essence to evolve further.”
Again, Nollura’s eyes widened, but this time, Adam wasn’t sure what caused her reaction.
“U-Ureyn? If you wanted to fight him, then why did you come here? No, not exactly… Why did you attack me if your opponent is Ureyn?”
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
Adam scratched the back of his head, completely confused by what was going on here and not understanding why Nollura looked like she had heard something strange every time. Although this time it was more than justified.
“Well, isn’t it obvious? You have a long-standing hatred for each other because he lost to you a few years ago, so the plan was to come, kill you, and take your head to Ureyn’s mill to force him to come out and fight me.”
If she could, Nollura’s jaw would have dropped to the floor at such a frank, cruel, and utterly absurd plan.
“WHAT? What the hell hatred?!” Nollura exclaimed, her scream shaking the entire cave.
Then, she grabbed her hair, tearing out strands in frustration.
“Ureyn is my ex! We never even fought! What fucking defeat are you talking about?”
Now, not only was Adam shocked, but Silvana was as well.
After it turned out that Lord from the Black Cut was involved in his fight, Adam was sure that nothing could surprise him anymore, but… this?
He couldn’t have expected this.
“Ex? Like… ex-boyfriend?”
“FUCKING YES!!!”
While Silvana was still trying to understand what was going on, Adam touched his chin and ran his gaze over Nollura’s body, stopping at her curves.
“Damn, Ureyn… You’re a lucky piece of shit.”
Silvana and Nollura exclaimed simultaneously:
“SHUT UP!”
In response, Adam simply shrugged.
“I’m just trying to be honest. What’s wrong with that? But…”
His tone changed abruptly from carefree to grim.
“If you’re his ex-girlfriend, and judging by your reaction, you don’t hate him, then… what’s going on here? Why did she tell me to kill you?”
The answer to that question would cause Adam and the others a lot of problems, at least in the beginning.
However, now he had several ways to get to Ureyn, and Nollura could help with that.