Chapter 338: Addiction
The primordial dragon was sitting properly in her humanoid form, but she was eating like a completely starved feral beast.
She had actively piled literal mountains of roasted chicken onto her large wooden plate.
CHOMP!
"Hahahahaa!"
She tore through the roasted meat with terrifying draconic speed, completely ignoring the bones as she crushed them between her teeth.
Talira wiped a thick streak of hot grease from her chin and pointed a half-eaten chicken leg directly across the table.
Kaelia was sitting directly opposite her, wearing her pristine clean maid uniform, watching the dragon eat with wide eyes.
"You are a god," Talira mumbled aggressively through a massive mouthful of food.
Talira swallowed hard, thumping her chest.
"You completely outdid yourself, Kaelia," Talira praised the maid loudly. "This is the best chicken I have ever tasted in my entire long life."
Kaelia’s face instantly flushed a bright and incredibly adorable red.
The chef hid her face entirely behind her hands, giggling shyly at the highly aggressive compliment.
"Thank you, Talira," Kaelia whispered happily, her eyes shining with pride.
Meanwhile, over in the far dimly lit corner of the Mess Hall.
A massive loud crowd had formed tightly around a solitary round table.
"PUSH!" someone screamed wildly from the back.
"BREAK HER DAMN ARM!" another voice yelled aggressively.
Eluned and Morwenna were having a vicious competitive arm-wrestling match.
Both of the ancient SSS-Rank powerhouses were completely drunk on the highly concentrated Blessed Drinks.
Their elbows were planted firmly and aggressively on the groaning wooden table.
Their hands were locked tightly together in an iron grip as the terrifying physical pressure generated between them was actually warping the air around the table, causing the wood to crack and splinter under their elbows.
"You are getting weak in your old age, pirate!" Eluned sneered loudly, her melodic voice completely gone.
The Nature Goddess’s beautiful emerald eyes were slightly glazed over, and her usually pristine cheeks were flushed a deep intoxicated pink from the alcohol.
"Shut your mouth, you overgrown weed!" Morwenna roared back furiously, her hair flying wildly around her flushed face.
The Dread Queen gritted her teeth with the veins bulging in her neck as she desperately tried to push Eluned’s arm down to the wood.
They were hurling creative personal insults directly at each other.
"Your ship probably smells like rotten fish and bad decisions!" Eluned taunted viciously, pushing slightly harder and gaining an inch.
"Your precious mana-apples taste like dirt!" Morwenna shrieked in rage, refusing to yield a single millimeter, desperately holding the line.
Standing right next to the table, completely caught up in the hype of the match, was Elm.
The normally quiet highly reserved white-haired Hero was slamming her small fists excitedly on the wooden table, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Break her wrist, Eluned!" Elm cheered wildly, fully and entirely supporting her new best friend. "Slam it through the table!"
"Don’t encourage her, Elm!" Lupina yelled loudly from the other side of the crowd, pumping her fist and cheering aggressively for the pirate. "Come on, Morwenna! Snap the twig!"
Sitting entirely alone in a quiet elevated booth in the opposite corner of the room.
Evelyn watched the chaos unfolding before her.
She had a warm wooden cup of the glowing Blessed Drink resting comfortably in her hands.
She took a slow measured sip, feeling the incredible potent warmth completely soothe her exhausted nerves and heal her minor scrapes.
Evelyn looked at the stout dwarves singing rowdily on the tables, she looked at Talira happily eating her literal body weight in roasted chicken.
She looked at the elegant Eluned and the terrifying Morwenna screaming petty insults at each other like college freshmen over a drunken arm-wrestling match.
Evelyn let out a long but deeply amused sigh.
’Since when did everyone become a barbarian?’ Evelyn thought to herself.
Her disciplined militaristic mobile fortress had never, ever seen a party like this.
Her soldiers were usually too stressed about fuel, too tired from repairing treads, or too scared of the Zones to ever truly let loose.
But as she watched her oldest friend, Elm, laughing hysterically and cheering with the other Blessed Land girls without a single care in the world.
Evelyn couldn’t help but smile.
A genuine relaxed smile touched her lips as the heavy burden of leadership felt incredibly light in this room.
They were having fun... They were safe and they were alive. That was what actually mattered at the end of the day.
CREAAAK!
The heavy wooden bench across from her suddenly creaked under a new weight.
Silas sat down exactly opposite her in the quiet booth.
He was holding massive fresh tankards of the Blessed Drink. He slid one smoothly across the scratched wooden table toward her.
Silas leaned back heavily against the booth, crossing his arms casually over his black tunic.
He looked at the relaxed smiling black-haired Lord.
"So," Silas said smoothly, his golden-ringed eyes locking onto hers. "When are we going back to Earth?"
Evelyn slowly ran a hand through her messy black hair as she stared across the scratched wooden table of the Mess Hall.
"When do you want to go back?" Evelyn asked.
Her voice was barely audible over the roaring deafening noise of the dwarven women singing on the tables.
She was completely confident that her people would be able to handle themselves.
Elm was here. Her secondary commanders were currently resting in their new luxury suites.
The Unmovable Wall was parked securely on the western ridge but it was clear that Silas was in a massive hurry.
He wanted to prepare his Vespera identity as soon as possible before the World Council auditors started sniffing around his territory’s digital footprint.
Silas leaned forward, resting his forearms on the sticky wood.
"Why not tomorrow?" Silas suggested pragmatically.
He took a slow measured sip from his wooden tankard.
"We can do it early in the afternoon or something," Silas continued. "I’m not exactly aware of what day tomorrow is back on Earth, though."
Evelyn interrupted him with a tired sigh.
"It’s Tuesday," Evelyn told him bluntly.
Silas nodded.
"Tuesday works," Evelyn confirmed, rubbing her tired eyes. "That’s completely fine. Jax will definitely be around... He never leaves his underground rig during the week."
"Perfect," Silas agreed.
He set his tankard down.
"Where should we meet up in Valoria City?" Silas asked.
Evelyn tilted her head left and right, stretching her stiff neck muscles.
She reached across her plate and picked up a massive piece of roasted chicken.
CHOMP!
She took a massive bite, chewing thoughtfully as she processed his question.
A sudden petty thought crossed her brilliant mind as Evelyn swallowed the chicken.
"I can just come over to your place," Evelyn suggested casually.
"Gah!"
Silas violently choked on the mouthful of Blessed Drink he had just chugged down.
He slammed his hand against his chest, coughing aggressively as the glowing liquid went down the wrong pipe.
"Excuse me?" Silas wheezed with his golden-ringed eyes watering slightly. Evelyn offered him a terrifying and perfectly sweet smile.
"Is that an issue?" Evelyn asked innocently.
She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands.
"I mean, I think it’s only fair for all of the trouble you’ve caused me today," Evelyn pointed out smoothly. "You completely blew up my front lines so I owe you a visit."
She tapped her fingers against the table.
"Just give me your private network number," Evelyn demanded. "You can turn on your location tracker tomorrow afternoon, and I will come directly over to your house."
Silas stared at her.
He could instantly read exactly what she was doing.
Evelyn was incredibly intrigued about where he actually lived on Earth.
He had ruthlessly joked around with her age earlier, calling her a twenty-two-year-old fossil.
She was planning to joke around with his living conditions.
’She wants to see if I live in a dumpster...’ Silas realized internally.
If his Earth apartment was a dump, she was going to ruthlessly mock him for the rest of his life.
That was only fair in the unwritten rules of banter. Silas finally caught his breath, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Fine," Silas agreed to her conditions.
He reached across the table.
Evelyn handed him her advanced custom-built datapad.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
Silas quickly punched in his private contact number and slid the heavy device back across the wood.
Evelyn looked at the number and saved it.
"Thank you," Evelyn said with her smug grin widening.
She grabbed another piece of chicken from her plate.
"By the way, compliment your chef for me," Evelyn mumbled through a mouthful of meat. "This food is absolutely incredible."
Silas smirked.
"I will pass it along to Kaelia," Silas noted.
Evelyn swallowed hard, wiping her greasy fingers on a napkin.
She looked directly at him, her dark eyes sparkling with mockery.
"Oh, and one more thing," Evelyn added casually.
"What?" Silas asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Tomorrow, before we meet Jax, we are also going to have to go to the main Valoria City bank to do the seventy-five million credit transaction properly," Evelyn explained.
She offered a sympathetic fake pout.
"Since you are so young," Evelyn teased mercilessly. "I might have to sign as your legal adult guardian for the transfer."
Silas’s right eyebrow twitched violently.
"Fuck you," Silas stated bluntly.
Evelyn burst out laughing.
It was a loud genuine laugh that echoed over the noise of the singing dwarves.
She threw her head back, completely losing her aristocratic Lord Sky composure.
Still laughing, she grabbed her wooden tankard.
’Uh whatever... Let’s just get this drink down.
She took a massive swing of the highly concentrated Blessed Drink.
GLUG!
The exact second the raw magical alcohol hit her throat, her entire body physically locked up.
"Ack—"
Evelyn coughed violently, slamming the wooden cup back down onto the table.
Her pale face instantly flushed a vibrant burning red.
"Holy shit," Evelyn gasped, wiping her mouth. Her eyes were completely wide.
"This is good," Evelyn slurred, her words instantly blending together. "But it is really, really strong..."
Her core had been completely drained during the Lord War so she had zero internal mana reserves left to process the power of the magical alcohol.
"Uhh, Evelyn?" Silas noted, leaning forward.
’Ah fuck... I took the strong ones.’
Thora was distributing a weakened version and the stronger version, since he couldn’t take drunk, he had taken the stronger version and as a result, he handed one over to Evelyn.
Her dark eyes rolled completely into the back of her head.
THUD!
Evelyn slumped heavily forward with her face planting directly onto the scratched wooden table.
She instantly lost consciousness as soft exhausted snores began to escape her lips.
Silas stared at the unconscious Lord of The Unmovable Wall lying face-down next to a pile of chicken bones.
"Lightweight," Silas muttered.
...
The world was completely blurry.
When Evelyn finally began to wake up, she felt like she was floating.
The roaring deafening noise of the Mess Hall was gone.
It was completely replaced by the soft sound of heavy boots crunching against paved stone.
She was currently being carried and Evelyn blinked her heavy eyelids while looking up.
Silas was holding her effortlessly in his arms, carrying her princess-style.
His broad muscular chest radiated an incredible comforting amount of physical heat against the freezing night air.
He wasn’t breathing hard as to a Lord of his level, Evelyn’s petite frame weighed nothing.
"Is this the room?" Silas’s deep voice echoed above her.
"Yes, it is."
Evelyn slowly turned her blurry head.
Elm was walking right beside them, her white hair glowing in the moonlight.
CLICK!
The sound of a heavy iron key turning in a lock echoed clearly as the thick wooden door to the luxury suite opened.
Silas carried Evelyn directly into the dark, quiet room.
"Finally... she’s a bit light though, does she even eat?"
’Fuu... fucker.’
He walked over to the massive plush king-sized bed as he gently let her down onto the thick down mattress.
FWUMP!
Evelyn collapsed into the soft pillows with her limbs feeling like dead lead.
She couldn’t move her arms as her head was spinning aggressively from the magical alcohol.
Silas stood up straight, rolling his shoulders to release the slight tension.
He let out a soft tired sigh then he turned around, looking at the white-haired Hero standing near the doorway.
"Goodnight, Elm," Silas said quietly, not wanting to wake the other resting soldiers in the complex.
"Goodnight, Lord Silas," Elm replied respectfully, bowing her head. "Thank you for carrying her."
Silas nodded.
He turned toward the door, completely ready to leave and finally get some sleep himself.
However, as he was just about to take a step...
A trembling hand forcefully clutched the fabric of his black tunic.
Silas stopped as he looked down and Evelyn had rolled over on the bed.
Her dark blurry eyes were entirely half-open, staring up at him in the dim light of the room as her fingers were gripping his shirt with desperate pathetic strength.
"My... cigarettes..." Evelyn slurred with her voice shaking violently.
She tried to pull herself up, her free hand patting the empty pockets of her oversized gray hoodie.
"Where are they...?" Evelyn breathed out, her chest heaving. "I need one."