Dimensional Descent

The Paris of the 21st century, before it was destroyed during the Empire's war for supremacy, was known for its romance and the Eiffel Tower. However, though it might still be possible for the France of the 1400's to be known for the former, it would still be 400 years until the latter was built. But, that didn't mean that Paris didn't have its grand sights, much to Leonel's aggrievement.

The grand sight this Paris was known for, unfortunately, was a massive castle that dwarfed both Leonel and even Aina's massive ax in size. It stretched almost as far as the eyes could see and its fortifications made the knees of its attackers weak.

Both Aina and Leonel stood a good distance from it, not wanting to alert the Englishmen of their arrival. Even though they had broken free of the French, let alone the English, even most of the French army was completely unaware of this. So, if they got caught now, there would definitely have to be a bloody battle.

"This is the city we're supposed to capture? What a death mission." Leonel muttered.

Aina stood by his side silently as they looked toward the tall greyish white walls in the distance. Though her expression had hardly changed, there was a trace of seriousness in her eyes.

Leonel sighed. "We're still lacking in information. What is Joan coming here to do? If her goal really is to capture Paris like history says it was, why is it our goal to kill her?"

There were too many things the answer to this question hinged on. For example, if Joan's goal was the same as theirs, should they work with her at the start and only kill her later? What if her goal wasn't the same as theirs? Should they kill her as quickly as possible to avoid later variables and try to capture the city on their own? Could they even do that if it was necessary?

The longer Leonel spent in Zones, the more he realized just how important information was. If they had wrong or even incomplete information, it could lead them toward doing something irreversible and get them stuck in this place for the rest of their lives. Leonel still shuddered at the thought of what would have happened to him had he killed the Priest's sacrificial virgin back in the Mayan Temple. He would have never seen his friends or family again…

Leonel's gaze flickered. 'No matter what, my priority if we pass through this will be getting the best Zone Detector I can.'

"We don't know exactly what her goal is," AIna suddenly said, "But, it's still possible to make a guess."

"What are you thinking?"

Aina bit her lip for a moment before continuing, her gaze still focused on the massive castle in the distance.

"First, remember that capturing Paris is just the hidden quest. We only need to complete the main quest to get the chance to leave."

"But…?" Leonel felt like she was leading him somewhere.

"But, there's a reason hidden quests exist. This isn't a game. Everything has a purpose and not completing everything perfectly has consequences. If it was a weak Zone, then the penalty for skipping over a hidden quest wouldn't be severe, but in a potential Unique Zone like this one, the consequences could be dire.

"The main reason it's best to complete a hidden quest is due to the fact hidden quests are lingering dangers. When left incomplete, they can bleed into other Zones, causing mutations that evolve them and multiply their difficulty.

"Under normal circumstances, Sub-Dimensional Zones with higher Dimensional Grades than the world they're in will not appear. Meaning, since we are only in the process of evolving into the Fourth Dimension, Bronze Zones will not appear and only Black Zones will. However, if a hidden quest is left incomplete…"

Leonel broke out into a cold sweat. According to Aina's device, this was only an S-grade Zone. Even if it turned out to be a Unique Zone, its true difficulty wouldn't be too far from this. Yet, it had already almost killed them twice now. Once when Aina lost her mind and the other when they met the Bishop and were trapped.

If a mere S-grade Zone was already like this, what would a Bronze Grade Zone be like?

The worst part of this was that these things weren't entirely under their control. Even if they perfectly cleared their own Zones, what about everyone else?

At that moment, Leonel came to a sudden understanding.

"It's no wonder the Empire wants to gather everyone up. It really can't afford for everyone to work blindly on their own, or we could really be finished."

Aina nodded. "Now, think back to your first Zone, how were the hidden quest and main quest linked."

"Originally…" Leonel smiled bitterly as he remembered how this damned wrist watch almost got him killed. "… Never mind. The main quest was to repel the Spanish and save the girl. The hidden quest was to kill the Priest."

Leonel had barely finished when his gaze suddenly brightened. As for Aina, she shuddered when she heard his mission requirements. Leonel had to fight the Spanish? In other words… An army not unlike this one? Alone…?

She shook her head to regain her bearing

"Seems you understand now. The missions never conflict with one another, but what might matter is the timing. For example, your main quest is vague. Which girl? The only way for you to know which girl is to find out that girl is linked to the Priest you need to kill."

"Then that makes things simple." Leonel said. "If they can't be contradictory, then Joan's goal is definitely not to save Paris. So, I should have just dealt with her earlier?"

"Not necessarily. Like I said, timing is important. Though her goal isn't to capture Paris, she still has a purpose in coming here. And, it's likely that even if her goal isn't to capture this city, she will at the very least attack it. That is beneficial to us."

Leonel took a deep breath. "So that's it. We wait for her to attack while making sure she can't accomplish her true goal, whatever that true goal might be."

After saying this, Leonel's heart steadied. This was most definitely not a simple task, but there wasn't much of a choice left.

"Aina, help me cut down a few trees."

There might have been a large mountain before them to climb, but Leonel had no intention of lying down. Since Joan had chosen to betray him, she was his enemy.