Chapter 631 - 618: Aimless wandering

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Dominion of Oz]

[Winkie Country]

The plains seemed to stretch on without end.

Even after all the walking they had done, the landscape showed little sign of changing. The same broad expanses of faded grass continued beneath their feet, interrupted only by the occasional rise in the terrain and the scattered presence of yellow trees. Their branches swayed in the passing breeze. Every so often, the ground dipped or rose enough to offer a slightly different view, but the differences were so minor that they barely registered. No matter how far they travelled, the horizon remained distant, and the land ahead seemed to promise little more than another stretch of grass and another cluster of yellow trees.

The sound of their footsteps had become an irritatingly familiar sound.

Mikoto walked at the front, his expression remained unimpressed, and nothing about his manner suggested that he was particularly interested in admiring the scenery.

Paimon walked nearby, while Echidna had gradually fallen behind them. The Mother of Monsters seemed content to let the other two set the pace, at least until the monotony finally became too much for her.

"Do we actually have a destination in mind?" she questioned, her voice carrying from behind Paimon and Mikoto. "Or are we seriously going to keep walking around aimlessly until we happen to stumble across something worth looking at? I understand that we were separated from the others, but surely there must be some purpose to all this wandering."

Mikoto did not turn around.

"Yeah, of course," he replied dryly. "I’m just keeping my great knowledge of a place I’ve never been to all to myself. Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise for either of you."

Echidna’s expression was difficult to make out from behind them, but her tone made her irritation plain.

"Your sarcasm is hardly an answer."

"Then here’s a better one. I don’t know where we’re going." Mikoto’s voice remained flat. "I’ve never been here before, remember? Unless you’ve suddenly developed some useful insight into the geography of Oz, I suggest you stop complaining and let me think. And if you’re not going to say anything that might actually help us, then pipe down."

"But there’s naught to do but talk," Echidna protested. "We’re walking through an endless stretch of grass beneath a collection of yellow trees. There is nothing particularly interesting about it, and the longer we remain here, the more tedious it becomes. Surely you can appreciate that."

"Boo-hoo. My heart breaks for you."

Mikoto delivered the response without even a flicker of emotion. He continued walking as though Echidna’s complaint had been little more than an insect buzzing near his ear.

Then his red eyes shifted toward Paimon.

"So you know about this place, right? Or at least you’ve read something about it. Do you have any more information about this place that might be useful?"

"Sorry," Paimon answered, offering him an apologetic smile. "I only know the basic stuff. Most of what I remember comes from guidebooks, so it’s not as though I can tell you exactly where we are or how to get wherever we need to go."

"That’s already more than I’ve got."

"I suppose so." She glanced across the plains, briefly searching the landscape as though some familiar landmark might reveal itself if she looked hard enough. "The most important thing I remember is that the land here is supposed to be more vigorous. That’s not just Winkie Country, either. It’s something that applies to Oz in general. The environment has a lot of energy flowing through it, and the leylines are apparently much more active than those in some other places."

Mikoto’s attention sharpened slightly at the mention of leylines.

Paimon noticed and continued.

"Oh, and there’s something else. Apparently, a large portion of the energy from the leylines running throughout Oz eventually flows toward the Emerald City. I don’t remember all the details, but it sounded as though the city receives an enormous amount of that energy."

"You know about leylines?" Mikoto asked, giving her a glance. "You’re not as dumb as you look, then."

Paimon blinked once.

"I’m thinking that wasn’t a compliment."

"It wasn’t."

"I see." Her smile remained, though she gave him a somewhat reproachful look. "Well, I suppose I should be grateful you acknowledged that I knew something useful at all."

"Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ve given me two pieces of information, and one of them was that the scenery is apparently supposed to be more energetic. Anything else?"

"Hm..." Paimon tilted her head, trying to recall what she had read. "I guess the Deseruit Beasts here are pretty strong. I remember hearing that most of them are classified as B or A Class."

Mikoto’s gaze returned to the open land ahead.

"B and A Class," he repeated. "That’s quite a range."

"Yep. So they’re not something we should take lightly. Even the ones at the lower end of that range can be dangerous, and the stronger ones are supposed to be considerably more troublesome." Paimon hesitated for a moment before adding, "I’ve even heard that some Deseruit Beasts develop abilities of their own, similar to Null Schema."

At that, Echidna’s attention seemed to return to the conversation. The boredom in her voice gave way to interest.

"Ah, Manus Dei," she interjected. "Those abilities are also associated with the withered branch. Curious powers, indeed. I have encountered many unusual things throughout my existence, yet even my own children do not develop abilities of that particular nature."

Mikoto glanced back at her.

"So what? The Deseruit Beasts here don’t belong to you?"

"No." Echidna’s answer was immediate. "If they did, I would have sensed some form of connection between us. There is no such connection. Whatever their nature may be, they do not originate from me. They must have begun with a different Progenitor."

"Another Progenitor, huh..."

Mikoto let the thought linger as he continued forward. He had little interest in the matter beyond what it might mean for their immediate situation. If the Deseruit Beasts in Oz were independent of Echidna, then her presence would not necessarily offer them any advantage in dealing with those creatures. That was worth keeping in mind, but it did not change the more pressing problem: they were still separated from the others, and wandering across an unfamiliar country without a reliable sense of direction was a waste of time.

He took another step.

Then he stopped.

The sudden halt was enough to make Paimon and Echidna slow down as well. Paimon nearly took another step before realizing Mikoto was no longer moving. She looked toward him, confusion settling over her features, while Echidna raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" Paimon asked.

Mikoto did not answer immediately. His attention had shifted inward, reaching beyond the immediate surroundings and searching for the familiar presences he had expected to find nearby.

There was nothing.

He tried again, extending his awareness a little farther.

Still nothing.

His expression shifted by the smallest degree.

"I’m not sensing the others," he muttered. "Gretel, Robert, Shuten-dōji... none of them."

Paimon’s confusion deepened.

"You can’t sense them at all?"

"No. And if Goiim is as useful as she claims to be, then going to the fairies’ home without her would be a pain in the ass." He looked across the plains, his eyes narrowing slightly as he considered their options. "We don’t know enough about this place to start wandering around blindly, and I’d rather not waste half a day trying to find the right route when we could have someone who already knows how to get there."

Echidna regarded him with interest.

"So you intend to find them before proceeding?"

"That would be the sensible thing to do, wouldn’t it?"

"Provided they can be found."

"They can." Mikoto raised one arm. "I just need to make sure they’re looking for us, too."

He held his hand out, and the shadows beneath the three of them began to shift.

"Familial Arts: Seraphic Chorus."

The change was immediate; the shadows that had lain beneath their feet rippled as though something had disturbed the surface of a dark pool. They stretched outward, their edges loosening from the ground before rising in fluid shapes. The movement caught Paimon completely off guard. She startled and took a quick step backward, her eyes widening as the darkness climbed higher, gathering mass and structure instead of dissipating beneath the light.

Echidna’s gaze followed the emerging forms. Her expression remained composed, but the surprise in her eyes betrayed her interest.

The shadows solidified.

Four humanoid figures emerged from them, each clad in black armor adorned with gold decorations. Their bodies were concealed beneath the dark plating, and their helmets covered their faces completely, leaving only thin visors through which their gaze could be directed. They stood in a disciplined formation before Mikoto.

"Whoa!" Paimon exclaimed, pointing toward the newly arrived figures. "They just appeared out of nowhere! I didn’t even see them coming. Were they hiding beneath our shadows the entire time?"

Mikoto lowered his arm.

"They weren’t hiding in the way you’re thinking."

"That doesn’t exactly explain how you brought four armored people out of the ground." Paimon looked from the soldiers to Mikoto, still visibly fascinated.

Echidna, meanwhile, studied the figures more carefully. Her eyes moved across their armor, the gold embellishments, and the narrow visors that concealed their faces.

"These are..." she murmured, her tone turning contemplative. "Heavenly soldiers? They possess a rather imposing appearance, but they do not seem to be your fellow Angels. Their presence feels different."

"They’re Octavia’s bunch," Mikoto answered offhandedly.

He regarded the four soldiers in silence.

His gaze lingered on them for a moment longer, and an irritated thought crossed his mind.

("But only four? Geez, how many is Lucinda using?")

He did not voice the question. Whatever Lucinda was doing with her own forces was her concern, and he had more immediate matters to deal with. These four would have to suffice.

Mikoto looked directly at the soldiers.

"Spread out and search for the four people I’m thinking of: Gretel, Robert, Shuten-dōji, and Goiim. I want you to find them, confirm where they are, and make sure they know where we are as well. Don’t waste time chasing after anything else. Be quick about it."

The soldiers offered no verbal confirmation; they simply moved.

Their armored forms blurred in a sudden burst of speed, black and gold silhouettes streaking away across the plains. Within moments, they had scattered in different directions, each one vanishing into the distance until the landscape swallowed them from view.

Paimon watched them go, her mouth slightly open. Even after they had disappeared, she continued looking toward the places where they had last been visible.

"I can’t say I’ve ever seen magic like that before," she murmured. "They moved so quickly. And you summoned all four of them with a single spell. Is it something like summoning magic?"

"Something like that," Mikoto replied.

He lowered his arm and began walking again, apparently satisfied that the soldiers would carry out their task without needing further instructions.

"While they look for Gretel and the others, we can focus on getting our bearings."

Paimon fell into step beside him, though her attention continued to drift toward the distant plains.

"And if they find them?"

"Then we’ll figure out what to do next," Mikoto said.

"And if they don’t?" Paimon pressed.

Mikoto gave her a sidelong look. "Then we’ll have a different problem."

Echidna followed behind them, her earlier complaints momentarily forgotten. The three continued across the open country, their footsteps once again the only immediate sounds accompanying them. The plains remained as expansive and unchanging as before.

For now, at least, they had a way to search for the others.

It was not a destination, nor was it a proper plan for reaching the fairies’ home. But it was something more useful than aimless wandering, and Mikoto was willing to settle for that much.

("I really wished I had bothered reading more fairy tales when I had a chance. Meta knowledge would have been useful right about now.") Mikoto repressed a sigh.