Chapter 632 - 619: The three are not well

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Dominion of Oz]

[Winkie Country]

Walking around aimlessly had long since failed to yield anything useful, barring yet another vast expanse of land and another seemingly endless collection of yellow trees. No matter how far the three of them travelled, the scenery stubbornly refused to change in any meaningful way. The plains continued to stretch ahead of them, the same grass shifting beneath the wind, while the yellow trees appeared at irregular intervals across the landscape.

Honestly, the sight was beginning to hurt Mikoto’s eyes.

It was not that the landscape was particularly offensive to look at. The problem was how relentlessly similar everything was. The yellow foliage, the pale grass and the horizon—it all began to blur together after a while, making it difficult to tell whether they were actually making progress or simply wandering in circles. Even the occasional variation in the terrain did little to relieve the monotony.

Eventually, the three found themselves beneath a collection of yellow trees. Their branches spread overhead, providing a little shade from the open sky. The ground beneath them was rough with dry grass and leaves that had taken on the same yellow hue as the foliage above.

Mikoto leaned against the base of one of the trees, his back resting against its trunk. He folded his arms across the black plate armor covering most of his torso.

Paimon sat nearby with her legs crossed, her red cloak gathered around her as she looked out across the plains. Her expression had become exasperated as well, though she seemed to be making a conscious effort not to complain too much.

Echidna, meanwhile, stood a few paces away with her hands on her hips. She looked between the empty landscape and her two companions, her beautiful face wearing an expression of displeasure.

"To think the first wall we encounter in these lands is simply the fact that we’re lost," Echidna snorted without humor. "It’s bad comedy. We came here with a purpose, and now we’re wandering through an enormous stretch of countryside with nothing to show for it. I would almost admire the absurdity if it weren’t so irritating."

"You’re annoying, but you’re not wrong," Mikoto murmured.

He shifted slightly against the tree, letting the back of his head rest against the trunk for a moment.

This was such a tedious issue.

And, at present, that was worse than dangerous.

Under ordinary circumstances, he could have extended his awareness and searched for large quantities of collected mana signatures. A concentration of people would naturally produce a concentration of mana, even if the individuals themselves possessed only modest reserves. With enough people gathered in one place, the combined signatures would become distinct enough to serve as a rough indication of a settlement—perhaps a town or even a city.

It was a simple method, and one he would ordinarily have considered reliable enough to begin with.

But Álfheimr was a realm nearly devoid of mana.

The average person possessed next to none, which meant that the usual differences between an individual’s signature and the surrounding environment were already difficult to distinguish. That problem was compounded by the leylines. Their activity here was far more vigorous than what Mikoto was accustomed to, and their influence did not merely make the surrounding mana difficult to interpret. They actively drew upon it, sapping his reserves more aggressively than he would have preferred.

Under those conditions, trying to detect his fellow man through mana was practically useless.

He could keep trying, of course.

That did not mean he would get anything worthwhile out of it.

"So is this our new strategy?" Echidna questioned, raising a brow as she regarded Mikoto. "Merely awaiting nothing while those tin men of yours search for the others? Are we supposed to sit here until they return and hope they happen to find something useful? Are you not a sorcerer? Surely you have better methods than this."

"I’m already using those methods," Mikoto said dryly.

He did not bother unfolding his arms or straightening from the tree.

"Connected vision through animals, searching for information from the leylines, and some clairvoyance. I’ve been trying to get something useful out of the surroundings since we stopped walking. If you have a brain, you can probably gather that, because I haven’t said anything; I haven’t found anything worth mentioning."

Echidna regarded him with a patronizing smile.

"Perhaps you should try harder," she offered.

Mikoto’s eyes shifted toward her.

For a moment, he simply looked at her, his expression remaining perfectly straight. Then the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile that carried no more warmth than hers.

"Perhaps I should punt you to the moon."

Paimon glanced between the two of them.

Neither seemed particularly upset. There was no obvious increase in hostility and no sign that either was genuinely preparing to act on their words. Yet they were so consistently content to trade insults that Paimon was beginning to wonder whether this was simply how they interacted.

She could not really sense any rising tension between them.

Still, the two seemed perfectly happy to be at each other’s throats for whatever reason.

("Maybe I should have thought more before involving myself...") Paimon thought.

She let out a breath and rose from her seated position, brushing the dust and bits of grass from her cloak. She looked out beyond the trees, searching the plains for anything that might offer a clue.

"Hm, maybe the others aren’t in the same region?" she offered.

Her suggestion was tentative, but it was not unreasonable. They had already established that the teleportation had not taken them where they had intended to go. There was no guarantee that the others had simply landed a short distance away.

"It’s possible." Mikoto turned his attention away from the Mother of Monsters as he considered Paimon’s words.

He pushed himself away from the tree.

"That teleportation device seemed to function by using leylines as a means to connect one place to another. It was using them to establish a connection between locations, which means the places it could reach were probably tied to the network."

He paused briefly, considering the implications.

"At least where the leylines are most lively, that device could easily reach. If the connection was disrupted or redirected, there’s no telling how far apart we might have ended up. We could be searching for them in the wrong place entirely."

Paimon looked across the plains again, her expression growing more contemplative.

"So maybe they’re somewhere else in Oz," Paimon murmured thoughtfully. "Or somewhere completely different. That’s kinda bad, isn’t it? If we’re separated by that much distance, finding them could take a while."

"It’s annoying, but it can’t be helped..." Mikoto trailed off.

His attention sharpened so suddenly that the remainder of his sentence never came. The change was immediate. His gaze shifted away from Paimon and fixed on something beyond the trees.

Echidna seemed to notice the change at almost the same moment. Her eyes moved toward the open plain, and the amusement on her face diminished as she concentrated on whatever had caught Mikoto’s attention.

Paimon looked between them with a questioning gaze.

"What is—"

A rumble passed through the ground beneath her feet.

It was not intense enough to throw her off balance, nor did it cause the trees around them to sway violently. But it was obvious; the earth trembled in a series of pulses, each one growing more distinct as the moments passed.

Paimon’s expression changed as her bright blue eyes lifted, quickly searching for the source.

At first, she saw only the distant plain, the yellow trees, and the grass stretching between them. Then she noticed movement far beyond the nearest cluster of trees.

A dust cloud was advancing across the landscape.

It was still some distance away, but it was growing larger as it approached. The cloud rolled low over the ground, spreading outward behind the shapes that were producing it. Even from where she stood, Paimon could make out the repeated impacts of heavy bodies striking the earth. The tremors were becoming more frequent, and the dust rising around the approaching figures began to obscure their outlines.

Yet she could still see enough to recognize that there was more than one.

Quite a few more.

"Are those..." Paimon trailed off.

"Deseruit Beasts," Mikoto supplied, following her gaze.

There were only a dozen or so of them.

That was not an especially large number, nor was it enough to constitute a proper horde. But their size made the distinction somewhat meaningless. Their heavy bodies pounded against the ground with such force and speed that the earth visibly trembled beneath their advance. Each impact sent up another burst of dust, and the repeated rhythm of their footfalls carried across the plains toward the trees where the three stood.

They were moving quickly.

Echidna watched them approach, then glanced toward Mikoto. Her expression settled into one of amusement again, as though she had found something about the situation worth commenting on.

"Even suppressed, they sense your mana," she observed, shaking her head. "They even choose to ignore a Progenitor like me. I cannot determine whether I am saddened or surprised by that fact."

Mikoto did not look at her.

"Go cry in a corner," he said dismissively.

His red eyes followed the beasts movements, measuring their speed, numbers, and the strange presence he could sense coming from them.

("Hm. Deseruit Beasts are pretty sensitive to mana. But I guess they honed in on me because the leylines are sapping my mana.")

It was an irritating possibility, though not an especially surprising one. The leylines here had already made it difficult to sense other people. If the beast were sensitive enough to detect even the mana being drawn out of him, then his presence might have become an unintended beacon.

("They give off a similar presence to the Nil. So I gather they have their own abilities.")

Though Mikoto was particularly concerned about his own chances.

He briefly considered wiping them all out.

It would be simple enough, most likely. He could deal with them, clear the immediate area, and then return to the far less satisfying task of wandering around the plains in search of some indication of where they were supposed to go.

At least that would save him from having to listen to Echidna complain about the scenery.

But before he acted, his gaze shifted towards Paimon.

She was watching the approaching Deseruit Beasts with an uncertain expression. There was apprehension in her face, but she did not look outright frightened. Her posture was tense, and her attention remained fixed on the creatures, yet she had not retreated behind him or made any attempt to distance herself from the impending confrontation.

Mikoto studied her for a moment.

("I still don’t completely know what her deal is. How she fights can be a good way to start.")

She had insisted on accompanying him. She knew the mission involved dragons, and she had been warned that they were dangerous. If she intended to remain at his side, he needed to know what she could actually do—not simply what she believed she ought to do.

Mikoto turned his attention fully towards her.

"Oi, blondie. You handle that," he declared.

Paimon blinked.

For a moment, she seemed unsure whether she had heard him correctly. Then she looked at the advancing horde, turned back towards Mikoto, and pointed at herself.

"Huh? What?" she asked, her voice rising with surprise. "You mean me? You want me to handle all of them?"

Her gaze turned towards the Deseruit Beasts again.

"Alone?"

"No, with our imaginary friends," Mikoto replied dryly.

His expression remained the same.

"Yes, alone."

Paimon stared at him.

"But why?" she questioned.

There was genuine confusion in her voice. She had expected danger during their journey, of course, but being told to confront a horde of Deseruit Beasts without assistance was not quite what she had anticipated.

Mikoto, however, showed no inclination to soften the demand.

"You wanted to tag along," he said bluntly. "Remember? You chose to come with me, even after I told you that this wasn’t going to be some harmless little adventure."

He glanced towards the enemies.

"And besides, the dragons aren’t some run-of-the-mill dumb beasts, either. They’re powerful. If you think you’re going to be useful when we actually reach our destination, then you need to show me you can do something."

His eyes returned to her.

"Otherwise, you’re worthless to me."

The words were harsh, delivered without any attempt to cushion their impact.

He was not interested in pretending that the mission would be safe simply to spare Paimon’s feelings. Whatever the reason behind her decision to join him, she had chosen to put herself in the path of danger. He needed to know whether she could withstand it.

Paimon’s shoulders sank a little.

"You don’t have to be so mean about it," she sighed.

She gave him a mildly reproachful look, though there was no real anger behind it. The bluntness clearly stung, but she seemed to understand what he was getting at. It would be unreasonable to expect him to carry her through every dangerous encounter without knowing what she could contribute.

Her gaze returned to the approaching beasts.

"But... I get what you’re saying."

She drew in a breath and straightened.

Then she raised her gauntleted fist, giving it a small, determined pump. The gesture was a little awkward, more an attempt to gather her courage than a display of confidence, but she made it all the same.

"I have to show you I can hold my own, right?"

"Right," Mikoto said, giving a brief nod.

He did not offer encouragement or reassurance.

Then he added, "You have sixty seconds."

Paimon’s expression immediately faltered.

"W-wait, there’s a time limit?" she questioned, blinking at him.

Mikoto’s gaze remained steady.

"Fifty-five seconds."

Paimon stiffened.

The change in her expression was immediate. Her eyes widened, and the fist she had raised seemed to lose some of its determination as the reality of his deadline caught up with her.

"R-right, I’ll get to it," Paimon mumbled.

She wore an exasperated look on her cute face, clearly regretting that she had bothered asking about the time limit at all.

Still, she turned towards the approaching Deseruit Beasts.