Chapter 379 Fallout Check

———Karra———

<4: 17 pm>

“...What the hell?” I can’t help but to say that as we arrived at the scene of the crime. It’s like an endless field of gray over here. Just rocks and dirt everywhere, all beige in a bad way…

“The devastation is certainly not exaggerated. Some people are way too brave for their own good.” Wiina remarked as we walked and looked around. She’s in her Navi form at the moment due to what we are doing. “…A lot of negative emotions linger in the air. The agony is quite intense.”

“Won’t this place be turned into a Forbidden Zone soon?” I pointed out. The level of devastation here and all the lives lost would definitely lead to it becoming even more hostile to life.

“Indeed. Not the entire city would be corrupted by the suffering, but it would be enough where rebuilding is impossible.” She answered. “I can fix it whenever, but for now let’s follow your lead.”

“...Alright then.” I said with the drone camera hanging over our heads. We are here to document the city and maybe make a documentary… Hopefully it won’t be too controversial. “It’s going to be a long while before anyone else enters the city. It’s still burning even now.”

“Indeed. Who truly knows how much we will find in this place?” She said as we kept moving through the wasteland. There should be something. An incident like this doesn’t happen through sheer luck alone.

“If it wasn’t for Emmie, I’d imagine that a gate would have appeared soon.” Wiina remarked.

“A gate?” I asked. That sounds rather ominous if it’s anything like in those books.

“A demon’s gate. Unlike the Dragon’s Gate that was erected in a fixed location, a demon’s gate simply appeared in a particularly high level Forbidden Zone.” She answered.

“But demons already appeared in this kinda place, right?” I pointed out.

“Indeed it does, but a gate is a… somewhat physical thing that can be interacted with. Fantasy Land is as brutal as it is magical, you wouldn’t want a human to be sucked into one of those.” Wiina elaborated. So that’s why it’s such a big deal.

“I see… Why would Emmie’s reaction stop it?” I asked.

“A gate is surprisingly fragile. A bit of disturbance can easily break it, especially from someone strong like her.” She explained. “This kind of reality-warping effect is naturally rather fragile, especially the crude ones. Anything that interferes with the natural law naturally can’t persist for long. Even though a gate takes some time to form after being touched by a demon’s essence in an area qualified to be a Forbidden Zone, a strong disturbance can easily dispel it.”

“Ahuh…” I said while we kept looking. Still nothing but ruins, everything is so gray and boring with only the flames to show some color, and even that isn’t exactly a pleasing sight. “By the way, can’t you simply search for where the interesting areas are?”

“I could, but I think you should focus on documenting all the damage first.” She advised. My drone is already doing that, and it’s going to take a while until it scans all the area. “Also, we don’t need to rush, do we?”

“I guess not…” There is probably a good reason why she doesn’t want me to quickly get this over with. The fact that she is accompanying me means that nothing can go wrong, at least.

“The trace of the previous battle still rang clear, but that is not something you could inquire at this time.” She remarked as we walked past a small crater. That honestly sounds like extremely advanced yet very situational ability. I guess it’s useful if you are a detective or something? Magic doesn’t leave much of a trace so crimes are usually easier to cover up. Even if you detect magic being cast you don’t know for certain who casted it or what kind of spell it was.

“Honestly, this place looks like it has been in ruin for years.” I helplessly said, noting the damages running across everything.

“Two conflicts back-to-back will do that. From the intel I gathered, the reason there were people who managed to leave the city in the first place was due to a few brave individuals staying behind to fend that man off. None of them were on Emmie’s level, so they can’t stop him for long, let alone permanently.” Wiina explained. Now that’s quite a scene to imagine. Hopefully those who were rescued by them at least remember their faces, they deserve at least that much.

“Quite a harrowing tale.” I remarked. Obviously a tragedy, but I am not here to mope. “How are these fires still burning?”

“A lot of gas leaks, for one.” Wiina began explaining. “And flames from spells can last a while if you modify the formula. Even after the caster has passed it will persist for a while.”

“Formula? …Ah, right.” You could consider the spell you cast as some sort of mathematical equation, but telling anyone to write it down is asking for trouble. That’s not mentioning how some people comprehend the act of casting magic quite differently. “Need to clear that out before we leave. Otherwise rebuilding it is gonna be quite a pain I’d imagine.”

“Heh. You’re talking like we’re calling dibs on the land.” She said with a chuckle.

“As cool as that sounds, and with you around we can definitely manage it, doing it with this feels like a crime of opportunity, doesn’t it?” I said, not completely sold on the idea.

“They can’t even feasibly repair this city with the current state of the world, so is it really that much of a crime? We’ll be doing them a favor if nothing else.” She said, playing devil’s advocate.

“Come now, we’re not here to ponder on something of that scale.” I said while shaking my head. It is something that is both very ambitious and no doubt will generate a lot of clout, but there is a bit of a problem she should be more aware of than I am. “What if the others find out about this?”

“They wouldn’t care for a small part of the land to be conquered by others. If they were, they wouldn’t let this city be destroyed in the first place.” She explained. “While they have obviously become more active in order to reign in some of the destruction and other disorderly conduct, they are still mostly hands-off and let the others manage and repair.”

“But aren’t you…” I dragged my words out.

“While I am nominally in the same rank as them, as I said, the scale of conquering this place is far less than one might think. For them this is like someone taking a few pixels of ad space. It’s not really an abuse of power.” She reassured me about that.

“Umm…” But it still feels like a big deal to me, you know?

“If it stresses you out, we can postpone the discussion. We are not here for that anyway.” I already said that you cheeky little-!

“Ah!” I exclaimed when I spotted something of note. I walked over and picked up a small gem stuck in the cracks on the road. “Something still survived, it seems.”

“It’s a mundane item, but it’s better than nothing.” Wiina remarked. “Someone probably dropped that during the chaos. No doubts we will find more that weren’t incinerated by the sea of flames.”

“Ooh! We can make a lost and found section when people come back.” I said with some interest.

“If they dared to come back so soon. That is a lot of people who are moping around without a home at the moment. It’s going to take some convincing that their home is now safe.” She said like pouring cold water over me, that just makes it sound even more depressing.

“Help me out a little bit, will you?” I said, feeling a bit irritated by her pessimistic reply.

“Right now, or…” She playfully asked.

“...Maybe we do something else first as well. Let’s leave the restoration for later like you said.” I replied before throwing the small gem towards her for her to safeguard and then continue moving. “...Oh? What’s this?”

“Well… This is something that is probably the root of most of the problems here.” Wiina said as we looked at the suspicious entrance into an underground structure.

“How is it still intact after two consecutive battles?” I said as both of us walked inside with Wiina providing the light source.

“They were made of extremely durable materials. They could theoretically survive even a nuclear bomb, but since those have run out of fashion, no one actually tested it, and it’s not like they can now.” Wiina explained as we looked through the dilapidated lab.

“Then why does that one… Nevermind.” I was gonna ask about the one in our town that was genuinely on the risk of caving in, but considering the local powerhouses there was no need to speculate. They can level a country without a sweat, a nuclear bunker is gonna look like a cardboard box in their eyes.

“Hmm, now this should be the source.” Wiina said as she looked at a bookshelf with many folders missing. What is she looking for? “It’s just a hypothesis at the moment, but no normal man should have any resources to call upon a demon, especially the method to summon one.”

“You think those crazy scientists researched it?” I know they are studying all kinds of things, but stuff on this level is rather strange.

“Very likely. Now obviously it’s not as if real methods were never shared online on some weird occult forums, but the likelihood of someone daring to prepare a method from some shady sites over what is technically a professional research team is going to be very different.” She explained. “Unfortunately the culprit is already dead, deservedly so, but now we don’t know if a demon came here and actively searched for thralls, or if they were summoned here, and if they were summoned, by what method and where did he learn it?”

“Can’t you just… you know?” I vaguely said since she can do almost anything to uncover the truth of the matter.

“That’ll be for later.” She said before leading me to a certain part of the lab… Now this is a lot harder to argue against.

“Who the hell is scribbling these circles down?” I remarked upon seeing the typical summon circles being drawn in a few rooms.

“Considering they were experimenting on it, it’s no surprise there are traces of them left.” Wiina replied. They are all faded by now but can still be seen if you shine a light on them.

…With how she worded it, did she know about all of this beforehand, or is she just fibbing it? There’s no need for her to do the latter, right? I know she doesn’t keep all her abilities active but… No, let’s stop pondering about that, she’ll probably be obtuse about it to screw with me if I actually try to inquire.

“Is there… anything else to look at?” I asked, not wanting to call her out on anything.

“Nah. Best to just leave and look around some more.” She answered as she led me out of the abandoned laboratory. “I’ll get an explanation in a day or two. You don’t need to dwell on this any longer.”

“Alright.” I said as we continued exploring the ruined city, seeing the many broken down buildings with only a few tall buildings visible, and even then they are all on the verge of collapse and some are even still burning from the inside. “All the burning really makes this place feel like a hellhole.”

“It does feel like the grudge of the deceased causes the flames to keep burning, fueled by their anger and resentment, doesn’t it? I can tell you now that it’s not true in this instance, but it can definitely happen.” Wiina replied.

“Hmm…” I mumbled to myself while trying to think about what to do next. The drone camera has probably captured just enough footage by this point. Let me check it first before deciding on anything else. Just checking my phone with the associated app to see what it got on camera so far… That is a lot, some good shots of the burning buildings and other broken things. “I think we have seen quite a lot. Wiina, I think we should start with collecting and doing this city a favor.”

“Alright then. Should I start right away?” She asked.

“Mhm.” I gave her the confirmation and she disappeared from the spot.

“Done. What should I do with it?” She asked after coming back after… Was that a second or two seconds? Maybe even faster than that?

“…Hold onto them for now. Let’s wait to see how the others will react when the news breaks.” I instructed. “We still have tomorrow to think about as well… I might need a bit of exercise for that.”

“Really? It’s rare for you to be this proactive.” She playfully said.

“Just take me back already.” I said with a grin, not bothering to protest.

“Very well then. Let’s get ready for tomorrow.” She said with a small smile.

*Zoom*