Chapter 721: Plan of action

"Stay together, first of all," the princess replied. "Assuming these people are targeting us, we’re easier to deal with when we’re scattered across different regions. Those people were travelling in a group of forty, and that still wasn’t enough to protect them."

Her gaze moved toward the survivors before returning to him.

"We can’t simply carry on exploring as though nothing has happened, clearly, these people have something sinister planned, and splitting up gives them an easy time picking us of one by one."

"That much I agree with," Elion said. "But are you suggesting we go looking for Albert and try to fight?"

She shook her head.

"Not even. We don’t know what his objectives are, where he is, how many people are with him, or whether he was involved in the attack. Going against them blindly could put us in an even worse position."

Elion nodded, rather pleased to hear that they weren’t expecting him to lead everyone straight into a confrontation with a Saint.

He had barely managed to negotiate his way out of one such encounter, and he wasn’t particularly eager to repeat the experience.

If they were attacked first, then that would be an entirely different matter. If Albert was planning to leave this place with his people, how was he planning on going about that?

As far as Elion was aware, all those that had come from his world, would simply be expelled when the time came, and if he took into consideration that these natives had been living here long before the last group of entrants, then they simply couldn’t do the same.

Perhaps, they could leave if certain conditions were met, but what exactly?

’Argh, dealing with the unknown is always so troublesome... So many questions, and no clear answers.’

"Then what?" He asked The Princess.

"We find somewhere we can defend," Isla said. "Treat anyone who still needs help, compare what we know, and decide where to go from there. If we encounter other entrants, we warn them and offer them the chance to join us."

Basically, she was planning to build up a small army inclusive of everyone who had enteres the legacy world.

Taking into account the thirty or so from this group that had been killed, throw William in there, and an estimate of a possible few more casualties, then maybe, they could come up to four hundred and something people, and that was if he was being generous.

Albert’s settlement alone, from the amount of structures and people Elion had seen, had to have at least a few thousand people. Throw in the other settlements, and assuming that perhaps they also had saints like Albert, then, well, things were certainly looking grim.

Elion sighed deeply.

’I sure do hope they are wrong, and simply being paranoid.’

There was little chance of that being the case, considering all the red flags, but he was hoping that at least they could talk some sense into Albert and his people.

Maya folded her arms, looking thoughtfully across the people gathered behind the princess.

"That could become a very large group."

"It could," Isla admitted. "And I understand the difficulties that would bring. But I would rather deal with those than keep finding the remains of groups who never knew they were in danger."

Elion followed her gaze toward the survivors. One of them had lowered his head, while another stared toward the mana curtain with an expression that suggested he wasn’t really seeing it.

He let out a quiet breath.

"And if Albert comes looking for us instead?"

The princess looked toward Kali. Elion noticed and understood her meaning, and so did the woman herself.

Isla gave him a slightly strained smile.

"You’re travelling with the only person we know of who has fought him and survived. I wouldn’t pretend that wasn’t part of our reasoning."

Kali raised her chin a little, finding that a perfectly acceptable admission.

"He couldn’t defeat me," she said.

"And you couldn’t defeat him," Elion reminded her.

Her pleased expression disappeared.

"That was before."

"Before what?"

"Before I decided he was particularly annoying."

Elion stared at her for a moment, then shook his head and returned his attention to Isla.

"I understand why you came to us. But Kali is my bonded partner, and I can’t simply volunteer her to fight everyone who might be involved."

"I’m aware," Isla replied. "I’m asking whether we can cooperate. If we’re attacked, we defend one another. We share information, and we discuss anything that could put the rest of us in danger before acting on it."

That last part drew a brief look from Maya, which Elion chose to ignore.

For all his reluctance to take responsibility for an ever-growing group, the arrangement itself wasn’t unreasonable.

They were still free to disagree, and having more people watching their surroundings would hardly hurt.

His gaze drifted toward the rift again.

"What about that?" he asked, gesturing toward the rising mana.

Isla followed the movement.

"We only reached it shortly before you appeared on the other side."

"Then there’s something else we should probably discuss," Elion said, a faint smile returning to his face. "Kali and I were considering going down to find out where all that mana is coming from."

The princess turned back toward him.

For a moment, her expression looked remarkably similar to Maya’s when he had first suggested it.

...

Far from the rift, beneath a sky streaked with drifting, billowing clouds, Albert hovered above a vast procession.

Below him unfolded a sight of almost inconceivable grandeur.

An exodus stretched across the land, filling the old road and spilling far beyond its weathered boundaries.

At least a hundred thousand people moved in the same direction, their innumerable figures winding between the hills in a slow, unbroken current.

From Albert’s lofty vantage, the foremost ranks had already disappeared beyond a distant ridge, while the rear remained scattered across the broad valley behind him.

Dust rose beneath their passage, suspended in the afternoon light like a veil of powdered gold.

Through it came the groaning of laden wagons, the distant cries of children, and the resonant calls of creatures large enough to carry entire households upon their backs.

Gargantuan elephants strode through the multitude with ponderous dignity, their immense tusks adorned with ropes and strips of coloured cloth.

Wooden platforms rested upon their broad backs, bearing passengers beneath patched awnings, while bulging sacks and bundled possessions hung along their flanks. With every step they took, the ground shuddered beneath their pillar-like legs.

Farther along, enormous felines padded between the wagons, their sleek bodies rippling beneath fur patterned with silver rosettes and dark, branching stripes.

Some carried riders in elaborate saddles, while others pulled carts piled with grain, tools, and tightly bound chests.

Their luminous eyes wandered over the crowds with an indifference that suggested they found the pace beneath them terribly tedious.

Great serpents traversed the uneven ground beside the road, their sinuous bodies gliding through the grass with a ceaseless whisper of scales.

Broad harnesses encircled their immense forms, supporting rows of baskets and small wooden compartments in which passengers sat clutching their belongings.

Above the procession, flying beasts wheeled beneath the clouds.

Some resembled colossal birds, their feathered wings casting fleeting shadows over hundreds of upturned faces.

Others possessed leathery membranes stretched between elongated limbs, their riders secured beneath curved ridges of bone.

Nets laden with provisions swung below them, while the largest bore sheltered platforms carrying those too frail to endure the journey on foot.

It was a migration of people, beasts, and everything that could be salvaged from the lives they had left behind.

There were cooking pots tied to wagon rails, doors repurposed into makeshift carts, and bundles of bedding balanced beside cages of restless livestock.

Children slept against their parents’ shoulders, while elderly men and women leaned upon walking sticks, their faces drawn with exhaustion but their steps stubbornly persistent.

The scattered banners rising above the multitude bore different colours and insignias. They had come from more than one settlement, abandoning familiar walls and cultivated fields to gather beneath a single promise.

Albert watched them in silence.

His arms rested behind his back, his expression composed, though his gaze moved constantly across the immense procession.

Occasionally, it lingered upon a stalled wagon or a knot of people falling behind, only moving away once those nearby had moved to assist.

He was not alone.

Two other figures hovered beside him, their effortless suspension in the open sky accompanied by the unmistakable presence of Saints.

One was an elderly man dressed in an oddly dirty robe, its faded fabric hanging loosely from his narrow shoulders.

His white hair had lost much of its lustre, and an unkempt beard spread across his chest in uneven strands. Despite his dishevelled appearance, his eyes remained piercingly clear.

Those eyes were now fixed upon Albert.

"I heard you allowed a group of outsiders to leave your settlement alive."