Halumenta (1)
A figure bounded across the mountain peaks, leaping from summit to summit. With every bound the earth split open and the air tore with a thunderous crack — a sight that would have made anyone doubt their own eyes. The 5th Lord, Gwangrang, had already left Lake Gaitan behind and was crossing the mountain range that stretched away to the southeast.
She came to a halt before one of the peaks, her breathing not the slightest bit disturbed.
"......Hah."
Gwangrang stared into empty air, then suddenly let out a laugh. The thrill she'd felt earlier still hadn't fully faded.
Faint as it had been, that killing intent had been so chilling it sent a shiver down her spine in a single instant. The moment the 7th Lord had spoken those words, he had truly intended to kill her. Of that, she was certain. But then some dying bastard had butted in, and the whole thing had fizzled out.
"Should've just thrown all that shit out and gone at him for real."
She licked her lips, tasting a deep, lingering regret. A fight to the death was the only thing — and the most intense thing — that ever brought her joy in life. If she'd tossed the ironclad rules aside and fought him properly, who would have walked away alive?
She was confident she could kill any of the other Lords except the Grand Lord. And yet, for some reason, she couldn't summon that same certainty when it came to that human — the 7th Lord. He was not beneath her. Even from that brief clash, her instincts had told her as much.
"Hah, shit. I still can't come down from this."
Gwangrang clenched and unclenched her fist, then threw a punch. With a deafening crash, the massive peak ahead of her collapsed in its entirety. She kicked off the ground, soared high into the air once more, and continued on her way.
Hunting magical beasts was starting to bore her again. Maybe it was time to head to the eastern border and hunt some demons for a change.
I'd found the Mystery of Spatial Leap, and the Haerin Tribe had departed for their homeland. Everything I'd needed to do at Lake Gaitan was done. I paid Hable the commission I'd promised him for enchanting us with Breathless Magic during our stay at the lake, parted ways, and set out immediately for the next destination.
"The Imperial Archmage of Seintea... is that what you said?"
Ashel's expression hardened. That was her reaction when I told her what had happened, after she'd asked out of curiosity. The clash had been so massive that she'd sensed it even from a distance, but she'd been ordered to hold her position, so after some hesitation she'd stayed with the carriage. Just as well — she wouldn't have been much help even if she'd come.
"The chieftain died in the fighting. The rest of the Haerin made it home safely."
"......I see."
Having heard the whole story, Ashel's face was a mixture of pity and anger. Perhaps it had overlapped with her own past. Her clan, too, had been wiped out by Seintea's armies — by the Spear Star, one of the Five Stars.
"......"
I looked at Ashel with quiet, heavy eyes.
Honestly, I felt guilty toward her. Because I, having played the game, already knew that no other members of the White Moon Clan had survived besides her. Of course, even if I told her, she wouldn't simply believe me, and I had no way of proving how I knew. But the fact remained: I knew the truth, and I was using it as bait because I needed her.
Her purpose in life was to find the survivors of her clan. And to take revenge on Seintea. If she learned that no survivors remained, the only meaning left in her life would be vengeance. In the game, she'd already found precious companions before learning the truth, and so she'd let go of her obsession with revenge... but here, there was no telling what might happen.
The image of Anne screaming in anguish over the chieftain's corpse flashed through my mind. If I could, I wanted to hold onto Ashel even after she learned the truth, to keep her from going off the rails — but this wasn't something game knowledge could solve. It was a matter of the heart. I liked to think our journey so far had broken down a fair number of walls between us, but the closeness she felt toward me probably wasn't that deep yet.
"Are you determined to take revenge on Seintea, no matter what?"
Ashel flinched at my question and looked at me. After a moment, she answered with a complicated expression.
"Honestly, I don't know. For now, I'm focusing solely on finding my people."
......I see.
I nodded and turned my gaze out the window. I'd originally planned to delay things as long as possible, but I decided to change my mind a little. Whatever the outcome, I needed to take Ashel to her as soon as the opportunity arose.
Anyway, just one place left now.
Hunting Mysteries was down to the last remaining one. But I had a feeling that finding this Mystery would be the most treacherous stretch of the journey so far. Because the hidden location was none other than a Demonic Realm. That was why I'd saved it for last in the first place. If I hadn't obtained either Blood Arts or the Immovable Barrier, I might have postponed this Mystery hunt entirely.
The Demonic Realm of Halumenta.
A Demonic Realm, true to its name, was a region where ordinary living things simply could not survive. A land of death, filled with bizarre terrain and environments, unnatural weather phenomena, and monsters that defied all common sense. There were five Demonic Realms on this continent in total. And the one I was heading for now was Halumenta — the one that bordered Calderic itself, a long journey northwest from here.
It's overflowing with monsters, but environmentally speaking, there's nothing particularly dangerous to watch out for...
With Blood Arts and the Immovable Barrier, I figured I wouldn't be in any real danger no matter how powerful a monster I ran into. And now that I had Spatial Leap, even obstacle-heavy terrain wouldn't be a problem without Ashel. I'd still be bringing her along, though. Even in a Demonic Realm, as long as it wasn't a named boss, Ashel could handle most monsters well enough.
A thought occurred to me, and I asked.
"Have you ever been to a Demonic Realm?"
Ashel answered with a puzzled look.
"I have not."
"Then you'll get to experience one for the first time."
"......Pardon?"
"Our next destination is the Demonic Realm of Halumenta."
Ashel blinked at my words.
The carriage traveled a long way before arriving at a city on the western frontier of the First Lord's Territory. From there, I decided Varos would simply stay in the city. He wasn't a low level himself, but honestly, he'd be a liability if we brought him into a Demonic Realm. And leaving him alone somewhere along the way to sit and guard the carriage indefinitely didn't sit right with me either. The Demonic Realm was absurdly vast, so there was no telling how long it would take to find this Mystery.
Of course, given Varos's personality, he'd insisted on accompanying us as far as he possibly could — but I shut that down easily enough with my authority.
"Then I shall await your return."
Varos saw us off at the city gate. Ashel and I left the city on horseback.
I'd practiced riding during the few days we'd stayed in the city. It was the first time in my life I'd ever been on a horse, but thanks to Super Senses, I picked it up easily. With my senses heightened, my motor skills seemed to have improved accordingly. After a few days of travel, I could already ride at a gallop without even holding the reins.
I unfolded a map while riding and studied the route. It was an expensive map covering northwestern Calderic, with even the terrain of the Demonic Realm roughly marked out. There were no guides to be hired for a Demonic Realm, so this Mystery hunt would have to be done entirely on our own.
Hmm...
Honestly, looking at the map alone, I couldn't make much of it. The Demonic Realms were places I'd come and gone from constantly while playing the game. But as I'd already felt keenly enough throughout this journey, the game and this real world operated on entirely different scales. Geographic knowledge from the game didn't mean much. Better to just throw out any expectation of an easy trip and resign myself to a proper slog.
We rode on, and a long time passed. As we gradually drew closer to the Demonic Realm, the surrounding environment and terrain began to change. Black clouds hung in the sky, blotting out the sunlight even during the day, and the undergrowth steadily vanished until green was nowhere to be found. In its place stretched a desolate land, with rocks that glimmered a dark, bloody red occasionally coming into view. The horses, perhaps sensing the ominous energy drifting through the air, snorted and came to a halt more and more frequently as we went.
"Let's rest for a bit."
"Yes."
We found a spot and had lunch. It wasn't exactly an appetizing landscape, but we still had to eat. Meal preparation had always been Varos's job, but in his absence, Ashel was filling in. What surprised me was that while she wasn't quite on Varos's level, her cooking was still quite good. Then again, she'd lived in the mountains before, and had been a wanderer for a long time even before coming to the Grand Lord Castle, so it made sense when I thought about it.
In the middle of our meal, a rumble rolled in from across the plains — a pack of monsters, charging toward us. They were bipedal avian monsters that looked like giant ostriches. Mad Birds, native to the plains. Ashel stood without a word to deal with them, but looking again, I spotted something massive behind the pack.
A giant lizard with two heads. I drew up Super Senses and magnified my view of the creature.
......A Twin-Head Lizard?
If you had to pick a representative of the grotesque monsters found in Demonic Realms, multi-headed creatures would be near the top of the list. The Twin-Head Lizard was one of them. Looking closer, they weren't charging at us — they were being chased by it. With the Demonic Realm so close, it seemed creatures were starting to cross the border and appear outside.
Not that Ashel showed them any mercy for it. A massive blade of sword energy shot from Ashel and surged toward the oncoming pack. The sword energy sliced every last Mad Bird to pieces and even struck the creature at the rear. However...
SKREEEEE!
To my surprise, the thing withstood Ashel's attack. Even as blood poured from it onto the ground, it shook both heads wildly and charged at us with a shriek. Ashel's brow twitched, and she loosed another blast of sword energy — this one carrying a far more powerful force than the last. Struck a second time, the creature was finally split lengthwise in two and collapsed in a heap.
Ashel sheathed her sword with a faintly unsettled look. I knew why.
That's just how Demonic Realm monsters are.
It wasn't just their strength. Their aggression and ferocity were on a completely different level from ordinary monsters. Just now, an ordinary monster would have turned and fled the moment that first attack landed — and no one would have blamed it. This one hadn't. Of course, there were also plenty of monsters that went in the complete opposite direction — cunning to a fault. In short, they were a pain in the ass one way or another. Even in the game, unless you were a veteran of a considerable level, hunting Demonic Realm monsters was basically suicide.
"Ah."
Ashel sat back down to resume her meal, then let out a short sigh when she saw that her soup bowl had been knocked over. The surge of power she'd unleashed a moment ago had been enough to tip it. I snorted a laugh at the sight, then our eyes met. She gave an embarrassed cough and ladled more soup into her bowl.
"Eat plenty."
"......Yes."