episode_0092

Squelch, squelch.

Slippery, slippery.

Sticky, sticky…

“Ugh….”

I closed my eyes and cautiously touched the surface of the ‘eye jelly.’

While doing so, I tried my best to recall Milaia’s appearance in my mind.

It was such a strange sensation that I was almost afraid to see my hand touching the eye jelly.

From behind, I could hear Sephi gasping in horror, swallowing his breath.

I… I don’t want to touch this stuff either.

Squish, squish…

Squelch, slippery…

“How long do I have to keep touching this filth?”

Unable to bear the horrible sensation, I asked Mariel with my eyes closed.

“I’m doing my best. It’s hard to concentrate because of this terrible sensation…”

“You can’t concentrate because it’s hard?”

“If you’re going to make it, can’t you make it look a bit prettier?”

“It’s still an unfinished spell, so there’s nothing we can do. We can focus on functionality and adjust the appearance at the very end. Stop complaining and focus.”

That’s true.

I agree that functionality is more important than appearance.

But this sensation feels like it’s draining my sanity…

After a while of thinking about Milaia and fiddling with the eye jelly, Mariel gave the okay sign.

“Alright! It’s done.”

“Phew…”

As if waiting, I removed my hand from the eye jelly and finally opened my eyes again.

And when I looked at the hand that touched the eye jelly…

“Senpai…”

Sephi looked at my hand, then distanced himself from me with a speechless expression.

My hand was a mess, covered in a slimy substance like mucus from the eye jelly.

I hope this isn’t harmful to the body. I was curious about the smell, but I didn’t dare to sniff it.

“Now! We’ve found the direction! Let’s go!”

Mariel pointed her index finger, and the eye jelly slowly started moving in the air, following Milaia’s trail…

“Wait, Mariel.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Let’s wash our hands first…”

No matter how urgent it was, I couldn’t go with my hands covered in this stuff.

* * *

Thanks to Mariel’s magic spraying clean water, we were able to wash our hands and set off.

The eye jelly floated ahead of us, guiding us.

It looked grotesque, but as Mariel said, there seemed to be nothing wrong with its functionality.

According to the narration, we needed to hurry.

If Milaia’s life was in danger, it wouldn’t be a normal situation.

I imagined her in a life-threatening situation.

Most monsters or demons wouldn’t dare to attack her.

The demon Bloodstain, who fought Milaia and Hogak, was a direct subordinate of the Demon King.

But even in the battle at the Horn Gorge, Milaia came back unharmed.

“Milaia decided to die and made her own grave.

And being with the hero was enough to attract the attention of the demons.”

I see, I forgot about the hero’s presence.

The hero is the Demon Realm’s greatest enemy, born to defeat the Demon King.

From the demons’ perspective, eliminating the hero is their top priority, even if it costs them everything.

But something doesn’t add up.

The hero left the capital to defeat the Demon King, and Milaia decided to die and made her own grave.

Their goals don’t align at all. I doubt the hero is following Milaia to die with her.

It’s an incomprehensible situation, but let’s find Milaia and figure it out.

* * *

Clang—

A small hill formed from the corpse of the demon turned into a bloody mess.

Milaea stood on top of it, looking towards the demon realm.

The sides and the back were blocked by high cliffs, with no way out.

Milaea trapped herself in the C-shaped terrain that was only open towards the demon realm.

And she was not the only one trapped inside.

“Ugh… this monster of a woman… when will she tire out?”

The hero Cain waited behind Milaea, never participating in the battle and just waiting for the right moment.

No matter how strong Milaea was, she was still human.

Fighting without proper rest or sleep, she would eventually run out of strength.

Cain was just waiting for Milaea to show a moment of weakness.

If even a slight opening appeared, he would abandon her and run away.

To him, Milaea was a more terrifying presence than demons or devils.

He had tried to escape several times, but each time Milaea blocked his path like a ghost.

“If you try to run away again, I’ll cut the tendons in your ankles.”

Milaea warned Cain, showing that she didn’t care if his tendons were cut as long as he was still breathing.

‘Her eyes are completely insane. She’s not joking with that threat…’

Cain thought.

Until now, boasting the title of a hero had always worked in the kingdom.

The presence of a hero was the only weapon humanity had against the demon king.

But as time passed, Cain realized that the title of a hero was more like a curse than a blessing.

Giving up on defeating the demon king would bring severe punishment like a curse.

The pain was unbearable, and Cain wanted to defeat the demon king as soon as possible, even if it meant forcing himself.

But he regretted bringing a woman as crazy as her to help him.

Cain was regretting his decision.

If he could escape safely and return to the capital, he thought it might be better to listen to the bishop and saint’s story again and properly walk the path of a hero.

“W-what… is that…?”

In Cain’s sight, something far away was approaching them.

There had been many demon attacks before, but Milaea had always defeated them all by herself.

But this time was different.

The demons were lined up like a well-trained army.

Although it was hard to see from a distance, it was definitely a large number.

Milaea saw it and tightened her grip on her sword.

This time, what was coming was different from the small fry demons they had encountered before.

Someone was leading the demon army.

Even from a distance, his enormous figure was unmistakable.

Bloodstain, one of the demon king’s direct subordinates, was personally leading the demons.

* * *

Following Mariel’s disgusting summon ‘Eyeball Punch,’ we arrived at unclaimed land.

We encountered a few demons along the way, but easily defeated them.

Unless led by demons themselves, their combat abilities were vastly different from ours.

Following my advice, Failpe changing his weapon proved to be a great help in dealing with the small demons.

Whenever we encountered demons on our path, Failpe took care of them from a distance where they couldn’t detect us.

The power of the arrows imbued with magical energy flying from long distances was remarkable.

Failpe had a chronic condition of not being able to handle magic in close combat, but in a quiet environment where he could focus, he could unleash a terrifying power.

Watching from the side, Mariel was intrigued by Selphee’s abilities and even suggested her as the next experiment subject.

Of course, Selphee was startled and rejected Mariel’s proposal.

“Hmm? Something seems off with Nuntangi’s state!”

As we followed Nuntangi smoothly, Mariel stopped in her tracks and spoke.

“Is there a problem?”

“It seems like we’re almost at our destination. Nuntangi seems to be spinning in place.”

As Mariel pointed out, Nuntangi’s movements were slightly different from before.

It seemed like he was spinning in place, trying to convey something.

One might think he was contemplating the summoned creature theme with magic, but it really seemed that way.

“So, is Milaia nearby?”

“Well, she is, but…”

Mariel raised her index finger and pointed ahead.

There was a towering cliff that seemed impossible to climb over where she pointed.

“Nuntangi is pointing at this cliff.”

“…But there’s no way through here.”

“Nevertheless, it’s true. Beyond this cliff, the person you’re looking for might be there.”

As Mariel finished speaking, Nuntangi began to soar high into the sky.

Then, he stuck to the large cliff in front, circled around it, and descended back towards us, spinning in place.

I looked up at the immense natural cliff in front of me.

It was not a cliff that could be crossed.

Furthermore, the cliff was not only tall but also wide.

Even if we turned back and went around, it would take a tremendous amount of time.

“It seems we have no choice but to turn back…”

“Yunoa was blocked by a massive natural cliff and couldn’t reach where Milaia was.

But going around this massive cliff would take too much time.

Milaia was on the verge of a life-or-death battle.”

At that moment, the narration confirmed that Milaia was beyond the cliff in front of us.

I briefly considered using strength to break through and go over, but the cliff was too large.

Even if it were possible to break through, it might trigger a landslide.

But there wasn’t enough time to turn back.

Is there no other way?

As I pondered, Mariel stood before me, chest puffed out, and said,

“Hmm! Are you pondering? You want to go over this wall!”

“Well, yes, but…”

“You seem to have forgotten that the world’s greatest mage is here! I have a spell that can get us over this cliff!”

“Can you really cross this impossible-sized cliff?”

“It’s a teleportation spell! Finally, I can test it here!”

Mariel shrugged, wearing a smug expression.

Teleportation magic…

I remembered when she first appeared with teleportation magic, squeezing through a dimensional crevice with her two white legs flailing.

It seemed too risky.

“I know what you’re worried about! But with teleportation magic, the shorter the distance, the lower the chance of failure! If we’re just going over this cliff, there shouldn’t be a problem!”

Mariel seemed to read my thoughts from my expression and continued.

But didn’t she say she had never teleported someone other than herself before…?

However, as the narration stated, there was no time to go around the cliff…

“Mariel, should we leave it to you?” I thought, just as the narration chimed in.

The stability of Mariel’s teleportation magic was influenced by two main factors.

One was the distance traveled, and the other was how accurately the destination was envisioned in the mind.

Right now, the distance was short, but the lack of knowledge about the landscape beyond the cliff greatly reduced stability.

“Alright! Get ready!”

“No, wait! Just a moment!”

“Huh? Why are you acting like that? I can send you off right away!”

Mariel stood confidently with both hands on her hips, her nose held high.

Why are you making that expression as if you believe in something…?

The narrator couldn’t entrust their body to the certified ‘unstable magic’.

They didn’t want to be split in half by slipping into a dimensional crevice to save Milaia.

『But what if we can meet the two conditions to ensure the stability of teleportation magic.

If the conditions are met, Mariel’s magic could function properly.』

After stopping Mariel from casting teleportation magic, the narrator immediately spoke up.

So… if we meet the conditions, we can move properly beyond that cliff.

Honestly, even after hearing the narrator’s words, entrusting their body to Mariel’s magic was daunting.

But if safety was guaranteed, there was no other way to save time.

There are two conditions to ensure the stability of teleportation magic.

One is a short distance, and the other is that the caster must have the destination’s information accurately in their mind.

We don’t know what scenery lies beyond that cliff.

But if we could show that scenery to Mariel…

…you know, a child who can definitely show that scenery.