Power connected to ti...
Rotisha caressed her spear, slowly channeling the force of “Reversal” into it. When the spear tip touched the fog ahead, it was as though it plowed into a gelatinous wall of space-ti.
But in an instant, that gelatinous ti-space healed again.
“Eternal and Golden Demon King... Sovereign of Ten Thousand Tis.”
Rotisha suddenly spoke. Her dark red eyes grew heavy as she stared at the unyielding spear tip, muttering to herself:
“Such power... to warp ti and space over such a vast expanse of sea, only that Demon King could wield it. But wasn’t she already dead?”
“...Oh!”
Aislin’s eyes lit up. “You an the one called the strongest, wisest Demon King in history? Among the Seven Demon Kings, she alone deserved to be called the Great Demon King!” Catching her breath, she continued excitedly:
“But the songs and tales I’ve heard say that the Great Demon King and the Chief Hero perished together, both falling at Mount Aesa...
Ah, what a pity! At that ti I was still wandering the western lands, I never got to witness that battle worthy of epic songs!”
Finishing, the elf girl tilted her head curiously, gazing at the blue-haired, red-eyed Hero:
“You’re saying this power is tied to the Demon King? But after the Chief Hero’s death, nothing of him remained. So how did the Great Demon King leave behind such a vast demonic domain?”
“That... I cannot say for sure.” Rotisha looked around but found nothing more.
After all, that great war was riddled with mysteries. The squad ford by the Chief Hero had accompanied him into the battle. Though they returned wounded and scarred, they had survived.
But afterward, they sealed their lips. They spoke of no details, only that the Demon King was too strong, and the Chief Hero had given his life to kill her.
“You’re all wrong.”
At last, Vieya opened her mouth. With one hand on her hip and the other against her chin, she smiled under the weight of their gazes.
“This world may be far more complicated than you think. Many things aren’t as simple as they appear. But the power of the Demon King Flaviel really was bound to ti.
The thrones of Demon Kings are hereditary. The powers they bear leave traces, and Flaviel’s authority was naturally tied to ti.”
“Then...” Rotisha hesitated, about to ask.
“I know what you want to say. But the power here wasn’t left by Flaviel.”
There was sothing Vieya could never tell them: that back then, when [N O V E L I G H T] work wore her down, she would go to Flaviel for relaxation.
Don’t misunderstand—it was normal restorative magic, not the kind of relaxation that left one more exhausted.
It was a peculiar little spell Flaviel had called “Drowsy Hermitage.”
A swelling clock-bud would bloom above the target’s head, wrapping them in an amber cocoon of ti.
Inside, ti flowed a hundred tis slower than outside. The walls replayed the laziest fragnts of the target’s life: an afternoon spent skipping class under the sun, a dusk tipsy from secretly sipping fruit wine...
But Flaviel always snuck in her own chibi self, waving a “Rest is Legal” support flag.
Vieya had liked that feeling, the corners of her lips lifting before she caught herself.
Quickly coughing, she turned serious under their stares:
“Don’t look at like that... I once accidentally sensed the Demon King’s ti magic. Coupled with all the academic tos on magic I’ve read, it isn’t strange I know these things.”
Vieya lied. If she really had read that many tos, she wouldn’t still only know a handful of spells.
“Hehe, you’re amazing, you know so much.” Aislin gave her a thumbs-up, eyes sparkling. “For a cub so clever and brave, even among elves you’d be rare!”
“...” I’d really prefer you not praise like that.
Luckily sli girls were good at changing their color, or Vieya’s young face would have gone bright red.
Rotisha, on the other hand, fell into thought at Vieya’s words, just about to speak—
Rumble!
A cannon’s roar thundered from the direction of the Starbell Lily, shuddering the fog in rippling waves!
Rumble!
Rumble!
“What’s happening?!”
For a heartbeat, all three froze.
The cannon fire did not cease. Vieya looked up in shock, ignoring the terrifying vibration beneath her feet, her gaze snapping toward the ark.
One after another, blue teors fired from the Starbell Lily, crashing randomly into the surrounding ice, detonating with violent blasts.
“Sothing’s happened on the ship...” Rotisha’s face darkened. They had just reached the boundary of this monster domain. With more ti, they might have found the hand behind it all.
But now, right at this mont, disaster struck the ship.
Hard not to suspect sothing was preventing them from probing further.
“Here’s what we’ll do. Elf-sis and I will stay here and continue the search. Hero-sis, you go back to see what’s happened. All right?” Vieya offered, laying out reasoning Rotisha could not refuse.
“Just as you said, I possess great strength. But we cannot abandon either side now. We must split.
With the weakest Elf-sis and continuing the search, while the golden-armored knights aboard will fight best under your lead. Isn’t that true?”
“...Then I leave it to you.”
Rotisha bowed deeply to them, then shot off across the ice like an arrow loosed.
“She really is a swift, decisive Hero,” Aislin murmured.
Then she lowered her head to look at Vieya, ears drooping, eyes mournful.
“In your eyes, am I really that weak? Those words truly wound an elf’s pride!”
“...” Vieya pursed her lips and said nothing.
Aislin sighed. She lifted her left leg to step forward—then froze mid-air, her face draining of color.
From beneath the ice, a massive shadow surged up, swelling larger and larger!
“Watch out!”
Though she had languished for years, Vieya’s battle sense still remained. The mont she caught Aislin’s change of expression, she sprang forward!
Splat!
Aislin stumbled, weighed down by Vieya’s solid bulk. Her face twisted. So heavy! No wonder she eats so much!
But there was no ti for such thoughts. Hugging Vieya close in her traveler’s cloak, she rolled hard across the ice!
Crash!
A colossal shape burst through the ice. Shards flew everywhere, pumling the surface with deafening cracks.
Amid the gray-white frost mist, a pair of enormous golden lantern-eyes slowly opened, casting their gaze upon the two tiny figures clinging together like ants on the ice.
Vieya lifted her head, staring at the monster she had never seen before, and whispered in her heart: Identify.
[Race: Ti Broodmother (Severe Corruption) Level: ???]
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