"Something's coming..."
Reika's P.O.V.
We had finally arrived at the 'Forest of nightmares'. We had not expected, no mishaps happening at all, but that had allowed us to cut the time of travel by more than half...
We were now 10 feet away from the entrance of the forest...
But as we were about to leisurely enter the gloomy and foggy darkness of the forest...
Scarlet signaled us to stop abruptly...
Both Myria and I remained confused by her actions... Until Scarlet finally broke the silence making us fear slightly...
"Wait... Someone is in there〜..."
Both, Myria and I froze in place... If there was someone in there... we might go through some trouble... And after all we have endured... none of us were in any mood fight... But as we continued to think, Scarlet revealed more information to us...
"...There are about 5... no, 10 people in there〜... And according to what I am sensing... they seem no pushover〜..."
Hearing Scarlet's words, I just nodded in comprehension as I asked:
"Scarlet, can we avoid them?"
"Yes, it seems so. They are gathered on the main path so if we cut through the thick woods we should be fine... However〜, since the thicker woods actually have miasma in them〜... I propose we all run at our top speeds to cross it without the miasma affecting any of us too badly〜"
Hearing, Scarlet's proposal, I sunk in deep thought as I began thinking of the possibilities...
"Myria, what do you think, can you run too?"
"Yeah, I think I've recovered enough for that"
Immediately after hearing her response I turned to Scarlet once more, who was looking at me a little anxiously, as I nodded in approval:
"Ok Scarlet, let's go with that... Guide us through"
"It's my pleasure, Reika-Cha〜n"
I became a little embarrassed by Scarlet's sudden honorific choice, making me blush almost instantly... Both Myria and Scarlet smirked seeing me blush, but luckily neither pushed the teasing any further.
"Ok the〜n Are we ready〜?"
As both, Myria and I became ready to begin running, we both nodded...
"Then... here... we GO〜!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Without waiting any further, the three of us went from a stand-still to ludicrous speeds in mere instants, breaking the sound barrier within 1 second after beginning to accelerate...
And, before we knew it, we had entered the 'Forest of Nightmares'...
We were going absurdly fast, yet it seemed so easy to evade all of the trees... Surprisingly enough, the faster I ran, the slower everything around me went by... However, to the outside eye, we were probably going too fast to even visualize properly...
However... I had not noticed until now... that due to our speed and inertia... slowly but steadily... a deadly and terrifying trail of destruction was left behind us...
'Oops...'
I had not taken into account that our speed would be this influential on the environment around us...
'Eh... sorry forest?'
Without leaving any more regards for the destroyed path we left... we began accelerating even more...
And as such... As we kept accelerating even further... We inevitably forcing the mist, the trees, and the dirt out of our paths creating a tidal wave of debris behind us...
As if a tornado was striking through the area... we had quite literally become a tsunami of destruction...
But that didn't matter, right?
Seiichi's P.O.V.
"Something's coming..."
The explosion I had just heard was no joke... It was terrifying... but most terrifying of all... was the strange immense power approaching us at absurd speeds.
Without even waiting a single more second I immediately signaled all of my peers to get into position with a single look as I unsheathed my heroic sword preparing myself for battle...
I bet, none of my peers felt anything... yet... I could feel a terrifying amount of power approaching us... I felt my knees trembling a little involuntarily as I held my sword up high and gritted my teeth...
'Come on... you're a hero... I can't back down... Not in front of these weaklings...'
However... as I tried giving myself some confidence...
It immediately crumbled... leaving nothing behind as...
Something... completely unprecedented happened...
In the far distance... the single greatest feat of strength was being performed before all of our eyes...
An enormous avalanche of debris covered by mist, fog and even magic itself... was approaching us at ridiculous and stupidly mind-boggling speeds...
But... most important of all...
Literally... the single most astonishing amount of killing intent was leaking from that avalanche...
It was as if all of the hate, frustration, and pains of the world had been compressed into a singularity of horrors...
I could barely keep my thoughts straight as I was sunk in deep and silent terror...
'...'
I was struggling so hard to keep my thoughts and expression in check, and I nearly showed my desperation to my peers, but I barely managed to hold it in...
However... my peers weren't so capable...
Everyone began screaming... running... and praying for their dear lives... as the enormous threat began drawing nearer...
"I NEVER WANTED THIS!!!" -Hero 1
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!" -Hero 2
"WHAT IN HELL IS THAT!?!?!" -Hero 3
"ANGEL-SAMA SAVE US PLEASE!!!" -Hero 4
"HARUTO YOU NEVER MENTIONED THIS!!!" -Hero 5
I could feel my self-confidence crumbling before me as I felt my pride... the very thing I had held onto for my entire life being dismantled...
'I thought... I was... strong...?'
As small clear beads began forming in my eyes... I readied myself for my life to end...
I fell to my knees as my thoughts began racing...
My life... my precious life... was about to end... in this dark... gloomy forest... without anyone to bear witness to my downfall...
I would be forgotten...
I would die... without even fulfilling my purpose or my quest...
...
...
...
But... something wasn't right...
As my thoughts had strayed deep into a dark area... I had turned around for a brief instant to get a clear look at my peers one last time...
However... in the midst of the chaos... the crying... the suffering and the pain... someone was smiling...?
It was none other than Haruto...
For some reason... he wasn't trembling like the others... he wasn't screaming... he wasn't praying for his life either... He didn't seem to have a shred of fear in his system...
Rather than that...
The most defining feature on his face right now... was a stupid lovestruck smile...
'He's insane...'
Feeling angered by his stupid smile and suicidal wishes... I yelled:
"OI HARUTO, WHY THE F**K ARE YOU SMILING YOU B***ARD?!"
However... unexpectedly... I was completely ignored...
Haruto's eyes remained locked onto the incoming avalanche of death... However... just as it drew even nearer... I heard him mutter something happily... barely comprehensible...
I didn't quite catch it or understand it... yet it made me shiver...
His words were...
"...It's her..."
As my expression contorted into that of fear and desperation... I turned once more to face the incoming torrent of literal death...
...
...
...
'Please... angel-sama... if you're there... spare me...'
...
...
...
'What...?'
...
...
...
As I had finished praying deep in my mind... Something even more unexpected happened...
...
...
...
'It turned...?'
...
Yes... just as the avalanche was about to steamroll us all... it change its trajectory... barely missing us by a hairs' length...
...
...
...
I was left stunned...
My heart ready to give up from the fear in any second...
Fear and horror quite literally invading my soul...
...
...
...
But... this day couldn't possibly get more unexpected... because as the avalanche barely missed us...
I don't know why...
But I turned my face to see it pass...
And what I saw...
Left me... in tears...
...
...
...
As I turned around to face the avalanche passing the world seemed to slow down for me as I was able to witness... in between the stormy and chaotic stream... three girls...
The first one... had nothing less of the glossiest and most delicate red hair I've seen throughout my life... Her profound sunny eyes... A skin so delicate... one would think it was made out of porcelain... A beautiful figure all around... And most surprisingly... she had strapped on her back... a menacing and potent bow made out of gold and white wood on her back... That weapon... was probably... far stronger than even my Mythical sacred sword just from looking at it...
The second girl... she had lustrous snow-white hair that cascaded down her figure... Her eyes... were a beautiful crimson color... as shiny and reflective as a pool of blood... She had some strange pointy ears... yet for some reason... that just made her far more attractive and beautiful than what she already was... Her cold yet charismatic gaze warming my soul...
Now... those girls... were quite literally the most beautiful women I've seen in my entire life...
I would probably go for them instantly if I had the chance...
However...
If those two girls were angels...
The last one would be a true goddess...
It was incomprehensible...
The other girls' beauty paled in comparison to her...
She had velvety white hair... with alluring hints of blue and purple... Charming long eyelashes... Dazzling eyes... colored sapphire blue... and sunlight yellow... A gorgeous figure... A lovely medium-sized bust... revealing the single most perfectly proportioned figure I've seen... And to end it all... a marvelous face composed of all things that made this world beautiful...
It was indescribable... This girl... she was perfect in every way...
It made my heart feel fluttery just being in her presence...
But, as I contemplated in awe such a woman...
The single most amazing thing in my life happened...
She turned around to face me...
Her fascinating face, lips, and features being directed at my eyes for my delight... It was simply... beautiful...
I had no words...
And I stared stupefied at such girls... the world resumed its pace...
...
...
...
As all of my fellow heroes regained their composure I was left to stare at Haruto who looked at me with a smirk... I softly asked...
"Haruto... Who was that...?"
Reika's P.O.V.
We had barely managed to dodge those stupid enemies as we made our way through the 'Forest of nightmares'...
But as we had passed just feet away from them, I was actually able to turn to face them for a second...
They indeed looked to be quite strong...
They all wore armor, staffs, and swords...
'Huh, guess it was a good thing to avoid them...'
But as we almost left the area... one being, in particular, caught my interest... He had undefined features due to the debris yet... he seemed to be looking at me...
For some reason, he felt strangely familiar... but I just shrugged it off as a coincidence, as I faced the path before us once again...
'Hmm... that guy... Who was that...?'
※
After nearly 2 hours of us sprinting at full speed... we had no more breath left...
*PANT* *PANT* *PANT*
We could barely even keep ourselves standing...
But it was worth it!
After 2 hours of running like maniacs and leaving a trail of no less than, a tornado's worth of destruction, behind we had managed to make it to the Litherm kingdom... again...
Home...
And as my excitement peaked upon seeing those shiny walls once more...
I yelled in excitement... a little too hard...
"IT FEELS GOOD TO BE HO- *BUARGH*..."
Maybe I was a little... too tired... because the moment I yelled in excitement... I kinda barfed from the exhaustion...
"Ugh... Reika... please manners..."
"Yeah! Reika-Cha〜n, empress of demons can't go ruining her image like that〜"
Said both Myria and Scarlet teasingly as they held my hair from getting tainted by the vomit...
"Argh... thanks, girls... It just feels so good to be home..."