(5 month and 12 day after Klada Disaster)
[Kyrielle's POV]
"(-then I will be leaving. Thank you for saving my life that day, Officer Dao!)"
"(It is just my job, you take care as well. But are you sure you are going to travel all the way to the Monarch's city alone? Wouldn't that be dangerous?)"
"(Don't worry, I'll be fine since I don't think anyone can actually beat me now with how powerful I've become...)"
"(Right.... I saw you flying through the sky like a dragon, and bombardment from your spells could easily raze cities to the ground... Despite you being a child, you are scary you know?)"
"(I'm not scary... Anyway, I'm going to be accompanying a merchant group as a body guard, to travel there.)"
"(I see. Then, good luck on your journey!)"
"(Yes.)"
"(We'll probably never see each other again. Farewell.)"
"(Ah... Farewell to you too, Dao!)"
I exited the barracks and headed for the East Gate of the city where the Merchant convoy is waiting for me.
Yesterday when I received the letter, I immediately went and planned a travel to the next city along with this merchant group. The deal for this is that I will travel with them for free, but I must act as one of their body guards.
Thankfully, these merchants were here in the city when I fought Gemory and so they've personally seen my strength. This is because I doubt anyone sane would hire a teenage little girl like me to be their bodyguard, even I laugh at the absurdity of it!
"Sigh...." But... it's sad to say goodbye no matter how many times I've done so. From Ghyse to Gondur, King Hal to Lucia and Linia the spider maids, and even Dao right now...
And I can't imagine the day when I'd say farewell with Lynn once I reached home, back to the Kingdom of Ataraxia....
"Hmm..." I have a feeling that I'm forgetting someone here.... who is it that I've said goodbye to but can't remember?...
"...Oh shit!" I actually forgot Lizzie, my ride Geen Lizard!
___________
"Ogrr!"
"(Yes yes, I know you are excited to see me again. Come on, let's go!)"
With Lizzie's leash on hand, I arrived at the front gate where I saw my client. A carriage with 3 people; 2 merchants and a body guard just like me.
"(Oh! You are finally here, Miss Kyrielle.)"
"(Hello Mr Altan, I'm ready to go now.)"
"(You have a mount as well? How come you didn't say anything about it?)"
"(Ahaha... I totally forgot about her.... I'll need to take care of her but she won't become a burden, I assure you.)"
"Oggr!" Lizzie groaned out in anger before biting me on one of my twin tails.
"(Argh! Don't nibble on my hair, it's not food!)"
"Oggr!"
"(Haha, I see that you get along with that big lizard very well. As long as she doesn't get in the way, then you can bring her along.)" The second merchant, the wife told me that.
"(Okay, thank you very much.)"
"(I agree... that pet of yours can become our emergency food if we ever run out of supplies.)" The undead warrior sneered at me, he is a bodyguard for these merchants.
"(Hey! You-)"
"(Well then, since everyone is so lively already, let's start traveling to the city. It's not good to fight amongst ourselves, Jackal.)"
"(...You're right. Sorry about that, it was rude of me.)"
"(Just don't eat Lizzie alright? She's my friend you know?)"
"Ogrr!"
We headed out of the city soon using the main highway that leads further East. The new country, United States of Monproximus is just as large as it used to be. It spans nearly one third of the Bostnia Continent, from the mid-east towards the eastern coast where Creimland is at.
As such, once this war is called to a truce then our journey would be a whole lot more safer since the entrie country is so big.
After we got on the highway, I rode on Lizzie's back once again and walked side by side with their carriage. The carriage was pulled by two horses, and all three of them is riding on the carriage that was covered by a canvas.
We finally reached the forest area after travelling for about an hour.... It's been almost 5 and a half months since I was teleported here, and I'm 4/5 of the way towards Creimland now! Even though home is still so far away, I'm still much much closer to my goal than ever before.
"(Miss Kyrielle?)" Once again, the merchant man called out to me.
"(Yes?)"
"(Why are you, a human child, so far west of the continent? Most humans stay in Creimland, fewer yet venture out, let alone someone at your age and size.)"
"(Well first off, please don't make any comments about my size. I am here for a reason, I was caught inside a magic accident that resulted in... this mess.)"
Just mentioning the Teleportation Accident makes me remember dad's death again... and the chaos that ensured in the city when Aamon attacked.
Lynn and I never told anyone about Aamon because we don't know whether or not the people here will react kindly if they learned that we killed one of the original nine demon kings from the Great War. I should take care not to say anything about it to these three as well.
"(A teleport accident?....)"
"(Umm... yeah. I'll tell you about the full picture someday, but long story short I was teleported to near the West Coast and I walked all the way in the span of five months.)"
"(I see... It must have been a treacherous journey to get all the way here, especially for a child like you.)"
"(Well, I wasn't alone. I had a partner as well.)"
"(A partner? Where is she?)"
"(Well, she-)"
"(Hold on, you were that human's partner?)" Suddenly, the body guard Jackal interrupted us.
"(Huh?)"
"(You know, that one with the white hair and skin only less pale than vampires. If I remember correctly, her eyes was....)"
"(It's pink, her eyes are pink colored, and she's called Lynn. Did you meet her as well?)"
"(Yep that's her name. I met her back then when we received a quest to kill drakes at the Valley, but we were ambushed by a drake queen. I remember her so well because of her grand entrance.... After escaping that near death encounter, your partner came and dropped straight from the sky.)"
So back then in Valley of the Drakes huh? That is really west if I remembered correctly.
"(She DOES like to drop down from the sky all the time, I don't know why. Just because she can fly, it doesn't mean she should constantly do it like that.)"
"(Hmm... since you two have been travelling for a while now, are you friends with her them?)" The merchant man continued with his question.
"(Yeah. She saved my skin countless times, and I helped her out sometimes as well.)"
Lynn and I is actually very close... she's like a best friend to me, despite our age difference. Well, not that it matters much at all since we are both adults technically. She's about 50, while I'm at least 28.
"(I see.... But where is she now?)"
"(She's at the Monarch's city by herself. I'm actually heading there to meet up with her, you see.)"
"(Oh, so that's why you are traveling alone now huh?.... I guess with your skills, you don't even need her to protect you.)"
"(Thank you for the compliment.)"
"(...?)" Overhearing our conversation, Jackal the bodyguard made a puzzled look on his undead face.... I wonder what's troubling him.
__________________
(2 days later....)
We are now deep inside a big forest, with large trees about the size of a stone pillar, and a muddy soil road. A different sight completely different from the desert that I was used to.
"(Yawn....)"
It's quite early in the morning, maybe about 7 or 8 am. This merchant convoy likes to travel very early because there's less chance of encountering monsters in the morning.
That being said.... something feels off here.
"(It's too quiet in this forest....)" I made a remark on it.
"(Is that a problem?)" (2x) The Altan couple asked out.
"(Well, it's hard to explain, Mr Altan... The first day we entered the forest we still encountered a few Dire Wolves right? But somehow today, we have never encountered any monster at all, and this is besides the fact that the forest has no animal sounds whatsoever. Something tells me this isn't right....)"
"(I think you are just being paranoid, Ms Kyrielle.)"
"(...No, she's right. Every time I travelled no matter where, there would always be at least one or two monster encounter each day. This is simply too peaceful... I have bad feeling about this.)"
"(I see... Then, we should hurry up to the city. It's just a few hours away, and so we can leave the forest if we hurry up our-)" 'Thuch!'
"Weee Heee!!!" From the right, an arrow flies by and shot the carriage's horse.
"Ogrr?!"
"(Shit! Highway Men!)"
'Thuch!' (?x)
I quickly jumped down from Lizzie and tried to take cover to the left side of the carriage...
'Chink!' "Ouch!"
An arrow hit my head.... Somehow, it didn't penetrate my head. Giving no care to the arrow, I quickly jumped to the left side of the carriage and took cover behind it. Only when I'm safe, I touched my head on where the arrow hit me....
It only barely scratched my skin. It only feels like I was hit by a rock or something.
"(Is anyone hurt?)" The bodyguard asked as he pulls out the sword by his waist.
"(We are fine!)" (3x)
"(Good.... But regardless, we are screwed. Sir Altan, can you fight? We'll buy time for your wife and the small miss to run.)"
"(....)"
"(Husband...!)"
As they were talking, my head started to think rapidly.... I know that as long as the arrows doesn't hit my eye they won't be able to penetrate me. If I am immune to arrows, that means I can be more aggressive.
"(...How many of them were there?)" I asked out, just to make sure.
"(No idea. At one point I saw about 5 or so arrows landing at the same time, but there could be more.... You should bring Madam Altan with you and run while we distract-)"
"(...It won't be a problem if I completely burn the entire forest to the right, right?)"
"(....Excuse me?)"
"(What if I blew open the ent-)"
"(That's not it! You said you are gonna blow up this entire forest, how is a little girl like you going to do it?!)"
"(What? Our lives are at danger here! I can put out the fire later with a water spell-)"
"(So you are a mage?... Then what do you want me to do?)"
"(I will blow up the entire forest to the right, you can help me pick off the strangglers and make sure that none of them approaches sir and madam Altan. Can you do that?)"
"(I can... But if you got hit by a stray arrow and die or are captured and raped by them, I won't give two shits about you. If I see you losing, I'll run!)"
"(....Well, if you say that if I were to be captured I'd get violated, I'll get scared you know? It's not good to discourage me before I even start.)"
"(That's just the truth, these bandits won't reason with you. If they see a good looking girl like you, they'd-)"
"(But I'm fairly certain that no one there can actually beat me.... Not weak scumbags like them.)"
As I said that, my eyes caught glimpse of something inside the carriage... something with a really familiar shape inside the carriage.
"(That's a...!)" A katana?! In this world?!
Seeing my reaction, the merchant next to me opened his voice.
"(That's a magic sword from the Moonfall Continent! It's sharpened, so just take it and use it!)"
"(Right....)"
"(It's expensive but our lives are priceless! Just take it!)"
I reached my hand into the carriage and grabbed the katana.... It's about 0.7 meter long in total.
'Ching...!' I pulled the blade out of the sheath.
"(Its modified to let you coat your own Mana Shield into it to not let it break easily!)"
Really? I imagined my Mana Shield going into the blade... and sure enough, a thin layer of Mana could be seen covering the blade.
"(Aren't you a mage?....)"
"(Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself a mage.... I just use magic for combat, that's all.)"
I threw the sheath into the carriage, and then held the sword with my dominant hand.
Hmmm.... if I use this along with Thruster Mobility Options, my attacks would become very powerful even with my child-like strength without Dragonkin Burst, right? It's bad to test abilities in a real fight, but I'm eager to try it out.
I guess it is time time for me to let loose huh?... Even if they beg for mercy, I'll not let them off the hook. They can't be trusted.
"(So, are you going or what?)"
"(Hoo.... Hah....)"
Red aura covered my body as I activated Dragonic Burst to boost my magic power.... and right as I did so, I did so I opened my mouth as shouted.
"(You will not forget this dragon's power!!!)" Yelling out in anger, I gathered Mana to my arms.
Quad Charged Forbidden Sun!
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[Highway Men's POV]
(14 meters away from the carriage, in the bushes)
"(Hehehe.... we have them pinned down with arrows!)"
"(They can't run now, this time we got ourselves a plunder!)"
"(Hey remember to non't kill that human girl! She looks cute and she's exotic around these parts, let's have some fun with her first.)"
"(Yeah!)" (8x)
"(Enough you people, focus! I don't care what you do with the girl, but we are still in a fight!)"
"(Okay captain, but you don't have to worry so much, there's ten of us and four of them afterall!)"
"(Yes... but something is odd about that girl. I was pretty sure my arrow didn't miss... but somehow she survived?)"
"(Even you miss your shots sometimes captain, don't worry about it! Anyway, shall we charge at them now?)"
"(We outnumber them, so let's overwhelm them before they can come up with any tricks. Everyone prepare to cha-)" It was then, we all heard the faint shout of a little girl.
"(You will not forget this Dragon's power!...)" We all turned to look at the carriage after we heard the shout of a little girl....
"(A dragon? What is that girl saying?...)"
From behind the carriage, the girl dashes out while facing us, and in front of her hand is a giant ball of vortex that is blazing on the inside....
"(What the hell is that bos-)"
"(Hit the floor!)" I yelled out in respons as I dived down to the ground.
'Bang.' A small explosion sounded, and then just a split second later....
'BOOM!!!'
With a bright flash and a deafening sound, the earth shaked violently, knocked up a huge cloud of mud. Burning trees was completely uprooted from the ground from the blast alone, and the fire set ablaze everything caught within its range.
'Ring.....' My ears were knocked ringing by the blast, my head is in pain from the shockwave that hit me just now, and I feel hot.... extremely hot. That's because everything is now burning.
A huge explosion happened, and a mushroom cloud formed from the huge explosion. This is not a typical magic, but magic from someone that can level villages and cities by themselves.
"(Urgh!... My ears!....)"
After a few seconds, the ringing sound finally went away as pain strikes me in the ear. I regained my hearing ability, but the first thing I heard gave me a sense of terror that I've never experienced before.
"(Argh!!!! I'm burning!!! Stop the flames!!! Argh!!!....)" (2x) Two of the men that I shared a drink with just last night was swinging around in pain, their body is caught entirely on fire.
It was then as if my mind suddenly snapped out of a clouded state, I finally realize the gravity of this situation.
What.... The.... Fuck?! That girl is fucking nuts!
Five of us was caught directly by the blast and vaporized into ashes... The other two was set on fire by the flames from the explosion.... it's too late to even save them now.
We outnumber them 10 to 4... but in an instant, with just one spell, 7 of us died and now there's only 3 of us left.
"(Captain what should we do?!)"
"(Run!)" I immediately got up and then started sprinting away towards the opposite direction....
"(It's useless to run!)" From the distance, a soft voice of a little girl calls out.
She's insane! Her voice is so soft but what she's spouting is the most dangerous thing I have ever heard in my life.
'Bwuom!' A small explosion sounded.
"(You damned girl-)"
'Slash!' And a sound of something being sliced opened was heard.
"(Argh!!! My arm!!!!)"
"(You little! Eat this-)"
"(Arrows wouldn't save you!)"
'Phiuc!' 'Bang!'
I heard my comrade's scream and the voices of them being murdered one by one.... Chaos ensued behind my back, and all I could do was just run away!
My heart was throbbing.... my palms are sweating, and my mind only knows one thing.... That girl is a monster in human skin!
After running for about 40 seconds, I finally stopped.... And dropped onto the ground.
"(Hah!... Hah!.... Who the hell... is she?!...)"
I need to report back to the chief! We need to change our base so that this crazy girl wouldn't find our hideout in the futur-
'Bwuom!' 'Thush!' Something flew after a small explosion sound... the girl dropped down right in front of me straight from the sky. In her hand is a curved sword stained with the blood of my comrades.
Once again, her soft soothing voice contrasts the menacing words that came out of her mouth.
"(I told you already, it's useless to run. Surrender now and tell me where the rest of you is hiding.)"
"(Like hell I would!)"
I pulled out the two of my knife from my back....
"(Saint of the air, grant me the ability to slice through my obstacles, Wind blade!)"
'Fwosh!' I sliced a Wind Blade magic at her diagonally, and she easily leaned to the side and dodged my slash.
"(Hmm, a wind magic user? But you'll have to try harder than that.)"
"(Tsk! Bring it on!)"
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[Jackal the Bodyguard's POV]
....what just happened?...
"(That girl is so destructive and fast it's insane....)" Sir Altan is in disbelief as well.
No mages I have ever seen uses spell like she does! And the way she used that fire magic to boost her speed and move around unnaturally is just crazy.
For her size she is extremely strong as well... Swinging around a sword about half her size like it was nothing.
From my perspective, after she blew up an entire part of the forest, she immediately dashed right in range of one of the bandit and cut off his arm entirely.
'Slash!'
Her technique was really sloppy... but with just pure power and the sharpness of the sword, she easily slices off the hand. That guy's arm was sent flying, with his blood spilt everywhere.
When the second guy pulled his bow and tried to shoot her, and she immediately shot some kind of invisible projectile at him, blowing a hole straight through his head. The brain of the bandit splatters everywhere as his head was blown right open.
After killing that guy, she immediately used that weird magic again and flew right into the forest.
"(She's too talented....)" I unconsciously mumbled.
"(What?)"
"(She's too talented at killing....)"
"(I see....)"
"(I don't know about you but... I don't want to get on her bad side.)"
"(...She was kind to us right? I don't think she is gonna kill us for no reaso-)"
'Boom!!!' Deeper inside the forest, a big explosion sounded. Another part of the forest was blown open by her magic again.
"(Another explosion....)"
"(The guy who ran away seemed skilled.... I think she is putting up a fight with him now that she caught up to hi-)"
'Boom!!!' Yet another explosion sounded.
"(Are you sure you don't need to help her?...)"
"(She's on an entirely different level... I'd only get in the way.)"
(Chapter end)