226-Episode 224: Takatsuki Makoto will land 1,000 years ago





 -- As I walked through the gate, I had a severe headache.


 I held my head and the next thing I knew I was in total darkness.
 A strange space where I couldn't see forward or backward, left or right, even up or down.
 I couldn't see or hear anything.
 I felt like all of my five senses had been taken away.

 Did I open my eyes or close them?
 Am I breathing or not?
 Am I alive or am I dead?
 I don't know anything....

 I'm dazed.
 How much time has passed?
 It could have been an instant, or it could have been a long time.

 I didn't even realize that I had lost consciousness.



 ◇



 When I woke up, I was asleep in a strange place.
 Seven-colored wards were put up around me.

(Is this........the magic of the Goddess of Destiny (Ila)?)

 I pressed my fingers lightly on the wards and they crumbled away without a sound.
 It was supposed to be released when I woke up.

 I looked around and saw that it was a large wasteland.
 There was not so much grass as a grassland, and not so much trees as a forest.
 An unkempt wilderness.
 I didn't recognize it.
 I wondered if this was a thousand years ago....

 I looked up at the sky.
 The sky was covered with pitch black clouds.
 There was no sunlight, and the entire world appeared gray.

(Clouds of darkness....)
 It was a scene from the 'Dark Ages' that I learned about in the temple.
 This place was definitely a thousand years ago.

(.........Noah-sama)
 I call out to him in my mind, but he doesn't answer.
 I unfolded the soul book.
The words "Messenger of the Goddess (Noah)" had disappeared.
 The gifted skill of "spirit user" is still there.
 The dagger at my waist is the only proof that I was a follower of Noah.

(I don't know a soul in this world...)
 It brought back memories of the time I left the Water Temple and started traveling alone.
 No, if I couldn't help it then, I could go back to the Temple of Water.
 And I knew that Fujiyan was in the City of Water (McAllen).

 There was no place to even go back to here.
 Anxiety surged through me gradually.
 
 Calm down.

"Let's find our savior, Abel........
 Let's move forward.
 Let's not mull it over.
 It's going to be okay, it's going to be fine.



 It's gonna be fine.



There's no one here at all...
 I've been talking to myself a lot.
 I've been walking around for several hours already.
 I saw a glimpse of wildlife here and there, but I didn't see any humans at all.

 It's depressing.
 I mean, is there no city or village?
 Where am I? 
 The Goddess of Destiny (Ila) said we should be going to the vicinity of the modern day Water Country (Roses), but I don't see any place that I remember.
 If I could at least find the huge Lake Chimay in the middle of the Water Country (Roses), I would be able to figure out the location....

 That was the time.

"..........?
............................
 I heard a conversation in the distance.
 Yes, a human!
 I almost ran out of the room and stopped myself.
 ........This is a dark age where the Great Demon Lord rules.
 It could be the demon race.
 Or rather, it's highly likely.


 --'Covert' skill.


 I approached the voice about time, oblivious to the signs.
 Fortunately, the grass in the wasteland is tall, so if I bent down, I could approach it while hiding.
Using my 'listening ears' skill, I was able to hear the conversation.

I'm sure you'll be able to find it. I found it.
Hey, don't be such a cheapskate. I want half of what you give me.
... ah... t-help.
 The conversation I overheard was not flattering.
 This is a huzzah. 


 --The 'clairvoyant' skill.  


 There were three people there.
 One is a little girl.
 She was trembling because of fear.

 And the other two bodies were........demons.
 One is a chimera and the other one is a gryphon.
 Although they look like ordinary demons, they speak fluently.
 ........A thousand years ago, demons could talk too?

Okay, I'll take the top half.
It's so slippery. I can't eat the bottom half of my body.
 The two demons are apparently in the middle of discussing how to divide the little girl.
 The girl seems to be stuck like a frog staring at a snake.
 At that time, a character suddenly floated in the air.



'Do you want to save the girl?'
 Yes, sir.
 No.



 The first time I left the Water Temple and fought the goblins was in my mind for a moment.
 The choice was not lost on me.

''XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Spirit, spirit, spirit, lend me your strength).''
((((Okay!!!!)))
 I called out to him in spirit language, and he replied more than I expected.
 It's as if I've been waiting for it.

 An enormous amount of magic power (mana) gathered in an instant.
 The air trembled and the ground shook.
 Wow, that's a lot of mana!

What the hell are you?
Hey, hey, hey! You're not a human trying to stab us in the back, are you?
 Sure enough, the demons have noticed us.
 Two demons are coming towards us at great speed.

 I was going to take them by surprise like the old goblin slayers did, but........
 I failed.
 ........Oh well.

Water Magic Ice World.
 I'll cast a spell on the two demons.

"Vulnerable water magic?
You're going to have to take a bite out of the head...
 That was their last word.
 As a result of the freezing of the sky(s), the sky(s), the sky(s), and the sky(s), the ice statues of the two demons were created.
 Not only that, it also freezes all around the area, even the grasslands and trees.
 

 But the details can wait.
 I ran to the little girl.

''Ah, um.........''
Let's get out of here.
 If we stayed in this place, there was a good chance that other demons would come.
 I pulled the trembling little girl's hand and moved away from the place.



 ◇



 After a while of running, me and the little girl stopped moving when the shade of a large tree looked like it could be hidden.

'Are you okay?'
 The girl nodded her head when I called out to her.
 She was probably about 10-12 years old.
 She had shaggy black hair and wore tattered clothes.
 However, when I looked closely at her, she had a well-rounded and pretty face.

''Um ... why ... why did you ... help me?''
 With frightened eyes, the little girl asked me such a question.
 There's no particular reason........
 When I was at a loss for an answer, the little girl continued to speak.

''The demon you defeated is a demon that belongs to the Demon King's army unit. Soon, our companions will notice something strange and start looking for the culprit. If that happens, we will be killed at the stake........
 The young girl has a very pale face.
 I see, so it was the elite of the Demon King's army.

''By the way, are the other demons stronger than that?''
Except for the commander, they're about the same, but there are more than 20 of them. If they all attack at once, there won't be a single human being in sight...

What?
 The little girl stared at me with a wide-eyed stare.

"Well what does that mean....
'With that level of demons, it doesn't matter if there are twenty or thirty of them. I can freeze them with a single blow.
 I smiled as gently as possible so as not to give the girl any anxiety.

 Well, as a matter of fact, if it's a demon like just now, more than a hundred of them will probably be fine.
 According to Noah-sama, it's a spirit magic that specializes in warfare.
 It's extremely strong against a large number of people.

I'm sure you are..........................a hero.
 The light has returned to his eyes instead of the lifeless face he had just seen.
 Her cheeks are slightly flushed.
 Gosh, did I raise my expectations too high?

''No, I'm not a brave man but I'm looking for a brave man.
'So you're one of the heroes!
 The little girl seemed to interpret it as a companion of the brave.

'By the way, I'm not familiar with the land around here... where is this place?'
What?
 Here, the little girl looked at him suspiciously.

 What in the world is she talking about?
 Even I, who is not good at reading the air, could tell.
 Apparently, she asked a strange question.

I've been attacked by a very strong monster before I came here, and I hit my head. So my memory is vague...
 I used a painful excuse.

'Huh...'
 I don't know if he believed me or not, but he didn't ask me any more questions. 
 I'm a lifesaver, in case you didn't know, I am.
 The little girl answered.


''This is Demon King Bifrons-sama's human(风)pasture(风)place.
..........
 There's a lot of twists and turns........


 --I don't know where you'll be transitioning to, but the place you'll be transitioning to will be a place that's (or will be) deeply connected to you.


 Ila-sama's words came back to me.

 Speaking of which, I met someone from a thousand years ago (?) I remembered that there was a
 A thousand years later, the Demon King I ended up with.
 I'm sure our fate is sealed.

 It seems that I came to the territory of the Immortal King Bifrons.