Chapter 211
After leaving the underground people's patrol route and spending three days heading toward the site of the former Holy Royal Capital of Kruvanyu, Asha and I emerged from the long forest onto a plain.
But, just as I had seen before, it was a desolate land.
Since we had a clear view from a distance, Asha and I waited for nightfall.
"...Why is it so different from the 'surface world'?"
Asha said as she stared into the campfire.
"The words are the same, but it feels to me as though the world itself is different."
"Yes... I suppose it is."
All I could say was that many changes must have taken place over the long years.
But, more fundamentally, how did the world end up split into two?
Does God exist?
The questions were endless.
"It almost feels as if only the words are the same, and everything else is different..."
"I see. Then perhaps today we can find out whether anything else is the same."
"What do you mean?"
"I saw the 'One Heaven Altar' in Kruvanyu. I was wondering if it existed in this world too..."
The sun set, and Asha and I began moving.
Under the moonlight, we advanced through the wasteland. The footing was bad, so we had no choice but to proceed slowly.
As we made our way through the unchanging scenery, I lost track of where we were walking. By my calculations, we should reach the site of the 'One Heaven Altar' before dawn tomorrow, but... large rocks and dead trees meant our visibility wasn't perfect.
"Hm..."
Just then, I felt a tremor through the soles of my feet.
"Asha, we're getting out of here!"
I scooped Asha up in my arms and dashed away.
With a boom, the ground exploded, and something enormous burst out of the earth along with clods of dirt.
The rising ground sent me flying forward, but I used 【Wind Magic】 to right myself in midair and landed safely.
When I turned around, a gigantic tubular creature towered over us, looking like a ragworm, an earthworm, or an inchworm.
It was as thick as a sacred tree that had grown for hundreds of years.
Its body looked soft, but was densely covered with warts, and its tip had nothing but a mouth.
Its teeth, presumably for sucking in and grinding things up, were like round stones, packed densely inside its gaping mouth.
'Piiiiii!!'
As it screamed while spraying drool everywhere, Asha stiffened, and her eyes began to lose focus—
"Asha, it'd be bad if you passed out now."
"—Hah!"
I gave her a light tap on the back, and she came to.
"I-I'm fine... Sorry."
"No, anyone would react that way after seeing something like that."
If this were a desert, we'd call it a sandworm, but unfortunately, the ground here was solid earth.
In other words, you might call it a "Soilworm."
The Soilworm knew exactly how to use its body. Realizing that its first attack hadn't finished us off, it tilted itself and swept at us in one fell swoop.
"【Wind Magic】"
Its speed, however, was nothing special. Taking advantage of the currents clinging to its massive body, I used 【Wind Magic】 to boost my jump and easily evaded it.
"W-we should run away, shouldn't we!?"
"Yes. That's what I'd like to do, but..."
Asha was right. Since the Soilworm's body had a fixed length, it shouldn't be able to chase us if we got farther away than that. It was a different matter from the Ouroboros I had fought in the Holy Kingdom of Kruvan.
But—things weren't that simple.
Here and there, I could sense something writhing beneath the ground.
"Asha! Hold on!"
"I've been holding on for ages!"
"Let's go!"
That said, there'd be no point in killing just one here.
The Soilworm's body came swinging back around with a tremendous whoosh after completing a full circle.
Asha clung to my neck. Supporting her with my left hand left my right hand free.
I jumped again to evade the direct hit, then drove the dagger I had received from the Margrave of Mule into the Soilworm.
"Hup... take that!"
"Aaaaaaaaaah!?"
Riding the Soilworm with only a single dagger, I was spun around at high speed by its tremendous centrifugal force.
As we swung around toward its direction of travel, I pulled out the dagger, and Asha and I were thrown into the air.
"Aaaaaaaaaah—"
Pop, pop, pop—fireballs appeared around Asha and burst one after another.
The fireballs traced parabolas through the dark night along with us.
The ground rushed up. I used 【Fire Magic】 to cushion the impact, and the instant I landed, I used 【Wind Magic】 to propel myself forward.
Thud.
Immediately afterward, a Soilworm burst from the ground right beside where I had landed.
With the combination of 【Body Reinforcement】, 【Jumping Technique】, and 【Enhancement Magic】, my stride had lengthened tremendously, but every time I landed, a Soilworm burst out with a thud, thud, thud.
What a minefield.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah..."
With each landing, Asha could do little more than exhale and cry out at once.
But even a minefield has an end.
"This is it!"
The final leap was a huge one.
I knew there was no more ground beyond it.
At the instant of landing, what my foot came down on was—though cracked—cobblestone.
From a distance, I hadn't been able to make it out clearly. What had looked like rocks was rubble covered in dust, but this was a maintained road.
Weather had worn it down so badly that it no longer looked like one.
It was a city abandoned ages ago.
But—
"...Who are you?"
In front of me, where I had landed, stood about ten figures.
This world was home to dragonfolk, underground people, and—
"Are you Dark Elves?"
The race standing there was one I was encountering for the first time.