[S3] Chapter 47: Destination

“Where are we?”

“In a dungeon.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Trust my nose.”

“How good are you at smelling?”

“I can smell everything about you.”

“Sounds creepy. Please don't do that.”

“As if I had a choice.”

“When did you two start getting on so well?” Miko asks, sounding almost annoyed as she walks next to me. It must be because her words still resonate with me. I'll get you out of here, she said. And she wasn't lying. We left her little chamber. In return, we ended up in a seemingly endless subway tunnel. I often wondered what it was like to walk on the tracks, and I can say that even in a fake world made of mana, it feels both illegal and scary.

“Surako?”

“Yes, Miko?”

“Is it always like this? That you get thrown into some random dungeon?”

“Yeah, Reena told me she can't offer more than that.”

“Are there monsters there, too?”

“Sometimes.”

“If you destroy the dungeon core, where do you end up?”

“I've never destroyed one before, Reena picks me up and takes me back to my room.”

"So, could it be that we get out of the room if we destroy the core?" I note that after simply listening to the two of them,

“It's possible, but it's a bit scary without knowing where we'll end up.”

"Should I scan the area?"

“Yes, please.”

I crouch down and let mana run into my finger. I know the magic circle that searches for the highest mana concentration in the area by heart now, especially because it's so simple. Although I've written so much in the language of the other world by now, I still can't read a single word, but at least I can recognize the meaning or effect of some of them.

As usual, the spell spreads over everything we can see for a moment before dissipating in the direction of the discovered mana source. Usually, a pillar of light rises, which can be seen at a great distance, but in this tunnel, the best we can hope for is an indicator of where we need to go.

"So, can you see anything?" Miko asks, and I raise my eyes from the ground to see a small light shining in the distance.

“As expected, we have to keep going ahead.”

"At least we have certainty now, thank you."

My gaze wanders to Surako, and rather, by chance, I notice how the fur on her tail stands up. I look at her face, somewhat irritated. Her big, fluffy ears start to move.

“Something's coming towards us,” she says alarmingly.

In the corner of my eye, I see the light that was so tiny moments ago grow bigger in an instant. Because the tunnel is so dark, I can't see what it is, but what is clear is that this mana source is approaching at a furious pace.

Miko is the first to react and creates a magical barrier, unlike what I'm used to by now, simply from her imagination. I, with my magic circles, can't help but feel like a fake witch.

"That won't be enough," Surako whispers so that I can barely hear her. She seems to want to get in front of Miko before something crashes into or rather through the barrier that Miko had just erected. I instinctively jump to the side so that I'm standing against the wall of the tunnel.

As fast as a train, something incredibly long rushes past us for a few seconds, and only at the end can I make out something like the tip of a tail before the creature and the light of mana disappear in the direction we came from.

The adrenaline rush and my racing heart have distracted me, but when I look around, I realize I'm alone. Both Miko and Surako seem to have disappeared. A shiver runs down my spine as the possibility that they have both been hit by this monster flashes through my mind. Without hesitation, I let my mana flow through my body and start running back down the tunnel.

I have to stay calm in my head. These emotions don't let me think clearly. I don't know whether it's my speed or the dizziness that makes the surroundings I'm rushing past seem so blurred. What will I do when I get to the end of the path? What if the two of them are badly injured, and this insanely large monster is waiting for me? Can I fight? What can I do?

Meanwhile, my detection spell is dissipating. The light that still marked the monster has stopped getting smaller and has started to fade instead.

The starting area of the dungeon, which is designed to look like a typical subway station, should not normally have enough space to accommodate such a large monster, but it does.

A huge snake sits on the ground at the end of the tunnel and stares in my direction. This creature's head alone is five times as big as me, so swallowing me in one bite should be easy for it. While I don't dare turn my head away, I try to search for the other two with my eyes, in vain.

With a shaky hand, I turn my ring into a wand and begin to draw magic circles in the air, different spells for different possible scenarios. The snake still keeps eye contact with me but doesn't budge. I feel so nauseous. I just want to throw up and start crying. Instead, I scribble glowing paintings of mana that I hope will save my life.

I don't think my brain works anymore. My arm feels like it's moving on its own, and with every magic circle I finish drawing, I slowly move it toward my left arm, where I save it for later activation. On my skin, they look like proper black tattoos.

How did this actually happen again? We go on vacation and get involved in trouble from day one. First, the incident occurred at the train station, followed by Reena and her guild. After that, Miko's childhood friend from another world suddenly turns up, and we find ourselves locked up in a room somewhere. Is it because of me or Miko? Has the world always been this messed up, and I was just lucky enough not to get caught up in it? The thought amuses me, and I start to chuckle.

“Hey, big guy. How about it? Are we going to fight or keep it to staring?"

Now I can find out what all this time practicing with Luna has actually achieved. How useful can I be outside of healing?

“If you don't start, I will.”

I tap one of the magic circles on my forearm with the tip of my wand and activate it. The same pattern then spreads out around the snake. For the first time, it shows a reaction. Still, instead of attacking me, it merely looks at the mana drawings, from which huge sharpened pillars shot out abruptly and pierce into the snake's flesh. I hope Ayma doesn't hold it against me that I'm imitating her magic.

Wait... why is it bleeding? That thing isn't real, is it? My hope was to accidentally hit the Dungeon Core and have it just burst into mana. But instead, I just hurt and angered a ferocious beast.

I forget to breathe for a moment as the snake begins to slither away. It moves slowly and sluggishly, making it hard to believe that it was the one that had shot past us earlier.

When it has moved away from the corner, I see two people lying on the floor. Surako is on top of Miko, her arms wrapped around her. She must have thrown herself in front of her when the snake crashed into us. Why did she do the one thing I was supposed to do? My only reaction was to jump to safety while Surako selflessly threw herself in front of Miko to protect her.

I can't take my eyes off them for a moment, hoping that they are okay. As if she senses my presence, Miko straightens up and glances in my direction. Even though she probably can't see it, I give her a big smile, the one she loves so much. At the same time, I activate another spell, a protective barrier that wraps itself around my body. In my carelessness, I focused too much on the two of them and let the snake get so close to me that there is no way I can dodge the following attack.

Something big strikes me. Neither my thoughts nor my eyes can follow as my body is launched, flying in the air. The blow of its tail on my body hurt less than I thought, but the moment I hit the ceiling of the room, it takes the air out of my lungs, and for a moment, my vision goes black. In complete darkness, I feel the wind as I fall towards the floor. My body no longer obeys me, so I can't wrap my arms protectively around my head. I just pray that I survive. No matter how broken I might end up, my healing magic will patch me up, or so I hope.

But the impact I'm waiting for doesn't come. Instead, I am caught surprisingly softly; my eyes are still closed, but I have a strangely pleasant smell in my nose. I feel a hand on the back of my head and a warm, moist feeling spreading across my cheek. I briefly think it's blood, but this rough sensation doesn't fit. Suddenly, my vision returns, and I find myself in the arms of Surako, who is aggressively licking my cheek with her tongue.

“Is there a reason you're licking me?”

“Pure stress. You were staring at me like a corpse.”

“My eyes were open?”

"The whole time, I thought you were dead."

I wipe her saliva from my face with my sleeve. Apparently, I'm still in one piece; my body and especially my head hurt like hell, but nothing seems to be broken. I would never have been able to create such a powerful barrier without the magic circle, I guess.

Again, my thoughts are everywhere but on Miko. Angry with myself, I straighten up with the help of Surako and try to get some clarity about the situation.

"Slow down. You were thrown around quite brutally."

My eyes can hardly believe what they see. It feels like the entire station is speckled with the light blue blood of the snake. It crawls across the floor, seemingly disoriented. Shortly afterward, I spot Miko walking past the snake's body, clutching her sword, which she drags behind her, cutting the flesh of the apparently defenseless giant.

"How long have I been out for? What happened?” I ask with a shaky voice, I have no idea why this image before my eyes shocks me so much.

“Not even two minutes. While you were still in the air, Miko dashed towards the snake, and I prepared to catch you."

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

I'm not quite sure how I should feel about Miko going for the snake rather than saving me, but her confidence in Surako's ability to read the situation seems to have been quite high.

“Are all your mages like this?” Surako asks, also observing Miko.

“What exactly do you mean?”

“The combination of hand-to-hand combat and magic. Normally, mages are active in the background, acting with ranged attacks and protective spells. Someone like Miko could decide wars in our world on her own, I'm sure of it."

Surako had mentioned that the mages in her world all use magic circles, and, from my own experience, these tend to be unsuitable for fast battles.

“Not all, and few are as strong as Miko, but this combination is nothing unusual,” I explain. Meanwhile, I take a deep breath for the first time in what feels like ages. The battle seems to be won. I can calm down. Sometimes, I forget what a monster Miko is, and I can always rely on her.

The snake that had just been moving slowly now seems lifeless. Although it is dead, Miko does not stop cutting through the monster's flesh. She looks frighteningly apathetic as she walks through the huge puddle of blood. I want to go to her, take her in my arms, but a small part of me is terrified of Miko. I want to punch myself in the face for feeling this way, but I can't help it. Instead, I just watch as she continues to take the snake apart. But then she stops and pushes her sword deeper into the lifeless body so that her hand also sinks into it. For a moment, it seems as if the snake is moving again. I'm just about to say something when the body of the huge monster bursts into a thousand pieces, and we, too, are struck by tiny chunks of snake.

Miko has formed a body larger than the snake itself from this small piece of magical metal and burst it from the inside. Somewhat unbelieving, I look around for my wand, which I have formed from mine, to find it lying on the ground just a few centimeters away from us.

When Miko releases the mana from the metal, it suddenly shrinks and disappears in her hand. A large blue ball appears, which seems to be made of glass, and falls to the ground. The Dungeon Core shatters on the spot and, with it, the ground beneath us.

It's not as if there was no time to hold on to anything. Rather, there is nothing left to hold on to. We are surrounded by darkness, only mana particles rushing past us as we fall seemingly endlessly, providing enough light for me to make out Miko in the distance. It feels like we are being teleported, except that this phenomenon, which is usually over in a second, feels unbearably drawn out.

“Kayla, I'm sorry. I have to stay with her.” Surako says out of nowhere. Shortly afterward, I feel a kick against my body.

She has used me as resistance to push herself off towards Miko. As she floats through the air in Miko's direction, I am propelled in the opposite way. I wave my arms and legs wildly but can't achieve anything. Before I know it, I can no longer see the two of them. Instead, a bright light blinds me, I squint my eyes, and when I open them again, I see a huge forest below me, towards which I fall a bit too fast.

I place my right hand on my left forearm and activate the other barrier spell I had prepared. It was also intended for the fight against the snake, but now it will probably save my life. My landing is rudely slowed down by a tree, through which I rattle while taking one or two branches with me on my way down.

Eventually, I reach the bottom and end up lying on my back. I'm still breathing, and the pain is relatively bearable. I look up at the huge tree that has prevented me from hitting the ground without slowing down and nod my thanks to it. My body has actually torn a path through the dense greenery so that I can catch a glimpse of the vibrant orange sky. Apparently, it's afternoon. Only the glowing blue cracks in the sky are a little conspicuous.

Where am I?