Isolated

(At that time, in an unknown secret cave in the South of the Island)

Captain Barlog had found The Second Epic for orders, and once more, he was standing in front of her silently.

With his usual cold and frustrated attitude, he looked at her, with angry eyes and with divergent thoughts in his head. He was sick of everything he had gone through with it for the last few hours and was waiting for an order. He then spoke throughout his turn as long as he was allowed. Talking as if he wanted things to come to a conclusion and finish all of the things that he had dealt with him and annoyed him.

As she sat there with her leg on top of the other and her fist on her face, he started talking while crouching slightly,

"Milady, The little bugs who came to look for the princess, as you requested, are trapped in the castle. It's absolutely impossible for them to get out of there now. If you see it right to give the order, I request that we proceed from here as we should and implement our final plan."

He then looked at her, with a quirky smile on his face,

"As of course, as what you want."

But those weren't the words that the Epic wanted to hear. Her eyes that were filled with fury and her daunting body in the dark, rose as it started to talk.

"As what I want? Is that what you think so?"

Barlog seemed very much concerned about how she reacted. It wasn't how he was expecting, but for sure it was her natural attitude.

"Do you think that these enemies who are made for us will die so easily, Barlog?"

She spoke with a heavy voice. Like she was scolding with every word that came out of her mouth.

"They deliberately chose those little rats that were brought here. They made their preparations and came all the way here after overcoming all the obstacles. They have chosen each of them carefully. They thought that if they did this, they would be able to defeat me."

With her glowing purple eyes, she looked at Barlog once more,

She said with a calm but demeaning tone,

"What an empty thought."

A cold atmosphere had surrounded Barlog's body. Maybe he wasn't moving an inch and wasn't mentally in fear, but her aura had completely taken over him with a psychical fear. And anything that would go against her ideals and plan was a step that made him closer to his death and such. So in order to put it firmly, he spoke in a convincing manner, as he tried to keep his annoyance inside himself,

"Milady, I wouldn't like to offend anyone, but we put about three hundred tons of dynamite in there. It's very difficult for them to survive."

"There is no meaning to stop anything from now on. And I can feel them anyways."

"Feel? What do you mean Milady?"

"I can feel them. They are....

She said, as she was whispering like a snake,

"...Still alive."

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(Back at the collision of the palace) (Ryuu)

It had been minutes since the Castle collapsed, but I still couldn't take my eyes off it. It was quite a powerful explosion and could easily have taken many lives.

And then questions filled my head again.

What if something happened to them? What if they were hurt in a very big way by the impact of the explosion? What if it happened because I split up with them and they would have realized it if I were there?

What would I do?

What should I have done...

Ever since I was in training with Ronk, the only thing I could get rid of was my trembling hands. But my anxiety and fear seized me at the most unexpected moment and made me anxious at such an important moment.

It was an annoying thing and I had to focus on the palace, but something, something flashy, caught my eye.

"Huh?"

Just when I thought so I was losing sight of evidence, a light appeared from the south of the island, drifting towards the sky.

It was a flare.

It had risen several feet into the sky and stood at a point that was easily visible for seconds. It was the easiest sign I could get, so I added speed to my pace. But it was as if a flare was giving a signal for something particular. I didn't know or understand exactly what it was.

Until I looked towards the sea.

The gigantic ship battle was going on with a different strategy now. Some of the enemy ships on the battlefield attacked regularly and sluggishly, while after the flare was thrown, the vast majority of them opened their sails and began to attack at full throttle. Other troops who stayed behind and chose a good aiming point continued to do great damage, but the ships in front, attacked at once while picking up high speed and confused the ships on the front line.

So thus, they gained a huge advantage over the army that we had.

The King and many of the men that were helping us, was in big danger and It would be dense to think they would handle it easily. They could not withstand such a sudden attack, as the prepared ships clashed in a stable state for a long time. It was something that had been made to catch the other side off guard. It was clever, but it was sneaky and mystifying too.

For them to attack to destroy the defense, with such a sudden attack, was going to make it not possible for them to withstand an attack of this force for a long time. Even if they had a chance to lose like us, they didn't have any intentions like ours.

And the only advantage I had at that moment was the place where the flare came from. It was not so far away from me. And most importantly, it was an area where ships took command. Which obviously signaled where my enemies were, exactly where I could find princess Mila.

Our bad situation had created somewhat of an advantage for me, and so I ran not to waste it.

My friends were as strong as me. They were people who doubtlessly, had their own mindset and personality of a warrior. They were people who wouldn't get into something this easily. They even had my back when I made a mistake. So without having suspicion of them, I did not stop and, plunging into the forest with all my speed, I ran towards the spot where the flare had come from.

There could be traps waiting for me where I'm going, or worse.

There could have been traps that could have burned, crushed, or even created holes in my body. But even surviving this far and trying to spend every second of it gave me the motivation I wanted. My doubt would double what I have now. But the doubt that I can't assume and the one I will leave behind would have revealed the courage that I have dozens of times.

That's all I had to think about.

I ran for minutes and bent over a little to gain up more speed. I went along the way for a while but I wasn't able to come to the spot I have been trying to reach. It was because, not to my surprise, the traps were there just like I imagined them to be.

I could see the ropes tied to the floor. But now I couldn't stop. So I went up to the branches of the trees and this time I started jumping from branch to branch. The trees were clean and slippery, so they made me move faster. There were no traps either, but I still didn't let go of my caution just in case.

For a while, I strained my arms and jumped from branch to branch. I slowly increased my speed and looked around me. After about twenty minutes, I stopped and reached a certain place.

I managed to get to the south of the island. But I didn't know where to go because there was no directive path, a living being in the environment, or a secondary sign for me.

Any howls, roars, the sound of an insect, or even a different creature.

There wasn't anything. It was just like that time had stopped.

There were only moving leaves and a river flowing a little further east of the island.

"Maybe I should follow up starting from here."

The moving river was my only source of evidence to find another part of the Island. I thought I could use it and direct myself somewhere.

But the flow of the river was quite different.

It had a similar look to a magical potion. It was shallow and glowing by the light in the sky, just like a normal river. But I was sure it was something different from that.

Bending down on my knees, I put my hands together and took the water in my hands. It was very slippery unlike I imagined. It was very normal at first. But as I held it, the water in my hand pulled itself back towards the river.

"What!?"

It was like a magnet. The slippery water had just moved like it had its own mind and returned into the river with a blink of an eye.

*How is this possible?* I thought to myself with amazement.

Taking the water in my hands once more, this time, I threw it on the ground, right towards the dirt. I tried to create a reaction caused by it.

But it happened again.

Interestingly enough, the water did not split, it did not disperse in the usual liquid way, and the water as a whole, like the previous time I tried it, pulled itself back into the river and reintegrated into the river.

It was a magical river that was lying in front of me.

But where did it connect? If the cave that I have come across was somewhat connected to here, where this river was connected to? Was this a lead to somewhere completely different?

"That's exactly why I have to follow this river."

I didn't doubt this time. I quickly started running between the trees and followed to the place it lead.

The view I saw behind it, took my breath once more.

The river was connected to a waterfall. To the point, I was standing above it. Other than that, there was a big lake at the end of the waterfall. But the lake was completely surrounded by rocks and trees.

To be fair, it was somewhat a view that I could have enjoyed, but the detail there is, there was a big hole. Right in the middle of the island. A void-like hole, that seemed to be leading somewhere.

Somewhere, dangerous.