Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 177: Operation Plazma – Red snow.

A cheerful, young-looking lady with tanned skin and refreshing pale blue eyes. Looking at her sparkling silvery pupils, one might inevitably think of her as just an ordinary miss.

However...

''Let's go—!''

Somewhere in her childish demeanor suggests otherwise. Even as she jumps and trots her way in front of the imperial force, I can see virtually no opening anywhere, even near her.

It might sound a bit cliché, but she really is without weakness. By the way, it's not about me seeing all the ways she will counterattack if I ever touch her or anything of the sort. That's only in fiction.

What I'm referring to is the numerous layers of mana constantly swirling around her body at all times, ready to be transformed into whatever she desires. I suppose only a grandmaster can maintain that kind of ridiculous protection.

Of course, she is on our side today, so that's great, but...

''Where are you going?''

''Eh?''

''Didn't anyone tell you we're teleporting there?''

''Ah.''

I can tell even the soldiers' captains aren't used to having such an airhead as their leader, much less the soldiers themselves. Letting out a sigh, I signal to the other side, ''Everybody, hold hands. I won't waste mana doing it again if you were left behind.''

''H-Hold hands! Let's hold hands!'' 

As the little girl runs around, instructing the soldiers twice her size to hold hands, I can't help but feel strange. Well, I suppose I can only trust the strategists at the palace and their verdict.

After arriving at the destination, we take a short minute to let everyone adapt to the new environment. This isn't a problem for Skely or me, who frequently use [Teleportation], but for the average person, it can be overwhelming.

In any case, through Sierra, we've decided on a few tactics beforehand.

Firstly, this operation has a fancy name, but it is nothing more than a cleaning job. Our goal is to simply take out as many wyverns and dragons as possible—that's it. In line with that, there's no reason for us to work together outside of facing elite enemies at all. More often than not, our conflicting fighting styles can lead to complications.

Furthermore, thanks to the nerdy Becky, we both already have a general map of the area, so we split right away.

''Take care~!''

''...You, too.''

It's a pity that I can't see how she fights just yet, but I reckon there will be a time.

So, bringing my horror squad along, I head straight up a mountain I've yet to explore. The doctor is missing today, as he is working on that project with Sikare. The undead siblings are also taking a break.

''Hm? What's wrong?''

As we proceed, Blob suddenly nuzzles at me.

''The owls? I told them to evacuate already. Maybe they'll go to Zircon.''

With the invasion from Khruse inevitable, having the owls move to other places is the only way to keep them safe. This place is about to become a massive battleground, after all.

''...''

Well, the night has yet ripe. We should think less of that and focus on grinding.

As much as I want to keep this experience mine for our forces only, the situation begs to differ. The best we can do is wipe out as many enemies as possible, which means...

''Let's split.''

We'll be splitting again.

By this point, my horror friends are all approaching level 50 or a bit above that, and with their superior nature, taking care of wyverns won't be a problem. Even Blob, who's only approaching 35, can already do that.

Of course, they all understand this and agree right away.

Watching my friends move away one by one, I fall into a brief silence. Eventually, I decide to take my time roaming the mountain to take out the scattered enemies slowly. 

There aren't that many of them, but they all seem to recognize me and show aggression. At this point, an icicle worth a single point of MP is enough for me to eliminate one.

This feels oddly like playing a shooting game where your gun has infinite damage. Have I reached that point? I remember I used to struggle against small wolves, and now I'm one-shotting wyverns.

''...I've come that far, huh.''

They say boredom births random thoughts. Well, I say that, but it's true that everything has begun to feel a tad... boring. The emptiness I feel whenever the Sword of Nihility is activated certainly doesn't help.

But if I can't meet strong opponents often anymore... why not try to limit myself?

Following that train of thought, I pull out my void-black sword—this time, with no magic attached. Just a plain sword.

Yet... against the wyverns who are several times larger than me, my slender sword still cuts through them like butter. With virtually no effort, their wings are severed, their legs sliced, and their heads chopped off.

As I stare at my blood-stained sword, one with streams of red liquid dripping off the blade into the red snow...

''No good.''

I can't easily find that rush of energy when fighting anymore. When did it all happen? Did I... become callous over time?

No, maybe it's just that I've gotten stronger. That's all.

I wish I brought Kyomu here so I could hear his input. How does he deal with the loss of emotions?

Feeling lost, I turn to the starry sky. Even knowing that every single one of those dots is fake, and even knowing that the brightly shining moon's light is sinister... everything is still beautiful.

If... if after everything—when I eventually stand above all—if I were to become emotionless by then... would I still admire the night sky?

After all, mankind has looked to the sky ever since they set foot on Earth. Even if they only began dreaming of chasing the stars fairly recently, they had always admired it.

The future is unknown, but in the end, I should make sure to look at the sky once more.

By then, if I still think that it is beautiful... then at least I will remain a human.

''Hm?''

As I am lost in my thoughts, a strong wave of mana hits me. From far, far away, some sort of fight is happening, and it's not an ordinary one either.

...Well, I guess it's obvious if the sky in the direction it comes from is lit like this.

The most likely scenario is that Ulaika's team has met a formidable opponent, namely a lord dragon. They can certainly handle it well, but I want to see it in person, too.

Let's see how strong one of them can be.