Throughout my travels, I didn't come across anyone; it was a bit surprising, as I'd expected Mavis would've sent some people after me. Though on the one hand, she was probably busy dealing with the aftermath of my nearly killing the eight vampires, it was only a matter of time before they got things settled, and she put full focus on tracking me down.
Resting in a small cave alongside a mountain's base, avoiding the heavy rain, I scratched my head, glancing at my missing left arm. "I need to be ambidextrous; one of these days, I'm going to lose my right arm." Musing to myself, I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the earth behind me; my mental exhaustion had mostly faded, now all that remains is a constant headache.
"Zartha, did that torture injure my soul?" 'Most likely; it's not supposed to, but most people can't withstand an hour of that torture, so it basically never happens.' "Ho, sounds like you're praising me." 'Not at all. Those who can withstand that torture for so long aren't weak enough to be in such a situation. You're an outlier, Master.'
"Oh. Thanks." As my sarcastic voice echoed off the walls, I looked down at my waist, sighing that I wasn't able to take my space pouch with me. If I had it with me, I might've been able to call Marlin, Lily, or Simba for help… 'No. I probably wouldn't have.' 'You're still upset with them?' Snorting, I punched the wall, cracking it. "They're keeping the truth of Master's death from me… Anyway, let's not talk about it. I don't have that luxury right now."
I spent another hour or so resting, hoping the rain would subside, but if anything, it got even heavier. With the storm above, I left the cave, continuing to trek through the mountainous land, following the path where my heart was guiding me.
A few days passed during this journey. After the first two days, I finally left the mountain range, stepping into a desert, which was the first time I'd ever been to one, including both of my lives. The desert, as one would imagine, was very boring; it was purely sandy hills, sparse vegetation, and few beasts.
Luckily, the desert wasn't too big, and after spending a full day running, I managed to reach the end, and to my astonishment, the next biome was a tundra. "What? How does this make sense?"
It wasn't a gradual change like it should've been; there was a clear line where the two met, I could literally step over it; one moment I'd be in the desert, experiencing a blistering heat, and if I stepped forward, I'd be inside an icy tundra. "I'm genuinely astonished and confused."
Scratching my head, unable to wrap my head around how two polar opposite biomes could form like this, I continued into the tundra, running across the snowy ground.
Covering the tundra wasn't long; I did encounter many more beasts, but other than that, the tundra was basically the same as the desert, just that it was all white. Halfway through the tundra, I had stopped, questioning where I was heading as it felt like I was going on a random goose chase. 'Should I just turn back?'
In the midst of a blizzard, I turned around, gazing behind me, though just as I did so, my heart began to beat rapidly, basically warning me of the danger behind me, causing me to frown. "Mavis must've managed to settle things. I wonder how many people she's sent chasing after me."
Given how rapidly my heart was beating, it wasn't warning me of certain death, but I could tell it was a high possibility. "Haa, alright then, let's continue forward." As I did so, my heart swiftly calmed back down, returning to its steady pumping rhythm.
Eventually, I exited the tundra, its territory slowly fading as I entered a forest before shortly arriving at the shore a few days later.
Walking across the soft, sandy beach, I let the waves of the ocean seep into my shoes, cooling my feet as I stared at the endless ocean. "Why am I here?" Muttering softly, I sat down, staring at the soft blue sky, taking in the serenity; I looked around, observing the beach, hoping to find something, only to widen my eyes at my findings.
Standing up, I jogged to the object leaning against the tree. Arriving beside it, I stared at it, running my hand alongside its bottom, which was slick with a sticky, gooey substance. "No way, right? There's no way it could be this easy." Leaning against the tree was a wooden boat, coated entirely in ocean's mimic, as if it were waiting for me.
Once I reigned in my shock, I took a few steps back, using [Heroes Gaze] to scan the entire area, refusing to believe things could be this easy. "Show yourself, I know you're here." Frowning, I calmly observed the surroundings, waiting for the concealed person to reveal themselves, yet they never did.
"Is this really not some kind of trap?" Seeing how no one revealed themselves, I lost confidence in my assumption and narrowed my eyes, still suspicious. 'Master, if someone was truly hiding, do you think they'd reveal themselves merely because you told them to?' "No… It's worked in movies, so I figured I'd at least give it a shot."
Furrowing my brows, I rubbed my head, cautiously scanning the vicinity once more, refusing to so easily accept this blessing. "Could it really be this easy?" Hesitantly, I grabbed the boat, slowly removing it from the tree, only for a rattling noise to occur while something appeared from behind the boat.
Using [Blink], I reappeared several feet away with Trina in my hand, though I had overreacted as the object was a skeleton, and not just one, but two. "Huh? W-Wasn't expecting that." Stabbing Trina into the ground, I kneeled before the hugging skeletons; there was a hole going through their back and chests, as if someone pierced them with a spear.
I searched through their ruined clothes, finding nothing but a folded paper, which I read, though it turned out to be a love letter; by the end of it, I sighed, pitying the lovers. The man, an Elf, had come from Asckbon to meet his lover, a demon. It seemed he wished to slip away without her family knowing, an elopement, but, seeing their skeletons, things didn't turn out as he'd hoped.
"Damn, so cruel; I can already guess why they were killed. If love doesn't care about race, why should others?" Shaking my head softly, I grabbed Trina, using [Expand] to triple her size and cut out a deep hole in the dirt; I carried the skeletons, lowering them into the hole before covering it with dirt.
Finding a nearby boulder, I cut it into a tombstone and stabbed it into the ground at the head of the grave I'd give them; I used [Shrink] on Trina next, allowing me to write with her more manageably. "Two lovers in whom not even death could break."
After I finished carving into the stone, I backed away, feeling satisfied; I didn't need to do all of that, but perhaps because it was a love of different species, I felt a bit connected to them. However, as they looked at the grave, a faint, purplish light shot down from the sky, enveloping them; from the grave, two whitish spectral beings rose into the sky.
One was an Elf, handsome like every single one in existence; the other was a gorgeous Succubus; the two hugged and kissed, spinning around each other, a potent show of affection. When they broke the kiss, they turned and looked at me, offering smiles, before shooting up towards the sky.
"I wasn't expect–" I wasn't able to finish speaking as the ghostly figure of a young boy suddenly appeared before me; he had several feathered wings, akin to an angel. His hands tenderly cupped my face, staring at me with love, not romantic love, the kind of love a parent would show their child. "Thank you, my child… May love continue to bless your life."
Smiling, the young boy faded away along with the purple light, leaving me entirely baffled as to what the hell had happened. "Zartha, what just happened? Also, why did I like his praise?" I couldn't explain it better than my heart feeling giddy. "That was Sores, the God of Love." "Why did he look like a child?" "I don't know."
Glancing up at the sky, I sighed and shook my head. "Haa, is it just me, or does it seem like the Gods are paying too much attention to me? I'm nothing special to them." "I also don't know." Deciding not to think too much about it, I absorbed Trina and grabbed the wooden boat, ready to sail back home.
"Their misfortune became my fortune; the universe is so weird." Plopping the boat down, I pushed it down the shore into the water before hopping in it, using Trina as a paddle. "Goodbye, Daemon… Hope I never have to visit this place again."