At the ruined village entrance, three children emitting a refreshed aura stood side by side, bidding their final farewells to this land that was left with nothing but broken walls and rubble.
In the end, Tike hadn't managed to escape Alice's "clutches." He had been thoroughly scrubbed from head to toe, not a single strand of hair spared.
Even Kagura hadn't escaped this mechanical cat's "evil hands."
Oh, wait, to be precise, Kagura had actively asked to be "cleaned" by Alice and had giggled happily throughout the process.
In short, after all that fuss, the three of them were finally ready to set off.
Tike turned back to look at Erza and Kagura. They each carried a small bundle simply sewn together from scraps of cloth, containing their few remaining belongings.
"Big Sis Erza, Kagura, you haven't left anything behind in the village, right? Do you have all your important things?"
Facing Tike's question, they looked at each other, then nodded one after another, indicating that everything was packed.
Before officially setting off, Erza thought for a moment and pointed somewhat uneasily towards the center of the village.
"Tike, what about that big tree in the village?"
"Let it stay there," Tike answered almost without thinking. "It will continue to protect this land. If no one ever comes to settle here again, it can let everything return to nature."
"Okay..."
Erza paused, looked back one last time at the village where she had lived for eleven years, then turned around and took a firm first step towards the distance.
"Let's go."
However, before she could even take two steps, she was grabbed by Alice's suddenly extended silver mechanical arm.
Immediately after, Alice extended another mechanical arm like an octopus, firmly hugging Tike and Kagura as well. With a swish, the mechanical wings on her back unfolded. With a powerful downward flap, a strong current of air surged, carrying the three of them straight into the blue sky.
Kagura loved this feeling of soaring into the air. Instead of being scared, she couldn't help but cheer.
"Wow! We're flying! We're flying!"
Erza, on the other hand, tightly gripped Alice's mechanical arm. Feeling the wind whistling in her ears, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
"Alice, are we going to fly all the way there like this? How long will that take?"
Alice shook her head and explained in a cheerful tone, "Of course not! My power source isn't enough to support me flying with three people for a long time. Just maintaining this is already my limit; I can't hold on for long, meow! I'm doing this mainly so Tike can see further and cast his magic more easily!"
"What magic?"
"Just watch me! Open!"
Tike extended his right hand and swiped gently in the air. Clear water, like a flowing ribbon, outlined a perfect circle that clearly reflected the scenery in the distance.
Alice didn't hesitate to take the three of them through it. In the next second, they appeared several kilometers away.
This was the Space Magic Tike had mastered—Water Mirror. It could open portals to various places, achieving long-distance teleportation.
Tike's grasp of coordinate positioning for Space Magic wasn't precise enough yet. He could only perform stable spatial teleportation within his line of sight to avoid accidentally teleporting to some strange place or even an unknown alternate world.
After teleporting several times like this with the two people and one cat, Tike stopped.
Using Space Magic continuously consumed a considerable amount of magic power. Plus, he needed to conserve energy to deal with potential dangers, so he had to rest.
Seeing this, Alice immediately lowered her altitude and placed Erza and Kagura on the ground. Tike, however, remained held by her, floating in the air to prevent him from falling and getting hurt.
They had already covered more than half the distance. With only a few kilometers left to their destination, they would arrive soon.
Alice held onto Tike firmly, staring straight ahead.
"Let's keep moving! The target is right in front of us! Charge, meow!"
---
"This place was attacked too..."
Before the three children lay a scene of devastation left by a great fire.
Smelling the desolate scent permeating the air, Tike's expression became extremely dark, and his eyes were frighteningly cold.
Erza and Kagura looked equally grim. They huddled together tightly, supporting each other, their eyes filled with fear and sadness.
This was the fifth village they had found today. Every single one was as dilapidated as the one before them, with not a living soul in sight, only traces of fire's rampage.
This was undoubtedly the work of that damned black magic cult. Those inhumane demons left only endless pain and despair wherever they went, devastating all life.
Just then, Alice's voice suddenly rang out, snapping the three of them out of their thoughts slightly.
"Tike, detected human life signs! Right nearby!"
"Good! That's great!"
Tike's spirits lifted instantly. He began using his nose to distinguish the subtle scents in the air and soon locked onto a house that had been mostly burned down.
He walked quickly towards it, guided by the scent, straight to a corner of the house. He lifted a wooden board hidden by weeds, revealing a narrow entrance underneath.
By the faint light of the setting sun, Tike saw a small figure curled up in the deepest corner of the cellar.
It was a little girl with white hair. She looked very small, even younger than Tike, probably around five years old, maybe even younger.
Startled by the sudden light, the little girl covered her eyes tightly with her dirty little hands, crying out with a sob, "No! Don't come over! Big Sis Sorano... save me... boo hoo..."
Hearing the words "Big Sis," Tike remembered Big Sis Ultear who always smiled warmly at him, and an inexplicable emotion welled up in his heart. He jumped into the cellar, gently hugged her trembling, frail body, and comforted her with the gentlest voice possible:
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. The bad guys are gone. It's okay now. You're safe; you don't need to be afraid anymore."
Perhaps feeling the kindness and warmth radiating from Tike, the little girl's tense body relaxed a little. She lowered the small hands covering her eyes, slowly raised her head, revealing a pair of large, teary eyes, and choked out, "Re... really? Are the bad guys really gone? Then what about Big Sis Sorano? Where is she? Is she okay?"
"She..."
Tike hesitated. He hadn't smelled the scent of her sister's death in the village, so the most likely possibility was—
"Your sister was probably taken away by the bad guys."
"Woo..."
"But!" Seeing that the little girl was about to start crying again, Tike quickly promised, "I will definitely find your sister too, rescue her from those bad guys, and bring her back safely to you! I will do what I say!"
Infected by these words devoid of any falsehood, the little girl sobbed a few times before giving a soft "Mm."
Seeing that her emotions had stabilized a bit, only then did Tike let go of her.
"Little sister, can you tell big brother your name?"
"My name is Yukino. Yukino Agria..."
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