(Risa POV)
"No wonder they gave this land to Clayman… It's all dead." I muttered. Currently, Althea and I were in the Puppet Nation of Dhistav, as close to Clayman's castle as Soei could safely get himself, wandering aimlessly toward the center of the annoyingly large, annoyingly dead marshland.
"I believe that we should wait a bit longer." Althea advised, "If Clayman gets wind that we are mounting an attack on his castle, he may not go to Walpurgis."
"Which is why I'm using Dominion. You know, this Clayman guy really is incredibly paranoid." I stepped in a puddle, watching in slow motion as my foot disrupted the water's surface just by existing in that spot.
Depending on the speed at which you hit it, the surface tension of water could be even harder than concrete, but it was simultaneously incredibly easy to break. Harder to not break, in fact, based on density, speed, and weight distribution. And the moment you did, the entire body of water was affected. Clayman's defenses felt rather similar.
First off, there was the fog. In actuality, it was some sort of defense spell. A large scale one, at that. It was meant to alert the caster to intruders, and then confuse the intruders' senses, leading them to a specified point.
Thanks to Thoth, Lord of Curiosity, I could precisely calculate the changes that Althea and I's bodies were making to the flow of magicules in the fog. Thanks to Horus, Lord of Dominion, I could exert influence on my surroundings, perfectly controlling all of the fog in the general area and forcing it to flow around us in accordance with my calculations.As far as magicule flow was concerned, Althea and I didn't exist.
But Clayman was crafty. Really crafty. He wasn't just using magicules to detect intruders.
The closer we got to Clayman's castle, the more of them there were. He was using the earth's natural electric field to send and receive hundreds, maybe more, of encrypted signals from who knows how many different sources. Deciphering them in my head was child's play for Thoth, there wasn't even any fun in it.
The problem was, I needed to do that, constantly. It was like an irritating buzz in my head, because if I didn't, the signals would change, ever so slightly, adjusting to our footfalls, our bodies' impact on the atmosphere, however minutely. I wasn't entirely sure whether Clayman was perceptive enough to notice, with how far away we were, but I knew that Big Bro would never miss it in a million years (unless he subconsciously chose to, or ignored Isis's full report again).
'Report. Leaving for Walpurgis now. It is recommended that you wait before engaging Clayman's castle.' Isis finally said in my head.
I sighed, "I'm not that reckless, you know. Don't worry. I'll wait until he stops using that annoying skill of his before I head any further in." I decided to respond aloud, just to hear my own voice.
Althea and I took a seat on a fallen log while we waited for Clayman to stop subconsciously utilizing the underground electric currents. Surprisingly, it only took a few minutes.
"Has he left?" Althea asked, the moment that I noticed the transmissions stop getting received.
"Yeah. Walpurgis's started. Let's get this over quick."
"How do you intend to go about this?" She asked me. I thought it over for a second.
"Front door. Why not?" It was usually the quickest and easiest way to enter somewhere. My only other options were wandering in the general direction of Clayman's castle and hoping I made it, or using Spatial Motion and hoping that my guesswork coordinates weren't five or ten kilometers off. They'd probably be spot-on, but it was better to not teleport blindly.
So, I released my Dominion. The mist immediately reacted. To my trained eye, the reaction honestly seemed violent.
Without the Dominion protecting us from the mist's effects, I could plainly see where it was trying to lead us to, so we simply followed it right into whatever trap was waiting for us.
…
"I am Adalmann. I have been ordered to protect this land by the great Demon Lord-"
"Althea, he's so strong. How'd a wimp like Clayman get someone like this guy to serve him?" I asked, ignoring Adalmann's monologue.
"You're right, Lady Risa. That locking curse is fairly strong. I can't imagine someone on the level of a Seed could make one that powerful. Perhaps another demon lord put it on him?"
"QUIET!" Adalamann shouted, clearly annoyed by how we'd been ignoring him, "No matter how strong you two may be, I have been ordered to kill all who-"
"Imma get rid of it." And with that, I used Dominion to get rid of Adalmann's locking curse. The effect was immediate. He, along with the Death Knight beside him and the Death Dragon behind us instantly fell to their knees.
"...I believed that my curse was too powerful for anyone to ever lift. I thought that I'd be trapped here, defending this dead land forever. Thank you so much… You must be a Goddess…" Adalmann began extolling my praises.
"Really wasn't that powerful. Hey, are you Clayman's main guard?" I asked, interrupting the skeleton man.
"Yes, my Lady. I was imprisoned here centuries ago by the Demon Lord Kazalim, tasked with guarding this land for all of eternity. As I am a unique wight, created from a high-ranking former member of the Western Holy Church, I was granted a certain amount of influence over the defenses of Clayman's main castle. If I tell them to stand down, they will." Adalmann answered me.
"Okay…" I paused, "So, what do you want to do, then?"
"I beg your pardon?" Adalmann cocked his head, as if I'd posed the question in some strange, foreign language.
"You're not tied down anymore. I'm not demanding anything from you, so what do you want to do?" I asked. Honestly, I was already done with this place. The moment that Rimuru gave me permission, I was going to teleport into Walpurgis. I was already using Aether to telepathically pelt him with requests. If it wasn't for that stupid Nephthys Contract that Isis had put all over our skills in order to prevent accidental abuses of power, I'd have already teleported to his location.
Luckily for me, Isis reported that it looked like Milim was still playing along with Clayman's game. If she joined in, when the fight against Clayman broke out, that would be more than enough danger to allow me to invoke a special 'extreme danger' clause of the contract and teleport in as an emergency measure.
"I would like it if you allowed me to serve you, my goddess. Nothing would make me happier than serving one with such grace and…" Alright, this guy gave me the creeps, but he seemed to have his heart in the right place, at least.
"Alright, then. If you want to serve me, then how about you manage Dhistav for a little while? Althea, can you-"
"Of course, My Lady." Althea practically read my mind with a little bow.
"It would be my pleasure to aid Miss Althea, my goddess."
"Great. Thank you, Adalmann. Mr. Knight, Mr…s Dragon. I'll be back later. I'm gonna go back to Tempest to wait with Veldora."
"Understood. Have fun, Lady Risa. We'll deal with everything here."
"Yes, please just rest and allow us to take care of your new land, my goddess." And with that, I teleported away.