Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 127

Alt link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WcqYnMkvbLHaz5Hc53OZJ-w3l8QKRmr0UMeqE3kUHJI/edit?usp=share_link

Chapter 127 

After breaking a hole through Sathorayne's line of obelisk defenses, we were able to waltz right in and topple the other ones nearby. They didn't fire back when I got up behind them. Only from the front and sides, it seemed. Talk about a glaring failure in their designs. Now, enough of them were destroyed that airships and flying soldiers could come through without being bombarded.

Lilim said we had landed on Miterhask. Green hills and plateaus were a common sight, including grass as far as the eye could see. It was also cold as fuck. Bogart wouldn't last a second up here.

"I thought the demon's homeland would be… I dunno, more red and rocky. What gives?" I asked.

"Why would we want to live in such desolate places?" Lilim looked at me like I asked a stupid question, and it probably was now that I thought about it. "The closest place to a crimson hellscape is the Kartolan Badlands, far northwest of here. The climate is much hotter and similar to the dark elven homeland of Amarinth."

We had been cruising through Miterhask by airship for almost an hour now, and I hadn't seen a single city yet. This place was massive. Ahead, we were coming up on a forest.

"Bring us down! It's time to get to work!" I shouted.

The airship lurched and groaned during the descent. As soon as we touched ground, a hundred soldiers and sailors hopped off with axes to start cutting down trees.

"Good call," Mildred began as she levitated down on her broom. "We have maybe five hours left before sundown, and because Sathorayne is elevated, the day cycle up here is shorter."

"Huh? I just saw trees and thought we should get to building a base. What does day and night time gotta do with anything?" I asked.

"Hm. Perhaps I had placed too much faith in your intelligence. At least your instincts are reliable," she said on her way to help the logging.

There surprisingly weren't any monsters around. Not yet.

"Kaoru, you stay here and watch Ririko. I still don't trust her not to take off running to Chika yet," I said.

Kaoru nodded.

"If I wanted to leave, I would have flown off already and no one could catch me. But fine. I'll stay here and have some girl talk with Kaoru." Ririko waved as she disappeared into the ship.

Hurai and Thelesia were on their way to help cut down trees when I caught up to them.

"You two are coming with me. Camp needs food. We're gonna get to hunting." I whistled for Kawa. She came right up with her tail wagging.

For some reason, Lilim did, too.

"And… why are you here?" I asked.

"You whistled, so I have answered your call! Master, you can just leave me here. I'm the most familiar with Sathorayne. You need me as your guide. Whether it is about the terrain or beasts here, I'm your slave— I mean, succubus!" Lilim exclaimed, puffing out her chest in pride.

So that we didn't waste any more time, I relented on Lilim coming along. If she hightailed it out of here, then it was no skin off my back.

The five of us ventured into the forest in search of food. Unlike Kazaar, the trees here weren't as thick, but they were thin and tall. Curtains of vines hung from branches made seeing ahead of us a little touch. Lilim flew around it all with a basket, picking nuts, berries and fruit while whistling happily to herself.

"Chieftain, I've been meaning to ask since we left Kajar… Why exactly is the succubus obsessed with serving you?" Thelesia asked.

"I think I knocked some screws loose in her head, and she started liking it. Been giving me a headache though." I groaned aloud, but not too loud that Lilim heard me.

"Looked like it gave Loraine a headache, too." Hurai chuckled into the back of her hand.

"Don't remind me…"

A shrill howl sent chills down everyone's spine. The forest was so vast and dense, I couldn't tell where it had come from.

"Master, heeeeeeeelp!" Lilim came flying back in panic.

Leaping from tree to tree were a pack of red ape-like wolves. Even though Lilim was in flight, the beasts were able to reach her height with some powerful hops. They left imprints and shook the trees with each jump. One of them bumped into Lilim. She lost hold of her basket and plummeted out of sight into a bush behind us.

"Hurai, go heal her. Thelesia and Kawa with me," I ordered.

As Hurai took off, the three of us stood our ground. Thelesia drew her spear and buffed us with her Dragoon-class skills. As the beasts came closer, I noticed none of them had their eyes on us. They passed right over and didn't even go for Hurai or Lilim.

Were they running from something?

"Not those things! Ahead! Ahead!" Lilim shouted while Hurai helped her out of the bush.

We saw the gleaming red eyes first. An enormous snake slithered into view. Thelesia faltered and started shaking. The beast coiled around a tree, crushing it and letting it topple in a display of strength. When it hissed, the scales behind its head flared out to make it look larger than normal. The damn thing was as thick as an airplane and stretched longer than a soccer field.

"We're not seriously going to fight this thing, are we?" Thelesia asked.

"Why not? That's a lot of meat. Look, even Kawa's hungry." I pointed to the elemental wolf, who barked back approvingly.

"Master, that's no normal snake! It has to be one of Lord Vermire's beasts… but I don't recall him having bred such giant creatures before. This must be a new and more dangerous one," Lilim warned.

Thelesia backed away. Something, maybe a twig, snapped under her feet. The snake lunged.

I shoved Thelesia out of the way and caught the snake's open mouth, one foot on the lower jaw and one hand on the upper jaw. Sharp, sword-long fangs leaked with venom.

"Kawa, roast this thing!" I ordered, holding it as still as possible.

The elemental wolf hopped on top of the snake. Her coat of fur erupted into blistering flames. She ran down the length of its body, shredding the scales with her claws and searing the flesh just by being on it. The snake writhed and thrashed around, but because I held the head still, its tail flung wildly and knocked down trees.

After almost a minute, I didn't need to hold the snake anymore. It went limp. Smoke and steam billowed out from its open mouth as it cooked from the inside. Lilim walked up to me with her mouth as agape as the dead snake.

"Was this thing supposed to be strong?" I asked.

"Is it strong? This macetail serpent is among the top of the food chain of Vermire's list of monsters!" Lilim exclaimed in disbelief.

Kawa returned with the tail of the snake in her mouth. Pieces of half-cooked flesh clung to the bone shaped like a spiked mace. She dropped it at our feet, laid down on the ground, and started gnawing on it.

"I-I also wouldn't eat the tail if I were you!" the succubus said worriedly to Kawa. "It contains venom that drips off the spikes!"

When Lilim got too close, Kawa frightened her away with a snarl.

"Never come between a wolf and her food. Alright, we got our meat. Let's call in the cavalry to start picking the bones clean!" I shouted to Hurai and Thelesia.

Half an hour later, we had twenty people slicing meat off the giant snake to be carted off back to base. This should last us a week. A couple of soldiers stuck pieces of meat onto a stick and roasted it over Kawa's burning mane. While all this was happening, Lilim had fallen deep into thought in front of the snake's head.

"What's got your brows stitched together?" I asked.

Lilim snapped with a start when I waved a hand in her face. "Oh, Master? Sorry. I was just thinking. This is an apex monster that clearly belonged to Vermire, but he usually keeps them captive at Menagerie. It makes no sense for him to let it roam about in the wilds."

Come to think of it, most of the monsters sent at us whenever obelisks appeared were somewhat tamed. They obeyed whatever demon was leading them. You couldn't make an obedient monster by letting it run amok in the open.

Then what was this thing doing here?

"Commander Micchi! We've got demons incoming!" a soldier warned from the tail end of the snake.

When we rushed over, UKD soldiers were confronting a band of maybe twenty unarmed demons whose hands were raised in surrender. They were mostly imps and humanoids with unnatural skin colors like red, blue, and gray. Features like horns and tails were normal around them.

"Wait, we are neither armed nor interested in fighting!" an elderly imp woman emerged from the group, guided by a taller demon holding her hand. She wore a rag over her eyes and was probably blind. Her purple robes had ornate stitchings of strange symbols.

"Alright then, what the fuck are you guys here for?" I asked.

"My name is Melfyssa, the seer. One of our children heard a commotion this way. Imagine our surprise to learn that you had slain the giant macetail serpent. The creature had been tormenting our villages for the past year, and while none of us have been killed, its ravenous appetite of the wildlife has made hunting difficult," she explained.

The Melfyssa's voice came out shaky and high-pitched. As an imp, she was short as hell. Maybe three feet tall at the most. Her tail sagged and dragged along the dirt. Her skin was red, but duller compared to the younger demons.

"Well you can blame Ver… min? Vermite? Ver-fucks his name for that. Snake's dead though, so your problem's solved. If you ain't here to fight, I suggest you get going," I said, shooing them away.

"Not so fast, young lady. My fellows tell me your hair is gold, you're dressed in white, and you wield a weapon made of wood. Tell me, is this true?" Melfyssa asked.

I traded looks with Lilim and the soldiers under my command.

"Yeah? What about it?" I stared at the suspicious seer, expecting some sort of trick.

"It has been foretold centuries ago that one of your very descriptions will bring us salvation. That he or she would reveal themself after slaying a mighty serpent. I believe you are that hero," she said.

I leaned over to Lilim and asked, "What is she talking about?"

"Imps are very spiritual by nature. It's possible that you match a vague depiction from their stories. Personally, I don't believe such fairytales, but I will admit it is quite the coincidence," Lilim explained.

Heroes, huh. Chika was a hero in mine and Yui's lives until she vanished.

I drove a fist into the snake's body and ripped out a chunk of cooked meat, then took a bite into it to satisfy my empty stomach. The fatty juices dripped down my chin. Sadly, it didn't have much of a taste. Would have been nice to add some soy sauce to it, but this world probably didn't have that.

"What happened? What is that sound I'm hearing?" Melfyssa asked the demon holding her hand.

"The, uh… the human tore meat from the snake and is eating it while in thought," he answered.

"Well, that doesn't sound like the hero foretold in my ancestors' stories would do."

"Right…" I stuffed the rest of the meat into my mouth. "If you guys want some food, the snake is free picking. Otherwise, get outta here."

I hollered for the soldiers to go back to hacking the snake and was about to leave until Melfyssa blocked my way back to camp.

"Please, you have to help us. There's no telling if Vermire will unleash more monsters into the forest. The next might not rest until everything and everyone is devoured!" Melfyssa pleaded.

"Whatever your ancestors told you, they got it wrong. Or you got it wrong. The only thing I'm interested in up here is going straight to that palace in the middle of this floating rock." I walked past her, and she started giggling under her breath.

"Then all the more reason you should help us. A powerful barrier surrounds the demon lord's palace. The only way to open it is with a crystal held by Lord Vermire, or by shattering all three held by him, King Garran, and Lady Katrine."

I clicked my tongue and kept walking. "More magic? I've broken barriers before with brute force. If you don't got anything interesting to tell me, then buzz off."

"How about much stronger monsters? Deep in Vermire's city of Menagerie, he holds creatures of unfathomable power, waiting for the right time to send them onto the surface world to wreak havoc. The only reason he hasn't let them loose yet is because demons wish to have something left to inhabit down there," she said.

"Uhh… I don't like the sound of that." Lilim shuddered where she stood with her tail tucked between her legs. "V-Vermire's monsters are not something to be trifled with. There are things worse than the macetail serpent!"

"Well, shit. That's all you had to tell me." I turned around and grinned.