Back on the Surface... Finally

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Heiligh Kingdom, Royal Capital.

Shortly after sunrise in the Heiligh Royal Castle, the members of the Hero Party intending to make their way to the Orcus Great Labyrinth gathered to board the carriages that would take them to Horaud.

"Seriously, couldn't we wait until we had breakfast?" James grumbled in annoyance as he watched the other students in the group climb into the carriages. "Eating rations on the way there is unnecessary."

"For you, maybe." Meld replied with a smile while shaking his head. "I don't understand why, but you seem used to the life of a soldier. But your comrades..."

As his words trailed off, Meld looked towards the students who seemed as if they were barely awake while boarding the carriages. Then, an expression filled with sympathy showed on his face for a moment before he shook those feelings off.

"They haven't had enough time to get used to what will be expected of them." Meld continued. "I just hope they'll have enough time to do so before things really get out of hand."

'Seem like I'm used to the life of a soldier?' James asked himself while smiling internally. 'Yeah right, I was raised like a pampered prince, getting the best training resources, education, and nutrition anyone could hope to receive in the Underworld.'

["That may be true, but you've spent more time on the battlefield than anyone your age should."] Ddraig countered. ["But to call you a soldier, that's more than a little inaccurate."]

'Yeah, by the time I graduated from high school, I was no less than a strategic weapon.' James replied while nodding internally. 'Not to mention, I'm technically one of the leaders of a race. And even if you looked at my position as the leader of the DxD team, I'm more of a secret agent than a soldier, I think.'

While James continued to chat with Ddraig, the last of the students boarded the carriage. Yet, just as James and Meld were about to board their carriages with the others, a lone horse rider approached the gates of the castle at high speed.

"Hmm?" James hummed while looking towards the approaching rider. "A messenger?"

"Looks that way." Meld replied as he stepped away from the carriage and approached the gate on foot. "Hold! Name yourself and state your business!"

Meld's commanding tone and sonorous voice drew the attention of the students on the carriages. So, several heads could be seen poking out of the carriage's windows to see what was happening. At the same time, the horseman pulled the reins of his steed, causing it to slow its pace before stopping in front of Meld.

Once the horse came to a stop, the rider, a man appearing to be in his early thirties, flipped down from the saddle and saluted.

"You must be Captain Meld Loggins." The messenger said. "I hale from the Hoelscher Empire, and I came bearing a message from our empire for his Majesty, Eliheid S.B. Heiligh."

Hearing that, Meld stared into the messenger's eyes for a few moments. Then, he sighed while turning to the carriages.

"It looks like our expedition into the Orcus Great Labyrinth will be put on hold." Meld said, loud enough that everyone, students, knights, and coachmen alike could hear him. "You can all return to your rooms or head to the dining room to have a proper breakfast. I expect there will be an important guest coming to visit the kingdom in the next few days."

While most of the students seemed confused to hear Meld cancel their expedition, James simply turned around and started walking back to the castle.

'Well, this took longer than I expected.' James said to himself. 'I mean, it's probably no secret that there was a hero summoning, right? It only makes sense that the other human countries wanna meet the heroes.'

["You don't really think it will be that simple, do you, Partner?"] Ddraig asked, the smirk audible in his voice.

'Of course not.' James replied. 'They probably wanna test us, or rather Amanogawa, the Hero, to see if he's worthy to lead humanity in the war against the Demons. I mean, that's how it always happens in novels and anime, anyway.'

["Usually I'd say something like, "Don't mix fiction with reality," when you start spouting nonsense like that.] Ddraig said, sounding a little tired. ["But we're literally in a world that runs on anime logic. So, I don't know anymore."]

'Technically, our world...' James began to say.

["Don't say it."] Ddraig said in a somewhat desperate tone, cutting James off before he could finish. ["I'm aware. I know exactly what you're going to say. But for my own sanity, I'm trying to repress. Repress with all my might. So, please, just let me have this."]

Hearing his partner's tone, James kinda felt bad for the guy. So, he just remained silent while turning back to return his belongings to his room in the castle, wishing he could pat the big red dragon on the back as he did so.

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Reisen Gorge.

Moments after activating the [Teleportation Magic Circle] in the Abode of Traitors at the end of the True Orcus Great Labyrinth, a light flashed in a deep cave. In fact, the cave was so deep that there was no sign of the light from outside. Yet, because of the slight air currents, anyone inside would know that the cave was connected to the outside.

When the flash dimmed, plunging the cave back into darkness, the silhouettes of three people, one male and two females appeared in its place, completely vanishing as the cave fell dark once again.

"Where are we?" One of the females, Sumire, asked curiously while using her [Night Vision] to survey her surroundings.

"I don't know, but this doesn't look like the surface." Tatsuo replied while taking the same actions as Sumire.

While Tatsuo and Sumire were trying their best to figure out where they were, in Aletia's eyes, Aletia was slowly growing depressed after finding herself back in the darkness when she thought she would finally see the surface again.

"I think we're in a cave." Sumire said after feeling the aforementioned air flow. "I can feel wind. It's not very strong, though."

"Even so, that means this cave is connected to the outside." Tatsuo said with a grin. "So, all we have to do is follow the wind, and we should have no problem getting out."

That assessment was enough to make Aletia brighten up significantly. She then grabbed Tatsuo's hand and started dragging him in the direction where she could feel the wind coming from.

Meanwhile, Tatsuo and Sumire shared a smile. Neither of them like seeing the depression that Aletia seemed to be slipping into after they were teleported into the cave. So, instead of checking to see if there were any useful minerals they could take from the cave, as Tatsuo intended at first, they decided to get out of the cave as quickly as possible.

At first, the group moved through the cavern with caution, as they could detect traps and pitfalls in abundance along their way to the cave's exit. However, all the traps were deactivated as they drew near, all thanks to the ring they took from Orcus' skeleton. So, after they realized that the traps would not be an issue, they began running through the cave, anxious to taste the fresh air of the surface.

Eventually, they were able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. When they did, the trio quickened their pace. And they eventually made it to the surface. Then, without even checking their surroundings, they simply stared up at the blue sky, the white clouds, and the shining sun.

After not seeing the real sky for nearly six months for Tatsuo and Sumire, and three hundred years for Aletia, they all seemed to get a little emotional, with Aletia even tearing up.

Aletia then jumped towards Tatsuo, wrapping her arms and legs around his torso before pressing a kiss onto his lips. And although Sumire's eyebrows twitched at the sight of Aletia kissing Tatsuo, she decided to let it slide… for now…

"*Cough* *Cough* That's enough." Sumire said with two deliberate loud and clearly fake coughs after Tatsuo and Aletia's kiss lasted a little too long for her comfort. "Instead of indulging in your lust, we need to figure out where we are, right?"

At Sumire's words, Tatsuo's and Aletia's kiss came to an end. And while Aletia glared at Sumire for interrupting her moment, Tatsuo looked around, pretending to gauge their surroundings and compare it to the things he had read while in the Heiligh Kingdon's Royal Capital.

Although he knew where they were supposed to end up after leaving the Abode of the Liberators thanks to his canon knowledge, Tatsuo was certain when he saw the uneven stone floor of the area and the more than 3,000 foot high walls.

"The Reisen Gorge." Tatsuo muttered. "I read about this place in the Royal Capital's library. Apparently, you can't use magic here. And…"

*Growl!*

*Roar!*

"… there are supposed to be a lot of strong and vicious monsters down here." Tatsuo continued while unwrapping his arms from around Aletia, who was still clinging to him. The, he continued while unholstering his pistols from the holsters strapped to his thighs. "The book even said that the gorge was used as an execution ground thanks to how strong the monsters were supposed to be."

"Seriously?" Sumire asked incredulously as she pulled a cylinder off her lower back. She then flicked her wrist while injecting a small amount of magic power into the cylinder, making it extend into the spear she had grown accustomed to using while she pulled her shield off her back, as well. "Why would anyone hide the entrance to their hideout in a place like this?"

"Why wouldn't they?" Tatsuo asked as he raised his pistols, pointing towards two of the monsters that had surrounded them while he and Aletia were kissing. "Who would think to look in a place that was so dangerous?"

"*Sigh* I guess you're right." Sumire said as she dropped into her fighting stance. "Anyway, let's take care of these monsters before we decide which way to go from here."

"Sure." Tatsuo replied with a grin. He then looked down at Aletia, who refused to let go of him. "Since magic supposedly doesn't work here, leave this to us, okay?"

In response, Aletia nodded her head. Then, Tatsuo and Sumire disappeared from where they stood in a burst of speed before the section of the gorge was filled with the wails and whimpers of despairing and dying monsters, gun shots, and the sound of flesh being cut and pierced.

About three minutes later, the area was covered in bodies and blood. Yet, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Aletia were once again standing in front of the cave entrance looking as if they had not just committed a massacre.

With the battle, if you could call it that, over, Tatsuo and Sumire were discussing where they should go from here. Meanwhile, Aletia was standing nearby, a spark of crimson flames forming on her outstretched palm.

"So, should we go east or west?" Sumire asked curiously. "According to Orcus' diary, there should be Labyrinths in either direction."

"I think we should go east." Tatsuo replied. "The Gruen Desert is to the west. And we're not really equipped to make a trek through the desert right now. But the Haultina Sea of Trees is in the east. And there's probably a town somewhere nearby, too. So, we'd have somewhere to stay for the night."

"I guess that makes sense." Sumire replied, nodding her head as she did so. She then turned her head towards Aletia to seek her opinion on the matter. "Aletia-San, what do you think?"

However, Sumire could tell that Aletia had not been paying attention to the conversation as soon as she saw her face. Instead, Aletia had been paying more attention to the crimson magical flames that were enlarging and taking the form of a spear above her palm.

"Magic works." Aletia said proudly as she turned her head towards her two companions.

"Yeah, I guess it does." Tatsuo replied with a nod.

"But the efficiency looks terrible." Sumire added while shaking her head in exasperation. "Were you even paying attention to the discussion?"

"It is." Aletia replied while letting her spell dissipate. "Triple the mana cost for half the effectiveness."

"Sounds like a terrible trade off to me." Tatsuo said while shaking his head at Sumire. "Anyway, let's get going. We're heading to the Haultina Sea of Trees in the east.

Seeing Tatsuo shake his head, signaling that it was not worth it to scold Aletia for worrying about her ability to use magic in the Reisen Gorge, Sumire sighed in exasperation before nodding back to him.

With that, Tatsuo accessed his [Inventory], pulling out the Hummer. Then, he climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door behind him. He then lowered the window and looked down at Sumire and Aletia, who had yet to move from where they stood.

"What are you two waiting for?" Tatsuo asked with an awkward smile.

The reason for Tatsuo's awkwardness was the fact that Sumire was holding Aletia, who was struggling to hurry into the vehicle, in place while glaring at him.

"What's wrong, Sumire-San?" Tatsuo asked.

"Tatsuo-Kun, do you have a driver's license?" Sumire asked with one hand holding Aletia by the arm and the other hand resting on her hip.

"Of course not." Tatsuo replied while shaking his head. "I mean, I'm only fifteen. Who in their right mind would give me a driver's license?"

"Then why do you think you should be the one driving?" Sumire asked as her eyes narrowed.

"Well... Do you have a driver's license?" Tatsuo asked while tilting his head in a cutesy manner, causing Sumire to look away thanks to the cute gesture.

"I don't..." Sumire replied.

"Then, do you know how to drive?" Tatsuo asked, tilting his head to the other side as he did so.

Aletia turned her head even further away from Tatsuo's gaze while subconsciously tightening her grip on Aletia's arm. Then, after a few seconds of awkward silence while Tatsuo continued to stare, Sumire finally opened her mouth to respond.

"No..." Sumire said in an embarrassed tone at a volume so low that no one, not even Aletia would have been able to hear her if they all did not have increased perception.

"Oh... Then it's a good thing I do." Tatsuo said while smiling as innocently as he could. "I guess DOATEC did something good while they had me in captivity for those eight years, huh? They were the ones to teach me how to drive, after all."

"*Sigh* I get it." Sumire said in a despondent tone. "You can drive."

With that, Sumire dragged Aletia, who was frowning at the brutish woman that would not let her go, around to the passenger side of the hummer. Then, she opened the front passenger door. After that, she climbed into the front seat while dragging Aletia behind her.

"Alright, we're inside." Sumire said from the center of the bench-style front seat while smiling at Aletia as sweetly as she could. "Aletia-San, please close the door so we can go."

However, instead of heeding Sumire's request immediately, Aletia glared at Sumire angrily.

"You're sneaky..." Aletia hissed through gritted teeth. "Very sneaky..."

"Huh?" Sumire intoned while tilting her head like Tatsuo had before. "What are you talking about, Aletia-San?"

At first, when Sumire grabbed her arm, she thought that it was just to keep herself from dashing forward and dragging Tatsuo out of the driver's seat, especially after she found out that Tatsuo did not have what she called a "driver's license." Yet, halfway through being dragged to the passenger side, she understood Sumire's plan. And because she was no match for Sumire in physical strength, added to the fact that she could not use her magic as she pleased, she ended up unable to sit next to Tatsuo.

Tatsuo, on the other hand, found the girls' rivalry for his attention amusing. Despite that, he did little more than smile at the two. Then, after Aletia eventually closed the passenger side door, he injected his [Energy] into the Hummer before driving off towards the east.

Like that, two hours passed quickly. At first, the Hummer was draped in an oppressive silence brought on by Aletia's anger at Sumire's sneaky way to sit next to Tatsuo. However, as time went by, the silence became more comfortable, eventually giving way to conversation, though not all of it could be called pleasant, as Sumire and Aletia spent much of the time bickering.

That was the atmosphere in the Hummer's cab, anyway. AS for the outside, many dinosaur-like monsters littered the ground along their path. And Tatsuo enjoyed testing out all the non-magical weapons he installed into the car. The only one he had yet to test was the 60 mm gatling gun that could rise from the truck's flat bed.

Unfortunately, neither Sumire nor Aletia wanted to go out there to fire it. And their reasons were the same as his, not wanting to get sand in their hair.

"I knew I should have just made it automatic and connected the firing mechanism to the inside of the truck." Tatsuo grumbled after Sumire and Aletia refused to man the gatling gun for the umpteenth time. "But it always looks cool in movies to see someone mowing down their enemies with one of those things."

"Is that... a person?" Aletia asked in an unsure tone while pointing out the windshield.

Though Tatsuo and Sumire were seeing the same view as Aletia, they focused on what she was pointing at. And based on what she said, they were certain she was not talking about the two-headed, 60+' T-Rex that was running towards them. Instead, it must have been the much smaller silhouette that seemed to be running away from the dinosaur.

As the two parties drew nearer, it became easier to distinguish the features of the small humanoid figure that was running towards the Hummer. Waist-length, pale blue hair, an athletic, yet voluptuous figure, lots of exposed skin, a pair of frantic, yet relieved azure eyes, and a pair of pale blue rabbit ears sticking out of the top of the beautiful beastman's head that waved in the wind with her high-speed movement.

On top of that, when they got close enough, the trio in the Hummer could see the beautiful rabbit beastman's mouth moving, as if she were trying to say something. So, Tatsuo rolled down the window, curious to know what she wanted to say.

"Wahh~~~~~~!" The rabbitman girl shouted in a terrified tone. "Please, stop chasing me~~~~~! Don't eat ~~~~! Someone, help~~~~~!"

"Well, that's about what I expected to hear." Tatsuo said with a nod while rolling the window back up. He then looked to his right, seeing Sumire and Aletia looking at him to decide how they would handle this situation. "So, one of you wanna test out the gatling gun?"

Sumire and Aletia remained silent, clearly not willing to deal with the dust that would be kicked up and fly around while traveling at this speed.

*Bang!*

A moment later, the trio watched as the two-headed T-Rex whipped its tail, slamming the rabbit girl and throwing her body through the air. The girl then slammed into the ground, face first, with her but raised in the air and her clothes little more than tatters that clung to her body.

Seeing the prey it had been hunting for some time was on the ground, the two-headed T-Rex's eyes lit up, thinking it could finally have the meal it was waiting for. However, as it lowered its body with its left mouth open, the rabbit girl jumped up, as if she had not just been sent flying and slammed into the ground a moment ago. Then, she started running once again.

"*Sigh* Fine then... I'll do it." Tatsuo muttered as he turned the wheel sharply while stepping on the break.

As a result of Tatsuo's maneuver, both Sumire and Aletia were flung towards him with Sumire's breasts pressing into him and Aletia slamming into Sumire, making her press even deeper into Tatsuo's side.

"Alright, I'll be right back." Tatsuo said with a self-satisfied smile. "You two can wait here."

With that, Tatsuo quickly opened the driver's side door and hopped out of the hummer, not before activating the mechanism that made the gatling gun rise from the flat bed on a stand, though. He then slammed the door shut behind him and hopped up into the flat bed.

Meanwhile, Sumire and Aletia glared at Tatsuo through the Hummer's windows before turning their gazes back on each other. When they did, Aletia's glare intensified while Sumire smirked victoriously.

*Whirl!*

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

The staring contest was eventually broken when the sound of the gatling gun's barrels spinning started. Then, Sumire and Aletia followed the stream of bullets that flew through the air before they riddled the two-headed T-Rex with holes.

Meanwhile, thanks to the noise the gatling gun made, the rabbit girl ducked while covering her ears from the thunderous sounds. A moment later, however, she felt the ground tremor. Looking back, she saw the two-headed T-Rex's corpse lying not far away from her and her expression turned dumbfounded in an instant.

"Huh? The Diheadoar..." the rabbit girl muttered in dumfounded amazement. "Is dead... just like that?"

"Hey, are you alright?" Tatsuo, still standing behind the gatling gun on the Hummer's flat bed, shouted with a wide smile on his face while waving one of his hands, drawing the rabbit girl's attention to himself.

Seeing Tatsuo's smile and his extremely handsome face, the rabbit girl began to blush immediately. However, not long after that, her expression changed, her eyes starting to water while snot began dripping from her nose.

"Wahh~~~~~~!" The rabbit girl cried loudly as she got up and ran towards the Hummer. "Thank you for saving me! But please, I need your help to save my tribe! Wahh~~~~~~!"