Part 22

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***

But I myself couldn't fall asleep that easily.

Achievement received! #(;%?!);#

!(_№;%_()!*№;%)__+

What?

This strange message, which I couldn't read due to some interference, didn't faintly worry me. I even checked my status, but it was fine. And another similar message appeared next to it.

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!()#$*%))$%*_#)$

I pulled myself up on the bed, sensing something amiss.

Just then the door creaked open and looking round sharply, I saw Norn.

- Ah...bjatik..." she grimaced a pitiful face.

- Ohhh, Norn, what's wrong?

Heading towards her, the girl herself runs towards me, stumbling as she runs. But I picked the girl up and lifted her up, settling her in my arms. And afterwards...

!)_№*;%)_*;№%

!()_*;№%Х!)*;%)

):*;):%*"%№;%;№)_(*

I don't know what's going on.

- Rudy? Eris woke up.

And a light suddenly shone through the window.

You've been caught in a magical disaster zone!

Put up a barrier!

NOW!

A strong sense of alarm emanated from the new message and without thinking, I began to create an electromagnetic barrier. I only jumped closer to Eris. And the next moment, the protective sphere unfolded, breaking the walls and floor, and collided with a roaring stream of radiance that simply incinerated the roof.

- Rudy! - Eris squeaked fearfully.

Norn clung to me harder.

I felt a painful sense of desolation. The pressure on the barrier grew, and I continued to strengthen it, feeding it with my mana, adding new layers and rules of reflection. The protective sphere was enveloped in darkness. But, even my monstrous mana was not enough for more than a couple of minutes.

After that...

I suddenly realised that Eris was gone, and so was Norn.

When I open my eyes, all I see is endless white space.

- What...

My voice changed.

And lowering my gaze, I saw my body... something in between what I was in the past world and what I was in the new one. I immediately tried to call up my status, but the system wouldn't respond. I could still feel the magic in me, though, but it wasn't responding either.

- Greetings, dear friend. - A friendly voice sounded.

Turning around, I see a white human figure. It's like pure light trapped in a silhouette without any visible features. No, there are features, but it's like I just can't focus on the shape of this creature and it blurs before my eyes.

- Who are you?

- My name is Hitogami, I am a human god! - He spread his arms like he wanted to embrace the entire human race.

That's it. I guess I'm dead.

That's a damn shame, you know?

- No, you're not dead yet. - Hitogami objected.

What? He can read my mind?

- Probably. - He seemed to be grinning. - But, let me just give you one piece of advice when....

He never got a chance to finish. That strange reality of endless white space trembled. And an inscription appeared above Hitogami's head.

Homebody schemer level 90.

And then...

A lump of colour crashed into him.

A short girl with blonde hair, dressed in a matronly shirt and stockings with a short skirt. Her foot flew right into Hitogami's face, and the human god was thrown aside. But before he would have fallen, his figure was scattered with particles of light.

I, on the other hand, stared in surprise at the girl that had turned towards me. Another moment and she suddenly disappeared to appear right in front of me. 

Her mouth was slightly open, but she didn't seem to say anything.

Wake up!

What-

She frowned, looking unhappily into my eyes.

You have to wake up!

Now!

The messages that were coming in were just making me stunned. I could see the girl trying to say something and, just at those moments, new messages would pop up. I must have been too stunned, because the girl seemed to get angry and slapped my face with the palm of her hand.

WAKE UP!

The message seemed to cut straight into my brain.

And in the next moment, air abruptly filled my lungs. The whiteness around me dissipated, and I looked out of the fog, which immediately took my breath away. Despite the absurdity of the glitches I had experienced, I didn't have a chance to make sense of it all at the moment. Because I suddenly found myself high in the air! Almost a hundred metres from the ground. And I'm being held tightly by Norn and Eris.

- Wha... shit...

Grabbing the girls tightly, I concentrate my mana. And it was very unpleasant. My reserve is drained, casting a spell feels like I'm ripping my own nerves out of my body. But eventually, I manage to create an air spell to slow my fall near the ground. Even so, we crash violently into the rocky plain.

Eris manages to regroup herself, and then, unhooking herself from me, does a somersault, gently extinguishing the inertia.

I didn't have a chance to do that. I held Norn against me and took the full impact of the blow so that the little girl would not be hurt.

The impact with the ground was like a bright flash that arose in my mind. And the next moment my leg was pierced with pain. And it felt like I'd been hit with a hammer, hammering the bones like nails into a board. Tears splashed from my eyes from the pain.

- Haa...

But we were alive.

Only, Eris had passed out. And Norn was unconscious as well. But they're still breathing.

Mission accomplished!

Homecoming

Due to a magical catastrophe you have been subjected to the scourge of teleportation and found yourself on the demonic continent, protect Norn and Eris, and return with them to the central continent

Reward: You will survive

Mission received!

Search for Zenith

A teleportation disaster has left Zenith somewhere on the continent of Begaritto, find her

Reward: Reunion with her mother

Quest received!

Father's Duty

As a result of the teleportation disaster Lilia and Aisha were transported together somewhere on the central continent, find them

Reward: Reunion with daughter and maid

Mission accomplished!

Mate

As a result of a teleportation disaster, Sylphiette was teleported somewhere on the central continent, find her

Reward: reunion with the bride.

The system dumped four tasks on me at once. And their descriptions alone made me chill. But, at the same time, I was quite relieved. A teleportation disaster? So we were just scattered all over the world. Mum, Lily, Aisha, and Sylphie, they're all still alive. Although, the fact that Sylphiette was also hit suggests the sheer scale of the disaster.

And, in fact, they all have a decent chance of survival. Lilia has already recovered her combat skills, and she's still on the central continent. Sylphietta has also progressed quite well in magic, reaching the highest rank and even mastering a few holy rank air magic spells.

The thing I should have been most worried about was my mum.

She found herself alone on another continent and, she's a healer. She'd be weaker than Sylphie in a fight.

- Grrr..." I was startled by an ominous growl.

And my heart sank into my heels.

From behind a rocky hill, a large magical beast like a giant toothy lizard came towards us. But, the most frightening thing was that I simply didn't have a single drop of mana left. I seemed to stay conscious just on some sort of stubbornness. Or maybe it was the system keeping me from fainting.

- Damn... damn...

Status, inventory.

A magic wand materialises in my hands. The spirit imprisoned in it still has its own mana reserve, I can use it!

Another moment and...

Thunder rips through space, bright lightning strikes the monster. But, the monster shifts to the side with some simply supernatural speed. It was only hit by the very edge. And that was enough. The lizard fell on its side and started twitching its legs, paralysed by the lightning strike. After that, I struck again, roasting the lizard to death.

- Huh... that...

I heard a threatening rustle.

Before I could even catch my breath, other monsters appeared nearby. Almost a dozen similar lizards, only smaller. About the size of a horse. With a wince, I circle the circle with my wand and raise the stone walls from the ground, forming a protective sphere. The ground shudders, and cracks open up where some of the lizards have fallen through.

Already closed, I can directly feel the monsters hitting the walls of the fortress.

And, damn it, how bad....

My head is spinning.

But, still...

I take out my armour from the inventory and, having thrown off my clothes, begin to put on the protection. It also has a spirit with its own mana reserve. Although it's more for defence than attack, it'll be useful.

Meanwhile, the monsters are not leaving us alone at all.

- GSSAAA!

With a fierce hiss, the claws of one of the lizards broke through the stone, breaking the defence.

And a bolt of lightning struck the monster. The monster bounced back in horror, though it looked as if it had been thrown back by the lightning. Using the opening in the defence, I pointed my wand at it and activated the heat field. At the same time, I activate the protective field through my armour, deploying it under the entire stone dome to cover both Norn and Eris.

Well, it helped with the monsters' first attack.

When I removed the stone defence, there were only the charred remains of the monsters outside.

But still, our very appearance seemed to have attracted the attention of probably all the magical beasts in the area. Before I could even gather my thoughts, I had just taken a breath before the new monsters appeared.

- Oh, for crying out loud!

It should be noted that the spirits I had created had a very limited mana reserve, and I couldn't throw spells endlessly now that my own reserve was depleted to the limit. No more than ten spells and the spirit trapped in the magic stone would be dispelled.

A spirit in armour has even less energy capacity. It should be just a control element, and my own mana should be used to maintain the defence. But now...

I raise my wand, and from it, powerful discharges of electricity go out in all directions, hitting new monsters. And I could directly feel the energy struggling to break through their skins. These monsters were much more powerful than the ones I had seen before near Bueno. If they were also purely magic lightning, I might not even be able to handle these lizards.

- Guooo... - A particularly large monster rumbled protractedly.

A massive lizard covered in bone armour slowly strode towards us, ploughing the hard ground with its long, curved claws. Lightning struck it too, but the monster only paused briefly, convulsing, and then continued on its way again. Its armour was covered in charred lines, though, and even caught fire in some places. The lizard itself only grew angry and seemed to speed up.

- Railgun...

I could no longer mentally control the wand, but it was picking up my voice commands.

The spell formed almost instantly, and the glowing projectile pierced through the monster's head, piercing through its body and drawing a deep furrow in the plateau behind it.

- Huh...

- GASAAA!

- Lightning!!!

A particularly fast lizard ran across the heated ground in a matter of seconds. I reacted too late. The monster crashed into the barrier and... it shattered, after which the monster's sharp teeth sank into my arm, which I reflexively covered myself with. It was only at that moment that the lightning struck him. And since it was already gnawing at me, the discharge went not only through the lizard, but also into my armour, and there it went through my body, frying my nerves.

- Aghhhh...

The lizard and I were thrown in different directions.

I think I lost consciousness for a moment.

The lizard twitches, my own muscles convulsing as I try to lift my rod.

- Wooooooooooooo... - Surprisingly, the rod recognised the command, though I couldn't even pronounce it properly.

The ground shuddered again and a dome of stone rose up, covering me and the girls. I could no longer fight in this state and just hoped I could recover at least a little under the stone fortress and the lizard wouldn't come round so quickly. In the end, I was partially protected by my armour, though it seemed to be just clothing now. The controlling spirit has dissipated.

And there's almost no mana left in the wand. One more spell, max.

- Huh... damn... system, can you help? Please... I...

Consciousness is drifting off somewhere again.

But, the appearance of the message brings me back to my senses a bit.

Achievement "Second Birthday" has been obtained!

You have reached the age of ten and are one step closer to the status of adulthood

Reward: Random item.

And a small vial of blue liquid appeared in front of me.

Mana Potion

It temporarily speeds up mana regeneration.

This was exactly what I needed.

Biting my lip to keep from falling asleep right there, I took hold of the vial and uncorked it, then swallowed the contents down my throat.

- Ahem...

It tasted like... soda. But too sweet.

- Huh...

As I collapsed on the ground, I grimaced in pain. My leg hurt like hell, apparently it was fractured. Now my arm was aching too. But I did feel a little better. My consciousness was no longer collapsing into a void, my mana was replenishing and my strength was returning with it.

After a few more minutes I caught my breath, and then looked at my arm.

- Damn...

The areas around the wounds from the lizard's teeth were blackened.

And, I already had enough mana to use a healing spirit, which I did. After the magical tattoos appeared on my body, a green glow enveloped my arm. And then another and another...

At the same time, my leg crunched pitifully and the broken bone fell into place, after which the damage was repaired. But with the arm... the spirit stopped healing, as it only made it worse. The accelerated regeneration triggered the spread of the poison and... it was a terrible sensation, as if boiling water had been spilled on my hand. I couldn't even breathe properly anymore, the muscles in my arm contracting spasmodically.

- Shit... shit...

Detox magic doesn't work, and healing only makes it worse.

- Damn it...

Water blade.

The magic simply severed my limb, after which the pain subsided almost immediately and the flesh began to heal under the healing magic.

- Bitch...

Relax, it's okay. The spirit can grow me a new arm. And it should be faster than if I did it myself. But the sight of my own crippled stump was terrifying, if not terrifying. On top of that, there was still the risk of the poison remaining in the body, spreading through the bloodstream.

However, it seems that if there was any poison left, it wasn't concentrated enough to do any damage. Or the effects were dealt with by the healing spirit.

I also used healing spirit magic on Eris. Norn, on the other hand, still had her spirit that I had placed inside her earlier. So it wasn't affected by the teleportation. Except I didn't have the old spirit anymore. It looked like I had drained it of all the mana it had used to maintain the barrier, and I was still powerless. If I hadn't put up the barrier, I would have had enough mana to resist after the transfer.

Was I being set up by the system?

Not really. It started acting strange and worried. And this dream...

- GOOOOO!

- Shit.

Next thing I knew, I was fighting monsters again. I didn't recover much mana, not even a tenth of it. And it looks like the potion's effects are wearing off. I have to be extra frugal now.

- Ahem...

With a grunt, I lifted myself up, leaning on the staff like a cane.

No, I shouldn't remove the stone fortress, it would take away mana and weaken my defence. Instead, I used the staff as a focus and performed earth transformation magic, changing the stone ground around me. In fact, I increased the stone armour even more, building a real fortress that even the local monsters shouldn't be able to get through.

After that, I hollowed out pathways in the stone for air ventilation.

This also made it easier to hear what was going on outside. Growling, hissing, some sort of menacing clicking and slurping.

- Whew... - I could breathe a sigh of relief.

I mean, yes, there are more monsters and that's bad. But it seems that they are not aiming to get to us, and decided to have lunch with the ones I had already dealt with earlier.

By the way...

- System, I remember you already teleported Sylphie and Roxy... can you transport me to them? Along with Eris and Norn.

I didn't get an answer. But, just in case, I put my arm around the sleeping Norn and Eris. And still, nothing happened. Either the system can't pull off the teleportation trick, or it doesn't want to. Nevertheless, there was something I could do for the girls on the continent. Namely, write a letter. To both Roxy and Sylphie at once, so they could take turns reading it and writing back. Immediately pointed out that I was with Eris and Norn, and we were alive, but on the demon continent.

Roxy wrote a reply almost immediately.

"Be careful, the demonic continent has little water and food, and many magical beasts, they are more dangerous there than in the central continent, please take care of yourself"

She also pointed out a few more names of adventurers I could go to for help. The demons she once teamed up with when she operated in this continent.

Sylphie, on the other hand, hadn't responded yet and that was even starting to worry me. But in the end, all I could do now was wait. Especially since she too might be unconscious like Eris. Roxy, on the other hand, didn't seem to have been hit by the disaster since she was in another country. So the disaster zone didn't go beyond Asura. Perhaps the disaster was limited to the area around Roa. Considering Bueno is a few days away by horseback. And that's quite a distance.

By the way...

Recovering, I wrote another letter, already to Roxy alone.

"Please try to find Sylphie, and also Lilia and Aisha. The system says they're still on the central continent. And if you can, find out what happened in Roa. And what became of the Boreas and Gilen."

"Alright, I'm on my way to Asura" - Immediately came the reply.

I haven't felt so helpless and anxious in a long time.

By the way, it's getting surprisingly cold here. We need to use magic to raise the temperature in our stone sack. And I think we should make a plan for what to do next. And yet, just getting an answer from my favourite sorceress made me feel better. For now, the first task for me will be to survive and recover. Without mana, I can't effectively use magic for defence and attack, even with artifacts.

- Ouch...

Suddenly, my stomach twisted.

The magic potion turned out to have the side effect of magical diarrhoea.

Meanwhile...

Not far from where Rubebus teleported...

In his camp, a green-haired man with a scarlet stone in the centre of his forehead opened his eyes. He rarely ever sleeps really soundly and is able to wake up at any rustle. But this time he didn't feel the monster approaching. Upon waking up, however, he immediately exploded with movement, picking up his spear. The giant carnivorous lizard was killed in the blink of an eye.

But, there was one thought burning in the supard's mind.

The words he heard in his dream.

- I want to warn you, Ruijed Supardia. Your enemy has been reborn. Demon-god Laplace is very near, and he has not yet fully recovered his powers. He may pretend to be an ordinary man, he may even have other companions with him. But, you should know that no other living being has as much mana as him. Just watch him do magic and everything will fall into place.

The ancient warrior's eyes blazed with hatred.

There was no creature in this world that he wanted to kill more than Laplace.