Part 23

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***

Everything hurt like crazy!

It was hard to breathe, and I lay powerless on the icy stone in a pool of my own congealed blood. My eyes close on their own, but I force myself to keep them open. But what I see does not inspire joy. A bone spear, seemingly enormous. No, not a spear, a trident with all its spikes embedded in my body. And I can't even feel my legs... one of the teeth seems to have hit my spine. It looks like the trident went right through me....

- RUDY... no... Rudeus... Rudy..." Eris roared.

Her scarlet hair falls over my face.

I can't say her name, it's hard to breathe as it is... but, I managed to lift my hand to stroke the girl's cheek.

Shit...

How did this even happen?

My eyes close again...

and the recent events flash through my mind.

I remember how Norn cried when she woke up, and how worried Eris was. It wasn't even the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere that frightened them the most, but the fact that I appeared before them without a hand. Even though I'd covered the stump with my cloak.

They were reassured by the fact that I could grow an arm, even if it took time. And, in addition, another detail came to light.

- Rudy... what's wrong with your hair?

- Huh? What about it? - I wondered.

- It's white.

As it turns out, magical exhaustion, and trying to conjure even afterwards, has caused my hair to turn white. It's not exactly grey, it's just that the hair is white, like milk. I've read before about this kind of effect occurring in powerful mages after serious mana depletion. But, it would have to be a really serious depletion, so much so that it's life threatening. Usually mages just lose consciousness when there is little mana left, but if they come to their senses in such a state and continue sorcery, they may even die. And I was just recently practically squeezing the last drops of mana out of me. It seemed to be quite dangerous. But fortunately, the consequences were limited to white hair.

And after that.

We stayed in the stone sack for almost another 24 hours. I needed time to regenerate my mana. Creating some water to drink and stone cups, however, was practically worthless. Such sorcery for my current reserve was too insignificant to pay attention to this waste, even while in an exhausted state.

Also, Eris provided me with her thighs so I could rest my head on them and rest.

Mana replenishes much faster while sleeping. It would also help to eat for faster recovery, but I was in no hurry to get out.

After sleeping, when I had recovered about a tenth of my reserve, I could do something. And, for starters, I created a new spirit, integrating it into my armour, restoring its protective functions. I also filled the attacking spirit in my wand with mana and energised the healing spirit. Even after all that, I had enough mana to stand up for myself and protect the girls. And so I created a passageway to the outside.

Immediately I had to face the scavengers who were feasting outside.

After looking around, I went back in and closed the passage. Then I pulled out my monster encyclopaedia....

- What are you doing? - Eris was stunned.

- I want to find out if those monsters are in the book, and if they are edible.

The girl swallowed her saliva excitedly, and her stomach rumbled pitifully.

However, while I was looking for information in the book, I thought to text Roxy. Not half an hour later, a bag with some supplies appeared in my inventory. Jerky, freshly grilled steak, still warm and wrapped in a bread flatbread. As well as vegetables and bread. The girls happily pounced on the treats.

- How...

- It's a complicated magic...

- It's amazing... can't a person be transported in the same way?

Eris immediately thought it would be a good idea to teleport home.

- I'm sorry, I don't know how to do that.

Although, if I spent more time summoning creatures, I could theoretically try to develop a teleport circle. If this magic can summon animals and even intelligent races from different parts of the world, then, it could move me too. We could take apart fragments of magic summoning circles and develop a system of paired circles that would allow teleportation between them.

But, such research might take more than one year.....

On the other hand, if I hadn't figured out spirit summoning magic, I might have become easy prey for magical beasts when I first got here.

Later on, I still found the descriptions of the demonic continent's magical beasts in the encyclopaedia. Although, there were only a few chapters with the most common species. The main part of the book was dedicated to the species of the central continent.

- Wow, that healthy lizard is considered a delicacy. - I was surprised.

But those smaller lizards, one of which bit me, are also edible. They have poison only in their mouths and stomachs. It's not dangerous to the monsters themselves. But for humans, it's deadly and can only be healed with royal rank detoxification magic. But it seems that cutting off the infected flesh also helps. In small doses, the poison is also dangerous, causing fever and fever, but it is not fatal in itself. I seem to have had such effects neutralised by the healing spirit. I also found descriptions in the book of other poisonous creatures on the continent. It turns out I was still lucky. Most of the poisonous monsters in these places have nerve poison that destroys the nervous system. I, on the other hand, got a monster with a destructive type of poison that eats away at body tissue like acid. It's much more painful and almost always fatal. But if the poison was paralytic, I wouldn't have been able to cut off my arm and use healing magic.

I need to take my defences more seriously.

After a while more, when everyone was full, I got out again. I used a gravity push to launch myself higher into the air, and then landed softly with wind magic. And it showed that there were no towns, forests, or villages around. Everywhere one looked, a stony desert with relatively small rocks stretched from all sides to the horizon.

By the way, Roxy wasn't entirely honest when she said there wasn't much food here.

Just looking around, I saw a few packs of magical beasts in the distance. And they're good to eat.

Anyway, I don't know where we are or where we should go. And then...

Achievement "Demon World Safari".

You have found yourself in the wilderness of the demonic continent and encountered its aggressive fauna

Reward: Unlocked map feature

Whoa!

System... you're my good girl!

The new feature appeared in the status window and, now I could summon the map...

The Six Faced World.

Five continents as reflections of these worlds. And the sixth world is the sea that separates these continents. And there too, its people live there. Anyway, on the left side of the map is the most massive continent of this world, the central continent. Asura's territory is marked here too, and here is Shiron, the alliance of magical states and even smaller kingdoms. On the continent of Milis, the Great Forest, Milishion, and some other markings are marked. All in all, almost every place I had heard of and read about in books before was marked here. The Begaritto Continent and the Celestial Continent were the least marked.

The demonic land didn't have many markings either, the main ports, some cities, old castles and... oh... a Migurd village, very close to us. Yes, by the way, my current location was also marked on the map with a special marker. And apparently, we've been literally marooned on the other side of the world.

There's no way through the water world with my current abilities. The Sky Continent is described as a solid, high cliff, impassable unless you have wings. To get back to Asura, we have to go through almost the entire land of demons and get to the land of Milis in the air port, and only after going through it all, we can go through the archipelagos to the southernmost part of the central continent, and even then we have to go a considerable distance north before we return to our homeland.

Yeah.

If I don't find some way of travelling quickly, I'll have to walk for at least a year.

But, most pleasingly, there are also markings on the map with very familiar faces. Roxy's not far from the kingdom of Shiron. And Sylphi... in Asura? That's not the Fittoa region, but somewhere in the kingdom's capital.

In fact, that's what I told Roxy to tell her to hurry to the capital.

And, it turned out that she also got this map. And after a while, even Sylphie herself sent a reply, finally.

"I'm fine, I got help, I even got to meet the princess, she's a nice person."

Yep, not quite sure about the princess, but now I could only ask Sylphie to be careful.

Okay, all right.

We should get to the migurd village first, since it's not far. Roxy mentioned her homeland once, but, not that I knew much about it. We should write her a letter. And right after that, without wasting any time, we hit the road.

And, what can I say about that....

Within the first hour of travelling, we encountered a whole group of monsters, then another, and another attack....

But by now I was ready. Enough time had passed between skirmishes for my mana to recover. And the monsters themselves, although there were quite a few, but not so many that seriously deplete my mana reserves.

I also had to be careful along the way. And keep an eye on the girls.

- Norn... what's wrong?

- Tired... bjatik... - The girl looked at me pitifully.

- Do your legs hurt?

- Hmmm....

- I see... hmm, Eris, can you take Norn in your arms?

- Why am I...

- Eris. - I stretched out tiredly.

- Y-yes, okay.

Still, this situation is mentally exhausting. But it's a good thing the girl listened almost immediately. Um, not a girl anymore, but a young girl, rather. Anyway, it's better not to stop too often. I can't carry the baby. I only have one whole arm, and I need it. If the monsters attack again, I must be ready to fight them.

- Come right behind me, please don't fall behind.

A large barrier requires a lot of mana, and I... this is probably the first time in my life I feel the need to save it. But I have the energy to treat the Norn's legs. It wasn't just injuries or wounds, it was a spell of elation, which gives you strength. And fatigue.

So we walked some more distance until it started to get dark.

- You can't see anything.

And if we use magic for illumination, we'll light ourselves up like a beacon in the night. So I decided to take a break. Especially as the ground began to cool very quickly after the heat of the day and it was getting colder. The small stone bag was easier to heat.

- Rudi... I want to go home... home... - Norn couldn't stand it and cried.

- Sis...

With one arm around her, I held her close to me.

- Everything will be all right. I promise we'll come home to Mum, and Lilia and Aisha.

The fact that they still need to be found too, I didn't mention. Norn's panicked enough as it is, she doesn't need to worry any more. She's still holding it together. She's been quiet most of the day and hasn't complained much. She didn't even let Eris carry her in her arms for too long and tried to walk more on her own feet.

By now Roxy had sent a reply as well.

"Say you are my apprentice and you will be accepted, the Migurds are a kind people, but they don't welcome outsiders"

But though it's not far, it looks like it'll be at least a week to get to the village.

In the meantime, I also started making protective artefacts for my sisters. One was a direct bloodline, the other a second cousin. Actually, it could be done quickly enough, as the process was already worked out and there was no need to invent anything. And after that I only started to think about how I could use magic to speed up our progress. Except that the next day it all became irrelevant.

That day we encountered magical beasts again. Once again, I quickly dealt with them using powerful magic. I cast a spell of fire blades, which with dozens of sharp spikes shredded the giant dogs that had decided to attack us in a pack. And that's when he appeared. I didn't even have time to react when a human figure appeared from behind the rock.

The next moment, the protective sphere was shattered by a blow of excessive force, and a bone spear crashed into my carbon armour.

- Wha...

A green-haired man with a scarlet stone in his forehead and a fierce gaze full of implacable malice appeared in front of me.

I didn't have time to assess him with a scan or even think about the situation at all. But I immediately remembered the Supards, and what they are said to be ruthless monsters. He attacked me without any conversation, and therefore.....

The man stopped the rod strike aimed at his head, and his fist shattered the crystal shell. But not the magic stone hidden inside.

- Laplace..." he muttered in a fit of rage.

My personal barrier caused him to bounce back with the force of repulsion and, apparently, a good electric shock to his hands. But the supard didn't stop there. I couldn't even follow his movements properly. He was moving faster than Gilen!

His spear was at me again, aiming for my throat.

I thought of flying up into the air, but then the girls would be hit. So, before the new attack caught up with me, I created a new defence sphere that threw the sword away. After that, I immediately activated the quagmire. The enemy was too fast for me to hit him with attack magic. And there was almost no way to avoid the quagmire. I used the spell on all the ground around it, spreading the effect over hundreds of metres.

The supard faded away, but....

When I attacked with lightning, the mud surged upwards, partially absorbing and grounding the discharge. And my opponent breaks through the electromagnetic barrier again with a monstrous strike. And I reinforced it, but even so...

His spear bumps into my armour again. The carbon plating cracks. And yet, I caught him and threw him off with a gravitational push, throwing him a great distance away. Then I quickly grabbed Eris and Norn, and took a long leap with them. And then another and another. Although it wastes a lot of mana, but with my reserves I could even move around like this all the time and it would only slow down my recovery. I could have used it right away instead of saving my strength for last.

Nevertheless, escaping from the supard didn't really work either. When I looked back, I saw that he was catching up with us.

- Shit...

Stopping for a moment, I activated the Railgun. Aim, gather energy, fire.

Thanks to the wand, the spell creation was very fast, but even so, at the last moment, the lanceman smelled something and darted away, missing the shot.

It takes time!

Waving my wand, I create a powerful earthquake. Some of the rocky soil liquefies, turning into mire, and then rises in a high wave that rushes at the Supard. Some of the ground, on the other hand, went cracked, rising in sharp chips, creating natural obstacles in the enemy's path. This would hold him off for a while. In the meantime, I grabbed the girls again. Well, like... I grab Eris, and she grabs Norn.

- Yaaaah! - The little girl squeals in fear.

She clearly doesn't like these gravitational jolts.

But, in this way, I managed to cover a few dozen more kilometres, after which I stopped....

- Eris, run ahead with Norn, there should be a Migurd settlement. Tell them you're an acquaintance of Roxy's.

- What? No, Rudy! I'm not leaving you!

- Go! You'll only get in the way here. FASTER!

After shouting at the girl, I just turned back.

The spearman kept up, and you could see him getting closer. But he seemed to be aiming for me first.

- ERIS!

- Y-yes...

With a shudder, the scarlet-haired lady grabbed Norn in her arms and ran to where I said.

I was left to face my enemy.

And it can not be said that he is so insurmountably strong, he is a powerful warrior, but, after all, I had a real chance to defeat him. But I have almost no real experience. Just training fights with Gillen. And while that's not bad either...

By the way.

Scanning!

Ruijed Supardia

End of the road level 147

Health - demigod

Mana - enough to kill you

Strongest skill - spear

Mood - full trousers of anger

Note - thinks you're a reborn Laplace.

The level of the enemy made me feel uncomfortable. Although, the level does not always reflect the real strength. I don't even have a tenth level yet, and I can resist this monster with varying degrees of success. At least I'm still alive. Although that Ruijed is clearly trying to kill me.

But at least now I know why he's targeting me. I just don't know why he thought I was a demon god in the first place.

- Okay.

Twirling the wand, I use both the cold blast and the heat field at different atmospheric levels at the same time. And with that, I create water streams in the sky, forming a storm front. Now that there were no girls around, I could hold back, almost. Plus, there was time to prepare powerful spells.

Supard was clearly surprised when a powerful downpour came down from the sky, droplets that turned into sharp ice flakes on the fly. And at the same time, lightning bolts began to strike from the sky, aiming straight at the soldier. There was also a powerful hurricane wind, beating towards him.

And, if behind there in the distance still ran Eris with Norn in her arms, then in the direction of the sword, I could turn round with all the breadth of my generous soul. So much desolate space with only stone and monsters. One can finally not hold back!

- LAPLAS! - The Supard roars through the storm.

I can't even tell him he's wrong. My voice isn't that powerful and through the wind noise, the Supard can't hear me. And even if he did, it doesn't look like he'd be able to make sense of it now. I had no time to hesitate.

I have to weaken some of my attack factors somewhat so that I can cast new spells. Thankfully, though, the thunderstorm is supporting itself. Even the extra frost front itself freezes the raindrops, turning them into powerful hailstones. It's just a shame that the water itself was created by magic. The terrain here was too arid to be able to create a thunder front through a natural mechanism. So far, only the lightning strikes had to be interrupted to activate the new mire spell.

The ground beneath the trooper's feet was turning into a slippery mud bog. And at once at such distances that he couldn't just jump aside. It was too massive a spell.

And then, right out of the mud, sharp stone spikes shoot out towards the Supard, threatening to pierce him. Only, that was my mistake. The stone spikes didn't penetrate the lanceman's morale, and he used them as a solid foothold for the leap. I failed to seize the moment when the enemy faltered. Now he was on the move again, and I couldn't get my lightning on him accurately.

- What a stubborn bastard..." I gritted my teeth.

But I still had time for a particularly powerful attack.

Even with my reserve, there's still the matter of magic conduction. And powerful spells like the ones I was using now take time to gather mana. And they use so much mana that even my reserve is sagging a bit.

The next attack was another of my own spells, again from the school of lightning.

Droplets of water in front of me form a disc that lights up with discharges of electricity.

And, the supard apparently realised it was about to go to shit.

All he managed to do was hide behind one of the stone pillars, and burrow into the mud. After that, the icy downpour was cut through by hundreds of fierce sparks, which separated into dozens and hundreds of smaller branches as they travelled. Horizontal sprites of plasma burned through the mud and shattered rocks, bringing the monstrous power of nature into this world. This attack could destroy an entire army, but here and now, it only had one single target.

- Huh...

I'm covered by a life support barrier, for without it, I'm afraid the environment wasn't exactly livable anymore. Especially when I started to turn the muddy mire ahead of me into flaming lava by combining its magic base with a heat field spell. Although, it wasn't exactly lava, but it looked like it.

And from all this riot of elements, there was already a searing vapour in the air, creating multiple explosions from the clashing temperatures.

I'm not even sure if this gas is even breathable.

And finally...

The lava rises up and thrashes forward in powerful waves of burning tsunami.

- Huh...

For a few moments I just froze, unable to take my eyes off this mesmerising sight. It was as if Hell itself was unfolding on earth. And there's some symbolism in the fact that it's happening on a demonic continent.

- It's definitely supposed to kill you.

From the nervous tension, I guess I felt the need to voice my thoughts.

And, in this madness of the elements really hardly anyone could even survive.....

- HAAA!

But he did.

Burnt to meat and bone. Covered in ugly burnt wounds and dirt, he looked at me... with empty eye sockets. Maybe it was lightning, or lava, but something had burned out his eyes, charring the holes. The head itself was already a charred lump of sintered flesh. I don't even know how he saw me. And even as he was falling through the lava, burning alive, he was a fiery demon.

- GET AWAY FROM ME ALREADY!

- Ghaaaa..." the zombie wheezed ominously.

He couldn't even speak, I could see the blackness of charred flesh in his open mouth.

And, even so, he was able to make that last leap with his remaining strength.

And I made a gravitational push, darting away, realising that if this guy broke the isolation barrier, I wouldn't survive in this environment. The monster changed direction that hour, chasing after me.

- Damn it, I'm not Laplace! - I'm screaming at him.

But he can hardly hear me.

And another thrust to throw my opponent off. But, without eyes, he seems even more attentive and focussed. Having anticipated the attack, he evaded it and twisted in the air in some unimaginable way before touching the hard ground just for a moment. The rock cracked and the man launched himself like a projectile, breaking the sound barrier and creating a shockwave.

It was beautiful in its own way...

But damn it...

I barely had time to create a counter gravity wave, but I couldn't get all the parameters of the fundamental mechanics right. There wasn't enough time and concentration, this attack was a pure transformation of magic, and the supard simply broke through it.

The spear shattered the barrier again, and then smashed into my armour with such force that it broke through the hardened carbon, overcoming the resistance of my personal field, and smashed into my flesh.

Not deeply, but, after that, the next blow struck me.

In the blink of an eye, I was on the ground, and the supard standing above me brought his trident spear down on my stomach with a sharp blow, piercing through my armour, and then another.

- Ahem...dead...ni....

I try to cast a spell, but another blow knocks the spirit out of me and knocks my concentration. Also, I suddenly realise that I don't have my wand in my hands anymore.

In a kind of desperation, I awaken my fighting spirit, trying to use it for defence, but I've always been bad at that. And my armour can't take it anymore, and the next blow pierces me through.

- ARGHHHH...

It felt like my eyes were just going to pop out of my orbits from the pain that whipped through my brain.

But, after that blow, the supard froze, gripping his spear with his finger bones. Well, there were still fibres of muscle and nerves, so it wasn't just bones. And despite the agony, I was now able to concentrate my mana. Previously, it wasn't even the pain itself, but the fear and the sudden flashes of that very pain that hindered me. But when there is only one, no more of these swings between pain and unbearable agony, my thoughts are no longer interrupted.

Sparks of electricity dance in the air, and the ring on my finger flashes with mystical writings.

But, before the lightning discharges would finish off the supard....

He loosened his grip and just dropped dead, and fierce lightning bolts struck the sky.

It seems he put the last of his strength into his attack and died in it.

And now it looks like I'm going to follow him.

Mission received!

Overcoming the deadly impasse!

You have a hole through your body! You have defeated a legendary foe, but you are on the verge of death! Survive at all costs!

Reward: Random Talent!

The system's message seemed somehow very expressive. It was like I could hear it shouting at me, demanding that I not give up and all. Also, it didn't hurt as much anymore.

That's how I ended up in this situation.