450 The Cause of the Barren Mountains, Revealing a Secret of the Husband and the First Wife (1/2)
Day ▮▮ - ▮▮:▮▮ ▮▮ - Arid Mountains, Spirit Dimension
About eleven kilometers north of where the Night Everred Spirit Tree grew, the nearest kingdom of the wind spirits, Syplhs, was located. It should have been a beautiful land maintained by the nature-loving creatures that inhabited it. It was an almost imaginary place, filled with peals of laughter from the lively Sylphs and their usual playful antics.
Of course, none of those characteristics remained its current repulsive visage.
A continuously pulsating mass of flesh covered the already dried up kingdom. The only things that kept the trees upright were the tentacles of that enormous expanse of flesh that spiraled around the trunks extending to the ground. Like its main body, the spiraled fleshy appendages continued to pulsate in a manner that made it look like it was sucking something from the earth.
Without needing to think or observe, it was evident that the Kingdom of Sylphs faced its destruction.
This scene of their kind wandering and buzzing about as mindless infected broke Amihan and Malaya's hearts. In the Mortal World, although there were quite a number of them, it was remarkably hard to meet another of their race. It was even more particular to Amihan and Malaya, who were both born in the Mortal World.
They thought that they would meet more of their kind this time, only to face total disappointment.
”Pefile,” Mark called out as he patted Amihan's head, who sat on his shoulder. ”Do you know how many is the population of Sylphs there?”
Mark and his team were currently observing the scene from their initial position after seeing the remains of the Sylph Kingdom. There was no need to move any closer as they could see the situation on the next mountain. It was not hard to see the more than two-hundred meter wide carpet of pulsating flesh from their position.
Furthermore, trying to go closer could spell disaster once the infected Sylphs roaming their former kingdom spotted them. Just imagine humans trying to approach a killer bee nest of that size and getting chased by an unclear number of six-inch killer bees. Not to mention that all of them would be hurling wind magic at him.
That was suicide. There was no doubt about it. Mark could protect himself in that circumstance, but it would be hard to keep everyone in check. Using miasma would also risk causing mutations if used frequently as it could contaminate the dimension filled with magical energy in the air.
Use [Photokinesis] to hide? That was even worse. More than sounds, the infected folklore creatures, and even animals in this dimension were highly sensitive to magical fluctuations. To cover his whole team with [Optical Camouflage], Mark would need to use an enormous amount of energy from the crystal and cause a disturbance that was enough to alert the infected in a mile or two radius.
Pefile looked at Mark and shook his head.
”I can't answer that, even if I want to. We are different from humans that monitor numbers and populations of other races or groups. It is enough for us to know how many individuals we had in our group and did not care much about others. That is the work of the ones in the rule, like the king, tribe leader, and their trusted men.”
”So, you don't know?”
”Yeah, I don't. Sorry.”
Pefile shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to be of help as he was also disappointed in the scene before him. However, the question was beyond his knowledge to answer.
Then, Mark turned to Teremillio and Felenia, who looked pale as they thought about something.
”How about you two, do you know?”
Everyone looked at Mark as they could not comprehend as to why he would ask the two.
”Boss, why would you ask Husband and Big Sister Felenia?” The second wife, Dathlia, asked. ”Pefile did not know, why would they?”
The other wives, except for Felenia, also had the same notion. They could not understand the reason why.
That was when Mark dropped a bomb that even Teremillio and Felenia went agape.
”Don't look at me like that.” Mark shrugged. ”Pefile said that only those in the ruling would know this information. I just thought that they would know since they are both royals.”
All the wives of Teremillio were shocked. None of them knew where Mark could have gotten such information. When they looked at the two in question, however, they started to have doubts. Both Teremillio and Felenia both looked like a couple caught in the act of adultery. Of course, it was not like it applied to them.
”H-how did you...”
That was what all Teremillio could voice. Both him and Felenia did not know what reaction or reply they should give out. Teremillio might have a flowery mouth, but outside of being dandy and romantic, he was not much of a con man and a liar. It was more so for Felenia, who was also as pure as a child in many things.
And thus, the two were not able to deny it.
”Well, it's not hard to realize if you know the stereotypes. Not only me but some of us, like Mei'er and Mizuki, also noticed how you two behaved differently from the others. You two are more refined, formal, and you two have an aura of superiority over others.”
The more Mark said, the more both Teremillio and Felenia shrunk. Then Mark said the main reason.
”You two don't know, but I have someone who can hear everything happening at the base when necessary. You two talking secretly about royal stuff and calling your parents king and queen did not help.”
The other wives of Teremillio looked at the two in realization. They did not suspect anything at all. So, that was the reason why both of them looked very worried when Mark told them what was happening in this dimension. Although they were not angry, they felt dejected. The two should have told them about it.
”Go on with the drama later.” Mark interrupted the mood. ”Answer me first since we need to move and find a place to rest and eat if possible. Also, I don't want to spend a night in an unsecured place. We also need to find one if we can't get to the next destination in time.”
Teremillio sighed and nodded.
”I don't know how long it passed in here, so it might not be accurate anymore. The last time, both I and Felenia are here... There should be about two-thousand Sylphs in that Kingdom.”
”That many, huh.” Mark contemplated. ”We better not mess with that hornet nest right now.”
Everyone nodded. What Teremillio said might be too long ago. The number of infected Sylphs could already be higher, even if there were survivors that managed to escape.