169 Far from home (2/2)

Watching the body emptied of their lives fall to the ground, he turned his head before hearing the same sound he had already heard too many times. Grabbing something from his waist, he pulled off a small horn, before blowing inside it. By now, they were not even a quarter of the original troop, and this was a signal to the only one that hadn't approach the battlefield. Gritting his teeth, he watched the ones that fought along his side for years all starring one last time, before disappearing.

”DEATH TO THE UNDEAD!”

Unlike last time, he was now the only one shouting. However, the dark tentacles no longer attacked him, only encircling him completely. He could no longer see anything but darkness, as the sky and the path he took had been completely sealed. Soon, only some traces of white could be seen, as he watched the eyes without iris approaching. Sneering inwardly,he only thought that she made a mistake, whatever she was.

”Who are ...”

BOOM

”... you? What's with this, dying without leaving a corpse nor a soul? How am I suppose to learn anything? Whatever.” Dispersing the lingering mana that was covering her, she was disappointed that she fought some creatures that obviously knew how a soul could survive. It was apparent that whoever those demons were up against, first of all, they were undead and secondly, those undead were hated. Enough to not even hesitate before sacrificing their bodies.

Looking at the numerous holes in the ground that had been the result of the death of them, she tried to see if there was anything she could obtain. But as much as she hated to admit, they did it so perfectly that even she could only sigh. Searching her memories, she could count in one of her hands the number of times such a thing had been seen on a planet.

First of all, the race in question needed to be completely brainwashed into fanaticism and fully aware of the threat of the undead. As such, humans and elves, for example, would never resort systematically to sacrifice themselves. It was not that they wouldn't do it, but only specific individuals had the guts to abandon any thoughts of surviving. Of the group she just met, not a single one hesitated more than a second.

Leaving this place that was apparently sacred for them, she noticed a weird trace on the dirt. Like something had stepped back and fallen on its behind. Even the traces of two claws could be seen, digging very small holes near it. Even if she was not Kardel, it was obvious that someone watched the fight and escaped, with great speed. Even now, she could no longer detect the lifeform, as there was nothing alive here.

With the vast plains surrounding her, she had all the choices in the world. Follow the one that escaped, go in the opposite direction or do something else. But since those lowly demons seemed to be hostile and quite brave, she could not hope to obtain answers from them. With that in mind, she began to drift to an unknown destination.

Floating higher and higher in the sky, she saw numerous groups of monsters coming toward the circles of stones. After all, that horn had been quite noisy, but the races she saw were still very commons. Nothing too exotic, like an orodil. Not that she wished that, for if one of them was present, it was not a very good sign. Once more, this world did not seem to possess the means of traveling through space, meaning that only locals lived there. And a race created by the Ancients living on a world was not good for her.

As time passed, she wondered how time flew here, for it seemed to not be the same as she experienced before that new accident. Between the speed of the spaceships, the portals capable of teleporting things from a planet to another and the crazy experiments of the Ancients, the Universe was abnormal concerning how much one second took. For some, it could be transformed into centuries while to others, it would barely be noticeable. One hour here could become seven years on another planet, and she wouldn't even know about it.

The best she could gather was that it was different and probably quicker than the planet where she left her body. As for the difference, she had no clue but it shouldn't be too big. At least, as long as she didn't stay more than a month, she should be fine. As soon as she said that, she felt something in her soul, prompting her to look.

In a very very wasteful usage of mana, an immense hourglass had been created, quietly but accurately displaying sands falling to the other half. Looking at the guilty one, in that case, Leilade couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. ”Really?” Not expecting an answer, she focused more of her attention on how she will get out of here. Knowing Candaith too well for her own pleasure, she was certain that he had let an escape road here. Only that it would probably be hidden, or guarded by something as dangerous as a dragon. She was, however, more inclined with the first possibility, as it should be something only some from the Demonic Empire could use.

The dragon case was more special, as it was an intelligent race one could negotiate with and use their arrogance to bind their words. Not every creature would keep something safe during hundreds of years, without even talking about more. Returning to the circles of stones, this time completely invisible, she was not spotted by anyone. Once more, the strange pattern was making her wonder if something else was present.

Getting bothered by all of those monsters, she cast an illusion of her that was fleeing toward where the escaping creature went. Obviously, the ones that arrived here didn't wait any longer before chasing the illusion, allowing this place to be calm once more. Without anyone bothering her, she touched the stones again, only to not find anymore that trace of mana. Disappointed, she only noticed the drawings on them now, as it didn't make any sense.

Stepping back a bit, if each individual stones had patterns on them, they did seemed to create a bigger picture, if one could organize it properly. Cursing the space bunny that had visibly too much free time, she began to pick up and move the stones. If someone could see it, he would be able to witness massive rocks weighing hundreds of kilogram almost dancing in the air.

Barely a few minutes later, she had already discovered the solution, as it was easy when everything could be changed with just one thought. The final picture showed the emblem of the Demonic Empire with numerous holes where no stone was present. As this emblem had a direction, she gazed at the horizon that was at the end of it. Funnily, she was almost certain that it was where she was heading before returning there.