Eternal Malediction (RE)

Chapter 121: Oh, Hell Nah...

Wind screamed past Tanaka’s ears; his eyes snapped open just in time to realise two very unfortunate things.

One, he was falling. "... HOLY SHIT I AM FALLING!"

And two, there was absolutely nothing beneath him except an open wheat field. No trees, no buildings and no cliffs. Just endless wheatlands stretching toward the horizon like some kind of cruel joke.

Tanaka stared downward blankly while the wind tore against his clothes, he paused, with a slight tear pulling away from his eyes, maybe from the wind or maybe from the fact that he was thousands of feet up in the air.

"I’m going to die." As his voice becomes one with the wind.

Surprisingly, a calm conclusion. His body spun slightly mid-air as he looked around frantically for anything remotely useful – nothing.

Meaning no way to anchor a green card to construct it.

Great. Actually fantastic. The ground rushed closer violently; Tanaka sighed tiredly. "Guess this is happening RIGHT NOW!"

His hand slipped into his jacket instantly before pulling out a thin pink card. Tanaka’s glowed faintly around the edges with unstable distortion-like patterns.

The ground approached.

Closer. Closer... Now.

Tanaka flicked the pink card downward right before impact and space distorted. For half a second, reality folded unnaturally around him and then... everything stopped.

There was no impact, no shattered bones and no human crater like in cartoons.

Tanaka simply dropped the remaining few inches harmlessly onto the wheat as the momentum disappeared completely.

He was hyperventilating as he calmed his breathing down.

There was silence. Tanaka stared ahead blankly into the great blue. "HOLY SHIT, I SURVIVED, YES...I hate this already."

Tanaka then stood up from the squashed wheat and noticed that the wheat around him reached almost to his shoulders; it was tall and dense and annoyingly difficult to see through.

He pushed strands aside while looking around. Nothing but green. No people or landmarks. "Cool."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and immediately realised something important. He was completely alone. That was... less cool.

Tanaka looked upward thoughtfully before pulling the pink card out again. "Alright."

He tossed it upward and then activated it, and space warped again. His body instantly switched places with the card in mid-air. For one brief moment, Tanaka appeared several metres above the field, which was enough to see over the sea of wheat.

"Oh."

There were people in the distance, and then gravity reclaimed him immediately. "Ah."

THUD.

He fell directly back into the wheat again, and he landed on his legs, causing his knee to have severe pain from it.

Several painful seconds later... "...Ow."

He lay there for a moment staring upward as he gripped his right knee. "...I should’ve thought that through better."

Eventually he pushed himself back upright. No better ideas came to mind, so he simply started walking; the wheat swayed around him endlessly as the wind rolled across the open field. It was strangely peaceful despite the situation.

Too peaceful, and Tanaka didn’t trust peaceful, especially not after getting teleported out of nowhere to somewhere.

His eyes scanned constantly while walking. Then... he noticed movement ahead, and Tanaka slowed immediately. Someone was there. Actually... two people. He crouched instinctively within the wheat.

"...Okay."

He wasn’t stupid enough to blindly approach random strangers in a situation like this. Especially after whatever happened during the fall.

Carefully, Tanaka lowered himself further before quietly moving closer through the tall wheat.

Slow, controlled, and silent. In that moment he felt like a ninja or even a cheetah approaching his prey.

Mostly silent. A few stalks brushed loudly against his clothes. Annoying because he felt like a professional as he got closer, voices became clearer.

"... We should probably keep moving," a boy’s voice said, but it felt very feminine in the way he said it.

"And go where exactly?" a woman replied calmly, but this voice raised something within him, but it’s a good question, honestly.

Tanaka shifted slightly closer; the woman stood facing a boy roughly around her height. Both looked unharmed; the boy seemed tense but composed.

The woman... Tanaka froze; no way. His eyes widened instantly. That’s... That’s... His goddess, just from her figure he knows it. Tanaka’s breath caught; his heart didn’t just skip. It performed a full interpretive dance, butterfly in its heart instead of stomach.

Tanaka’s brain stopped functioning properly for several seconds as he stared through the wheat in complete disbelief. Out of every possible person he could’ve encountered... It had to be her, and his face widened.

He took a slow breath and calmed himself down. Be normal. Be nonchalant. Be cool. Unfortunately, Tanaka chose that exact moment to step on something.

CRACK.

A dry branch snapped beneath his foot.

FUCK.

Silence. The boy turned immediately. "...Who’s there?"

Tanaka stopped moving. Maybe if he stayed still, he would become invisible.

Then Lise shot back. "COME OUT NOW."

Caught. Tanaka slowly rose from the grass with all the dignity of someone being publicly executed. "...Hi."

The boy blinked once. Then looked toward the woman. "You know this guy?"

She glanced at Tanaka briefly. "Random person from the Tournament of Richt."

Tanaka felt emotional damage immediately, as he gripped his chest from the pain.

The boy looked curious, and he said with an innocent voice. "That all?"

Lise shrugged. "He forfeited because he didn’t want to fight me."

Tanaka raised his finger weakly. "Correction: I refuse to harm my goddess."

The woman ignored him completely. "Then we fought later that night."

A pause. "I won."

Tanaka looked away dramatically while blushing. "...You didn’t have to include that part."

The boy laughed slightly at that. At least someone appreciated honesty.

"Well," the boy said while extending a hand slightly, "I’m..."

He stopped briefly. "My name’s Aster."

Tanaka shook his hand loosely. "Tanaka."

Aster nodded. "You alone?"

Tanaka replied sadly. "Unfortunately."

"Same."

The woman crossed her arms. "You can follow us if you want."

Tanaka blinked, stunned. Lise Valkera, the woman who nearly shattered his spine and his sanity, was offering him a place beside her, and a massive grin once again stretched his face. "...Really?"

Tanaka then turns around and cups his hands into a prayer motion and whispers, "O dear mighty one, I thank thee for this blessed fortune to stay by thy goddess’s side; she makes me weak in my knees. I have no clue why you sent me here, but I am happy you did because I can rely on them for everything I want now. Thank you, God, and have a good day." Tanaka turns around and faces them once again.

"You clearly don’t know what you’re doing." Cruel but true, but still cruel.

Tanaka sighed. "Fair enough."

So, with absolutely no better options available, Tanaka started following them through the endless field. As they walked, more figures gradually appeared through the grass. People. Groups of survivors scattered across the plains. Some were injured, some were confused and some were sitting together trying to understand what happened.

And among them... Tanaka noticed a pattern; a lot of them were alive when they realistically shouldn’t have been.

Minimal injuries.

Aster noticed too. "...Someone saved these people."

The woman nodded once. "Yeah."

Tanaka’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Then one survivor nearby spoke up nervously. "There was someone else earlier."

Another person nodded quickly. "It was Kaelen Vyrn."

"She stopped people from dying during the fall."

Tanaka immediately recognised who he meant by the name.

The Third Celestial Watch member.

Ah. That explains it.

The group continued walking through the field together as the wind rolled endlessly through the sea of wheat.

Tanaka shoved his hands into his pockets quietly. This entire situation still made absolutely no sense.

But at least now. He wasn’t alone anymore, and that means he just needs to follow others and now can blame them if anything were to go wrong.