From a Talentless nobody to An SSS Class Dragon

Chapter 254: Ardent Hollow [2]

After standing up I begin to follow behind Alice once again, making our way back through the strange ruins.

That dream definitely caught me by surprise but I can’t really share that with anyone right now... Especially not the girls. I have a lot more to focus on at the moment instead of the fun times.

One day I’m sure I’ll be able to enjoy though.

"I’m glad you got some sleep," Alice speaks up.

"Why’s that?" I ask curiously.

"Just better to have you with your full strength," Alice answers casually.

"I can’t really argue with that," I say while putting my hands into my pockets.

The environment around us still appears to be the exact same as before, but something feels off. I can’t really place what it is.

I begin to glance around, trying to catch a sign that we are being followed.

After a few careful observations I don’t really see a single thing around us; the whole area is just a bunch of destroyed buildings with no life to be seen.

The walk continues without much else happening for awhile... Until we reach a small crossroads.

"Do you know what path is the correct one to follow?" I question with a serious tone.

She doesn’t answer at first, she just checks the map.

"I haven’t been here in awhile Rokuro so just be patient with me. I’d like to keep avoiding problems if I can," Alice responds with a bit of frustration in her voice.

Alice gestures towards the path on the left before she starts to walk.

"I wasn’t rushing you or anything. Just asking a question," I explain to her with a calm tone.

"I’m not upset with you, it is just this place. Just keep moving," Alice responds.

This place almost feels familiar to me in some way... Just can’t place my finger on it. Maybe one of the towers had something similar to it.

I did climb through a lot of different floors in two completely different towers. It wouldn’t be surprising if it was something familiar to one of them.

Man. Rika would be able to elaborate a lot more on this if she was around.

I’m still completely clueless on where she went in the first place or if she died along with me.

Two hours of walking go by.

I finally notice something different in the distance. It is a mostly in tact building which is kind of odd actually.

"Is that normal?" I ask Alice with a curious tone.

She just looks back at me for a moment.

"Something about this isn’t right," Alice responds with a serious expression.

I quickly look around after that, ready to fight if need be.

Everything around us appears to be completely empty with no sign of life in the slightest.

Alice pulls her sword out and quickly rushes past me.

I turn around to see her swing her sword through the air but it didn’t look like it did anything.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Yellow blood drips onto the floor in front of me before a small thud happens a few seconds after. Alice swings her sword towards the ground to get some of the blood off her blade.

"We need to be on guard," Alice advises.

"What the hell is going on?!" I question while raising my arms.

She backs up to me and continues to look around.

"Rikels are all around us," Alice answers with a serious tone in her voice.

I don’t really know what the hell a Rikel is but I trust that it is a threat of some kind. At least this is some action for the first time in a good while.

I’ve been wanting to punch something.

"You have to really focus to notice them," Alice says while glancing around.

I just barely hear something shuffle towards me and I swing my fist towards it immediately.

POW!!!!

My fist connects with some part of this monster and yellow blood splatters onto the ground behind it. Thud!

This continues on for a little while as Alice slashes through some and I punch the others. Yellow blood is splattered all around us like a damn murder scene.

I still can’t see what these things look like which is very strange.

Tap. Tap.

I turn around and see that Alice is ready to keep moving again.

"Are we not going to talk about whatever these Rikes are?!?!" I say while following behind her.

"They’re dead so it doesn’t matter," Alice replies.

I don’t even know why I care. It was just another monster at the end of the day.

It isn’t even worth it to think about them too much. I’d kill the ones in my world without a second thought so this isn’t any different from that.

"You’re right. Let’s continue moving forward," I say in agreement with her.

The walk continues in silence as we both keep our guard up; monsters definitely seem to be lurking within the ruins.

Every detail is now something I watch for when it comes to the buildings we pass.

There is no telling if something is lurking in the shadows or if they are already following behind us. Alice would’ve known by now though, she’s been on top of this whole thing.

Footsteps echo as we finally reach a big open space with no other buildings around.

"I think we’re almost out of the Ruins," Alice says with a bit of uncertainty in her voice.

I take a few steps ahead of her.

"Do you think more monsters are lurking around this space?" I ask with a serious, yet cautious tone.

"Anything is possible here. I’m shocked it was peaceful for as long as it was," Alice answers with genuine shock in her voice.

"I take it that it is not always peaceful," I say while looking around.

She catches up to me.

"Not in the slightest," Alice replies.

I hear Alice pull out the map once again as we come to a complete stop in the middle of this open space.

I’m glad she knows how to read a map because I never really used one back in my realm. It was just a walk with the right sense of direction mostly.

Or... Akina would open up a nice portal for us to use to get around. That really did make a difference for getting around to the different cities.

Now I wonder how long it would take me to get to them.

Akina probably doesn’t even know what happened to me or what’s been going on within this realm. I assumed she could just watch everything like before but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Footsteps interrupt my train of thought as Alice and I prepare for whoever or whatever is approaching us.

"I guess we’ll get another fight," Alice says with a serious tone in her voice.

I quickly glance around for any potential sight of this enemy.

"Definitely right about that," I reply with my arms raised.

BANG!!!

A gunshot echoes as a bullet goes past my head. The sound of a body hitting the ground is all I hear until I realize that yellow blood is splattered on the ground again.

"Where the hell did that shot come from?!" Alice questions with concern in her voice.

"I don’t really know if I’m being honest. It is kind of hard to see anything with how open this is," I respond while cautiously looking.

I didn’t think demons with guns existed in the realm but that is kind of dumb of me to assume. Anything is possible at this point.

That also means we could be fighting against someone strong if they possess a ranged weapon like a gun. I’m sure I can get enough speed to avoid the shots but I don’t know about Alice.

Footsteps begin to approach us once again.

I continue to glance around until I finally notice something familiar in the distance.

Long pink hair.

As the footsteps get closer I can fully see Akina making her way over to us with her usual outfit on. A small smile is on her face as well.

Alice rushes past me with her sword ready to swing.

Fwoosh!!!

I push off the ground and within seconds I have my arm on her shoulder to hold her back from attacking.

"My, my. Rokuro you really have changed your appearance since I last saw you," Akina says with a big smile across her face.

I look her up and down to make sure there isn’t anything different about her.

"What are you doing in the demon realm Akina?" I ask with curiosity in my voice.

"I needed to make sure you were still alive. My vision disappeared after you fought with King Albus," Akina explains as she twirls her pistols around.

"I understand now. I take it you are coming with?" I question.

"Of course. I’m already here. Hehe," She answers before letting out a small chuckle.