Chapter 407 Stairway to Heaven?
"What?"
With a grumpy expression, she turned to ask instead.
She had already spent all her energy, so she couldn't even teleport us back to the capital like this.
"Since Goddess Zeta is currently useless, we have no choice; we shall head back to the capital manually!"
*BAM!*
"WHO'S USELESS AGAIN, HUH?! YOU BRAT!"
T-That stings!
"It was a figure of speech! Don't get angry!"
I guess it was so out of context that it sounded like an insult to her, but anyway, would one actually kick someone in the back just for that? If Zeshion hadn't quietly grabbed her from behind, then she might've actually beaten me up.
"Sorry Will, it's that time of the month for her, so please pardon her."
Zeshion whispered in a low voice, but everyone around him heard it. After all, other than me and Ember, everyone's in the 9th-stage and above. Goddess Zeta, realizing how many tamers heard her current status, blushed hard. Then, her embarrassment turned to anger as she flailed wildly, shouting.
"Let me go! I'll smack this disrespectful brat and correct his manners!"
"Come on, Zeta, let it go. He's just a child."
"NO!"
The two of them kept exchanging words as Zeshion slowly took her further and further away until they were no longer in sight.
"..."
So that's how unstable she gets when it's that time of the month? Without particular reason, I turned to Ember, causing her to act embarrassed while blushing.
"S-Sorry, Master, but as a slime, I have no estrus cycle."
"Oh, is that so?"
That was news to me. I wonder about the others...
After Zeshion took Goddess Zeta somewhere, the rest of us began to race on our way back. No holds barred; may it be short-distance teleportation, portal teleportation, or anything similar, anything goes.
Still, we all fought against god-level demons, so it's not like we have energy to spare. At most, everyone simply used physical enchantment skills and ran their way back.
We didn't meet any demons on the way back, fortunately, so the entire trip that took us almost a day and a half barely needed an hour on our return.
"Finally, home!"
As soon as we entered the capital, I quickly called for Guren and Lady Luo for backup with regards to sending our friends back to the Cleaver Kingdom. Of course, they were simply guided toward the array near the castle. There's no need to waste energy if there's already a teleportation array ready for use.
After we reached the capital, everyone began to go their own separate ways. Everyone wanted to rest after the tiring excursion, after all.
I, alone, was left standing in the middle of the plaza, staring at the sunny sky, without a hint of the approaching tragedy.
"... I should move too."
[That was quick. You're back.]
"...!"
And just as I was about to open a portal back to my office, a voice echoed inside my head.
"Azrael!"
I turned around, seeing the gigantic, beyond-god-level angel floating above the plaza. He wasn't there a second earlier, and now he's blotting out the entire sky!
[And? Did you collect the essence crystals?]
As soon as he asked, I quickly took out the Storage Ring containing the essence crystals. After all, there's a literal thousand of them. Placing them in sacks would be too bothersome.
"It's all here. 1,483 essence crystals."
[Isn't that a little bit over my required quantity? Anyway, with this, I can finally re-establish my connection!]
Without bothering to stay and chat, Azrael was about to raise his altitude and move away. However, I still have something to ask him.
"Ah, wait! Azrael! I heard there's an anomaly on the Otherside right now. Do you perhaps know the reason behind it?"
[... Anomaly? What sort...]
"It's going to take a while if I am to retell it..."
[Then tag along and talk while I work on the array.]
As soon as he finished speaking, the scenery around me changed. It was a weird feeling, different from spatial teleportation. There's no dizziness or loss of sense of direction, as if I were standing in that place all the time and not at the plaza in the capital.
"This place is..."
Everywhere I looked, I could only see a sandy view. Not even a single pebble or a blade of grass was present. It was like I was thrown into the middle of a flat desert.
[This place was where that hateful empire was before.]
"..."
No more words were needed to convey why it was a desert and not a cityscape.
'This guy literally wiped them out, huh?'
When I had Ember check it before, the place was covered with smoke and dust, so it was impossible to confirm. Who would've guessed that it would become like this after his rampage?
[Enough about that; tell me about this anomaly.]
As he asked, he also began to move. With a single wave of a finger, the content of the Storage Ring flooded out, floating around as if they were satellites, forming a ring around him.
The essence crystals began to dissolve, turning into something between a powder and a fluid. After all of them turned into that state, they then started to sweep around the flat, sandy ground, forming a complex array.
As he worked, I also began relaying the information that Namia had just told us.
Soon enough, the powdered essence crystals solidified once more into lines and curves of uniform thickness, spreading a total of 100 meters across the ground.
"... and so they said that the god-level demons would reach millions in a week if left unattended."
[... To think it would proceed to this extent. We should hurry.]
"So, you have an idea about the reason for this anomaly?!"
Azrael turned to look at me, his gaze sweeping all across my body as if assessing me.
[I do, but I can't tell it to you. Come with me; there should be someone who could answer your questions better than I can.]
As he finished his words, he then snapped his fingers. As soon as the echoes faded, the magic array on the ground began to release a mystifying glow.
[Take a step back. I'm summoning the path to heaven.]
*BAM!*
Something fell from the sky, raising a cloud of dust. I covered my eyes, avoiding the sand that would irritate them. When I felt that the cloud of dust had already settled, I opened my eyes wide and stared in shock.
"... an elevator?"
So it wasn't stairs?
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