169 Far from home

Flying at great speed, a small black ball violently hit a nearby stone, before passing through. This kept continuing until the ball in question managed to stop herself, only to find out she was deep inside the ground. Flying upward, she managed to spot the blackened ground from where she came from. As for the portal it had already been destroyed, collapsing because of the lack of mana. Even now, she couldn't help but feel that she had been swindled by that old dragon.

But in the end, even if this wasn't what Candaith wanted for her to get, it was still his mark on the portal. From her frequent usages and even their regular petty fights, she had a good grasp on what the human could do. And inscribing a seal on a crystal like that was perfectly in his expertise. The only thing she needed to know now was where the hell she currently was.

Looking around, she was slightly disappointed to not see anything that was not natural, like a house or even a sculpted pillar. However, gazing at the red clouds above her and the quite scarce vegetation around, she had the feeling she was not on the same planet anymore. Spreading her power, even more, she was more and more convinced of this idea, as the nature of the mana was not as pure as the precedent planet.

Also meaning that this world, or whatever she was in was not created by the Ancients. Maybe the only good thing for her was to not have to worry again about anything that this race did. Observing her surroundings carefully, all she could obtain was the fact that she was in a quite desolate place, with barely anything to eat and drink. However, after floating a bit, she recognized a strange pattern.

In fact, the stone that she first entered when she was projected in there was also part of it. Even if her surroundings were quite open, numerous rocks formed multiple circles around where the portal was created. Touching them, she could feel the remnant of magic that was dissipating, further confirming the fact that it was organized. Either Candaith or someone he knew did it because apparently, he managed to get friendly with a lot of people. Including the dragons.

The more she stayed on this planet, the longer she felt that Candaith had managed to know she would end up there too. But if that was the case, why didn't he just hide. Who could catch him, Akama, and any others that were present, if they truly wanted to not be discovered? But she also knew the answer to that question. If her disciple would follow that space-bunny if he was promised she would arrive, the others would necessarily be far more dubious. And with the numerous failures of going back to the Demonic Empire, they wouldn't believe Candaith anymore.

Absorbed by her thoughts, she noticed too late that a group of monsters had approached the circles of stones, and one of them had come back to the group in a hurry, by still silently. "A soul! There is a soul violating the sacred ground!" Compared to the rest of the creatures, the one that was murmuring those words was quite small, nearly the size of Leilade and quite similar to a green ratman.

As for the rest, they were comparable to a group of red orcs, with only more deformed limbs and less human-like. However, they all had armors and weapons on them, like a uniform as even the colors were the same. All in all, with just a glance, the fact that they were organized fighters was obvious. Hearing the fact that an intruder had been spotted in what should remain untouched by war, those monsters had veins popping on their foreheads.

"It's been a long time since we killed a soul, boys! Let's send this wretched undead back to the grave!" Grabbing their weapons, the twenty or so creatures began to approach Leilade, with only hatred in their eyes. On their way, many began to murmurs incantations, enflaming their swords, axes, and hammers with a blue flame.

Only after sensing that disruption in the surrounding mana did the small girl turned around to look clearly at the newcomers. In her eyes, they could be considered as demons in a way, as the original races they belonged to had been tainted by this world. Of course, they were related to real demons like Ymir the same way a lizard was to a dragon. But more than once, just that appearance alone earned them this definition, annoying, even more, those that proud themselves by this name.

"DIE, SOUL!" Without even trying to talk to her, they began to rush at her, with a few of them staying in the back and beginning to wave their hands. On the receiving end of the assault, of course, Leilade would react. This time, she had not suffered immense damage under the power of The End and traveled in space itself in that disastrous state. No, in fact, this little trip barely affected her at all.

Even with the sudden change of appearance of the dark soul in front of them, that was obscuring the very place with darkness, none of the warriors had any hesitation. In fact, it only reinforced their determination to end this monstrosity that tainted this sacred place by its presence. Seeing the few spells that landed on this monster, they yelled as their weapons cut open a path to the small thing.

Unfortunately, they soon realized that even after cutting the numerous tentacles that were moving inside the shadows, that was useless. In a single second, everything that cut and fell to the ground immediately flew at great speed toward the wound, healing it in the process. As they could hear a burst of laughter mocking them, the very white eyes that were starring at them began to fade into nothingness.

"DEATH TO THE UNDEAD!"

"DEATH!"

Each and every one of them had slain countless of them before, and on this day it will not be the end. Their very movements suddenly began to become faster, as more and more darkness was falling to the ground. But even with this surge of power that was filling their bodies, as the mana around this place became scarce, it was not enough to even harm the true body of the soul. And finally, one was not quick enough to escape the clutches of the shadows. Seeing one of his men beginning to be absorbed by this monster, the leader of this group saw him smile one last time.

BOOM

The body of this warrior exploded, creating a small vacuum inside the darkness. As more and more felt tired and made mistakes, none allowed themselves to be captured by the dark soul. Behind them, the few mages that were beginning to sweat heavily all grabbed their hands, before casting something that would cost their lives. The intense ray of red light pierced completely everything, finally allowing them to see the very small black face with a smile. As for the spell, it was stopped by a single of her hand, the light dispersed into the sky.

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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.