♣♣♣
WITH a full stomach, I made my way to the third-floor lounge, where Air and Lord Revireus were waiting for me. Dad did end up giving me his blessing to go.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting! I’m ready to go,” I said.
“Let’s get going, then,” Air smiled. “Throw the teleportation slime on the floor.”
“…Wh-Why do we have to be so mean to it?!”
“That’s how you’re supposed to use it. Don’t worry, just try it.”
“I feel bad about it though…”
I was taken aback by Air’s cruel instructions. The poor slime sitting on my shoulder trembled fearfully. Even if that was how it was meant to be used, it still weighed on my conscience. I picked the slime up from my shoulder and placed it on my palm. It looked up at me with those beady eyes—and then plummeted from my hand.
“Whoa!”
It fell to the floor and split into three, one of them forming a ring. The other two remained in their broken form.
It memorized what we did last time? Wow!
“Leave one of the coordinate parts hidden here in this room,” Air instructed.
“Hide it…?”
“Like this.” Air picked up one of the remaining two and threw it at the ceiling.
“Whoa!” I exclaimed.
Rough! Why do you have to be so rough with it? That’s violent! The poor thing!
But the slime he threw disappeared into the ceiling and became invisible.
It can do that? The slime continued to amaze me.
“It only makes sense to hide the coordinate slimes. If someone takes away the coordinate you leave on this side, you’ll end up being teleported to wherever it’s taken instead,” Air warned.
“That sounds bad…”
“Just leave it with Renge,” Air said. “Yes, you should do that next time. He went off somewhere, saying he was called to the Mythical continent, but if it’s to protect you, I’m sure he’d accept.”
“Renge got called back to the mythical continent?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, Mother called him over, saying the Colossals formed a faction and are moving in,” Lord Revireus explained.
“Colossals?”
I’d never heard of a race like that before. I would have assumed they were demi-humans, but apparently they were categorized as Mythicals. According to Lord Revireus, they were among the least intelligent Mythical races, acting more on instinct than anything else. They had a culture of pillaging and raiding, and believed the strong should rule their continent. And since the Great Curalius was approaching the end of her life and weakening, they were displeased with the idea of her leading them.
“They’re dumb and think anyone can be leader so long as they’re strong,” Lord Revireus said. “But you know that’s not true, right?”
“Absolutely,” I nodded.
The Great Curalius was a very wise and capable leader. She served as a mediator between the leaders of the human continent and the demi-human continent as well. Strength wasn’t everything.
“I wanted to be more like Mother and conduct myself more calmly…” Lord Revireus sighed. “But remaining composed just isn’t in my nature.”
“How so…?” I asked.
“He means his red dragon nature,” Air chuckled.
Is aggression like a physical inclination of some kind…?
“But I don’t think a prince has to rule the same as his predecessor,” Air said. “A red dragon like you will do just fine bringing people together and dragging them to where they need to be. Just do what comes naturally and be the kind of king you’re meant to be.”
“M-Me, a king…?” Lord Revireus repeated, surprised.
“Yes. Renge is strong, certainly, but he doesn’t have the qualities of a king,” Air stated. “He’s more suited to deifying and becoming a guardian to the world over becoming a king when he’s not suited to it.”
Ah…
I knew Renge had no interest in becoming the Mythical continent’s leader. Air was telling him to deify based on his personality, but Renge wasn’t up to it. I could understand Air being frustrated with him. He only suggested it because he thought it was best for Renge, but he was turned down instead.
What do you want to do, Renge? What do you want to become? I mean, you can be anything. What do you want to be? Look like? To do? I never really asked him about that before, either. Would he tell me if I asked?
“Ah, Almighty Air, is it possible for me to serve as both the leader of the Mythical continent and protector of this world?!” Lord Revireus asked.
“That’s a little greedy, but I don’t particularly mind,” Air responded with a ghost of a smile. “Of course you can, but you’d need to undergo rigorous training to do that.”
“I’ll do it!”
“Good, I like that youthful indiscretion! Very admirable. I like this stupid recklessness red dragons like you have.” Air looked satisfied.
Was that a compliment…?
“You have the other coordinate slime stored away safely?” Air asked me.
“Yes.”
“Then this time, I’ll set our coordinates in the divine realm. When we get there, throw this slime into the forest. That should set your coordinates.”
There’s a forest there? What kind of place is the divine realm? I wondered.
“Now, jump into the circle, both of you,” Air ordered us.
“Now?” Lord Revireus and I were both baffled.
“I set the coordinates, so you can pass through it now.”
We stared in silence at the circle drawn by the slime.
Did he just tell us to jump in there?
“You look like you might fall through, Holy Woman, but don’t worry, you won’t get hurt,” Air said. “I’ll go on ahead, then.”
“Ah, wait…!” I said. He was moving things along too fast!
Air hopped into the circle and vanished.
No way, for real?!
“Wait here. I’ll go in first and check if it’s safe,” Lord Revireus said.
“Thank you, Lord Revireus!”
He acted pretty rough around the edges most of the time, but he proved himself reliable every now and then. He stepped into the circle, but the moment his leg moved inside it, the floor under him vanished to reveal what looked like outer space.
“Whoa!” he exclaimed.
With one leg submerged in the space, he tumbled and hit the side of his face against the floor.
“Lord Revireus, are you all right?!”
With one of his legs sinking into the hole, it was only natural he’d fall over like this.
Where is his other leg now?!
“Ow…!” Lord Revireus complained. “This is weird, it’s like my leg isn’t touching anything!”
“That sounds scary!”
“I guess I may as well put in my other leg… Let’s go!”
“Be careful!”
It’s not that we didn’t believe in Air, but we were confused because this exceeded our imagination. Being a Mythical, Lord Revireus was used to teleporting across long distances, but he never experienced anything like this. As I looked on in concern, he suddenly stuck his head out of the circle.
“It’s safe. This thing is amazing!” he exclaimed.
“Erm, yes, amazing…is how I’d put it…”
“Hurry up!” he said with a smile and retreated back into the circle.
“Really?”
I’d never seen him look this excited before, which only made it more intimidating. But I already decided I’d go!
“Let’s do this!” I pepped myself up.
I stepped into the slime circle and dived into the hole it created. A sense of weightlessness overtook me for a second, and then I impacted what felt like the ground.
“Owie!”
“Hey, why are you lying curled up in a ball? It’s dangerous,” I heard Lord Revireus say.
“I-It hurts, though… What else was I supposed to—”
Me falling implied there was gravity and land I could hit. The slime was at my feet, still twisted into a ring-like string.
“This is the divine realm?” I looked around.
The sky above us looked like outer space, but there was ground under us. All around us was a field of flowers, full of the three major flowers—Duana, Lilith, and Solan. A soft wind blew, scattering flower petals into the space… And there was also what looked like a grave.
“Welcome to the core of Wisty Air,” Air said with a smile, standing beside the grave. “To the divine realm.”
Directly above the grave spanned an azure sky. Clouds sailed lazily in the sky as bright sunlight shined down upon the grave. It was a strange place and an unbelievable sight. It was like night and day, like heaven and earth all existed simultaneously here.