>Skill: Synchronization has been activated. Status: Synchronization successful. The mental presence of the target, Zephal Beaut, has been aligned with the surrounding human mental count.
“GYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH—”
…
The scream echoed away into the distance like a dying firework.
We all fell silent.
Most notably, Zephal, who had been radiating smug confidence just a moment ago, slowly averted his eyes, looking deeply uncomfortable.
I couldn’t believe it. There really was a fragment of the Night King still clinging to him?
Everyone was frozen in place, their expressions a mix of disbelief, discomfort, and are you kidding me right now?
To cut through the awkwardness, I clapped my hands and forced a change in topic.
“S-So! Anyway! We’re done here, right? Let’s, uh… get out of this place!”
“Yes! Let’s go!” Saria jumped in quickly, glad for the escape route.
“Ghhh… So, in the end, there was no unknown food to be found here after all.” Lulune muttered bitterly.
Still, we’d rescued Zephal, dealt with the Night King, and confirmed everything was safe. That was mission accomplished as far as I was concerned.
I turned to leave, only to hear Zephal speak again behind me, his voice low.
“I cannot leave.”
“Huh?” Zephal’s words left Routier frozen in place, eyes wide with disbelief. “W-What do you mean… you can’t leave?”
“Routier…” he began gently, voice grave. “So long as I was under the Night King’s control, this land was considered a blessed domain. But now that I’ve reclaimed both my body and mind, this place has reverted to its original purpose: a prison. A seal meant to contain me. In other words, leaving this place is—”
Nope.
That conversation was clearly heading into melodrama territory, so I decided to cut it off before it snowballed any further.
Time to finally put this spell to use.
With a flourish, I activated my long-unused spell: Li●coln President.
At long last, this weirdly named magic had its moment. A ring of golden light flared to life, encircling Zephal’s body. It glowed for a moment, then burst apart in a flash of sparkles. The entire process took seconds.
And the look on Zephal’s face?
Honestly, I felt bad for thinking it, but… it was kind of hilarious.
He stood there blinking, mouth slightly open, wearing the most baffled expression I’d ever seen on a Demon King.
“Huh?”
“That seal thing? Yeah, just broke it. You’re good to go now.”
He didn’t respond. Not immediately, anyway. I could see him mentally processing what I’d just said. And when it finally clicked, he snapped back into action, waving his hands in a panic.
“W-Well! Even if I can leave… this planet isn’t our own, is it?! I told you that, remember? You might be able to get out of this place, but what about returning to your home world? None of us may be able to go back!”
“Hmm… Can’t we just use Seiichi’s teleport magic or something?” Al said casually, as if she were suggesting taking the bus home.
“We can,” I answered with a shrug. “No problem.”
In fact, when we first got here, I thought the ceiling was solid and hit it with a normal slash… only to find out I could tear open space itself. That’s right, my body just knows how to connect dimensions now.
Yeah… that’s definitely a red flag.
Zephal stared at us as if we were aliens, which was understandable, really. After a long, stunned silence, he finally broke it, sounding exhausted and completely worn out.
“E-Even if we could return to our original world… what about the Cult of the Wicked One?! I recall there being a facility just outside this dungeon, crawling with their members! Not just their average grunts, either! Their Servants are stationed there, some of the most powerful monsters they command! And worse, there are even Apostles, beings of terrifying might!”
I blinked. “Cult of the Wicked One facility? Did anyone see anything like that when we entered this dungeon?”
“Nope,” Al said flatly.
“I didn’t see anything like that either,” Saria chimed in brightly.
“Actually, come to think of it, I haven’t even seen the Cult of the Wicked One since we beat one of their Apostles,” Origa added, her voice cool and matter-of-fact.
“Right? That’s what I thought,” I said, nodding along.
“And besides…” Origa continued, “Seiichi-oniichan can use teleportation magic. There’s no need to warp back to the entrance of this dungeon at all. We could just go somewhere safer.”
“Exactly,” Al agreed without hesitation.
I looked over at Zephal.
So… anything else you’re worried about?
At my glance, Zephal slowly brought both hands to his face and groaned into them.
“This is mortifying…” he muttered. “I-I was the one who said goodbye like it was a final farewell between father and daughter! I prepared myself for that!”
“Dad…” Routier said softly. “Seiichi’s just… unreasonable.”
“Unreasonable?” Zephal lowered his hands, then gave her a look of disbelief. “This goes far beyond unreasonable! Do you realize what just happened?! He broke a high-level divine seal without an incantation! He can open teleportation gates between planets without any special equipment or arcane rituals! That seal was crafted by the hero of the previous age. He sacrificed his life to bind me! And now you’re telling me this one guy just waved his hand and undid it?! I’m not even the one getting disrespected here… the hero got done dirty too!”
“It’s okay. With Seiichi, abnormal is the baseline,” Routier replied, nodding solemnly.
“Huhh?! Routier, I mean this kindly, but you should really aim for someone a bit more grounded! I know you’re used to him, but seriously… he’s not even human anymore, is he? You just casually mentioned he beat an Apostle! Do you understand how insane that is?!”
“Geez, thanks for the glowing endorsement!” I snapped. “Yeah, okay, maybe I did steamroll all your dramatic tension, but come on! Was that really necessary?! I’m gonna cry, seriously!”
“Anyway! We can go home now, and that’s what matters, right?!”
“Y-Yes… you’re right.”
“Great! Then this conversation is officially over! Initiating teleport!”
Without giving anyone time to argue, I activated the teleportation spell and let it expand to envelop the group. The magic shimmered around us, grabbing hold of our bodies and lifting the weight of gravity and space itself.
In a blink, we left the surface of this strange world.
Just in case Routier and the others wanted to head straight back to the Demon King’s domain after this, I chose to teleport us to the point in my travel history closest to their territory. Just a bit of thoughtful planning, that’s all.