You’d lose a home to go back to.
That’s not happening to me... I’m going home. We’re all going home together, she thought to herself.
“Is Colgon really so unbeatable at this point?”
It was true that he had been one of the top casters in the Childman class. She admitted that, but she’d never thought of him on the same level as the world being destroyed or dragons or anything like that. When it came to the strength of his sorcery, he was either on the same level or slightly below Azalie, and though he was more powerful than Leticia, she figured if they went toe to toe, she’d be able to hold her own against him.
Leticia heard water somewhere nearby—she was careful of her surroundings and by the time she had stepped over a nearby embankment, Azalie was answering her.
“His abilities had already reached their peak five years ago. On top of that, he gained a ton of experience working with the lord of the Imminent Domain.”
“So he’s just more experienced with fighting?”
“Yes. Perhaps even more than Master when he was working as an assassin.”
Leticia groaned, pulling her shoe out of some wet earth. “So the only one who can oppose him on equal footing is Krylancelo, since he’s also been wandering around getting experience these last five years?”
“Me, you, and Forte don’t compare, right? Especially not if you’re humoring the idea of trying to go toe to toe with him.”
Leticia felt her cheeks burning at that, but she didn’t think anyone would be able to tell in the darkness as she ran on.
Her footing was so unstable and the night was so dark that she wanted a light, but she didn’t know if conjuring one would be a good idea. With Azalie’s assistance, she could make it through the darkness one way or the other. But that was also as good as Azalie could do right after teleporting her. The water made her nervous too. Trees and water. This must have been the forest above the sanctuary, but...
“Who is Colgon?” she found herself muttering. They had learned together in the same classroom for years, but she didn’t know a thing about him. She had no memories of ever exchanging small talk with him.
Azalie should have been the same way, but she had an answer ready anyway, it seemed.
“He’s Colgon. He’s always just done whatever he wanted.”
“How is that any different from you?” Leticia asked reflexively, not meaning anything by it, but apparently that was a question Azalie hadn’t been expecting.
Leticia almost felt like she could feel laughter coming from whatever abyss where Azalie resided. “I guess you have a point. The Chaos Witch and the Night Knocker... They’re both nothing but trouble, aren’t they? Maybe I really am like him.”
“Then we have to stop him. Since no matter what he’s planning on doing, I’m sure it’s something stupid,” she jabbed and bent forward, watching her path carefully. Eventually, a shape seemed to shift in the darkness. It was hard to tell, but it looked like it might have been a person.
There’s someone there... An enemy? An ally?
She quieted her breathing, trying to be even more careful, though Azalie’s telepathic communication continued blithely all the while.
“I have another idea about who he is.”
“Oh yeah?” Leticia couldn’t be so carefree. She whispered her question.
Azalie lowered her voice as well, though it wasn’t out of consideration. It was just a matter of emotion, Leticia was sure. “I think that maybe the superhuman Lottecia Crewbstar left the sanctuary in order to find him.”
Leticia blinked. She didn’t understand what that meant. “To find him?”
“Yes. If she was looking for someone who didn’t exist within the sanctuary...she’d have to leave it.”
“What was she looking for?” As she asked, she raced down the hill—she couldn’t waste time on this conversation any longer. She had to hurry to her target and figure out just who she was dealing with here.
“Basically, he would be someone who both a devil and an angel had their eyes on.”
Leticia jumped with all her might, ignoring Azalie’s incomprehensible words. Small branches grazed her cheeks. Leticia passed through trees, jumping over roots, and focused all her senses forward.
Suddenly a different color emerged amid the darkness obscuring her sight.
Sparks flew and danced. That’s what it looked like. The taste of the air changed as well. It wasn’t flame, but it was incredibly bitter.
What is this...?! She tried to cough it up, but she couldn’t stop.
Leticia charged through the now heavy air and finally reached the limits of her endurance. She thrust both hands forward and shouted, “Light!”
She kept the brightness down and only lit up her surroundings for an instant. When she sent the faint illumination forward, she confirmed that there was one figure standing before her. With her spell and the light it had created, she was sure they had noticed her as well. It would be a gamble, but she decided to name herself before she was attacked.
“I’m Leticia MacCready of the Tower of Fangs!” Her voice cut through the night air. “Who are you?!”
There was no answer. From the glimpse she’d caught in the moment of light and her speed, she would have to stop soon or risk crashing into them.
No, if they were an enemy, they likely weren’t even there anymore. They might have already gotten around her and were preparing to attack.
I’ll have to get ready too... But the moment she began to prepare a defensive spell...
The ground gave out from under her.
There was nothing she could do. She fell. There was a splash and a stabbing cold—a sticky darkness coiled around her limbs. Water flooded into her mouth and throat and she couldn’t even scream. Despair beat down on Leticia.
I’m going to drown! She couldn’t make sound to cast a spell. The night was dark, and her feet didn’t reach the bottom. This was the worst possible situation.
Azalie! Help me—
Something grabbed her arm and yanked her upward. Leticia writhed, momentarily too blinded by the new sensation of pain to be relieved that someone had saved her. She might have hit something in her flailing, but she was pretty sure her fist was just cutting through the air. The hand that had her by the arm lifted her with unnatural strength and then simply tossed her aside. Thankful that she was falling on solid ground this time, Leticia finally opened her eyes. She only realized now that she’d closed them when she fell in the water.
There was a light.
Again, it was very dim, and it looked like it was pointed in one direction. Aside from that one spot, nothing else was lit up. The spot being her herself. And the face she saw on the other side of the light was...
“Miss Maria,” Leticia whispered, and the sorcerer she hadn’t seen in a very long time nodded tightly.
It wasn’t just Maria. There was someone else too. The large man must have been the one who had pulled her up—he was drenched, himself.
The man silently signaled to Maria as he wrung out his wet hair. It looked like a signal to withdraw.
Maria quickly acquiesced, shifting the light. A moment later, Leticia could barely see it anymore. In other words, she’d switched to illuminating the direction she’d come from. No one explained anything to her. The large man took the lead and Maria signaled for her to follow. Leticia nodded wordlessly. Maybe it really was foolish of her to raise her voice earlier.
While the explosions had ceased, there were still sounds of combat around them. Maria moved quickly and Leticia hurried after her, dragging her wet combat gear with her. When Maria had shifted her light, she’d illuminated one thing other than their path for just a second. It probably wasn’t even on purpose.
But Leticia understood now that that was what she’d seen earlier. It hadn’t been on land—it had been above the lake. She wasn’t mistaken that the shape she’d seen was humanoid. It was a woman.
A woman stood above the lake, posed as if in prayer, her long hair lifted skyward like she was suspended from it.
She’d also realized that what was coloring the darkness was sand, and she couldn’t for the life of her remember what that wind mixed with sand was called.
Until Azalie whispered quietly, “The wind of the goddess—the dust.”