We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The raging great sea.
Eve, the Pegasus, showed no signs of exhaustion and continued to run along the dragon vein.
Based on their course, which was generally heading north but slightly shifting east, I could tell that both Eve and Alice were wary of further pursuit.
Even though the dragon vein is protected by Grandma Yuuri’s Bewildering Technique over a wide area, so it shouldn’t be easily broken through.
Nevertheless, I should keep in mind that there is an opponent who, despite their efforts to stop Alice, is relentlessly pursuing us.
However, there’s nothing I can do while riding Eve on the dragon vein.
I can neither dismount Eve nor persuade Alice.
After all, if I were to dismount from Eve, I would either be swept away by the flow of the dragon vein and rudely thrown onto the ground, or drown within it. Furthermore, since Alice is holding me firmly from behind, I can’t even struggle, let alone dismount.
Well, I wouldn’t struggle like Priscilla-chan, though.
Alice, who was holding me close, never relaxed her tense aura.
Like a warrior who is always on the battlefield, Alice showed no signs of negligence.
The warmth and consideration of her arms around my waist, preventing me from falling off, were gentle, yet the vigilance she projected from behind never subsided.
Because of this, I kept missing the opportunity to ask Alice why she couldn’t forgive the traitorous Miko-sama so much.
Inevitably, I turned my attention to the flowing scenery.
The trees of the deep treeline pressed in, but before Eve had to avoid them, the encroaching trees shifted to the side, allowing Eve to run straight ahead without any obstacles.
The scenery I was seeing was the ground spreading out below, viewed from the dragon vein. That’s why terrestrial obstacles had no effect on Eve running within the dragon vein.
However, this was only while running on the dragon vein that flowed beneath the forbidden territory.
Unusually, Eve changed course as if panicked.
“Eve?”
In response to Alice’s question, Eve grunted.
“It seems we’ve entered a dragon’s territory. I sense the presence of dragons and the drawing of dragon energy from various places.”
If we run east of the forbidden territory, we’ll quickly reach Dragon Peak.
And the northern part of Dragon Peak is called the “Dragon’s Mausoleum,” where ancient, elderly dragons spend their final years in peace.
“Even if you’re hidden in the dragon vein, you dragons probably have ways to attack, so be careful!”
“Understood.”
Eve, a magic beast, understands the dread of dragons without me having to tell her.
Eve slowed her speed somewhat, and instead, cautiously scanned her surroundings as she ran north.
“Can’t we cross the North Sea by continuing along the dragon vein like this?”
I wonder if the parent of Ruilala, who is of the Primogenitor Race and rules the North Sea, has the ability to influence even the dragon veins?
It was not Alice, but Eve who answered my question.
“Impossible. That monster forbids passage across the North Sea by any means whatsoever.”
“By any means?”
“Land, sea, sky, dragon veins, spirits, fairies, and the overlap of other worlds. The North Sea monster’s magic affects everything.”
“Uwah! That’s incredible. So, why do you know so much about the Ruler of the North Sea?”
Even I, whose close friend is Ruilala, the child of the Ruler of the North Sea, don’t know how they rule the vast sea.
Or rather, I’ve often heard that the Ruler of the North Sea is fearsome, but I’ve never heard any specific details before.
I wonder if Eve, as a magic beast, knows about the Ruler of the North Sea? When I casually asked, I received a surprising answer.
“I once tried to cross the North Sea.”
“Eh!? Then, at that time…?”
“Of course, I couldn’t cross. I barely escaped with my life.”
What a thing to say.
Eve had already had the experience. The terrifying power of the Ruler of the North Sea.
Does that mean Alice, the rider, too…?
Alice, who had her arms around my waist and was holding me gently, was behind me. I tried to twist my upper body to ask a question.
However, it seemed the time for casual conversation had already passed.
The scenery of the treeline and mountains I had been seeing came to an end, and a new landscape unfolded.
The end of Dragon Peak. Eve, running to the northernmost edge, finally reached the coast.
“Eve.”
“Master…”
Looking back, Alice’s aura grew even more severe. And Eve, understanding her master’s intent, without hesitation but with a hint of unspoken words, ran towards the vast ocean.
“Eeeeh! Wait, Alice!”
Surely she isn’t planning to charge into the North Sea with this momentum!?
Or rather, she’s already charging in!
But, wait a minute!
Alice doesn’t have a way to cross the North Sea, does she?
Didn’t Eve just finish explaining that she had a painful experience when she tried to cross it in the past!
Of course, I don’t have any method either.
Despite all this, is she just charging in without any plan!?
Ignoring my panic, Eve plunged into the dragon vein’s flow that extended beneath the sea.
Alice also showed no intention of stopping.
The scenery visible through the dragon vein shifted from the sandy beach of land to the pattern of the sea.
A dazzlingly bright world.
The sun had risen at some point, making the endlessly spreading ocean shine blue. And it beautifully reflected the fish swimming in the shallow waters where sunlight reached.
“We can’t travel across the North Sea, but the fish can live freely, you know.”
When I crossed the sea with Ruilala, I saw many schools of fish and various sea creatures, didn’t I?
Then, why does the Ruler of the North Sea control the sea area and exclude beings other than sea creatures?
Even as I pondered this question, no one answered.
Instead, a different response came.
Shortly after Eve began running through the dragon vein that led to the bottom of the sea.
A shiver ran down my spine as I sensed an unprecedented hostility and murderous intent enveloping me entirely.
“Eve!”
Before Alice could even shout, Eve reacted, attempting to evade with all her might.
Alice, tightening her reins, also readied her two-bladed naginata and began chanting a protective spell.
But it won’t be enough!
A thick murderous intent that enveloped my entire body.
A pressure that threatened to crush us filled the world.
This is!
“You can’t, Eve! If you’re going to escape, break through the dragon vein and head for the sky!!”
The source of the pressure and murderous intent that was trying to crush us was a terrifying, great magic that used the dragon vein itself as a magic source!
Therefore, if we remain submerged in the dragon vein, there’s nowhere to escape!
In response to my warning, Eve frantically ascended.
Eve’s rough movement, which seemed to defy the flow of the dragon vein, caused my vision to shake violently. Just as I felt dizzy enough to drown and my upper body tilted, Alice supported me from behind.
The place Eve scrambled out to was the bottom of the sea.
Just when we thought we had escaped the murderous intent and great magic, the water pressure attacked us.
Even so, Alice’s magic was timely, and we managed not to drown at the bottom of the sea.
A translucent membrane, like the color of a full moon, enveloped us.
Eve then ascended rapidly, leaping out onto the sea’s surface.
“Uwah!”
I gasped, taking in a breath.
The beautifully shining ocean I had seen moments before was nowhere to be found; instead, an endless, terrifying ocean landscape raged, churning with massive waves.
Moreover, each of the towering white-capped waves was imbued with immense magical power, making it terrifying just to look at.
Eve flapped her wings desperately, increasing her altitude.
However, the sky she was heading towards was also filled with immeasurable magical power.
The clear sky, which should have been dawn, was covered in darkness like the middle of a storm. And even the dragon veins flowing through the atmosphere carried murderous intent-laden magic.
“Cough. The sky is no good either! Eve, head for land!”
Alice’s desperate voice reached me from behind.
Kicking Eve’s flank hard, she changed direction and ran towards the distant sandy beach.
Even as this was happening, the magic and murderous intent filling the sea and sky writhed terrifyingly, targeting us.
As if chasing Eve, who had ascended into the sky, the giant waves began to swirl and rise toward the heavens.
Eve flapped her wings desperately while heading towards land.
However, the magic filling the atmosphere robbed Eve of her buoyancy.
Eve’s altitude suddenly dropped with a jolt.
Alice and I lost our balance on the saddle.
If this continues, we’ll crash into the raging sea before reaching land!
Even if that weren’t the case, the swirling high waves would reach our altitude and swallow us!
I steadied myself with Alice’s support and began to refine my dragon energy.
I’ll use the Storm Dragon Arts to blow away the atmospheric magic and killing intent, and buy us time to retreat!
With that thought, the dragon energy I unleashed lost control at the tip of my swung hand!
“Wh-!?”
I was speechless.
The dragon energy released as a preliminary step to the Storm Dragon Arts by the atmosphere’s magic?
No, that’s not right!
To use the dragon arts, I not only use the dragon jewel I contain and my own dragon energy, but I also unconsciously utilize the power of the dragon vein. However, not only the dragon vein flowing at the bottom of the sea but even the dragon veins flowing in the great sea and sky were already contaminated with immeasurable magic.
In other words, the dragon vein I unconsciously tried to use was already dominated by magic from the start, which is why my dragon energy lost control before I could use the Storm Dragon Arts!
Alice must have instantly understood the reason for my confusion and the critical situation, as the aura emanating from behind me was filled with tension.
Nevertheless, Alice did not stop moving.
She hummed the incantation like a song and skillfully drew magical patterns with the tip of her two-bladed naginata.
Then, she instantly activated a protective spell.
A moon-colored path lit up at Eve’s feet.
The path extended towards the land, and Eve galloped upon it.
As Eve ran desperately, and as I and Alice rode on her, high waves rose to a breathtaking height, chasing us!
“Haa!”
I unleashed “Dragon Lance,” refined using only my own dragon energy, without borrowing the power of the dragon vein, towards the giant wave.
However, the Dragon Lance was simply swallowed by the colossal wave, not even exploding!
“Th-there’s no helping this!”
My small dragon arts were meaningless against the immeasurable magic that filled everything: the dragon veins, the great sea, and the atmosphere.
It’s frustrating, but this is the current situation!
Alice gently embraced me from behind as I raged at my powerlessness.
“It’s not your fault. It was my decision to invade the sea without a plan that was wrong.”
Eve ran desperately, guided by the moonlight.
Alice, without resting, cast protective spells, trying to ward off the interference of the giant waves approaching from behind and the magic filling the atmosphere.
And thanks to the efforts of Eve and Alice, we managed to reach the airspace above the sandy beach.
Then, the giant waves that had been looming like symbols of terror, instead of becoming a tsunami, receded back into the great sea, and the murderous intent and magic that had enveloped our surroundings dissipated.
“If we hadn’t entered the sea, we would have been let go, is that it?”
Carefully analyzing the surrounding situation, Alice murmured regretfully.
As Alice said.
The hostility, murderous intent, and magic that had filled the entire world were not present anywhere on land.
The raging sea that had repelled us quickly returned to a calm ocean, and the clear sky returned.
“This… It’s still impossible to cross the sea, Master. We barely managed to survive that, but crossing the sea is out of the question.”
Eve sighed, completely exhausted.
However, I intuitively understood that even Eve’s assessment was too optimistic.
“No, Eve. And Alice.”
I spoke my feelings, looking at the beautiful scenery that had returned to a normal sea.
“We didn’t just barely survive. I think the Ruler of the North Sea let us go.”
I recalled the time we entered the sea while advancing within the dragon vein.
Looking back, I explained the desperate situation we had just experienced anew.
“If the Ruler of the North Sea had wished it, I believe we would have been killed before even leaping out of the dragon vein? After all, everything was contaminated with magic.”
Even the power of the dragon vein I absorbed was tainted with magic and I couldn’t even control it. Considering that, if the Ruler of the North Sea had intended to kill us from the beginning, they could have immobilized Eve’s movements as she ran through the dragon vein’s flow, preventing us from escaping and letting us drown in it.
Besides, if magic filled our surroundings, they wouldn’t need to use such conspicuously flashy magic like the giant waves that rose to the sky; they could have instantly killed us with magic that caught us off guard.
And, I had one more small sense of unease.
The overwhelming magic that contaminated everything in the world didn’t seem to be of a single type…
That magic…
However, this isn’t a confirmed fact, so I can’t say it, ” I swallowed the small sense of unease down my throat.
At any rate, the Ruler of the North Sea, while maintaining the ability to kill us at any moment, allowed us to escape to land.
What does that mean…?
“This is just my wild guess. Perhaps the Ruler of the North Sea knew about me and, because of my connection with Ruilala, they let us go?”
The Ruler of the North Sea would naturally know about my previous crossing of the sea with Ruilala.
Therefore, I intuitively felt that we were let off the hook this time and allowed to escape.
To my opinion, Alice and Eve grumbled low, “That was too reckless.”
“I thought that perhaps the connection between you and the child of the Ruler of the North Sea might allow us to cross the sea. It seems my thinking was too shallow.”
“So, you tried to cross the sea without question? Because you thought I would refuse if we consulted beforehand?”
“That’s right. All responsibility lies with me. I apologize for making you go through such a frightening experience.”
Alice offered a deep apology.
I dismissed it with a laugh.
“No, it’s alright. But next time, please consult with me properly, okay?”
Everyone makes mistakes and errors, especially when they are cornered and mentally stressed in a desperate situation.
This time was very dangerous, but I intuitively felt that we had been let go by the Ruler of the North Sea, so I will forgive Alice’s reckless act this time.
“Still. If those who try to cross the North Sea are repelled with such overwhelming power, how did the Miko-sama, whom Alice is pursuing, manage to cross this sea?”
A big question, isn’t it?
However, neither Alice nor Eve answered me.
And for us, who had caused a disturbance by trying to cross the North Sea, a new problem awaited.
From the end of Dragon Peak visible to the south, the roars of dragons echoed.
“You can’t be serious! We’ve angered the old dragons!?”
The ancient dragons, who sought their final peace, might have been angered by the recent commotion.
But my thoughts were too naive.
The reason the old dragons let out their angry roars was obvious if you looked towards the southern sky where Dragon Peak soared.
“The pursuers have touched the dragons’ territory and incurred their wrath!”
Five black Pegasi. And nine dragons, comprising wyverns and winged dragons, took flight from Dragon Peak to pursue them.
Facing this new problem, we entered a state of readiness without a moment’s rest.
