"Burning Storm!"
Burning through the abnormally tall grass, Rest and the others pressed onward toward the center of the demon realm.
With every step, the mana saturating the air grew thicker and thicker — so dense that it felt as though the contents of his stomach were about to come back up.
"Incredible… so this is how intense the mana in the demon realm really is…"
Isis had gone pale, one hand clamped over her mouth.
The rest of the members wore much the same expression, though none of them said a word.
The reason Isis's reaction was so pronounced was probably that she had the greatest sensitivity to mana among all the members.
It was no doubt a rare talent for a mage — but in a place like this, it also meant she was reacting far more acutely to the demon realm's mana.
"Are you all right, Isis?"
"Yeah… thanks, Yuri."
Yuri offered Isis her shoulder for support.
In stark contrast to Isis, who was breaking into a cold sweat, Yuri looked perfectly composed. She barely seemed affected by the dense mana at all.
Born with a naturally low mana pool and high physical ability, she was able to remain largely insensitive to shifts in her surroundings.
"Even so… this is a pretty rough environment. Can we really build a town in a place like this?"
"Living here as things stand would be impossible, I'd say."
Rest answered Isis's question.
Even without her level of sensitivity, anyone who stayed in the heart of the demon realm could not escape the effects of its mana.
Building a town and settling here in its current state was simply unfeasible.
"We can't live here as it is, but once proper frontier development gets underway, court magicians skilled in barrier techniques should be dispatched to install mana-warding arrays. If they expend mana to deploy the barriers, the mana in the air should improve."
"So you're saying you use barriers to drain the mana from the demon realm and change the environment... I see."
"Can't you make barriers, Rest?"
"Nope. That's high-level stuff."
Rest gave a wry smile and shrugged at Yuri, who tilted her head.
Rest could not deploy barriers.
It wasn't a matter of mana capacity or skill—it was a pure lack of knowledge.
Barrier techniques could be studied in academy lectures, but the barriers needed for the demon realm were on an entirely different level from what was taught there.
"What we need to do is reconnoiter and clear the path. We survey the terrain and take out the monsters so that the people who come after us will have an easier time of it."
After casually burning over a section of the plains, Rest took to the sky using Levitation and Wind Control in tandem.
Looking down from above, he sketched out the terrain in rough strokes and saved the record.
"Well then... that wraps up today's survey. It's pretty rough, but I've got a grasp of the demon realm's central terrain."
They had felled a considerable number of monsters, burned the plains, and carved out a stretch of land.
Of course, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the vastness of the plains... but for a first day's work, it was more than enough.
"Let's call it here for today and head back to the entrance of the plains. It would be bad if night fell on us."
In the demon realm, the arrival of night was tantamount to death.
Being ambushed by monsters in the dark would be fatal. To make matters worse, the thick mana in this area rendered presence detection useless.
They had to turn back before sundown, or their lives would be at stake.
It was tedious, but there was no choice but to spread the survey out over multiple days.
"The return trip should be faster than the way in. Burning the grass has made movement easier, so tomorrow's work should go more quickly too."
"Hopefully new grass won't have grown back by the time we come again."
Lubeth shrugged with an air of irony.
Normally, plants wouldn't grow that fast, but in a demon realm, it wasn't impossible.
To put it in extreme terms... there was even a chance that by tomorrow, when they came again, the grass and trees would have grown back to their original person-height.
"Well, we'll deal with that when the time comes. Now then, let's head back..."
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Rest and the others were about to withdraw... but immediately after, a beast's scream echoed around them.
A sinister cry that seemed to reverberate up from the depths of the earth. It was a scream they recognized.
"That cry...!"
"Stay alert! It's coming!"
Argil shouted, drawing his sword and taking a stance.
Isis and Yuri also assumed combat positions, and Lubeth silently gripped the hilt of her sword.
"[Firestorm]!"
Rest cast magic ahead of the others.
The grass and trees burned, and from within the flames, the shadow of a large monster burst forth.
"Just as I thought... a dependent of Sabnock!"
What appeared was a demonic lion with pale blue fur bristling on end and drool of decay dripping from its maw.
A six-legged, multi-eyed monster with a body as large as an elephant.
The same species of monster that Rest had subjugated — a Corrosion Beast — burst out before them.
—————— I'm posting the continuation episode in the limited status update notes.
If you'd like, please give it a read!