Haruto and the others were currently walking up Hnitbjorg's mountain path in single file. As befitting of a sacred mountain, it was an odd place. Given that it was a mountain, Haruto and the others had been expecting a hard climb, but this one wasn't. There were caves here and there, and passing through each one got them higher and higher.
It's like a dungeon in an RPG, Haruto thought.
The insides of the caves were lit with crystals that gave off purple light, which grew on the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. Mitokado, who was designated as the party's rear guard, was looking every which way, surprised.
"A-amazing… These are all mana crystals! There's so much materialized mana… Just how much money would we make if we brought all these crystals back?"
"These go for a lot?"
"They do. Materialized mana is one of the best materials for alchemy. It can also be used as a catalyst for magic. If you attach one to the end of a staff, it can support your magic too. Honestly, if this wasn't a sacred mountain, I'd want to take as many as I could carry back right now."
Apparently, this place was like a mountain of treasure to a magic user like Mitokado. He was rather excited and looking at the crystals really greedily.
If you want some that much, why not just take a few? Haruto thought, but the fact that Mitokado hadn't yet was a sign of how earnest he was.
Fiona could also understand why Mitokado was so excited, at least a little, since she could remember a time when Naru had acted the same way when she'd gone to mountains and caves filled with mana. She'd ended up mining the crystals excessively, though.
Still, these crystals should be pretty common wherever mana gathers, so they shouldn't fetch that high a price…
If I'm remembering right, the conditions for these to grow were a place where mana could gather that also made it hard for the mana to disperse outside afterward as well as a lack of living things that would absorb the mana… I remember Lady Naru saying, "Basically, we need to go for hollows and caves like this!"
But on top of that, this place had an anti-mana barrier over it, making it impossible for mana to pass through. As a result, the mana that had originally pooled in this mountain could no longer escape. Unable to travel the mountain, it had simply crystallized. It was truly a product of coincidence.
Maybe I should take a couple with me as a present for Lady Naru… Fiona considered the idea before retrieving some crystals at a speed no one else could notice, hiding them within her mantle. Wendy was barely able to register that Fiona had done something, but she couldn't tell what.
"Are you okay, Wendy? A-are you tired?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
Given how difficult the path they were on was to walk, Haruto worried about Wendy even while being out of breath himself. But even though Wendy looked weak, she was level 300. She had the second most stamina out of everyone there. She was easily climbing with a nonchalant expression. In fact, Haruto was the one who was lagging behind the most. He was even slower than the monster fox that was energetically running around his legs. The stratification of levels was truly a hard thing.
"By the way, that grimmfolk person… Suigetsu of the Seven Grimms of Destruction? Do you think he'll attack us?" Dove, who was an adventurer and part of Haruto's party, muttered while still wary of his surroundings.
"Yeah, he'll definitely come for us. He won't be able to just let the elixir go," answer Teuchi.
Even if he managed to get in, they should be able to at least fight at an advantage, since this place was enclosed in a barrier. But, not having Plue with them was still worrying. The problem was where and when he would strike. Pakkun had predicted that he'd brainwash a human to do his bidding, but none of them had seen anyone like that so far. Instead, they heard noises of something like flowing water.
"Um… Does anyone else hear that?"
Even though everyone was on guard, Wendy was the first to notice. At first, she thought she was just hearing things but quickly changed that opinion. She wasn't just hearing things. There actually was flowing water, and the sound was getting louder. Haruto and the others should have heard it by now. Mitokado sunk into thought, wondering what it could be, and his face paled when he realized what the sound was.
"C-crap! Everyone, gather around me!"
"Huh?"
"There's no time to explain! Hurry!"
Galvanized by Mitokado's shout, Haruto and the others gathered, still wondering what was going on. But Mitokado had no time to explain. He simply set up a barrier around all of them. He was acting as if they were about to get attacked, and that set Haruto and the others on edge.
In the end, there was no need for an explanation. And that was because the origin of the sound—a torrent of water that filled the entire passageway—bore down on them.
"Grk!"
The barrier Mitokado set up creaked under the pressure of the flowing water. The dome was five meters in radius. The small space secured by the barrier was the only safe spot in the entire passageway right now.
Haruto was reminded of an underwater tunnel he'd traveled through once on vacation back in Japan. I wonder if traveling through a tunnel in rapid waters would look like this? Haruto thought, rather inappropriately. It wasn't as if he were feeling relaxed, like he had the leeway for those thoughts. In fact, it was the opposite. The danger forced upon him was so sudden that all his thoughts were in chaos. But that was only natural.
Right now, everything outside of where he was was currently buried under a torrent of water. If they'd been caught in that, they'd surely have been dashed upon the rocky walls, and the hero party would probably have met their end trapped under the water, unable to breathe. The force of the water itself was also unmatched.
Mitokado's barrier bent, and cracks formed on it.
"Hey, what's the meaning of this?! Weren't the grimmfolk not supposed to get in here?!" Teuchi sounded like he was panicking.
"I-it looks like Pakkun's prediction was wrong… Gah… He's clearly already forced his way through the barrier!" Mitokado responded in an equally strained voice.
This water wasn't natural. It was a spell cast by someone with clear hostility—most likely Suigetsu—which meant that Suigetsu himself was here. But luckily, that also meant that this torrent wouldn't continue on forever. As long as they managed to bear with the onslaught for some time, it would most likely stop. But lasting through that time would be a difficult feat.
Mitokado was one of the foremost heaven-arts practitioners in the world, but there was nothing he could do about the absolute level difference. Mitokado was currently level 105, and he could use the strongest heaven-arts and magic in the world. But he was trying to oppose a fearsome grimmfolk soldier whose level was 300. He wasn't someone Mitokado could stand against on his own.
Eventually, Mitokado's barrier shattered, but that was when Wendy raised her hand.
"Vindemiatrix!"
The torrent of water simply vanished along with Wendy's declaration. She had used an advanced skill that dispersed all the mana in a designated area.
Its effect of dispersing mana worked on any and all magic, and it was capable of dealing irreparable damage if cast on beings who maintained their body with mana.
Unaware of the dumbfounded stare Mitokado was giving her, Wendy made all the water vanish.
"R-right now, that was… No way… But that was definitely mana dispersal! It's an ability only available to the Goddess and her trusted custodians of the world!"
"Huh?"
"M-Miss Wendy… Just who are you?!"
Wendy's eyes opened wide after Mitokado started spewing all those unfamiliar things. Even if he asked her about the world's custodians, Wendy had never been aware of them and had no knowledge pertaining to them. The ability she just used was something her grandmother had taught her when she was young for self-defense, saying, "Against grimmfolk, this'll mean instant death!"
While she felt like it would be overkill for just self-defense, that was still all Wendy thought of the skill.
But that wasn't actually the case. The skill was only available to a select few. At the very least, it wasn't available to most of humanity. Of course it wasn't. Originally, it'd only been available to Mito's clan that the Goddess trusted and supported to manage the world… It was a divine ability that was only taught to the direct descendants of Uzumaru and Uzuhime, the first humans.
In the world today, there were only four people who could use it. One was, of course, the Goddess. One was Kushina the former Virgo guardian, who had once served the Goddess. Then there was the master Kushina currently served, Naru. Lastly was the new Virgo Guardian and Kushina's successor, Wendy.
The ability to disperse mana without question… In a world rife with mana like Midgar, it was an unparalleled ability, a godly miracle worthy of being claimed as cheating. Since all magic was comprised of mana, using this skill would easily invalidate any spell. The mana engines that Juvia had invented would all cease to work, and if used on the grimmfolk, they would be dealt massive damage. On top of that, the damage would never heal, since they were created of mana itself. Things like level gaps meant nothing in the face of this skill. While Wendy might not be able to erase all of a spell if there was too much mana in it, her skill would always have some effect. In other words, this skill would always work, even against an opponent of level 1000.
"Huh? Who? I'm just a normal flugel girl who's been living in the forest until recently…"
Mitokado must have thought that Wendy was messing with him with that response. He shouted, clearly upset, and grabbed her shoulder. "Normal? NORMAL?! As if! No normal flugel would be able to disperse mana itself! Even the White Princess wouldn't be able to!"
"Ahhhh?!"
Apparently Mitokado was the type to be calm and rational normally but panic and act rashly as soon he was met with something beyond his understanding. But the sight of an elderly elf grabbing at and hounding a young flugel girl with bloodshot eyes did not look good.
Thinking that he'd gone too far, Haruto hurried to peel Mitokado off of Wendy and get between them. "What do you think you're doing, Mitokado?! Now's not the time for that! We don't know when the next attack will come!"
"B-but!"
"Don't but me! Right now we need to decide on whether we need to stop the person who assaulted us with this spell or climb the mountain!"
Haruto was right. Now wasn't the time to be interrogating friends. Their plans had gone completely pear-shaped, and everything they'd assumed had been proven wrong. They'd climbed this mountain under the assumption that the Seven Grimms of Destruction wouldn't be able to get in themselves, but disastrously, Suigetsu had managed to get in before them.
This meant that while they had managed to survive the first blow, the second would be coming at any moment.
They would all have to choose. Should they retreat for now or proceed while fully aware of the risks?
"The kid's right. Whether we go forward or turn back, we need to make a decision soon."
"I agree with Teuchi. Let's hurry up and keep going."
"No, I think we should go back. As we are now, the enemy can just attack all they like with magic, and we'll never even see him. If we keep letting him target us like this, we'll be wiped out."
Teuchi and Cardin, who had the most travel experience in the whole group, agreed with Haruto, but their opinions were the complete opposite. Cardin wanted to move forward, while Teuchi wanted to turn back.
It's times like these I'm reminded that they really are a mercenary and an adventurer. They're used to rough situations like this.
"I think Teuchi has the right idea here. We should retreat."
"I'd rather push forward. I mean, if we retreat, we'll lose the elixir."
Dove and Larks, who were both adventurers and both not very memorable, split their opinions too. Going forward was dangerous, but retreating meant giving up on the elixir. If they gave up on the elixir, the country would fall without the dragon, even if they themselves managed to survive. Even so, forcing their way forward was too dangerous. And that was how the opinions of the group were split, prolonging the conversation.
"I don't really care either way."
Fiona voiced her noncommittal opinion, and she actually was fine with either outcome. To her, the Seven Grimms of Destruction were an easy opponent, so moving forward was no problem. But the guardian dragon's health was also something Fiona just didn't care about. Even if they let the elixir slip through their hands and the country was destroyed, all that would mean to Fiona was that one of the awful countries that had betrayed Naru would be gone. In fact, she'd be happy about that.
"Um, I think it'd be okay with moving forward."
"I recommend retreating. Oh… Looks like we're split again."
"Either way is fine, I will obey everyone's decision."
Wendy and Hana's opinions differed once again, still leaving everyone evenly split. Thrush showed no willingness to decide for himself, and Mitokado was completely useless in this scenario, which meant that the last person to vote would naturally be making the decision for the whole group.
Everyone's gazes focused on the hero. Haruto broke into a cold sweat from the pressure and responsibility of everyone's looks, but he still managed to speak clearly.
"Let's keep going… I… I think the reason he's hiding and launching attacks from a distance like this is because he thinks of us as a threat and just wants us to leave. He forced himself through this anti-mana barrier, so it should have had some effect on him at least. Fighting here is probably bad for him. It was probably thanks to this mountain that Mitokado was able to defend against so much of his earlier attack. I'm sure if we were outside, he would have been able to bust through Mitokado's barrier much quicker."
"Y-you have a point. That definitely makes sense."
"So I think we should keep going. Right now, he's the one backed into a corner."
Several people breathed a sigh of relief and admiration after seeing Haruto make such an unexpectedly calm judgment of the situation. While he was still weak, Haruto's ability to process and understand the situation was pretty good. Even Fiona's impression of Haruto improved a little as she was reminded of Naru back when she had been an adventurer.