The next day, "Rintan Firanha", princess of "Zerra", and the leader of the "Western Holy Alliance", arrived at our house.

What's a very important person doing here..? She doesn't even have her guards... Does she actually just want to meet us..?

"Hello there, Heroes of humanity."

She says, as she sits in front of us, legs crossed. Seems like she didn't have that immense aura surrounding her for nothing. I didn't even realize that it was her, that I met last night. Probably because of the spells she used.

"I'll speak simply. The demons have taken over more than 40% of the world. Everyone wanted me to take action so I ran away. Pressure was too much, ya know?"

That's right... Almost everyone in the world right now knows about her... If she ran away from her home... Then a large group of people must've been sent out to find her right now..!

Everyone, including Den, stood frozen in front of her. I can't blame them. If she actually went serious on me last night, I would've been gone by now.

"W-what are you doing here..?!"

Den asks. He sounds really nervous. But he's probably the only one who can speak right now, since I've picked up Divine Intervention again.

"This world is in absolute chaos. An ancient hero has returned. A primordial god is being revived by this war. And a new disease has broken out from the ocean. Lives are dropping. Death is in the air. Blood is dripping everywhere."

Well... I think everyone knows about that already... But the disease is new information. It must be the same virus that Frelhr mentioned. How did it break out though?

"I've been looking for you, Heroes. We need to kill the Demon Lord, and the old Hero as soon as possible."

Frelhr and the rest are already working on that, you know?

"Mind for mind. Soul for soul. Everything has a cost. The cost for one revival, is 50 billion souls. This war has been going on for 5 thousand years now. Since the Eras of Apostasy..."

The Eras of Apostasy?! I haven't heard of it before... And for a war to continue for that long... Is it a different war she's talking about?

"And the cost for living...... Someone has been interrupting with our plans for many decades now. We'll have to go into the resting place of Xlae-Thanea. Vampire, you know about it, don't you? Your friends told you to go there..."

Me?! I don't-... Resting place..? My friends..? Is she talking about the Holy Pyramids? Triax and the Fanine Clan does know about it somehow... I guess I can tell her about it...

"Yes. One of the strongest members of the Fanine Clan has told me to visit the Holy Pyramids."

I write on paper.

"Very Good. Cat should be there too. Do you know what that means? What lies in the ocean, but walks in the skies? The divine emperor has no answer, but to you, you do have one. It is merely a fold within reality... Eating salt won't get you dehydrated, but what's inside will. You get what I mean?"

Cat..? Sky..? Reality..? Salt..? What in the world is this woman even talking about?!

"C.A.T. A quick way to say: Celestial Antennae. It means that the world will come into a collapse soon. And the Blood God won't be the only one returning upon their revival..."

Oh... "C." = Celestial, "A.T." = Antennae... Why make it sound so complicated? Also, shouldn't it be "C.A." only?! And what is its connection to the Blood God and the World's Collapse?

"Celestial Antennae is the Baphomet. More specifically, the Baphomet's second self. Similar to me, Sushi Sand, and Rintan Firanha are two different beings. Though, they share the same physical form."

Cat is the Baphomet? And the one I met last night was Sushi? Hold on... isn't there a food called sushi back in the old world? Is it a coincidence?

"The Baphomet and Cat shares one goal. To uphold Lazarus-Delta-Aquamarine-Alice's orders. The Goddess of Order does not necessarily need a Hero, nor a Demon Lord. Only a result. A constant result."

A constant result? To hold the world together in order? I don't really get it... Is it to keep the world the way it is?

"Ruthenoceras Ptychodus has more details. Though, it may be near impossible to visit her now. But the Temporal Spatial Pyramids exists for a reason. There, time is frozen, and space doesn't move. Nothing moves there. Thus, it becomes constant in the universe."

How is it constant if it doesn't move? And that Salmon Shark again..? I've heard that name so many times, but it's still sounds almost unintelligible to me.

"It exists within the thin thread between real and fake. Basically, it's not existing, and existing at the same time. Ruthenoceras Ptychodus is trapped there with almost no way out. Unless someone comes in to interrupt, she will be forever trapped in her own prison.... Ahem ahem. For now, we will have to find the Holy Pyramids, and help Ruthenoceras Ptychodus out of her prison somehow... We have 10 entire nations on our side. Whatever goes against us, goes against everyone single one of them."

"Umm... Excuse me, but where should we go first..? T-the pyramids that Vixen mentioned? Or the prison that you were talking about?"

Den asks.

"The north... Everyone is heading to the north. The Blood God, the Ancient Hero, and us. Everything belongs in the north, where everything began..."

"Where everything began..?"

"Do you wish to learn more about the story? We don't have much time, but if you need more information-"

"No no no! I can't even understand what you're saying!"

"Very well. Let's move then. Firstly, we'll have to return to my kingdom. It's very far from here. The fastest escape from this continent is through the underground tunnel system, abandoned by the miners. It's also how I got here..."

"Alright... Let's go then."

Everyone stood up, ready to go. I guess we would all have to leave this place sooner or later anyways. We haven't been here for a year...

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"Heh. I know you guys would've left us after a while."

Pikaia says. Is she mad or something..?

"Don't worry, everyone. This house may be quiet now, but your presence will always be here..!"

"How does that even work..?"

"Are you being dumb? It means that I'll remember all of you until you all return!"

"Alright. We'll do the same, don't worry."

"H-huh..? Oh. Thanks..."

We walked down a long road, leading into the entrance of the mine. Rika was left behind, since she still had a job in the military, she didn't want to leave her home as well. Pikaia also stayed behind, of course, because of Rika. Come to think of it, was Rika a parent before? How does she manage to keep a dragon in her house?

The underground tunnels were abandoned salt mines. Many years ago, due to monsters that randomly arrived, most of the miners lost their jobs, and some lost their lives.

We walked through the dark tunnels, aided by [Firelight], and other light magic spells. There was a foul smell around the place, it was impossible not to smell it.

"Sniff sniff. Do you smell that?"

Rintan stops us, looking around for something. Is there an enemy around? I cast [Spatial Investigation], but nothing seems to be there.

"Umm... Rintan... Is there something wrong?"

Den asks.

"Hmm... If you look closely in the air... You can see tiny blood particles. It wasn't here before. Something else has entered the tunnels."

"Something else? You mean there's something besides us here?"

"It's not a monster... And it's not human... But this smell... It might be an anomaly. Be careful."

"An anomaly? What is that? I've never heard of it before."

We continued walking down the tunnels. Though, What is an anomaly? Is it something neither alive, nor dead? I think I've heard about it before...

"Anomalies are things not from this world. You could still call them... Gods, demons, or angels. Basically, they do not go by the rules, and the laws of this realm. They're mostly from the demon realm, where demons reside."

"Huh. So? Why are they here? Do you have an idea? Usually, demons are the only things in their realm, along with other creatures like dragons, and dangerous monsters right?"

"Correct. One of the dangerous creatures you spoke of, is the Void Trilobite. A more of a... Carnivorous monster. It's shaped like a spider, but slightly bigger."

"A spider?! That's gonna be terrifying then! A tiny spider already scares me, but a carnivorous monster spider...?!"

"Don't worry. They only live in caves... Caves like this... They're underground creatures, but they usually don't live in mines. Or places where there's large groups of people."

"But the people here are gone, are they? How long has this mine been abandoned? I really don't want to fight spiders, you know..?!"

"Hmmm... I think... Ah. This place has been abandoned for a thousand years now... Well. There's definitely a Void Trilobite here now."

"Hah... Why didn't you say so earlier..?"

"I told you didn't I? That creature wasn't here when I first arrived. It most likely came from the demon realm, and then roamed around here not too long ago."

"You should've made some light in this place while you were still here... Your plan was to bring us back to your kingdom wasn't it? At least secure the path first..."

"S-sorry... The chances of an anomaly getting into this world are very low, it was extremely unfortunate for us to get visited by the Void Trilobite... I never expected to see one in this world after all..."

"Hmmm... So now what? Should we hide? Or kill that spider? I'd prefer if we hide... But knowing that thing is roaming around here... It creeps me out..!"

"I see. Well, okay then. I'll cast fire into the tunnels, it should burn everything until it reaches the exit."

"Heh..? What about the things inside the tunnels? What if there's valuable objects in here..?"

"Do you want to kill it? Or hide from it? You only have one option, you know?"

"L-let's hide for now..."

That was a bad decision. With our strength, I doubt we could lose to a mere monster right now. But something from the demon realm... There may be some problems huh.

We moved carefully, and slowly, trying not to get the attention of the Void Trilobite. Though, I've never heard of such creature before, it still sounds dangerous.

"The tunnels stretches far out into the ocean. An exit should take us back into the waters, where my subordinate awaits, along with the boat that I took to get here."

"How long does this tunnel actually stretch? We're on the middle of the continent at least. For us to get there... how long does the tunnels even reach..?"

"Hmmm.... I'm not sure. But it took me at least 3 days to get here... I was running at full speed. To be able to get back while walking, and sneaking, it should take us 5 days. Probably."

"5 days?! Why this route then?! Can't we take another road out of this continent!?"

"I've heard that you have planes. The planes would get us back to my kingdom faster, but we'd definitely get attacked. You know how many people are after us right now? The moment I've arrived here, a massive group of assassin's and hunters have been sent to attack us."

What? I didn't hear anything about assassins landing on this continent. It is no surprise though, people would definitely want to hunt us down, whether they be demons, or humans.

"Eh..? Really..? But still... I don't think anyone could beat us anyways. I'm the Hero. And the Hero is the strongest person during the time they're alive..."

"That may be true, but with the old Hero's return, and the Blood God's revival, you've been thrown off your throne. Also, just because you can beat everyone in a one versus one fight, doesn't mean you'd be able to take on ten thousand men at once."

"Ten thousand-..! That's kinda unnecessary for such a small group..!! They're probably fighting each other right now... So, it'd be less than ten thousand at least."

"Yes. That's unavoidable. Though, the amounts sent to kill us aren't really unnecessary. To fight the greatest man alive, and the potential ruler of this planet, it would take more than just tens of thousands."

"Potential ruler? Aren't you overexaggerating yourself? Also, why isn't there anyone going after the old Hero..?"

"Oh. There's already a ton of people sent after him. More than 50,000 professionals... Probably more."

"Man... I kind of understand, but why is it such an unbelievable amount, compared to the ones sent after us."

"Haven't you realized it already? You see... There's an astronomical gap between you and the old Hero. For one from the Eras of Apostasy, it's just reasonable."

I've heard about it before... The reason why the old Hero is absurdly better than everyone, and everything.

From The Book of Epitomy, Chapter 72: "Those who can't contain their own strength eventually falls down into the path of darkness. Those who inherit it, become one with the darkness. Those who become one, are godless, for they shall become absolute. For the Great Catastrophe's Hero, none of this matters, for he conquers fate itself."

Yes. Conqueror of Fate... Frillet Tofan. Not only does he have supreme strength, the most terrifying fact about him, is that he controls fate itself.

"... The old Hero never loses. He lived his life without a single mistake. Him getting sent away from this world wasn't a miscalculation. He can only live the same time an average human can live. So he sealed himself in preparation for today."

"What...? I've never lost in my life too! Besides... There's no one in this world who is perfect. We all have at least one downsides..."

"Except, this man is flawless. No imperfections. No downsides. No problems. Everything is going according to his plan. That's why. We'll have to remain unseen by him."

"That's just impossible. Is he a god or something..? No way anyone is like that. Must be some error in your source of information."

"You refuse to believe? That's okay. Eventually, we'll have to fight him. There won't be any way to defeat him other than to. Break through fate."

"Break through fate? Isn't that impossible too? Everything is controlled by fate. Nothing can break out. It's simply impossible."

"No... We only need to have a chance that isn't zero, and then we'll win. You need to have this mentality, or else it won't work. Basically. It's either, we lose, or we win..... And I swear, I'm not a gambler.

"I don't want to risk my life for a chance smaller than 1%... And that's literally the exact same mindset of a gambler!!"

"We don't have a choice. If we can't kill him, the Blood God will revive. The apocalypse will come. And it will be the end of the world. I came here for a reason... And that is to stop all of that from happening."

"I see... Well. Let's think about going to your kingdom for now..!"

"Good thinking. But first. We'll have to pass through this underground tunnel without being spotted by the Void Trilobite. It has great senses, and it's an extremely dangerous predator back on it's land. Not sure about this place though..."

"Heh. So that means that it will either stay as the predator, or become the prey here..!"

"Yeah. You and I could take it down, but the others here... I doubt they'll be safe during the fight. Same for you, Vampire. You may be strong, but the Void Trilobite is your natural enemy."

Huh..? Why? Is there anything that can counter Blood Magic? Well. I won't really have to worry about it. Since I still have other ways of attacking.

We continued walking down the tunnels. The Void Trilobite is still nowhere to be seen. Does it even exist?

Also, I think I forgot to ask Rintan about the system that Sushi used.