“Ah… No way… Fulke… Gus… Nina… Brother…” [???]

Inside the forest, among the trees, a green-haired teenage girl weakly cried out to those around her with a tear-stained face. However, they did not answer her. A red stain here, a red stain there... This was something that they had been prepared for. Being an adventurer was that type of job. The subjugation mission that they had accepted was a dangerous one.

Their target was, without a care in the world, chewing on what used to be the girl’s older brother. Blood and flesh were smeared around its mouth as its fangs crushed the bones in the leg that it ripped off. The valiant older brother had sacrificed himself to push his little sister out of danger. As a result, he turned into the mana beast’s meal.

It was a creature capable of using magic and housed in its body a magic stone which could be used for different types of items. Having deep brown fur with streaks of grey on its limbs and head, their subjugation target looked like a ferocious cat and was as big as a bear. It didn’t have a tail and brown spikes that looked like jagged rocks adorned its back.

It continued to eat the adventurer who was in his early twenties. When it ripped the head from the body, the blank face with wide opened eyes stared straight at the lone survivor.

“U-UWAAAAAAH!!” [Adventurer]

Seeing her beloved brother’s face scared the girl back into action. She quickly turned around and fled the place. There was no way she could win. Her brother had died to protect her. That was why, even if it was shameful, she was going to escape and survive.

Her team had failed. They should have made better preparations. According to the reports, only one daggercat was seen around this part of the forest that was five hours away by carriage. They were supposed to subjugate one mana beast. They thought they could easily handle it with the five of them. But, they were wrong. The result-

“Haa, haa, haa, haa!” [Adventurer]

Everyone was killed and the remaining member was fleeing while panting. She had just fought the mana beast. She had several bruises from being knocked around, her clothes were dirty and her sword was lost during the fight. Her small mana pool was already dried up, so she couldn’t use body strengthening in short bursts like she did during combat.

So, relying purely on her legs and will, she forced herself to run as fast as she could. Their deaths won’t be in vain. She would definitely survive, become stronger and come back for revenge. That was what she told herself as she forced air into her lungs. She had to make it to the town somehow.

But, the daggercat didn’t care about the green-haired girl’s resolution. It stopped munching on her brother’s arm and gleefully chased after her. It was enjoying the hunt, just like a cat toying with a mouse. It agilely ran passed the trees while keeping some distance from her. Although this scared the girl even more who tried to get away, the big feline was amusing itself.

Eventually, seeing as its prey somehow managed to keep running despite looking completely exhausted, it grew bored. Her speed only slowed down a bit and she didn’t trip once which would have made it more fun. The game was becoming monotonous. The two were already at the edge of the forest.

So, the mana beast decided to stop playing around and used magic. It drew on the mana in its mana pool and casted a spell that its race instinctively knew from birth. Four spikes made of rock appeared in the air around it. The tips were pointed at the back of the girl and they flew straight at her like arrows.

Just as the young adventurer exited the forest, her luck ran out. One missed, one stabbed into her left shoulder, another in her left leg and the last one dug into her lower back. She released a short scream and the impact knocked her down face-first in the green grass.

“Aah…! Kuuuh…! It hurts!” [Adventurer]

Pain assaulted her. Blood slowly stained her clothes. She couldn’t stand up. Her strength that was already low was being reduced even more with every drop of blood that seeped out of her wounds. She tried to crawl towards the road that was in front of her with her right hand, but it proved to be too much for her. Then, a low growl was heard near her and it sent shivers down her spine. In her hazy consciousness, she slowly turned her head to look behind her.

The daggercat was right on top of her, staring straight at her face. Its jaws opened slightly to show two rows of sharp white teeth. She could still see some blood from her friends around its mouth.

“N-no…” [Adventurer]

Tears gathered at the corner of her fear-filled eyes and despair appeared on her pale face.

“Brother… Hel-“ [Adventurer]

Her vision was covered by the mana beast that opened its mouth wide to deal the finishing blow. Then, everything turned dark. Having passed on, all that was left of the green-haired girl was a meal. The deep brown cat chewed the meat and savored the taste. Although it was a rather boring hunt, chasing after fleeing prey once in a while wasn’t so bad.

Suddenly, its senses told it of an approaching presence. Looking to its left, it saw a black creature that was quickly moving towards it. It kicked up dust on the road and had a body that was even larger than it. However, the daggercat was undaunted. It had just slaughtered five foes that tried to kill it. It would take out that thing with its mighty fangs of rock and feast on its dark flesh. Moreover, from the looks of it, there was quite a bit to eat.

So, having locked its sights on the next prey, it fearlessly charged straight at the dust cloud and shot four rock spikes. Once the unknown creature was weakened from its injuries and its speed decreased, it would valiantly pounce on it and deliver the finishing blow.

A few minutes earlier…

“Fast! So fast! This car thing is amazing!” [Snow]

Snow happily exclaimed from her seat while staring out of the fake window. Sitting to her left and driving the fast-moving vehicle they were in was Ryner.

“We’ve been traveling like this for three days. How many times are you going to repeat the same thing? And put on your seatbelt.” [Ryner]

“Hey hey, what does this do? And this? And this red thing!” [Snow]

Completely ignoring his words, she asked excitedly as her sparkling eyes gazed at the various switches and buttons in front of her. She also had a steering wheel in front of her like Ryner, but it didn’t do anything.

“Shut up, hands off. Don’t touch my red button.” [Ryner]

“Ehhhh~ let me touch it too!” [Snow]

“No, it’s mine. Go find your own red button.” [Ryner]

This kind of conversation had taken place numerous times between Ryner and Snow who insisted on sitting in the front. Maya, Evelyn and Myra, who were sitting at the back, were either watching over their interactions with warm eyes or marveling at the alien carriage that was faster than horses.

About 2.5 m tall and painted black, the group’s method of transport was a heavily armored assault vehicle. It had a streamline design so that there was the least air resistance. Four round wheels, easily two meters high, were on both sides of the vehicle.

They were protected by steel plates and each one had an engine that allowed independent movement. Also, they were attached to something similar to a leg that stuck to the main body. These acted like suspenders and allowed the armored car to traverse uneven terrain.

The front of the vehicle was inclined diagonally and the bulletproof windshield was covered by a layer of steel. Every part was covered with armor plating to protect the passengers. What Ryner and the others saw was real-time footage from multiple cameras and sensors set around the car that was much more advanced than any military APC. The scenery outside rapidly went passed them which surprised or excited them, except for the driver.

Although two of them were S ranks that could run even faster, there was no carriage that could possibly reach their current speed. The first time the girls saw the bizarre vehicle, half of them were scared while the other half were surprised. Now, they had gotten used to traveling like this and Snow occupied the front seat most of the time.

“This really is amazing. At this rate, we’ll reach our kingdom in no time.” [Myra]

Myra exclaimed happily. With their current speed, their journey that would normally take months would be over in days.

“Really now, Master~. If you had something like this, why didn’t you take it out when it was just the two of us? It would have made our travel easier.” [Maya]

Maya asked from the seat behind Ryner.

“I left it in the ship.” [Ryner]

“Ship?” [Snow]

“Don’t worry about it. It was broken, so I couldn’t use it even if I had it.” [Ryner]

Ryner evaded Snow’s question and kept talking to Maya without turning around.

“I’m guessing that your ability has a limit to it since you didn’t store away something as massive as the ship. But, it seems like this thing isn’t. So, why didn’t you store it before, even if it was broken?” [Evelyn]

“Yeah, the ship is too big, but not the car. Anyway, I filled my pocket with a bunch of stuff, so I couldn’t put in this car before. But, I took most of them out and put them in the ship a while ago, so now there’s enough space.” [Ryner]

This time, while keeping Snow at bay, Ryner answered Evelyn who inquired with a serious face about the limits of Ryner’s pocket dimension. He kept pulling this huge object out of thin air, so she initially thought that his storing ability had a limitless capacity. But, she remembered the gargantuan and inexplicable ship called the Avalon that was currently flying above the clouds. If his ability truly was limitless, then he should have been able to store it too.

“Then, why didn’t you take out some items to make space for this car? Would it not be more advantageous to be able to summon it at will?” [Evelyn]

“Yeah, but not in the long run. And where would I put them? It’s better for me to keep stuff like materials, food and ammunition which are necessary for my weapons. Time is still in my pocket dimension, so they won’t rot, rust or break. I used a bunch to replace the broken parts of the ship.” [Ryner]

“An ability that can store and freeze the time of any objects… Truly incredible. So, you prioritize keeping supplies over weapons. But, is that alright? Without the proper weapons, you wouldn’t be able to respond to any situation. ” [Evelyn]

“It’s fine. I prefer to carry a lot of resources and a few effective weapons. It’s better than a lot of useless weapons… Then again, they’ll all be useless in the end.” [Ryner]

“What was that?” [Evelyn]

Evelyn couldn’t hear him because Ryner muttered out the last sentence as he thought about Alice who was pretty much immune to normal blades and bullets. She was an existence that could kill gods. Ordinary weapons couldn’t hurt her.

“Nothing. Anyway, in any emergency, my body is the best weapon I have, so I prefer to keep a bunch of resources at hand. If I really needed speed, then I can rely on my legs. In short, this car has been more often used for joyrides.” [Ryner]

“J-joyrides, is it?” [Evelyn]

Ryner had gotten the habit of picking up anything that might come in handy. However, it was rather useless to stockpile weapons when he could split the world in two if he ever needed to. That was why he preferred to keep resources at hand like rare minerals. Besides, if he had the necessary materials, he could build whatever he wanted. Plus, the Heaven’s Blades and the firearms he currently possessed were already more than enough to deal with most foes.

Also, since the space in the pocket dimension was limited, he prioritized keeping various materials in there to conserve them for future use. Time would ravage anything he collected while he continued to exist as a near immortal being. Even if he hid the most powerful gun somewhere on some world and came back hundreds of years later, chances were that it’d be turned to dust.

That applied to the Avalon that had been carefully conserved by a huge stasis field. Although time had been slowed to a crawl thanks to it, a lot of parts and supplies needed to be replaced after collecting dust for eons. It went through a complete overhaul before it was serviceable again.

Furthermore, it was a miracle that the machine sustaining the stasis field managed to run for so long, but Ryner suspected that Motyx had something to do with it. That eccentric god with dark purple hair did say that he had found the Avalon before.

“Daaahhh! Why do you keep talking in some weird code?! I don’t get it! Stop leaving me out of the conversation!” [Snow]

Snow finally snapped and leaned over her chair to cling onto Ryner. She was a boisterous child that was completely different from her calm mother who was silently sitting at the back.

“Let go, you stupid brat! I’m driving here!” [Ryner]

“No! Let me drive too! I want to drive too!” [Snow]

“Like hell! Ask again after you got your driver’s license! Oh, but they don’t let little kids take it. Too bad!” [Ryner]

“Shut up! I don’t know what a driver’s license is, but I’m not a kid! I’m sixteen! And I’m in my first mating season already!” [Snow]

Ryner managed to pry her off him and held her back with his right hand. Her forehead was held in place, so she wildly stretched her arms out to try and grab him. She look quite childish which made her mother laugh. Myra always watched over their scuffles with warm eyes and tried to never miss a moment.

As for Maya and Evelyn who had gotten used to the ruckus, the beastman was drinking as she watched the scenery while the vampire was examining the rectangular monitor that was behind Snow’s seat.

“Ohhh, how impressive~! Your first mating season! You’re all grown up now!” [Ryner]

“W-why are you making fun of me?! Having your first mating season means that you’ve become an adult for beastmen! It’s a great moment!” [Snow]

“Ha! That may be amazing for you guys, but us humans are in heat all year long! That means that we’re more than just great, we’re awesome all year long!” [Ryner]

“That’s not what it means! You guys are just perverts! Pervert! Pervert! Ryner, you pervert!” [Snow]

Snow managed to free herself from Ryner’s hand and latched onto him again, causing his usual sleepy-looking eyes to tense up.

“Hey stop that! I can’t see! What if we hit someone?! Let go, you brat!” [Ryner]

She was hugging his head, so his view was covered by her arms.

“Fufu, don’t they get along well?” [Myra]

At the back, Myra was gently laughing with a pleased expression on her face. Maya also seemed happy to see the former slave so energetic and she offered the fox-eared mother a drink. Evelyn, on the other hand, was muttering how Snow’s approach was rather effective and began to mess with her cellphone.

THUD

THUD

THUD

THUD

Suddenly, multiple solid objects hit the armored vehicle, surprising everyone inside.

“What was that?!” [Snow]

“I think some rocks hit us.” [Ryner]

Ryner calmly answered the flustered Snow whose fox ears stood on attention as he struggled to get her to let him go.

SPLAT

Suddenly, a single not-so-solid object hit the armored vehicle, rendering everyone speechless when they looked at the monitor.

“… I think a giant tomato with legs hit us.” [Ryner]

There was a big red and muddy stain on the car’s front. Everyone could see from up-close the gory scene on the monitor that emulated a windshield.

“It looks like an animal.” [Evelyn]

“Did it run out of the forest and jump in front of us?” [Maya]

“H-huuu~.” [Snow]

“Snow, come here.” [Myra]

Evelyn and Maya, who were used to bloodshed, simply analyzed the corpse, confirming that it was not a person. Snow, who had a front-row seat for the ghastly show, looked like she was going to cry. Myra, who managed to remain calm, urged her daughter to jump to the back and sat her on her laps.

Ryner stopped the car and opened the compartment they were in. The roof section was unlocked and moved to the back, allowing him to go outside and to dispose of the carcass. After washing the blood off the black surface, they gave a quick prayer to the unfortunate animal that they accidentally killed and continued on their merry way.

*Author* I think I’ll stop putting random in front of unnamed characters. It makes it sound weird and less serious in some cases. Like “random god” doesn’t sound too godly.