ESCAPE TRIGGERED

If you wish to escape smash the window

The green rectangle kept on glowing, yet no matter how hard Dallion tried, he couldn’t break it. After a few more times, he gave up and took a step back. The rectangle vanished, reporting the flow of time to normal.

“Nothing,” he said. “Can’t leave this way either.”

Euryale removed her combat gauntlets. It was an understatement to say that things hadn’t gone well. Attacking the rogue mage not only had ended in failure, but had also gotten them effectively imprisoned in an awakened realm without the possibility of escape. In the real-world Dallion and Eury were probably inches away from their target. However, it would be quite long before they could continue the attack—infinity, if they were unlucky. Based on what Nil had said, people started going crazy after the first century.

“Maybe we need to fight a local guardian,” Dallion suggested.

As far as he could tell, they were in the realm of the aura sword. The landscape was somewhat similar, even if a lot more picturesque than any of the two swords he’d seen before. Deep blue skies, with the occasional puffy white cloud, continued as far as the eye could see, along with lush plains, dense forests, pristine lakes, and majestic snow-covered mountains. The only major difference was that there didn’t seem to be a temple anywhere near, but rather a single stone circle.

“I doubt it. Anyone in your realm have any advice?”

“Nil’s uncertain. Vihrogon’s keeping quiet, and everyone else doesn’t have a clue.” Dallion sighed. “How well do you think March knew him?”

“Fairly well, by the looks of it. They must have been involved in quite the mess up, have fallen from grace and have their names erased.”

“Isn’t that normal? Half the awakened in Nerosal are nameless.”

“It’s different. For an imperial lieutenant and a mage to go through this, it has to have been pretty serious. Not anyone makes it to such positions. Skills and abilities are not enough. They’ve had to have had serious connections. The imperial legion isn’t a place you can just apply for. Even heroes of Linatol couldn’t have been rejected.”

“Sounds like you speak from experience.”

“I do. Someone I knew applied to become a common legionary. I’ve seen him defeat monsters I couldn’t handle even now, and still he was rejected. The emperor wants skill, but above all, he wants loyalty. Those who are strong but not loyal are dangerous.” Eury walked next to Dallion. “As for a mage to be cast out, the mess up must have been of epic proportions. Mages are considered nobility since birth. The trait is so rare that the Academy welcomes anyone in their ranks, even from countries at war with the empire. I don’t even know what must have happened to get him cast out as well.”

That was very much true. Dallion had seen firsthand how the bodyguard of a member of the imperial family failed at his job and didn’t suffer any consequences. In fact, he knew only of one other mage who had been banished, one who made a big deal about keeping his abilities secret.

“Adzorg also was cast out of the Academy,” Dallion said. “Maybe he can tell us more?”

“You’re joking, right? When has Adzorg spoked about his past? Also, March joined the guild a lot later.”

“Where was she before she joined, though?”

Can the Vermillion ring get me out of here? Dallion asked.

Not normally, no. You’ll have to find an appropriate spot which lets you do it. Very much like what the Star did when he tried to destroy Nerosol. A temple would do.

Should be simple, then.

Deep down Dallion didn’t believe that one bit. The rogue mage had used this to trap in this world, while there was so many other things he could have tried. That suggested that he had made sure to cover his bases. Chances were he didn’t know about the Vermillion ring, but even so, getting out hardly was going to be a walk in the park.

Think I can link my realm to this? Dallion asked.

I doubt it. The same principle applies. You can try, if you want.

Dallion went back into the stone circle and put on the ring. Nothing happened. He could tell that the island serpent was trying to establish a connection between the two realms, but could quite manage, as if there was an indestructible membrane preventing it. After a while, it stopped trying, leaving the two realms separate. When that didn’t work, he attempted to initiate an invasion. That, too, failed.

“Linking out also doesn’t work here,” Dallion said, rejoining Eury. They were going to find a proper temple.

Climbing down from the hill to the plains was easy. Dallion could sense a number of animals—mostly small critters, keeping to themselves. The moment they sensed the approaching visitors, they quickly ran off or hid. By the way they reacted, predators in the world were present, though not overly abundant.

“Do you think he was lying?” Dallion asked. “When he said that, the plague had come from here.”

“I don’t think so. You can’t tell with mages, but there was too much glee in his voice not to be true.”

“Where is it then? This place is better than any realm I’ve been to. I can’t see a single crackling or any other nasty. It’s like paradise.”

“There aren’t any cities, either,” Eury noted. “Maybe it takes time, and the rogue had changed it to become faster?”

The thought wasn’t at all pleasant, making Dallion wonder what would happen to them. In theory, they weren’t supposed to die in the realm, merely have their powers sealed. When it came to mages and artifacts, though, anything was possible. The only solution was to get out of here as fast as possible and not find out.

“Lux,” Dallion said as they walked. Normally, the firebird would have emerged by now, wrapping him in blue flames and lifting him into the air. That didn’t happen. “Lux?”

Sorry, boss, I can’t get to you.

Dallion attempted to summon a weapon. His hand remained empty. The only weapons on him were his harpsisword and, fortunately enough, the thread splitter—both of which had been in contact with his skin before his forceful entry into the realm.

I should have taken the dartbow, Dallion said to himself.

“Can you summon any weapons?” he asked.

“No, and I can’t unsummon them either. We’re stuck with what we have.”

“Good thing you got that armor, then.” It was meant to be a lighthearted hoke, but didn’t end up feeling like one. “I guess I’ll have to be careful not to get petrified,” he added after a while. “There won’t be any curing that here.”

“No cure and no healing.” The gorgon nodded.

Combat splitting was an option, but that too had to be used with care. Stamina was also a limited resource, and there was no telling what the local food was like.

A cool breeze swept through the tall grass as Dallion and Eury made their way to the large lake in the distance. With the temples gone, there was nothing to let them know which was the right direction. The assumption was to go along the path of the sun and hope that the layout of the realm was similar to the other two swords.

Around noon, the pair did some hunting. Eury had a clear advantage, although Dallion also managed to catch a few local specimens and gain a few skills in the process. He also spent some time learning the language of the local fauna. Sadly, that didn’t lead to any useful information; the creatures definitely weren’t gossipy.

“Don’t worry too much,” Eury said, while eating the roasted leg of something that they had named a badger-rabbit. “It won’t do any good if you do.”

“I’m not worrying. I’m just thinking that I miss seagulls.”

“Seagulls?” Several more of her snakes turned his way.

“Seagulls always know what’s going on. And they’re easily bribable.” He looked at the distance. The moonless sky made it impossible to see much of what was going on. The lack of fires suggested that there wasn’t any trace of civilization, at least until the other side of the mountain. “Do you think we’ll find anyone? Or they’re all gone?”

“People don’t just vanish. Cracklings would have taken their place if the realm was in decline.”

“Not unless the sword is indestructible. If its destiny is fulfilled, it wouldn’t have any guardians either. Just one eternal prison for us to stay in.”

Although they could repopulate it. Dallion had addressed the topic on a few occasions. Eury had admitted it was possible, though not without its difficulties. Gorgons didn’t procreate easily with other species, although with both Eury and Dallion being otherworlders, they had fewer restrictions.

“A lot of time has passed since the realm was created. Maybe they gradually died out and the vegetation covered everything. If it’s the original version of the poison plague, that would explain it.”

“It might. Someone made the stone circle near the start, though. And the vegetation hadn’t reclaimed it.”

“Maybe.” Dallion looked at the sky. “You rest. I’ll watch for the night.”

“Don’t use too many instances.”

“I know.” Dallion smiled. “It’ll be just a few.”

Sadly, he lied. The few were a few dozen, and he had them walk about the area all night as well as investigate the lake. In part, Dallion was hoping that there would end up being something hidden beneath the water’s surface, or maybe even that the lake itself was nothing more than a giant illusion, like during his first sword expedition. The only thing he achieved, however, was to get a large number of his instances wet.

Come morning, the group continued on their way. Since there wasn’t anything suitable to make a raft with, they went along the lake until they reached the forest at the foot of the mountain. As expected, there was a greater number of carnivores present. Some of them were foolish enough to attack, only to be defeated without anyone breaking a sweat. If there were still inhabitants in this world, animals weren’t used to them roaming about.

Climbing the mountain was done in phases. As much as Dallion was in a hurry, it was clear that nighttime travel was uselessly difficult. Both took turns sleeping with the other, keeping watch until—on the fourth day since their banishment—they reached the crossing point. That was the moment of truth that was going to show whether there were survivors in the realm or not. The sight wasn’t what either of them was prepared for.

“Now we know why the Archduke wants it back,” Eury said. “And why he doesn’t trust anyone.”

“You think it has always been like that? The mage could have changed things.”

“Do you really think so?”

Dallion had no answer. Beyond the mountain, there was a single city visible. Rather, it wasn’t a city, but a cluster of towers built next to each other, like a honeycomb of stone. The thing was that Dallion had seen those types of towers before back when he had ventured south. Even from this distance, there was little doubt that the city they were looking at was composed of Star worshipers, as evident by the large star-shaped objects that glowed on the top of each tower.

“There’s no way we get to go through there without attracting attention,” Dallion said. “If Gleam was here, we’d hide beneath an illusion.”

“It wouldn’t have been enough. They’d have seen through it.”

“We avoid the city, then? Gorgons and humans aren’t supposed to exist in this realm.”

“That works to our advantage. Just as we had no idea what’s going on here, the locals won’t know anything about the real world.”

“The mage might have told them enough.”

“They’ll still be guessing. And while the fight goes on in the real world, the mage won’t be able to get here to contradict us.”

Dallion recited the names of the Seven Moons. They were about to enter a dryad city worshipping the Star.