Chapter 13: To Oz – 19
We reached the ridge without any particular issues, taking about three hours in total.
Considering the mountain path and the need to clear fallen trees, it was a good pace.
Standing on the ridge and looking down, I spotted something rather peculiar.
“What could that be?” I wondered aloud.
“It looks like a hole that appears when using an ‘Item Box’,” Mariane replied to Shizuna. True to her words, a black, elongated hole gaped open at the base of the ridge, as if it were slicing through the very fabric of space. It was clearly the endpoint of the rampaging demons’ path, suggesting that a ‘Demon’ had emerged from that hole.
The hole appeared to be about twenty meters tall when compared to the surrounding trees.
However, its width was only two to three meters. If a ‘Demon’ were to emerge from that hole, it would likely require a width of at least twenty meters. This led me to think that the black hole below might be closing.
“Shall we head over to that hole? Frei, do you sense anything?”
“I only feel a malevolent energy leaking from that hole. Nothing else stands out,” she replied.
“And you, Larni?”
“I don’t smell anything particularly strong. I can faintly detect the scent of ‘Demons’, but I believe that’s from the ones we defeated earlier.”
“Understood. Let’s remain cautious as we proceed.”
We reached the hole in about twenty minutes.
As we got closer, the unsettling presence intensified, and I could clearly sense that the ominous aura was emanating from deep within the hole.
“This isn’t like a Dungeon, is it? Have you heard of any similar phenomena?”
When I asked, Freinir was the first to respond.
“The scriptures of the church state that ‘Demons’ emerge from the ‘Edge of Hell’. I believe there was also a reference to it as the ‘Hole Darker than Darkness’.”
“That description could very well apply to this hole. What about you, Sfenia?”
“I haven’t heard anything like that in the Elf Village, but there might be records that could shed light on it.”
“It seems we may need to visit the Inner Elf Village after all. Mariane, can you perform an Appraisal?”
“I’ve been trying, but all I can discern is that it’s called the ‘Gate to Another World’.”
“The ‘Gate to Another World’… that certainly fits the bill. But what should we do about it? It looks like this hole is in the process of closing.”
I looked up at the hole again, but nothing seemed to have changed since earlier.
I picked up a nearby fallen tree branch and pushed it into the hole. It slid in without any resistance. When I pulled it out, it appeared completely unaffected. If there were another space or world on the other side, it seemed that as long as this hole remained open, we could freely come and go.
“Should we take a peek inside…?”
Upon hearing my murmur, Freinir grabbed my arm.
“Lord Soushi, please don’t! It seems incredibly dangerous.”
Even Larni, usually a bundle of curiosity, shook her head in disapproval. The aura flowing from the depths of the hole was indeed quite eerie.
“Alright, I’ll refrain. But it might be wise to keep an eye on it. Let’s camp a bit farther away for the night. The immediate concern is whether ‘Demons’ will emerge from here.”
“I don’t want to linger here too long. I feel that the ‘Spirits’ are frightened,” Larni added.
“Does that mean it’s something malevolent?”
“That seems to be the case. While the ‘Spirits’ are said to be close to the divine, if they are afraid, it suggests the involvement of a being that opposes the divine. ‘Demon’ is indeed an apt term.”
“A being that stands in opposition to the divine…”
I wasn’t sure how Shizuna and the others from Oz perceived ‘God’, but if ‘Demons’ existed, it implied that a corresponding divine entity must also exist. This world certainly seemed far more fantastical than my usual understanding.
Regardless, if ‘Demons’ posed a threat to humanity, we had to take action. I felt that one day, I would have to venture through that hole… Just as that thought crossed my mind, the black hole suddenly began to shrink at a visible speed. Simultaneously, the earth and branches around the hole began to be drawn into its depths. I could feel a force pulling me toward it.
“Get away from here!”
I shouted, and everyone began to run in the direction we had come from. Naturally, as the leader, I was the last to follow.
Freinir, who was running ahead of me, seemed to have escaped the pull of the hole, suddenly released from its grasp and stumbled forward.
I tried to help her up, but for some reason, Freinir’s body was drifting away from me.
No, I was the one being pulled back. The ground beneath me was being dragged toward the hole.
“Damn it!”
I tried to leap forward, but the ground was already beginning to crumble beneath my feet.
“Soushi!?””Soushi!””Soushi-san!””Lord Soushi!?”
Freinir and the others cried out as they moved further away.
“I will definitely return! Wait for me in the city!”
That was all I managed to shout. In the next instant, my body was sucked into the ‘Gate to Another World’.