Somewhere in Serisis,

10:00 p.m. 21st Banem 1092.

Bzzt!

Several beasts looked up in confusion as a lightning bolt zipped across the landscape faster than the human eye could track, a long tail, the only sign of its passing. Curiously, a flaming ball was attached to the horse by a thin mana construct in the shape of a tether rope, keeping with the latter's pace.

If one got close enough and kept pace with the phenomenon, they would have been shocked to find the lightning bolt was actually a magnificent kirin with a daeben riding on its back. Whereas the fireball turned out to be a protective shell housing a halben who sat within with a tight expression.

Kashi's brows were knit together in a troubled expression. He could not get Lunette's face from his mind. For a moment there, she was truly terrified when he reached for her. She had tried in the end to make him feel better, but he saw through her façade. She was still wary of him, and he had no idea how long it would take for things to return to normal.

Kashi sighed as he shook his head, and then turned his attention to the wasteland ahead. According to the coordinates he got from Brock, he should be approaching Nornesh, the Divine Dragon's territory right about...

BOOM!

Drixlia suddenly jerked to the side as the land beside them brilliantly exploded. Kashi's eyes narrowed as he observed the giant crater left behind. If they were caught in that explosion...

Kashi shivered, but did not have time to process his shock, as his eyes were instantly drawn to the sky, where a host of mandalas suddenly appeared. Almost simultaneously, a powerful deep voice, like gravel and grinding stone rung out in both Kashi and Syèl's heads.

"Go back. The next shot will not miss."

Kashi's eyes shone with delight. Indeed! The had entered Nornesh's territory. Only a Divine Dragon could possess the mana reserves required to call mandalas on this scale without being physically present. The daeben, not daring to take this lightly, took out Ferulic's Practice Bow and carefully nocked an arrow. He then looked at the fireball, which silently pulsed as if sending an agreement.

Kashi nodded, and then, without saying another word, spurred Drixlia into a mad sprint towards a host of mountains in the distance.

"Foolish." The voice sounded both disappointed and angry as several thousand mana bolts shot to the ground from the mandalas.

Kashi's gaze turned sharp as he stared at the incoming salvo. Knowing the dire consequences of getting hit, he allowed Drixlia to run by its own judgment, raised his bow to the sky and then shouted, "Syèl!"

"Hmph!" Syèl irritatingly snorted as he raised his right hand. "Stop!"

Following his shout, several mana bolts crashed into a translucent mana shield that appeared several dozen meters above them. CRASH! However, Syèl coughed up blood as the bolts smashed through the shield with ease.

Syèl's gaze instantly turned serious, the laxness gone. He now knew he could not handle this so easily. As a result, he raised his second hand to the sky, and then, once more, shouted, "STOP!"

This time, a much thicker shield appeared above them. The mana bolts promptly smashed into the shield, but did not manage to break through, resulting in massive explosions, that turned the night into day. Despite his success, Syèl's brows knitted in fury and worry as cracks began appearing on the shield as it was unable to contain the constant bombardment. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the shield shattered to pieces.

Syèl's gaze narrowed, and, after a short pause, he made up his mind and suddenly shouted, "Change of plans. Get Ready!"

Kashi instinctively nocked his bow and trained it at the clouds above. Gritting his teeth, he roared, "Ready!"

"Incoming!" Syèl hollered back as the fireball suddenly dissipated. As the halben fell to the ground, a mana construct resembling a board appeared beneath his feet. CRASH! Gravel, dirt and earth scattered across the landscape as Syèl excitedly surfed across the ground. "Two Seconds!" Syèl dropped his hands, disabling the mana shield before it shattered, and then dug his hands into the earth, forming two giant ditches as Drixlia pulled him along.

Two Seconds. It was a reasonably short time. Some breaths can even take longer than that. But, to experts at this level, a second was an eternity. Two, was nothing short of a nightmare!

As the first second passed, Kashi's gaze tightened as he pulled on the bow and released an arrow. Only, rather than one, a thousand arrows filled the sky. The daeben had utilized [Multi-Shot] and [Machine Gun], both of which were insanely boosted by his handicraft skill, and dexterity to achieve mind-numbing draw speeds.

This, on its own, would not have been able to achieve such a high number, but thanks to Yggdrassil's perk, Kashi was able to condense ki arrows to augment the number. Even with all this, the daeben was forced to push his absolute limits in order to achieve this insane number. Not even he could keep up such a barrage for long. A few seconds was the limit. Worse, following it, he would be excessively fatigued and useless for a few minutes at least.

This was something even Yggdrasil was powerless to help with, as it had to do with Kashi's stamina, and not health.

Kashi could not utilize this insane barrage in a real fight because it sacrificed power for speed. If the opponent was able to weather the storm, then he was as good as dead. However, it was worth using against cannon fodder armies. A far less aggressive version had been used in Aygorzi when he battled the daeben army.

Kashi's arrows struck the first set of incoming salvos, unleashing a chain of explosions that blossomed in the night sky for several miles. Unfortunately, even more bolts shot through the dense orange carpet in the sky. However, these set were likewise met by another blockade of arrows, which once again set off a nasty explosion.

"Urgh!" Kashi groaned as a vein in his right hand burst from the excessive strain. Thankfully, the injury healed fast, but the incident let Kashi know he would have to sacrifice his arm if he were to release another such salvo.

Luckily, Syèl suddenly shouted, "Duck!"

Kashi did as he said, but then his eyes went wide as several serpentine stone dragons dug burst out of the earth and charged toward the sky. The dozen or so dragons were roughly 10 meters wide, and about 50 meters long, causing them to cover a significant portion of the sky.

The stone dragon directly charged at the beams, using their large bodies to block off ass many as possible. As expected, the mana bolts shattered large chunks of the monsters to pieces upon impact, but, as they were destroyed, rocks rose from the earth to heal them.

Unfortunately, even with the dragons blotting out most of the sky, several bolts still managed to make their way through. Fortunately, they were not as many, and were staggered in their approach, which made things easy.

"What a welcome!" Kashi snarled as he once again, began firing arrows into the sky above, many of which crashed against the bolts. Despite the staunch defense, quite a few bolts still made it through. However, Kashi was strangely calm about those who made it through his defense. Instead, he simply nudged Drixlia, and the kirin's eyes sparked with lightning.

Suddenly, dozens of lightning bolts branched off Drixlia's lightning trail and then charged toward the incoming bolts. Just as Kashi and Syèl, 90% were destroyed, leaving just a small number left. These Drixlia easily dodged with deft lateral steps reminiscent of the centaurs' way of fighting.

And so, Kashi, Syèl, and Drixlia sustained a concerted effort to weather the lightning bolts, each of them drawing on the reserves of their strength, until, several minutes later, they suddenly found that the sky was clear.

Upon realizing they had crossed the death zone, Drixlia, Kashi and Syèl simultaneously collapsed to the floor, taking long, deep breaths in the hopes of slowly regaining their stamina.

Syèl, whose face looked exceptionally pale, turned to Kashi and said, "You have some beasts in that world of yours right? I need a refill. My body's shutting down. Oh, and something strong, would you?"

"Sure." Kashi rolled his eyes as he released a giant ape. He then looked away as he said, "This good enough."

"I hope so," Syèl replied with fatigue. He then snapped his fingers and then a spike shot up from the ape's blind spot and skewered its brain. "[Dawn Pelmut]" The sacrificed ape burst into a shower of blood, which congealed into a large ball, and then flowed into Syèl's arms.

Kashi watched as color slowly returned to the halben's face, and then asked, "I thought you had fast health regen?"

"Yeah, I do," Syèl replied as he rose to his feet and then dusted his pants. "But, being a vampire fucks with it a bit. If I don't get some fresh blood in me, it begins to slowly stagnate. Worst-case scenario, I run out of blood and turn into a mummy."

Kashi raised a brow as he too rose to his feet. "Well, that sucks. Not very convenient, is it?"

Syèl shrugged. "One thing this world has is an abundance of things to feed on. Besides, It's not always this bad. Most times, a little blood is more than enough. I overdrafted, pulling out those dragons, so..."

"Huh," replied Kashi with a curt nod. He then turned his attention to Drixlia, who had also risen to its feet, although with clear fatigue in its unsteady steps. Kashi patted the kirin's flank as he said, "That was great, Drix! We wouldn't have made it without you." That was no exaggeration. Only Drixlia's insane speed could cut through that storm before they were overrun. Perhaps Kashi and Syèl could pull it off if they risked everything, but they would definitely lose at least a limb in the process.

Kashi smiled as he looked into the kirin's eyes. "How're you feeling? Think you can still run?"

Drixlia harrumphed and then bumped its head against Kashi's chest. The daeben laughed as he hugged the kirin, and then said, "Alright, alright. I won't underestimate you. But you'll take it slow this time." He then looked at a vast mountain range just a few kilometers ahead of them. "I don't think we'll be facing any more obstructions."

Kashi, following Drixlia's wishes, hopped aboard its back, and then softly trotted down toward the mountains. Syèl once again made another mana construct. Only, to save mana, he forwent the conversion process and just made a small blood platform which he sat on, and then made to float alongside Drixlia.

As one trotted, and one floated, Syèl suddenly let out a long sigh, drawing Kashi's attention. Before Kashi could ask what was wrong, Syèl confessed, "You know, I've been wondering whether to kill you or not."

"As one does," Kashi remarked with a raised brow. "May I at least know why you want to kill me?"

"Well, it's not you really," Syèl answered with a shrug. "It's Suzuki."

"Yeah. No. That would—"

"Do you in too. I'm well aware of that. But I'm so pissed, I'm not really thinking straight right now."

"...And you are pissed because?"

Syèl turned to Kashi. The halben's expression was calm; cool even. Almost excessively cold. But like frost over a river, it seemed to be masking a heavy undercurrent. "Your father, the Ryumaki guy. His inventions destroyed my world. Killed my closest friends. So, I really want to kill you, and then him."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Syèl sighed and gave a very brief, quick rundown of his and Henri's relationship, and their eventual downfall.

By the time he was done, Kashi's brows were squeezed in a tight frown. He looked at Syèl, and said, "Listen, I am sorry for what happened to you, but I barely knew Ryumaki. Apparently, only Lunette knows what Ryu was really like. However, what I can tell you for sure, is that it was never his intent to build murderous A.Is. That just isn't his way."

"Yeah, I know that," Syèl spat. "I did some research of my own. It seems the A.Is turned out that way because of extended isolation after the lead scientist died. It's just... I needed someone to blame, or else what am I supposed to do with all this anger? I need to punish someone for Henri's death. I feel like I will never be able to do really move on until I do."

Kashi hesitated, but then admitted, "Look, I can't really feel grief, so I can't say I understand how you feel. But, rage. Rage I do understand. I practically sleep, eat and dream of nothing but anger."

"You don't seem like it."

"Yeah, well. I had two personalities before me who learned how to manage rage," Kashi replied with a shrug. "If you really can't move on, we can have a battle. I'll be the personification of Ryumaki's sin, and you can try to kill me. Don't worry, it won't work."

Syèl looked at Kashi with a raised brow. "You're crazy. You know that right?" He then snorted and looked away. "That baseless confidence is really annoying. Forget it! I've lost my appetite. I'll just kill you later."

"Heh." Kashi revealed a smug grin as he challenged, "You can surely try."

Just as Syèl was about to retort, spotted a massive golden gate, dozens of meters high, blocking the only entrance into the mountain range: a deep ravine that ran between the two largest hillsides.

Kashi and Syèl could probably fly over, but something told them that was equivalent to willfully seeking death.

Kashi's eyes suddenly narrowed as he sensed a terrifying presence beyond the gate. "We'll talk about this later," said the daeben as he spurred Drixlia into a hard gallop.

However, just as the trio neared the gate, it suddenly let out a loud groan, like a beast yawning in its sleep. The earth trembled as the gate slid outward, leaving Kashi and Syèl stunned by the identities of the gatekeepers.

Dragons!

A pair of massive dragons stood on their hind legs as they pushed the gates open, vague intelligence shining in their eyes as they stared at the puny squad. Beyond the gate, the trio spotted dozens of similarly sized dragons standing in an orderly line on either side of the pass like sentry soldiers.

Kashi swallowed hard as he observed the formation. "Uh... Syèl?"

"Yeah?"

"Reckon we might be fucked?"

"...Royally."