KABOOM!
The deafening explosion was like a supernatural fission bomb, the shockwave from the explosion expanded outwards, and anything standing in its path got devastated.
The mountain peak closest to the point of impact started cracking until even the mountain's very foundation got sundered with gnarly gorges that spread beyond the mountain. A spiderweb-patterned crack appeared in the area, the cracks were kilometers long!
The tall and haughty trees stood no chance against the mighty explosion.
Trees were toppled and mini-tornadoes started tearing up the place.
The monsters and animals living near this place got sent flying. They could hear the whimpers and anguished moans of the monsters. Soon, they too were buried in the sound of the whipping gale. Together with the expanding shockwave, the monsters got swept into the horizon. Nobody knows if they are still alive.
At the center of the collision, there's a terrible wall of fire.
The flames cascaded down onto the ground. Any moisture in the air got evaporated, trees burnt, and rocks got melted down into a puddle of magma. The area below became a sea of flames in short order. The mountain was transformed into a raging volcano that spewed toxic gas and magma.
The clouds were also blown far away by the collision of immense powers. Any onlooker here would find it hard to spot even a tiny cloud after the terrifying shockwave sent them all into the surrounding come.
The storm slowly died out, and the flames also slowly tapered out of existence. Yet, everything has already changed.
The mountain, trees, and ground burn still.
Giant cracks appeared in the ground.
Licked by the sea of flames, one could still see traces of a great fire that engulfed everything for miles.
Fortunately, this devastation was limited to the forest. Had this fight occurred in a city, the casualties would be heart-rending.
At the top of the burned mountain peak.
The girls opened their eyes to see a transparent barrier covering them. The ground they stood on was fine as well, the same couldn't be said of the situation outside the barrier.
The outside scenery looked like a scene from hell. The girls exchanged a look as they inhaled in awe.
Artemia was the one who maintained the barrier. She shooked her head while sighing.
"What a waste of a perfectly good forest… It's a shame to see the environment destroyed like this…"
The ladies rolled their eyes at her recalling a certain scene whereas Saeko retorted.
"I think the forest is the least of our concerns right now. There are monsters that can accelerate the growth of trees, the damage will probably recover in a year or two.''
"I see!''
Artemia nodded with a giggle.
"Then we shall forget about it…"
"Ahaha…"
One of the girls finally asked the important question.
"Is Althea okay? Where are they?" Saeko questioned, she was not worried about Lilith as she was strongest here but she was more concerned about Althea whose strength was equal if not less than hers.
''She is fine,'' Artemia responded, and following her words, Althea appeared together with Lilith and Kuina's mother, although utterly exhausted with her clothes in rags, she was fine.
The girls heaved a sigh before leaving. The others will be joining them soon.
???
In another location, in the country of Osium.
Night time.
Under the soft glow of the moonlight.
The land glistened in a silver glow despite the lack of stars in the sky. It felt cool to be out here. It wasn't finger-freezing cold, the light gave everything a long and lonely shadow.
The forward operating base is peaceful, a rare feat for this chaotic base. Even if the air's a bit chilly, the sentry flames lit along the pathways here dispelled the chill. The patrols felt rather at ease with tonight's serenity.
That's what it felt like to rank and file soldiers of this base. At the top, it felt like the calm before a storm.
In the depth of the base was a bigger tent that belongs to Maria and the other two.
Currently, the trio was sitting around a table full of papers and Maria was reading them.
''So, how is it?" Luna asked after a moment of silence while Sakuya was taking care of her nails, too lazy to talk.
''There is nothing as expected, since we arrived the unusual things happening around here stopped as if they knew we are here and went into hiding. The teams sent to investigate did not find anything.''
''I bet the enemy is trying to mess up with us. Almost as if they're forcing our attention somewhere to hide their real purpose.'' Luna explained after musing over the reason for their current situation and Maria nodded as she had also arrived at the same conclusion.
''I wonder what their purpose is? To create a bunch of abominations? To cause internal war? To create demons in dungeons that would eliminate all powerful adventurers? I can't think of their real purpose even with all the information we have.'' Maria lamented.
''Well, I think this must be their goal, to make it hard to think what their real purpose is by misleading us with a lot of unusual things.'' Sakuya finally spoke and her words made sense Maria thought while Luna frowned trying to know what the enemy is trying to achieve.
''Let's not focus too much on these issues right now, the most important thing to do is to increase our strength quickly as possible, reaching the False God realm, it might be hard for Leon and the others but it'll be easy for us Otherworlders, besides we have Alex's blessings,'' Maria announced and Luna blushed when she heard of Alex's blessing as this meant his seed.
''Fufufu! Let's go back tomorrow. I wonder if Kuina will wake up before we arrive.'' Sakuya said trying to break the awkward silence lingering over.
''Eh! Thinking about the fox lady, I remembered a certain episode where Luna and Saeko in their role-playing -"
''Shut up!'' Luna cut her off before Sakuya could finish while Maria harrumphed as she also remembered this episode. She couldn't help but laugh as every time she would bicker with Kuina, each trying to get win using different method.
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