Chapter 15: Chapter 14 – Cumulonimbus II

Percibell is running on a plane of wilted grass while holding out her arms. She looks behind her and glances at the mansion.

Strong gusts of wind blow all around her, carrying cold air from the cloudy, grey sky, threatening to make her fall over. A large, dark cloud rolls over the scenery at an astounding pace, reaching down below the level of the others with long, smoky tendrils. Smaller groups of trees sway in unison as the winds pick up their pace.

｟Thud｠

Her arms jut to the sides while her head bumps into something, causing her to fall back flat on her butt.

「Ouch! Another barrier?」 she cries with a pained look while trying to soothe the second bump on her forehead.

She carefully reaches out and feels an invisible wall right in front of her, shimmering a bluish glow on touch. She attempts to knock on the barrier with her bloodied fist to sense the thickness of it.

With a relieved sigh, she rests her palm on it and starts mumbling, 「Lady Ophelia, please give me your strength...」

She closes her eyes.

「O', goddess of morning mists, hear your servant's pleas! Guide this humble one through the treacherous path, free of obstacles.」

A sudden gust of wind, unlike the ones previously blowing around the elf, starts gathering around her arm, creating small whirlwinds that run along it. Beads of sweat appear and roll down her forehead and her panting gets rougher.

「Please... please work,」 she pleads.

Few moments pass and a loud pop resounds from the spot where her hand meets the barrier, and her arm falls through.

She stumbles forward with her whole body, falling arms-first onto the grassy ground, yelling 「Waaaa—!」

Inspecting her fist as she gathers herself, she notices her delicate elven skin is now bleeding, covered with fragments of weeds and bearing signs of numerous small cuts.

She turns her gaze up and gasps when she notices a barren grey landscape stretching out towards the horizon. Only withered grey trees off in the far distance mark the expanse of dark grey soil on one side - a view typical of the emptiest parts of Wilderness fills her sight. Turning leftwards, she sees a dark forest with tall trees without leaves continuing off into the distance.

She notices clumps of rocks, dotting the uneven ground here and there, and the hills flowing into each other, sometimes at angles sharp enough to reveal dark basalt rock under their mossy skin. Nothing stops howling winds from traveling the ridges carved into the soil by centuries of erosion.

「This is... Wait,」 with no signs of civilization anywhere, she mutters to herself, turning erratically left and right.

Her voice wobbles and cracks as she tries piecing the memories of her arrival back together, stumbling a few steps, only to stop and sway in confusion, feeling dizzy as she looks up at the dome of grey clouds far above her.

「Hou?」 a hoarse and raspy voice cuts through the wind to Percibell's right.

Alarmed, Percibell screams and immediately jumps up in fear and confusion, not quite sure how she missed a person standing near her.

She gets into a combat-ready stance, her feet slightly apart with bent knees, back hunched forward, and reaches out behind with her hand only to realize her bow is missing. Her eyes jut around in search of the owner of the voice until her sight falls upon a tall woman with brown skin and medium-length pointy ears.

She stands a few meters away, wearing plain, layered clothing, dark in color and almost completely matte, matching the palette of the environment. Her soft leather shoes reach a bit above her ankles, where the fabric of her long pants tucks in.

Percibell notices that a wide belt holds the lower part of her long-sleeved shirt near her body, but the rest is obscured by a thin coat attached to her shoulders, reaching almost to her ankles, and a dark, grey scarf tightly wrapped around her neck, with only the end dangling behind her head. Both it and the coat are dancing in the wind.

The woman's brows raise slightly in surprise, changing her otherwise deadpan look.

「The elf?」 she says, scanning Percibell from head to toe before asking, 「Fleeing—?」

「W-who are you?」 Percibell interrupts her, perspiration on her worried face, while slowly backing off with silent steps.

The woman knits her brows and looks as if in deep contemplation before turning her head towards the barrier, 「This,」 she says, ignoring the question and pointing to her left 「a most intriguing barrier, this is. I didn't think I would find advanced elf magic this far out.」

Percibell furrows her brows.

「What? What do you mean...?」

「Look,」 the woman urges while nodding.

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Percibell keeps her head locked towards the woman, and with hesitation, slowly turns her eyes.

「W-what!? How?」 Percibell mutters, wide-eyed.

The mansion that was once there is now gone as if having never existed. Instead, In her sight, a barren, hilly field of wilted grass and lone trees expands under the cloudy grey skies, continuing on just like the landscape after passing through the barrier, suddenly changing into a thick forest, joining the one she saw on her left.

In disbelief, Percibell turns her body for a better look and rubs her eyes.

「Why are you so surprised? Isn't this how you elves shield your homes from prying eyes?」 the woman asks with a faint smirk before muttering to herself, eyes briefly shining with excitement, 「She can even do this...?」

Suddenly, a hand materializes from thin air in the space between Percibell and the woman. They both stare at it in amazement, but after a single moment, the woman promptly leaps forward, covering the distance between her and Percibell in one step.

「Waarghh..! Mmmgghh mmhh!」 Percibell groans as the stranger covers her mouth using her hand and twists the elf's arms behind her back. Dragging her along, she leaps a few steps away from the invisible barrier, each step covering a few meters.

Percibell helplessly struggles, flapping her legs around while trying to break free.

Soon, the materialized hand extends out, letting more of the arm become visible, and part by part, Rosaria's whole body appears.

「Didn't I te— Huh?」 Rosaria reveals a shocked expression as soon as she sets her sight on Percibell, 「What's the meaning of this? Who are you...?」 she asks with knitted brows.

「I take it you're the rumored Melan?」 asks the woman holding Percibell captive, 「If you don't know who I am... You must be an outsider?」

「What on earth are you on about? I do suggest you let her go, for your own good,」 Rosaria warns with an angry, confused expression.

She lets her arms stretch out on her sides with open palms.

「Wait,」 the woman pleads, her voice hurried, 「I... am Xlara. You should know who Patrak is. He told me about you」

Upon hearing this, Percibell widens her eyes, and by frantically moving her head around manages to break her mouth free for a moment.

「The Shadow Blade!!! Miss Melan, run— mmmmmhh!」 she utters before it is forcefully covered again.

Rosaria's confusion visibly increases and she locks eyes with Percibell for a moment, noticing the fear inside her big silvery eyes.

「Patrak? What about that Patrak?」 she asks.

Proceeding to scan the brown half-elf's figure, she notices the absence of any obvious weapons, lending true to her title.

The princess takes a step, causing Xlara to flinch and retreat her own step while pulling Percibell along.

「I see, then you must have come for revenge?」 Rosaria continues asking while feeling out her fingers.

Without warning, a flat pillar of volcanic rock, about one meter wide and as thick as an arm, extrudes from the ground in front of Rosaria, reaching up to her waist and blocking her entire lower body from Xlara's sight.

「Hooh~,」 Xlara muses with raised eyebrows, 「Don't misunderstand, lady. Patrak is no longer among the living. I just want a friendly conversation.」

「Deceased? Ara, what a terrible shame, he was such a character. However,」 Rosaria nods at Percibell, 「I'll have you know that you caught me in quite the bad mood. If you really just want to talk, how about you start by letting go of her?」

「I don-」

Suddenly a violent gust of storm wind blows in the direction of Xlara, interrupting her and causing both her and Percibell to slide back a few meters, raking through the mosses, their hair flaring up and out wildly. Xlara maintains her pose while Percibell keeps struggling in her hands while struggling to keep her feet on the ground.

「Mmmmmhhh!」 she whimpers as her hair manages to obscure Xlara's vision.

「How persistent of you! That should've been enough to lift a commoner off the ground,」 Rosaria shouts, the irritation in her voice evident even in the howling wind.

「Stop. Don't you care what happens to her?!」 Xlara asks, yanking Percibell towards herself, exposing the elf's delicate, white neck. Her legs strain to keep both upright, and she can barely keep her eyes open in the onslaught of wind. A high-pitched sound sweeps through the air around the two, and the gale carries a thin line of blood.

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