Chapter 92: Welcome to the Darklands

Freya then called for a seinjet to take us to the harbor. I expected General Armstrong to be there, but a Guardian Command henchman stood in his place. He gave a military salute as we approached the port. Though he wasn’t wearing a uniform, he presented his ID and verification from General Armstrong—so he was the guy.

"Were you supporting us?"

"I don’t like the idea of casting people into the Darklands. Jail and demotion should be enough. But this time, it’s a bit more personal. I worked in Guardian Command in NewLake five years ago, before I was transferred here a year ago. My former boss, Ina Kazuki, was among those who were convicted. I owe her one. I’m sure she’s trying to save as many people as possible, but she has failed," the official said.

"I see." I nodded.

"Don’t worry, Silvester! Lily and I are going to save everyone!" Freya said, pumping her fist. She then looked over at the small boat behind us. "Is that the boat we’ll be using? I don’t sense any mana in it."

"This boat doesn’t use mana, Freya. It runs on gasoline. There’s enough fuel for a round trip. We’ve also prepared food—enough to last you a month. But since it’s a small boat, the food and gasoline will need to be stored inside your dimensional storage."

"Understood," Freya said. The boat really was small—unlike the cruise liner that had been used to transport refugees from Newmesa. This one could only hold eight people at most.

"Did you steal this speedboat from a fishing sports center?" I asked. The design looked just like a speedboat I’d seen in a racing video on social media.

"Well, we bought it. Yesterday, actually. Please don’t mind the small details," Silvester grinned.

"Let’s go, Lily," Freya said after she packed all the gasoline and food into her dimensional storage. Seeing how almost all of the food was MREs, I lost interest. I wondered whether I should buy my own food in the Darklands. I'm behaving like Shining…

The motorboat revved up and skimmed across the dark water, heading toward the Darklands.

"Hm… a little bit to the right, Lily," Felicia said, spawning above the steering wheel. I had no idea how she could navigate in this complete darkness. When I accessed her view, I saw she had been using my mana to see the surroundings through infrared sight. I immediately activated it myself. but there was nothing but water as far as the eye could see.

"Should I take command? Can you see anything?" Freya asked.

"Don’t worry. Felicia has shown me the way," I answered. It wasn’t a lie—I could see in the dark—but I had no experience with navigation.

"It’ll take about two days to get to our destination. Let’s switch every ten hours."

"Got it." I drove. A few hours later, Eden had almost vanished from view. Freya took it upon herself to refill the fuel in the engine at the back. As she lounged on the seat, her eyes suddenly snapped upward—to the sky.

"Flying Anathema!" she said, drawing her staff from her dimensional storage. Maybe it was drawn to the noise of our boat, but the black pterodactyl-like monster was heading straight for us.

"That’s a Dread Pterodactyl, an E-rank Anathema. Its flying capabilities are the only threat. Its stats are no different from Fomorian hounds, except for their initial charge."

"Should I shoot it?" I suggested.

"I will vanquish it. Don’t worry—this is my specialty," Freya said as she stretched out her hand. A ball of light formed in her palm. Then, with a sharp crack in the air, a lightning bolt flashed from her hand, and the pterodactyl dropped without as much as a fanfare.

"I’m a ranged attacker. It really sucks, doesn’t it? Long-range attackers can’t collect essence. By the time they reach their kill, almost 90% of the essence has already evaporated. I hope Zenith patches these issues soon."

"That depends on their research, I guess. It’s a wonder that Zenith managed to push our technologies this far with a single discovery from one of our scientists."

"I heard Zenith is willing to buy essence from us. So, every time we earn essence, Guardian Command and Magical Girls would get a share of points," Freya said, making small talk as we drove our small boat toward the Darklands. I naturally looked toward Felicia. She neither confirmed nor denied it.

"The specifics are still up in the air. But there’s a good chance that Anathema essence will appear in the Vault. It would help retired or non-combatant MGs contribute something meaningful to humanity," Felicia said. "Though I would bet Guardian Command will try their best to discourage Guardians from buying from the Vault."

"Are you okay with it?" I asked.

"We’re more than welcome to encourage MGs to buy directly from Guardian Command. It helps with the logistics of the Vault Systems."

"I see." I could only roll my eyes at their words. Zeniths are aliens—they operate differently than us. If Zenith were Shirayukis, this kind of disparagement or defamation of competition would usually mean direct war.

We made a bit more small talk before Freya’s fairy spawned beside Felicia.

"Let’s switch," Freya offered. "You can sleep in the back. I’ll call you when it’s your turn again."

"Alright," I nodded. It was starting to get boring. I thought I enjoyed driving, but the droning of the engine and the complete lack of scenery made me lose interest fast.

Familiars don’t need sleep, so I posted Felicia on the passenger seat to alert me if anything happened while I was asleep.

Dawn arrived soon enough. Thanks to the uncomfortable chair, I groaned as Felicia greeted me. There was nothing but a vast sea stretching out before us. Not even an Anathema in sight—only the constant drone of the speedboat engine.

"Oh, are you awake?"

"You didn’t wake me," I muttered as I looked over at the clock. It was thirty minutes past the time we were supposed to switch.

"Well, it was only a few minutes," Freya said. "Besides, I’m a higher rank, so I should bear a greater load."

"You don’t need to worry about it. It’s not like I didn’t benefit from it," I answered while keeping the second sentence quiet. Freya didn't seem to hear it as she walked to the back seat.

I soon took the wheel and continued driving—until dusk, when land finally came into view.

"Father…" Freya murmured in her sleep as the speedboat drifted toward the harbor. Instead of docking, I swerved slightly and chose to land on the beach next to it.

I didn’t know why I did that. I guess I just went with what felt familiar—last time I came to the Darklands, we did it this way. Getting inside the harbor felt dangerous. Who knows if an Anathema might be lurking inside one of the warehouses?

The droning sound of the engine finally faded. I scanned the surroundings. The Darklands looked just as I remembered—desolate, comforting, and empty. No mice, no bugs, no people. While waiting for Freya to wake up, I took the liberty of scanning the area through my rifle scope.

"That’s an Ichor of Words. Not ghouls. And that one’s not a ghoul either—it’s a Claw Wraith," Felicia explained as she identified several low-level Anathema I spotted in the distance. I checked again through my scope. Indeed, they looked a bit different from typical ghouls.

An hour later, Freya finally woke up.

"Lily! Why didn’t you wake me up!?" Freya bolted from the boat, looking for me. I was standing on a random rock with my sniper rifle at the ready, overseeing both the boat and the harbor. As I expected, I saw some hounds and ghouls moving inside the harbor.

"There’s nothing to do right now. Want to travel around a bit? It’ll still take until tomorrow for your father to arrive, right?" I said.

"Is this revenge because I didn’t wake you earlier? You’re surprisingly petty…" Freya sighed. She then looked over at the harbor. "I sense some Anathema there. We should clear them out before my father arrives. Hm… why did you land here? Oh well, it doesn’t matter."

I brought out my jeep, and then stored the speedboat before inviting Freya inside.

I unleashed my clones and began checking the cabins and warehouses one by one. Thankfully, there were no high-ranking Anathema. Freya handled the cleanup efficiently before we moved on.

"It hurts!!" several of my clones complained.

Yes—three clones had fallen in battle. Clones didn’t have shield auras, except during my signature, so if they were attacked, they took damage directly.

[You have defeated a horde of Anathema! This is the summary of the points received. Consult Familiars for more info.]

[Reward: 105 Points]

"Your clones don’t have shields, huh?" Freya muttered. "That’s weaker than I thought."

"Yes. And their stats are halved as well. Are you disappointed?" I asked.

"Not really. Even without shields, they still triggered the ambush. Since you can summon a large number of them, It was perfect. Ambushes like this are the only reason Magical Girls could die. If clones can trigger ambushes from assassination-specialist Anathema, then there’s nothing to worry about."

"Ahh!!"I quickly snapped my head toward the clone that screamed. Her head had been cleanly cut off—but there was no one there.

"It’s an invisible Anathema! Quick, activate echolocation, infrared eyes, and X-ray vision! An alert has been sent to Freya’s familiar." Felicia materialized.

Freya tensed as her familiar relayed the information. Through my infrared and X-ray vision, I saw a white figure rushing at the other clones, decapitating them. Another clone’s head was lopped off.

"Boost!!" Freya shouted, launching herself toward the figure. She then told me, "Lily! Stay here! That’s a very dangerous Anathema!"

As ordered, I watched the battle from a distance. Freya wielded her staff like a mace—lightning gathered at its tip as she hammered it toward the invisible monster. It exploded on impact. From the smoke, I caught a flash of pink as the monster was launched backward by the force. Freya’s shield aura flickered—it had taken damage.

I raised an eyebrow. Not only had the monster survived, but it had also managed to land a counterattack.

As it struck the ground, purple lights flickered, revealing its true form. Its body gleamed with a metallic sheen. Inorganic, but not robotic. It looked magical—more like a construct than a machine. It was a bunch of blades that seemed tied together by a magical force. The metal exuded a faint glow.

"What’s that?"

"I’m not sure," Felicia replied. "But from the miasma, I’d estimate it's around B-rank or C-rank Anathema. It's not dead yet, so don’t let your guard down. Ah… a report just came in from Freya’s familiar. That Anathema is called Floating Metal—a C-rank Anathema. It’s an assassin-type, with high stealth capabilities and powerful attacks. It’s also resistant to physical damage, but once hit with magic, it loses its stealth."

"I see," I muttered, watching as Freya leapt forward again, slamming her staff down like a warhammer onto the stunned Anathema. Another explosion echoed through the air.

Observing her, I added dryly, "She lied. She said she was a ranged attacker…"

"Once you reach the higher ranks, distinctions like melee and ranged attackers lose all meaning. You have ranged options yourself, right? Pink Heart was classified as a ranged attacker, but she can go toe-to-toe in melee combat with Behemoth-class Anathema."

Once the Anathema was confirmed dead, I stepped forward and placed a bottle in front of the remains. Using my skill, I extracted its essence and stored it for future use.

[You have gathered 1 vial of Anathema’s essence. You have gained experience. You have leveled up to Level 36. Your Dark Slayer class has leveled up to Level 11.]

"Oh yeah. I gain experience just for collecting essence," I muttered, feeling more and more guilty for acting like a leech.

(Here is a note at what Lily's augment and grimoire could do.)

[The Ambivalence of Virtue and Sin]

Level: MAX

Virtue: Diligence

Put mana eyes, ears, and markings in places you have touched. When put it in your own mana construct, you will have access to their sense of touch. Mana cost: 30 when placed, 5 Mana per minute when in use and 1 per minute when not in use. Maximum of twenty eyes, and 10km radius before disconnection and dispersed. Keyword: Wiretap, Dismiss

Sin: Vainglory

Designate your mana construct as second live. When your main body suffer a one shot kill or when you say the keyword, the augment will teleported your main body into the your mana construct and possibly saved your life. However, you have to sacrifice half of your shield strength or suffer a penalty to mana regeneration. No mana cost. Keyword: Horcrux

Virtue: Charity

Your normal clone could access Gate points and your skills. Your signature are extended until thirty minutes. Mana eyes will be able to see outside visible light spectrum. With additional 3 mana you could use echolocation, X-ray vision, and infrared vision with your mana eyes. Keyword: Sonar

[The Ambivalent grimoire]

[Shadow Spell: Summon a shadow clone of yourself with 50% of your STR, Agi, Dex, And Vit. Mana cost: 50/cast. Duration: 5 Minutes + Spirit statsx3second. Automatic Augment applied]

[Mimic spell: Change yourself or your magical construct to have a certain shape. Changing non magical construct may not change mass and can only have up to 50% volume difference. Mana cost:40]

[Extend spell: Extend all of your mana construct lifetime by expending 5 mana/ten minutes.]