Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"You should still go to the volcano as planned to investigate. If you manage to transfer back successfully, hurry and go get help. If it turns out to be the wrong place, then come back here and regroup." After giving instructions, Adrian prepared to depart down the mountain.

"Come back here?" I asked doubtfully. "How do we regroup? It will be very difficult for you all to come out again!"

"That's not necessarily true. The situation now is different from when you first escaped. If Alfreed and the others are alright, they still have ways. Moreover, there could be more than one method to exit the city." He looked back and smiled at me, then leapt nimbly down the mountainside.

"There are other ways to exit the city?" I didn't understand for a moment, but he didn't give me a chance to keep asking questions.

I had wanted to offer to fly him down, but seeing how Adrian had already jumped to the foot of the not-too-tall mountain after a few leaps, I could only swallow my words.

So I've become a messenger? How vexing.

After seeing Adrian off, I could only follow the agreed plan and fly to the volcano Selene and I had spotted earlier.

Although my current position west of Val City was not to the south, the unique shape of the volcano made it easy to locate its position in the vast southern plains when flying overhead.

It didn't take long to fly there. Soon, I arrived directly above the mountain top, where there was a circular pond.

From afar, the mountain didn't look very big. But when I landed on the peak, I realized the area was much larger than I had imagined, easily spanning several kilometers in diameter - about the same size as the deep pit in central Val City.

The water in the crater lake was quite clear. Looking out at the distant view of Val City to the north, I could make out the details fairly clearly.

If this was the transfer point, exactly where would the exchange happen?

While sitting by the lake waiting, I couldn't help pondering these questions idly.

But after waiting for a long time without any changes to the distant scenery, and recalling that the last transfer from Tethys Town had happened at dusk, I estimated there was still a lot of time. I sighed again.

Just as boredom was getting the better of me, I suddenly noticed several small black dots slowly emerging from the mountainside below.

What were those things? They looked like monsters.

To avoid detection, I hovered in midair and cautiously approached the targets below little by little, finally making them out clearly - they were several minotaurs holding axes, the same as the ones we had encountered in Elara Woodlands before.

Behind them were a few other monsters I couldn't name. Unlike the minotaurs, they were all very short, hunchbacked, and covered in green scales - not human.

"Could this be the legendary transfer point after all?" I muttered to myself. Looking in the direction they had come from, there seemed to be a cave entrance. But I didn't dare rashly go closer in case there were many more monsters inside - that would be jumping into the tiger's den.

With no way to escape skyward inside the mountain, my aerial advantage would be useless. I could easily get trapped inside.

However, speaking of aerial advantage... Noticing how the monsters were lined up single file and spaced rather far apart as they slowly advanced below, I suddenly had a bright idea.

Hehehe... Out here in broad daylight, don't blame me for snatching your women... Ahem, snatching your monsters!

I gained some altitude first, estimating the distance to be adequate. Then I took a deep breath and dove down towards them.

It was just like an eagle swooping down on little chicks. At the highest point of descent, I happened to land right above the last monster's head. Grabbing it by the scruff of its neck, I swiftly ascended skyward again in one smooth motion.

The whole process was executed swiftly and precisely without any wasted moves - I had become quite adept from practicing escaping falls from the sky.

Of course, being able to apply this to combat was still a small improvement.

This monster sure was slow on the uptake. It struggled violently only after several seconds of being hauled into the air, shrieking loudly all the while.

So noisy! We were already very high up. Its companions down below definitely couldn't hear it over this distance. They might not even notice one was missing from their ranks.

"Cough cough... Shut it! Or I'll drop you!" I growled, trying my best to sound fierce and intimidating. But I had an inkling it wasn't very convincing. Oh well, nothing could be done about that.

"Scream your throat raw, no one's gonna save you!"

"Who... who're you?"

At least the monster had some intelligence, as it stopped screeching. It was desperately trying to turn its head to look behind, but with me clutching its neck, that was impossible.

"You're an angel!"

"...!"

Curse these wings for giving me away! Though it couldn't see my face, the constantly flapping wings behind had been spotted.

What a pity. I had wanted to pretend to be a succubus too...

Oh well, since we could communicate, things would be much easier.

"Tell me the truth! Is that mountain below a secret transfer point you use?"

I cut straight to the chase without further nonsense. After all, I had no intention of actually being a villain here.

"It's not!" The monster in my grasp immediately retorted.

I didn't expect it to be so stubborn. What a blatant lie too - not even a hint of hesitation or doubt at all. Did it really think I was a three year old kid?

"Really not?"

I decided to give it another chance. I wasn't truly a demon after all.

"It's not!"

Fine then. Hearing that, my hand loosened its grip...

"Eeek--!"

Seeing it flail wildly in midair, limbs and tail thrashing about, it looked unexpectedly cute for such an ugly creature.

When it neared the ground, I grabbed it by the scruff again and flew back up high.

After this round trip through the free fall ride, the monster in my hand quietened down significantly. Perhaps terror had finally instilled some obedience. In any case, it didn't make another peep even when I stopped ascending.

"The skies are my domain. You gonna tell the truth now?"

I dangled it lightly with one hand. The implied threat was obvious.

"I'll... I'll tell..."

It quickly acquiesced in a submissive tone. Tail curled tightly to its body like a ball.

"What's that mountain below used for?"

"It's... it's an experimental site for the celestial weapon Galadra's Eye."

"Celestial weapon? Galadra's Eye?"

I was puzzled. How did another celestial weapon get dragged into this? Although the name sounded very different from Nicola's Condensation Sword, I hadn't been in this world for long. To think I would chance upon two celestial weapons in a row!

"It's a device that can transfer spaces."

Seeing my lack of comprehension, the monster in my hand quickly explained.

"Then who're you all? What're you doing inside?"

"I'm a cave dweller assisting with the work..."

"Cave dweller?"

I twisted its neck to peer at its face again, puzzled.

Its frog-like face and mung bean-sized eyes were nearly invisible unless stared at closely. The lithe, lizard-like body shape was probably adapted for burrowing through holes and tunnels.

So this was what a cave dweller looked like. How underwhelming given their fabled reputation!

"Y-yes, that's right. I'm Borg."

At least he didn't dare be impudent, even volunteering his own name.

"Then who're you all? What're you doing inside? When's the next transfer happening? How large an area does it cover? How many times has it been used here before? What's the purpose?"

Since this 'Borg' was being so cooperative, I went ahead and bombarded it with all the questions I was curious about.

"Well..."

But at the critical moment, it suddenly started hesitating, hemmed and hawed for a long time without answering at all.

"Hmm?"

I looked at it confusedly. What tricks was this guy trying to pull?

"If you can't answer everything at once, go slowly one by one. But if you dare try deceiving me..."

I abruptly loosened my grip downwards.

"No, no!"

Borg hurriedly yelled out to clarify.

"It's not that I don't wish to say, and not that I want to trick you, but there's nothing below anymore! We received an urgent notice from Val City yesterday that due to suspected angel invasion here, Galadra's Eye has already been transferred elsewhere as a precaution!"

"What!"

I was greatly shocked. In my absentmindedness, my hand slipped again.

"Eeek--!?"

...

That time was truly unintentional...

When I fished Borg back up again, he was already frightened out of his wits, babbling and pleading for mercy.

"Please, I beg you! I really didn't lie to you. There truly is nothing left below. We're only the last batch remaining behind to tidy things up before retreating back to Val City."

"Retreating in broad daylight? Why don't you just stay here until nightfall then?"

I hadn't forgotten their monstrous habit of sleeping during the day and appearing at night. Making to drop him again, I pressed,

"That's because they're short on manpower at the new site, so they ordered us to head over immediately! That's why we have no choice but to move now..."

As my hand only shook lightly, Borg immediately shrieked and hastily explained the reason.

"Then where's this new site located?"

His manner didn't seem like he was fabricating lies.

"I... I don't know."

Borg stared apprehensively at me, all four limbs and tail tightly curled up into a ball.

"We'll only be informed after returning to Val City..."

"What!"

On hearing that, I nearly erupted. Wasn't this even more useless than before?

At least just now I still knew the approximate location. But now, not a single clue remained - not even a rough directional hint!

To verify his claims, I specifically flew down to check the cave entrance in the mountainside.

The cavernous interior was extremely spacious and wide. Indeed, as Borg had said, it was completely deserted without a trace left behind.

It was fortunate I had come to investigate first. If not for running into this cave dweller, I might have mistakenly assumed I got the wrong location!

"Tell me everything and anything you know - past transfer experiments elsewhere, their purpose, and exactly why it got moved this time."

I commanded Borg categorically. Since I couldn't obtain the information I wanted, perhaps I could still glean some other clues from what he knew.

"Yes, yes! The initial experiments were conducted within Val City..."

The obedient cave dweller immediately launched into recounting the events of the past trials, clearly aware of what consequences awaited if he failed to cooperate, having experienced the free fall ride multiple times.

After all, I was a good guy. I would never let him plummet easily to his death, always giving him ample opportunities.