[Zack's View]
"I think I can see that Bastard!" I growled as I strained to push forward.
Now, my body had been conditioned, and I no longer needed to use the forward and back strategy. I just had to push as my body absorbed the pressure of whatever was creating such a massive gravitational pull.
[You are doing great! Just keep going!] Libra said, cheering me on.
Harold had been silent most of the trip, but I think that he was getting tired of fighting with Libra. It was surprising just how much the two seemed to detest each other, but it was a nice distraction.
I had no idea how long I had been at this walk, but I was sure it was more than two days. I was starting to think that I was outside of my previous reality because I had been going nonstop.
[You are right. The astral plane does not move with time; it is outside your ordinary reality. I don't know how it works; I just know that time doesn't flow here.] Libra explained, and I frowned bu
"You are the central focus point of everything, and everything is connected to you. What am I? Fragments of your past that joined together to help you along your way. Nothing that I tell you will make sense of this, but you will know the truth when you leave this island. There is no point in asking now, but I will explain it to you," Chey explained."You will? How do you plan on doing that from inside of here?" I asked in confusion, but that made the centaur laugh at me."I would ask that you take me with you from this place when you leave. I don't want to be forced to roam my father's ring again for eternity," Chey told me, and I took a deep breath in.It didn't really surprise me that he wanted to leave this place. I would have to assume that he had been here for countless years already.The problem was that, unlike Dani, the caterpillar girl, Chey, and Howl were part of the ring's reality. I wasn't really sure if they could be brought out into the real
"Okay, now let's get back to the real reason that we are here. What can the ranching system do about Chey? I know that we made Lidy a helper, and I had the other demons swear to me, right? I could make him a helper, but what would that mean for him?" I asked Harold as we sat around the table.The two of us were both drinking coffee now, and even if it was in my mind, it was great. There were some things that just couldn't be beaten, no matter what reality you were in."What you did with the Demons won't work here because you are outside that reality. We will just call the places in your back constellation the Astral Realm for now. Only the ranching system will work outside of the Demon Realm, the place everyone else is. This system will work in every Realm," Harold explained, but I narrowed my eyes on him."We are on my back right now?! How does that even make sense?!" I asked with wide and confused eyes."I didn't ask you to make sense of it! The Astral
"Are you trying to tell me that it would be better? Stuck inside a box at the bottom of the ocean? That sounds worse!" Chey complained, and I rolled my eyes, but then Howl spoke up."Are you, the great hunter Chey? Or are you his sister?" Howl growled."To be honest, I think that his sister would have probably not had a problem with it!" I said, and both Howl and I started to laugh, but his was more of a choking bark."Fine! I will come with you, but the two of you had better not tell anyone or bother me about this!" Chey ordered the two of us.I saluted him, and Howl did his best to mimic me. He only got a front paw up to his ear, but the wolf made a valiant effort.I confirmed that I would take Chey as my warden, and the centaur flashed with light. His body shrank down, but something strange happened to his face."What the heck is going on?!" Chey asked from a horse's mouth.Chey had lost his horse body to have an average human one,
"I will send you back, but things will be different this time, so we will just wait for you to collapse the rings. We will just be in the way," Chey explained to me, and I understood what he meant.Chey had drawn a line in the air with his finger, and a white line had appeared. As it did, the gate back to Sagittarius's ring opened up to show the area that we had left from."What do you mean that things are going to be different?" I asked before I walked through the Astral Gate."Carnage was only playing with you before because he was much stronger than you. Now you will be near or equal to his power, so he won't be as timid this time around," Chey explained, and that made sense."Okay, but is there anything that I need to do after I kill Carnage?" I asked, but Chey shook his head."No, you just need to remove the stain, and we can all leave this accursed place!" Chey growled but then shifted back into his horse-man form with surprise.Howl s
"What are you doing here?" I asked Nushi in confusion."You disappeared from everyone's senses, and this was the last place that I could find any traces of you. The moment I got here, these three spit out a portal, then you followed.That still didn't explain why she was red. The only other Rank E Demons were Nixi and Beeno, but they were both a darker shade.I looked over at the other three that had come from the rings with me. They all looked to be in rough shape, but I guess we all had to be thankful we were alive.I was about to ask about the rings as I tried to sit up, but there was a flash from behind Nushi. Libra appeared from the light, but her body had changed.[Finally! I feel like I can finally breathe again!] Harold cheered in my head.That caused me to grin as I looked at Libra, whose breasts were no longer the size of basketballs. While I liked how she looked before, these cannons would be easier to play with.Libra walk
The rings were a side note for now, and I still had many places to visit."Grog, there are two large cocoons in the ground. I want you to carefully remove them and then take them back to the Keep. Take these three people with you, and make sure to explain who they are," I instructed Grogvel.Chey had quilted down after he finally realized that he wasn't going to die. The others had been silent the entire time, but I was going to get to the next."Dani, the girls, will help you, but find Lidy, and she will get you something to eat. That reminds me, good lord am I hungry! Nushi, Howl? Can we get going?" I asked Nushi, but she instantly became distracted.The mention of my talking pup made Nushi's eyes get big as she finally noticed Howl. The woman completely ignored me and walked over to scoop up Howl off the ground."Unhand me, Demon Woman!" Howl squeaked out, but then his face was smashed into Nushi's lovely red breasts.I left Nushi and How
The sun was starting to creep out of sight now that we had made our way down into the crater. The city was filled with the sounds of people shouting and laughing."Do you know where we can find food and a place to eat?" I asked Nushi as we walked down a dirt path.Demons were walking around us, and they were all staring at us in wonder, but none of them spoke to us. It was hard to tell if they were ignoring us or we were just scared to talk to us."Yes, we just have to ask anyone, and they will point us in the right direction. I could just dig it from someone's head, but it would be better to announce ourselves," Nushi explained, and then she reached out to touch a Demon that was passing by.The woman's reaction was much different than I would have expected. She was terrified, and the dark blue-skinned woman looked at me with a pleading look."Lord, I have done nothing wrong!" The woman cried, and Nushi let go of the woman with large eyes and a hor
I took a bite out of the meat stick, and my mouth was hit with a sweet but gamey and rich taste. The meat was not what I had expected, but I was hungry, and the meat wasn't that bad."What do you think of the meat?" The Demon woman that had handed me the food asked me, but I put up a finger to get her to wait.The meat was chewy, and there wasn't much fat on it, so I was trying to empty my mouth before speaking."Not horrible, but a bit chewy. Still, I was starving, and the sweet sticky sauce that you put on it is perfect!" I explained after I was finally able to swallow the meat."Yes, the Gnoll tends to have a bit of a weird taste."The woman's words instantly made my mouth start to salivate. My stomach started to churn, and I had to fight to keep the food down."Are you okay?" Nushi tried to ask me, but I nodded my head yes, even though I was far from okay.The gnoll were humanoids, and the thought of eating anything human-shaped w