Chapter 636: A Caldera

By the time Elion reached the remaining pair, they were considerably closer to the lake than he would have liked, and the sight quickly wiped the pleased expression from his face.

He adjusted his wings and turned into their fall, securing one of them against his left side before reaching for Maya with his free arm.

"I’ve got you!" he shouted, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close.

However, instead of holding on to him like the others had, Maya let out a startled scream, her body stiffening before she suddenly began to struggle.

Whether she had failed to recognise him in her panic or simply could no longer understand what was happening, Elion had no idea.

All he knew was that her elbow had nearly caught him in the mouth, and her legs were kicking wildly while he tried to secure her against his side.

"Maya! Stop moving!" he called, tightening his arm around her waist as he spread his wings to slow their descent.

Unfortunately, the sudden change in speed only seemed to frighten her more, and she grabbed at his shoulder before immediately letting go, her hands searching desperately for something to hold.

Elion gritted his teeth as her heel struck his thigh, though the blow itself did little more than annoy him. What troubled him was the way she kept twisting in his hold, making it increasingly difficult to keep her secure while his other arm was already occupied.

For the love of—just hold on!

He tried to pull her farther up against his chest, hoping that she would finally wrap her arms around his neck, but Maya chose that exact moment to throw herself backward.

Her weight shifted abruptly, dragging his right shoulder down and forcing him to tilt his wings to keep the three of them from turning sideways.

"Don’t—!"

His arm slipped higher around her ribs, and he hurriedly tried to reposition his hand, only for another violent twist to pull her out of his hold.

His fingers caught her arm for a brief moment, but her momentum carried her downward before he could secure his grip.

Elion’s eyes widened as her weight suddenly disappeared from his side, leaving his right arm empty.

Maya dropped beneath him with a piercing scream, both hands reaching toward him now that there was nothing left to hold her up.

"Shit!"

He immediately folded his wings and dived after her, stretching his free arm as far as he could.

Cole, the person beneath his other arm, clung to him desperately, his weight pulling awkwardly at his shoulder as he reached for Maya’s outstretched hand.

His fingertips brushed hers, but before he could close his grip, she dropped just beyond his reach. The lake was already right beneath them, its dark surface rushing closer far too quickly.

A heavy splash erupted below him as Maya struck the water, sending a burst of white spray into his face.

Elion snapped his wings open with a pained grunt, pulling himself and his remaining passenger out of the dive before they could follow her into the lake.

All he could see beneath him was churning water and the widening ripples where she had disappeared. He searched desperately for her head, but she failed to surface immediately.

"Maya!" he shouted, but there was no answer, and he turned sharply toward the nearby bank.

He needed to put his remaining passenger down, so he did just that before turning back to the massive body of water.

Fortunately, he spotted her head rising back up a moment later.

He immediately rushed back to her, effortlessly catching her outstretched, flailing hand, and pulling her out of the water.

He gathered her into a princess carry before flying back to the bank, landing and placing her on her feet, only for her to quickly drop to her hands and knees.

Maya drew in a deep breath, though she didn’t seem particularly out of breath.

It looked more like she was having a panic attack than anything else.

Despite his confusion, Elion crouched down and offered his hand.

"You okay?" he asked, and she looked up at him, her eyes still trembling with fear. After a short gulp, she nodded.

"I-I’m okay," she said, though she made no move to take his hand, instead simply looking at it with a distant, panicked expression.

Realising that she wasn’t going to take his hand, Elion frowned, got back up looked toward the others with a raised brow, unable to understand what could have spooked her that much.

Perhaps they knew, but it didn’t seem like anyone was going to tell him exactly what had happened with Maya listening.

Regardless, Maya was thoroughly soaked, and now that they had gotten themselves out of immediate danger, they needed to get her out of her wet clothes and leave them out to dry before she got too cold.

Luckily, Mayumi and Nora agreed to help her with just that, while Elion and the other two guys decided to go and survey the area.

It wouldn’t exactly be gentlemanly for them to stay and watch, now would it?

And so, after a quick check to make sure there was no immediate danger in their general vicinity, the trio of guys left.

It was only after Elion, Uta, and Cole had vanished into the thick patch of trees along the flat ground surrounding the caldera that Elion remembered he could have simply offered to use magic to dry Maya’s clothes for her.

Looking back over his shoulder from the cover of the trees, he wrestled with his own thoughts.

’I could just go back...’ But then again, what if he returned to find Maya in the middle of removing her clothes?

He wasn’t exactly doing a good job of defending the pervert allegations as of late, and it wouldn’t be a good look for him to antagonize the women in the party.

In the end, he decided against it and continued following the other two.

The greenery began to grow thicker, and judging by how the ground was starting to slope, they must have been approaching the edge of the flat mountaintop.

"I sure do hope there are no monsters in this area, but considering where we are, that’s very unlikely."

Elion nodded, his gaze moving over their surroundings.

Even with all the greenery, the area was quite rocky, and the foliage wasn’t as thick as what he would expect to see in an actual forest.

Then again, the only proper forest he had been to was the Great Forest, and that place was simply an unfair comparison.

With the way they had appeared, Elion hadn’t had a chance to survey their broader surroundings while they were flying in the sky, but a simple use of the World’s Eyes would solve that for him.

’Though I should probably scale it down, in case it sucks away all my mana again.... Come to think of it, was it smart to leave the girls on their own so soon after landing?

They had done a casual check of their immediate surroundings, but anything could have been making its way toward the lake, or even lurking nearby, seeing as their arrival hadn’t exactly been discreet.

’We’d better get back soon, after a few more minutes, of course.’

With his senses, he would easily be able to hear any cries for help if something happened, since they hadn’t gone that far yet.

However, there was still something weighing on Elion’s mind. He looked toward Cole while stepping over a massive outcropping of rock.

"Hey, Cole, why did Maya react like that? Wasn’t that a bit too excessive a reaction from her?"

The shifty, brown-haired guy grunted, running a hand through his hair. It was clear that he was wrestling with the decision of whether to speak about it or not.

"Well..." he began, hesitating briefly before continuing. "As far as I am aware, Maya used to be afraid of heights, you see, so that must be it. I thought she’d overcome that fear long ago, since she’s always been fine flying on a mount and so on, but I guess she’s just been toughing it out until now."

He sighed, clearly having said more than he wanted to. Elion glanced at him for a moment before looking ahead again.

"Oh..." he said, though he didn’t have much else to say after that.

It was certainly an odd case, but nothing he needed to think too deeply about. Everyone had their own fears and traumas, after all.

His gaze shifted toward Uta, and the younger boy quickly looked away, having been watching him with that usual annoyed look of his.

Even now, the boy still seemed to be holding a grudge. Elion smiled, turning his attention toward him as they continued walking.

"You know, Uta, as a man, you can’t always rely on those repulsive limbs of yours in a fight, and that healing ability has its limitations too. That’s just not enough to protect your sister in this world."

Uta’s head snapped toward Elion, his shoulder-length white hair shifting violently as he gave him a hateful look.

"What do you know!? Not all of us are born with unparalleled talent like yours!"

Elion chuckled, seemingly unbothered by his response. "Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t until recently that I gained all this power. I was incredibly weak before, far weaker than anyone here, in fact. I couldn’t even squash a bug if I wanted to."

Uta scoffed, giving him a doubtful look. "I find that hard to believe."

"Anyway," Elion continued, "if you ever want to learn swordsmanship, or at least how to become a good mage, I can introduce you to someone."

’I can’t be suffering alone after all...’

Uta fell silent, though he seemed to be giving the offer some thought.

His silence stretched on for so long that Elion began to think he wouldn’t answer, but eventually, the boy lowered his gaze and muttered under his breath.

"Unfortunately, I can never be a proper mage."

"Hmm... What was tha—" Elion began, only for a high-pitched scream to suddenly ring out behind them, cutting him off.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

There was no mistaking where it had come from, and the three didn’t need to exchange a single word.

They immediately darted back toward the lake, Elion cursing inwardly as he rushed through the trees.

’Well, shit! I just had to go and jinx it!’