Dancing Circles on the Horizon of Events

After a short floating sensation that suddenly struck me.

".................. eh?

When Waltz noticed, in front of her, a dim forest was spreading. Plants like mangroves thrive, giddy as rainforests...... And green mushrooms gleam, such a forest.

The place is--

"Here in the trees of the world..."

--Looks like Waltz was in the woods inside a world tree where he had come looking for lost Teresa before.

"Ah, metastatic magic............ Huh?! What about everyone?! I mean, what about Lucia?!

".................. zzz" wow

"Good... for now, Lucia seems safe... I mean, how sleepy I was when all that happened and I kept sleeping..."

Waltz glances into her sister's face, which was floating using a gravity control system, and puts his hand on her head with a relieved look on her face.

Then, such a fold--

"Mr. Waltz!

"Are you both safe!

"Good......"

—— From the shade of the tree came the face I saw. Catalina, the hunter, and Yuki. Apparently, they've all been flown by metastatic magic.

As a result, Waltz ——

"Looks like we're all safe..."

—— and exhale a sigh of relief... Apparently, there were others who were safe.

The hunter opened his mouth about the person.

"Oh. And... Nike's safe too..."

"What are you doing now... Nike..."

and when Waltz speaks that way, remembering those demons who could not help because they received Nike's metamorphosis magic ——

"..............." Slow down.

—— Nike, who now had a dying look on his face, emerged from the shadow of a tree, shaking his body at all costs, as if it were a ghost or something. As far as how she was not expressionless, consciousness seemed to be returning for now, but the mood was as usual, which didn't seem to be the case.

Such a fine voice as she is going to disappear now makes her mouth look like this with sorrow.

"There's more... I don't know... Can someone explain to me what the hell happened..." no.

"... that means Nike, the world tree has taken over consciousness, right?

"... I really don't know what happened. Suddenly, when I thought I was hit by a severe headache, the next moment... here I am. This weakness...... I guess the rest of us used metastatic magic?

"Well, I don't know if it's metastatic magic, but right before you got here, you were definitely using magic with your hands up."

"When that happens... the rest of your consciousness, like your family, has been taken over by the World Tree... The magical connection must have been cut off... why..."

That said, Nike repeatedly opens and closes it over and over as he lowers his gaze to his own hand. She only knows what's inside of her like that, but it seemed like her body wasn't hers, something like that.

In contrast to her like that, Waltz goes on to say:

"By the way, can't we use metastatic magic again to get back to where we started? It may be too late to know about the demons, but I'm worried about the other soldiers I was here with and the town..."

"... sorry. The rest of the magic... has apparently been pulled out by the world tree. For a while, metastatic magic is unlikely to work. Or there's no way to take the magic back from the world tree... but if you do that, the possibility of the world tree taking over consciousness again is denied... As the person who has involved them, please do me a favor... can you please go back on your own...?

"... you have no choice. Then hurry back --"

And it was when Waltz tried to say it.

Bun......

Such a low sound echoes through the woods where they should be the only ones.

The sound was the magical sound they had just heard recently.... Yes. It is the activated sound of metastatic magic.

"Has anyone been flown again?!

"No, there are all the people who came here, so I think someone... or something, came from somewhere"

and Catalina responding to Waltz's words with vigilance around her.

Shortly afterwards, to the spot where they were, a figure appeared from among the trees, saying that they had come with metastatic magic.

The figure was a demonic woman, characterised by dark hair about the length of her shoulders, goat-like horns growing from her head, and clothing close to cooking. Waltz raises his voice when he sees her like that.

"What... Randy...? Are you safe?!

Randy, manifested by metastatic magic, was very different from the look on Waltz's face when he was desperate to help. Nevertheless, I'm putting some emotion on my face, not that... As if enjoying a walk, he approached the waltzes, walking slowly step by step. It's also hard to walk through the woods, with your eyes meditating......

Then she stops a little further away from the waltz and opens her eyes...... Towards the waltzes, without saying anything ——

".................." chuckle

—— and just seemed to turn a soft grin.