And as time passed...
Elysia began drawing something on the ground with trembling hands.
Frondier, who had been watching her indifferently, spoke up.
"Hurry up and draw. The sun will set."
"Stop just watching and help me!!"
"Even if I wanted to help, I need to know what the rune looks like."
Frondier's voice was nonchalant. Elysia felt like tears were about to well up. Not out of sadness, but out of sheer frustration. And more than anything, she was cold.
They were outside the Empire, 10 kilometers away from Manggot.
Of course, since it was chosen solely with that in mind, it was otherwise a terrible place.
As Elysia drew the rune, she occasionally heard monstrous roars that were impossible to ignore.
And then, after a few strange metallic sounds and impacts, silence would fall.
This bizarre situation repeated itself. From Elysia's perspective, it was simply an inexplicable horror.
At least Frondier's nagging helped her stay sane; otherwise, she would have already panicked.
Right now, Elysia was focusing all her energy on the ground. In other words, she absolutely refused to raise her head. She was literally clenching her teeth and not looking.
And honestly, it was a wise decision.
Meanwhile, Frondier surveyed the surroundings.
The corpses of monsters lay scattered around. The monsters outside were indeed formidable. Just the Obsidian wasn't enough, so he had to bring proper weapons to intercept them. �
'I still have a long way to go. If these things keep coming at me, it'll be dangerous.'
While Frondier was thinking that...
The monsters around him continued to turn into corpses on their way towards him. Their numbers only increased.
"By the way, the rune is really big."
Frondier commented while watching Elysia create the rune.
Unlike Frondier, Elysia drew the rune in a precise order, so he could tell its size from the moment she drew the largest circle at the beginning.
Typical runes gradually moved towards the center as they were drawn, and Elysia was currently near the center of the circle. This meant that the completion of the rune was approaching.
"I'm making it big because I can't afford to make mistakes. Who would want to do this on purpose?"
Elysia grumbled. There was no real reason to complain, but her mood was sour, so her words weren't kind either.
"Now, all I have to do is check if I made any mistakes, and then— Eek?!"
Elysia screamed in surprise at the sight around her.
Unfamiliar, eerie-looking monsters lay sprawled around, bleeding and dead. They were clearly freshly killed.
"Th-Those strange sounds I heard earlier...!"
"Yeah, it was these guys."
"You killed them all? Without even moving?"
"No, they tripped over something like a rock on their way here. They must have landed badly because they all died."
"... You expect me to believe that?"
"Then do you really think I killed them all?"
Elysia was annoyed by Frondier's nonchalant expression. It was a question she wouldn't answer truthfully even if a knife were held to her throat. He knew that, and he was doing it on purpose. The jerk.
"... Fine, whatever. I'll just do my own thing."
She slowly walked around, inspecting the rune she had drawn.
Frondier watched her.
'... So that's how you draw a rune.'
Although Frondier had used runes countless times, he had rarely drawn them himself, so Elysia's actions were a novelty to him.
Elysia used a separate wand for drawing the rune, which automatically ensured that the mana used was evenly distributed.
Moreover, it wouldn't be disrupted even if stepped on. That's why Elysia could freely walk on her own rune.
"Alright, so now all we have to do is activate this 'Rafflesia' when the devils come, right?"
"Yeah. I brought all the materials to lure the low-ranking devils."
Frondier placed a prepared box on the rune. It mostly contained the hair of devils.
"Bringing parts of high-ranking devils to lure low-ranking devils. Is that really okay?"
"If we were going to use materials from low-ranking devils, we would have had to bring body parts. Like fingers or internal organs. We can get away with hair because they're high-ranking devils."
Honestly, as Frondier listened, he thought: ‘What's the difference?’
"Alright, now send me back. I’ve helped you enough, haven't you? I want to go home."
Elysia approached Frondier, her body shivering.
Frondier smiled gently at her trembling form.
And then, Elysia felt a sensation as if her shoulders were being embraced.
For a moment, she thought Frondier had hugged her. After making her work so hard, he must have felt a little sorry for her.
She thought that for about a second, but Frondier's hands were free.
It wasn't Frondier's arms that had wrapped around Elysia's shoulders.
Elysia realized that her arms, legs, and torso were all bound by the Obsidian. She was completely immobilized.
"Hey! Frondier! Let go of this! What are you doing?!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't know how to activate Rafflesia."
"Liar! It's a completed rune! You just have to pour mana into it!"
"I'm not a mage, you know."
"That's such bullshit!!!"
Elysia struggled with all her might.
So he wanted her to wait until the horde of devils arrived and activate it herself?
Absolutely not! She'd rather live a miserable life as a commoner! Even rolling in a dung heap would be better than this reality.
Besides, this place was already a dung heap!
"And it's already too late."
Elysia was momentarily stunned by Frondier's words. And then, she quickly understood their meaning.
Frondier looked into the distance, his eyes filled with a melancholic longing as if someone dear to him were in that direction.
"... Kyaaaaaaaa! Let me go! I'm leaving! No! Uwaaa! Help me! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!"
Their expressions were vastly different for people standing in the same place.