Beyond the door was another world.
In quite a few novels, many authors had described the scene beyond a door opening to emphasize the drastic change between the environment before and after it. However, Aoko discovered that what she was experiencing was literal. The environment inside this cave truly felt like another world, leaving her completely out of place.
The cave looked like a deep tunnel leading underground, but if a magus carefully sensed it, they would discover that the farther down this gently sloping tunnel went, the more its rules differed from those of the surface world where people normally lived.
Or rather, this tunnel was actually a flaw in the planet's surface world, a defect in reality that Rhongomyniad had failed to pin down. Aoko cautiously continued downward, her state of mind remarkably steady. She had long expected that a cave leading to the Root could not possibly be normal. Otherwise, it would not have forced a Magician to seal this place off after returning.
At this moment, Aoko could feel the Mystic Codes on her body gradually losing their effects... It was not that the Codes had broken, but that they could not operate under the current environmental parameters. Aoko worried that her Magic Circuits might also malfunction because of this environment, but when she carefully circulated her mana, she found that both her Magic Circuits and Magic Crest were functioning normally. It seemed the old man had only left descendants after becoming a Magician, because perhaps only a Magician's bloodline possessed a certain resistance to this environment.
But nothing in this world was absolute. Aoko found that none of the magecraft she had learned could be used, including the various magecraft bullets she was normally best at.
Fortunately, all the Weave arcana from Kingdom Tianyu functioned perfectly, because in this universe, these things stood at roughly the same level as the Five True Magics. Both came from beyond this universe.
In the so-called Type-Moon world, beyond the World and beyond the universe were two different concepts. Beyond the World referred only to the area outside this planet's surface layer, while beyond the universe meant exactly what it sounded like: beyond the observable universe.
As she walked, Aoko took out her spellbook and held it in her hand, remaining vigilant for any danger that might appear.
This cave was extremely strange. She could clearly recognize that there was absolutely no light here, yet that did not stop her from seeing everything.
Was something wrong with her, or was something wrong with this cave?
Aoko herself favored the explanation that she was getting closer and closer to the primordial cause of all things. Therefore, what she saw leaned more toward information about matter itself, so whether light existed—a relatively higher-level causal relationship—would not prevent her from clearly perceiving the environmental information around her.
This was getting more and more abstract... Aoko sighed.
The instant her mind relaxed even slightly, Aoko regretted it, because she noticed that something was "precipitating" out of the environment at the edge of her vision. It was something like white mist, yet not nearly so weightless.
Aoko faced it as though confronting a great enemy. She immediately opened her spellbook and activated the prepared enhancement spell scrolls one after another, applying them to herself. They included the entire animal suite, aside from Lion's Charge and Eagle's Splendor, Mage Armor, and Foresight. A great many precious spell scrolls were used up in just a few seconds, but Aoko knew that if she died, no one would be able to use them anyway.
She stared fixedly at the mass of white mist. Aoko's intuition told her that this thing was definitely her enemy.
Sure enough, before Aoko's eyes, the white cloud gradually transformed into a huge animal that resembled both a fox and a dog. Its body was covered in pure white, curly fur that made one want to reach out and stroke it. Two long ears stood upright atop its head like those of an alert rabbit.
But Aoko did not find it cute in the slightest, because her intuition was screaming warnings. The beast's gaze was filled with a sort of businesslike violence. In its eyes, Aoko, inheritor of the Fifth Magic, was likely no different from a little girl by the roadside.
The beast moved with elegant steps. Its feline paws made no sound against the ground, yet they were solid and powerful.
The Primate Killer's speed grew faster and faster. What had initially seemed to be a distance of at least several hundred meters vanished in an instant as the beast nearly reached Aoko.
However, due to the enhancements from her various spells, Aoko's reaction speed had also reached inhuman levels. Her right hand moved in a blur, and in the instant before the beast touched her body, she turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished from where she stood.
The Primate Killer tilted its head from side to side in confusion, discovering that its slaughter target had disappeared. When it turned around again, it found the human woman half-kneeling not far behind it, attempting to bandage her wound.
I was still too careless! The Shield spell had been shattered in a single blow. Frowning, Aoko treated the wound near her left shoulder, where blood was pouring out in streams. She cast False Life on herself, allowing the necromancy spell's effect to temporarily replace the vitality she had lost through blood loss.
There was something wrong with this beast. She had clearly dodged its attack completely, yet she was still injured!
Furthermore, Aoko estimated that her speed had dropped by roughly one-third from that single strike. Her shoulder was injured, so why had her speed decreased? Was this the Primate Killer's authority to slaughter?
Aoko was putting herself down at the side, unaware that the Primate Killer's mind was also filled with confusion. Normally, that strike would certainly have killed a human of this level. Even when facing ordinary magi from the Age of Gods, as long as they were human, they would inevitably be severely injured in its hands.
Yet this female human before it had suffered only a shoulder injury under the pressure of its authority, and none of her abilities had been reduced by much. What was going on?
Could she not be human at all? That was impossible, wasn't it? Gaia had clearly sent it here...
Enduring the pain, Aoko took out a small piece of butter. She quietly chanted an incantation, then slapped it onto the ground. Invisible spell fluctuations spread beneath her feet and between her and the beast.
At the same time she made that move, the white beast leaped high into the air and pounced at her once again. This time, Aoko simply dropped flat onto the ground, directly avoiding the beast's pounce.
Yet her chest still suffered a heavy blow. Even with Mage Armor's protection, her clothing was torn open across her chest. Her normally snow-white, alluring skin and body were now stained red with blood. A wound deep enough to expose bone ran from her left shoulder almost to her abdomen. She had nearly been disemboweled by that damn dog.
Aoko coughed up a huge mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. The intense agony reminded her of the danger she was in. But under the effect of False Life, she still had enough vitality to keep her casting movements from deforming.
With trembling hands, she opened her spellbook, ignoring the blood dripping onto its pages. The Primate Killer was currently struggling against the ground, whose friction had been eliminated. It could not even jump, and could only let out irritated, low growls.
Aoko found the Dimension Door scroll she had prepared and activated it without a second thought. With a twist of space, Aoko appeared roughly four hundred feet—around 120 meters—from the Primate Killer, farther in.
The Primate Killer panicked and let out roar after roar. If it could not complete its task and violated the contract between itself and Gaia, it would undoubtedly suffer a tremendous punishment.
Aoko glanced back at it and let out a scornful laugh, but in the next second she began coughing violently, spitting out even more blood.
Honestly, how could the great Miss Blue die in a place like this? Aoko desperately covered her wound with one hand while forming several spell seals with the other. Several glowing Arcane Missiles shot forth toward the Primate Killer. Their guaranteed-hit property made them impossible for the Primate Killer to evade, but as first-level spells, their damage was very limited.
But Aoko did not want killing power at all. What she wanted was the impact generated when they struck that beast.
As four impacts rang out—"Bang, bang, bang, bang"—the Primate Killer furiously discovered that it was being dragged irreversibly away from the female human. Moreover, a tiny amount of blood was actually flowing from where the Magic Missiles had struck its head... It was a negligible light wound, like an insect bite. But the noble force damage had undeniably inflicted real harm upon the Primate Killer.
Impossible! The Primate Killer erupted with an enormous amount of mana as recoil, attempting to stop itself from sliding farther away. But in its sight, the heavily wounded woman took another page from that strange book. Then a flash of light appeared, and she sprinted deeper into the cave at a speed utterly impossible for someone so gravely injured.
Expeditious Retreat was just too useful! The violent physical pain had left Aoko drenched in sweat. The effect of False Life was fading second by second. Once the spell lost its effect, her bodily functions would return to those of someone who had suffered severe injuries.
As long as she could reach that place...
Aoko's strength was constantly draining away. She could barely even feel the pain in her body anymore; she only felt colder and colder. That was a symptom of massive blood loss.
She had considered using Magic to cast this period of injury into the distant future, but right now, all she could do was undo the seal her grandfather had placed on the door.
Had she been too arrogant, saying those ridiculous things about surpassing her grandfather...?
Aoko felt slightly dejected for an instant, then immediately rejected those negative thoughts. She had survived the Primate Killer's pursuit. That alone was an incredible feat. Moreover, she could feel the things around her becoming increasingly abstract. The vortex of the Root was right before her eyes.
Roars came from behind her. That damn dog had probably escaped the restrictions of Grease and drawn close again. Aoko paid little attention to it. She merely dragged her body onward, advancing with unwavering determination.
That place where not even nothingness existed was close at hand. Aoko summoned every last ounce of focus and activated Misty Step once more, turning into a puff of blue smoke and disappearing.
With a bang, the Primate Killer's attack missed again. But due to its authority to kill, Aoko felt as though something had snapped her spine.
By this point, however, she did not care much. She had reached that place alive. She had arrived at the destination every magus dreamed of—the so-called Door to the Root.
The white beast roared in despair and rage. It watched helplessly as the woman disappeared into the entrance of the Root, and to make matters worse, she used the last of her strength to give it the middle finger.