Another bright and brilliant day enveloped the entire woodland. The migrating birds' chorus is being performed by saplings. Fish are moving about, and animals are swimming. But death lurks beneath this beautiful repose.
[Is that a little horned squirrel?] The system inquires, looking down at the little creature who is feeding. The small creature chirped, its mouth full of wallnuts, and gazed up at it innocently with huge, innocent black eyes, giving it the appearance of a puppy rather than a squirrel.
It was charming and adorable in a strange manner, even though it had no idea what it was doing here.
"Let's change the subject," he suggests. He rubbed his head in frustration when he felt something wasn't right. "It appears we've done this kind of stuff before."
[Really?]
[The system thinks you're just imagining]
[Anyhow, let's change the subject again]
[How come I seem to understand those goblins?]
The system was completely muddled.
Screw, read the system prompt, and keep glancing back and forth at the goblins. He gestured to the scribbles and sketches the system was asking about: "Do you mean those emoticons?"
The system became even more perplexed: [What are emoticons?] The system genuinely inquired.
He put another wallnut into his mouth before answering, "It's just a representation of a facial expression. Hey, pass me more nuts," he said to the squirrel as he tapped the horn again.
In order to get into a hole, the horn squirrel hurried and sprang to the nearest tree. The horn squirrel goes up and picks up more wallnuts there before tossing them away. He then descends once again, returns to its station, and stuffs yet another wallnut into its mouth.
Both of them munch with delight while watching the minautor massacre the goblins. While enjoying the show, the system prompt appeared: [Where's Gura?]
"Her?" He used his lips again to point at the nearest tree: "She's over there, slee—"
"She's gone!" he exclaimed while sweating so hard. "Allyssa, what should we do?" he asks while panicking.
[First, calm down]
[We don't know if she was kidnapped or if she was just out for a walk in the area]
[The system advises employing a talent called pathfinder]
"Great idea Allyssa-sama."
Screw standing up and walk to where Gura was sleeping before she was gone. [Pathfinder skill: Walk of the Earth] He activated his skill, and a footprint of three pairs was found where she was sleeping.
The algorithm indicated that the human footprint was his, while the other two pairs were probably made by goblins. "I suppose she's been taken, but is she well-liked?", he muttered in jest, but after a few seconds, he began to shudder and break out in a startling cold sweat.
The path taken by the footprints was marked by Screw. The man paused for a while, his brows wrinkled, and he said, "The footprints are going that way, but..."
[What's the problem?] The system queries.
He raises both of his hands to his head and attempts to remember the phrases that best describe their current position. "I really think that we already, like, uhm,..." he says.
[Deja Vu?] The system makes a guess.
He made a finger snap.
"Yes! That's it. Deja Vu."
"We've had this kind of thing and the same conversation before."
[As I said, you're just imagining things]
"That makes sense! This can't be the first time you're saying something like this! It must be, it must be déjà vu." His inner instinct tells him that it has occurred before. And he ignores it at first, as if he wants it to become something first, proving it to be more substantial than wishful thinking.
He takes a long breath to settle himself down, but as soon as he does, his brain tells him that he had just been freaking out in front of someone. He glances at girl sitting next to the tree, and she says, "Who cares? You don't have anyone else, so it's okay, I guess?"
The stranger has large gray eyes that are glistening in the mellow evening sun. There is no disputing the girl's beauty; there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way she appears, perhaps other than the fact that the entire "beautiful thing" is too much to handle.
He grinned back at her and said, "So you're back again."
[Who?] The system queries.
"Nothing. She's just a ghost."
*****
There were more than two tracks on the ground, so he halted for a moment. As he got closer, an axe flew towards him and fell next to his crotch. "Flock!"
Before approaching him, an elite minotaur stamped his hooves repeatedly. He lowered his head and tried to crushed him with his two enormous horns. He was shaken back by the contact, but he was able to stand up straight once again. He said aloud, his heart racing frantically in his chest, "What was that about?".
He then moved away from the beast while grinning broadly. They both were ready for another fight when, all of a sudden, the blue sky went dark.
The earth was struck by lightning so violently that part of the ground's dust was blasted in their direction as booming thunder rumbled in the center of the sky. There were no indications of any unique events while he searched for the origin of this strange phenomenon. Once more turning his gaze to the sky, he saw that something was off.
When he noticed a shadow gradually growing, his breath seized in his throat. It didn't resemble a human shadow or any other form of monster; instead, it had the appearance of a demon-created creature.
His eyes gleamed brightly like angels, and he added, "I'm not sure what it is, but it makes my blood boil in excitement."
The shadow took the shape of a hand and began to pull the gap between its fingers apart, revealing a dark crimson abyss. "She's here," he thought to himself as he waited anxiously.
Then it began to plunge into darkness, making his blood boil with delight and horror. When the shadow finally vanished into the deep abyss, the air went quiet; no trace of the storm could be heard. The sun comes out again, and everything returns to normal. The elite minotaur he was supposed to battle vanished, and everything looked to have been restored to its former state as if nothing had happened.
There was no trace of the shadow, no indication that it had ever existed.
[I don't know what happened, but we need to move quickly to help Gura.]
"You're right, and it's much faster if we use that," he demanded. The system concurred and turned on one of their spirit abilities.
[Activating the Spirit Skill: Spirit of a Brown Hare]
He ran considerably faster now due to the spirit skills, which made him feel more nimble like a cheetah, and also because the wind was blowing violently against him as if the universe wanted to rip him apart.
An avatar of a brown hare came and linked to his legs before saying, "Okay, let's go!". They sprinted past one another like wind gusts. Before his eyes, the entire world is nothing but a sea of grass.
When they finally arrived at their destination after some time, he noticed several goblins bowing down before the largest goblin in front of them. This goblin is carrying a king's scepter, wearing a cloak crafted from a monster's body, and donning a bone crown.
"Hmm, a goblin king appeared, so that's why there are a lot of goblins here" while scanning in front of him, he asks the system, "How should we go through?"
[The system suggests that you shouldn't break through their ranks rashly.]
"Eh? Why's that? It's much better to fight all of them head-on."
[Even though there are no orcs here, there are plenty of elite hobgoblins.]
[This will take time, and Gura will be put in jeopardy.]
He understood after reading the system prompt that the system was accurate and that it would put his child at risk. "But we have to act immediately, and where is she?"
Gura was nowhere to be seen as Screw searched the area for her. Not even her shadow could be seen. "You think her prison was close to the goblin king?"
[We are unable to use the Eye Map's full output due to its reduced ability; even if we used it to scan the whole region one by one, as long as an artifact was used, we wouldn't find her immediately.]
"If only a miracle could happen."
[Then pray for it]
Without thinking, he immediately clasps his hands and begs, "Calling all the Gods, even though I hate you all, just give me a miracle."
[And what type of miracle do you seek?] The system queries.
"It doesn't matter what kind; for example, if a minotaur fell from the sky—" but before he could finish, a gap in the sky was torn out, letting a minotaur spout toward the throng of goblins.
[Are you kidding me?]