"Are you completely sure?"
Clever looked at the glistening Originium crystals gradually spreading toward them from the dark horizon, suddenly finding her own lingering anxiety a bit ridiculous. After all, she didn't exactly have a choice right now.
The rain grew heavier, and the jagged crystalline formations outside became thicker and more continuous, but Clever noticed that these lethal structures stopped dead right outside the paper-thin, pale blue curtain. Just like the toxic rainwater, the expanding crystals were cleanly blocked beyond the boundary.
She watched the miracle unfold, completely dumbfounded and unable to believe her eyes.
"What is there to stare at? You would be much better off playing with the bugs!" After sitting alongside Clever for a few quiet minutes, Flandre felt a sudden wave of boredom and ran back to Hong Meiling's side to continue poking at the helpless Originium Slug with a stick.
"Yawn..."
It wasn't until she was practically drifting off that Clever suddenly realized she had been sitting frozen in place for several hours. By now, the peak of the Catastrophe had receded into the distance, but the ambient concentration of airborne Originium in the immediate surroundings remained dangerously elevated, and the fresh, razor-sharp crystals blanketed the earth in every direction.
Clever glanced toward the nearby tent. Everyone who was supposed to be resting was already fast asleep; only Hong Meiling remained seated by the dying hearth because she was patiently waiting up for her.
Clever hurried over, her cheeks burning slightly. "I am so sorry for keeping you awake."
"It is completely fine. This style of apocalyptic scene looks rather eerie at first, but once you get accustomed to it, you realize it is just another weather event," Meiling said warmly, giving her shoulder a gentle, reassuring pat.
The following morning, Clever woke up and immediately scanned their perimeter, discovering that except for the pristine circle of grass enclosed within Patchouli's barrier, the ground outside was entirely buried under a thick coat of fine, fragmented crystals.
In a situation like this, traversing the terrain on foot was simply an impossibility. Setting aside how biologically active these newly seeded Originium formations were—or whether they would violently detonate upon physical impact—the two steady Camel-beasts pulling their carriage would almost certainly contract severe, terminal Oripathy the exact second their hooves touched the exposed ground. Not to mention, she strongly suspected that while the atmospheric Originium concentration had dropped from its storm-peak, it was still far above safe safety thresholds.
"Are we officially imprisoned here by the Originium?" Clever muttered to herself, feeling a wave of familiar despair creeping back into her mind.
"How could that possibly be!" Meiling laughed, patting Clever's shoulder while pointing toward the side of the vehicle. "I have already drawn fresh water for you. Go wash up first, then enjoy some breakfast. We shall be fully prepared to set off once everyone is fed."
Clever walked to the side of the carriage, finding a brand-new washbasin filled to the brim with crystal-clear water. Nearby, Flandre, who had just finished scrubbing her own face, was happily gulping down a fresh wooden bowl of warm milk. As Clever approached, the child immediately shifted over to make room for her.
"You were staring outside at the dark storm for so long last night; did your clever brain manage to figure anything useful out?" Flandre asked out of nowhere.
Hearing the child's sudden query, Clever's face flushed a vivid crimson. How on earth could she have figured anything out? Her mind had simply been wandering in a terrified haze; she didn't even know what she had been contemplating.
"So you were literally just sitting there doing absolutely nothing at all!" Flandre's red eyes widened, staring at her as if she were a rare, baffling curiosity.
"Flandre, do not tease our guest!" Fortunately, Remilia glided past the step of the carriage and smoothly bailed her out.
Grateful for the intervention, Clever quickly grabbed her cotton cloth and plunged her face directly into the cold basin. The icy water instantly cleared the lingering fog from her mind. After washing up, she accepted her own portion of fresh milk, taking small sips while gazing out at the endless crystalline field, pondering how on earth their heavy carriage could possibly navigate an exit.
She finished every last drop of the milk, but aside from producing a tiny milk-burp, the nourishment failed to grant her brain a single shred of mechanical inspiration.
Once breakfast concluded, Clever originally intended to ask the group directly how they planned to bypass the hazardous terrain, but before she could open her mouth, she was gently stuffed back into the interior of the carriage by Meiling.
"Are we truly going to attempt driving straight across this field? Won't that be infinitely too dangerous?" Clever asked, peering through the glass window with deep concern.
"What danger could there possibly be? Simply sit tight and enjoy the ride!"
Clever leaned close to the glass, her eyes wide as she tried to discern the exact method they would deploy to cross the sharp Originium belt.
Then, the heavy carriage smoothly lifted off the ground, ascending gracefully into the open sky.
"Hashiri sori yo~ Kaze no you ni~~"
Sitting comfortably across from her inside the flying cabin, Flandre broke into a cheerful, high-pitched song that made Clever's vision go momentarily dark.
How should one put it? One could vaguely tell the melody was intended to be quite festive and pleasant, but coming out of the young vampire's mouth, it completely lacked its proper charm. Furthermore, the calendar was currently lingering in late summer or early autumn—it wasn't winter season by any stretch of the imagination!
Yet, above all else, Clever desperately wanted to scream a complaint—the heavy, horse-drawn carriage was literally flying through the air!
Never in her entire life had she imagined she would be riding inside a airborne transport propelled by pure Magic. She felt her heart hammering wildly against her ribs, completely lacking the stoic composure of the two Camel-beasts harnessed to the front, which were currently treading through the thin air at a relaxed, leisurely pace as if walking on solid ground.
The carriage sailed through the sky for nearly an hour before smoothly crossing the boundary of the crystalline zone and descending back onto solid dirt.
"Let us push a bit further out; the ambient readings here are still somewhat unsafe," Remilia instructed, pointing toward the tiny, faintly visible crystal shards still embedded in the surrounding soil.
Patchouli offered a simple nod, and the carriage picked up speed, smoothly gliding through the frontier.
Before they could cover a substantial distance, however, the transport ground to a sudden halt once more. Right ahead of their trajectory, a brand-new, localized Catastrophe was actively swirling into existence.
"In a hostile environment like Rim Billiton, can the civilian population here truly survive long-term?" Meiling couldn't help but complain from the driver's bench.
"Uh... actually, the central and southern territories of Rim Billiton are quite pleasant," Clever offered, feeling somewhat helpless. "It is strictly this sector near the borders of Kazdel where the geological environment becomes exceptionally harsh. Though, generally speaking, managing to run into two separate Catastrophes in a row is no longer something that can be explained by simple bad luck."
"What should our strategic play be this time?" Meiling called back, looking over her shoulder toward Remilia. "Shall we loop around the perimeter?"
Remilia let out a cold, aristocratic snort. "Does I, Remilia Scarlet, possess any reason to avoid the minor edge of a localized gale? We shall drive straight through the center!"
Hearing her master's absolute decree, Meiling cracked the leather whip with a grin. "Understood!"
This time, the manifested Catastrophe took the form of a violent, howling gale. At first glance, the wind velocity reached at least a level-nine gale or higher, tearing across the barren earth with ferocious momentum. Countless sharp pebbles and debris were swept into the atmospheric vortex, slamming against the surrounding rock formations in a deafening, metallic hail of clinking sounds.
However, no matter how utterly exaggerated the wind force raged beyond the camp boundary, within the pale blue curtain, not a single whisper of draft could be felt around the carriage.
Clever couldn't help but marvel in silent awe. This protective curtain Magic deployed so casually by Lady Patchouli was simply breathtaking. She couldn't help but wonder how it would hold up against the other legendary protective arts—such as the famous defensive barriers of the Leithanien casters—which one would prove superior in a direct comparison?
The deeper they drove into the heart of the storm, the more terrifying the howling gales became, yet the members of the Scarlet Devil Mansion didn't exhibit a single trace of pressure or discomfort.
"Eldest Miss, a group of individuals has been spotted off to our forward-left," Meiling's clear voice suddenly cut through the cabin from the front bench. "It appears they are pinned down and trapped directly within the path of this storm. How should we proceed?"
"Who are they?" Remilia asked calmly. She knew full well that if the stranded travelers were merely ordinary civilian scavengers, Meiling might offer a hand on her own initiative, but she certainly wouldn't go out of her way to formally notify her master. For Meiling to report the sighting in this manner, the identity of the trapped party had to be distinct.
"I do not recognize their faces personally, but they are wearing formal operational uniforms from Rhodes Island—very similar to the personnel we encountered back during our time with the Reunion Movement. They also bear the official Rhodes Island emblem on their sleeves," Meiling reported swiftly.
Remilia's crimson eyes illuminated with immediate interest. She had been quietly pondering the social dilemma that arriving at Rhodes Island entirely empty-handed might be considered impolite or lacking in proper aristocratic etiquette. Now, if they personally rescued these stranded Rhodes Island field operatives and delivered them safely back to their mobile landship, this grand, unexpected gift would certainly serve as more than enough to satisfy any host.
"Of course we shall intervene," Remilia declared smoothly. "Meiling, I shall leave the matter of securing their safety entirely to your hands."
At that very moment, roughly a kilometer away through the blinding dust storm, a small Rhodes Island exploration squad was huddled tightly beneath the leeward overhang of a massive rock face.
However, every single operative within the unit knew with absolute, grim certainty that taking shelter behind this stone was far from a permanent solution. Because what was tearing across the plains was no ordinary windstorm—it was a full-scale, lethal Catastrophe.