"Come to think of it, haven't the four of us done something like this together in a while?" Aria said, her expression thoughtful.
Feidric shook his head. "We went out for a big meal together just two weeks ago."
"Two weeks ago?" Aria exclaimed. "That's ages ago!"
Feidric paused, then added, "But we see each other every night. We all live in different rooms in the same house."
Aria put one hand on her hip and pointed at Feidric and Douglas with the other. "So what? You two vanish during the day and only come back late at night, leaving just Sister Cipher and me. It's so boring!"
"Actually, it's not that boring..." Cipher murmured very softly. After all, with Aria's lively personality and endless chatter, there was never a dull moment.
However, when the others were absent and all of Aria's energy was focused solely on Cipher, she actually felt a bit overwhelmed.
Aria continued, "So, shall we go eat that fancy meal today? Is it good?"
Cipher said, "It seems like they just opened recently. There are tons of promotional videos online. Haven't you seen any?"
Aria replied, "Oh, the World Wide Web? It's convenient and all, but I still don't really get how to use it in many ways. And staring at a palm-sized phone all day... don't you think that's weird? I much prefer talking to people face-to-face."
Just as they were talking, a sudden change occurred. One moment, the four of them were walking down a bustling street in Okhema; the next, as they rounded a corner, a dilapidated street stretched out before them.
The street beyond the corner was riddled with cracks, and weeds sprouted from the fissures. The buildings on either side were half-ruined, some reduced to little more than crumbling walls.
Such a sight was utterly impossible in Okhema. Aria, Feidric, and Douglas froze in shock. Cipher, of course, feigned surprise, but the gentle sway of her tail betrayed her true state: she was perfectly calm, even a little excited.
The three, stunned by the scene before them, failed to notice this subtle detail.
After a brief moment of bewilderment, Aria seemed to suspect she had opened her eyes incorrectly. She closed them, took two steps back, then two steps forward, returning to her original position. She spun around and reopened her eyes, but predictably, the scenery remained unchanged.
Feidric reacted more decisively. He immediately turned to look behind him. The bustling Okhema street they had just walked down had also transformed into this dilapidated state. As they gazed around, they realized they had unknowingly arrived in an entirely different place.
"This isn't Okhema!" Feidric declared, his voice sharp with alarm. "Everyone, be careful!"
As he spoke, he began chanting rapidly, casting a barrage of Abjuration School spells upon everyone. From physical and mental attacks to elemental assaults and resistance against evil creatures, he covered every conceivable threat.
Douglas also assumed a combat stance, but as his right hand instinctively reached behind him for his weapon, he realized there was nothing there.
After all, they had come out for dinner, not to fight. Why would they carry weapons in Okhema?
In the city, surely they wouldn't encounter any danger, right?
Hmm, normally, they shouldn't. But the scene unfolding before them clearly indicated something 'abnormal' was happening.
Douglas had no weapon, and neither did Aria. She quickly scanned her surroundings, then darted to the side, picked up a small branch about half a meter long from the ground, and gripped it tightly in her hand.
That meant only Feidric retained his full combat capabilities. Wait, no. Feidric turned to look at Cipher, the team's resident slacker. She was currently twisting her waist slightly, clutching her tail with one hand. Feidric raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
Though Cipher usually slacked off, Feidric hadn't forgotten her true identity: one of Okhema's many Demigods. If such a well-protected city could experience such a sudden upheaval, he had to ask Cipher if she knew what was happening.
Even if Cipher knew nothing about the current anomaly, as a demigod, she was still the strongest member of the group. They should at least hear her opinion on what to do next.
Hearing this, Cipher wore a worried expression and said, "I have a really bad feeling about this place. My tail just bristled up. I need to pet it down."
In truth, she was holding her tail still to prevent Feidric from noticing anything amiss.
While Cipher possessed remarkably precise control over her tail, wielding it like a third hand, keeping it completely still was excruciatingly difficult—or rather, extremely uncomfortable for her. Even the slightest involuntary twitch would inevitably betray her emotional state, hence her firm grip.
Feidric frowned slightly. "You don't know what's going on either?"
Cipher replied, "One moment we were in Okhema, the next we were here. How could I possibly know? But to cause such an anomaly within Okhema, silently pulling us here without alerting the other demigods, the mastermind behind this must be truly extraordinary!"
Feidric murmured, "Could it be the Mother of Flesh?"
Given the world's recent preparations to defend against Outer Gods, and Cipher's description of such a formidable enemy, he could only think of this particular Outer God.
Cipher shook her head, the cat ears atop her head twitching slightly. "I don't know. Maybe...?"
Feidric said, "Right now, we don't know if this situation only affects the four of us, or if everyone in Okhema has been pulled into some unknown place."
"Our immediate priority is finding a way to escape this place and return to Okhema!"
With that, Feidric began chanting a spell, casting a magic from the Divination School. In a situation with virtually no information, divination was an excellent choice.
Originally, Feidric had intended to use the magic to guide them, for example, to determine "which direction leads to Okhema." But after completing the spell, there were no results whatsoever.
Feidric was completely stunned. "The magic failed? How could that be?"