Looking Forward to Another World Chapter 865: Another Previously Unknown -

In an instant, the limestone cavern fell completely silent.

Meanwhile, the flames surrounding Riezel gradually faded as he slowly descended from midair, landing in front of the bloodied young woman lying on the ground.

"Not gonna lie, you’re pretty strong."

Looking at the beautiful yet miserable young woman before him, Riezel gave his honest assessment.

"Outta everyone I’ve met in this world, you’re easily strong enough to make the top three."

Judging by pure combat ability alone, if that old man Redson didn’t use the Time Sword Style, he probably wouldn’t even be a match for the young woman before him.

Using the world’s Danmachi power system as a reference, the strength she had displayed was, at the very least, Level 8. And not an ordinary Level 8, either, but one that had nearly reached the very peak of Level 8.

At that level, excluding himself, the only ones in this world who could confidently claim to be stronger than her were probably Euryale and Lizbeth after drawing Moslow.

Everyone else, including Lilith, Ivy, and Leo, fell short of her in terms of raw strength.

Unfortunately...

"Right now, I’m stronger."

Riezel let the black sword in his hand dissolve into magical energy before speaking to the young woman in a calm voice.

The young woman struggled to prop herself up, clutching the wound where she had been slashed. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as her pair of eyes, glowing with golden radiance, stared fixedly at Riezel.

In the next moment, she spoke in a completely emotionless tone.

"Thou art indeed strong," the young woman said calmly. "Had a warrior such as thee appeared while I yet lived, I would not have been forced to leave descendants by such means, causing the noble bloodline of my branch to be completely lost."

Only then did a trace of bitterness and unwillingness appear in her otherwise emotionless voice.

"If my inherited sword still remained, the victor of this battle would surely have been me."

Hearing her words, Riezel raised an eyebrow.

She had spoken only two sentences, yet they revealed a surprising amount of information.

"Noble bloodline? Inherited sword?"

Staring at the golden glow in her eyes—almost identical to the one in Lizbeth’s eyes after drawing the sword—Riezel couldn’t help but speak.

"Wait... don’t tell me you’re..."

Before he could finish, Riezel stopped as he saw the young woman suddenly close her eyes and collapse.

Seeing that, Riezel instinctively cast healing magic, causing a pure white magic circle to appear beneath her.

Countless particles of light floated up from the magic circle and flowed into her body. Immediately, the extensive burns and charred marks covering her body disappeared completely, while the horrifying wound Riezel had inflicted with his blade healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Before long, her body had completely recovered. Aside from the dust clinging to her skin, not a single wound remained.

Her breathing and body temperature gradually returned to normal, and even her somewhat pale complexion slowly regained its healthy color.

"Mmm..."

Only then did the young woman let out a faint groan before slowly opening her eyes.

Seeing that, Riezel found himself unable to say a single word.

It couldn’t be helped.

Now, the golden glow in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a pair of captivating emerald eyes.

Her ice-blue hair also suddenly began to lose its color, gradually turning pink.

However, those weren’t the biggest changes.

Without question, the greatest change was her expression and the way she spoke.

"I-I’m...?"

As that confused voice rang out, the cold tone and icy gaze from before had completely disappeared. Her voice became lively once more, and her eyes were filled with bewilderment.

At last, she looked exactly like the ’Chloria’ Riezel knew.

"Awake?"

Riezel stopped dwelling on what had happened earlier and simply spoke in an even tone.

"What are you doing here?"

Only then did Chloria notice Riezel’s presence, startling her.

But in the very next second, as she instinctively sat up, Chloria finally noticed the state she was in.

"AHHH—!"

A deafening scream instantly echoed throughout the cavern.

"Stop screaming." Riezel glanced at the screaming Chloria—or rather, at her completely naked body—and spoke in the same calm tone. "Relax. I’ve seen plenty in my life. Even though you’ve got a pretty nice figure, I’m not thinking anything weird."

Hearing that, Chloria let out another scream while frantically curling herself into a ball and wrapping her arms around herself as she cried out in a trembling voice.

"Y-You?! What did you do to me?!"

Faced with Chloria’s tearful accusation, Riezel remained as calm as ever.

"I already told you, I’ve seen plenty. I’m not having any dirty thoughts, okay? Why won’t you believe me?"

Riezel shot back with a roll of his eyes.

"Anyway, this has got nothing to do with me. I didn’t do anything. And as for you... you’ve been pretty busy yourself. You’re the one who blew your own clothes apart. Don’t tell me you already forgot?"

As he spoke, he lightly kicked a chunk of shattered ice on the ground, sending it rolling toward Chloria.

"Th-This..."

Chloria, who had been about to continue screaming, immediately fell silent when she saw the chunk of ice roll to a stop in front of her.

Only then did she finally take a good look at her surroundings.

After the fierce battle between Riezel and the limestone cavern was no longer shaking violently, but the aftermath of that earth-shattering clash remained everywhere.

The ground was cracked all over and littered with massive craters and broken rocks.

The ceiling and walls were covered in countless fractures, as though they had endured impacts of unimaginable force.

On top of that, the devastation left behind by extreme heat and cold still lingered. Parts of the cavern remained a world of ice and fire, with shattered frozen ground and scorched marks scattered everywhere.

In some places, freezing winds still blew, while flames continued to burn.

Every scene before her told Chloria one thing.

Just moments ago, a fierce battle had taken place here.

"...You’ve met her?"

Chloria remained silent for a long time before finally forcing out those words.

"If you’re talking about the woman covered in freezing air, who spoke like someone from an ancient era and came at me with an ice sword without saying anything else, then yeah, I met her."

Riezel answered without holding anything back.

"She... talked to you?" Chloria asked, sounding somewhat stunned. "And she attacked you, yet you’re completely fine?"

"Hey, the way you’re saying it, is she really that hard to talk to?"

Riezel folded his arms and replied with a faint smile.

"Well, yeah, I guess she is. More like, she just says and does whatever she wants. But isn’t it kinda normal that I’m totally fine?"

"What? Do you really think she could’ve hurt me?"

"You’re that confident in the one inside you?"

Riezel’s words didn’t earn him a response.

Chloria simply remained silent, and after a while, she suddenly shivered, snapping back to reality.

"H-How much longer are you planning to stare?!" Chloria glared at Riezel while hugging herself and shouting in embarrassment. "Give me something to wear already!"

Hearing that, Riezel rolled his eyes once more.

Didn’t he already say he had seen plenty in his life?

Why was she so hung up on it?

Looking a little longer wasn’t going to hurt her, right?

Even though that was what Riezel grumbled to himself, his expression remained as calm as ever.

He took off his coat and tossed it to Chloria.

Chloria hurriedly put it on, barely managing to cover her upper body while her long, fair legs remained exposed, making her squirm uncomfortably.

Right afterward, Chloria’s gaze drifted toward Riezel’s lower body.

Riezel’s face instantly darkened.

Perhaps noticing the dangerous look on his face, Chloria ultimately abandoned whatever bold idea had crossed her mind.

"Why are you here?"

"Why am I here?"

"W-Where is this place?"

Now standing, Chloria looked around with a frown as she continued questioning Riezel relentlessly.

"I don’t know."

Ignoring her first two questions, Riezel gave a simple reply while surveying the surroundings himself.

In his eyes, the limestone cavern didn’t appear unusual at first glance. Had it not been for the sudden battle between Riezel and ’Chloria,’ which had caused extensive destruction, it would have looked like an ordinary cave.

But it was obvious that this wasn’t an ordinary cavern.

Riezel clearly remembered diving beneath the glacier while trying to rescue Chloria. There, he had found an underwater whirlpool, and after passing through it, he had arrived here.

Recalling the whirlpool, Riezel fell into thought.

"Hey, this doesn’t seem to be anywhere inside Theresis, does it?" Chloria asked, hunching her shoulders. "D-Did we end up in another country?"

If that were true, it might not actually be a bad thing.

Her situation within Theresis was both dangerous and complicated. If they had truly escaped Theresis and arrived in another nation, it would certainly have been welcome news.

Unfortunately, Chloria had overthought things.

"We’re still inside Theresis."

Riezel briefly sensed his surroundings and found that his mental connection with Lizbeth, Euryale, Lilith, and the others remained intact.

However, he had clearly been teleported elsewhere, as his current location was completely different from where he had been before. Through those mental links, he could also tell that Lizbeth and the others were now much farther away than before.

Even so, they weren’t so far apart that they had crossed national borders.

In other words, they were still within Theresis, and the only question was exactly where they were now.

Thinking of the demon woman who never needed sleep and had stubbornly remained outside his room all night, Riezel cast Message.

[Master? Where did you go?!]

Lilith’s pleasantly surprised voice immediately echoed in Riezel’s mind before quickly turning into one filled with deep resentment.

Originally, she had been standing guard outside Riezel’s room, only to be driven away by his remark,

Left with no choice, she ultimately continued standing guard in the room next door.

Who would’ve thought that when Riezel left the fortress tower, he would deliberately conceal his presence, preventing Lilith from noticing him?

When she eventually realized he was gone, she had nearly let out a cry of despair.

"Sorry, sorry. Something came up," Riezel said awkwardly, quickly changing the subject. "Nothing happened over there, right?"

[No. Those two heartless human bugs are still sleeping like logs. Miss Lizbeth and Miss Euryale also got tired while waiting and ended up falling asleep.]

Still speaking in a resentful tone, Lilith continued.

[Although some bugs attacked about half an hour ago, I’ve already dealt with them.]

Riezel silently observed a moment of silence for the attackers.

From Lilith’s tone alone, he could easily tell just how much resentment she was carrying.

Those attackers could’ve chosen any other time, yet they had picked the exact moment when Lilith was in the worst mood possible.

They were probably sleeping very peacefully by now.

"It’s good that you’re all okay..." Riezel said calmly, pushing aside any sympathy he had for the enemy. "Something came up on my end, so I probably won’t be back anytime soon. I’ll leave things over there to you guys for now."

[Where are you now, Master? Why does it feel like you’ve gone somewhere very far away? If something happened, I’ll come help you immediately.]

Lilith spoke with a slight frown.

In truth, if she had known how to use Gate, the highest-tier teleportation magic, she would’ve already arrived.

Of course, if Riezel gave the order, she would still come immediately. Even if she couldn’t reach him in a single jump like Gate allowed, she could follow their mental connection and repeatedly cast Greater Teleportation until she reunited with him.

But Riezel clearly had no such intention.

"Just stay put and keep an eye on everyone else. Don’t worry, nothing major happened here."

"...Understood."

Lilith reluctantly accepted the task.

After giving her a few more instructions, Riezel finally ended the Message connection.

"Hm?"

As soon as the connection ended, Riezel froze.

Chloria, who had been standing beside him just moments ago, had vanished.

After everything that had happened, that was the first possibility that came to Riezel’s mind, but it didn’t take him long to spot Chloria.

Still wearing nothing but his coat, she had somehow wandered over to one of the cavern walls and stood there with her head tilted upward, staring blankly at it.

"What are you looking at?"

In the very next second, Riezel saw it as well.

He saw what was carved into the wall.

Unlike the other rough, uneven walls of the cavern, this one was remarkably smooth, as though someone had deliberately polished it.

He fixed his gaze upon it, and what entered his sight was a series of crude line drawings.

"Murals?"

Riezel immediately recognized them.

After all, he had already seen them many times before.

They were murals that recorded the history of the ancient magic civilization.

After the ancient city inside the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon and the ruins of the Reinnail Clan, Riezel had once again discovered these murals—and with them, another previously unknown Chapter in the history of the ancient magic civilization.