Shota's Isekai NTR Adventure Chapter 2099: Miasma

With the predicament of Dorothy settled and the neighboring nations calmed by the establishment of a formal production line, my stay in the Kite Kingdom had effectively reached its end.

It felt wonderful to finally enjoy a long, peaceful sleep in my own bed, yet a crucial destination still beckoned us.

In truth, we needed to depart with the utmost urgency, as the persistent signs of corruption energy swelling across the continent showed no signs of abating.

A catastrophic eruption felt all but inevitable, looming over the horizon like a storm about to break.

Therefore, we had to ensure every contingency was managed before that darkness could fully descend.

Achieving this required us to confront the elementals that had finally manifested.

Our current objective was another forbidden territory, though it stood in stark contrast to those we had visited previously. Due to its unique properties, this location was far more treacherous than any other taboo zone we had encountered.

Unexpectedly, however, someone unexpected joined our journey.

Just before we departed from the Kite Kingdom, Lupus stepped forward and declared, "I wish to accompany you."

Her uncharacteristic forwardness caught me off guard, yet it also provided a hint of what we might encounter. Given the nature of these taboo zones, we already possessed theories regarding the elementals sealed within each one.

The divine energy artifacts bestowed upon each elemental tribe functioned by drawing in the inverse of the essence used to create them.

These elemental tribes invariably utilized the artifacts to generate the very element they required for survival, meaning the catalyst for these taboo zones was inevitably the antithesis of their creation.

In a region saturated with such dense miasma, it was clear that we were dealing with the domain of air.

This confirmed our suspicion that we were tracking a group of wind elementals.

A part of me understood why Lupus would seek them out, given that the deity she served was the God of Wind. Still, her sudden, intense focus on this matter remained somewhat perplexing.

The only logical conclusion was that Zephyrus intended to pass a specific message along to these wind elementals.

As for the nature of that message, Lupus’s guarded demeanor suggested she had no intention of confiding in me.

It seemed she was waiting for the opportune moment when we finally stood before the wind elementals to reveal her purpose.

Upon reaching the threshold of the taboo zone, the reason for its forbidden status became instantly apparent.

Instead of being composed of invisible gases, the area was shrouded in a thick, visible vapor that clung to every surface. This posed a significant hurdle, as we were relying on navigating this zone to locate the array that would lead us to the wind elementals.

With such impenetrable fog blanketing the landscape, finding anything at all seemed like a near-impossible task.

As we stood there contemplating our next move, Lupus suddenly spoke up, "Follow me and keep close."

Without allowing us even a moment to fully process her command, she unleashed a sudden gust of wind.

The breeze was not meant to buffet us, but it effectively parted the dense wall of gas obstructing our path. However, Lupus was far too skilled for such a crude technique.

Instead of merely clearing a path, she expertly maneuvered the wind to lift the gas upward, constructing a shimmering barrier above us that held the vapor from descending once more.

She seemingly intended to levitate the gas entirely, clearing the ground so we could locate the components of the array needed for activation.

Alas, it was not that simple; we still lacked a clear understanding of what we were meant to be searching for.

In such a desolate, fog-choked place, deciphering what constituted a part of the array was a daunting prospect.

After all, the landscape consisted of nothing but swirling gas.

In previous locations, the arrays were marked by pillars of stone or ice.

What, I wondered, would be the equivalent in a realm of gas?

The answer presented itself soon enough.

It was a pillar of gas.

Or, perhaps more accurately, something that closely mimicked the form of a pillar.

It resembled a vent, continuously spewing gas into the atmosphere, as if acting as an exhaust for some vast, subterranean chamber.

Observing this, a look of bewilderment crossed my face.

The implication that something was concealed beneath the surface was obvious. It felt distinct from the other sites, where the ritual pillars were composed of the elements inherent to those locations.

It was as if the vent itself was betraying the hiding place of the wind elementals.

"They remain invisible in their natural state because they are shrouded in this gas. You can only see the vents because I have displaced it. Furthermore, this is no ordinary vapor," Lupus remarked.

I turned to look at her, but she offered no further explanation.

Nevertheless, coming from the messenger of the God of Wind herself, I knew her words held absolute weight. There was no one more qualified to judge the nature of such a phenomenon.

Acknowledging this, I set my doubts aside and focused on activating the array.

The wind vent functioned identically to the previous pillars, and shortly thereafter, the ancient array pulsed into existence.