Extra: Yandere Milfs Obsessed with me!-Chapter 165: Expedition [2]

Kaiser, for his part, seemed to consider the journey a pleasure cruise. He poured himself a glass of light wine from the small reserve and headed toward the port-side panoramic porthole, where Olivia was watching the passing landscape.

"The Donoghan duchy," he commented as he approached, glass in hand. "Renowned for its acidic vineyards... And, incidentally, for a very rare variety of grape that grows near the border. They say it has... interesting properties."

Olivia did not turn her eyes from the porthole, where the farmlands were now giving way to dense forests and hills. "Interesting properties? Are you becoming a botanist now, Kaiser?"

He let out a small laugh and took a sip. "Not exactly. But as an occasional hedonist, I’ve taken an interest in... natural aphrodisiacs. This particular grape is supposed to be remarkably potent. A key ingredient in certain refined mixtures, they say."

He let the word aphrodisiac hang in the air between them, laden with innuendo. Olivia finally turned her head toward him.

"Your interests lack nobility..."

"Oh~, I’m sure the princess knows a great deal about aphrodisiacs, doesn’t she?" he retorted, his smile widening.

She held his gaze, refusing to show the slightest embarrassment. "I far prefer the taste of power. But if an aphrodisiac allowed me to advance my goals, then why not use it?"

"I share that opinion, princess. I hope you will be able to endure the consequences well ~"

Kaiser commented while sipping his wine.

Kris, who had overheard the exchange from the other side of the cabin, growled. "Leave her alone, Kaiser. Your conversation is as nauseating as your little person."

Kaiser raised his glass toward Kris in a mock toast. "Always so charming, Donoghan. Jealousy is such a vulgar feeling."

’Don’t worry, Kris, I’ve just added your little girlfriend to the list right after your mother.’

Isabella, without turning around, spoke in a voice that carried the authority of command: "Enough teasing, Kaiser. We’re getting closer. Focus on the objective."

The airship had indeed begun its descent, veering toward the east of the duchy. It was now flying over a peripheral and sparsely populated region, a small barony whose lands seemed poor and scarcely inhabited.

On the horizon, a line of low, rocky hills took shape. The very air seemed to change, becoming heavier, charged with a strange static that made the hairs on their arms crackle faintly.

"There," Zane indicated, pointing a finger toward a narrow valley nestled between two hills. A faint glow, almost invisible in broad daylight but perceptible to those with mana sense, emanated from the ground. It was a tear in reality caused by dense demonic mana.

The atmosphere in the cabin changed instantly, all teasing gone. Even Kaiser set aside his glass and his cavalier attitude, his eyes coldly analyzing the potential landing site.

Olivia crossed her arms, observing the rift with interest.

***

Crossing the rift was a brutal experience. The world twisted, colors diluted into a grayish vortex, and an unbearable sensation of stretching seized them before spitting them out on the other side.

They emerged onto a nightmarish land. The air was thick, hot, and laden with ash, stinging the lungs with every breath.

Under their feet, the ground was a network of blackened crevasses from which veins of glowing red lava oozed, emitting scorching heat.

Mountains with jagged shapes cut across a sky perpetually veiled in smoke. Some of their peaks periodically spat jets of fire and incandescent projectiles into the sinister glow of a twilight sky.

In the distance, massive, shapeless silhouettes moved slowly, seemingly made of molten rock and magma. Magma Golems, elemental monsters formed due to the high concentration of demonic mana; they were rare to epic level.

Zane, the first to recover from the crossing, immediately pulled out a map. "The scouts were right," he announced in a neutral voice while spreading the map.

"The concentration of arcane mana is densest at the top of that mountain to the west. And it repels all the monsters. It’s undoubtedly because of the espadon."

Kris approached, studying the distance and the chaotic terrain. "About two days of walking to get there. Assuming a direct path."

Olivia, while touching the pommel of her sword, observed three Magma Golems that, having detected their presence, were changing direction to head toward them.

"I’d say more like three, if we count the fights and the mandatory detours to avoid active lava flows."

Isabella nodded, her gaze sweeping the creatures’ approach zone. "You were right, Princess. Let’s clear this area first. We cannot afford to be caught in a pincer by these monsters."

"Indeed, the princess is so foresightful," Kaiser commented with false admiration, remaining a little in the background, hands in his pockets.

Olivia shot him a murderous look before focusing on the threat.

Zane was the first to engage. His short sword and numerous knives, all charged with Aura.

He was disconcertingly fast. He literally exploded into motion, going from a static position to blinding top speed. His sword traced precise arcs, slicing through magma limbs, while his knives, thrown with phenomenal force, embedded themselves in the molten stone bodies with impacts that made them explode from the outside. An elite B- rank warrior at only 23 years old.

On her side, Olivia did not master the secret Art of the imperial family, reserved for the direct lineage like Julius and Adrian. She could only compensate with solid sword mastery and her arcane magic, with temporal affinity like all Dantalions.

A pale yellow aura, complex and swirling, emanated from her, a pressure so dense that the weaker golems hesitated to approach her. She then drew her khopesh, a curved and deadly blade with an internal edge.

She traced a sign in the air with her free hand, and a silver infinity symbol materialized on the ground beneath the nearest golems.

<Arcane Magic: Temporal Imprisonment.>

Instantly, the three creatures seemed frozen. On closer inspection, they were still moving, but with exasperating slowness.

Olivia then rushed forward, her khopesh tracing precise lines. She did not have the raw power of her brothers, but she was a fifth-circle magical warrior, with an aura approaching B+ rank.