Chapter 12: An Unexpected Discovery

Natasha stood in front of the door, waiting for Epsilon to come out. The massive sandstorm had passed three hours ago. Finally, she could continue her search for information about this mountain.

Fortunately, the storm wasn't strong enough to kill the dragons or the ninja demons. So, she hadn't lost any more members.

Even so, I still disappointed Lord Arthur… I even lost a ninja demon monster.

Natasha felt a pang of regret. Why didn't I just save the ninja demon after rescuing its dragon?

Creek…

The sound of the door came from behind her. Natasha turned to see Epsilon emerging from the cottage.

"Let's get going, Lady Natasha." Epsilon smiled, her expression looking refreshed.

Natasha pushed herself off from where she was leaning and walked toward her dragon. She leaped onto the back of the red-and-black dragon and sat down. Then, she noticed the wooden cottage in front of her hadn't disappeared.

She turned her head toward Epsilon, who was adjusting her position on her blue dragon. "Epsilon, why didn't you turn the cottage back into an item?" she asked curiously.

Hearing this, Epsilon let out a small laugh. "Lady Natasha, the item I used is a single-use item. Once used, it will disappear on its own."

THUMP! Natasha's face instantly flushed red inside her silver helmet. Damn it, how could I forget there are items like that?! Now The Ninth Oath Maids will definitely see me as the dumbest Floor Guardian!

"Hmm, y-yes… I see," Natasha stammered in reply. "So, are we just going to leave it here?"

She felt it was a bit of a waste to leave the comfortable cottage here, only for it to be destroyed by this world's extreme environment. Although the Seventh-Sequence Magic: Anti-Destruction could protect it for now, the spell's effect wasn't permanent. According to her knowledge, the spell would only last for three days.

"What can we do," Epsilon said with a shrug. "Besides, Lady Natasha, this is just a common-tier item. I have a few more that the Secretary-General gave me. So, you don't need to worry."

"I see…" Natasha sighed in relief. She was afraid Emma would scold her for using the item but not finding any useful information. "In that case, let's go."

Natasha pulled the reins on her dragon's mouth. The dragon then flapped its wings and slowly ascended into the sky.

Watching the dragon flap its wings to fly, Natasha felt it was strange. This is a vacuum, so why is it flapping its wings? Dragons fly because of magic, so there's no point in them doing this.

Wait a minute… since when did I become such a deep thinker? Isn't this kind of stuff Belial and Emma's job? Geniuses like them…

Natasha felt strange about the change in herself. She sighed, then looked at the surrounding scenery, which was still pitch black despite being illuminated by her magic.

"Damn it, I can't see anything. If this keeps up, I won't find any useful information," Natasha complained with a pout behind her silver helmet.

She immediately activated her super-vision skill. This skill allowed her to see in the dark with perfect clarity, like using infrared goggles. It was an innate active skill of the Valkyrie race.

After activating her skill, Natasha could see the surroundings more clearly. Her eyes darted left and right, hoping to catch any suspicious objects that might be living creatures.

Natasha's grip on her dragon's reins tightened.

"Absolutely… no life," she muttered softly.

Epsilon, who was behind Natasha, also let out a long sigh. It seemed her suspicion was correct, that they were the only life in this world.

Natasha guided her dragon to fly upward. She wanted to try to reach the summit of the giant mountain, and also to see this world's night sky. At the foot of the mountain, the view of volcanic and metallic ash obstructed her vision.

The higher they went, the colder the air became. Natasha glanced at the parameter on the temperature gauge on her dragon's neck. The number had dropped drastically, now reaching -160 degrees Celsius. The altitude parameter also continued to rise, until it showed 21.9 kilometers from the surface.

"Wow…" Natasha removed her silver Valkyrie helmet. The helmet then dissolved into colorful particles of light. She stared in awe at the sight before her.

Below, she saw a dull red earth stretching out wide, full of craters and crevices. She also saw a very long crack, as if a great battle had taken place here thousands of years ago. Hills and steep walls loomed, then sank into a thin, motionless haze of dust.

Above, the sky… no. Not the sky, because there was no atmosphere here. There was only a clear, deep, and endless black sea. The stars hung so close, so clear, as if they could be reached with a bare hand. Thousands, tens of thousands of tiny lights shone in that darkness, silent and occasionally twinkling as if about to go out.

"So this… is the night sky in this world? It's so beautiful…" Natasha murmured unconsciously. Even for someone like her who didn't care much for art and beauty, she had to admit this was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

"If Lord Arthur saw this, I'm sure he would be very happy," Natasha thought. Although the views on every floor of Avanheim were also beautiful, this was something completely different. It wasn't that she was insulting the creations of the Supreme Beings, but anyone would know the difference after seeing it in person.

Natasha didn't know where she was. She didn't know the name of this mountain, if it even was a mountain. She didn't know if this place ever had a name, or was ever known by anyone. But for some reason, standing at this height, she felt like she was standing at the edge of the world—like the loneliest point of everything that ever existed.

Natasha quickly turned toward Epsilon and saw the look of admiration on the maid's face. She smiled behind her silver helmet. "Epsilon, have you recorded it?" she asked gently using the Message spell.

The voice that suddenly appeared in her mind startled Epsilon. Then, she realized it was Lady Natasha's voice. She saw her superior looking at her.

Epsilon's face flushed with embarrassment. She immediately apologized. "Forgive me, Lady Natasha, for ignoring you… I was too captivated by the beauty of the stars in the sky and the mountain below."

"It's fine. That's a normal reaction," Natasha replied in a gentle tone. "So, have you recorded this view with your magic?"

Hearing that, Epsilon nodded."I've had my recording magic active since we left the cottage. So, you don't need to worry, Lady Natasha," she said confidently.

"I see, that's good. In that case, I will order the ninja demons to use their reconnaissance skills to scan this mountain and find out if there is any life or not. After that, we'll take some soil and rock samples from this mountain. This is an order given to me by Secretary-General Emma." Natasha informed Epsilon and the ninja demons of her plan.

They immediately understood and nodded.

The ninja demons quickly took their dragons and spread out to various corners of the giant mountain before them. Meanwhile, Natasha and Epsilon remained where they were.

"Are they useful?" Natasha asked with a dismissive tone. She wasn't very familiar with these ninja demon monsters. She had only brought them because Emma told her to, saying these monsters would be useful. But after seeing one of them slip off a cliff, Natasha was even more doubtful.

"Lady Natasha, despite their appearance, they are very useful for reconnaissance, especially in our current situation," Epsilon replied, her tone informative.

"I suppose you're right. Emma, that genius, wouldn't just give me useless subordinates, especially on a mission this important." Natasha nodded, agreeing with Epsilon's opinion. "By the way, I was wondering, what are your Class and Job, Epsilon?"

Natasha glanced at Epsilon beside her. Hearing the question, Epsilon's expression changed slightly.

Seeing the change, Natasha immediately realized her mistake. "I'm sorry, Epsilon. As a Floor Guardian, I shouldn't have spoken like that." She had forgotten this crucial point. Even though they were fellow residents of Avanheim, asking about someone's Class and Job was very impolite, as it concerned their personal power. In Avanheim itself, only Lord Arthur and Emma were given the authority to know all of their power profiles.

Epsilon smiled faintly at Natasha's awkward apology. "It's fine, it's not a secret anyway," she answered without anger, then continued, "My Class is Alchemist, and my Job is Transmuter."

Hearing that, Natasha remembered what Jarvis had said about who the smartest of The Ninth Oath Maids was. Yes, with a Class and Job like this, it's no wonder she knows so many things and is perfectly suited for an information-gathering mission. Epsilon can use transmutation to turn inanimate objects into living beings.

"No wonder Jarvis recommended you for this mission," Natasha murmured.

Epsilon just smiled, not replying.

Suddenly, they felt a magical wave signal from below.

"They found something!" Natasha exclaimed in disbelief. They had been on this mission for almost half a day, and they had finally found something.

Before the mission began, Emma had given them a magic item in the shape of a coin. This item was created by the Magic Department so that the ninja demons, who couldn't use the Message spell, could communicate over long distances. If this item was used, it meant they had found something important.

Natasha and Epsilon immediately guided their dragons to dive toward the surface at high speed.

SWOOSH!

SWOOSH!

They landed on the southeastern side of the giant mountain. On the flat surface, Natasha saw a ninja demon digging something in the sand. The environment here wasn't as rough or extreme as at the foot of the other parts of the mountain. The terrain was flat and solid, with no visible chasms or high cliffs, more like a desert. But the temperature was still very cold. Natasha could even see some grains of sand had frozen.

That alone showed just how cold this place was.

Natasha and Epsilon hurried down from their dragons and walked toward the ninja demon—a figure dressed all in black with a fox mask on its face, a pair of small horns on its head, and a black-scaled reptilian tail.

"What is it? Did you find something?" Natasha asked in a commanding tone.

The ninja demon immediately paid its respects, then spoke. "Lady Natasha, we found something down here. My reconnaissance skill detected an unusual electromagnetic wave beneath this sand. So, I decided to dig and found this."

The ninja demon pointed to a white object, part of which was buried in the sand.

Natasha directed her gaze to the object. "This is…!" At a glance, she knew this object must have been made by intelligent beings! Its appearance was like the machines in the human cities of the world of Monia.

"Epsilon, can you confirm what this object is?" Natasha asked quickly, her tone full of excitement. Finally, I won't just be bringing back useless soil samples, but also information about the discovery of an unknown object! Lord Arthur will surely praise me!

Epsilon crouched down, her long maid's skirt unconsciously touching the sand. She looked at the white object in front of her. "I don't know what this is. Can you dig it up more?" she asked the ninja demon.

The ninja demon then dug and lifted the white object. It was quite large, perhaps three meters long, with various strange objects attached to its top.

"From its shape, this object looks like an automata device? But it's also not… I don't sense any magical network or mana energy inside it," Epsilon murmured, confused, as she continued to examine the object.

"Look! I found something else!" another ninja demon shouted, pulling a piece of cloth from the sand where the white object had been excavated. The demon cleaned the cloth of sand and showed it to its superior.

"A flag? Is there a kingdom in this world?" Natasha stared at the flag, which had thirteen red and white stripes with a box of Old Glory Blue in the top left corner. Inside the box were fifty small white stars.

"Look, Lady Natasha! There's writing here in the Monian language," Epsilon exclaimed with a shocked expression. She read the sentence aloud: "Rover Prometheus - NASA. Mission: Explore the foot of Olympus Mons." Her assumption had been wrong. It turned out there was life in a world with such an extreme environment.

"So… this giant mountain is called Olympus Mons? But why are the natives of this world using the Monian language?" Natasha was confused, but on the other hand, she was very happy. Lord Arthur will definitely praise me for this discovery!

"Perhaps they are players from Avalon. Only they would use the Monian language in this new world," Epsilon said, her analysis sounding very plausible.

Natasha's expression immediately turned serious at that. Unconsciously, her left hand gripped the hilt of the scythe floating on her back. "In that case, we should return to Felius Castle immediately, before they notice our arrival," she commanded.

Epsilon nodded.

The ninja demons scattered across Olympus Mons were immediately recalled. They loaded the flag and the machine onto the backs of their dragons and tied them down securely.

Natasha and her team promptly left the giant mountain. Their departure made the silent place silent once more….