I didn’t want to receive help from Valtraus, but unfortunately, accepting it was the best option for now.
Frankly speaking, my riding skills weren’t exactly outstanding.
There was no way I could run at top speed through the streets where people were walking about.
‘If there’s a way to reach my destination faster and safer, of course I should use it! Yes, this is purely using Valtraus. It’s not accepting his help. Changing my perspective like this made the resistance significantly decrease.’
Thus, I was able to get on the back of the cheetah-type familiar, but…
“Cling close and hold on tight.”
When those words came out of Valtraus’s mouth, the resistance surged again.
But what could be done?
Although cheetahs are classified as medium-large predators like lions or leopards in the ecosystem, they are significantly smaller in size.
Being animals specialized for speed, their skeletal and muscular structures are lean.
Even though Rascatl used the [Giantification] skill to become nearly three times larger, even so, it wasn’t originally a large-bodied animal.
There wasn’t enough room for two men over 180 cm tall to sit apart.
“…..-O.”
I, unable to hide my reluctance, squeezed out that answer and did as Valtraus said.
Just a moment ago, I had poured out a stream of criticism inside the carriage.
Now, holding that very person, it was unbearably awkward.
Whether Valtraus didn’t care or was just enduring like me, instead of twisting his body to show discomfort, he leaned forward, lowering his posture, and commanded his familiar.
“Rascatl, depart.”
As soon as the words fell, Valtraus’s familiar, as if waiting, powerfully kicked off the ground.
At the same time, I felt a jolt that seemed to fling my body away, and instinctively hugged the person in front’s waist even tighter.
Due to the tremendous speed, Yor, who was clinging to my shoulder, let out a “Nyaak!”
‘So there was a reason Valtraus even cast a buff on me…!’
A cheetah’s muscles are optimized for explosive speed, so they are unsuitable for bearing weight.
I could understand why he buffed his familiar.
‘Of course, it was to add strength so Rascatl could bear his and my weight! And I thought he had cast a buff on me and himself as a bonus. But it seems it wasn’t just a ‘bonus’ after all.’
Rascatl’s front paws gripped the ground and pulled its body forward as if pushing back, while its hind legs powerfully kicked the ground, stretching its back and sending its upper body far forward to gain speed.
Because Valtraus was sitting in front of me, the air pressure from the high speed was somewhat lessened, but the elastic movement of its spine bending like a drawn bowstring and then snapping straight was transmitted to my body as well.
My body bounced up and down in waves.
In the midst of that, it moved in zigzags to avoid pedestrians and various obstacles, and made sharp turns to go around corners.
I couldn’t even think of anything else and had to focus solely on maintaining balance.
If I hadn’t managed to activate the [Exhort] skill to grant myself an additional buff, I might have fallen off.
“Hoo… we’ve arrived.”
“Ueup!”
Finally, Rascatl came to a stop.
Valtraus sat up straight while still seated and let out a long breath.
I immediately dismounted and collapsed on the ground, dry heaving and complaining of motion sickness.
“You don’t look well.”
Valtraus, saying this, seemed to be in quite good condition.
‘Is Valtraus’s physical ability better than this body? Or is it because he’s used to riding his own familiar, not being his first time?’
‘I don’t know which, but for some reason, I felt annoyed just because he looked fine unlike me.’
“Are you thinking of finding your friends first when you go inside?”
As I was pressing on acupressure points said to help with motion sickness and breathing deeply, I heard Valtraus’s question.
The words “Not friends, just acquaintances” almost reflexively popped out, but then I thought, ‘If I say that, he’ll ask if I’m planning to jump into danger to save someone who’s not even a friend and try to stop me.’ So I dropped it.
‘I’ll have to fight monsters inside the Demonic Realm, and I can’t waste all my time and energy fighting someone like Valtraus before that.’
“Yes, that’s what I plan to do.”
“Do you know where they are now?”
“I don’t have any immediate guesses, but I’ll know once I get inside.”
“How?”
Although it came with severe motion sickness, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for being brought right to the entrance of the Demonic Realm.
But that didn’t mean Valtraus had earned the right to meddle in my affairs.
So I dusted myself off and stood up, replying bluntly, “Do I have to explain even that to you, big brother?”
“Well, you said you’d know once you go inside. No need to waste time listening to explanations.”
That reply came.
Somehow, it sounded like he intended to enter the Demonic Realm together.
“It seems my listening comprehension has temporarily dropped due to dizziness from motion sickness.”
“I will also enter the Demonic Realm with you.”
“…Or perhaps your language ability or judgment has become problematic.”
“Why do you think that?”
“The person who grilled me about whether I wanted to die when I said I was going to enter the Demonic Realm suddenly says that. I can’t help but suspect your mind has taken a brief leave of absence.”
I replied casually and opened the status window.
To check how much my stats had increased due to Valtraus’s [Elation] skill before entering the Demonic Realm.
‘If the increase was small, I planned to ask him to cancel it and then cast my own buffs again, but that won’t be necessary. Because I saw a higher value than when I used my [Encourage] and [Exhort] skills followed by [Elation].’
Excluding the 6 point increase from the [Exhort] skill, I calculated and found that Valtraus’s [Elation] had increased my stats by a whopping 1.5 times.
‘With my [Elation] skill, I can only increase it by 1.25 times…’
It seems Valtraus’s [Elation] skill rank is higher than mine.
Well, he lived seven years longer than Karbaldr, so he must have accumulated that much more proficiency.
And since he’s competing with his younger sister for the successor position, he wouldn’t have neglected training.
For reference, Valtraus and Karbaldr’s [Elation] skills do not stack.
As the readers know, [Elation] is a skill that cannot stack unlike [Exhort], and since all members of the Austri family are born with the same purple aether, it’s essentially the same as one person using the same skill.
‘Of course, if multiplicative buff skills stacked, that would be cheating.’
Instead, it’s possible to extend Valtraus’s [Elation] skill by consuming Karbaldr’s aether.
Valtraus should know this, so I don’t know why he insists on following.
“I’ve come all this way; if I push my younger brother into the Demonic Realm and turn back, what will people think of me?”
If he had just lent me a horse from the start, it wouldn’t be a problem he needs to worry about.
Yet Valtraus, instead of choosing that easy path, put me on his familiar’s back.
‘Did he offer to give me a ride from the beginning with the intention of following me into the Demonic Realm?’
Seeing how he raised his voice and got angry when I said I was going to the Demonic Realm, there is no doubt that he doesn’t wish for his younger brother’s death.
So it can’t be that he holds a grudge for the criticism I gave him in the carriage and plans to kill me in the confusion.
His beloved mother died long ago.
It seems he earnestly wants to hold onto the life of the last being she left behind.
Even though that being is practically already dead, and the one standing here now is a complete stranger with no connection.
‘What should I do?’
If he has no intention of harming me, then entering the Demonic Realm together is definitely beneficial.
Valtraus’s personal combat power may not be worth expecting, but his familiar Rascatl’s combat ability is worth counting on.
Even if it comes with motion sickness, the high speed and excellent turning ability will secure mobility inside the Demonic Realm.
‘If Yor and I enter the Demonic Realm alone, even if we locate the original work’s main and supporting characters, it will take a long time to regroup!’
Not only that.
If we encounter monsters along the way, it will delay us even more.
Maybe my life could be in danger.
‘Besides, Valtraus is not an Awakened, so he and his familiar cannot directly attack boss monsters, but they can cast buffs on the Awakened… In a boss fight, he would be much more helpful than a mediocre Awakened.’
At this point, I even think going without Valtraus would be stupid.
Thus, instead of dissuading him, I took out a whip and a dagger from my inventory, holding them in my hands, and spoke a word of caution.
“…If we’re unlucky, we might be attacked by monsters as soon as we open the entrance. So please be prepared.”
At my words, Valtraus gripped the whip handle tightly.
The giant cheetah, maintaining combat mode, stood guard in front of him.
My baby dragon, still small and cute, quietly placed its hand on my shoulder.
An action that likely contained its will to protect me if needed.
“But why doesn’t your familiar switch to combat mode?”
“Perhaps because it was born not long ago, there’s no big difference in size or stats.”
“Its birth time shouldn’t matter, should it?”
“Why wouldn’t it? It takes time to build skill proficiency. Besides, Yor is still a young familiar that hasn’t even become an adult, and it’s a long-range combat type anyway, so increasing its size is not very meaningful.”
“Long-range combat is possible…? Didn’t you say your sky-blue aether ability is to make it rain?”
“You’ll find out later, so I’ll skip the explanation.”
I cut off the conversation with that and extended the hand holding the dagger forward.
As the black membrane surrounding the Demonic Realm touched my skin, a sense of eeriness and discomfort washed over me.
I wanted to pull my hand away immediately, but… “Shooo, hooo!”
I took a deep breath, forcibly shaking off the unpleasant feeling, and pulled up my aether, pushing it into the barrier of the Demonic Realm.
Then, as described in the original novel, a hole appeared in the black membrane, gradually growing larger until it formed an arch-shaped entrance.
Height reveal kinda!