Chapter 21: The Otaku Takes a Detour (And Finds a Very Forbidden Forest)
The lifeline pulled.
Meliodas felt it—that invisible thread stretching across dimensions, leading home. He grabbed Bud and followed it, stepping through the boundary of the Birth World with hope in his heart.
The void swallowed them.
And then—
[THEME SONG ACTIVATED]
The music started softly at first—a slow, mysterious melody. Strings. Chimes. The kind of music that played when a hero was about to embark on an unexpected journey.
Meliodas blinked in the void. "Really? Now?"
The music swelled—not sad, not triumphant. Curious. Like the universe itself was saying "wait, this is interesting."
And then something went wrong.
The lifeline didn't lead to Earth.
It twisted. Buckled. Snapped and reconnected somewhere else entirely.
Meliodas felt the change a moment too late. The familiar pull toward home suddenly shifted, yanking them in a completely different direction.
"WHAT—"
The world exploded into light.
---
He landed hard.
Not on concrete. Not on rooftop. Not anywhere familiar.
On grass. Strange grass. Grass that felt... ancient.
Meliodas scrambled to his feet, heart pounding. Bud materialized beside him, pulsing with confusion and distress.
"Bud? Where are we? This isn't Earth."
Bud pulsed—confusion, fear, and something else. Not recognition exactly—more like... awareness. This place was old. Very old.
Meliodas's {Keen Vision} activated instantly, scanning the surroundings in detail. The trees weren't just tall—they were covered in runes, ancient carvings, symbols that pulsed with faint light. The ground beneath his feet wasn't soil—it was a living network of roots and magic.
His {Observation Haki} extended, feeling for threats.
Dozens of them. Hundreds. Massive presences scattered throughout the forest—some sleeping, some moving, some simply existing with a weight that pressed against his senses.
"This place..." Meliodas whispered. "It's full of things that could kill us without trying."
Bud pulsed—agreement, and warning. Danger. Everywhere.
---
The magic in the air wasn't just ambient—it was active. Pressing against his skin, seeking entry. Trying to empower him.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[AMBIENT MAGIC DETECTED]
This world's atmosphere is saturated with magical energy.
It is attempting to infuse your body and soul.
This will temporarily enhance your magical capabilities.
However, long-term effects are unknown.
Do you wish to reject this infusion?
[REJECT] / [ACCEPT]
---
Meliodas stared at the notification.
"Only a fool would reject free power," he muttered.
Then he paused.
"But... what if there's a catch? What if getting buffed here has side effects? What if it changes me permanently?"
He looked at Bud.
The creature was already absorbing the ambient magic eagerly. Its form shimmered, grew slightly more defined, pulsed with new energy. It was thriving.
Bud pulsed—happiness, encouragement. Feels good. Feels right.
Meliodas watched for a moment. Bud seemed fine. Better than fine—it was glowing.
"I have {Sanctity of Body}," he reminded himself. "If anything tries to change me permanently, I can reject it. This is just a temporary boost."
He made his choice.
[ACCEPT]
Infusion in progress...
Magical energy detected. No harmful alterations detected.
Temporary enhancement active.
Your magical capabilities have been increased.
Duration: Unknown
Source: This world's ambient magic
---
The power flooded into him.
It wasn't painful—it was exhilarating. Like every cell in his body was waking up, stretching, reaching for something new. His {Sun Fruit} hummed with renewed strength. His {Energy Constructs} felt sharper, more responsive. His {Observation Haki} expanded, sensing even more of the massive presences around them.
"Whoa," he breathed.
Bud pulsed—happiness. It had felt his acceptance, his power growing.
"This place is insane. The air itself makes you stronger."
Bud pulsed—agreement, but also warning. Danger. Big danger.
Meliodas's {Keen Vision} caught movement in the distance—something massive shifting in the shadows. "Yeah. I can feel it."
---
They needed shelter.
Meliodas's {Observation Haki} guided them away from the largest presences, weaving between territories of sleeping titans. His {Hyperawareness} caught every shift in the wind, every rustle of leaves, every distant footstep of creatures too large to comprehend.
After hours of careful movement, his {Keen Vision} spotted something—a cave entrance partially hidden by massive roots, tucked against a cliff face.
"There."
They approached cautiously. Meliodas's senses extended into the cave, checking for threats.
Empty. But recently occupied. Very recently.
Someone had been here. And they were still nearby.
Meliodas's {Observation Haki} caught it—a presence, hiding in the shadows at the back of the cave. Humanoid. Scared. Watching.
He didn't react. Didn't look directly. Just let his senses track the hidden figure while he pretended to examine the cave.
Bud pulsed—curious. It had noticed too.
Meliodas gave a tiny shake of his head. Wait.
They explored the cave slowly, giving the hidden person time to observe them. To decide if they were threats.
Fruit scraps. Signs of magic use. A small fire pit, cold. Someone was surviving here.
After long minutes, Meliodas sat down against a wall—deliberately positioning himself where the hidden figure could see him clearly. He made no threatening moves. Just waited.
Bud curled beside him, pulsing with gentle curiosity.
The minutes stretched.
Then, slowly, a figure emerged from the shadows.
---
He was young—maybe early twenties—with dark hair and finer clothes now torn and dirty. His eyes were wary, calculating, darting between Meliodas and the cave entrance. In one hand, faint magic gathered—ready to flee or fight.
He didn't speak. Just watched.
Meliodas studied him back. {Observation Haki} read fear, desperation, and something else—resignation. Like someone who'd already accepted death and was just waiting for it to arrive.
Meliodas pointed at himself. "Meliodas." Then at Bud. "Bud."
The boy's eyes flickered—confusion. He didn't understand the words, but he understood the gesture.
Slowly, he pointed at himself. "Kaelen."
Then he did something that transcended language.
He pointed at the cave entrance, at the dark forest beyond. Then he pointed at himself and made a pushing-away gesture with both hands—sent away. rejected. Then he drew a line across his throat—death. danger.
Then he pointed at the forest again, made a walking gesture with two fingers, then a slashing motion—people came, people died. He pointed at himself, made the walking gesture again, then held up two fingers—I survived, two days.
Then he pointed at his fine but ruined clothes, at his own face, and made a crown gesture with his fingers—royalty. prince. Then the pushing-away gesture again, more forceful—rejected. discarded.
Meliodas understood.
This boy was royalty who'd been cast out. Sent into this deadly forest to die. Others had come with him—guards? adventurers?—and they'd been killed. He'd survived alone for two days.
Kaelen watched him carefully, waiting to see if the message got through.
Meliodas nodded slowly. Then he pointed at himself and Bud, made a circling gesture—us. Then he pointed at the cave, at the fruit, and gave a thumbs up—safe here. good.
Kaelen's shoulders relaxed slightly. Not trust—not yet. But understanding.
---
The boy raised his hand, and magic gathered around his fingers. He gestured at his own head, then at Meliodas's. A pulse of energy passed between them.
And suddenly, words appeared in Meliodas's mind—not spoken, but felt.
"Can you understand me now?"
Meliodas blinked. "Telepathy?"
Kaelen nodded, looking relieved. "Basic magic. Everyone learns it—helps with trade between kingdoms with different languages." He paused. "Your accent is still strange in my head, but at least we can communicate."
"Thank you. That's... incredibly helpful."
Kaelen waved it off. "Necessary. We need to talk if we're going to survive." He looked at Meliodas with renewed suspicion. "What continent are you from? I've never seen clothes like yours. Or a creature like that."
Meliodas considered his options. "A very far one. You wouldn't know it."
Kaelen's eyes narrowed, but he let it go. He had bigger concerns.
"Are you alone? Just you and that... thing?"
"Bud's with me. That's it."
Kaelen's suspicion didn't fade, but something else entered his eyes—calculation. Two people were better than one in this forest. Even if they were strange foreigners with weird clothes and weirder accents.
"You shouldn't be here," he said flatly. "No one should be here. This forest is forbidden for a reason."
"We didn't have much choice in the matter." Meliodas gestured around. "Something went wrong with our... transportation. We ended up here."
"Transportation." Kaelen's eyes flickered. "A portal? Those are rare, but not unheard of. Unstable ones can dump people anywhere." He shook his head. "You're either the luckiest or unluckiest adventurers I've ever met. Surviving this long in the Gargantuan Wilds is... improbable."
"We've been careful."
"Careful." Kaelen laughed bitterly. "I was careful. I had a pendant that hides my presence. I still nearly died three times in two days." He looked at Meliodas with new eyes. "How have you survived?"
Meliodas shrugged. "Good instincts. Fast reflexes. And Bud helps."
Kaelen looked at the creature again. Bud pulsed—friendly.
"It's... not like anything I've ever seen. Some kind of familiar?"
"Something like that."
---
The Story Unfolds
With telepathy bridging the gap, Kaelen's story poured out.
He was an illegitimate son—a secret the king had kept for years. But secrets have a way of coming out. When Kaelen's existence became known, the king couldn't kill him openly. Too many questions. Too much scandal.
So he arranged an "accident."
Adventurers were hired—well-paid—to escort Kaelen on a "hunting expedition." They led him deep into the Gargantuan Wilds, the one place no one survives.
"They told me it was a test," Kaelen said, his voice flat in Meliodas's mind. "A rite of passage. Prove myself worthy of recognition." He laughed bitterly. "I was so desperate for his approval. I believed them."
Meliodas listened, {Observation Haki} reading the pain behind every word.
"But the king didn't just want me dead. He wanted no witnesses." Kaelen's hands clenched. "His trusted guards followed us. They used something—blood from a strange beast—to lure something terrible to our camp."
His voice dropped.
"I've never seen anything like it. It came out of nowhere—massive, faster than anything that size should be. The adventurers... they didn't stand a chance. Their magical armor meant nothing. It tore through them like they were made of paper."
He looked at Meliodas with hollow eyes.
"I survived because I ran. Because I have magic that lets me move faster than eyes can follow. I ran and ran until I couldn't hear the screaming anymore."
"The guards?"
"Scattered. Some died. Some might still be out there." He shook his head. "The beast was stronger than they expected. It didn't just kill the adventurers—it went after them too. I saw at least three fall before I lost sight of everything."
Meliodas processed this. A king willing to kill his own son. Guards willing to die for the secret. And somewhere in this forest, a demon beast that slaughtered trained warriors like nothing.
"You've been surviving alone since then?"
"Two days. Found this cave. Found fruit I could eat." He gestured at the glowing fruits. "They're not poisonous, apparently. Small mercies."
Bud pulsed—sympathy. It moved closer to Kaelen, a gentle presence.
Kaelen stared at the creature. "It's... remarkably friendly."
"He's special."
Kaelen looked at Bud for a long moment. Then, slowly, he reached out and touched it.
Bud pulsed—warmth, acceptance.
Kaelen's eyes widened. "It... it feels like..." He couldn't find the words.
"Like home? Like safety?"
"...Yes."
Meliodas smiled. "Bud does that."
---
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[NEW ALLY: KAELEN]
A prince without a kingdom. An illegitimate son thrown away to die.
He has nothing left but his magic, his wits, and a burning need to survive.
Abilities observed: Gliding, Blink (spatial magic), Telepathy (basic), basic mana manipulation.
---
The Night Passed
They talked for hours. Kaelen explained more about this world—the kingdoms, the magic system, the races. Humans, elves, beast-people with their animal features and awakened claws. The Gargantuan Wilds, forbidden to all, home to titans and divine beasts that couldn't be fought or killed.
"No one has ever mapped this forest," Kaelen said. "No one has ever explored it fully. The divine beasts guard it too well. And deeper in... there are things even they fear."
Meliodas looked at Bud. The creature pulsed—curious, eager. It wanted to go deeper.
"Your creature seems interested in something," Kaelen observed.
"He feels something. Something important."
"In this forest?" Kaelen's expression shifted. "That's... not good. Whatever's calling to it is probably something ancient. Something powerful."
"Probably."
"And you want to follow it?"
"I have to."
Kaelen stared at him. Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
"You're insane. Completely insane." But there was something like admiration in his voice. "What continent are you from that produces people like you?"
"A very far one," Meliodas said. "You wouldn't know it."
Kaelen shook his head. "Well, insane or not, you're the only company I have." He stood, brushing off his torn clothes. "If you're going deeper, I'm coming with you."
"Why?"
"Because I have nothing left to lose. Because you might actually survive longer than me. And because..." He looked at Bud. "That creature feels like the first good thing I've encountered in days. I want to see what it finds."
Meliodas smiled. "Welcome to the party."
---
Dawn
They woke to the sounds of the forest—birds that sounded like nothing on Earth, the distant rumble of something massive moving, the constant hum of magic in the air.
Kaelen was already awake, watching the cave entrance.
"Something's different," he said quietly.
Meliodas's {Observation Haki} extended. He felt it too—a shift in the presences around them. Something had changed overnight.
"What is it?"
"I don't know. But the beasts... they're moving. More than usual." He turned to Meliodas. "Something's happening deeper in the forest."
Bud pulsed—excitement. Closer. The call is closer.
Meliodas stood. "We have to go."
"Into whatever's causing that?"
"Bud says it's important."
Kaelen hesitated. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"I have nothing left to lose anyway." He stood, checking his magic. "But if we die, I'm blaming you."
"Fair enough."
---
[END OF CHAPTER 21]