Chapter 55: The Otaku Enters the Foothills (And the Mountains Decide to Judge Him)
The afternoon stretched into evening as they pushed north.
The land changed slowly. Farmland became grassland. Grassland became scrub. Scrub became the first rocky outcroppings of the foothills.
Meliodas didn't slow.
The captured Magic Knight—her name was Vex, she'd finally admitted after an hour of silence—walked with her hands bound, flanked by Edrin and Lira. The two former Wardens hadn't spoken to each other, but they walked in perfect sync, as if old habits died hard.
Kaelen kept pace with Meliodas, the loop on his wrist glowing steady white. He hadn't mentioned the near-miss with the crack's hand. Neither had Meliodas.
But they both remembered.
Rem stayed close, tail occasionally brushing against Meliodas's leg. She wasn't being subtle about it, but subtlety had never been her style.
Bud remained on Meliodas's shoulder, glow dimmed to conserve energy, but his eyes never stopped moving. Scanning. Watching. Waiting.
'The pressure is still there.'
'I know.'
'It's not attacking. Just... following.'
'It's learning. Waiting for the right moment.'
'That's worse.'
'Yes.'
---
They made camp as the sun touched the horizon.
A shallow cave in the side of a rocky hill. Not deep, but enough to shield them from view. Meliodas scouted it personally, {Observation Haki} stretching into every shadow.
Empty.
Safe.
For now.
Rem immediately claimed the flattest spot and sat down with the satisfaction of someone who had won an unwinnable war.
Kaelen slumped against the wall, eyes closed, breathing slow. The loop glowed white.
Edrin and Lira sat apart from each other, the silence between them heavy enough to feel.
Vex, the new prisoner, sat near the entrance, bound and guarded by Bud's watchful gaze.
Meliodas stood at the cave mouth, watching the darkening sky. The last light caught his profile, highlighting the sharp lines of his jaw, the steady focus in his eyes. His coat moved in a breeze that seemed to exist only for him.
The pressure was still there.
Not closer.
Not further.
Just... present.
Waiting.
Bud hopped down and grew to cat-size, settling beside him.
'You should sleep.'
'Can't.'
'The crack won't attack tonight. It's tired too.'
'You don't know that.'
'I know it tried and failed. That buys time.'
Meliodas looked at the tiny dragon.
'Since when are you the optimistic one?'
'I'm not optimistic. I'm practical. You're useless tired.'
He almost smiled.
Almost.
---
Night fell.
The others slept—Kaelen curled on his side, Rem sprawled like a cat, Edrin and Lira in their separate corners, Vex pretending to sleep but probably planning.
Meliodas didn't.
He sat at the cave mouth, watching the stars.
He hadn't meditated in days. The crack was stealing more than sleep. {Recharge} demanded two hours daily, and he'd been ignoring it. He could feel the edges of his power fraying, just slightly. Nothing critical yet. But if this kept up...
He pushed the thought away.
The stars were different here. Not the ones he'd grown up with. Not the ones that had shone over Tokyo, over Harlem, over the Avengers Tower that probably existed somewhere in a universe he couldn't reach.
He wondered, briefly, if anyone on Earth was still watching for him.
Gravi, sitting on his couch, refusing to admit she was worried.
Lyra, notebook in hand, documenting his absence like it was just another chapter.
Anastasia, standing by a window, waiting.
Natasha, filing reports that got more frustrated with every passing week.
Mama Rose, knitting, knowing things she wouldn't say.
The Ancient One, watching timelines that no longer included him.
He pushed the thoughts away.
Useless.
Dwelling on Earth wouldn't get him back there.
Only surviving would.
And surviving meant getting Kaelen to the sanctuary.
The moonlight caught his face as he stared into the darkness, painting him in silver and shadow. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen a figure carved from myth.
No one was watching.
But the universe seemed to appreciate it anyway.
---
The dream came again.
Not as strong this time. Just a whisper at the edge of his awareness.
'You cannot run forever.'
Meliodas didn't respond.
'The boy is marked. His blood calls to me. You cannot hide him.'
Still silence.
'I will find you. I will find him. And when I do...'
The voice faded.
Meliodas opened his eyes.
Dawn was breaking.
The pressure was still there.
But further now. Just a little.
He'd take it.
---
They moved at first light.
The foothills rose around them, rocky and steep. The path was barely a path—just a game trail that wound between boulders and scraggled trees.
Meliodas led, {Observation Haki} stretched thin, watching for threats. The morning light caught him as he crested each rise, painting him in gold.
Kaelen followed close behind, breathing controlled, loop steady.
Rem flanked, tail high, ears swiveling at every sound. She kept glancing at Meliodas, then away, then back again.
Edrin and Lira came next, still silent, still synchronized.
Vex brought up the rear, bound but walking, Bud perched on a rock above her like a tiny, glowing sentinel.
The morning was cool. The sky was clear.
Everything looked peaceful.
Meliodas didn't trust it for a second.
---
The attack came at midday.
Not from the cult.
From the mountains themselves.
A rockslide, sudden and violent, triggered by nothing.
Meliodas grabbed Kaelen and threw them both behind a boulder as tons of stone crashed down where they'd been standing.
Rem dodged left, claws digging into rock, tail lashing.
Edrin and Lira moved as one, years of training kicking in, pulling Vex to safety.
Bud flared bright, wings spread, light pushing against the dust.
The slide ended as quickly as it began.
Silence.
Then laughter.
Not human.
Something older.
Echoing off the rocks.
Meliodas looked up.
Figures stood on the ridge above them.
Not cultists.
Wolves.
But wrong.
Too large. Too still. Eyes that glowed with something that wasn't animal.
Demonic beasts.
Controlled.
Hunting.
And behind them, a figure in dark robes.
A cult mage.
Smiling.
"The mountains judge you," he called down. "And they find you wanting."
Meliodas didn't answer. He stepped out from behind the boulder, dust settling around him. The midday sun hit him like a spotlight, catching every line of his silhouette.
The mage's smile flickered.
Meliodas was already moving.
{Rush activated.}
Five seconds.
He scaled the ridge, Moonsing drawn.
{Rush ended}.
The mage's smile vanished entirely.
Meliodas's blade pressed against his throat.
"Call them off."
The mage laughed, shaky but defiant. "They don't answer to me. They answer to—"
Something moved in the shadows behind him.
Larger than the wolves.
Older.
The mage's laugh turned to a scream as darkness consumed him.
Meliodas jumped back, landing on a lower ledge.
The thing in the shadows regarded him with eyes that held no mercy. It was vaguely wolf-shaped, but wrong—too large, too dark, too present. Shadows bled from its form like smoke.
Then it spoke.
Not aloud.
In his mind.
'The crack sends its regards.'
Meliodas met its gaze. The light caught him even here, even in shadow, framing him against the rock.
"Tell it I'm busy."
The thing almost smiled.
'It knows. It's waiting.'
It vanished.
The wolves howled once, then fled.
Silence returned.
Meliodas stood on the ridge, silhouetted against the sky, Moonsing gleaming in his hand.
Below, the others stared up at him.
Rem sighed dramatically. "Show-off."
Bud sent a pulse.
'That was cool.'
'I know.'
---
Meliodas climbed down.
Kaelen was pale but standing. Loop white.
Rem was cursing creatively.
Edrin and Lira were already moving, checking for injuries.
Vex was staring at the ridge with something like recognition.
"That was a shadow hound," she whispered. "They don't appear unless summoned by something very powerful."
Meliodas filed that away.
'Crack is getting desperate. Sending scouts now.'
He looked at the group.
"We keep moving. Faster."
No one argued.
---
They pushed deeper into the foothills as the sun began to lower.
The mountains loomed ahead, dark and ancient.
Judging.
Waiting.
Meliodas didn't care.
He'd been judged before.
He was still standing.
Bud sent a pulse.
'That was close.'
'They're all close now.'
'What's the plan?'
'Get to the sanctuary. Get Kaelen safe. Figure out the rest later.'
'That's not a plan.'
'It's the only one we have.'
Bud was quiet for a moment.
Then: 'I liked the mattress incident better.'
Meliodas almost smiled.
Almost.
The last light of day caught him as they climbed higher, painting him in shades of gold and amber.
Rem noticed.
She always noticed.
"You know," she said quietly, "for someone who claims not to try, you really do try."
Meliodas glanced at her.
"I'm literally just walking."
"Sure you are."
She bumped her shoulder against his arm and kept walking.
Behind them, the shadows lengthened.
Ahead, the mountains waited.
And somewhere, far away but getting closer, the crack watched.
And waited.
And judged.
Meliodas's powers hummed beneath his skin, slightly dulled from missed meditation. He'd need to fix that soon.
But not tonight.
Tonight, they survived.
That was enough.
---
[END OF CHAPTER 55]