Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Chapter 228: Eighty hours

"Listen."

Fay's soft, silent voice couldn't sound any more terrifying. And yet, just this single word was enough to put everyone to a complete halt, forcing them to do nothing but prick their ears to hear whatever she wanted them to.

I tuned in my senses, eager to figure out just what managed to catch Fay's attention…

Makary's face twitched. And then, I've heard it.

A distant outcry of a sheet of metal getting torn apart. And quite notably, no scream came to accompany the unpleasant noise.

'A fight?' My first thought instantly went for the worst-case scenario.

But that didn't make any sense.

With Madam and Etaria holding each other in the stalemate, there was no way either of them would commit enough troops to bring the fight past the camp, past the open space, all the way to the interior of the forest.

'Maybe they are trying to remodel some of the armor they got from the corpses? Or maybe they even traded in some herbs for some metal?'

Stunned by the sudden challenge falling right upon my shoulders the very moment I returned to Fay's world, I struggled to process anything at all, even with all the high attributes that should make my mind resistant to this kind of issue.

And yet, unable to find any proper reasoning that could bring the situation from three days ago to how it is right now…

'Wait, why do I even bother trying to hear something? Especially when I have a damn kitsune for a waifu?'

Fox's ears were bound to be much greater than human ears. And that would hold true all the more with both of us becoming ascended and, in Fay's temporary case, promoted ascended.

"So all you've said… is actually real?" to the side, Makary was kneeling down on the soft grass, inspecting its blades with endless curiosity and fascination.

If not for the weird sounds keeping all of us alert, I could picture him whipping out a camera and taking photos of everything that moved… or didn't move at all.

"Will that do for a concrete proof?" I asked, putting a needle up the man's side.

"Well, yeah…" Makary muttered, his thoughts once again ready to vanish, replaced by his fascination with everything otherworldly that he was surrounded with.

Sadly, as much as I wanted, I couldn't partake in Makary's joy of discovering what no one else on earth, save for me and Fay, had seen or touched before.

After all, even if my hearing wasn't good enough to let me find out what Fay was alerting me about… the same didn't apply to my aura. And while my control of the full scope of my aura was still beyond my ability… Trying to find the source of this annoying noise was a piece of a damn cake.

"Wait, they are actually…"

In an instant, all of the amusement, enjoyment, and braggish curiosity vanished from my soul.

What I took for the noise of a metal being torn apart… Turned out to be just that. A celestial in his animal form was gnawing at the plates of the human soldier's armor. Judging by the marks left in their part of the forest, the two had to go through one hell of a battle…

A battle, where the human didn't turn out to be a hero like the ones from the old, fairy tales. A battle where the weaker human succumbed to the wild assault of the celestial, turning into a mere casualty of the war.

Still, the point of my shook stood.

'Just how did things come to this?!'

"Peter… They are fighting," Makary suddenly muttered. And by the time I've realized, his men have all dropped their tools, materials, and supplies, opting to leave only their weapons in their arms instead.

"They are fighting indeed," I admitted with a sigh.

Save for how I could somehow visually peer through a great distance with the help of my aura, there was one more reason why I believed the forest' interior actually turned into a battlefield.

And it was all within the erratic, extremely chaotic, and unpredictable flow of the aura within the forest, nothing like to how it was just a few days ago. Continue reading on m|v-l'e-NovelFire

"Are you sure we cannot go back?" Makary asked, his voice growing somewhat dull, devoid of any emotions.

"Eighty hours," I replied as shortly as I could. "That's how long before I can bring us back with the portal. And only once I do so, the stable gate will properly open."

'Plus, it's not like I have any idea if it will work. Even under the bold assumption that everything would work out and the gate would properly open… Wasn't it in my system's blood to find more and more creative ways to impose limitations on my abilities and thus screw me over?

And if that was the case so far, how stupid and naive I would have to be to expect something to change?

"Well then," Makary sighed before raising his left hand.

Without uttering a single word, he made all twelve of his men line up, all of them holding their weapons in a similar position.

In fact, despite their bodily differences, they all stood in more or less the same position, as if years of training and discipline never went away, even when their military outfit transformed into a mere, backwater gang.

"Shall I assume all the potential enemies will be moving as quickly as Lady Fay did?" Makary asked, turning his eyes towards my girl… Only to be left without a single glance in response.

"No, you are not," I shook my head. "First thing first, we are not against the locals, we are against humans. And the thing is…" I hesitated for a second.

I was about to drop one hell of a stinky bomb on Makary, after all.

"The thing is, some of the locals look pretty much human anyway."

This was the lone reason why I didn't feel comfortable at all, even when surrounded by a bunch of actual veterans, armed with the best weapons earth could offer them.

So, I took a deep breath and a short pause. Then, as an idea struck my mind, the corners of my lips moved up.

"Since that's the case, you can shoot anyone who wears more or less uniform armor and arms!"