It was quiet.
So quiet that Kevin could hear his own thoughts.
Aside from the occasional shifting of silver sand in the distance, there was barely any movement to speak of. Somewhere out there, the Carapace Centipedes were likely crawling about for reasons unknown.
They were probably having more fun than he was.
A lonely hunter, stuck on night watch.
Was it always this uneventful?
Back on Earth, there had been people who worked through the night. Security guards, for instance; watching over empty buildings, enduring long hours of silence. He couldn't imagine doing that every single day.
At least here, there was the constant threat of death to keep things interesting.
'...Yeah. That didn't sound much better.'
Kevin let out a quiet breath, shifting his posture slightly as he leaned against the cold curve of bone. His senses remained spread out, brushing against the invisible currents of mana that flowed through the area.
Time passed slowly.
At some point, even the faint movements in the distance seemed to fade, as though the entire world had sunk into a deeper layer of silence.
Even more seconds ticked by and turned into minutes then those minutes turned into hours.
It was here that Kevin Pierce finally reached his limit.
'Screw this.'
Growing irritated with the silence, Kevin decided to test something. Normally, long-distance communication didn't work within the Dark Dimension due to the lack of any signal of sorts. Humanity had yet to develop technology capable of bypassing that limitation.
Still, he wondered if the same restriction applied to him.
After all, he possessed the unique Master Crest, which allowed him to communicate mentally with his Summon.
–Hello. Sera, are you there?
A few seconds passed before a response came through.
[Mmm? Master? Did something happen? It's been radio silence on your end for quite a while now.]
–It's been three days. And yes… you could say we ran into a few complications along the way.
[Hmph. That's what you get for not bringing your Summon with you. Not that I mind or anything. I've been able to rest and... cough cough ...Ahem! What I mean to say is…]
–You were about to say you enjoyed it, weren't you?
[N-No I wasn't. Anyway, what kind of "hiccups" are we talking about? You don't usually contact me just to chat. Speaking of which, you said you were in there for three days?]
–Yeah.
[Hmm. That's definitely strange. Only hours has passed on this end.]
–Eh?
For a moment, Kevin thought he had misheard.
–I don't understand. Only a few hours have passed on your end? Are you completely sure?
[Of course I'm sure! It's not like I'd just pass out for three days and not notice it!]
–I wouldn't put it past you, considering how lazy you are.
[How rude!]
A faint huff followed through the mental link.
[Ugh… whatever. That aside, it seems there's a time difference inside the Fissure. But this isn't exactly unexpected. The Dark Dimension is a mysterious place even for demonic species, you know. There are bound to be irregularities. Naturally, it's beyond me though. I can't do anything about it from here.]
A time difference inside the Fissure.
That wasn't just a minor inconvenience, it meant their perception of time could no longer be trusted.
–How large is the discrepancy?
[Not sure. From what I can tell, it's unstable. It could be a few hours… or something far worse depending on where you are.]
They were inside the Forgotten Lands.
–So basically, we can't rely on time here at all.
[Pretty much. Honestly, you should treat it like you're outside normal time flow. Don't assume anything matches your worldview. Also… be careful. Time distortions like that usually don't happen alone. There's usually a spatial anchor somewhere causing it.]
–A what?
[Something stabilizing or "pinning" the Fissure's internal structure. Think of it like a core. If you're experiencing time dilation, something is probably feeding it or maintaining it.]
–Doesn't your description matches a Seed? It can do something like that?
[The Seed of a Fissure is practically its Core and Heart. Just like how a mechanical device needs a power source to keep running, a Fissure needs a central anchor to maintain its structure.]
Sera paused for a moment before continuing.
[But I wouldn't compare it too directly to what you're seeing. Seeds usually stabilize space, not time. What you're describing sounds more like… something layered on top of it. An additional system overriding the natural order.]
–So something is modifying the Fissure itself.
[Precisely.]
A brief silence followed.
Even through the mental link, Sera's tone had grown noticeably more serious.
[If that's true, then whatever you're inside isn't a normal Fissure instance. It's been altered. Possibly even cultivated.]
–Cultivated? You mean it was artificially developed?
[That is a possibility. Or something is still maintaining it from the inside. Either way, it's rather eerie. If only a certain Master had brought their trusty Summon along, they probably wouldn't be stuck in this… mhm… peculiar… mhm mhm… situation.]
–What's with those weird noises? Are you eating something?
[Yeah. Specifically, that two-meat burrito you left in the fridge.]
–I see… alright then.
Kevin nodded absentmindedly before continuing then suddenly paused.
A bad feeling crept up his spine.
–Hey. Sera.
[Yeah?]
–You didn't happen to see a chocolate cake up there as well, did you?
[…Um. Yeah?]
Kevin's expression slowly darkened. It was as though he was preparing to be kicked in the gut.
–Did you eat it?
[Ah! I di—Ack!]
A sharp mental jolt echoed through the link as Sera abruptly cut herself off, a pained gasp following immediately after.
The Master-Summon Contract had many rules and one of them was like this: the Summon could not lie to their Master. If they attempted to do so, backlash in the form of intense mental pain would trigger automatically.
Which meant the succubus had tried to lie just now.
Which also meant…
–UHHHHHHHHH! YOU ATE IT, DIDN'T YOU?!
[B-But there was only one…]
–YOU ALREADY ATE TWO MEAT BURRITOS AND THEN WENT FOR THE CHOCOLATE CAKE I SAVED FOR MYSELF?! CAN'T YOU THINK ABOUT THE HOUSEHOLD'S MASTER?! THAT THING COST 700 VALIS!!]
Ugh… ugh…
Kevin clutched his head as if struck by a fatal blow.
It really hurt.
Especially when he thought about what he had gone through just to get that single cake. Not only was it expensive, but the supply was extremely limited when freshly made. He had even resorted to careful planning and waited for days just to secure it.
All for it to be devoured by a greedy succubus.
Honestly, this was his fault to begin with. Sera had originally wanted to accompany him on this expedition, but he had turned her down due to the problems she would inevitably cause.
So in a way, the blame fell on him.
Even so…!
Across the mental link, Sera fell silent for a moment, as though deciding what to say. Then, she quietly added:
[…It was really good though.]
"!!"
He almost screamed. If not for the current circumstances, he would have definitely screamed.
'Calm down. Calm down. It's not a big deal. You can always buy another one. Just spend another 700V. Yeah… it's fine. Nothing serious.'
Taking several deep breaths, Kevin slowly managed to steady his chaotic heartbeat and clear his mind. Everything became oddly clear, almost like a sudden moment of enlightenment.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
[Master?]
Naturally, at this point, the next step was obvious.
[Um… Master? Master? Hello? Why aren't you saying anything?]
The succubus had clearly noticed something was wrong. On the other end, her grey face must have likely turned pale in horror.
[Wait, wait, wait—hold on just a moment, let's be reasonable here! I swear I'll buy another one!]
–Sera.
Kevin's voice was calm. Like a judge about to deliver a verdict.
–Enter the punishment pose. That's an order.