Riku turned to Levi, who stood, chest still heaving slightly, the storm of his anger having passed, leaving behind only grim resolve. "Levi, we're moving, I'll answer your questions later."
Igris, who was not present till now, also came.
Levi met Riku's gaze, the complexities of their earlier interaction still lingering in the air, but the pragmatic soldier immediately reasserted dominance. The command was clear. The mission was paramount. He glanced at Serabil, then back at Riku, a silent acknowledgement passing between them. "Alright, Dola," Levi said.
Riku turned to Serabil. "Serabil," Riku began, appealing to both facets of her being. He needed to gauge her willingness, her capability for the truly impossible task that remained. "I need you to do something..."
Serabil tilted her head, her halo pulsing with soft light. "yes?"
Riku took a deep breath. "You said... you could teleport. Entire groups."
Her smile returned, serene and beautiful l."Yes, Riku. It's simple. A basic function of my form."
"Good." Riku nodded, a plan forming rapidly in his mind, incorporating this impossible ability into the System's deadline. "I need you to see where we're going. The new village location. Igris knows the exact coordinates. I'll send him with you. Just for a moment. To show you."
Riku looked up at his loyal knight. "Igris," Riku commanded, his voice low. "Go with Serabil. show her the new location. Once she has seen it, she will return you here instantly. Understand?"
Igris inclined his helmeted head in a silent nod, his crimson gaze meeting Serabil's golden one for a brief, silent exchange of understanding.
"Ready, Riku," Serabil said, her voice calm and ready. She reached out a delicate hand, placing it gently on Igris's armored arm.
And with a silent shimmer, a mere flicker of displaced light, Serabil and Igris started going there with full speed.
5 minutes later, a soft, golden light flared into existence right beside him. Serabil materialized, alone, her crimson uniform perfectly neat, her halo pulsing gently. Igris was gone.
"Riku," she said, her voice calm and collective, that initial surge of chatterbox enthusiasm replaced by a focused, helpful demeanor. "I have seen it. It's a good location. Protected by mountains on two sides. Fresh water source. Plenty of space to build."
Relief, sharp and potent, washed over Riku. It had worked. She was back. And she had seen the new home.
"Good," Riku said, his voice tight with urgency, the System clock glaring in his vision – 1 Day, 14 Hours, 55 Minutes... "Now. Serabil. These people here." He gestured to the column of villagers slowly making their way down the pass under Levi's direction. "And the supplies Levi organized. I need you to teleport all of them. To the new village location. Right now."
Riku had expected her to agree, of course. She had offered to teleport them earlier. But he had pictured it happening in stages. Perhaps small groups. Or just the essential supplies. He mentally prepared to direct her, to prioritize, to break down the task.
Serabil smiled, a breathtaking, serene expression that held no hint of strain or doubt. "Of course, Riku." Her voice was gentle, helpful. "It's quite a few, but... it's simple enough."
She extended her delicate hands, not towards the villagers, but upwards, towards the sky. A soft, pervasive golden light began to emanate from her, spreading outwards, down the pass, encompassing the entire group of two hundred villagers, Levi included, and all their belongings.
The villagers cried out as the light enveloped them – gasps of fear, of awe, of sheer bewildered astonishment. Levi, caught in the light mid-stride, paused, his sharp eyes fixed on the glowing seraph, his usual grim expression replaced by one of absolute, stunned disbelief.
The light intensified, shimmering, pulsing with power. For a fraction of a second, Riku saw the fear in his people's eyes, the confusion on Levi's face, bathed in the golden glow.
And then, they were gone.
Vanished. Completely. The pass, moments before filled with the sounds and presence of two hundred terrified souls, was now eerily empty, silent save for the wind whispering through the trees.
Riku stared at the empty space where his people had been, his mind reeling. Not one by one. Not in groups. All of them. In an instant. The scale of Serabil's power, its effortless nature, was beyond anything he had imagined. This wasn't just a cheat code; it was rewriting the rules of reality itself.
"They are there, Riku," Serabil said, her voice calm, confirming the impossible had just happened. She lowered her hands, the golden light receding, leaving only the soft glow of her halo. "Safe in the new location. Their belongings with them. I made sure everything was transferred."
Riku didn't wasted a second. He had seen the clock. He knew there were nineteen other groups of villagers, similarly sheltered in hidden monuments and locations, making their slow, arduous way through the wilderness, unaware that the impossible had just become their reality.
"The others," Riku said, his voice tight with renewed urgency, turning to Serabil. "There are nineteen other groups. In different locations. We need to teleport all of them. Now." He began to describe the locations, accessing the mental maps honed by years of survival and escape routes.
Serabil listened intently, her golden eyes focused, absorbing the data. "Understood, Riku." She didn't ask why they were separated, didn't question the logistics of locating multiple groups across vast distances. She simply absorbed the information, her mind processing the coordinates, the scope of the task.
"This may take a few moments, Riku," Serabil said, her voice calm. "Locating them and ensuring a safe, coordinated transfer. But it can be done."
With a silent nod, Serabil closed her eyes. A subtle shimmer enveloped her, a localized distortion in the air around her. She didn't vanish this time, but her focus turned inward, outward, spanning distances that defied comprehension. Riku could only watch, a silent observer to a feat of power that reshaped reality with terrifying ease.
Minutes passed. The System clock continued its relentless count – 1 Day, 14 Hours, 50 Minutes... Riku felt a strange sensation, a subtle tugging, a faint echo of connection across the miles. He knew, intuitively, that Serabil was locating his people, linking their presences to her destination point.
Then, a series of soft, distant pops echoed through the forest – too faint to be heard conventionally, but somehow resonating in the mana-rich air, a subtle signature of immense power being wielded across distances. Each pop was a group, vanishing from their arduous journey, reappearing in the safety of the new location.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
It was happening. the desperate race against time, was being completed in mere moments by the casual power of a seraph. The groups who had been hours or even a day away from the new village, who had been facing exhaustion, fear, and the constant threat of discovery, were being swept away by a force they couldn't comprehend, delivered to safety with breathtaking speed.
After what felt like an eternity, but was likely only a few minutes, the distant pops ceased. Serabil opened her golden eyes. They were clear, focused, the task completed.
"It is done, Riku," Serabil said, her voice calm and clear. "All the groups. They are all at the new location. The people. Their belongings. All transferred safely."
Riku stared at her, speechless. Two thousand lives. Their homes. Their vital supplies. Transported across dangerous wilderness in less than ten minutes. An impossible task completed with effortless grace. The A-Rank System mission, the one that had threatened to consume them all, had been utterly trivialized.
[MISSION COMPLETED]
A simple, undeniable confirmation. The impossible had been achieved way too earlier. Not by human endurance, not by strategic genius alone, but by the intervention of a power from outside their world, wielded by a being who saw him as a hero and wanted to earn his trust.
The System clock in Riku's vision, which had been a source of crippling anxiety, now felt strangely irrelevant. Time Elapsed: 4 Hours. The mission, given a two-day limit, had been completed in a mere four hours. The System's impossible deadline had been utterly annihilated by a power it seemingly hadn't fully accounted for in its difficulty calculation.
A wave of profound, dizzying relief washed over Riku, so potent it almost buckled his knees. They were safe. His people were safe. The terrifying mission was complete.
"They are safe, Riku," Serabil repeated softly, as if sensing the weight lifting from him. Her golden eyes were kind, reflecting a genuine satisfaction in having helped.
"Yes," Riku breathed, the word heavy with relief. "They are safe."
He looked around the empty pass, then back at the path the villagers had been following. Silence. No more hurried footsteps, no more fearful cries. Just the whispering wind and the quiet rustle of leaves.
"Let's go," Riku said, a new sense of purpose surging through him. The impossible mission was complete. But the journey wasn't over. They needed to reach the new village. To see his people safe. To figure out what came next.
Serabil nodded, a soft smile on her face.