At that moment, something moved quickly through the forest atop the cliff. It soon leaped powerfully towards me.
It was Cain. It could be another dummy, but this time, perhaps.
She caught my falling body. Cain's body neither broke nor scattered.
"There really are some crazy people in Constel. Not that I'm one to talk."
Cain said, catching her breath a bit roughly.
—Found it. Cain's real body.
Cain thinks she caught me, but in reality, I've finally caught Cain.
I clutched Mjölnir in my left hand and stretched it towards the sky. With the resonance of Mjölnir and Menosorpo, Cain and I soared high into the sky.
I could clearly see Cain's face contorted in shock.
"Y-you, you can use flying magic...."
"It's a bit different."
No need to explain. If I go out of Menosorpo's range, all the magic will disappear and I'll fall, but it'll take a while to get out of range.
Cain and I continued to ascend into the sky. It wasn't as fast as 'propulsion flight', but it was still quite fast.
Continuing to ascend, I asked, "Can you land on a 'thread' from this altitude?"
Cain's face turned pale.
For Cain to stand in the sky, threads needed to be installed on both sides. In other words, there needed to be structures where the threads could be installed.
Needless to say, there's no such thing at this altitude.
I said to Cain, who had turned as white as a sheet, "You guys intended to kidnap me, right?"
Cain kept a blank face, as if she didn't have time to answer.
I grinned. I'd like to say it was a sinister smile, but I think I smiled quite purely.
With the face of a villain.
"On the contrary, I wonder what would happen if I kidnapped one of you."
That's what I said to Cain.
But I didn't mean just any member of Indus.
I clearly targeted and kidnapped 'Cain'. In order to lure out Heldre. Threatening Cain's life by bringing her up to the edge of the sky was with this goal.
'Well, so far so good.'
Cain still thinks I'm flying on my own, but in fact, I'm hanging on to Mjölnir.
Hanging on to Mjölnir and flying is inconvenient in many ways. Since I'm using it for the purpose of flight, I can't wield Mjölnir itself. Similarly, I can't use one of my hands.
'......Shall I try it?'
Theoretically it's possible. I have a way to fly on my own.
Having made up my mind, I emitted aura all over my body.
Menosorpo materializes magic within the range of the Rune and allows it to be moved freely.
If that's the case with the movement of mana, my body, which is enveloped in aura, should also be able to move.
Since mana and aura are basically the same thing in the world of Etius.
I have successfully transferred the sensation of controlling weapons to controlling my own body.
At first, it felt a bit awkward, but I quickly adapted. It became easier to control my own body than the weapons.
I canceled Mjölnir. Now I can fly without Mjölnir. At least within the Rune of Menosorpo.
Of course, Cain probably doesn't understand what has changed.
"Now, what should I do?"
I paused in midair. If I let go of Cain now, she will fall from a great height and die. I will install a rope just before she hits the ground to minimize the impact, but I wonder if that will be enough.
"...If you're going to kill me, then do it."
Cain lowered her arm. She released his grip on me and relaxed her strength.
"Haha. Why would I kill you?"
"You brought me up here to kill me?"
"I'm trying to lure Heldre."
"...If you know that much, then you must know what kind of person Heldre is."
Heldre won't come here. No one in the world knows what kind of person he is.
Cain said, "Heldre won't come just because one or two Indus members die."
"That's right. If it's just an 'Indus member'."
My smile didn't falter.
Honestly, I felt really good. Both Cain and Indus were moving as I expected, saying what I expected them to say.
The constantly changing expression on her face was quite interesting.
"What I'm holding is his 'granddaughter.'"
"I don't even need to drop you here. Right here, right now."
I confidently conjured Excalibur with my bare hands.
Looking at the dazzling Excalibur inside Menosorpo, Cain widened her eyes.
I clearly sensed something flying toward me at an astonishing speed and emitting an incredible amount of mana. The speed at which it flew by 'propulsion flight' was unparalleled.
Even though my mana control wasn't perfect, my whole body tingled. Cold sweat ran down my back, but I laughed fearlessly.
If everything is going as expected, what's the point of being scared?
His arrival was imminent.