Chapter 94. In the cherry blossoms
While Shin was busy harvesting skills and soul points from the slain Titanomyrma beasts, his squadmates had unknowingly stepped into a different kind of battlefield — one far crueler and far quieter.
The moment the three girls stepped through the shimmering portal, they were consumed by a fragrant breeze that kissed their skin with a sweetness almost too perfect to be natural. The scent wasn’t just floral, it was intoxicating. It clung to their noses and curled through their lungs like a lullaby.
"Oh... my... gods," Lilian breathed, eyes wide with childlike wonder.
"Is this... the land of the heavens?" Sylvia asked, voice breathy with awe, her lips parting as though she was afraid speaking too loudly might shatter the perfection around them.
Hearing their voices, a stirring came from inside Sylvia’s front pocket. Gegee, stood up, her tiny hands gripping the lip of the cloth. She hoisted herself up and her fuzzy, bare body emerged like a curious squirrel, her head poking into the light.
"What in the ever-loving..." Her breath hitched. "This place is unreal..."
Before them was a sight that could only exist in dreams or delusions. Lush, verdant meadows stretched endlessly beneath a sky painted with the softest blue and scattered with clouds that looked like gentle cotton. Immense cherry blossom trees lined the perimeter like guardians of a secret paradise, their pink leaves cascading to the ground like confetti with every tender gust of wind.
A glittering brook coiled lazily through the grass, the water so clear it reflected their faces when they stepped closer. The stones beside it were smooth and flat—some wide enough to rest upon, others small enough to skip across the water’s surface.
Sylvia gently lifted Gegee from her pocket and placed her on one of the flat stones, letting her take in the panorama with a full view.
The ground was covered in grass so thick and soft it felt like plush carpet under their boots. Unable to resist, Sylvia dropped to the earth with a playful giggle and began rolling back and forth like a child, the sensation too inviting to ignore.
Lilian hesitated, caught between laughter and caution. Just as she crouched down to join the Sylvia on the fun, she turned and glanced behind them.
Her smile faded.