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

Chapter 354 How to deal with an overwhelming force

"Took you long enough," Makary angrily commented when we finally managed to reach the gateway after all the delay caused by the moment we had back at our apartment.

"You can't always be perfectly on the clock," I countered, already more focused on guiding Fay around and enjoying the faces she made when discovering new buildings created all over the camp.

"I still hope you will do your best to abide by the timelines and calls, though," not willing to let me off with just that, Makary threw another comment before rolling his eyes and turning toward the gate.

Moments later, Madam joined us with, strangely, a tired expression all over her face.

She had huge bags under her eyes and lost the usual luster of elegance that normally surrounded her. Madam's presence itself also weakened... As if she just expanded one hell of a chunk of her aura.

And with how she couldn't replenish it because Etaria invoked that taboo of supremes, she now had to pay a much greater price for using her strength than she would normally have to do.

Still, the question remained, what was it that tired Madam, the strongest being that I personally knew, so much?

"All ready?" Makary asked as soon as Madam approached close enough for him not to raise his voice.

"You will have to excuse me, but I don't think I will be able to achieve much by going out right now," Madam spoke as soon as she approached. "Helping my dear daughter out with remodeling her new nest sapped too much of my strength."

'Oh...'

The two questions that I decided not to even bother trying to find the answers to, suddenly turned clear with just a single sentence from Madam's mouth.

'So that's how Fay managed to progress so much, and why Madam is so tired,' I thought.

According to the original plan, Madam's aura was supposed to be directed towards maintaining the gate, in hopes of possibly prolonging for how long I could make the stable gate active. And, if all the tests worked out as planned, we could potentially find out if Madam would be capable of preserving the gate herself, without me acting as a proxy for the system.

And all of this energy that Madam saved when I decided to alter the plans surrounding the gate for a bit has found a new, less practical but much more appreciated use.

Because as much as I adored and fancied Fay, I could tell without a shadow of a doubt that physically altering the world as much as she did within our apartment lay way beyond the scope of hers or my own aura reserve.

'Even though I can't do it myself, I can more or less just how much aura one needs to turn the concept of a construct into a physical object....'

Before obtaining the shadow core skill, it was impossible for me to materialize a concept into a physical entity. And even now, with the help of this unknown part that my system assimilated, I could merely manipulate darkness, manifesting it at a steep cost of my aura.

Still, the man was right.

During the last ambush, I used a mere fraction of my abilities given how I wasn't keen on revealing all the cards in such a small, random skirmish. And yet...

From the looks of things, that show from back then was enough to leave quite the impression on the mercenary leader.

"If the push comes to shove, I will do my best," I commented while rolling my eyes and then moving them back to the window... And freezing.

'Wait, isn't that...'

As my eyes widened, I only managed to gulp my saliva down.

My heart rate accelerated as if someone stuffed a syringe full of pure adrenaline directly into my chest.

"Slow down, get into an alley and park for a second..."

I barely managed to squeeze my voice through my tightened lips.

And thankfully, Makary appeared to notice the weird change in my disposition.

"Sir...?"

Leon's driver turned his head over the backrest of his chair, giving the young man an uncertain look.

"Do as he says!" Makary harshly remarked while giving the driver a hateful stare.

With that said the entire group of cars took a sudden turn to the right, leaving the town's main artery and taking a stop at a small, parking lot nearby.

With the vehicles of our escorts deploying in a circular formation all around the limousine, all the eyes within the reinforced car turned toward me.

And judging from how white Fay's face became, she was the only one who truly understood the scale of my terror.

"Just one question," I forced myself to raise my face as I looked at Leon and then Makary. "If there's was an overwhelming force that you can do nothing against and that meddles a lot with you, but you somehow managed to thwart whatever plans they had for you," I explained before locking my eyes on Makary's face.

"If you had to deal with a force like that, what would you do?" I asked, with my eyes tracking two familiar female silhouettes reflected in the driver's mirror.