Chapter 90: Lost Again

Yuxing dashed forward ahead of the others, swiftly and forcefully kicking away one of the bullies who was standing triumphantly on the victim. Souya Homare and Magna quickly followed, each sending another bystander flying into the wall to join the first. The sudden appearance of these unexpected saviors clearly startled the assailants. One of the aliens, after a long pause, realized he was unarmed and had no chance in a three-on-one fight, so he turned to flee.

Unexpectedly, he tripped over something at his feet and went sprawling face-first onto the ground.

"Damn it!"

He cursed in the universal language, then collapsed fully, pressing himself flat against the earth, taking quite some time to recover.

A muffled chuckle sounded from behind. He struggled to his feet, ignoring his crooked beak, and turned to see the battered, filthy little Pegassa child who had tripped him, a look of satisfaction on his face.

In an instant, the alien’s blood boiled. He lunged for the boy, fist raised, but before he could get close, a sweeping kick sent him flying a dozen meters, crashing into a heap of debris, setting off a cacophony throughout the alley.

Souya Homare struck a dashing pose, slowly retracting his leg.

"Are you alright?" Yuxing hurried over to help the Pegassa child up. "Can you stand?"

"Yes." The little Pegassa, glancing up at his unexpected heroes, quickly brushed the dust off, seized Yuxing’s arm, and staggered to his feet. Bowing deeply, he said, "Thank you. Thank you all."

Seeing him hesitant to put weight on his right foot, Yuxing promptly set him back down.

"What happened to your leg?"

The child’s dirty face broke into a crescent-eyed smile. "It’s nothing. I tripped him earlier and got stepped on—worth it."

"Yuxing, is he someone you know?"

Souya Homare came over, curiosity plain. The Pegassa child also turned a puzzled gaze to Yuxing, studying him for a moment, his eyes still full of confusion.

What was going on? Did they not know each other? Had Yuxing mistaken him for someone else?

Looking at the child’s expression, even Yuxing felt uncertain. Judging by the perpetually unchanged clothes, he thought this must be Pega from the last set. But if he was wrong, it would be far too awkward.

He truly couldn’t distinguish between Pegassa children; to him, all of the same species looked identical, and he could only recognize them by their outfits.

"Are you… Pega?" Yuxing asked uncertainly, "Er, you’re the one who’s… a friend of Senior Asakura’s…"

Before he finished, the child’s eyes lit up—literally, glowing with excitement. Grabbing Yuxing’s hand, he exclaimed, "You know Riku!"

Yuxing felt slightly embarrassed, as though he’d been too presumptuous, and could only nod. "Uh, yes… well, not exactly, but I know of him. By the way, is Senior Asakura here too?"

Pega’s face fell visibly, and he shook his head helplessly. "He’s not here."

So, they were "separated again."

Yuxing accepted this development readily enough.

After confirming that the four aliens embedded in the wall were incapacitated, Magna walked over. "Weren’t we told there was a group of over thirty here? It’s not safe to linger. Let’s move—you can catch up as we go."

"Alright." Yuxing easily scooped Pega up in his arms; the child, barely one meter thirty tall, was light as a feather.

"Huh…?" Pega was momentarily bewildered by being lifted.

The three, with the child in tow, made a swift retreat. As they ran, Yuxing asked, "Pega, can you hide in my shadow?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Yuxing realized what a silly question it was. If Pega could still use his dark dimension, he wouldn’t have been caught and beaten by those thugs—he’d have slipped away long ago.

Pega, meanwhile, was sizing up Yuxing. He was sure he didn’t know this person, but it was possible he was a friend of Riku’s. Riku had told others about him before, so it wasn’t out of the question. The trouble was, he couldn’t ask Riku for confirmation right now.

Indeed, Pega and Riku had gotten separated—again.

Pega still didn’t really understand how it had happened. He had always used the special Pegassa ability, the "dark dimension," to hide in Riku’s shadow, letting Riku carry him through the universe. But one day, while dozing half-asleep in the shadow, a sudden wave of dizziness struck. At first, he thought he was dreaming, but when he rubbed his eyes, he found himself in a strange cave, surrounded by equally bewildered aliens and little monsters.

None of them knew how they got there.

After the initial panic, the group was herded into the alley, where they received a rather "enthusiastic" welcome. Chaos broke out as everyone scattered. Thanks to his small size and nearly black coloring, Pega managed to hide in a pile of junk, only slipping out once the violence and looting had subsided.

Despite his caution and constant hiding since then, his supplies from the "arsenal" eventually ran out, and he had to venture out for food. Of course, that’s when he ran into the robbers. Pega thought he had nothing left for them to steal, but when they found nothing of value, they took out their frustration with their fists and boots. Without his powers, Pega didn’t stand a chance—he couldn’t even run.

Fortunately, he was rescued by kind strangers.

Pega was sure these three were good people. They’d saved him, dealt with the robbers, and one of them knew Riku and even called him "senior"—they had to be friends. So Pega chose to trust them.

Hearing Yuxing’s question, Pega became even more certain that Riku must have told this stranger a lot about them. He shook his head and explained, "I can’t. There’s some sort of… force field? Something here that suppresses all aliens’ abilities. My dark dimension won’t open."

Let alone hide in someone’s shadow.