The sky darkened.
As the sunlight vanished, the cold became more intense.
In the blink of an eye, night fell, and the snow began to fall heavily. Before I knew it, the biting wind had turned into a blizzard, chilling me to the bone. The dark forest was treacherous. As soon as I stepped away, my footprints were quickly covered by the snow.
“Damn it.”
There were still no signs of beasts in the forest. I thought of the serene Terrin Lake. A peaceful lake where not even a single cricket chirped. The forest in the midst of this fierce snowstorm was no different. I had expected it, but it was clear that there was some connection to the demon. Only a demon could make even the fiercest predators in such a harsh environment flee in fear.
I had no thoughts of leisurely or calmly dealing with the situation once I realized it was connected to the demon. Instead of returning to the village, I tenaciously followed the trail. The blizzard and cold were not obstacles. Brushing off the snow piled on my coat, I walked through the white hell.
It was when I entered the dense oak forest far from the village of Calbain.
I found footprints. Even in weather like this, where snow piled up in an instant, the footprints were distinctly visible. They were freshly made. At first glance, they resembled the tracks of a wildcat or a predator, but they had seven toes. Large and deep imprints, suggesting a size even larger than an elephant.
“A demon.”
I hastily followed the footprints.
Thud!
I wasn’t the only one running. Suddenly, the forest creatures followed me. No, they were following the owner of the footprints too. Natural beings chasing something. I was certain it was a demon.
You bastards!
Finally, at the frozen pond deep within the oak forest, I came face to face with the owner of the footprints. The enraged Dalbi threatened the creature with its small hooves. I quickly transformed Lamelstar. The creatures that followed climbed up the oaks to watch. I found the demon, but I didn’t rush to attack.
A demon?
No.
While it resembled a demon, it was different somehow. It resembled a tiger in its huge frame, but its head was several times larger. With a huge mouth and fangs the size of a man’s torso, it was a monstrous creature with black fur and a serpent’s tail. Its eyes were like steel balls, unreadable.
I circled slowly around the creature, observing the situation.
Its movements were strange. Even when I stood right in front of it, it remained still, only growling quietly.
What was it eating?
“Aargh!”
Suddenly, a scream came from the creature’s mouth.
It wasn’t the creature’s voice. It was the scream of a frightened woman.
“Ugh.”
I could now identify the owner of the scream. A pair of white legs stuck out from the creature’s mouth. Fortunately, the body was not torn apart. I quickly transformed Lamelstar into an axe shape and climbed onto the creature’s back. It resisted fiercely. I struck its side with all my strength with the heel of my foot. Tough as yak leather, but softer than Lamelstar’s skin. Once it was immobilized, I raised the axe high.
A real battle with Lamelstar.
One of his stances.
The swordsmanship used by the D’ong-wi (From Ranista’s past life) warriors.
Thunk!
Without wavering, the axe, swung straight and true, severed the thick neck of the creature in one stroke. The huge head detached from the body like a ripe apple, and the creature’s body spewed thick red blood before convulsing and finally ceasing all movement.
Crack!
As soon as the creature died, the forest creatures, who had been watching from the trees, descended. I expected them to come to me, but instead, the bastards crowded around the creature’s head, apparently trying to extract something from its mouth. Damn it, I only needed Dalbi.
Using Lamelstar as a lever, I opened the creature’s mouth. Its head was large enough to swallow a bull in one gulp. Well, it must still be alive, right? I looked down at the woman lying motionless on its tongue. Beside her was a flying squirrel creature. It was small, but it reminded me of the spirit I had seen in my father’s hunting lodge. Without it, this woman would have become a snack for the creature.
The woman was unconscious, but otherwise unharmed.
“This woman is from the Tuji tribe.”
As I pulled her out of the creature’s mouth and laid her down, the forest creatures crowded around. Are they her friends from the forest? Like the people of Calbain, this woman seemed to have inherited the blood of Ain. Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent, but her lips were bright red, making her look like she had eaten a mouse.
What was most peculiar was the color of her hair. Unless Calbain had developed hair dye, the unnatural purple hair was her natural color.
Seeing no signs of her waking up, I fetched water from the pond. The water was as cold as ice, so it should be effective.
Splash!
As I poured water on her face, she jolted awake with a start.
“Damn it!”
She blinked rapidly, cursing as she looked around.
She seemed to be about my age. Strangely, her eyes were also purple.
“Wow, damn it. I almost died.”
It’s possible.
It’s natural to curse when you’ve almost died.
She coughed violently for a while, then suddenly stood up and walked briskly over to the creature’s head. Whether she didn’t notice me or was ignoring me.
“You damned bastard! How dare you try to eat me? Do you know who I am? Damn it!”
She stomped on the creature’s head, punched it in frustration, and even kicked it, but ended up slipping and falling backward. But even as she fell, she continued to curse angrily. It was amusing. She’s a strange person.
“Haa, haa.”
After venting her anger for a while, the woman finally noticed me.
Alternating between looking at the dead creature and me, she suddenly smiled brightly and said,
“Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you!”
Then she started dancing suddenly. Fluttering her arms like a bird and stomping her feet vigorously. Was it a modern dance expressing chicken movements? I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s an Ain-style expression of gratitude… or something? Do you speak Kynakhan?”
“Because I’m from Kynakhan.”
“I thought you were Ain. Oh? It’s more surprising that a Kynakhan is here, isn’t it?”
She was an unpredictable woman. The woman who had been speaking softly suddenly jumped in fright, trembling and backing away.
“You…are you a demon?”
“What?”
“My friends only dislike demons!”
Friends? I glanced around. Sure enough, the Spirits were fleeing up into the trees. I tried to figure out what was so frightening, but without the woman present, I would have fled immediately. That’s why it’s difficult to distinguish impostors even for a skilled sprite. Some people are disliked by Spirits. Usually, it’s magicians and the black priests of the Azhibita Religion, but for some reason, they particularly disliked me.
“I am Cantavia Quilz Rainberg.”
“…Rainberg?”
“Haven’t you heard of me?”
“Are you really Master Cantavia?”
The terrified woman turned pale for a moment, then quickly frowned.
Her change in demeanor was too quick. I suspected schizophrenia.
“How can I believe that? Master Cantavia is a Spirit User, and Spirits dislike you.”
“You know about me. Can’t you see?”
Even when I pointed to the spirit, the woman gave me a suspicious look.
Well, even my father couldn’t see spirits properly.
“Dalbi, show yourself.”
Dalbi looked at me, then shook his head, before finally trembling and jumping toward the woman. There had been times when he revealed himself in front of my mother. Unlike other Spirits, Dalbi was an extraordinary being who could show himself.
“Wow!”
The woman’s guard relaxed when she saw Dalbi.
“You’re an unfamiliar one. How cute! So you really are Master Cantavia.”
“Why do you believe so easily?”
“It’s not hard to believe that the hero who saved me in times of peril is a prince, although it sounds cliché.”
“A prince?”
“In the Rainberg Duchy, ‘Children of the Moon’ are considered princes and princesses.”
For someone living in such a remote place as Calbain, she seemed surprisingly knowledgeable about continental affairs. The woman adjusted her pants slightly and bowed her head. It was a greeting commonly used by ladies of Kynakhan.
“I am Kazuwea, daughter of Sakazua. Greetings to the esteemed Master of the Rainberg family, the pillar of Kynakhan.”
I shrugged at the very secular greeting. People from Calbain didn’t behave like that.
“So, you’re the Spirit User who appeared in Calbain.”
“Oh, do you know me?”
“My father told me to find you…”
“Wow!”
It was clear there was something wrong in her head.
“We’re finally escaping from this hellish place!”
Fortunately, she seemed very favorable to leaving Calbain.
Before I could interfere with Kazuwea’s pace, she pointed to the surrounding monster corpses and said, “What happened?”
Only then did Kazuwea shout in surprise.
“Oh, this… this isn’t the time. Master, it’s an attack! The village…!”
As if things couldn’t get any worse.
The snowstorm had stopped.
Where Kazuwea had led me was filled with traces of monsters.
At least dozens of them, with various footprints.
“They headed to the village?”
“They might have arrived by now!”
According to Kazuwea, who often played with Spirits in the forest, she suddenly noticed something strange about their behavior. That was also the time when the beasts began to hide in the forest. Although hunters were sent to search the forest, the fools (borrowing Kazuwea’s words) who couldn’t see the Spirits’ clues didn’t believe her words and follow her patiently.
So she wandered alone in the forest for days, investigating the traces. When she finally reached the oak forest near the border with the Savage Lands of Ain, she encountered them.
Monsters.
Not beasts like the one I killed, but dozens of terrible monsters hiding in the oak forest. Kazuwea claimed confidently that the monsters were undoubtedly being controlled by someone. It made sense since the monsters gathered in the oak forest were frozen like statues without moving.
The monsters weren’t demons. But they were definitely related to demons.
Broken trees, footprints, unknown sludge, and traces of the monster horde led to the village.
Kazuwea attempted to inform the village of this, but was attacked by the monsters and was overthrown. That was just two hours ago, meaning there was still time before the monsters arrived at the village.
Damn it, it would take over an hour to run to the village.
“Get on!”
Kazuwea was a much stronger sprite magician than I had anticipated.
Suddenly, Kazuwea, who had grown as large as a horse, shouted.
The sprite who hated me flew without a word, but when Dalbi cried out, he carried me on his back.
The sprite began to ascend the oak tree. The oak trees in this land grew so tall that they exceeded thirty meters in height.
“Let’s go!”
“Wow, flying?”
The sprite spread its wings wide and flew.
Damn, it’s an attack.
“Yes? What do you see?”
Although we still had dozens of kilometers left to go, I could clearly see the situation. The high defense walls were about to collapse. There were many monsters and bodies, but it seemed that there were still dozens of mountain men left. Those bastards were the last remaining defense. The giant monster was weak. The monster that resembled a mammoth was the largest, easily over twenty meters tall. We needed to take that one down first.
Fly, Dalbi!
Dalbi seemed very angry.
I clenched my fist. The discharge magic I obtained from the crazy old lady, combined with my natural power and Dalbi’s, could make stars fall from the sky.
I had always compared my strength to the triplets.
Essentially, the world’s strongest trio.
I am not weak.
This power is definitely not weak.
It’s the power that amazed even the green magicians of the fifth circle.
“Jump between the legs of the mammoth monster.”
“Yes? Are you serious?”
“Just listen to me. I’ll make sure to pass your deeds on to my father.”
Kazuwea’s ambition for success outweighed his fear. Like a flying squirrel, Spirit navigated through the terrifying monsters, reaching even the fearsome Medusa. I lay down and reached my hands toward the sky. Damn it! The moonlight emits a dazzling light. Stars and moons dance within me. Now, the task is to unleash this processed power.
“Aah!”
As the light burst, the Medusa monster reacted. The 20-meter behemoth rolled its legs, shaking the ground. It reminded me of a scene from a movie. The flying spirit swiftly crawled under the Medusa’s belly, dodging its legs. I endured the danger, waiting for the perfect moment, and now, it’s here.
“Hooah!”
The magic of discharge.
Magicians like to name their spells.
If Meteor is shot towards the sky.
Would this be called ‘Reverse Meteor’?
