Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Pebbles and Leaves (8)
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- BOOM!!!!!
An ear-shattering explosion rocked the entire forest. It wasn't an illusion. A powerful vibration rippled outward through the surroundings. For a while, clouds of dirt flew everywhere, blocking all vision.
The moment I made contact with Grizel, the blast went off, sending me tumbling head over heels until I slammed into a tree trunk. I didn't even have time to use a proper landing technique. Agonizing pain wracked my entire body. The fact that I hadn't passed out was a blessing in itself, if it could be called that.
[Child of the Forest trait activated!]
[Lynshaka's blessing and grace are felt...]
Amid my blurred, shaking vision, shimmering text appeared. Lynshaka's blessing and grace...
Right, because this place is a 'forest' too.
"Urgh..."
I barely managed to haul myself upright. The impact had been hard enough to make me worry if my bones were shattered, but fortunately, my body was intact. My ribs ached, so it wasn't completely fine, but that could wait.
Across from me, not far away, Grizel lay sprawled on the ground, having rolled there just like me. I had to subdue him first. Dragging my unsteady body, I staggered toward him and reached out to wrap him in tough vines.
-Hummm...
But the skill wouldn't activate properly. Even though [Plant Bind] was a low-grade skill, not even a sprout appeared, let alone vines. Had the explosion drained all my mana? I'd already drunk the potion from the Sage's Water Bottle earlier... I pulled a random low-grade potion from my subspace ring and shoved it into my mouth.
-Gulp, gulp.
I swallowed the fishy-tasting low-grade potion and reached out again to try [Plant Bind].
"...Damn it!"
This time, Grizel had vanished. The guy who'd been lying there unconscious just moments ago was gone in an instant. Damn, damn, damn. I spat curses under my breath and scanned the surroundings. Fortunately, I spotted some broken grass nearby. He'd dragged his feet as he moved, leaving faint tracks on the ground. Holding my breath, I followed his trail like a hunter stalking prey.
"Huff, huff..."
Moving my unrecovered body made my breath come in short gasps, my mind growing foggy. I should have at least gotten Ayla out of here. Then I could have left the pursuit to her. But regrets were useless now. I had to find and subdue Grizel as quickly as possible, then get back to the injured Ayla.
-Rustle.
My heightened nerves caught the faint sound. I crept forward silently, muffling my footsteps, moving slowly toward the source. Parting the bushes carefully, I saw a familiar face in the darkness beyond.
"...!"
Just a familiar face.
It was Grizel's head.
Grizel's head lay rolling on the ground like useless trash, and from his neck oozed something like a lump of black mud. His body wasn't much better. From the cross-section of his neck and wounds all over his torso, black mud flowed out, and black dust scattered into the air.
I'd seen this before.
In the 'Dream Labyrinth.'
It was like the stuff in those 'rooms' that were crumbling, empty, abandoned, without even doors.
The dregs of the dark elves' souls? Or grudges? Or...
-Bubble, bubble...
The black mud clumped together and began enveloping Grizel's head and body.
Witnessing something that absolutely shouldn't happen was utterly horrifying. Goosebumps prickled my nape, and I couldn't move a finger.
I forced my body to move. I had to do something. As I repeated that to myself and reached out—
-Splat!
-Crunch!
Black mud splattered, and Grizel's head and body fused together. They'd reattached facing the wrong way, so his rotated head twisted back into place with a grinding sound. Then, eyes glowing with intense purple light fixed directly on me.
Grizel raised a hand and pointed at me with a crooked finger.
-BOOM!!!!
At the same moment, a powerful force sent me flying again, tumbling across the ground. My skull rang, and the taste of gritty dirt filled my mouth.
"Hahk, kuhuk...!"
As I braced against the ground and dry-heaved, Grizel slowly walked toward me. His twisted, contorted body moving was profoundly eerie. I scrambled backward to escape him. But it didn't last long. My back soon hit a tree.
"Huff, haah, huff..."
I panted raggedly as I stared at Grizel. His youthful face held no emotion.
"Looks like even Lynshaka can't do anything more."
"......"
"I'll show you what it means to be abandoned."
Grizel spread his broken fingers and grabbed my head. A headache like my skull was about to crack hit me.
[email protected]$#^&*!
-!^&*@#$
An ominous whisper I'd never heard before burrowed into my ears. Even with the [Interpreter] trait, I couldn't understand the language.
'Am I going to die like this?'
Against overwhelming power, all I could muster was this hollow thought.
It felt like my brain was shrinking inside my skull. Lukewarm nosebleed trickled across my lips. No, no, no...
-Piii-----
Just as I sensed my end and squeezed my eyes shut, something burst from my bosom, scattering light as it flew up.
Peep.
"Urgh!"
Grizel immediately released me and staggered back, and I collapsed in a heap. Piii, piiii... I could see Pipi's cries amid the sparkling light scattering about. I didn't know exactly what it was, but the sparkles were driving Grizel back. And moreover...
"Ahh..."
They were giving 'me' strength.
Just like when I first met Pipi, when he'd infused the bathwater with vitality—the glittering light fragments settled over my body, healing me. The headache that had felt like it was splitting my head in two gradually faded, and my energy returned. I slowly rose to my feet.
"For a failure like you to dare...!"
Grizel screamed at Pipi, firing off wild blasts of purple light. Pipi barely dodged his attacks.
'I need to take him down quickly...'
But my bow was already snapped in half. Then a dagger? Or the hydra's fang? As I reached for my waist—
-Piyoooo!
Pipi, who had soared high, emitted a dazzling light.
-Thud!
As the light faded, something fell. I caught it on reflex.
"This is..."
A bow.
Light, smooth, sturdy to the touch. It gleamed softly in iridescent colors, like it was carved from opal. Even without a string, it curved gracefully and powerfully, exuding magnificent presence...
It wasn't made of wood, horn, or mineral. It was mystical, as if crafted from something not of this world. As if I'd wielded this bow for ages, I naturally assumed position and drew the 'invisible' string. Then, an arrow formed, gathered from the bright light Pipi had been emitting.
I'd been rolling on the filthy ground in ruins, my body far from normal. Yet my mind was clearer and purer than ever. Without hesitation, I aimed at Grizel. Dark purple fireballs erupted from his hands, flickering wildly as they charged at me.
-Twang.
I released the string.
-Piyoooo!
With a beautiful whistled tone, the arrow sliced through the wind, the darkness, and the ominous dark purple fireballs.
-BOOM!!!!
It struck Grizel square in the heart.
"Argh, aaaaaah!!!!"
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
"Hiiiyaah!!!!"
I'd hit only Grizel, but multiple voices screamed at once. Old man, child, woman, man...
The raging flames began to die down slowly. I approached Grizel. Black mud oozed from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. I realized those 'black mud' things had been the ones screaming.
"...Grizel."
I knelt on one knee and gripped his chin.
"Kuhuk! Khek...!"
Grizel kept vomiting mud and couldn't speak properly. Black mud poured from every orifice, so he probably couldn't see or hear me. Mimicking what he'd done to me, I placed my hand on his head to use [Nature's Healing].
That was when it happened.
-Please stop...
A familiar voice emerged from Grizel. He began speaking through mud-smeared lips.
-It will only bring greater pain.
"...Queen Dianta?"
-Yes. You can call me Dianta... if it's you...
"How are you here...?"
-Grizel and I are connected. A thin, fragile thread like a spiderweb...
"...What exactly happened?"
-......
-Tell me now what you couldn't in the Dream Labyrinth.
-Grizel...
The queen began explaining in a quiet voice. According to her, Grizel was a dark elf with the ability to enter the 'Dream Labyrinth.' He'd gone in to meet the queen and stop the calamity befalling the dark elves, but...
All he'd encountered were the horrific pasts of the dark elves and their shattered souls. The 'dregs' of the dark elves trapped in the Dream Labyrinth began corroding his soul, and he ceased to be himself.
-And...
The queen paused. Grizel's body twitched, and soon something glowing purple emerged from his throat.
"Gwehk!"
-He gained the 'power' he needed from this.
A small purple orb-like thing. I picked it up.
'This is...'
It felt similar to the power from the new bow. When I held them together for comparison, something wondrous happened.
The glowing orb floated up and slotted perfectly into the groove on the arrow rest of the bow.
"......"
Before I could ponder what it meant, Grizel began vomiting blood this time. Blood flowed from his heart where the black mud had been. Death was near; I could feel it.
-...There's something I'd like to ask of you.
The queen, speaking through Grizel's mouth, whispered to me.