Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Better Dream Interpretation Than Dreaming (4)
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The migration of migratory birds wouldn't be on anywhere near this scale.
Some of them were even the size of houses.
They blanketed the entire sky as they flew.
"Just as you said, the elves' power is definitely weakening."
The arrows' range had shortened to the point where it was visibly obvious.
The monsters' formation as a whole had also advanced far toward the elves.
Parmon looked troubled as he spoke.
"This is no ordinary problem. Eliminating the necromancer should lift the curse, right?"
It depended on the timing.
If they arrived in time, it was possible, but if they were late, they might have to dispel the curse separately.
I wanted to convey that, but I couldn't speak.
I was holding my breath.
"Gasp...!!"
I was pulled into the sky without even a chance to spread my spiritual energy.
Have you ever felt like your throat was being hollowed out?
I was forcibly inhaling the wind.
"Why aren't you speaking...? Hm? I see. Your body is still weak..."
Regardless of my condition, we were soaring through the sky.
I could see some flying monsters approaching the wall the elves had set up.
Since no monsters were paying attention to us yet, we might be able to break through smoothly.
At that moment, a thunderous shout erupted from Parmon's mouth.
A shout loaded with mana.
"Irene! Monsters are about to crash down soon!"
Tzzzzing—
One of my ears went numb, and tinnitus rang out.
It was a voice so loud it couldn't be called human.
Thanks to that, we drew the attention of all the monsters in the sky.
"Chris, there aren't as many as I thought... We need to change strategy."
With a gesture from the old man, our bodies shot straight up vertically.
High into the sky, very high...
To the point where the flying monsters looked tiny.
"To explain in advance, even I can't cast large-scale magic while using Fly."
"...?"
"Heh."
Then how were we supposed to deal with those monsters?
At that moment, Parmon grabbed my arms and spread them wide to the sides.
It was like he was hugging me from behind.
"If you don't want to die, keep your body spread out. I did this often in my youth—it slows the fall a bit."
"...?"
With those words, our bodies began plummeting toward the ground.
The magic had been released.
Crazy old coots.
Parmon's voice rang in my ears.
"Falling from the sky for the first time, eh?"
His voice sounded immensely pleased.
The speed of our fall increased rapidly.
Faster than when we'd ascended, I thought.
My cheeks were pushed back, and breathing became difficult.
Whoooosh—
The ground drew closer, and I could make out the elves mincing up already-dead monsters.
Closel, eyes closed, muttering something.
The moment his gestures stopped.
Flash—
A massive bolt of lightning whipped through the monsters.
"Fly!"
A little later, and we'd have splattered on the ground.
We rose again by a hair's breadth, accelerating upward into the sky.
This was our chance.
I shook the rattle and enveloped my body in spiritual energy.
"Hoo..."
"Why didn't you do that sooner?"
"Give me time to do it while you're dropping me? And if you're gonna drop me, warn me first..."
"Falling again."
Our bodies plummeted once more.
No matter how cursed the shaman's fate was, skydiving without a parachute?
Flash!
Lightning lit the sky again as our bodies lifted.
Monsters rained down like hail.
Some were charred black, others convulsing.
"See? If you paralyze their wings, they can't fly."
He wasn't paralyzing wings—he was killing the monsters outright.
Of course they fell when dead.
Sensing my bewildered gaze, Closel offered a lame excuse.
"When I was young, my level was lower, so paralyzing was all I could do. That's how it worked back then."
Now I had no idea.
These old men defied human logic.
"Why are they mincing the dead monsters like that?"
I pointed at the elves, now far behind us.
"To prevent them from reviving as undead. Tedious, but easier that way."
It was more systematic than I'd expected.
Just like the elves' long lives, they knew exactly how to fight monsters in these woods.
But still.
If the flying monsters ignored the elves and kept going, wouldn't they breach straight to the World Tree?
I turned to look back—and yeah, pointless worry.
Spirits in the form of enormous birds, as big as the monsters, were tearing them apart.
"No matter how many monsters, they can't match the elves. As long as the elves don't weaken further."
"This direction seems right."
The monsters were multiplying.
Until moments ago, they'd only flown toward the elves, but now packs were chasing us.
To be precise, we were surrounded on all sides by monsters.
Ones I'd never seen before.
With appearances that suggested they'd devour humans effortlessly.
Harpy-like humanoids, and massive monsters I guessed were wyverns.
Even more surprising was that, despite the encirclement, I felt no foreboding.
The ominous feeling rising in me pointed entirely elsewhere, far away.
"One more lightning paralysis, I think."
"...Again?"
"Problem?"
It wasn't fear of falling.
I just had bad history with lightning.
"Hm..."
Our bodies dropped sharply, and a monster attacking us grazed overhead.
"Don't panic. Happens often when flying."
"...Getting eaten by a monster?"
"Hasn't happened yet."
The monsters couldn't make sharp turns like us.
Closel exploited that, weaving through them masterfully.
But even that had limits against numbers.
Soon, more monsters flew in front of us.
"Ramon!"
The hammer in Parmon's hand.
Clear aura gathered on it as it swung.
Boom—
Thud thud—
One harpy exploded outright.
Blood and flesh spraying.
Kaboom—
All monsters charging us met the same end, plummeting to the ground.
Even the wyvern was no exception.
Being bigger just made the explosion louder.
"Hammer really hits right."
Catching one wyvern boosted a mercenary band's fame.
That meant they were that powerful.
And now they were dying in droves.
"It's around here."
It resembled the view from the World Tree.
The distant elven forest matched the composition perfectly.
The necromancers were probably on that mountain peak.
"If we land, all nearby monsters will swarm us."
Countless flying monsters were already approaching.
Landing would make us prime targets, obviously.
Closel looked slightly troubled.
"A pretty high-level barrier covers it. Dispelling will take time. You okay with that?"
I could feel the barrier over the peak too.
An eerie flow enveloped it.
Unlike Closel's, it felt filthy.
Not twisted like his, but more like it bullied nature.
"Just block the monsters."
"You have a way, then."
Ting-a-ling—
My senses sank into stillness.
Ting-a-ling—
My mind floated up, following the rattle's sound.
The energies around me, the mana enveloping me—all crystal clear.
Yet my mind was mysteriously hazy.
Still an indescribable feeling.
I was me, yet not me.
"Old man, that's the entrance."
I felt Closel's curious gaze at my sudden speech change.
"Got it."
The place where earth and trees cowered in fear.
The barrier's starting point.
The old men's feet touched ground, making no sound.
A sound only they could make.
Thud—
Thud—
"Hoo..."
"That's how Chris was when I first met him. Even I couldn't sense his presence."
Ting-a-ling—
The sky-flying monsters dove toward us.
Ferocious, ready to tear us apart.
"Using more worthless beasts."
My eyes met a descending wyvern's.
The fiercest of them.
Likely the wyvern pack leader.
Long, vertically slit eyes.
Those savage eyes wavered and averted from me.
The massive wyvern suddenly felt tiny and young.
Ting-a-ling—
"Begone."
Flinch.
The wyvern's wings trembled.
Quite spiritually attuned, perhaps.
It let out a whimper and turned, ascending back to the sky.
"Whoa..."
"Makes a mage's life feel pointless."
Suddenly, my mind grew noisy.
Conversations I couldn't understand going back and forth.
Then, the old men's figures appeared.
Mine too.
The viewpoint's owner was clear.
The trees.
Swoooosh—
The trees rustled branches in welcome.
While shrinking in fear of something.
All surrounding nature was the same.
"Sorry."
Not even my fault, yet that's what spilled out.
I felt they'd listen now.
"Will you open the way?"
Swoooosh—
Space split, revealing blackened, dead earth.
A foul stench wafted out.
The moment I stepped forward, Closel's mutter brushed my ear.
"...Like looking at an elf."
Words that felt endlessly welcoming.