Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (8)
Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (8)
First, we contacted the Gnome Government and got the plan approved.
No matter that they had proposed it first, and no matter that the land was practically unused, this was still Gnome territory.
It was not a place where someone of my position could move freely on a whim.
Besides, we also needed people who would know that we had gone inside.
It was the same reason people wrote out a plan and left family contact information before heading deep into the mountains. Shouldn't there at least be people who could help us in an emergency?
Of course, among the Gnomes who had come to assist with our work, there probably was no one who could come rescue us if we fell into the middle of that lake.
Lee Si-yoon stayed behind at the lodging. Some of the Knight Order and most of the Hunters also remained to monitor the situation.
One of the chocolates made from Sacred Objects was probably with Lee Si-yoon. When Han Yu-ri and I parted ways yesterday, I had given her two pieces of chocolate. She had probably given at least one to Lee Si-yoon.
"Phew."
I let out a long breath.
"Nervous?"
"Well, yes."
I exhaled softly.
"Still, it's a bit better than last time."
"Oh, really? Gained a little experience?"
"Well, it's not my first time, and I remember that Ria protected me reliably back then too."
"......."
Ria's cheeks flushed slightly at my words.
As expected, she was weak to praise.
Praise about simply handling a sword well did nothing at all. That was just a fact.
But conveying personal gratitude like this was enough to fluster her.
It was a good thing that I now had another means of attack besides attacking her face.
However, Ria's face did not flush as red as before.
"Pfft?"
When Ria suddenly cupped my cheeks with both hands, my eyes went wide.
I glared at her with protest in my heart, and Ria let out a small laugh.
......Apparently, Ria was finding her own way of countering me.
*
Before executing the plan, I warned the group several times.
That up there, there was a very high probability we would have to fight Magical Creatures. So the group prepared diligently in their own ways. The Knight Order all wore armor consecrated by my power and carried weapons and shields, and the Hunters each prepared thoroughly as well.
Then again, maybe I hadn't needed to warn them. Hunters were, after all, professionals at opposing unknown existences.
Like any plan, this one seemed to be going reasonably well at first.
First of all, the bridge made of ice was far sturdier than expected. It wasn't made prettily like something out of an animation, but it was still strong enough not to break even with several people on it.
It was even enough to create ice pillars on the surface of that Black Lake.
Glaria and Han Yu-ri produced ice as if competing with each other, and the competition itself wasn't so bad. If anything, it worked in our favor.
It was still fine even up to the point where we tore the sandbags slightly and threw them into the river.
"......."
I looked up at the sky.
Hot sunlight.
But on my face, other light was settling as well.
Normally I would have waved my hand to make that light disappear—but not now.
Somehow, this time, it felt like I would need a great deal of power from the Being Above.
"Everyone."
I spoke.
Bubble, bubble.
Bubbles were rising above the sandbags we had thrown in. It looked like tar boiling up.
But I thought of it as a kind of omen.
"Get ready."
At my words, Ria immediately drew her sword.
Shing.
The knights drew their swords in unison, and the Hunters drew their weapons—and right after that,
waves rose from the lake.
A sight that could never be seen in an oasis was forming on that Black Lake. The surface of the water vibrated as if an earthquake had struck, then spread toward the lake's edge like a rising tsunami.
Fortunately, that area was a place I had purified in my own way, so no major problem occurred immediately.
"Magical Creatures!"
Someone shouted.
As if judging the several sandbags full of Holy Power that we had pushed inside to be some kind of threat, Magical Creatures began slowly rising from within the Black Lake.
Some looked like people, and some looked like beasts. But all of them looked as if they had been doused with something like black tar.
Rumble, rumble—
From far below the lake, the very bottom seemed to shake, violently rocking the ice bridge.
"Everyone, run!"
Ria shouted, and people simultaneously ran toward the outside of the lake. Ria was already beside me, grabbing my arm and pulling me along.
At the lake's edge—the side where this bridge connected—people were cutting down the beings trying to enter the bridge. White light seemed to reflect from the consecrated swords, and a monster's head dropped with a thud.
But even when those monsters turned to sand, and even when they scattered as transparent water, other monsters kept rising from the lake.
Moreover, as time passed, their overall size grew. If at first the largest ones were about the size of a person, now things like elephants or rhinoceroses, or absurdly gigantic crocodiles, had begun to appear.
Gunshots rang out. The Gnomes waiting near that hill over there were firing toward us. Unfortunately, it wasn't very effective. Almost everything they used was based on Mana.
At least white Holy Power could be seen here and there, so some clergy must have been among the people they sent.
"Ah......!"
Han Yu-ri flinched and stopped moving.
Han Yu-ri slid forward, and Glaria snatched her from behind and barely stopped her—
Crack.
Boom!
Something huge surged up from beneath the bridge and shattered the thick bridge we had crossed.
The bridge, broken in the middle, collapsed downward with a splash and floated on the lake like shattered glacier fragments.
And then, with my body turned back like that, I finally met the huge eye staring straight at me.
"......."
It was a Mana Orb.
But this time, one properly set inside an eye socket.
The only thing on its face was that single huge eye.
Even though it was a life-or-death moment, everyone around me forgot to make a sound at the same time.
The eye, half-submerged in the lake, slowly raised its body. With a whoosh, a black waterfall formed, and beyond the water that fell away, what was visible was a body with nothing but a skeleton.
"......Heh."
I made that sound as I watched the light falling on my face grow a little stronger.
Ria looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
Well, this wasn't the best possible situation. The best would have been to eliminate this lake before something like that appeared.
But that didn't mean it was the worst situation either.
That thing—to think it had only been able to form 'bones' like that.
It wasn't complete. That alone meant there was still hope.
Their plan was still in the process of being built.
"Ria."
"......You want to fight something like that?"
Ria said in disbelief.
But even as she said that, Ria had already come to stand beside me.
I drew my gun, blew off the head of a Magical Creature trying to climb onto the ice, and shouted.
"Glaria, Yu-ri! Can you help me!? And everyone else too!"
"You're saying something quite outrageous."
Glaria said in disbelief.
"Well, running away from here wouldn't exactly be advantageous either, so we have no choice."
"Fine, let's do this!"
Not long ago, Han Yu-ri had been using formal speech with me.
Well, this attitude was more familiar to me anyway. It was how I had often seen her in the novel.
That made me a little happy.
Ria ran forward with all her strength.
As if stepping on empty air, she created stairs of ice beneath her feet.
I followed behind her, shooting every Magical Creature that tried to climb onto the stairs.
Naturally, Magic flew from behind as well, blowing off the monsters' heads, and the knights behind us handled everything that climbed up from our rear.
I heard the sound of wind being split.
A gigantic hand was reaching toward us. If it touched us, it would probably crush the stairs we were climbing along with us.
As if I'd let that happen.
I threw a small stone toward that hand.
"———!"
The small stone flew, emitting white light, and touched the monster's hand, annihilating it. The process looked almost like a small explosion. It was understandable, since it collapsed from within and fell as liquid.
Still, I hadn't come all the way here empty-handed.
I had brought along several more stones.
"Anna."
Ria spoke to me.
"The next hand that comes—just leave it."
"What?"
Before I could answer, Ria wrapped one arm around my waist as if she had just had a good idea.
"Wha—?"
No, wait, Ria—
Seeing Ria do that, the people behind us moved in perfect unison as well. They fell back.
Once again, the giant's eye turned toward us.
Thin spear-like things sprouted around the eye and shot toward us. Ria swung her sword and stylishly cut down the spears, then—
"......!?"
Still holding me, she leaped straight up.
The hand was reaching toward us.
"Trust me."
Ria said that, then dropped down onto the hand.
......Well,
We've come this far, so what can I do?
There's no other option but to trust her—!?