Chapter 138: Rikrakakmur (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 138: Rikrakakmur (1)
Kiriana, like Alon, expected the journey to their destination to take three days.
In the game, it had taken only two.
It was only natural for the travel time to increase when moving with a larger expedition. However, Alon harbored a small doubt regarding the duration of the trip.
It was because of the actual distance.
Whether looking at the Psychedelia map or the one Kiriana had unfurled, the distance to the swamp was not that long. It was a short enough distance that they should have arrived in about a day if they moved diligently.
He couldn't understand why such a short distance would take two to three days, but a little over a day after the expedition began...
‘Holy—’
Alon realized just how wrong his assumptions had been.
He looked down, his heart sinking. Below them lay a massive canyon.
That wasn't all. Beyond the canyon, a range of rocky mountains stretched out, and beyond those, yet another canyon seemed to begin. To make matters worse, the canyon at the edge of his vision was split into dozens of different branches.
‘It’s because the terrain is so treacherous.’
The sight was enough to make his head spin. It was so tight that he began to wonder if Kiriana was being borderline abusive to the expedition by setting the arrival time at three days.
As they were descending into the canyon with those thoughts in mind...
[This canyon... it was made artificially.]
Basiliora’s voice suddenly rang out.
“...What?”
[Exactly what I said. This canyon did not occur naturally.]
Alon had summoned Basiliora for Blackie, who had seemed bored in his coat pocket since yesterday. For the first time since his subjugation, the snake looked around with a rare, serious expression.
[It seems certain.]
“What makes you think that?”
[Look. Isn't the canyon itself split in an oval shape?]
“Hmm.”
Alon looked at the canyon. He hadn't noticed it before, but as Basiliora said, the canyon was indeed carved in an oval pattern.
[Normally, a natural canyon doesn't split in such a form.]
“...Is that the only reason you think it’s artificial?”
[No. I can feel a resonance here.]
“A resonance?”
[Yes. It’s incredibly old, but it definitely remains. Judging by how two different resonances are mixed together, it seems to have been created by a battle.]
“...I can’t even imagine it.”
Alon shook his head instinctively. The canyon was far too majestic to be viewed as a mere scar from a battle.
Feeling a strange sense of doubt, he continued walking. After some time, they crossed the great canyon and arrived at a smaller one where the paths branched out sporadically.
“There are multiple paths.”
“In this case, the path on the left seems best.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, let’s take that one. Unlike the others, it’s wide enough. Even if it takes a bit longer, it’s the better choice.”
“I suppose so... Everyone, move to the leftmost path!”
Yutia and Kiriana were discussing which way to go. Watching them converse, Alon suddenly remembered what Basiliora had said earlier.
“Basiliora.”
[What is it?]
“Was this canyon also created by a battle?”
[Well—that—yes, it was.]
“...? It’s either a yes or a no. Why the hesitation?”
[Well, it is, but—]
Basiliora, perched on Alon’s shoulder, was looking at the canyon with a strangely cowed expression, a far cry from his usual arrogant demeanor. No, to be precise...
‘...Is he looking at Yutia?’
Basiliora seemed to be stealing glances at Yutia, who was talking to Kiriana in the distance.
‘I don’t know exactly why he’s walking on eggshells, but...’
He had a rough idea of how it started. It was because of what happened yesterday.
Yesterday evening.
Alon had summoned Basiliora to be a playmate for Blackie, who was chirping as if bored of the scenery.
‘Summon me more often! It’s stifling! I can see the outside, but I want to move around myself!!’
As soon as Basiliora emerged, he had thrown a fit and vented his anger at Alon, but then...
‘Oh my, what a cute snake.’
[I am the Great God Basiliora!]
‘Snake, may I hold you for a moment?’
[I am not a cute snake, humaaaaaan!!!]
‘If you’ll allow it, I’d like to take him with me for a bit.’
Enveloped in Yutia’s divine power, the snake had been dragged away in his spirit form. And when the little snake returned a short while later...
[....]
He began to watch Yutia’s every move with trepidation.
Alon was curious about what Yutia had said to him and asked several times, but Basiliora refused to answer. Even when he asked Yutia...
‘Huh? We just had a fun time playing, Teacher.’
That was all she said.
It only made him more suspicious. No matter how he looked at it, the fact that Basiliora returned in such a state meant that "just playing" didn't quite add up.
But his reminiscence was cut short.
“Teacher, let’s go.”
Following Yutia and her gentle smile, Alon began walking toward the canyon again.
...Even after that, Basiliora’s eyes trembled with anxiety every time he looked at Yutia.
* * *
Two more days passed.
“...Is this the place?”
“We’ve arrived.”
The expedition reached the swamp where the Forest Hungry Ghost, Rikrakakmur, resided. As they pushed through the forest, they finally encountered it.
In the middle of the forest sat a small, bald mountain—no, it was Rikrakakmur.
Even though it was submerged in the center of the swamp, its massive body was not entirely hidden. The mere sight of it drained the soldiers' morale, leaving them pale-faced.
The knights also wore grim expressions. While their faces hadn't turned blue like the soldiers', their eyes betrayed an obvious fear.
It was only natural. The Rikrakakmur sleeping in the swamp was far too enormous for a mere human to kill.
Even Kiriana spoke with a voice full of doubt.
“I’ve heard the stories, but... it’s even bigger than I imagined. Can we really kill that thing?”
Yutia simply maintained a quiet smile.
As for Alon...
“...I will explain the plan now.”
He began his explanation without a moment's hesitation.
* * *
Late at night, under the rising blue moon.
Kiriana gazed silently at the moon before turning her head and speaking.
“Begin.”
“Yes, Commander.”
The knight who answered her immediately nodded toward a certain direction. Another knight, catching the signal, raised a flag infused with mana so it would glow vividly even in the dark night.
With that signal...
“Turn it—!”
The soldiers began to turn a massive pulley.
Creeeeeak—!
As dozens of soldiers moved in unison, the pulley began to rotate slowly, emitting a rusted screech. Simultaneously...
“The northern pulley has started turning.”
“The eastern pulley is turning as well!”
“Signals have been raised from the west and south!”
The knights' reports came in. Kiriana nodded slightly, recalling Marquis Palatio’s explanation from earlier.
‘What the Allied Forces need to do is simple.’
‘There are four pulleys in this swamp, positioned at the cardinal points. When I give the signal, you just need to turn those four pulleys simultaneously.’
‘Once the pulleys are turned, monsters will swarm in. The Allied Forces just need to hold them back.’
It was a very simple and straightforward plan. Kiriana looked at the soldiers struggling to turn the pulleys, and a doubt that had been lingering in the back of her mind resurfaced.
‘...How did Marquis Palatio know there were pulleys here?’
As far as Kiriana knew, not many people were aware of Rikrakakmur’s existence. To begin with, no one except the Allied Forces could cross the border, and unless one was part of the Allied Forces, information about Rikrakakmur would only be found in ancient texts.
Yet, strangely, Marquis Palatio seemed to know not only of Rikrakakmur’s existence but also the layout of this swamp intimately. It was as if he had been here before.
Because of that...
‘...What is he?’
Just as a strange suspicion began to bloom in Kiriana’s heart...
Thump—! Rumble—!
A massive sound announced that the pulleys had been fully turned. She stopped her thoughts and turned her gaze.
“The water in the swamp is draining!”
“...The water?”
It was true. With a tremendous roar of rushing water, the swamp was draining into an abyss beneath the ground. Confirming the rapidly dropping water level, Kiriana...
“...Holy shit.”
At a knight’s low curse, she looked forward again and couldn't help but freeze.
There lay Rikrakakmur, still sleeping exactly as they had seen it that afternoon. Gasps of horror erupted spontaneously. As the water level receded, its true size was gradually revealed.
“...That thing is a living creature?”
At the knight’s low groan, Kiriana also fell silent. She felt the exact same way.
‘Can we really kill that?’
Doubts swirled in her mind. It was massive enough to be reminiscent of a giant fortress.
─────■■■
As the water level dropped and it was exposed to the air, the creature let out a single breath that sent the local birds fluttering away in a panicked frenzy. Even Kiriana, who prided herself on reaching the realm of a superhuman, had no choice but to humbly acknowledge the limits of the human race.
Overwhelmed by its staggering scale, she felt an involuntary sense of awe.
“....”
She then looked toward Marquis Palatio. He was walking forward. Toward Rikrakakmur, a creature so large that five humans combined couldn't even compare to one of its teeth.
Finally, the Marquis let out a sigh and looked ahead. Rikrakakmur had not yet woken from its slumber.
■■■■■■■─────
The massive body, which made the earth vibrate with a single breath, exerted an unbelievable pressure even on Alon. No matter how powerful Alon was, he didn't possess a single magic spell capable of dealing effective damage to a monster of this size.
Nor could he immediately create a new spell with higher firepower than his current level. He wasn't that much of a genius.
However, the fact that he had to deal with the abomination before him remained unchanged. There was only one thing for him to do.
The application of magic.
Deploying the Severe Cold within his gauntlets, Alon’s lips quickly recited the Phrases. Slower than Duke Comallon, but undoubtedly faster than the Alon of the past.
“Ice Crystal Flower Spear.”
The moment he uttered the final word, the magic that froze everything within its manifested space was deployed—
Cr-cr-crack—!!!
Right above Rikrakakmur’s head.
To conserve mana, he constrained the space and time of the spell, deploying it for a mere two seconds. In that fleeting moment, a massive crystal formed above the creature’s head.
It was certainly enough to wipe out dozens of monsters in a single blow, but compared to Rikrakakmur’s gargantuan body, the crystal was too small to inflict any meaningful damage.
However.
Multiple Manifestation.
Alon’s mana, which had already preceded with a spiral mana structure, deployed Ice Crystal Flower Spear once more.
Crack—!
And on top of that, he deployed it yet again.
Cr-cr-cr-crack—!!!
Thus, what was finally created was a crystal massive enough to finally deal damage to Rikrakakmur’s enormous frame. Confirming the floating crystal, Alon formed a seal and simultaneously twisted the laws of the crystal.
“Spiral.”
As he recited the Phrase, the law contained within it dwelled in the crystal. The mana array of the ice twisted into a spiral.
The sharpest tip.
A surface as wide as a floating city.
The spiral spike emitted a sound like breaking timber, scattering debris in all directions like spring snowflakes.
Only then.
────■?
Awakened late by the snowflakes pelting its body, Rikrakakmur opened its eyes.
“Rotation.”
Ignoring the creature, Alon twisted the laws granted to him once more. The crystal began to rotate clockwise according to Alon’s command.
As it fell toward the ground following the law of gravity, combined with the previous Spiral Phrase, it gained the piercing power to penetrate the abomination’s tough hide.
—■■■!!!!
With a thunderous roar, it pierced through Rikrakakmur’s body. At that moment, the final word Alon uttered was:
“Shatter.”
He forcibly broke the linear mana array that was violently rotating.
With that...
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■—!!!!!!!
The crystal that had pierced Rikrakakmur’s body exploded like a bomb, scattering in all directions.
Under the blue moon, an ice flower bloomed in full.