Small Courage
In the forest where wild, savage life always breathed fiercely,
the green arena, as ever, teemed with countless creatures living and dying.
In the heart of mighty nature, where this cycle of life and death seemed eternal,
a colossal disaster infiltrated without any warning, like a seeping shadow.
Starlight deer grazing on grass,
and scaled leopards lurking in the trees for prey—
prey and predator alike, every living thing in the forest bristled and turned toward one spot.
Grggggcrack!!!
There, like a monster's egg cracking open,
transparent air twisted and warped, emitting strange heat haze.
Pashiiiing!
Soon, the dimension tore like shattering glass,
and beyond the ripped seam,
a space of indescribable colors shimmered in harmonious waves.
The origin of all mysteries,
the mirror world to our reality—the fantasy realm.
As an overwhelming presence crossed from the fantasy realm into reality,
every nearby creature fled in terror.
Mothers meant to protect their young abandoned them, survival instinct overriding maternal love as they ran for their lives,
and from tiny mice to insects, all burrowed into the earth to hide.
The being inspiring universal dread forced its way through the cracking fissure with the sound of fracturing glass,
revealing its form.
Like a crude spider, it had a pentagonal skeleton with five horns jutting out,
clad in rock armor layered like stacked strata.
The living will of nature.
The quiet breath dwelling in rock crevices,
the pulse of soil awakening roots.
The guardian of life flowing in the world's lowest depths, silently embracing all things.
The Earth Spirit.
(Where is it? I felt it here for sure! Where are you!!!)
But the Earth Spirit, which should have been gentle and peaceful, embracing all,
radiated destructive fury laced with impatience and desperation in all directions.
(I have to meet it before those guys do! No more… I can't let it be taken again!!!)
With that shout, the Earth Spirit burrowed into the ground.
And moments later.
Grooo… boom! Thud! KRUMPH!
The forest earth, rooted with trees, began writhing like a heart's savage beat.
The tremors grew, shaking the ground like an earthquake fueled by rage.
Trees swayed in unison,
leaves raining down like a storm.
Kwaaaaaah!!!
At last, the churning earth erupted,
and amid thick dust clouds, a massive shadowy form emerged.
(I felt our one true understanding soul here! Wait, this time I'll protect you for sure!)
Pure obsession and aching longing had twisted it into an incarnation of destruction—the Earth Spirit swept away everything blocking its path.
Enormous arms of earth and stone snapped trees,
shook the land, and crushed all living things in its way.
(Get out of my way!! Don't block my path!!!)
Swamp trolls slumbering in marshes,
giant spiders defending their egg sacs with their lives,
army ants with vast underground kingdoms—
forest dwellers who couldn't or didn't escape met death before its overwhelming violence.
(Emilia…, I felt you. I want to see you again!!!)
Like a great earthquake, a natural disaster,
the Earth Spirit unleashed primal destructive power, trampling the forest relentlessly.
(Where are you! Stroke me like before! I miss your touch!)
It searched for the precious being whose face and voice had faded to hazy memory.
Some beasts and monsters resisted to defend their territories against the rampaging Earth Spirit.
Even gripped by fear, they suppressed survival instincts
and charged to protect what was theirs.
An owl bear rushed to guard its eggs in a den,
tearing and smashing the spirit's legs with its sturdy beak and heavy paws,
but Squeeeeek!!!
(Get lost!!)
SPLAT!
it was crushed and burst by the Earth Spirit's brutal fist.
A massive lizard resembling a dragon, sensitive to territory—a drake—spewed venomous saliva and flames from its maw.
The spirit's rock armor melted and burned under the drake's assault,
but it regenerated indifferently,
(You filthy relic!!)
summoning a massive boulder with magic and hurling it to kill the drake.
Roooaaarrr!!!
A minotaur, enraged by the mere commotion, charged with its horns forward,
but they merely embedded deep in the spirit's bulk, its body shoved back slightly—no real effect.
(What are you?! Out of my way!!)
The bold challenger's body was impaled by spikes erupting from the ground and killed.
Other territory lords attacked too,
but all merely stalled the spirit briefly before being swept away pathetically.
Witnesses to this horrific slaughter existed:
the fairies.
(What… do we do?)
(Scary… I wanna run…)
They hid in trees, trembling as they watched the chilling scene.
The rampaging spirit headed toward the ruins—home built by Kong and the fairies.
It would surely destroy the ruins, trampling everything in its path.
Terrified yet unable to flee, the fairies stamped their feet in panic.
Truthfully, spirits were fearsome to fairies, but not to this extent.
Unlike fellow fantasy realm natives, the fairies,
spirits without contractors couldn't linger long in reality.
They'd eventually be banished back to the fantasy realm,
so frightening as tempests, but evade them and they'd vanish—
to fairies, spirits were merely annoying, avoidable threats.
But this Earth Spirit was different.
Even wildly casting magic and rampaging, it didn't fade—instead, it pressed on fiercer.
Not some young spirit they'd seen before,
but a powerful one matured over ages, steeped in nature's essence.
(It's not like the ones we've seen!)
(So strong, terrifyingly strong!)
(Sh-should we run? But our home…)
(Kong needs to come quick!)
(But what if Kong gets hurt…!)
Tears welled in the fairies' eyes as anxiety gripped them.
At this rate, their cozy home would be destroyed by the spirit,
forcing them back to lives hounded by threats—tears blurred their vision.
Even with much to lose, much to protect.
Frail fairies, always fleeing, couldn't fight like the forest denizens staking their lives.
As all despaired at inevitable loss,
among them, the eldest leader—Alpha, nicknamed by Kong—wiped her tears fiercely and screamed in rage.
(No… I hate it! Th-that's our home! We can't just wait for it to be destroyed!)
Alpha's words sounded like a child's tantrum full of indignation,
but the burning heart within was genuine.
(I don't wanna keep running and living in fear anymore—how long do we have to flee?!)
Her questioning cry shook the weeping fairies' hearts.
Sobbing voices began to hush one by one.
After a brief silence,
they opened their mouths with newfound, fragile courage sprouting like fresh buds.
(I… don't… wanna… run…)
(I wanna live… always! Play fun every day…)
(Sick of being chased!)
Expressing pent-up frustration they'd never acknowledged,
they recognized their budding courage.
(Even if scary!)
(We'll protect it—resist together!)
(We're not alone, Kong's with us too!)
Perhaps for the first time, the fairies made a hard choice:
no more running—they'd fight together.
(First, call Kong quick!)
(Tebiri, you're the fastest—tell Kong what's happening!)
(We'll buy as much time as we can!)
Tebiri, called by name today,
nodded with innocent face tinged by resolve and flew swiftly to Kong on patrol far away.
(Then till Kong comes, we fight together to buy time!)
Waaaaah!!!
Leading them, Alpha at the fore,
the fairies flew toward the spirit like a marching army, anxious yet proud.
The fairies flitted around the spirit on tiny fluttering wings.
(Don't get in my way!!)
The spirit swung its arm, but they scattered nimbly, evading,
circling it in formation.
And gathered sparkling light dust in their hands.
(Now!)
Shwaaaaaah!!
At Alpha's cry, dozens of light beams burst forth.
Dust trailed their wingbeats like mist, enveloping the Earth Spirit.
That instant,
the spirit's movements hitched.
Fairies' innate magic, magic powder, used only for escape and pranks.
To halt the violent rampage, they poured all they had—potent sleep, numbing, dizziness, and more debuffs.
It worked on the spirit.
(…Huh? It stopped!)
(It's working!)
Its massive arm froze mid-swing,
as if weighed down by invisible force.
As hope lit the fairies' faces,
Zizzzzt.
a strange vibration hummed from the spirit's body.
(Don't… interfere.)
(Don't interfereeee!!!)
Kwaaaaaang!!
The ground exploded, shockwave blasting the fairies away.
Debris flew everywhere,
most fairies struck by chunks bled white blood and plummeted.
(Even you lot—if you interfere… I'll kill you all!!)
The enraged spirit raised its foot over a fallen fairy nearby,
stomping down.
(Danger!!)
Alpha gritted her teeth and dove in.
Her tiny body rammed full speed, shoving the fairy aside.
Thud!
Alpha bounced off the ground instead.
(Enoch!!)
(I-I'm fine… ugh…!)
Despite her words,
one of Alpha's wings was already shredded.
Seeing Alpha's sacrifice, the few still-flying fairies grabbed wounded kin and fled.
Their breaths grew ragged carrying the injured.
Then,
one fairy murmured in a trembling voice.
(But… it stopped.)
(If only for a moment… we stopped it.)
(We're not the us that only ran anymore.)
(We held it back… even briefly.)
Near defeat, yet the fairies felt strange fulfillment in their resistance.
Alpha, staunching blood from her torn wing, looked up.
Through the dust, she saw the spirit moving—slowly, but surely.
Dozens of fairies had unleashed max magic powder,
yet the effect was fleeting, only fueling its rage more.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Crushed by encroaching steps of destruction.
The spirit conjured multiple magic circles in the air, raising its arm.
This time, with clear intent to end everything.
Alpha, now unable to fly easily, looked around.
She saw fellow fairies gravely wounded like her.
Courage's price: kin's suffering.
Hubris unfit for them—
heaven's punishment?
As despairing Alpha prepared to shout for all to flee, hoping to save at least one,
(Everyone… run—!)
KRAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
A forest-shattering roar struck them like a storm.
Fury like thunder, devoid of reason—every forest being froze,
the spirit poised to strike the fairies halted, as did the bleeding, groaning fairies, all staring one way.
A shadow fell over the turned spirit.
Rushing at it, swinging a tree in hand: the black guardian, Kong.
“Roooaaarrr!!!”
(You bastard! How dare you!!!)
Whoooosh!!!
Kwaaaang!!!
Kong swung the tree clutched in both hands with full might at the giant spirit's head,
splintering it with a crack,
and the spirit's half-smashed head sent its body crashing down.
Kong tossed the broken tree,
thumped his chest with both fists,
and roared at the fallen spirit.
Thump! Thump-thump! Thump!
KRAAAAAH!!!!
(You… how dare…!)
As if far from over.
The spirit regenerated and rose,
hearing Kong's roar.
Head half-destroyed,
but earth and stone bubbled up from cracks, refilling it.
It grew even wilder, more massive than before.
(Regenerate! Don't you dare!!! You fucking shit!!!)
Waiting dumbly for enemy recovery was comic-book nonsense.
Kong charged the spirit, determined not to give it a moment's respite.