Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Chapter 31: Enemies on a Narrow Bridge
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Late in the afternoon, Didi was slumped over on Regal's back, strolling through the Lunenbreath Forest.
"Training seems to have gotten tougher lately. Can you handle it?"
"......What? What did you say?"
Didi, who had dozed off for a moment, came to his senses and asked. Regal snorted and shook his head.
"Nothing. There's one core left for the prince—maybe ask him for it?"
"Core? The Ancient Bear's core?"
"If you absorb that, you could leap ahead in one go. If you want, I could put some pressure on him."
"No, don't do that."
Didi stroked Regal's nape with an indifferent expression.
"The captain says I haven't fully tapped my potential yet. The potential from the core you gave me. So for now, I'm focusing on that. I don't need an extra core."
"Hmm. You should take what that human says with a grain of salt."
"Why?"
"He's an outlier. Top of the top among humans. So even if you absorb the same core as him, there's no guarantee you'll draw out the same abilities. You started from the absolute bottom, after all."
"You're right. Still, I'm going to trust it."
Didi shook his head with a faint smile.
"That's how I'll become useful. I've got to do something. For when the otherworld army invades later."
"If you've decided, then do it. Personally, I'd say run away if you can."
"You don't trust me that much?"
"......"
Regal trudged along silently for a while before suddenly lifting his head.
"Sniff. I smell something."
"Dinner? It's too early for that."
"This is...... their scent."
The massive wolf narrowed his eyes and began growling. Didi felt Regal's body tense and contract, so he lowered himself.
"Regal? What is it? Their scent?"
"The otherworld monsters. I just caught their scent."
"......Are they targeting the mansion again? Where?"
"West—no, northwest."
"The western passage through the forest?"
"No, much farther than that. Way past the Emperor Road to the west."
"That far? You caught the scent from there?"
"Yeah. It was the same kind of scent I picked up back when that Eclipse Gate exploded to the north."
"Really? That's even farther."
"Forgot why I hid in the sewers? Anyway, we need to spread the word fast."
"To the prince?"
"To the others. The prince's scent is coming from about the same area. We need to send reinforcements as quick as possible."
"Got it. You're heading out right now, huh."
Didi quickly leaped off Regal's back.
"Full speed means only one rider. Take the captain—he's the strongest here."
"That guy's...... no good."
Regal turned his head east and sniffed.
"For some reason, that human's scent is coming from northeast. Pretty far, too."
"Northeast? Oh, right. This morning after giving training orders....... He said he was going back to his hometown village near Verit. Said he'd be back tomorrow."
"Tch. Worst timing."
"Then Lady Tolari?"
"That woman can fly to the scene without me."
"Right. Then take Meredes at least."
"Meredes, huh. Sniff. Good. She's at the training grounds. You head back to the mansion and report to that Arch Wizard—he can catch up quick."
With that, he bolted toward the training grounds like a shot. Didi took a light deep breath, then sprinted with all his might toward the mansion.
* * *
It was an optical illusion after all.
Zectbaya's Tempest was definitely not the size of my head. No, it was the size of my torso. Damn it.
Anyway, I did my best to prepare. I deployed three pre-made light shields up front, cast Protection Magic, and for good measure, put up an ice wall in front as well.
But the thing turned its head south instead of toward me and unleashed its Tempest.
Yeah. It unleashed it.
Instead of the compressed main body flying straight like a laser, the main body fired a beam in a straight line.
Just like a dragon breathing.
A vivid streak of lightning coiled around the beam like a screw. Judging by the lightning attribute, that left head must be Zect.
Anyway, the Tempest breath slammed into somewhere far off, no doubt causing a massive explosion somewhere out of my sight.
A scorching explosion of thunderbolts.
At first, I wondered why it fired in an empty direction. But soon enough, I figured out its behavior pattern.
-I've injected it with unconditional hatred for living creatures to barely set a target.
Hatred for living creatures.
So instead of the one nearby (me), the masses farther away seemed more appealing.
"No way......"
Floating up with flight magic, I spotted a ruined village far off, belching thick smoke.
"......"
Dozens—no, hundreds must have died for sure.
At that moment, the thing swiveled both heads toward me.
My heart sank.
Hatred. Rage.
Pouring endlessly like a waterfall. But why was the direction of the emotion not quite at me? A bit more to the left?
Why?
"......Bindir?"
Bindir. The central city serving as the capital of the Bangar region.
Home to about 30,000 people, and the place where I'd stopped on the way here to custom-order their local specialty, the wooden cake.
Right toward that place, it unleashed another Tempest breath.
From both heads at once.
"......!"
My body moved before my mind could catch up.
I blocked the cold breath's path with my own body, and for the lightning breath, I flung a light shield to nudge its trajectory slightly.
Kwajijijijijijik!
An extreme cold wave surged centered on my body, ice crystals swelling up. For a few seconds, I couldn't do anything and plummeted to the ground.
Kwajik!
"Ugh......"
By the time I crawled out of the shattered ice lump, the enemy's gaze was fully fixed on me.
What are you looking at, you bastard? Think I just fell without doing shit?
Chwk!
I unleashed the five prepped Tempests first.
Hwaruk!
The compressed flames shed their shells in that instant, scattering swirling petals of fire across the world.
Quadruple Magic. Five Tempests.
Once the festival of flames engulfed an entire area, all that remained was charred ash and thick smoke.
Or so it should have been.
Kiiiiiiiiiiik!
The unscathed monster pushed through the still-scorching explosion and took a massive step toward me.
Kuwoong!
The ground shook like an earthquake. I activated flight magic to react and dodge any attack at a moment's notice.
But it was a mistake.
Pajik!
In an instant, a massive lightning net spread overhead, covering the whole world.
What the hell is this?
The net was so vast I couldn't see the end even turning my head.
No way. How can it deploy such a wide-area spell...... without prep, in one go?
Thanks to that, I couldn't escape and got covered by the lightning net.
Pajijijijijijik!
Agh.
A real agh. The pre-cast Protection Magic shattered in one hit.
How is this possible?
How can a spell covering such an extreme area have Tempest-level power?
My mind went from confused to dazed. But with no time to recover, it deployed another lightning net in an instant, trapping me in a heaven-and-earth net.
No!
No escape this time either. The net was too wide, falling too fast.
But I couldn't just sit there and take it. I deployed a triple-layered ice wall and hid beneath it.
Useless.
Pajijijijijijik!
The scorching thunderbolts shattered the ice wall in an instant and wrapped around my body.
"Kuh!"
The already tattered Protection Magic fully collapsed.
The remaining shock spread through my body, delivering a chilling jolt. Thanks to the core boosting my anti-magic resistance, or I'd have passed out or died.
But it revealed the secret of that lightning net.
The moment the net touches something, another spread-out net contracts to that point, concentrating firepower.
That's how it got Tempest-level power in an instant.
No way.
What kind of efficient magic is this? How many complex calculations to control each one? Wouldn't need a brain ten times bigger?
Pajik!
Another world-covering lightning net poured down.
"Damn it!"
Gritting my teeth, I activated flight magic and chose to charge head-on instead of fleeing.
I saw it beforehand! Saw it clear with these two eyes!
The instant the net activates, there's space in the gaps for me to slip through!
And my eyes were spot on.
Chwk!
Just before the pouring net holes narrowed, I slipped through unscathed, by a hair.
Now, nothing ahead but Zectbaya's main body.
But between us, another vast lightning net blocked the way.
Making a net wall now? Think I can't slip past that?
The moment I broke through the new net hole.
Kwajik!
A massive ice spear smashed into my face.
If I hadn't recast Protection Magic, it'd have punched a hole through my face.
But the impact sent me flying back, and the spot I flew into still had a lightning net, hitting me with another Tempest-level shock.
Damn......
Kung!
My briefly faded consciousness snapped back with the sudden impact.
Where am I? Oh, the ground. How high did I fall? If not for the bear core, I'd have died on impact.
But death wasn't far off.
I looked up to see another world-covering lightning net spreading.
As if daring me to break through, thousands of ice arrows filled the net holes densely and rained down.
And atop that, a new lightning net formed.
Pajik!
And another new one deploying above that.
Ah. It's trying to bury me completely.
What do I do now to survive?
-I'm resistant to lightning.
As the thick voice flashed through my mind, I immediately possessed myself with Lukkar.
"Ugh......"
In the split second of chilling pain racking my body, I activated flight magic and charged straight in the monster's opposite direction.
Of course, that didn't get me out of the net.
Pajijijik!
Before I was even halfway out, the net covered me, wrapping my whole body.
But the electrocution pain was minimal. Instead, the ice arrows raining with the net pierced my skin and hurt.
I staggered, flew again, got caught in another lightning net mid-flight and tumbled to the ground, yet kicked off again and ran and ran.
Finally breaking free of the endless nets, a scream burst from my mouth unbidden.
"Uwaa! You crazy bastard!"
Ice arrows studded my whole body.
Broken ones had new arrows pierced through, like some heavenly archer threading them.
How am I even alive like this? Without Lukkar possession, I'd be dead ten times over?
"Ugh......"
Even pulling out arrows and casting recovery magic scared me. Possession dulled the pain this much—if it wore off, would I die from shock?
At least the good news was Zectbaya's magic had a range limit.
Once far enough, no more lightning nets or ice arrows. Phew. Guess I buy time here to recover......
But it had one unlimited-range technique.
Wuuuuuung......
Around that massive maw, another huge magic began compressing.
Tempest Breath.
"This is cheating......"
What the hell do I do?
Dodging the enemy's attacks isn't enough. I have to cut off its breathing room while dodging.
But how?
Even five Tempests at once didn't work? That was my strongest spell!
Then my last resort: summon the Fire Spirit King......
Wait a sec.
-Try savoring the frustration of all your attacks bouncing off.
The vanished patron's voice echoed in my mind. So this monster's immune to magic? Wait! Then spirit magic and all that is useless!