Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Desert Night
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“Durel.”
I didn’t ask what had happened. We were caught in a sudden storm, soaring through the sky. Securing Durel’s safety and mine came first.
As the wind from Gentle Wind burst forth, my inverted vision righted itself, and my sense of balance began to steady. Our descent slowed, as if we were leaning into the breeze.
At the same moment, beyond my elevated view, I spotted part of a massive living creature.
Whoosh—!
The storm that had hurled Durel and me skyward was the wind from that creature’s wingbeats.
‘A colossal beast…?’
Its overall shape resembled a fish. But instead of scales, feathers covered its enormous body. As the feathers, glinting in the moonlight, fluttered wildly, six wings sprouting from its back blanketed the sky.
“I-It’s awake…! We have to run, now! A colossal beast out of nowhere…!”
Durel’s voice, brimming with relief, reached me. If what lay before us was truly a colossal beast, fleeing immediately was the right call. Yet for some reason, I couldn’t control the direction of the wind—or Gentle Wind.
‘It’s as if…’
The wind was under someone else’s command. No one but that colossal creature right in front of me. Even the Gentle Wind I’d summoned obeyed it. The spell was steadying our balance and slowing our fall, but that was all.
The wind I’d conjured was being drawn toward the creature.
In that instant, the wind’s force surged again.
Whoosh—!
“Ngh…!”
“Gaaah!”
A ferocious gust erupted in an instant, shaking our bodies and pulling us toward the colossal beast. Gentle Wind could only slow our speed. But my panic was fleeting. If even Gentle Wind was being controlled, I just needed to use a different spell.
I steadied my breathing and drew up my mana at once.
Keeeen—!
My heart’s Mana Circle spun violently, and in the next moment, my body teleported right beside Durel.
Fwoosh—!
“M-Master…!”
“Stay still.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t the mana itself being controlled, but the wind. It seemed the primal magic wielded by that colossal beast held immense dominion over the element of wind itself.
Fwoosh—!
I grabbed Durel by the scruff of his neck and chained Blinks to descend to the ground. The campsite we’d painstakingly set up before diving into my inner world had long since been reduced to traces.
Only the golem remained, standing vigil over the empty space.
‘Block the wind.’
Thud—!
The moment I landed via Blink, the golem approached and crouched over us. Its massive frame shielded us from the wind, allowing our floating bodies to settle calmly.
“Hoo…”
“G-Good thing. We almost had a disaster there.”
Durel poked his head out from behind the golem and glanced up at the sky. His voice trembled with fear. He was right. A little later, and we’d have been in real trouble.
At that moment, a harsh cry erupted from the heavens. The sound, carried on the wind, resembled a bird submerged in water—a piercing, muffled screech that shook the entire area.
‘Should I Blink out of here…’
No. I’d have to take Durel, who couldn’t Blink on his own. Alone, it’d be fine, but chaining them with him would overheat my Mana Circle and squeeze my heart. He’d get swept away by the wind the moment I lost my grip.
For now, all I could do was wait for the wind to die down and for that colossal thing to leave. I leaned against the golem and gazed up at the sky, at the creature flapping its enormous wings and unleashing gales.
More mana concentrated in Arcana’s starlight. Piercing through the blue-tinged world, it linked straight into the colossal being’s core.
‘Wind…’
The world within the colossal beast was a vast sky and endless flowing winds. It was overwhelmingly immense. Expanding without end, growing ever stronger toward the center.
A being that had lived thousands—no, perhaps tens of thousands—of years. Was that why? The world it harbored was deeper and broader than any mage I’d ever encountered.
‘Impossible…’
I knew it the moment I saw it. The magic it wielded wasn’t something I could imitate. A world honed over eons for one thing alone: wind. I couldn’t even dream of mimicking that power.
Still, I took it all in with my eyes. I wanted to remember every sensation. The sparkling starlit world deepened further, and a book unfurled on the shelf within me.
Flip, flip, flip—
The moment everything I saw began recording on the open pages, the creature circling above the lake and spewing wind suddenly shot skyward, twisted, and dove straight into the lake.
Next, I expected the lake’s waters to surge like a tsunami, engulfing the area. But what I anticipated didn’t happen.
Whoosh—!
“Master… that just now…”
“It’s gone…”
Gone. The instant the colossal beast flung itself toward the lake and flapped its wings, its massive body was sucked into the water. Yet the lake’s surface remained utterly serene.
As if the wild winds and the shadow of the colossal beast we’d just witnessed were illusions, they vanished in a blink. An incomprehensible phenomenon. Could there be a barrier beneath the lake? Harboring that suspicion, I climbed atop the golem and stared intently at the transparent waters.
‘Nothing…’
The clear lake was simply still. Reflecting nothing but the pitch-black night sky and the faint starlight above. Even rubbing my eyes and looking again changed nothing.
Had it all been a dream in that fleeting moment? No, the traces left by the colossal beast were too vivid. If it was a dream, how to explain the uprooted salt forest trees and the campsite tents blown away?
I leaped down from the golem and slowly walked toward the lakeshore.
“Master? You’re not thinking of going into the lake…”
“It’s dangerous, so stay by the golem and don’t follow.”
“I-I can’t do that…! Wherever you go, I…!”
I stopped and turned. Durel, who had hurried after me, stared with eyes full of stubbornness and worry.
“Durel.”
“It’s dangerous. It vanished suddenly, so it could appear just as suddenly, right?”
“Listen to me. I just want to check something quick. Arcana shows nothing.”
“But…”
“I can escape on my own just fine. But I don’t have the capacity to look after you too.”
“…Understood.”
Durel drooped and headed toward the golem, head bowed. He kept glancing back, clearly worried sick about me. I watched him and let out a small sigh.
Who’s worrying about whom here? The kid can barely take care of himself.
I turned, lightly kicked off the ground, and arrived at the edge of the vast lake.
Fwoosh—!
The lakeshore was littered with debris blown in from everywhere and monster corpses. The stark contrast to the serene lake sent a strange chill through me. Among the scattered junk rolling on the ground was the tent fabric Durel and I had used.
I picked it up as I slowly wandered near the lake.
‘How did it vanish…?’
Clearly, the colossal beast had been here moments ago. Proof of its existence remained all around. Yet now, it was completely gone.
Maybe some force other than magic was at play. I picked up a nearby piece of wood and tossed it into the lake. With a splash, ripples spread across the calm surface. The wood sank normally toward the bottom.
After watching that and hesitating a moment, I reached my hand toward the clear lake water.
Splash—
The result was the same. My five fingers, extended beneath the transparent water, swayed gently with the ripples.
Early morning. People flocked to the lake at the center of Razga Basin. A colossal beast had appeared. So enormous it was visible from afar, drawing crowds to confirm its presence.
With safety assured, Durel and I wandered near the lakeshore too. Durel, hand on his sword hilt, glanced back and asked as he looked around.
“What are you writing, Master?”
“About what we saw yesterday. Recording that colossal beast’s features.”
Its form unmistakably evoked a fish. But no cold scales covered it. Fine feathers sheathed its body, and wind flowed along their texture.
When its six wings unfurled, half the sky vanished. The wind howled, and space itself was pushed back.
It was the sky itself.
‘Should I sketch it too…’
Scribble—
A small hand gripped the pencil, moving swiftly across the blank notebook.