Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Beyond the Clouds
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Beyond the clouds.
With its massive body, the crow tribesman took a step forward.
The ground beneath its feet looked incredibly small.
At that moment.
"Caw?"
Sensing something amiss, the giant crow's head slowly turned to the side.
It was the instant the crow tribesman showed a puzzled look.
Boom!
A deafening roar echoed as the crow tribesman's body toppled over completely.
Rumble!
Kicking up clouds of dust, the crow tribesman laid waste to its surroundings.
Just from the fall, it had obliterated everything nearby. The crow tribesman swallowed hard.
At the same time, it lifted its head to check what it had collided with.
"Pretty sturdy."
Right then, a voice rang out.
As the crow tribesman looked up, a single person stood atop its chest.
"Caw!"
Spotting the tiny human, the crow tribesman erupted in fury.
But something felt off to the crow tribesman.
No matter how it tried to rise, its body wouldn't budge.
It felt just like being crushed under a colossal lump of lead.
Agonizing.
The weight seemed to grow heavier by the second.
"Caw!"
Letting out a scream from the inexplicable pressure, the crow tribesman cried out.
At the same time, it guessed the source of this weight was Havel.
So it immediately raised its arm to swat him away.
Boom!
But the arm that bounced back was its own.
The crow tribesman panicked.
"Where do you think you're touching?"
Havel had simply raised his hand and smacked the arm aside.
"Can you understand our language?"
Right then, Havel posed the question.
The crow tribesman, visibly flustered, twitched its body.
Catching that reaction, Havel slowly smiled.
"It's humanoid, so I guess it understands just fine."
Realizing Havel was no ordinary foe, the crow tribesman's feathers began turning deathly pale.
"One of your kind captured someone I know."
Havel stepped forward to the front of its neck.
"Find that person for me, and I'll let you live."
Havel's eyes gleamed with ferocious light.
The killing intent pouring from them froze even the crow tribesman solid.
This one can kill me.
He was clearly different from the other runts.
The crow tribesman began nodding frantically.
As if to say it would do anything.
Seeing that, Havel hopped lightly down from its neck.
"Get up."
At Havel's command, it rose to its feet.
In the meantime, Pyod, Balop, and Owen were heading their way.
Balop and Owen gaped up at the crow tribesman.
With its body upright, it pierced straight through the clouds, nearly obscuring its own face.
"All done?"
Pyod asked, and Havel gave the crow tribesman's leg a couple of pats.
In response, it stretched out its arm and spread its hand wide.
An invitation to climb aboard.
Havel hopped on lightly, and Pyod followed suit.
"Damn thing's filthy huge."
Owen and Balop, meanwhile, climbed up with clear reluctance.
"I-If it just clenches that hand, what the hell happens to us?"
Balop asked in fear, prompting Havel to raise his own hand.
"Better than ending up in mine."
Balop shut his mouth and stopped whining.
"Now guide us."
Havel patted its palm as he spoke, and the crow tribesman unfurled its wings.
At that moment, its massive frame began lifting into the sky.
The sheer mass uprooted trees by the roots below, sending them flying.
"Eeeeeek!"
Balop tumbled about in the palm.
"Can't a wind mage handle a little gust?"
"This ain't the same as that at all!"
Havel shot him a pitiful look, and Balop screamed.
Owen and Pyod were holding steady just fine.
Only this guy making a scene.
Meanwhile, the crow tribesman climbed higher and higher.
Then, atop the clouds, another island came into view.
Unlike the one below, this one teemed with enormous trees and thick foliage.
Far larger than the old giant island.
"Th-this place has gotten bigger too."
Owen stared at the island in shock.
The 73rd floor had been cleared before.
So the crow island here on 73 was known.
Naturally, it hadn't been this size originally.
Owen was stunned to see it differ so much from the intel.
As the island drew nearer, the crow tribesman folded its wings.
It landed on the ground and peered down at Havel's group.
Thud!
At that instant, the crow ancestor's body began to shrink.
Everyone watched in astonishment.
Before long, the crow ancestor had dwindled to the size of a house.
Still plenty big.
But after that previous size, it looked downright tiny.
"It can shrink too?"
The crow tribesman nodded.
Looks like something changed because of me.
Gigantification or whatever got added.
"Guide us."
Havel jerked his chin, and the crow tribesman started moving again.
But plunging into foliage taller than any man, Havel managed fine— the rest struggled to keep up.
In the end, all four ended up riding its shoulder.
Balop wailed about falling, but aside from that, no issues.
The crow tribesman pressed onward steadily.
Having been cowed by Havel once, it obeyed without fuss.
"Calamity beasts crawling everywhere."
Even so, Pyod never let his guard down.
Calamity presences pulsed between every bush and tree.
Without this thing, they'd have been in for a fight.
Maybe have it drop us back there and come back after we scrap.
It was right then that Pyod felt a sudden chill.
"O-Over there!"
Balop pointed ahead and shouted.
And sure enough, a village came into view.
As if the primitive crow tribe talk wasn't exaggeration.
They lived in wooden houses built atop the trees, nest-like.
"In the Seventh Hierarchy, the Crow Era, civilization advances the higher you go."
Owen chimed in with extra details.
Hearing that, Havel slowly stroked his chin.
Then his face lit up with understanding.
"Ah."
"Realized something?"
Owen asked, catching Havel's reaction.
"The Seventh Hierarchy probably reflects what happens on lower floors to the ones above."
The crow ancestor on 72 used light, like the golden crow on 71.
And the crow tribesmen on 73 wielded the crow ancestor's gigantification.
Devonian flora to Mesozoic.
And now this forest.
That let Havel piece together the Crow Era's shape.
A hierarchy where lower-floor events echo upward, manifesting generations later on the next floor.
That was the Seventh Hierarchy, the Crow Era.
And that volcano-looking spot... no way.
Was the mountain where the crow ancestor crashed an active volcano?
Its impact might've triggered the eruption somehow.
"M-Makes sense!"
Owen's eyes went wide as he reacted.
No climber had ever influenced the floors themselves before.
But someone like Havel? Different story.
His heavy-handed impacts had revealed the hierarchy's true nature.
Realizing it, Owen's eyes gleamed behind his mask.
Graiza was an information family, after all.
"Then it's a problem."
Havel crossed his arms, eyeing the village.
"Whatever I do next could ridiculously reshape the floors above."
The three men's faces hardened at his words.
Havel was like a force of nature.
Everything he did upended the floors.
This one would end no different.
And if it rippled to the next...
Unimaginable chaos.
At the very least, the upper floors were guaranteed to go haywire as he climbed.
Havel crossed his arms.
He wasn't thrilled about the floors ramping up endlessly either.
Who knew what'd hit at 79.
No need to force the worst.
But he was a little curious too.
What final monster his meddling would spawn.
"Boss, h-how about we handle it!"
Balop blurted out.
He figured things could spiral beyond bearing.
Pyod just gave a hollow chuckle.
"Think that's possible?"
In the end, Havel stepping up was inevitable.
By then, they'd reached the village entrance.
Havel and the three hopped down from its shoulder.
"Caw."
The crow patted its pouch.
Meaning hide inside.
Seemed it wanted this over quick too.
Havel and the others slipped straight into the pouch.
"Ugh, what the hell is this smell?"
"Leather pouch made from animal guts."
Balop groaned, and Owen identified the material.
Meanwhile, the crow tribesman resumed its long strides.
The pouch jostled with each step, but nothing unbearable.
Through the pouch, faint glimpses of other crow tribesmen passed by.
None paid them any mind.
How long did it walk like that?
Finally, its legs came to a halt at one spot.
The pouch loosened slightly.
"Wait here."
Havel left the three behind and stepped out first.
There hung something like an iron cage.
Dense bars, like for caging birds.
A few human bones were visible inside.
And atop those bones.
A woman with her face buried in her knees.
Havel stared at her for a moment before speaking.
"Elasia."
At his call, her head snapped up.
Shock crossed her face, then tears welled in her eyes.
"H-Havel!"
Keeping her voice low, she scrambled to the bars.
She looked like she'd been stuck there a good long while.
The moment she saw Havel, tears and snot streamed down her face.
She'd thought she was done for.
Havel showing up felt like resurrection.
"Can we take this cage?"
Havel asked the crow tribesman.
"Caw."
It replied, flustering about—clearly impossible.
"Havel, this cage belongs to the crow tribe's chieftain."
Elasia pressed tight to the bars and quickly added.
"This tribesman says even it can't defy the chieftain."
Havel gave her an incredulous look.
"You speak crow too?"
"Of course—with translation magic. It conveys intent."
Such a thing existed?
Yeah, Elasia was way more useful than Balop.
"Fine. Then where's this chieftain?"
"Huh? At the chieftain's house, obviously?"
"Perfect."
Havel cracked his neck with a light roll.
"Crow, take me to the chieftain."
Elasia could wait—first, clear the floor.