Chapter 126
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Hunt (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone was looking at me with puzzled expressions.
"Um, everyone knows this is an artificially created dragon vein, right?"
"I've heard of it."
Shuren said that, but Wedin looked utterly lost just from the word "dragon vein," his face paling.
This guy must have at least taken Intro to Magic as a general ed course. Has he forgotten it all already?
"Dragon veins are basically rich in mana and have few interfering factors, so you can freely experiment with all sorts of magic. Remember how Miles from the Elgrace branch made that labyrinth?"
"Yeah. It had physically impossible structures."
The Silver Guard Knight nodded.
"That's the case here too. The cave we passed through earlier was made that way."
Even after my explanation, no one could hide their confusion. I felt a bit flustered.
Ilennia spun around, taking in our surroundings.
"Hmm, I don't get it. So this snowy forest is an illusion...?"
"The cave was a labyrinth warped by magic."
"Even that cave wasn't real?"
The Silver Guard Knight caught on quickest.
I nodded yes and took a step forward onto the snowfield.
Each footfall crunched softly, sending a cold, fluffy sensation through my boots.
An illusion this convincing...
"All I was blocking was the illusion. That's why I didn't notice the distorted space. So, it's like a labyrinth like the one Miles made... overlaid with an illusion."
I tried to explain it simply for the group, who still looked baffled.
"Imagine corridors and rooms tangled in physically impossible ways, and every time you open a door, the scenery around you changes."
"That's terrifying. And we're in a place like that?"
Shuren finally seemed to get it. I gave a wry smile.
"It probably wasn't like this from the start."
The Silver Guard Knight, lost in thought, let out a hum.
"The Elgrace branch labyrinth could only be navigated to the destination by someone with the Silver Moon Knights' emblem. Is this the same?"
Excellent question. I took a short breath.
"That's the thing—the 'Silver Moon Knights' emblem' was the condition for reaching the destination in Elgrace. Here, the condition is... a bit more blatant."
I looked down at my hand. A faint tremor wouldn't stop.
I wondered if it was the cold, but even burying it in my warm clothes didn't help.
And the lingering metallic tang of blood in my mouth...
"What is it?"
"'Mage,' probably."
I said, gazing toward the end of the snowfield.
"Someone's been calling me since earlier. Telling me to 'come down...'"
We pressed on through the snow without hesitation, our footprints marking the pristine white expanse.
"Fren went down because of this pull too."
I couldn't gauge direction or path, but I believed going this way would lead us below.
A belief even I couldn't explain.
"A pull... huh."
The Silver Guard Knight sounded worried but followed as I led the way.
"I don't know if this is a good idea."
He muttered tensely right beside me.
When I said I was being summoned, he immediately argued we should head out. It was obviously a trap—going in was too dangerous.
But I already knew deep in my bones that it was too late.
Turning back in this endless snowfield meant nothing. We'd just loop around the same spot, like Ilennia's fireball flying straight.
When I explained that to Shuren, he couldn't argue anymore.
"It's the only thing we can do."
Wasn't it always like that? Everything that brought me here left no other choices.
Shuren, who'd stuck with me this far, knew it well.
So he sighed, pressed close to my side, scanned our surroundings vigilantly, and matched my pace.
"Doesn't feel like we're going down..."
Ilennia hugged her arms, shivering faintly. Even borrowing fire's power, she struggled against the cold.
"The temperature is definitely dropping."
Tiny scales on the Silver Guard Knight's nape gleamed an intense blue.
I didn't know his exact technique, but he seemed to be circulating his own mana to regulate his body heat.
"We're close."
No sooner had I spoken than Ash, walking right beside us, puffed up his silver fur.
Woooooo...
"Ugh."
I clutched one ear and crouched low. The vibration rattled not just my head but my whole body—I couldn't stand.
The snowfield, blanketed in white, took on a bluish tint as it shook.
I barely lifted my head to the sky. Between the trees, a piercing blue moon emerged.
The moon vibrated the sky, the air, the forest, emitting an eerie howl...
"Moon's howl!"
The Silver Guard Knight shouted urgently, yanking my hood over my head.
My moonstruck gaze was suddenly blocked.
I gripped the hood's edge, pressing it down firmly to cling to sanity.
The droning wind and moon's howl drowned out nearly everything else.
I heard the Silver Guard Knight yelling to the others, felt someone sprinting, shaking the ground.
"A-Ash?"
I gasped, groping blindly for Ash. He was right there, surely.
Rough fur brushed my fingertips...
'Liberic!'
Ash's cry hit as agony exploded in my left arm. Before I could scream, something yanked me backward.
My vision spun wildly. I swallowed hard, tumbling across the snow several times.
Through my half-slipped hood, I saw silver-gleaming Ash biting Shaika's scruff and ripping it off me.
"Aghhh..."
Only then did the groan escape.
Shaika's long, sharp fangs had nearly torn through my left arm's upper section. Red blood sprayed in a long arc across the snow.
In the onslaught of cold and searing pain, I clutched my arm and staggered to my feet.
At least the pain kept me alert, even as the moon howled and the sky reeled.
As the moon howled, three or four more Shaika appeared at once.
The Silver Guard Knight, hooded up, barely coped with close attackers. Ilennia guarded his side, hurling flames at the Shaika.
Shuren and Wedin were thrown into chaos by the sudden assault.
Shuren drew his sword, barely blocking a Shaika's strike, while Wedin just clutched his sword and curled up.
I wanted to help them, but my vision kept tilting. The piercing blue snowfield spun dizzily before me.
The Shaika shook off Ash and rose.
Ash rolled a few times before regaining his stance, but dark blood oozed from wounds across his body.
Shaaak!
The Shaika glared at me with crimson eyes. This one had a crystal embedded in its head.
It seemed to hold a serious grudge against me.
Black smoke rose from the ground under its paws, coiling around its legs and tail.
Not mere smoke—corrupted mana. It was mutating again.
Even the blue crystal in its head shifted to red...
The moment I locked eyes on that sinister red glow, the Shaika vanished.
I whipped up my staff without a breath to spare.
Thud!
Its fangs slammed into my reflexive barrier right at my nose.
"Urk!"
The force sent me tumbling two full rolls backward.
I shattered the barrier and fired a crystal just before it broke, but the Shaika twisted away effortlessly and vanished again.
Every glance at my deeply gashed left arm brought waves of near-fainting pain.
I hadn't even stood fully when Ash dashed up, planted paws on my head and back, and leaped skyward.
Breath caught in my throat for an instant. I looked up to see the airborne Shaika collide with Ash and careen toward a tree.
Its legs and belly fully blackened, the Shaika shook its head and corrected its posture.
"Too fast..."
Blocking with barriers was all I could manage.
Even then, I couldn't fully absorb the force—my stance crumbled instantly.
And the moon's howl persisted.
Ash lowered into position before me, baring teeth at the Shaika.
Ash had to be struggling against the howl too, yet he held on.
I needed to end this quick.
'That one's reeking of blood.'
"Ash, let's try that."
Ash moved the instant I spoke.
I took deep breaths, fighting to stay clear-headed. My mind kept shaking—it was no easy task.
Ash pursued the Shaika, striking. When it broke free and lunged at me, I blocked with a barrier.
I'd been waiting for this attack. This time, I didn't get flung back far.
I focused mana at my staff's tip and swung at the Shaika right in front of me.
It reflexively twisted away, but its red eyes widened in surprise.
"Should've kept your distance."
As I muttered, it vanished again.
The black aura grew stronger. Dark traces lingered on the snow where it disappeared.
Ash swiftly gave chase.
I stood firm, barrier ready, waiting for the Shaika's strike.
Or Ash's signal.
Shaika and Ash twisted through snow and trees, appearing and vanishing amid snarls and clashes.
I sensed Ash leaping as needed.
Chasing by scent, the Shaika's pungent blood stench was a perfect beacon for Ash.
Their forms halted atop a snowdrift, quite a distance away.
Shaaaak!
Ash bit the crystal in the Shaika's head and twisted. It let out a agonized shriek.
Our eyes met—Aash's signal. I'd been waiting.
I yanked Ash's mana toward me. My body lurched powerfully in response.
...The next instant, I was above the Shaika's head.
Shak!
As it twisted in shock at seeing me, I plunged my staff—now sprouting blue crystals—into its torso.
Pop-pop-pop!
Blue crystals erupted from its body, spearing upward in unison.
Taller than trees, they engulfed the Shaika completely.
The magical beast's eyes bulged, motionless. The black mana clinging to it dispersed into the snow with its blood.
"...Well done, Ash."
'Not a bad combo.'
Ash shook himself off as he spoke.
I chuckled, releasing the crystal magic around my staff.
Our grueling experiments with Ash back at the Elgrace branch hadn't been wasted. I'd learned to hijack his leaps to any spot I wanted.
While I handled one Shaika, the Silver Guard Knight had slain three, and Ilennia with Shuren had charred two to lumps.
Even Wedin had just finished off one.