Chapter 139
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Flame's Call (1)
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A sense of reluctance grew stronger with each step toward the final yellow flagpole.
The small log cabin in the clearing was the western outpost of the mountain patrol guards.
Makina stopped in front of the yellow flagpole from which wind spirits could be summoned and turned to face us.
She hugged each of us tightly, her face beaming with a wide smile.
"I'll miss you all."
Makina was smiling, but her voice was thick with regret.
Shuren hugged her back, looking disappointed as he spoke.
"It was reassuring having you lead the way, Makina."
"I'm glad to hear that."
Makina grinned brightly.
"If you pass through the Quint Mountains again, we might meet once more, right?"
I asked as she pulled me into her sturdy embrace.
Without her, we couldn't have crossed the mountains so quickly and safely.
"Of course," Makina replied, ruffling my hair completely.
"When you pass through next time, come find me. Just ask for the squad member stationed in the nearest village."
"How do you plan to get back to Outpost 5 from here? The sun will set soon."
The Silver Guard Knight shook hands with Makina. She chuckled.
"No need to worry. I know a ridiculously fast shortcut from here. I've got to hurry back and take Sir Gordon and Fren to Kopet."
"My apologies for the needless concern. Please take good care of them."
"You all be careful on the road ahead."
With that, Makina looked at each of us one by one.
Even Ashy sat quietly by my side, as if expressing its gratitude to her.
"I'll never forget what you did here. When you pass through the mountains next time, look forward to it. I'll spread the word everywhere, exaggerating it wildly. It'll be a blast!"
Makina laughed as she said it.
We were quite flustered, unsure if she was joking or serious.
"Ah, that might be a bit..."
"Please refrain from spreading strange rumors."
Even as the Silver Guard Knight spoke sternly, Makina wasn't really listening. She shooed us away.
"Feira is straight down this path. When you reach the river, just follow it upstream. Hurry now. You'll arrive right around sunset."
"...Understood. Thank you, Makina."
The Silver Guard Knight gave a brief farewell and turned toward the path. We waved to Makina as we followed.
She kept waving until we were out of sight.
We pressed on without rest along the path Makina had shown us.
The ground was soft and damp, dotted with massive ancient trees whose roots ran deep.
The roar of a massive waterfall echoed from not far away. The river was drawing near.
"Makina really is an amazing person."
Shuren said suddenly.
"Finding paths is basic for her, but spotting magical beasts, tree fruits, plants, and animals—that's impressive too."
I nodded quietly in agreement.
The Silver Guard Knight now led the way instead of Makina. The mood was calm and quiet, unlike when she was with us.
"Makina's ability to detect enemies is astonishing. She said she blends with nature and uses all her senses... I couldn't quite understand it."
"That's so like Makina."
I burst out laughing. She would have grinned shamelessly and said exactly that.
"That Minos earlier. She said the tree giant startled her big time. How does she even spot things like that?"
Wedin let out a deep sigh. He still got heart palpitations thinking about it.
Ilenia giggled beside him.
"Minos often disguises itself as trees, but for a magical beast, it's pretty docile. It doesn't attack even if people get close. But once your eyes meet, it seems to recognize you."
"Haa, maybe it's just my imagination, but the ground feels like it's shaking again..."
As Wedin said, I felt the ground trembling too.
At first, I thought it was dizziness from fatigue, but the trees and earth around us were shaking too much to dismiss it.
I wasn't the only one who noticed. Shuren and Ilenia lowered their stances, faces tense.
"Everyone, stay alert."
No sooner had the Silver Guard Knight spoken than a massive thud shook our entire bodies.
"Uwaaaah, what now?!"
Wedin screamed and grabbed my arm.
Looking back, a long crack was forming along the path we'd taken.
"L-Look at that!"
Wedin yelled, pointing at the path behind us.
Kurrrr...
At the end of the crack, a massive tree giant was rising to its full height.
Red eyes carved into the trunk pillar gleamed, and thick wooden roots crawled from the earth in the shape of a human body.
The trunk alone was two stories tall, but as it stood upright, it loomed dizzyingly high, forcing us to crane our necks.
A dark shadow fell over our heads.
"Minos...! Wedin, no more mentioning magical beasts from now on!"
Shuren shouted, raising his sword.
"My fault!?"
Wedin protested indignantly but drew his sword too.
Feira wasn't far, but we had no choice but to fight here.
I sighed and pulled out my staff. Ashy assumed a battle stance as well.
Fortunately, the Minos moved very slowly, taking a long time to raise its roots and steady itself, shaking the surrounding ground.
Its massive fist of wood and stone was intimidating just to look at.
The Silver Guard Knight drew his sword and issued orders.
"Don't bunch up—spread out. Its attacks are slow, but it shakes the ground, so be careful. Ilenia, use fire cautiously."
"Yes!"
Ilenia shouted and charged straight at the Minos's front.
The Silver Guard Knight sent Shuren that way and circled to the Minos's rear with Ashy.
He ordered Wedin and me to stay back, watch from afar, and join later.
He feared we'd get caught in the Minos's wide-ranging attacks.
Wedin gripped his sword with both hands, tense, standing in front of me.
I could hear him muttering worriedly about how to take it down while eyeing its movements.
Unlike his concerns, Ilenia and Shuren moved without hesitation.
They climbed the slow-moving thick roots, then severed the wooden vines wrapped around the pillar in one go.
As the vines snapped off, its slow movements grew even slower. Entwined branches crashed down noisily.
The Silver Guard Knight and Ashy employed the same strategy from the opposite side.
The Silver Guard Knight cut the thick vines controlling its movements, while Ashy nimbly climbed its arm to the top, aiming to bite through the vines covering its face.
Grooo...
The Minos staggered, bending its knees, and the ground shook violently.
Nearby trees swayed, and embedded rocks tilted as if about to be uprooted.
Then.
"Let us lend a hand!"
An unfamiliar voice came from behind us, and burly red-haired mercenaries suddenly appeared.
"Wh-Wha...!?"
"Let's go! Burn it all down!"
While we blinked in confusion, the mercenaries charged at the Minos, weapons raised.
The six mercenaries wielded greatswords, longswords, axes, and spears—various arms—and scattered around the Minos in an instant.
"Haaah!"
Bang!
A red-haired man with a greatsword bellowed and slammed his blade into the pillar.
A crack spiderwebbed through it with a screech, but the sword went no deeper.
The man grinned and fiddled with something attached to the sword's hilt.
Click. A small metal device activated, and fierce red flames erupted from the blade.
Whoosh!
The Minos's torso was engulfed in flames in an instant.
"Fall back!"
Despite his surprise at the mercenaries' intervention, the Silver Guard Knight ordered Shuren and Ilenia to keep their distance.
Ashy, clinging to the Minos's head, also retreated.
As soon as Ashy pulled back, the flames raced up to the head.
"Ugh!"
Wedin and I covered our faces and retreated as the fire spread right to our noses.
The scorching heat rapidly warmed the air. Even our faces burned.
Aaaah...
The Minos thrashed in the inferno.
Ignoring the spreading flames, the mercenaries plunged in, burning, slashing, and smashing the giant tree.
A female axe-wielder hacked relentlessly at its head, while others wielded flaming swords to persistently sever and incinerate its limbs.
These were the fire Arbat mercenaries...
They donned flames like armor, growing stronger amid the blaze.
"Ugh, the fire's spreading."
Wedin grabbed me and retreated further.
The flames on the Minos leaped uncontrollably to the surrounding brush and trees.
Acidic smoke billowed, making it harder to breathe.
If we didn't extinguish it soon, the whole forest would turn to ash.
I tightened my grip on my staff, planning to conjure water to suppress the blaze.
Gather mana into the staff... No, wait.
This would require massive mana. Using imperial magic to form a water core...
"Danger!"
Wedin shouted sharply and shoved me back. I hadn't even begun gathering mana.
A large burning tree was toppling toward us.
"Wedin!"
"Uwak!"
Wedin screamed and thrust out his arm.
Just before the flaming tree crushed us, a bluish ice barrier formed in front of him.
The ice shield spewed steam violently and shattered along with the burning tree.
"Ah, w-we're alive."
My legs gave out from shock, and I collapsed on the spot.
The Blue Spring gauntlets he always wore had reflexively created the ice barrier.
The tree that nearly hit us lay charred, spewing thick smoke as it rolled nearby.
"Liberic, Wedin! We're getting out of here!"
The Silver Guard Knight and Ashy returned to us from an unburned area.
The Minos was already half-ash, but the flames continued ravaging the surrounding forest.
I helped the seated Wedin to his feet and fled the fire with the Silver Guard Knight and Ashy.
Fortunately, the riverbank was nearby, and the damp gravel halted the flames' advance.
Only after reaching the gravel did we gasp for breath, looking back at the forest in anguish as the fire dominated it.
Shuren and Ilenia came dashing through the flames.
Ilenia, trailing at the rear, reached back to control the blaze somehow, but she only pushed back the flickering inferno a little.
"Brother, over here!"
I called to Shuren and waved.
"Ughhh!"
"Hurry, Shuren!"
Shuren barely leaped to the riverbank, with Ilenia close behind.
Both their faces were flushed red.
"Argh, what the hell, seriously."
Upon reaching the bank, Shuren splashed his face with the cold river water. He washed his arms too; the hem of his clothes was slightly singed.
Ilenia caught her breath and stared at the still-burning forest.
Black smoke rose endlessly into the sky, accompanied by the successive crashes of falling trees.
We had to do something before the forest became total rubble.
"What now, Silver Guard Knight? Should I use magic...?"
"No, don't push yourself. Even magic won't be easy."
I sighed.
He was right. Quelling such a vast, uncontrollable blaze would be tough even borrowing a dragon's power.
"Wow, what a spectacle!"
A voice utterly opposite to our worry rang out from the flames.
It was the mercenaries who'd torched the Minos.