2
Standing atop Ishka’s towering castle walls and looking down, I saw three figures spewed out from the castle gate, heading straight north.
It was none other than the infamous trio from Onigashima. Klimt and Goz’s injuries had been healed by Iria and Priestess Sarah’s magic. They had also drunk health potions, so they should be fine for immediate combat.
Klimt, having recovered from his injuries, clearly looked displeased with the role assigned to them, but he didn’t openly complain. Perhaps he thought it couldn’t be helped since it was Shiba’s order, or maybe his sister’s persuasion worked — surely, the fact that he was secretly blushing while looking at Priestess Sarah had nothing to do with it?
Anyway, the trio would serve as a shield to prevent the magical beasts from running amok, just as I had planned. Three Onigashima Knights — there couldn’t be better reinforcements. Things were going well outside of Ishka.
On the other hand, inside Ishka, things were not going according to plan at all.
Not a single clan member followed my instructions to “flee.”
Luna Maria was going around treating people injured in the chaos of the city. If there were rioters or looters, she was actively maintaining order by subduing them.
“Master. For our clan to become a trusted clan, we must work especially hard in times of crisis like this.”
The Elven sage’s statement was correct. There was no room for argument.
However, I originally created the clan as a dig at the Adventurers’ Guild. In a situation where not just the guild but Ishka itself might disappear, I have no desire to focus on improving the clan’s status.
And this should have been unnecessary to tell Luna Maria. After all, she’s a founding member of the clan. She knows better than anyone that I have no attachment or sentiment towards this clan.
Nevertheless, she deliberately mentioned our clan and decided to stay in Ishka. When I asked about the true meaning behind this decision, I still can’t fathom the meaning behind Luna Maria’s bitter smile.
Next is Miroslav, who was also working hard to quell the chaos in the city, just like Luna Maria.
The red-haired magician, who had been half-dead due to self-destruct magic, had her life saved by my blood and the combined recovery magic of Iria and Priestess Sarah. After that, Miroslav guzzled down her stock of health potions and immediately sprang into action.
“It’s my duty to protect the alliance in the leader’s absence. I can’t disgrace myself by being defeated once and running away the second time.”
As Miroslav declared this forcefully, the beastman Seal nodded vigorously beside her, showing her agreement.
Although not as severe as Miroslav’s, Seal’s wounds from being cut by Kuraia while protecting Suzume were also deep. Even though the wounds themselves had been sealed by Priestess Sarah, the blood lost doesn’t return immediately. She should have been resting for a while, but Seal, following Miroslav’s example, guzzled down health potions and forced herself to work.
Seal herself said that she couldn’t leisurely sleep when Miroslav, who had been more severely injured than herself, was moving around as if nothing had happened.
That’s how all the injured were behaving. Needless to say, Suzume, who had been protected by them, took similar action.
Although the fear of being attacked by the Onigashima trio probably hasn’t faded yet, Suzume is desperately helping Miroslav and Seal. The reason she’s helping these two is undoubtedly to be prepared in case their conditions suddenly change due to their severe injuries.
She seemed to be worrying about being the cause of the attack, so I told her there was no need to worry, but I wonder how effective my words were. I’m not very confident in my own reassurance.
If I had a little more time, I could have sat down and talked properly, but now, time is what we lack most.
As for Priestess Sarah and her daughter Iria, I feel responsible for bringing them at the worst possible timing. It should be my duty to escort them to a safe place, but again, there wasn’t enough time — well, even before that, this mother and daughter pair weren’t trying to leave Ishka either.
By the way, my face is now covered with a white cloth from the nose down. This mask covering my nose and mouth is a measure against Hydra’s death poison, and it was made by Priestess Sarah.
Of course, simply wrapping a piece of cloth wouldn’t be very effective. This cloth is holy fabric — woven with thread made using holy water — and carries the blessing of the God of Law.
“I don’t know how effective it will be against an incurable poison that even corrupts the earth. But it should be far better than facing it without any protection,”
said Priestess Sarah, whose robe was missing a large part of its sleeve. When she learned that I was going to challenge Hydra, the priestess quickly cut off part of her robe and sewed it into a mask.
Incidentally, Iria, who had been watching the whole process, was silently looking up at the sky, so I assume Priestess Sarah’s robe was quite a valuable item.
— Honestly, I sighed weakly.
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All I can do is devour. Trying to fight for someone or protect someone — such thoughts don’t work out well for me. I learned that all too well in my battle with Goz.
And yet, why does this feeling of “I can’t lose” keep growing stronger? According to the original plan, I should have been able to fight more… lightly, I suppose.
Thinking about such things, I once again looked northward from atop the castle wall.
A vermilion giant tower rises towards the sky from the Tittis Forest. Depending on how you look at it, [that] which could be mistaken for a gigantic tree was actually a massive tornado.
From this vantage point, it only appears to be about the width of a fist, but considering the distance between Ishka and the deep zone, the area affected by the tornado is wide enough to easily swallow up the entire city of Ishka.
Such a vast expanse of earth, trees, water, all swirling upwards towards the sky. Surely, the animals and magical beasts living there must be caught up in it too. I speculated that the crimson hue was not only due to the color of the deep soil but also mixed with the blood of countless creatures.
“A disaster that has gained flesh and blood, huh? How aptly put.”
It was clear that this anomaly was caused by a mythical species.
At this rate, we couldn’t even approach it, let alone subjugate it. Even if we surrounded it with a million troops, they would be blown into the sky and annihilated as soon as they got close.
Was Hydra intentionally deploying a barrier, or was the earth itself screaming in response to the presence of a mythical species?
Either way, its presence was incomparable to any magical beast I had fought before. It was fitting for the mythical species that reigned supreme, standing at the pinnacle of dragonkind.
And yet, I felt no fear. On the contrary, every fiber of my being trembled, crying out. Demanding that I devour it.
Pushed by that voice, I silently leapt from the castle wall.
In the next moment, I found myself on Clau Solas’s saddle. The blue-scaled winged beast soared vigorously into the sky.
“Let’s go, Clau Solas.”
Clau Solas responded with an energetic “Pwee!”
Originally, winged beasts were dragon’s kin. I thought it might resist fighting Hydra, a dragon species, or at least show fear.
But Clau Solas showed no such signs. It followed my orders with a resolute attitude, charging straight towards the crimson tornado.
I smiled wryly on Clau Solas’s saddle.
It seemed I had misjudged many things, from Clau Solas to my clan members. I vowed to myself to be more observant of my surroundings from now on.
While I was pondering this, Clau Solas was rapidly approaching our destination.
Along the way, we spotted several types of flying magical beasts, but none dared to challenge Clau Solas. Even magical beasts wouldn’t survive if caught in the tornado. The beasts frantically flapping their wings had no time to bother with us.
By the time we passed the outskirts of Tittis and entered the deep zone, even these aerial magical beasts had disappeared.
Instead, a reddish-purple dust obscured our vision. Soil whipped up by the mythical species’ magical power was raining down from above.
Probably, this gravel contained Hydra’s poison too. Clau Solas was flying with a wind barrier, so there were no abnormalities so far, but it surely wouldn’t end well if we plunged into the center of the tornado.
Thinking it was about time to dismount from Clau Solas, I pulled the reins. Sensing its rider’s intention, Clau Solas let out a powerful roar.
“Pweeee!”
“Hmm, can you do it?”
“Pwgi!”
“Alright then, let’s dive into the tornado together!”
As I said this and lightly stroked its back, Clau Solas happily flapped its wings with force. Then, without slowing down, it plunged into the tornado.
Instantly, a sharp pain pierced my inner ears. The roaring sound of wind. Earth and trees defying gravity, swirling upwards from below.
If the world were to end, perhaps it would look something like this. I could feel Clau Solas desperately controlling its body to avoid being swallowed by the air currents inside the tornado.
Now visibility was near zero, and due to the turbulence, we couldn’t even tell if we were flying straight. We might crash into the ground at this rate, but our destination should be right ahead—just as I thought this, as if someone had read my mind, the view cleared. The inside of the tornado wasn’t as turbulent as the outside.
And there, just as I had predicted, [it] was.
It was the embodiment of the world’s principles, bearing the name of illusion
The aberration of Kamishiro with eight heads, eight tails, and a blood-soaked body
Its eyes, red with hatred, pregnant with hostility towards all living things
Its flowing blood like corpse poison, corroding even heaven and earth
The manifestation of impurity, the incarnation of nine aspects, the poison king that denies immortality
Its name was Hydra.
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