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Join the ServerSilape’s gaze was drawn to the glass birds soaring into the sky.
The glass birds, created by ancient mages, sparkled in the light and put on a beautiful display.
[Wow! What are all these? They’re so shiny!]
But this was no time for admiration.
“Styles, hurry. We need to leave before they all gather.”
Those things were gathering to deal with them right now.
“Silape, get down.”
At Hay’s words, Silape folded their wings and lay flat on the ground.
Hay climbed on, with Renki following behind.
Silape caught a glass bird that was just wriggling, trying to take off, and seized it with a sharp front paw.
[It’s really small!]
The glass bird, with a body length of one meter and a wingspan one and a half times that, was certainly small next to Silape’s current size.
But once a thousand of them gathered, they could hardly be called small.
Then the glass bird struggled and pecked Silape’s front paw with its beak.
[What, this cheeky thing!]
Angered, Silape tore the bird’s head apart with their beak as if biting into prey.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t we leaving?”
Stan climbed on behind. He moved the compass magic circle to the top of Silape’s neck so Hay could see it easily, urging them on.
“Silape, run in the direction I tell you from now on.”
Silape tilted their head and looked back at Hay.
[Why? Not fighting?]
Silape seemed to want a fight. Hay frowned.
“Don’t talk back.”
[Fine, fine! Running is fun too!]
He turned to check Renki’s position.
“Renki, hold on tight to my bag. So you don’t fall off.”
“Yes, master.”
He’d worried Renki might be scared, but Renki’s face showed no sign of tension.
All the glass birds on the ground had woken up and were gathering in the sky.
They circled around in a whirlwind overhead.
“Silape, three o’clock.”
[Three o’clock… that’s right!]
Silape shouted in a cheerful voice, spread their wings, and pushed off.
The headless glass bird still held in their paw continued to squirm.
Silape tossed it away in annoyance, and the headless bird flew off, beating its wings hard to rejoin the flock.
The distance from Zenobia grew instantly.
Once all the glass birds had gathered, they turned and began to move.
Their direction was, naturally, toward Hay’s group. They closed in at a furious speed.
“Stan.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle the rear.”
Stan said calmly, then stood up, turning his back to Renki.
Even at high speed, Stan’s body didn’t so much as waver. His feet seemed glued to Silape’s back.
Hay faced forward again.
“Silape, two o’clock.”
A moment later, the glass birds charged in, folding their wings halfway as if to ram them.
Stan stretched one hand into the air.
Red light shot from his palm and blew up the approaching glass birds one by one.
They shattered easily under Stan’s magic.
But that didn’t harm the guardian in the slightest.
“Huh? Teacher, they’re recovering!”
As Renki said, the shattered bodies were restoring themselves.
Stan didn’t react.
“They always do that.”
With a bored expression, he extended his other hand. Explosions rang out in succession like a machine gun.
Judging that they couldn’t continue like this, a third of the glass birds descended beneath Silape and gathered.
“You handle that side.”
Stan said to Hay. The one who answered wasn’t Hay.
[Don’t worry!]
It was Silape.
As Silape kicked off against the air, dozens of
Some dodged. Others took the hits head-on and were shredded.
“Silape, nice one!”
Renki called out. Silape clearly felt proud of the praise. Hay kept his eyes on the compass, which was subtly changing direction.
“Twelve o’clock.”
“Can you go any faster?” Stan asked.
“Silape, can you?”
[Of course!]
Silape’s speed increased, throwing their bodies backward. Hay gritted his teeth and leaned forward.
Even Stan, who had been standing, seemed to struggle, dropping to one knee to lower his center of gravity.
The glass birds, which had been charging with their full bodies, seemed to decide this wouldn’t work. This time they kept their distance and formed an arrowhead shape. Then they all opened their mouths at once.
“What are they trying to do?” Renki asked. But Stan didn’t answer.
Without a word, he formed a hand seal, brought his hands together in front of him, stretched them out, then spread them apart. Thirteen small, round magic circles formed in the path of his hands, curving into a semicircle.
Light began to gather at the glass birds’ mouths.
The moment he realized it, light flashed and shot out.
Startled, Renki instinctively raised his arm to cover his face. But nothing happened.
The magic circles had absorbed the beams fired by the glass birds.
The thirteen magic circles Stan had spread glowed in the same colorless light as the birds’ attack. Then crimson mana lightning mixed in and shot back at the glass birds.
Those caught directly were destroyed and fell from the sky.
The birds clinging below Silape met the same fate.
As they opened their beaks to dodge the
[Agh! That scared me! Those things are real!]
“Shake them off.”
Hay said firmly. Silape seemed to think for a moment, then spoke.
[I’ve got an idea. Hold on tight!]
Then they shot straight up into the sky.
Hay felt his body being yanked back and grabbed the feathers tightly.
They were climbing vertically at a terrifying speed, but the glass birds followed.
“What are you going to do?”
Silape didn’t answer. Stan, gripping the feathers to keep from falling, kept up his defense against the beam attacks.
The higher they climbed, the harder it was to breathe. But that only lasted a moment. At a certain height, Silape flipped midair and turned their direction.
Toward the ground.
Soon, strong winds began to swirl around Silape’s body.
Hay understood what Silape intended to do.
Silape kicked off the air and charged at the glass birds with incredible speed.
The birds, caught off guard, scattered left and right.
Those that didn’t move away in time were sliced apart by the
[Yahoo!]
“Oh, clever one.”
Stan admitted in admiration, watching the shattered birds scrambling behind them.
It was similar to the technique Hay had used on Mount Senugel, when he wrapped his arm in wind blades to pierce the dark mage’s heart.
They broke through all the glass birds, but they hadn’t shaken off the guardian.
Silape didn’t slow their descent. The ground was getting closer. The glass birds gathered again and chased after Silape’s tail.
Stan dispelled the thirteen magic circles and formed a hand seal. For him to make a hand seal meant he was about to use something complex or overwhelmingly powerful.
A moment later, red sparks crackled around Stan’s body. He thrust both hands forward.
Kwagagagang!
A red lightning bolt flashed and struck the glass birds.
Pwaaat!
A thousand glass birds burst into powder and scattered.
Just before hitting the ground, Silape swerved and flew horizontally.
“That bought us time. Move fast!” Stan shouted.
“Silape, nine o’clock.”
[Got it!]
A snowy mountain came into view in the distance. Hay suddenly remembered that when they’d met Belgadon and separated, Renki had fallen alone in a snowy mountain.
“Do you see a portal?”
At Stan’s question, Hay’s eyes darted around, but nothing resembling a portal was nearby.
“No.”
“This is insane.” Stan clicked his tongue.
Sensing something ominous from Stan’s words, Hay looked back.
Far in the distance, a sparkling mass of light was gathering into one place. It was gathering at incredible speed.
The light was forming a head reminiscent of a white crow, then a neck, then wings.
A thousand birds were merging. Its size was as large as a fortress.
“Here comes the real deal.”
That was the true form of Zenobia.
The glass bird, which rapidly formed its body, legs, and enormous wings, opened its mouth.
Kiiiiiiii!
A bone-chilling screech, like nails scratching a chalkboard, slammed into their ears.
Then, from Zenobia’s mouth, shards of light burst out.
“Silape!”
[Already at full speed!]
Stan erected a barrier. But one attack shattered it.
The shockwave hammered through them.
Zenobia flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
It spread its two wings wide, and the entire wings glowed with light.
It was another beam attack. But the scale was overwhelmingly different from before.
Light shot out from both wings. That light tore through the forest below and came chasing after Silape at a terrifying speed. The forest was destroyed with a boom.
This was a disaster, plain and simple.
Stan sent down another bolt of lightning, but this time it only made things worse. His red lightning was swallowed into the beam and fired back out with it.
“Damn it!”
Stan cursed and shouted to Hay.
“Can’t you go any faster?!”
Then Renki tapped Hay on the shoulder and, reaching past him, pointed at a spot.
On the middle of the distant snowy mountain, something as small as an ant caught his eye.
It was a cabin.
Through the chimney of that cabin, something like a hole was visible.
They had found the portal.
Hay opened his mouth to call Silape.
[I know, Hay.]
Even without hearing him, Silape had already understood what he was going to say.
The cabin grew closer. Stan was preparing another attack.
Hay looked at the snow on the mountain and made up his mind.
“Nyx.”
On the ridge where Hay’s gaze fell, a dragon appeared.
“Block it.”
The snow on the mountain began to slide down like an avalanche.
As Nyx, sitting on the ridge, roared, the snow shot up into the sky.
A small portal was right before them. It was too small for Silape to pass through, not by any stretch.
Just as the portal and Silape were about to collide, Silape vanished.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the three grabbed one another’s wrists.
At the same time, the wall of snow Nyx had created collided with Zenobia’s colossal beam.
The entire area shook with the shockwave, and everything went white. But only for a moment.
Hay gasped at the pain in his back and the back of his head, then opened his eyes.
He saw the ceiling of a dark cavern.
“Ugh…”
Renki, lying on the ground beside him, groaned and pushed himself up. Stan, who had apparently bumped his head too, rose while clutching his forehead. The area was silent.
There was no Zenobia. The summoning of the spirits had also stopped. Hay let out a sigh and stood up.
They had arrived back at the underground cavern where they’d first started heading into the labyrinth.
Hay touched the lump on the back of his head and made a resolution.
“I’m never going back to Arcabia.”
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Crow's Golden Fragment! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Crow's Golden Fragment
