novelraw Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Ch.11 Flare!
Pulling the trigger as I gaze at the faintly flickering red eyes in the darkness.
—Grrrgh!
—Kieeeek!
As monsters fall one by one with screams, Leah lifts her thumb in admiration and smiles brightly.
“Master, your magic is always amazing, no matter how many times I see it.”
But it’s not magic.
Could it be because people here have never seen modern human weapons—guns?
Whenever they see Equality, everyone mistakes it for a magic wand.
Well, if they want to think that, fine by me…but still.
There are times when they completely mistake me for a grand sorcerer.
That’s why I shrugged my shoulders and replied,
“It’s nothing special.”
Actually, it really isn’t anything special.
All you have to do is pull the trigger, and Equality unleashes ‘Instant Death Attack’, Destiny’s highest damage attack—it’s ridiculously overpowered.
It’s a conceptual item designed to kill even the strongest terrestrial creature, the dragon, in one shot—excluding the Demon King or the King of the Dead.
—Whoosh! Swish! Thud!
I deliberately hooked my finger around the trigger, spun it around playfully, then swiftly slid it back into the holster at my waist.
“Waaah!”
—Clap clap!
The only one who ever compliments my solo-practiced moves—hoping others might find them cool—is my disciple.
“But Master… how much longer do we have to go?”
“Hmm? We’re on the second floor now.”
This place has three floors.
“Probably soon?”
I said that while walking ahead, looking at the corpses of monsters.
Monsters resembling a mix between lizards and humans, and rat monsters about the size of a child, lay limp and bleeding—not a pleasant sight.
And the air here is stuffy too.
Turning left at the fork, I saw stone stairs descending underground.
“Master, over there. I see stairs.”
She pointed at the stone stairs with her finger.
“We’ve finally arrived.”
Saying that, I took out my pocket watch from my coat and checked the time.
Has it been about four hours?
Outside, the sun is slowly setting.
“Master, shall we head up now? It’s probably getting very dark outside.”
To that, I shook my head.
The first two floors are complicated mazes, but the third floor only requires defeating the boss mob, so it’s not particularly difficult.
“No, the next floor is the end.”
Honestly, leaving now wouldn’t be a problem, but I’d rather not come back here tomorrow—it’s too bothersome.
I have no desire to revisit this gloomy, dark place.
—Thud… thud…
Our footsteps echoing on the stone floor made me tense.
This isn’t a game—it’s reality.
In games, boss mobs wait for players right in the center of the field, but reality doesn’t work that way, does it?
The boss mob might attack us as we descend the stairs, so naturally, I was on high alert.
Fortunately, the situation I feared didn’t occur.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we saw a large bone tinged with cream color.
A neatly restored fossil of a giant Pterosaur, and behind it, a magnificent altar exuding a murky aura.
This is exactly like the game.
While I was thinking that—
—Kiiieek!
A loud scream filled the entire field.
Then came the boss’s entrance: thick bones rose into the air one by one, snapping together.
—Clack! Crunch!
Along with grotesque sounds.
Watching large hip bones, long leg bones, and small hand bones assemble into a single form, Leah muttered,
“Is this a dark magic spell?”
Dark magic is the type used to create liches or dark knights.
Of course, that magic isn’t actually dark magic—but for someone who only knows the main story centered on the Old Continent, feeling that way isn’t unreasonable.
Soon, a majestic skull attached itself to the neck vertebrae, and red lights flashed brightly within the eye sockets of the skeleton.
Those eerie glowing eyes met mine.
—Bang!
—Kieeeek!
—Crash…
With a single shot from Equality, the Pterosaur let out a grotesque cry and shattered into bones, scattering everywhere.
“Not much of anything, really.”
Watching the Pterosaur’s pitifully underwhelming exit after such a dramatic entrance, I felt a bit sorry for it.
Someone must have spent a long time carefully crafting it—they probably never expected it to vanish the moment it appeared.
Actually, in this place, the undead Pterosaur used to be quite annoying.
With its swift flight, sharp fangs and claws, and poison, it tormented players as a boss mob—but…
In front of Equality, it’s no different from a regular mob.
“Master… that magic really is broken.”
Leah, reacting in her familiar pattern.
To that, I shrugged my shoulders.
“What can I do? I’m just a genius.”
Genius? Hardly—I can’t even sense magic.
But saying that in front of my disciple would be embarrassing, so I acted shamelessly instead, causing Leah to look at me with half-lidded eyes.
“What? What’s with that look?”
Leah didn’t say anything in response to my question.
Feeling awkward, I headed toward the altar.
If my memory serves me right, there’s a Phoenix Egg there.
Even in DLCs like ‘Dragon War’ or ‘King of the Dead’, which were updated after defeating the Demon King, this pet is considered the strongest among pets.
It’s my first time seeing it in real life.
Standing before the altar with a fluttering heart… I saw a small red egg, about the size of a chicken egg.
“This is… a Phoenix Egg?”
Gently lifting the egg—which looked very similar to the eggs I used to eat at home—Leah curiously approached me.
“Master? What is that?”
Answering Leah’s question while examining the egg, I said,
“It’s a Phoenix Egg.”
To my words, Leah asked in a surprised voice,
“A Phoenix? Does such a thing really exist?”
“Yeah.”
In this world, the Phoenix is regarded as a creature only found in legends.
A legendary bird born from fire and never dying.
It must be astonishing for her to see the egg of such a bird.
“So then, how do we hatch it?”
To her question, I replied,
“How to hatch it? Since it’s a Phoenix Egg, you have to put it in fire.”
Leah gave me a disapproving look, as if I were saying something foolish.
She cast a suspicious glance at me.
“Master… you’re not pretending to know when you actually don’t, are you?”
But it really does need to be placed in fire.
According to Destiny’s legends, the Phoenix is a mystical creature born from scorching flames and lives eternally.
Maybe that’s why Phoenix Eggs hatch when placed in fire.
Of course, it’s not just any ordinary campfire—the fire must be extremely hot.
The easiest method would be to place it in a blacksmith’s furnace, but we have Leah, the strongest fire mage, right here.
Thinking I could hatch it immediately, I said,
“Let’s head up first.”
Heading back outside the way we came, it was already pitch-black night.
“Uuugh!”
Leah, stepping out of the dungeon, stretched with a strange groan.
“Master, let’s hurry to the beach. People must be waiting for us.”
To that, I nodded.
“Yeah, we should.”
No need to revive it right this moment.
No point in playing with fire in the middle of the jungle.
Heading toward the campsite with Leah…
—Whoosh~!
Only an empty, desolate beach greeted us.
“Where… did everyone go?”
“Uh… yeah?”
But there was no one there.
***
Meanwhile, at that moment.
Cecilia couldn’t fall asleep even late into the night.
Hans, the man she loved.
The news that he had departed for the distant New Continent.
That news pierced her heart, and she ended up crying.
She is now suffering from lovesickness.
‘Why… why did you leave without saying anything to me?’
During the time Hans traveled back to the capital after defeating the Demon King, he likely didn’t know where she was.
Of course, for Hans, a veteran player, predicting Cecilia’s location would be as easy as flipping his palm.
“No matter how you look at it… didn’t you even have time to wait for me?”
She spoke aloud to the empty air, lamenting—but no one here could answer her.
He was probably somewhere far out at sea.
Thinking of her lover, endlessly sorrowful, she reminisced about him.
Kind-hearted, gentle Priest Hans.
Of course, Hans isn’t actually kind or gentle—but Cecilia has no way of knowing that.
In truth, the one who genuinely deserves to be called kind and pure-hearted is Cecilia, the saint.
Because she is so kind-hearted, even now—with her heart aching—she still thinks positively of Hans.
‘There must be a reason.’
She believes there must be a reason he couldn’t wait for her.
Though her mind understands this, her heart still feels as if it’s being torn apart.
Because even now, with her chest hurting, she still loves Hans deeply.
Unable to hold back her sorrowful emotions, Cecilia.
A single tear streamed down her beautiful blue eyes, tracing her cheek.
—Sniff…
Lying on her pillow with a stuffy nose…
—Hic…
She soaked her pillow with tears.
She, who cannot forget Hans like this.
Anyone who saw her would surely call her the epitome of devoted love.
But…
I’m deeply curious what expression she’d make if she found out Hans is a legendary womanizer who seduced all members of the Hero party.
***
The next morning, after all the sailors had disappeared.
Watching the sea as dawn broke, Leah muttered to herself,
“Hmm… I guess a rescue ship must have passed by.”
To her words, I nodded.
“Probably?”
Though most footprints had been washed away by the receding tide, the remaining ones all pointed toward the beach—Leah and I easily deduced what happened.
Naturally—if they hadn’t all intended to drown themselves by walking into the sea, they must have boarded a rescue ship.
After all, this area sees frequent ship traffic.
It’s also close to the New Continent.
“Master, what should we do?”
Unlike my relaxed demeanor, Leah’s face showed clear anxiety.
Another ship would pass by soon.
I, who had played the game—
“Don’t worry, quite a few fishing boats pass through here too.”
I said that casually, digging into the sandy beach with my hands, while Leah replied gloomily,
“How am I supposed to know when that’ll be? Being so relaxed… Master, what are you doing?”
“Oh? I’m going to hatch the Phoenix Egg.”
Since hatching the Phoenix Egg requires powerful fire magic, I’m digging a pit to prevent the fire from spreading to the surroundings.
“What does hatching the egg have to do with digging a hole?”
Leah frowned deeply, clearly displeased with my actions.
I explained to her,
“Phoenixes are born from extremely hot flames. Normally, the mother hatches the egg with her own flames—but we don’t have a mother Phoenix, so we need to recreate a similar environment.”
“So why dig a hole?”
“Well, just watch and see.”
To prevent the egg—about the size of a chicken egg—from being lost amid powerful magic, I need to dig a hole like this.
It’s a Phoenix Egg I worked hard to obtain—I can’t afford to lose it.
After digging to a certain depth, I heard Leah’s quiet sigh as she watched me silently.
“Master, aren’t you anxious? We might be stuck here for the rest of our lives.”
To that, I shook my head.
“Not anxious at all.”
There’s food and fresh water here.
Most things necessary for survival are available.
Even if Leah panics and struggles, it won’t change much.
Rather than stressing out like Leah, I plan to treat this as a vacation spot and relax until a ship arrives.
As I continued digging, Leah said doubtfully,
“Master… aren’t you digging too deep?”
To that, I replied,
“I need this depth to cast Flare.”
“What?! You’re going to use the Flare spell?”
“Yeah. Anything less won’t be enough to hatch it.”
Since Phoenixes are absolutely immune to fire, anything less intense won’t work.
That’s why mother Phoenixes incubate their eggs for so long—
Until their intense heat awakens their chicks…
But with Leah’s fixed damage, it won’t break, right?
I was slightly worried Leah’s hidden trait might crack the egg, but since I’ve used Leah to hatch eggs multiple times in the Destiny game, it probably won’t break.
“Well, this should be enough.”
Placing the egg in the center of a 1m x 1m x 1m pit, I stood beside Leah and said,
“Leah, cast the Flare spell toward that egg.”
To my words, Leah replied with a bewildered expression,
“Are you serious? The egg might break!”
To the frightened-looking Leah, I grinned and said,
“It won’t break. Don’t worry.”
“Ugh… really. If it breaks, it’s not my fault.”
Leah drew her magic wand from midair.
As she aimed the tip of her wand at the small red egg in the pit, her red hair swayed gently.
The heat haze of magic emanating from her body shimmered visibly.
And then…
“Flare!”
—Whoosh.
A small glowing orb formed inside the pit.
It quickly drew in surrounding air, growing larger…
—Kwaaang!
With a tremendous explosion, crimson light engulfed the surroundings.
Then, a warm wind violently swept across the nearby sand.
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