novelraw Chapter 68 : Chapter 68
Chapter 68 : Chapter 68
Chapter 68
The atmosphere grew heavy to a serious degree.
It naturally reminded me of the siege of Ahinlab.
The time when a desperate atmosphere prevailed just at the news that Odin might join the battle.
However, there were also differences from that time.
“What is the scale of the airship?”
“Have any named characters been observed?”
A barrage of questions was poured on Saev.
Everyone was not sinking into despair, anticipating defeat, but rather, because there was such a strong enemy, they were being more careful and prudent than usual.
It felt like that.
Perhaps it was because they were no longer beginners who had just been thrown into the battlefield, but had gained some experience and the scale of the units they led had also grown.
“The identified named character is the Leaping Spear, Hobelus. Only one. No other heroes have been identified.”
“…Only one? And if it's the Leaping Spear…. he should be a Level 4 hero?”
The murmuring grew louder.
It was a reaction of complete incomprehension.
It was true that Odin's heroes were overwhelmingly stronger than other heroes of the same level.
This was an undeniable fact, but a Level 4 hero could not exert enough power to single-handedly turn the tide of the battlefield in Stage 2, where Level 4 heroes were not uncommon.
It was natural to feel puzzled when they were told it was just one Level 4 hero, when they should be dispatching at least a Level 5 hero, or a squad of Level 3-4 heroes, to be sure of victory.
“I don't know the reason either. Odin is up to something…. I can only think of it that way. Oh, come to think of it, one hero from Rhodes was also observed, but…. as you know, Rhodes is not an opponent we need to be that wary of, compared to their reputation.”
Saev lowered his eyes and scratched his cheek.
It was an attitude that clearly showed he was annoyed to death by the current situation.
“Well…. It will work out somehow. If not, we can just give up on this week's Tet Island. His Majesty the Emperor will scold us, but it's better than dying. Well, since we have one more named character who has defeated Odin on our side, maybe things will work out well.”
At that moment, the commanders and their escorts all turned their gazes to me.
The gazes of dozens of pairs of eyes, mixed with various emotions, sent in a moment of carelessness, came as a considerable pressure.
Selina, who was leaning slightly to the side, smiled slyly and whispered to me.
“Everyone is counting on you, Rian.”
“I really hate this kind of thing.”
“What can you do? It's the fate of a named character.”
This is why I didn't want to become a named character.
Fortunately, the gazes soon turned away.
Because I wasn't the only named character here.
The meeting continued.
To be honest, it was all information I already knew, so I wasn't very focused.
Roughly, the map and environment of Tet Island, what to do after entering the island, how to deal with an encounter with an enemy or a monster, and so on.
It was more like a light explanation for the units that had joined for the first time, like Unit 917.
Saev, who had finished all the necessary explanations, yawned widely, unfazed by the pouring gazes.
He was a truly free person, who didn't care about dignity.
“Then, let's conclude the meeting here….”
Finally, Saev's gaze turned to me.
“I'm looking forward to it.”
* * *
“There are no signs of enemy ships in the vicinity. We can deploy at any time, shall I open the door?”
“Please do.”
Selina replied to the observer's words.
The observer, who nodded, sent a signal somewhere, and the door of the Ederca dock opened with a loud noise.
“Then, Unit 917. Deploying!”
At Selina's signal, the engine made a loud noise.
The airship rose into the air and departed towards the wide-open sky in front.
As I felt the wind blowing and looked around, I could see a few other airships that had decided to depart a little early, flying alongside Unit 917.
That sight soon became invisible as Unit 917's airship plunged into the clouds.
A short while later.
The sea of clouds, which seemed to go on forever, ended, and a vast sky was revealed.
And far away.
I saw a huge island floating on the sea of clouds.
“Wow…! That's the sky island, Tet…. This is the first time I'm seeing it with my own eyes.”
Even Selina, who had tried to maintain a composed demeanor as a commander, couldn't hold it in this time and let out an exclamation close to a scream, like a child.
Well.
How could a person not be moved by the sight of a huge island floating in the sky?
My heart also pounded a little, but.
Since I knew the truth about that island, I couldn't just be purely amazed.
The airship of Unit 917 approached the island.
However, it did not land.
To be precise, landing was impossible.
“Commander. The engine is reaching its limit.”
A crew member who had rushed over in a hurry briefed on the current state of the airship.
As he said, the airship's engine was currently emitting a louder noise than usual.
It meant it was overworking.
A peculiar mana wave was generated on Tet Island.
This wave, although weaker in intensity, was very similar in nature to the wave generated when an airship's engine was physically destroyed, as Ririsa had done before.
In other words, if exposed for a certain period of time, the engine would shut down, and the airship would plummet towards the distant ground, which was not even visible to the naked eye.
Of course, the engine could be reignited, but the waves generated on Tet Island were so frequent that a slight mistake could lead to a major disaster.
Therefore, when landing on Tet Island, a different method had to be used instead of an airship.
“Everyone, please put on your gear.”
I put on the gear that had been supplied in advance.
It looked like a simple backpack, but it was quite heavy.
This device, called the 'Fairy's Wings,' was a magical equipment with built-in levitation magic, and it was essential for activities on Tet Island.
When the device was activated, five blue circles appeared on both sides of the backpack with a light noise.
And my body lightly floated into the air.
“Whoa!”
Although still awkward, Ririsa and Lattia floated into the air, and lastly, although he made a mistake of dropping the engine output once, Mars succeeded in activating the device.
The problem was Byan and the other six.
“Uaaaaargh!”
“Kyaaa! What’s wrong with this?”
“It worked when we were practicing, why isn't it working now?”
There were those who briefly floated up and then crashed onto the deck, screaming as they hit their knees, those who couldn't control the output and flew straight forward, hitting their heads on the railing, and even those who couldn't fly up at all and just stomped their feet.
In the first place, the Fairy's Wings were difficult to handle.
The entire unit had practiced together for the past few days, but because the speed of gaining experience was different for each person, there were still only four people, including myself, who could use it in a real battle, albeit awkwardly.
“I'll go first. Don't try to follow me recklessly out of impatience, but follow after you've completely mastered it. Especially you, Byan.”
“…Yes.”
The thoroughly dejected Byan nodded his head.
“Don't worry. I'll train them perfectly.”
“…Selina. You’re the worst at it.”
“…Sob.”
At first, she had an image of being able to do anything, but somehow, her clumsy parts were becoming more noticeable.
“Let's go.”
As always, when I said let's do something, their gazes naturally fell on me.
I was used to it now.
Because I was the field commander.
Today too, I jumped into the sky ahead of anyone else.
Poof!
An ominous sound, as if something had exploded, came from the Fairy's Wings.
And my body, as if someone had pushed my back, flew towards Tet Island at high speed.
“…Oof.”
Unlike an airship, there was no magical correction for the headwind, so it was difficult to keep my eyes open.
I put on the goggles I had prepared in advance and began to seriously observe Tet Island in the distance.
Tet Island had a beautiful landscape, like a famous tourist destination.
A wide-open field, lush vegetation, high-soaring mountains, and a deep blue lake in the center of the island.
If you took a picture with a camera, a work of art that would receive a standing ovation would be born.
But just as a beautiful rose has thorns and a brightly colored animal or plant has a powerful poison.
This whole island was hostile to humans.
The ground was getting closer.
If I just bent my ankles slightly downwards, my toes would touch the ground.
“……”
A little curious, I lightly touched the ground with my foot.
Then, as if it had been waiting, the Eye that Seeks Truth was activated.
“…How terrifying.”
For a very short moment, even though I had just barely touched it with the tip of my foot, this was the reaction.
Furthermore, I even had the authority of poison resistance, so if this was the case, the other unit members would probably be poisoned as soon as they touched the ground.
A little later than me, the unit members arrived on the ground.
Because I had firmly told them beforehand that they should never touch the ground, the unit members who were looking at the ground swallowed their dry saliva.
“Be careful not to touch the ground by any chance. And as I've said several times, there are five energy packs that can be loaded onto the Fairy's Wings. One for each hour. You can fly for a total of five hours, and the energy consumption varies depending on the output, so always be careful.”
“Yes!”
“Especially you, Mars.”
“…Yes. Field commander.”
When I called his name, Mars answered in a low, heavy voice.
I stared at his face.
This was his first mission.
Although he was trying not to show it, he was clearly tense.
But for the sake of his family's well-being, he would not hesitate to jump into an even more dangerous place.
“Don't leave my side unless I give you a separate order.”
“Understood.”
“Then, let's start the briefing. Our objective is to hunt the lava beast that will appear in a few days, but…. there's something we have to do before that. As you know, our overall level is low compared to other units. I'm Level 2, and the rest are Level 1. So….”
“Kraaaaaah!”
As soon as my words ended, a loud roar was heard from afar.
Upon confirmation.
A monster was crawling out of the river flowing on the outskirts of the island.
Its overall appearance was like a catfish, but it had two long, thin arms, and inside its wide-open mouth, shark-like double rows of teeth were sparkling in the sunlight.
Its size was about twice that of the Labias Lizard I had fought before?
Perhaps because it was hungry, the creature was drooling and rushing towards us at high speed.
The fortunate thing was that its speed was not very fast.
There was time.
“Hmph!”
Ririsa covered her mouth, and Lattia squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away.
Mars was faithfully sticking to my side as I had ordered.
Perhaps I should be glad that he didn't run away after seeing that terrible monster.
“The target has appeared.”
“…Target?”
“The lava beast will appear in a few days. The reason we departed a few days early is to supplement our unit's low combat power, as I said earlier. This island has a variety of monsters. And due to the special environment of Tet Island, they have a mana core in their bodies. Our objective is to secure that and raise our levels by one before the lava beast appears.”
“That means….”
Lattia stared at the monster with a completely stiff face.
The monster, which had been steadily kicking off the ground, though not fast, had already reached close to us.
I drew my weapon.
The red blade of the Ella 7 Sword sparkled beautifully.
It was a shame that the first enemy to be cut was such a hideous monster, but it was definitely a good opportunity to test the performance of the Ella 7 Sword.
“I'm going first.”