[Side story] Chasing butterflies (10)
To go to the right mountain, you have to cross the sea.
It is because Aken Island used to be one large island, but now it has been divided into two large lines and several small rocky islands.
Of course, there is no way that a proper dock will remain. There was no choice but to use space magic or flight magic to get over it, but both of them consumed a lot of mana.
Even if it could handle the consumption of magical energy, the airspace around Aken Island was all within the domain of the spirits handled by Jenika Failover. Going across the sky without any cover was like asking me to die.
Still, I had to. Lucy had reasons for that.
“Anyway, the section where you have to fly is not that long. In the meantime, Elvira and I will assist. However, after moving to the northern island, you will have to act completely alone.”
Clevius, facing the exit, spoke to Lucy.
“On the way to the north coast, the survivors who have the remaining combat power will gather and escort you. Until then, save your mana as much as possible.”
Clevius no longer stuttered, nor did he look around in fear.
The responsibility that has been buried on his shoulders for a long time has made him a full-fledged warrior.
In front of the exit to the groundwater.
Here, the combatants selected from among the survivors, as well as Clevius, Elvira, and Lortel, were present.
“I can’t follow.”
Lortel spoke so calmly.
He must remain here and command the remaining group of survivors. The Soul Library is the last bastion of survivors on the island of Aken.
If even this place is discovered by the spirits, there really will be no life left on this island.
“I say goodbye here. Whether the outcome is good or bad.”
“… … .”
“Nice to meet you, Lucy.”
In the end, Lortel didn’t ask about the Ed Lucy knew.
like that’s right
It was a figure worthy of being evaluated as a female iron-blooded woman who maintained her sanity under any circumstances, but rather, her composure seemed to wrap around Lortel’s mind like a spell.
Although sometimes you have to be in grief and despair and know how to complain and lament.
The human heart is overtrained in all sorts of trials, and when the calluses wear off… He even forgot how to loosen up.
“Lortel, you… .”
“I will survive.”
Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. Whether it’s vengeance or a desire for a simple life.
“Come to think of it, you don’t know. As for senior Ed, he left a will in a letter from prison before he passed away. It’s like saying goodbye to the people around you one last time.”
“… … .”
“It contained a lot of stories, but the bottom line was to survive somehow.”
He must have left a will for Yenika. It’s probably a similar story.
However, according to the explanation I heard from Lortel, Lucy here died before Ed.
so… There was no way he would have left a will for Lucy.
“I agree with senior Ed’s wishes. We must survive.”
“… … .”
“Of course, the situation is not very good right now… In any case, if you persevere, you can endure at least three more years. There are materials like that.”
People’s minds are drained, and the situation doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Even so, Lortel never gives up her aspirations for life.
“I just wanted to tell you the story. It’s a story that I’m holding on well.”
Lortel just said that and kept her mouth shut.
Lucy stayed still for a moment with her eyes closed, then turned around.
If you leave the underground waterway, you will find Aken Island where the spirits are rampaging.
First, cross the forest in the north and go to the seaside, then use the flying magic to get to Mount Orn.
From there, he reaches the top of Mount Orne, penetrates Yenika, uses the remains of Tyrcalax at the Altar of Altar to draw out Aspect Magic, and reaches out to Ed, who is searching for Lucy.
It was an impossible plan, but Lucy didn’t hesitate.
Watching Lucy and the escort quietly go outside, the survivors in the underground canal quietly prayed.
Please, I just hoped that all these disasters could end.
* * *
“The northern forest is where spirits are most active. It’s best not to come near the line, but at this point it would be more dangerous to turn around and go somewhere else.”
The northern forest is so wide that it takes too long to go back. It would have been better to cross the shortest distance.
“Until we reach the northern coast, save your magic power.”
Along with Elvira, the combatants of the survivors did not all look good.
I’ve been living life repeatedly for years in such extreme conditions, but there’s no way I can demonstrate my full strength.
The opponents are the spirits who are receiving an infinite supply of magical energy from Jenika, who holds the heart of Velbrok.
If you go to a long-term battle, you will surely be overpowered.
The party held their breath as they pulled out of the canal and ran across the northern woods.
I had to avoid provoking the spirits as much as possible.
– Saaak.
The shortest route through the northern forest.
It was a road that Lucy had traveled often during her school days, so it was familiar enough in her eyes. However, he was subtly different from the familiar scenery of the gloomy vegetation. The traces of the years subtly changed the landscape of the forest.
Clevius runs out in the front line, looking around, followed by Lucy, Elvira, and about a dozen other combatants moving through the forest.
Each member of the party was paying close attention and looking around. Lucy couldn’t understand the feeling, but he was breaking out in a cold sweat as if his life was in danger.
It seemed that the existence of the spirits roaming the island was already imprinted as a feared object among the party.
And, the fact that the border wasn’t just floating around was quickly proven.
-Woe!
―Kaaaaaaaaagh!
Dozens of spirits twisted into grotesque shapes covered the sky.
When they found those who dared to cross the northern forest, which was the home of the spirits, they let out a distorted scream in anger.
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The spirits who were playing in the forest with Yenika rushed at the party with bad breath and ominous eyes.
“Prepare for battle!”
As Elvira commanded and shouted, the combatants all pulled out their equipment and wrinkled their faces.
The fire spirit in the form of a giant mole spews flames, and the whole area starts to burn. The spirits in the form of bluish pterodactyls landed on the ground, snatched up several combatants with their big feet, and flew into the sky.
“Quaaaaaagh!”
With a scream of pain, one combatant is hijacked into the air, while the other shows no sign of despair.
It was the expression of someone who had already lost a friend many times. Lucy quickly tried to gather magic into his fingertips, but Elvira snatched Lucy’s wrist.
“I told you. You have to conserve your magic.”
“… … .”
A colleague has just been caught by a pterosaur and sent flying into the air. It seems obvious that he will be scratched by his toenails and either bleed to death or fall to his death.
Even so, Elvira inevitably gnashed her teeth and prevented Lucy’s intervention.
For the current band of survivors, Lucy is the only hope that might help them out of this hopeless situation. We must never forget that the party’s purpose is to bring Lucy to Mount Orn while preserving her power as much as possible.
―Quaang!
I heard something like an explosion in the front row.
However, it is not the sound of an explosion. Surprisingly, it was the sound of a sword strike.
Drunk with the flow of blood, Clevius’ sword strike was indistinguishable from a huge cannonball. It has enough power to leave huge traces in the area with one sword strike.
“Whoop, whoop… .”
Clevius’ thick breathing sank into the forest’s dirt floor. Blood flows from Clevius, who stabbed himself in the shoulder.
Lucy Meiril has had a head-to-head fight with Clevius, who was completely bloodstained.
Of course, I couldn’t even reach Lucy’s toes… The explosive power itself had to be acknowledged.
The current Clevius… Compared to that time, he handled the blood test much more skillfully. He doesn’t do things like getting drunk with blood and devastating the whole area, nor cutting off all the lives he encounters.
Nevertheless, overcoming blood is not an easy task in itself.
Clevius held onto his reason with difficulty, and drew the sword from his shoulder again. A line of fresh blood splatters, and when you look up at the sky, you can see spirits full of spirits all over the world.
Clevius, who risked his life to demonstrate blood swordsmanship to the limit, has the physical ability to fight one-on-one with high-ranking spirits.
However, the limit is clear in front of pure volume. Since it uses one’s own blood as a sacrifice to demonstrate one’s abilities, the biggest drawback of blood swordsmanship is that it eventually self-destructs in a long-term war of attrition.
And in the war of attrition, starting with quantity, it is impossible to beat Jenica Fail Rover.
“Clevius is five minutes long at best.”
Elvira understands the power of Clevius better than anyone else.
At this point, I immediately realized the meaning of Clevius’ blood test.
“Lucy, you can’t fight here. While Clevius blocks, we have to run.”
Lucy looked for a moment at Elvira, who had a stern expression on her face. I’m not the type to swallow dry saliva or break out in a cold sweat.
Still, I clearly understand the seriousness of the situation.
―Quaaaaang!
A blade filled with bloody magic pierced the sky.
Dozens of spirits become corpses and fall down, but before long, new spirits rise up and fill the sky in the northern forest.
Elvira grabbed Lucy’s wrist and ran into the northern forest.
It was not an open road, but a direction that cut through the middle of a forest full of grass. Some of my friends tried to catch up.
At this point, it was correct that Elvira moved separately from Lucy. All the members have to do is draw attention from here so that Lucy can head to the North Island.
So Lucy ran through the woods with Elvira for a while.
The sight of the northern woods he looked at as he ran and ran was, of course, very different from what Lucy had known.
The forest road outside the northern forest had been completely burned, and it had become a landscape that could not even be called a forest.
Merilda’s guardian tree in the central lake also has a bare branch.
and… If you run and run further north like that… Finally, the familiar scenery emerges.
“… … .”
Cabin, campfire and lumber shed.
Standing shabby in front of it… timber shelter.
A man who started survival activities in this camp made the first woodwork.
And, once Lucy’s favorite nap spot.
It was unbelievable that it was preserved as it was. There was such an uproar, how could that shabby camp maintain its original shape?
It was the moment Lucy turned her gaze towards the camp like that.
“That camp… You can’t even go near it.”
As they gazed at the landscape of the camp, which was still far away, Elvira pulled Lucy’s hand again.
“It is a sanctuary among sanctuaries that is always protected by the strongest spirits. The number of survivors who lost their lives after trespassing in there is in double digits.”
“… … .”
“It could be better. If you avoid that area and go back, the rest of the area will only have spirits that you can manage to deal with.”
Continuing to cross the grass, Elvira gritted her teeth and spoke.
“Listen, Lucy. This is an era where many people have lost.”
What is lost is lost. These are the words that Lucy has carved into his heart, but despite this, the pain never goes away.
“Everyone who joins the survivors is a precious lover, friend, family… They are lost no matter what. In that sense, I am relatively lucky.”
“… Any luck?”
“okay. I haven’t lost my Clevius.”
Is it because Clevius himself isn’t here?
Elvira talked about her feelings without adding or subtracting.
“That alone is enough to be thankful for. However, Clevius risked his life for this. He cares too much unnecessarily, and he has a strange sense of duty to save all survivors.”
Looking up, in the sky above the northern forest, I could see the figure of a sword demon wielding a sword and running through the gaps among the spirits. He was already bleeding profusely.
“You know what that means?”
“… … .”
“If I lose Clevius because of this, I will be no better than Lortel. I am… It is absolutely unacceptable to indulge in such sorrow and grief.”
That would never be possible in Lortel’s presence.
However, there are no words like this to convince Lucy of the sincerity of the situation.
Lucy is… This is because she knows better than anyone how much Elvira cares for Cleviers.
“I hate to lose Clevius. therefore… Please do your best… . I have no one else to lean on except you.”
“I can’t be 100% sure that everything will work out.”
“know. But, like I said, you are the only person I can put my hope on.”
Elvira stopped running through the woods, then stopped and looked back at Lucy.
Lucy also stopped and stared blankly at Elvira.
Exhausted from running through the forest, only the sound of heavy breathing came and went for a while.
“It’s the forest exit soon. When the cliff area comes out, you have to cross over to the right mountain on your own. I’ll assist you while flying through the sky. We can block the approach of the spirits for a while.”
“Can you guys wrap up your work and go back to the Soul Library?”
“… You should try it.”
Elvira rolled her arms and laughed hard. She looked pretty confident for what she was forced to do.
“A fair amount of spirits… can block it Not yet.”
Saying so… The two ran out of the woods.
Quite a few spirits could block it.
Elvira’s words, saying that, would not have been bluffing. In the first place, since she was a student at the Sylvania Academy, she has been quite skilled, and thanks to years of training in such extreme conditions, her combat skills have become quite outstanding.
Even if it wasn’t as much as Clevius using blood swordsmanship, Elvira’s strength would be much more helpful than gathering dozens of idiots.
Nevertheless, the world is full of exceptions.
– Woo woo woo woo.
When you hear it for the first time, it is difficult to determine clearly what it is.
However, Lucy, who had heard the sound several times, knew it.
Yenica Failover is an opponent that should never be turned into an enemy. An incident that made everyone in the bachelor realize that fact. Because everyone had confirmed the majesty of the highest rank spirit that covered the entire school.
Could it be because Elvira and Clevius were caught exploring the Trix Hall?
Or was it because Jenika noticed Lucy’s existence, albeit vaguely?
I would never have seen it normally… The appearance of that gigantic spirit… As soon as I came out of the northern forest, it was filling up the scenery beyond the cliff area.
– Woo woo woo woo woo.
You might mistake it for the sound of a boat horn coming from a huge ship.
However, it is the cry of a spirit.
Swallowed by madness, completely tainted by berserk magic… It was the cry of the gigantic highest spirit.
The highest level water spirit ‘Friede’ is… It is like a corps commander who appears leading an army of thousands of spirits.
– Hwaaaaaaa.
―Chwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Let’s lift the huge body from the sea, huge waves hit the cliff area.
The shape of the huge whale is also different from what Lucy knew.
There are a lot of strange patterns of berserk magic engraved here and there, and the eyes are covered with eerie, red eyes.
An ominous dark red magic energy covers the entire area, and thousands of flying spirits that appeared with Friede fly towards the whole area of Mount Orn.
The waves that covered the area were blocked by Lucy, who quickly raised her magical powers. A huge reef that was swept away hit the defense magic circle, but somehow it was able to block it.
Just appearing is a huge disaster. The highest level spirit was such an existence.
* * *
“Lucy!”
In the shock of the crashing waves, Elvira shouted.
“You have to go over before you fully manifest! If that highest level spirit takes over the area, we can’t do anything!”
I don’t know why Friede has manifested at this point.
Jenika, who wanted to leave this island of Aken as a sanctuary, would not want to damage the area with such an unnecessary shock.
Just by summoning Theorpis in anger, the whole area of Mount Orn was covered in volcanic ash.
I thought I wouldn’t make that mistake twice… .
“Go now! I’ll try to make it harder to detect your magic power!”
Elvira exclaimed. Perhaps he intended to attract Friede’s attention by using all the magical engineering supplies and reagents he had here.
Doesn’t that mean death soon?
Lucy stared at Elvira for a moment.
But Elvira clenched her teeth and cried out.
“Don’t worry, that’s what the aristocrat who died and couldn’t live like that said. I am quite sympathetic.”
“… … .”
“I will survive.”
Many people have died in this world.
In the end, those who were holding their breath until the end were only those who were dotted with the will to survive.
Elvira was no different.
There is not much time. The highest ranking spirit, Friede, cannot be summoned so easily, even if it is Jenika who holds the heart of Velbrok.
You must cross the island before the process is completely finished.
Lucy gritted her teeth and nodded as she wrapped the flying magic around her body.
Even after using the middle level magic fifteen times, the mana is insufficient. Advanced magic such as flying magic cannot be used for a long time.
Still, Lucy pulled out her magic power as much as possible and flew low while sticking to the surface of the sea as much as possible.
The wind blew his collar and the brim of his hat fluttered.
While I was crossing over to the northern island with my hat on tight, a huge radiance emanated from the cliff area where Elvira was. It was unknown what kind of magic it was, but due to that, all the spirits in the area focused their attention on it.
Several lower spirits quickly checked Lucy flying low, but Lucy was able to subdue it without difficulty.
As it is, it blows elemental magic and subdues several spirits, and eventually arrives at the coastal zone of the opposite island.
―Quagagagagak!
I couldn’t control my power properly because I was flying in a hurry, so I rolled on the sandy beach a few times.
Lucy stood up without a change in her expression and brushed off the sand.
And I look up at the half-destroyed Mt. All kinds of berserk spirits roamed around the mountain and guarded it.
It’s a terrifying sight that makes your body tremble just by looking at it, but Lucy shakes off all tension with just a quick sigh.
Then, he drew out his mana in earnest, wrapped himself around his body, and started running toward the top of the mountain.
* * *
-Wow.
At the end of the century, it was a landscape that could be seen as itself.
If you climb the right mountain, you can see the panoramic view of Aken Island.
―Quaang! Kwakwang!
―Quagagagagak!
If you run up the mountain while overpowering the spirits, and look back once in a while, the scenery you see in the distance is all terrible.
There are no more traces of the sword demon that ran rampant around the northern forest.
In the middle of the forest, covered in blood and collapsed… It is not difficult to imagine Clevius looking up at the horde of spirits that constantly flock to him.
The magic of the brilliance that filled the cliff area is no longer visible.
It is not difficult to imagine the figure of an alchemist standing alone at the edge of a cliff, facing Friede’s ominous eyes.
Even the group of spirits… It was rushing to the edge of the entrance to the underground waterway.
The back of Lortel, who leads a group of survivors and goes deeper into the research facility left behind by Professor Glast… imagined enough.
It’s a terrible world.
I didn’t want to know the existence of such a world.
Even so, it was a world that could come.
What did Ed Rosteylor’s absence mean?
He was always by my side like everyday.
His existence, sighing and stroking Lucy’s head as if pressing down on her head as she flirted on her lap… How much does the truth mean?
Lucy realizes it without difficulty.
I miss Ed Rosteyler. I naturally feel that way.
If I ever see him again, I’ll embrace him as if I’m about to jump into his arms without showing any respect for myself.
How fortunate I am to have you in my life.
How big of a void your absence has come. Even if it was embarrassing words, I just wanted to explain each phrase.
Thank you for being alive.
Your life was dotted with thorny roads, and trials that made you want to give up on life came to you dozens of times.
Nevertheless, you were alive. She gritted her teeth and survived, remaining as the meaning of life for an empty girl named Lucy.
To survive, for Ed himself, it was just something he had to do as a matter of course, like breathing.
However, for a girl named Lucy Meiril, what a great salvation and hope it was in itself… It’s clear that Ed himself doesn’t know.
So, Lucy just wanted to convey that short word. As he ran up the mountain with his wounded body, he kept thinking about it.
If I ever meet Ed again, I decided to tell you.
thank you for being alive I missed you.
-Quaang! Fire!
Breathing out, Lucy climbs and climbs toward the top of the right mountain.
That way, Lucy finally reaches the top of the mountain.
You can see the ruins you saw during the freshmen’s placement test, and when you go deep inside… You can see the ‘Altar of Grinding’ along with a huge tombstone.
A large sized Altar of Grinding.
There, a mortician honoring Ed’s death… He was raising his prayers toward the empty night sky.
