The Book Of Flowers
Goeitias, Continent of the Monsters
a few hours later, Goeitias---
In essence, everyone would now go towards Miralius. My friends, the Dark Elves, and the entire Black Hunt. We were forced to leave the ship abandoned first, hiding its existence with magic and a cave to ensure that no one could detect and steal it
This journey was very quiet, making everyone's hair goosebumps with a high level of alertness. Some who felt uncomfortable even began to open up the conversation
"So... What is your relationship exactly?"
Fyon and I turned our heads to Cyth
"We're enemies" Fyon said
I just nodded in agreement while giving him a tense look
"By the way, why do we just walk if we want to hurry?" Ask Cyth again
"Shut your mouth and help me keep an eye on the surroundings" Fyon replied in an annoyed tone, before he got an idea. "Second thoughts, shout as loud as possible and be the bait for us" he added
"Haha. I'm stupid, but not stupid and crazy like you" Cyth replied while letting out a sarcastic tone
Cyth and Fyon immediately attacked like dogs and were ready to bite each other's necks
I just sighed while all my friends put on a tired look
We have to accelerate our path because there is no such thing as a rest stop on the continent this season
Goeitias, the continent of monsters. The continent most had never been visited by any race other than monsters and Elves
Almost every corner of this place dubbed the largest continent, was filled with monsters. If for a second we loosen our surveillance, those monsters will pounce and finish us off in no time
It's already night time. Monsters will usually roam a lot at this time of day, especially in forest areas. Worse, we are now exactly in such an area—trying to walk as quietly as possible
But we've been walking for 2 hours, and not a single monster showed me his nose
I should be grateful, but the absence of monsters at a time like this also made me very suspicious
It was likely that something happened to them between them was hibernating because of the winter, or that something was keeping them from showing up
Both are probably the biggest. Only a few types of monsters are hibernating in winter. The rest will certainly roam around looking for prey like wild animals to eat
"Luna" Call me
Luna turned her head towards me, but was still careful with Verdea's movements that were inside her carriage— planted half her face from a slight fear with this silent atmosphere
Luna looked at me as if she was waiting for orders. But the order does not exist at all
"... I'm just making sure you're doing it"
He smiled and then nodded slowly
It would be better if we could get to Miralius quickly. Fyon and the Dark Elves army would be of great help to pass through dangerous areas of the continent
...
What do you think of when you celebrate the new year in Miralius, huh...?
I know it's his choice, but I hope he's not disappointed...
*sruk!*
Fyon blocked my steps while looking alert because of that voice
Without speaking any further, I immediately knew what was happening and directly told everyone who had come along to shut up and hide
Not forgetting, I erased the traces of all of us who were on the snow with my magic
An animal-like sound was heard in the midst of our silence. To see what that voice was, I took my head out a little to peek
...
Blacker. Huge. Horrifically. His fangs looked sparkling, as if they were daggers that were always well sharpened. The body is like a wolf, but many times larger
It's Direwolf. One of the worst monsters we could encounter on this continent
They were not far away with wolves in their form, but they had a very extraordinary intelligence. It was very far away when compared to ordinary wolves
They will usually lurk like this in individual form. But when they find prey, they will howl to signal their flock
The worst thing was that their howls were so loud that they would most likely attract other monsters here. And they will be happy to use every monster available to start their real hunt for prey
If we tried to fight them blatantly, it would be tantamount to suicide
The higher-ups and I alone can indeed survive, but people who do not have high-level magical abilities will find it very difficult to survive against them
I don't want their blood spilled like that. We have to hide from the monsters this night
The direwolf kept looking around. But we all remained silent without a sound, not a word
He then went past our place
I immediately heaved a sigh of relief when I saw his departure. Especially when the sound of the monster's legs subsided and moved away, so that everyone could feel calm
*...!*
It's just...
I had to stop expecting too much, when there was that bastard witch trailing us
He had just done something, and my eyes were wide open when I realized the Direwolf was starting to move strangely from a distance
"RUN!" I shouted
Everyone was immediately shocked to hear my screams, but they immediately followed him. We took a detour to escape without a second thought
Not long ago, the Direwolf who was closest to us just now immediately howled to call out to his flock
"Why are you yelling!?" Ivor said
"Somebody put black magic on that monster!"
Yep. Not wrong anymore. The dark sensation as they passed through the air was impossible to go wrong. It was definitely black magic
The person who did the magic didn't even try to hide it from me. That black witch must be the culprit
And just as I thought so, a voice echoed throughout the forest
"Haha! Run on! Run like a hunted pig! I've directed every monster in the forest to you~! So, please enjoy it and give me an interesting show!"
The voice ended with a terrifying cynical laugh
Crazy psycho! I already knew he did it!
And as he said, I could hear not only a few monsters chasing us. I suspect there are dozens of monsters in this place, and he sent them all. The flapping of wings, the sound of steps and even the distinctive sound of every kind of monster that was chasing us made me suspect that there were hundreds chasing us
He's been over! If I meet Rosalia later, I'll make that guy and his rotten follower pay!
I have to do something!
"Keep running!"
I stopped my steps and faced backwards as all my friends continued to run
They all looked back and looked like they wanted to help me, but I shouted once more
"DON'T MIND ME! CONTINUE ON!"
But Luna actually stopped for a moment and immediately tried to get to me as fast as possible—even far away handed Verdea to Ivor immediately
As long as he did, I began to breathe in as deeply as possible to calm myself down. The monsters had already started to approach and were clearly visible in the middle of the night through my eyes
This will be the first time I use my Mana Spout after such a long time
I spread many seeds of plants I made from my own body to the ground in front of me
Then, I placed both my hands on the ground and prepared to endure the pain as strongly as possible
One. Two. Three. Get started!
The mana in my body instantly scattered to and fro and began to be absorbed by those seeds in a very short time
Almost in an instant, a thorny plant appeared and formed a long and tall wall that covered the path of the monsters that were chasing us. Even some of them were pierced by the plants I had forced to grow
My body was immediately limp as if there were many thorns stuck all over. Fortunately Luna thought of running back, so she immediately lifted me on her back and took me running with the others
This ability doesn't drain my Mana, but it keeps a lot of my Mana out at one time. That's why it hurts so much because I have to force it with all my might
"Luna's... Throw this away if you need to..."
I can't lift my hand that still hurts. Luna looked at him and then picked up the seed I was holding
"You can't possibly do it anymore"
"Hehe... I'm healing fast... Not like you..."
Luna just put on a worried face and riled while continuing to focus on running
"Vainzel's! Vainzels!" Verdea's screams rang out all over the forest
He must be agitated by this situation. That's why I asked Luna to speed up her run
Huh... I want to return the boy's screams. But my throat hurts too
We also caught up with them. They stopped to wait for us
As my eyes searched for Verdea, I found her crying and started running towards me after Ivor had taken her down because he had to
"Just calm... Forward... Run..." I said
Verdea still looked unsettled as she clutched onto Luna's shirt. It's because he saw me in pain on our friend's back
But, Luna repeated my words out loud to all of them. Ivor immediately held Verdea again, even though the boy insisted on staying near me. He even shouted and grimaced loudly again, trying to grab me with his hand despite knowing it would not arrive
"I'll run beside them. Don't worry" Ivor said slowly to convince Verdea
He stopped struggling, but instead more and more grimaced in fear as we continued our escape
And the one thing I was afraid of was, the wall was not high enough to hinder a monster that could fly
Just as I was thinking about my fear, 3 giant bat-shaped Athol—monsters came from above us and tried to block the way
The giant bat monster roared towards us, but Fyon and Ivor instantly got rid of them quickly
"THE MONSTERS ARE GETTING MORE AND MORE!!" Shouted Veskal and Luxor who were panicking while running in fear
They looked up at the sky behind us and saw a lot of Athol hordes coming towards us from a distance
"Moreover your steps!" Cyth shouted from a distance to direct his crew, even though the man himself was sweating coldly
Her...
Waitaminute! He has been running since! How far would he run?!
"CAPTAIN!!!" All the crew members shouted in panic
We all just kept running to make sure nothing happened to him
"I'm not paid for this! My beloved! Get that monster away from me!"
"Stop humming and keep your mouth shut, you fucking Sailor!" Shouted Ivor annoyed
"Captain! Wait!" Veskal shouted while accelerating his run
Fyon shook his head and looked extremely annoyed
"All troops! Throw your blast magic into the sky behind!" Fyon's orders
All the members of the Dark Elves army who were with us instantly cast explosive magic. Before long, the magic was thrown and caused a fireworks-like explosion in the sky
The Athols immediately wavered and crashed into each other to avoid the magic attack. Some were even hit and died instantly
But not everything falls. Some managed to dodge it and continued chasing us from behind
"Luna..."
"Yes, I know!"
He was focused. Focus on saying a few prayers, while I was recovering that time trying to hold on tightly to him who raised his right hand
"Archyon temesh iyor. Daos Myste Wenset, Asterionen!"
The instant he finished saying the prayer, an arrow-shaped weapon appeared and was fully formed in his hand. An arrow made of silver wood and carved with purplish gems.
He began to pray again and this time a luminous purple-colored arrow appeared in his other hand. The gun is ready to be fired
His body twisted against all those monsters, but continued to run forward while aiming towards the sky behind
After successfully focusing on his target, he let the arrow fly. One arrow was glowing in the air, and it split itself into hundreds of arrows that instantly killed all the remaining Athols by raining down on them
Luna immediately gave a look like she was disappointed in the direction of her shot
"My ability's declining..." Luna said slowly
You mean the arrow that hits all its targets means that your abilities are declining?
Waw...
"YAHHHH!! Close your eyes! There's a Basilisk!" Shouted Cyth, far ahead of us
Haaah... That guy again...
I instantly used my magic and used a tree to search for the existence of that creature and Cyth
And through the tree, I could see the body of a basilisk chasing Cyth who ran in the rain
I quickly ordered the tree to tie up the Basilisk and stabbed its eyes into a hole
The tree crazily caught the Basilisk and tied it. It only took a split second when he fell and the tree pierced both of his eyeballs using his other roots
The basilisk thrashed in pain. His actions only aggravated his wound and left him dead after a while due to heavy blood loss
Cyth stopped immediately and tried to take a breath as we approached
"Sad. Pirates of the sissies!" Luxor said even though he himself was actually goosebumps
"I'M NOT AS STRONG AS YOU GUYS! BESIDES YOU HAVE TO PAY ME, REMEMBER THAT!!" Cyth responded with a snatch
Noisy...
But the pursuit of the monster apparently has not stopped at all. The Direwolves managed to surround us, and from a distance the other monsters were still roaring and fiercely attacking
The Direwolves put on a smiley face, so Veskal and Verdea gulped their saliva in fear. Luxor did too, especially when he stood closest to all the grinning monsters towards him
"J-DON'T COME ANY CLOSER TO ME!!!!"
A light appeared in his hand. And in that second I commanded everyone, "Be careful!!", out loud
Luxor then threw his magic back and forth and hit the Direwolves
Some even almost hit us because he threw it at random with his eyes closed
"Reserve yourself!" I shouted
Uh! I'm already fine. My voice is back to normal
And at that very instant, Luxor slowly stopped with a trembling body. We looked around again, as everyone began to look for a safe place to get out of the way and gather energy
Because, those Direwolves attacked each other. It was as if they did not know their own friends. The effects of Luxor's magic have already begun to work
He was a coward, but his light magic was one of the most powerful among our fighters. He could make all his enemies senses die so they could not feel anything when his magic hit them
Just one scratch. If we were to be scratched just a little with his magic, our five senses would be extinguished. As it happened when he was bemoaning frantically a Dark Elf who had accidentally scratched his magic due to a late bow
The Direwolves may panic and attack something they think is suspicious, so they indirectly start killing each other
Using that opportunity, we all ran again as they gave a chaotic gap due to the bloodshed
"Woooh~! Your magic is cool!" Veskal said
Luxor who ran while covering his face just kept moving his legs while not looking back. He was too afraid to respond or proud at the time
......................
"Well... Huh... Finally..."
Everyone immediately tried to take a breath inside the cave where we were hiding right now
"You can fight also against the demon incarnations earlier" Fyon said
"of course! As long as the creature isn't gigantic in size, I can definitely fight it!" Cyth was offended
Fyon laughed loudly while Cyth was still grumbling
Everyone else was also talking to people who were near them. In the meantime, I'm still focused. I'm looking for the psychopath's whereabouts if he hasn't left
When I find him, I will give him immediate punishment as an Oberon and a friend
Not only did he try to harm Verdea, Veskal, and our guests Black Hunt members, but he tried to harm all the higher-ups who were here now
It's unforgivable. I had to drag that guy straight to Miralius
But he's gone. And then again, I can't get A SINGLE trace of hers
I'm furious about this. That guy's really overdue. He even with his heart left no evidence
He used that black magic earlier, but not to control those monsters, but rather to signal our place for a while
I should have taken the time to take a small part of his black magic...
Huh...
"Vainzel's. Rest first"
Ordelia and Verdea came to me with worried looks
"Don't go again..."
Verdea hugged me. His whole body was shaking like he wanted to cry again. And he had no intention of breaking away at all, seen from his grip that even pierced my skin through the robe I wore
I stroked his head slowly and tried to calm him down. Pity for having made this child worry directly befall me with a very heavy weight. I don't know why all the things that scared him have always been thrown at us lately
"It's okay... I'm right here..." I tried to convince her
He took off his embrace as I knelt down, and there was his face that seemed to be exchanging glances with me
"I'm not going anywhere" I reassured him again
"Promise?"
Hmphc...
...
Knowing that I wasn't going to do anything, he pulled out his little finger. He made me look at him again, so I understood his intentions. He really, just a kid, thought that the promise of the little finger could tie something
...
But not wrong either. My guilt is still tied to him. And I also don't expect him to have to go through this kind of danger anymore
So I pulled out my little finger as well, and I tied our fingers together with each other. The bond that again can only make him believe and trust
"promise"
I tied my little finger to hers with a smile. He finally smiled with a calm face, even though there were tears tucked in—nyaris out of his eyes
Haaah... This brat...
"You scared?" Ledekku
"No! I-i just... Fearful... You're missing..."
He slowly threw away his face and I immediately chuckled at his behavior
"It's very stressful. I'm not disappointed here!"
Ahahahah... His barbaric nature appears... But she got cute when she tried to cover up her previous attitude
"alright. Forget about it and drink first. The sun will rise" I'll just follow the path
I thrust the bottle I had at him while he saw the sunlight from outside the cave
Hm~ This place is perfect for seeing the sunrise. Pretty high, and in the right position
Verdea sat on the ground while continuing to watch the sunrise. I also sat down next to her and we both smiled at each other as my hands stroked her head to avoid crying again
Veskal who looked at our behavior both began to smile warmly while sitting and watching the sunrise by my other side
He was happy to see my close relationship with Verdea. And her happy feelings for both of us were just her heart
He's happy that Verdea and I can find each other
The sun is starting to rise. Everyone was instantly silent as if this was a very important event. It was as if they were honoring the rising sun
The light slowly touched our bodies one by one. And after that cold and tiring night, we finally felt a sense of warmth and tranquility
But the journey is still long. Traveling on this dangerous continent. The continent is known as the home of these monsters
I pray for our safety. We will always need it during the trip...
...
And hopefully... I hope...
I could spend more time with my friends. In fact, such a separation is completely inevitable...
