Chapter 65
After hunting around twenty monsters, the attacks from monsters ceased. Perhaps due to their keen sense of smell, they picked up the scent of the slain monsters’ blood on my body.
Relying on the faint starlight, I raced through the dark forest with the Nightmare. The Nightmare’s tail stretched long, casting a small shadow on the starlight.
Having feasted on the monster meat, the Nightmare was more energetic than before, not bothering to dodge small trees blocking its path but instead crashing into them head-on.
How much time passed like that? The movement of the starlight, endlessly advancing into the dark, suddenly stopped.
It wasn’t that the magic was released. We had reached our destination, thus, the role of the Guiding Star was complete.
I pulled the reigns of the Nightmare and brought it to a halt.
The Guiding Star shimmered atop a sword plunged into the ground. The hilt of the sword, soaked in starlight, glowed brightly, as if calling out to me.
I dismounted from the Nightmare and slowly approached the sword.
How on earth did I end up here?
I grasped the sword, which was simply stuck into the dirt.
Since it was just stuck in the ground, I assumed it would come out easily.
But—
“Uh…?”
The sword wouldn’t budge. It felt as if something was gripping it from underground. Hoping for the best, I began to pull with both hands.
Yet the result was the same.
Despite pulling with all my strength, the sword stubbornly held its ground.
Frowning, I started to channel my mana. If my original strength wasn’t enough, then all I could do was fill that void with the power of mana.
The emblem of the great warrior activated on the back of my hand, and a thin veil of mana began to envelop my whole body.
“Ha!”
This time I would pull it out. With all my might, I yanked the sword from the ground. Slowly but surely, I felt it responding.
The blade, deeply embedded, began to rise, revealing itself little by little. Seeing this, I pushed myself even harder.
“Huhhh!”
The more I craved strength, the more the emblem of the great warrior shone brightly. My vision narrowed, and my heart began to race wildly. The temperature of the blood flowing through my body rose, and the moment my muscles bulged with power.
Thud-!
With a feeling as if something were tearing, the sword finally came free. The shining blade revealed seven beams of starlight. Suddenly, the entire forest shook, and a deep, strange cry echoed.
[■■■■…]
The deep and loud resonance stirred images of unknown beings in my mind, and soon those imagined beings morphed into objects of fear.
I aimed the drawn sword into the void, glaring towards the darkened forest. The cries were loud and evident, yet it was difficult to pinpoint their location. It was as if the cries came simultaneously from all directions.
The Nightmare, confused, also tossed its head about while breathing heavily.
After peering uncertainly into the silent darkness for a while and sensing nothing amiss, I was about to lower my sword when a gigantic earthquake jolted the ground.
Gugugugu-!
The ground beneath me trembled violently, and the entire forest began to shake. Large and small monsters reacted to the quake and began to scurry about in a panic, while the farthest edge of the dark forest erupted into a chorus of monstrous howls.
Holding onto the Nightmare’s reins, I pressed my back against it. I couldn’t tell what kind of monster it was, but given that it was shaking the entire forest, it was clear it wasn’t an ordinary one.
It had to be a creature larger than an ogre.
Kuwung-! Kuwung-!
As I imagined the unknown entity, I realized one strange thing. While the forest was quaking from the massive tremors, its movement was very peculiar.
From top to bottom.
Kuwung-!
The shift in center of gravity was so simple. In an instant, I felt my body press down as if gravity suddenly intensified, and just as quickly, it vanished, leaving me with a slight feeling of weightlessness.
Immediately afterward, Kuwung-!
This wasn’t an ordinary earthquake. It felt as if the entire forest was on the move… moving?
The moment I realized that the whole forest was indeed moving, once again, the cries echoed.
[■■■■-!]
Kuwung-!
With the cry came another massive tremor.
I bit my lip and climbed onto the Nightmare, pulling on the reins.
Then, I began running with no clear direction. I thought about the monster that might be lurking somewhere in this forest, but I didn’t dare to stop moving.
Thud- thud- thud-
Stumbling along in the deep darkness, I surged toward the edge of the forest. The Nightmare gasped for breath and kept on running.
The concept of time faded, leaving me unsure how long we had been running. I only knew that I was unable to stop.
The monsters living deeper in the forest seemed to be fleeing from the earthquake, dashing in the same direction as the Nightmare.
The more I ran, the brighter it became around me. The darkness began to lift as if signaling the edge of the forest was near.
Amidst the frantic sprinting, the narrow path shrouded in darkness began to vanish until my field of vision suddenly opened up.
Breathing heavily, I yanked on the reins in a panic.
The sudden increase in speed caused my upper body to lean forward, but I had no trouble scanning the vista laid out before me.
The black sky still lacked any moons or stars, but the scenery around me began to wobble. No, it would be more accurate to say that it was my position moving.
Kuwung-!
As a heavy footfall matched the rhythm, the entire forest trembled.
I swallowed hard and gazed downward.
The gnarled tree roots and piles of dirt were within sight. However, as I followed them down my line of sight, a more shocking sight unfolded.
Kuwung-!
A colossal leg was trampling across the Platinum Desert.
At a glance, it appeared as if the leg sprouted from beneath the forest, but upon closer inspection, one could realize that the forest was being carried away by a massive being.
In other words, the forest, where the Nightmare and I had been sprinting in a frenzy, was actually situated on the back of a colossal monster.
Kuwung-!
I had only encountered two gigantic monsters up to this point.
The False Whale that swam beneath the sands, and the enormous giant, the Ogre. However, even combining the sizes of these two, they couldn’t compare to the size of that one massive leg before me.
The only fortunate thing was that this gigantic creature didn’t seem to mind the other monsters leaping from its back. Of course, the real issue was that very few monsters survived the fall from such a height.
Pthrump-
The sound of the Nightmare’s hooves brought me out of my deep contemplation.
“Haah…”
At this very moment, the giant monster was ceaselessly moving, carrying me and the Nightmare to an unknown location.
I snapped my fingers and summoned the Guiding Star once more. The little starlight that held my wishes began to spin around me slowly, then pointed in the opposite direction from where the giant monster was heading.
The path I needed to take was set. Looking down, I summoned my remaining mana to conjure the wind.
Siiiii-
A gentle breeze whipped around, growing larger as it entwined with the surrounding air. The intensifying wind whipped my hair about wildly.
I brushed aside the disorienting hair and pulled on the reins of the Nightmare.
Though the Nightmare seemed startled by my command to leap into the empty air, it exhaled sharply and leapt skyward.
I felt the wind spirit clinging to me move in a hurry, but its frail power could not bear the weight of the Nightmare and me.
So, I intended to compensate for that shortcoming by using the magical wind.
Whiiiiiing-!
The artificially created wind, not a natural one, formed a sturdy foothold.
As the Nightmare attempted to find its footing on this foundation, the moment its hooves touched the makeshift platform, it shattered instantly.
Pah-!
The fall was slowed, but it didn’t serve its purpose as a foothold.
Frowning, I summoned three more wind platforms beneath the struggling Nightmare.
Pah-! Puh-!
The prepared platforms burst apart, sending gales surging in all directions. Although the speed of our descent was sufficiently reduced, the impact of the wind messed up our stance, leaving us no choice but to crash into the surface.
Kuwung-!
The Nightmare and I tumbled across the Platinum sands.
“Pehheh… Teh… Teh…”
I scrambled to my feet, spitting the sand that had entered my mouth. The Nightmare rolled beside me, expelling the sand that filled its mouth.
Kuwung-!
At that moment, I could finally behold the figure of the gigantic monster bearing the forest upon its back.
“A turtle…?”
I muttered under my breath while gazing at the enormous monster.
It resembled a giant turtle lumbering along with the forest on its back.
Crawling on four enormous legs, its vast shell was prominent. What I had thought was the giant forest was merely a part of that shell.
Its overall size was far more immense than I had imagined.
Kuwung-!
With the enormous rumble of the earth, the turtle carrying the forest moved away. As I stared blankly after its retreating figure, I shook my head and got to my feet. I had no time to waste. I needed to escape this unknown place as soon as possible.
I mounted the Nightmare once more and began to run again.
Following the little starlight, we crossed the desert and navigated through the swamp. After crossing the boiling Red Water river, I arrived at the snowy peaks.
[Grwooo-!]
Beyond the hazy snowstorm, a massive shadow emerged. As the shadow’s hand stretched toward the towering mountain range, obliterating the snow-covered peaks, I dashed into the heart of the snowstorm without a moment’s hesitation.
In the world painted white, the path forward was illuminated by the little starlight.
After wandering through the blinding snowstorm for a while, I suddenly realized that the fierce blizzard had ceased.
Brushing off the snow piled above my head, I gazed up at the sky. The dark sky devoid of moons or stars had regained its azure hue, and the brilliant sun welcomed me.
I had finally returned. From the storm of mana.
I pulled on the reins of the Nightmare and galloped toward the direction the star was guiding me.
Beyond the gleaming stars, the Pioneer Base finally appeared.