Manowa Chapter 271

「Devil?」

Kazane and the others made grim expressions, and Morphia prefaced the story with「It's only a legend, but...」It was an incident from a long time ago. Morphia knew the story that was handed down among the Birdmen, but he didn't actually see it.

「I've heard that after the Great War 1000 years ago, the Birdmen once prospered on this floating island Orusorei. But it seems the tower was stolen away by a devil about 700 years ago.」

「They weren't able to resist?」

Jinrai had a natural question.

「Of course they tried. But it seems that without fighting the Birdmen, the devil detached the tower from the island. With one swing of his longsword.」

「One swing of his longsword...」

With those words, Kazane recalled the Artifact『Dimension Sword』possessed by that Devil King Yukito. It was a weapon that could cut at any distance. Of course, inside the game, attacks could only be made according to the game system, but perhaps it demonstrated abilities『according to its settings』here?

(No, actually, even if the devil was that Devil King, it wouldn't change anything)

「Does something come to mind?」

Morphia asked the pondering Kazane. With her knowledge as a Devil King, perhaps she knows about that devil... he thought.

「Oh, no. Nothing. Can you continue the story?」

But Kazane was fl.u.s.tered and so answered Morphia's question. It was a conjecture without any conclusive evidence. She thought she would tell Ao later, but there wasn't anything she could tell Morphia right now. Although Morphia looked a little suspicious, he returned to the story like Kazane asked.

「Well, it's fine. After this island was detached by the devil, it seems it drifted around the continent for several decades. I hear that after traveling through several lands, it stopped here. The island probably has good affinity with the Magic Particles flowing from the Naga Line around here.」

The island probably stopped moving because it gained a stable supply of Magic Particles... Morphia said.

「But, perhaps due to an oversupply of Magic Particles, a large number of monsters started springing forth here and there around the island, including inside Angelite City. No matter what measures were taken, the appearance of monsters couldn't be stopped, so the Birdmen eventually abandoned the city and moved to several other areas like this Forn Village.」

「In other words, Angelite City turned into a dungeon?」

Jinrai replied to Kazane's words.

「No, this case is probably a similar phenomenon to the Abandoned Capital Muruage in Mins.h.i.+ana. It isn't a dungeon, but monsters are continuously created. That happens when Magic Particles are thick, but if 700 years have already pa.s.sed, it wouldn't be strange if there was a nucleus.」

「Nucleus? Like the Hearts...o...b.. that are the Cores of dungeons?」

Kazane tilted her head after Jinrai's words. But Jinrai shook his head.

「No, it's a purer ma.s.s of Magic Particles than that. The flow of Magic Particles gathers in one place and crystallizes into a gem called a Magic Life Stone that produces monsters. If that were destroyed, the flow might temporarily disappear.」

After Jinrai's explanation, Morphia said「That's right.」

「Our race has certainly considered the possibility, and we've been searching for a Magic Life Stone for a long time. If we could stop the outbreak of monsters inside the city even temporarily, we would be able to come up with countermeasures.」

「But since monsters are springing forth even now... it hasn't been found, has it.」

「That's right. We've searched every place it could possibly be on the surface, but we haven't found it. In that case, it could be buried deep in the ground, but since we don't know where to dig, we can't do anything.」

After those words, Kazane said「I see」and pondered. And recalling everything they had said so far, she thought she might be able to do something about it.

「Well, first of all, shall we go take a look at the city's situation? We might be able to do something.」

Everyone nodded after Kazane spoke. Morphia didn't know what Kazane was intending, but looking at Jinrai and the girl named Kazane the young Birdmen called a Devil King, they probably wouldn't have any problems in terms of strength, so he volunteered to guide them.

By the way, for their lodging, they received permission to erect the Cottage in a place a little outside of town, so Kazane Cottage was summoned. Of course, the Birdmen stared with wide eyes, but that was a usual thing.

However, when Morphia said「Is this the power of the people on the surface?」Lyle and the others vehemently objected. Letting him think that this was an ordinary thing for human beings was intolerable.

Then the party spent the night at the Cottage, and the next morning, they did their usual early morning training outside the village.

At that time, Morphia saw Naoki being trained in the two-sword style by Devil King Kazanerian, and he muttered「Is that the Devil King's true figure?」to himself, but Kazane wasn't aware of that. Today as well, Kazane was going her own way in life.

◎ Road to Angelite City, Morning

「The weather's good today as well.」

The giant black Hippomaru-kun galloped. Kazane, Tiara, and Yumika were on Hippomaru-kun. Tatsuo (black dragon equipment) was clinging to Kazane's back, and three Hippo-kuns were following behind them.

Jinrai and Louise (+ Mefirus) were on『Hippo-kun High』, Naoki and Lyle were on『Hippo-kun Clear』, and finally, a new crystal horse called『Hippo-kun Crys』, which was made with the surplus Childstone and Dragon Crystal Stones from the Crystal Dragon, was being ridden by Emily and Morphia.

Since the road to Angelite City wasn't very wide, it would be difficult to move by carriage, so they decided to travel using only the Golem horses.

By the way, Tatsuyos.h.i.+-kuns Dragoon and Normal were in Kazane's Item Box. With her extended Item Box, she could now fit excessively large objects around their size.

「But this transparent horse is able to travel this road peacefully? Is the lack of any indications of monsters in the surroundings due to this horse's power?」

Morphia said while tilting his head, and Emily riding Hippo-kun Crys with him answered his question.

「That's probably due to the one Kazane and the others are riding in the front, Hippomaru-kun. The ram protruding from its chest is made from a high-ranking dragon's materials, and it seems weak monsters won't approach due to the Dragon Spirit it emits.」

「I see. There's certainly violent signs drifting from that.」

Morphia was convinced by Emily's explanation. Morphia had felt a sense of intimidation from that horse beyond its fully armored jet black appearance.

(As expected, a Devil King is an existence that can't be looked down on? I thought they only existed in fairy tales.)

And the Kazane/Devil King Theory was becoming increasingly likely.

「Well, we're special in various ways, so please don't think this is normal for human beings on the surface.」

「Understood.」

As might be expected, Morphia was a little relieved that everyone on the surface didn't consider this normal. Then Morphia looked at Emily's bow. He could sense that the same indications that were coming from Hippomaru-kun were coming from that bow.

「By the way, is that bow made with materials from the same dragon as that horn?」

「Yes. You're quite skilled to realize that.」

Emily was impressed by Morphia's insight.

「The drifting atmosphere is similar. I'm also a Dragon Bow user, so I can sense that that bow isn't something ordinary.」

There were many Wyverns living in this area. Morphia's bow was made with the materials from a superior Wyvern that he had defeated himself in the past. But Morphia sensed that Emily's bow possessed dreadful power even beyond his.

「Well, like you said, it certainly isn't ordinary. It's also a Sorcery Bow due to being reinforced with Magic Steel, which magical power can easily pa.s.s through. So it's different from a normal Dragon Bow.」

Morphia was impressed and said「I see. It can be loaded with spells due to how it was processed?」Morphia's race didn't have the concept of a Sorcery Bow. Emily looked at Morphia, then inquired a little hesitantly.

「But Morphisan is also a Dragon Bow user, right?」

「There are a lot of Wyverns around here. If you desire a strong bow, you'll simply naturally end up with a Dragon Bow.」

「I still don't quite understand how to use this bow. The only thing I can do currently is load arrows with Dragon Spirit.」

Emily didn't think she had skillfully made almost any achievements with her own power since receiving the Dragon Wing Bow.

Her spell-loaded arrows had a weak effect on the powerful monsters they continued to encounter, and rather than devising a clever scheme with her spells, she had to focus on increasing her raw firepower, so she couldn't deny the feeling that she was relying on her Dragon Fang Steel arrows.

As a matter of fact, Emily's war potential was straightforwardly warmly welcomed as a Plus Alpha to Naoki and Lyle, since it was questionable that those two could be entrusted with the frontline by themselves, but Emily thought that wasn't due to her own power.

And Emily couldn't use any『Dragon Spirit handling bow techniques』with the Dragon Wing Bow at all. That was partly because she simply didn't have anyone who could teach her. She had asked the Dragonoids at the Dragon Village, but Emily couldn't understand their teachings, since they were based on their intuitive handling of their own Dragon Spirit. Her inability to handle her own specialized weapon was the reason Emily didn't consider herself capable.

Morphia was able to clearly understand the high potential of the material the Dragon Wing Bow was composed of. Also, he had seen Emily's abilities during their early morning training, and there were parts that had been on his mind.

He thought it would be regrettable if she couldn't make the best use out of her valuable specialized weapon, so Morphia volunteered to teach Emily how to adjust the Dragon Wing Bow. He was also simply interested in the bow, but in any case, it was a good proposal for both of them, so Emily readily accepted. A new teacher-disciple relations.h.i.+p was born here.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Summoning Fighter

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Draghorn Tonfa x2, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Eating Ogre King's Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring

Level : 36

Health: 145

Magic Power: 304+420

Strength: 67+20

Agility: 71+14

Endurance: 38

Wisdom : 72

Dexterity : 47

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror s.h.i.+eld』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Warrior's Memory: Lv2』『Night Vision』『Crus.h.i.+ng Blow』『Dog's Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material s.h.i.+eld: Lv2』『Information Link: Lv2』『Optical Camouflage』『High Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Devil King's Intimidation』『Stone Minotaur: Lv2』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-Silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』『Boost』『Monkey's Strong Arm』『Two-sword Style』『b.o.o.bies Plus』

Yumika:「Good vibes are coming from Emily and Morphia's conversation. Is love sprouting?」

Kazane:「Love obsessed maiden.」