Wolves of Hader

Those eagles were still here?

One of them was unimaginably large, and the rest were quite big as well. There were about twelve in total.

When I ran to the basin with Rod, they flew over from the east. Since this was east of Yan, those eagles must have been here and then flew over to Yan.

"They're still around, huh."

"Did you see the eagles?"

"Yes. I saw all of them except for one divine beast."

"That one must be the turtle living in Aindel. I've heard it's the largest being in the world among all living creatures."

But the eagles were massive as well.

Then, just how big would the turtle be?

"Can we ride on those eagles?"

The two nodded.

"Your party could probably ride too. You can summon the eagles with the ring we gave you."

"Take the eagles and go."

That seemed reasonable.

But I couldn't leave Allen behind.

"I'll have to take Allen and the ship, too."

"Take the ship as well."

"Pardon?"

I hadn't thought of that.

With an eagle that big...

"First, go and introduce yourself."

"I'd better do that."

"If you succeed in mounting them, then go wait at the northern island."

"Then we'll go ahead."

As with Hader the wolf, we would have to start by bonding.

They wouldn't let us ride them right away.

The eagle wasn't Rod's divine beast, either.

/ / /

I walked to the plaza.

I looked over the parchment map Eilin's father had given me again. The demon gate and the guardian's lair lined up perfectly.

There were two places I didn't know. They seemed to be demon sanctuaries like the great demon island. But the demon gate in southern Beltern was marked as destroyed.

Leo and Black Mane approached, bickering as usual. It seemed Leo and the Amir warriors had closed the demon gate. If so, that meant they had defeated the guardian.

"Hey, are you finally coming?"

"Hey! I wasn't done talking yet!"

Leo laughed as he walked up.

Black Mane was fuming as always.

"So where do we go now?"

"How was the legendary demonic beast hunt?"

"Hm... It wasn't easy."

As I expected.

"The Amir warriors must be really strong."

"They're stronger than you lot."

He smirked at us.

I could believe they were really strong.

Leo spoke again.

"I heard you defeated two demonic beasts?"

"I almost died both times."

"I'm not surprised."

Leo's magic power seemed no joke.

It seemed he had taken the demon's essence.

How did he find that?

"See you later."

"Not going to southern Beltern?"

"Doesn't seem like I need to."

Leo cocked his head, as if this didn't match what he'd heard.

"Visit sometime. I'll be with Ray."

"I will. Thanks for saving my brother."

I nodded.

Just a bit competitive. He seemed like a cheerful young man. I could see how much he cared for his younger brother Ray.

Black Mane followed and spoke up.

"Hey. You're just going to leave?"

"Stick around if you want."

"I'm coming with you. This place gives me the creeps."

"Why don't you stay a bit longer, luka?"

"You're the creepiest one here!"

Black Mane headed toward the elevator platform.

As before, she used the floating stone to descend.

"This way, please."

We followed the guard toward the sky bridge.

Black Mane, my companions, and even Eilin all followed me with curious expressions.

We crossed a tangled network of sky bridges multiple times, sometimes climbing ladders. After traveling like that for a while, the guard stopped in front of a ladder.

"If you lose your life, don't hold it against us."

"Lose my life?"

We climbed the ladder.

The divine beast's magic power radiated out in waves. Because of that, my team could tell something was up above.

"What's up there? What's on the roof?"

Black Mane, who always acted tough, suddenly seemed like a mischievous child after meeting an old friend. Maybe it was because she'd gotten closer to us.

At the top of the ladder was a circular plaza.

It was more of a clearing than a plaza, really.

Everyone climbed up and looked around.

"Why did we come up here?"

That was when it happened.

Whoosh—a huge flock of birds took off, and the forest began to tremble. The clearing shook violently in the wind.

Everyone was tense, sensing that something massive was pushing its way through the brush. Black Mane even drew the sword from her waist.

Shhhrkkk—

A mighty force pressed in, the huge body scraping against the tree branches. And then the enormous head appeared!

"Ugh! What is that?!"

Everyone gasped.

Suddenly, the massive head of a bird of prey appeared before us. It was an eagle's head.

And not just one—twelve eagle heads thrust down to encircle the clearing, watching us as if converging on their prey. Thankfully, they didn't eat us.

The last eagle to appear had a head twice as large as the rest. It was the chieftain of the divine eagles. Its eyes looked bigger than my entire body. The beak was monstrous.

The chieftain divine beast stared straight at me.

Our reflections appeared in its eyes. Everyone was tense, worried that if the chieftain gave the signal, we'd be eaten.

I stared back into the chieftain's eyes.

Had it fought the demon legion commander with Rod? The tip of its beak was chipped, marked with many scars.

"What are these lights?"

As we faced off against the eagles,

the elemental companions with us started to swirl as spheres of light. The elementals didn't seem scared at all.

At that moment, the chieftain divine beast also reacted.

Its gaze deepened, and the other eagles that had been staring at us looked away as if pretending not to care.

I'd made a connection!

"Will you let us ride you?"

The chieftain divine beast gazed at me for a moment, then drew its head back. The entire forest swayed as it stretched its massive wings wide and rose into the sky.

"Oh!"

"They really are letting us ride!"

Tuji and a few team members were astonished.

Black Mane's face was shocked.

The chieftain divine beast's enormous wing spread out down to the clearing. There was no time to waste.

"Eilin, let's go."

"Yes."

At once, I dashed up onto the wing. Eilin followed, then the others scrambled to catch up, and Black Mane hesitated only a moment before joining us atop the wing.

We climbed the wing and ran to the spot beneath the chieftain's head. Even with about twenty people, there was still plenty of room on the eagle's massive back.

Once everyone was aboard, the eagle folded its wings and then started to move. Everyone crouched down, grabbing a feather, afraid we might tumble off. Even a single feather was gigantic.

Its massive wings spread and slowly began to undulate. The wind howled and we started to rise, but it felt surprisingly steady.

Soon, the chieftain divine beast's body lifted above the forest. Its sheer size made every wingbeat slow, or at least slow when rising.

"Waaaah!"

"Hold on tight!"

With no warning, the airborne eagle suddenly dove straight down, plunging toward the earth. Even though it felt steady, the speed was incredible. Anyone who lost their grip on a feather could fall!

"There's a ship washed up on the shore! Can you grab that with your two claws and carry it to the northern island?"

Of course, there was no reply.

It simply angled its body and shot down toward where Allen was. Wyverns scattered, fleeing for their lives.

It tore through the mist, plummeting with astonishing speed. I wondered if we'd crash into the sea, but at the last moment, it spread its wings and slowed its descent. And then—

Thud. Screeeeee.

The eagle grabbed the ship we'd sailed in with its two claws. Then, flapping its wings powerfully, it soared upward again. Each wingbeat felt like it summoned a storm.

When everyone looked down in amazement,

a scream came from below.

"Ahhh! It's a monster!"

That was Allen, screaming from the ship.

His screams continued afterward.

Saying things like why is a bird eating the ship, or where's Roger, or save Dran.

The gigantic eagle soared boldly through the sky.

Though it flew slowly due to carrying such a heavy load, the flight itself was graceful. Even exhilarating.

Off in the distance ahead, I could see southern Beltern, and a number of islands scattered about. There were many more islands behind us, shrouded in thick mist.

It was as if a massive smoke bomb had gone off in the sea. Only the area around Hairopro Island was covered in mist. Farther south, something like a white curtain could be seen.

The flight didn't last long.

The eagle, gliding through the sky, soon began to descend.

Splash—shhaaaa—

The sound of the ship hitting the water's surface reached us, followed by the splashing of waves.

After setting the ship in the sea, the eagle spread its left wing wide. Even after touching down on the water, its size was such that the wing instantly reached the island.

Everyone climbed down the wing onto the island.

Once we were all down, the giant eagle flapped its wings and began to lift off again. It didn't even look back, flying straight toward Hairopro.

"Phew! What just happened?"

Black Mane let out a sigh of relief.

Allen was as shocked as the rest.

"Hey! I'm not dreaming, right?"

"Come down, Allen!"

"I told you I hate water! I'm starving! Go get me some food or something. I'll be here."

None of us wanted the trouble, so we left him on the ship. We planned to eat at Viscount Drian's house, rest for a bit, and then set out at dawn.

It was quite a big island.

The local villagers were watching us in shock, but it was the eagle that surprised them, not us.

"They're different from the Amir tribe."

"Indeed."

The villagers were half-human, half-Amir. Their hair was lighter, and their skeletons more human-like than the Amirs. Black Mane resembled the Amir side more.

There were also plenty of people who weren't mixed-blooded. They seemed to be refugees from southern Beltern. There appeared to be a lot of refugees in this archipelago.

But Eilin's father had arrived before us.

How did he get here first?

"Let's head to the house."

"Yes."

"Dad, how did you get here ahead of us?"

"There's a Gate of Magic on both Hairopro and this island. Old gates installed long ago. Because there's a barrier on Hairopro, it's not easy for us to travel back and forth."

"Have you been living here all this time?"

"Yes. It's a decent place to live."

I didn't see any Amir warriors.

There weren't many on Hairopro, either.

"Are the Amir warriors somewhere else?"

"They're on various islands to the north. They're protecting us. The Beltern navy never comes here, as the attacks are relentless."

We passed through a fishing village and into a forest.

There was nothing particularly unique about the mixed-blood people's culture or lifestyle. Maybe because so many cultures had blended.

As we walked, black Mane seemed to have disappeared.

Her mother lived on this island, so she probably went to see her first. Maybe the viscount and his wife made her uncomfortable.

Not far away was a three-story mansion.

It was Viscount Drian's house.

The married couple came out to greet us.

"Welcome. We've heard a lot about you."

"It's an honor to meet you, madam."

The viscount's wife was a half-Amir. She had blond hair and blue eyes, but the color was a bit different from that of typical white people. It meant her ancestors carried the blood of the golden dragon.

Because the viscount's wife had prepared food, we went straight to the table. The viscount smiled as he said,

"It's not much, but please help yourselves."

"Thank you, we'll gladly eat."

Everyone ate without hesitation.

I grew curious and asked,

"Is the southern sea off Beltern dangerous?"

"You're planning to sail along the coast?"

"Yes. I was curious why you didn't just come straight from the south when you arrived here, instead of going all the way to Beltern's southernmost point."

The viscount smiled.

"We didn't know exactly where this island was. Our first trip to Hairopro began from there."

"I see."

Originally, we considered going north by land after defeating the guardian in southern Beltern, acquiring the Eternal Flame, and returning via Robe.

But since Leo had defeated the guardian in southern Beltern, we no longer needed to go there. It was easier and faster to sail north along southern and western Beltern's coast.

"What about the western sea off Beltern?"

"That whole region is forbidden."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Did you notice the areas painted black on the map?"

"I did."

"Most of western Beltern's coast is the Forest of Death. Supposedly, devilish sorcery is cast over it. Somewhere in the south of the west is also the king's tomb from legend."

"The king's tomb?"

"You must find the king's tomb first. Only then can you purify the Forest of Death, and that will be a great source of strength for you."

"What kind of strength?"

The couple hesitated before answering.

Was there something complicated about it?

The viscount spoke up again.

"Your father became deeply troubled after seeing that vision. He wasn't sure what it meant, but said whatever it was, it would be a great source of strength for you."

"You two don't know exactly, either?"

"Your father was quite secretive. And, there's another reason you must travel north by land."

"What is it?"

"The situation in the south isn't good. I hope you can help settle things a bit as you go north."

"Wouldn't Leo be better for that?"

"Leo's going as well. However..."

The viscount grinned.

"Leo defeated the demonic beast and closed the demon gate there. But the dragon's vast treasure has yet to be found..."

"I will bring order to the chaos in the south."

It was my duty to save those suffering.

Of course I had to.

I didn't know why my companions were snickering.