Chapter 165
We were in an ordinary forest.
Just a moment ago, it had been the pitch-black Forest of Death, but as the darkness receded, only a regular forest remained.
Above us, sunlight shone through the leaves, and the air became clean. However, the trees rapidly lost their vitality. It looked as if they would all die soon.
The divinity of darkness had been sustaining the life force of the trees, and once it vanished, the trees began to perish. Given time, it would become a forest again, though.
Everyone sat down to rest.
Aside from myself and a few others, everyone looked worn out. Many had grown beards.
As the sorcery unraveled, the dark knights who hadn't been visible began to gather in the clearing one by one. They had been scattered across different times, but returned to the present simultaneously.
"Are you sure you weren't tainted by darkness?"
"Not at all. We were worried too, but even though we stayed in the area for over a week, we remained untouched by darkness."
The power of darkness had been so strong near this clearing that the divinity of the divine sword barely managed to push it away. Yet, none of the members were tainted by darkness.
How could that be?
It's not as if the divinity of light always overcomes that of darkness. The divinity our members possessed was meager, after all.
"We should head straight for the Empire's west."
"There might be more beyond the central region."
"We'll deal with those next time. It's not urgent right now."
Everyone agreed.
Even if we purified the darkness, no one would recognize it. They likely wouldn't even know.
I wasn't particularly keen on clearing the rest of the Forest of Death, which was located in the west of the Tern Kingdom. Even doing a good deed there could cause misunderstandings. Unless they specifically requested it and set conditions.
So we decided to head straight to the Empire.
We also decided to put off the purification in the western Empire for now. That was the Grand Duke's core stronghold.
After heading to the Empire's west—
I planned to stop by Count Parde's house.
I wanted to see our old territory as well.
I took out my necklace.
Because of the armor gauntlets, I couldn't wear the communication ring on my finger, so I had fastened it to my necklace.
"Leo. Can you hear me?"
A reply finally came after a long while.
—Why are you only contacting me now?
"What's wrong? Did you already send the ship?"
—I did. Our sailors waited for two weeks in the central region and eventually had to return.
"I told you to send it after a month!"
—I did send it after a month. You're contacting us five months after we parted ways.
"What?"
What was this about?
"Five months? It hasn't even been a month since we parted?"
—What are you talking about? So, where are you now anyway?
"Just below the central region."
—The sailors said they left your ship there, so find it and bring it back.
"Leo!"
—I'm busy! I'm just about to go into battle!
"It's still not over?"
—That's how it goes! Contact me later!
It seemed freeing the South of Verttern wasn't easy. It seemed Tern had sent reinforcement troops. They wouldn't give up so easily, since it was practically their land to begin with.
Donnie asked.
"But what's this about five months?"
"It feels like four months passed while we were in this forest."
"What?"
Everyone's jaws dropped in disbelief.
Time must have flowed differently in this forest. Excluding the time it took to travel here, about four months had passed.
"Let's get out of here first."
We headed west.
When we entered the forest, it was pleasantly warm, but now it was midsummer. It probably felt like early September by the calendar.
Only then did everyone realize they had skipped through time. Thankfully, it hadn't been years, but it felt odd nonetheless. Unsure whether we'd gained or lost time.
/ / /
There was no sign of our ship anywhere along the central coast. Only a broken landing craft lay overturned and wrecked. Someone must have stolen our ship, even though we'd only borrowed it.
Should I summon the eagle divine beast?
Or maybe I needed to go to the north of Tern? I couldn't go south again just to find horses.
If we took a ship, we'd have to leave the dark knights behind. We couldn't fit 130 people on a boat. And if we entered Tern, we'd surely be misunderstood.
Just in case, I decided to call the eagles.
At least four should come if I called, but would they come?
Through the elemental, I conveyed my earnest intention.
"Send this message to the eagle divine beasts. Please come find me and carry my companions here."
The elemental moved.
Light shone from the ring.
"Did it work?"
"I believe so. We made contact."
"All right, let's rest here for now. If the eagles are coming, it's bound to take at least half a day."
"Yes, sir."
We set up a shade on top of the sea cliff and relaxed. Some went down to the base of the cliff to fish, as our food supplies were exhausted.
We truly waited half a day.
Barely staving off hunger with the fish we caught, everyone watched the southern sky. There wasn't a single cloud up there.
"Did the contact not go through?"
"Let's wait just a bit longer."
"No, if they were coming, they'd be here by now. We made contact, but maybe the eagle divine beasts refused."
If that was the case, then communion with the eagle divine beast meant nothing. Being the descendant of 'Rod' didn't really help either.
"Should we go bring the horses?"
"Would they still be there?"
"Maybe not."
It had been four months. We'd left the horses at the edge of the Forest of Death. They likely moved elsewhere to graze since there was nowhere to tie them up.
"Let's stay here tonight, and leave tomorrow."
"Do you think we can get a big ship from Tern? I don't want to just leave the dark knights behind."
"We'll have to hide them, what else."
Everyone relaxed leisurely.
Just then, the sunset turned the sea red. Drinking coffee while looking at that scene wasn't so bad.
The sun set, and darkness fell.
Since everyone had suffered being stuck in the forest, most turned in early.
I too lay down, exhausted.
But I was awoken by faint vibrations coming from the ground.
The rest of my party, who'd fallen asleep, also woke up because of it.
"What's that?"
Everyone looked northeast, fully awake.
It was toward the central mountains.
"Something's coming this way, isn't it?"
"A herd of wild cattle, maybe?"
Everyone focused on the northeastern plain.
Something incredible was rushing in. It was dark and hard to see, but it looked like clouds were charging forward.
At that moment, I locked eyes with Eilin.
Donnie realized instantly.
"Divine beasts!"
"The divine beasts said to be in this area?"
"Yes! The winged ones..."
Donnie couldn't finish the sentence.
These were the divine beasts said to inhabit central Verttern.
The winged lions.
I called the eagle divine beasts—so why were these ones coming? Did the elemental summon them? Or did the chieftain of the eagle divine beasts send them in their stead?
White divine beasts kicked up dust as they charged toward us—at an immense speed. And they weren't just running; they were half flying.
They were covering about ten paces in a single bound, probably thanks to their wings. While they were running now, perhaps they could truly fly.
Dududududu—
Kraaaaang—
The ground trembled and the roars of the divine beasts resounded across the plain. While we were all gaping in awe, they galloped right up to us. They seemed even faster than wolves.
Khaang—
One of them roared and slowed down, and then the rest also gradually slowed. As they did, they began to encircle us.
There were over two hundred of them.
They were bigger than horses and looked like horned lions. Their wings weren't all that large.
Frrrrrr—
Panting like horses, the divine beasts nodded their heads, their snow-white fur gleaming.
Amid all these divine beasts gathered—
A particularly large one strode forward. It was the biggest of them all, and there was a strange necklace around its neck.
"Huh? Isn't that Brembor's necklace?"
"Really?"
Allen recognized the necklace.
Only then did I realize.
This divine beast belonged to the Dran hero Brembor.
So that was why.
The chieftain divine beast stared intently at Allen. Then, it glanced at me.
Allen's confidence swelled.
The hero of Dran's divine beast had arrived.
"Hey! You're here to carry us, right?"
The chieftain simply stared at us.
Allen asked again.
"Then give us a ride."
At that, the chieftain approached us.
Allen grinned and moved to mount it.
But the chieftain divine beast came over to me instead.
Then, right in front of me, it turned its body and sat down. The other divine beasts also lowered their postures.
"What the...? Not me?"
"Hehehe."
"Why is it Roger, not me?"
Donnie shouted.
"Grab your gear, everyone. Quickly!"
The team scrambled to gather up the supplies that had been laid out.
Allen shot me a glare for no reason.
Did I do something to deserve this?
"The chieftain should be carrying me, not Roger! Hey! Chief, say something!"
Grrrr—
The chieftain bared its fangs, growling as if to say it would bite if Allen pointed any more.
Allen quickly backed off at that.
"Everyone get on a divine beast! Dark knights and bronze knights too, mount up!"
—We obey the will of the king.
Everyone mounted the divine beasts. This time, even Yuri rode on her own divine beast. The dark knights climbed aboard as well, and so did the bronze knights.
"We're leaving!"
At the call, the chieftain divine beast stood up and began to sprint. Though not quite as agile as wolves, once it gathered speed, it moved faster and faster.
With that, more than 200 divine beasts began to gallop across the plain all at once. The ones that couldn't carry us still followed along.
These divine beasts wouldn't be staying with us. There were wolf divine beasts up north, after all. Those wolves had originally come from Yan.
Once we picked up speed, we flew.
"To run as if flying" was an understatement. It was more than that. In three or four strides they covered what would've taken a hundred steps for a human.
"Wow! This is thrilling!"
"Allen! Aren't you heading to the pilgrimage?"
"Can't I stop by later?"
"A divine beast isn't a horse!"
"But why am I not riding the chieftain? Why you, Roger?"
"That's up to the chief, isn't it?"
"Why do even the divine beasts hate me?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"Hahaha!"
"Who's laughing right now?!"
We laughed and shouted, charging along at high speed.
Riding the wolves was terribly rough, but the lion divine beasts were different. The ride wasn't bumpy at all.
The speed was incredible, too—at this pace, we'd reach the north coast of Tern before dawn. If we couldn't borrow a ship, we could always buy one.
We galloped for roughly three hours.
The thrill didn't last. Everyone clung to their divine beasts, fighting off sleep.
Both moons in the sky were full, so the night was bright as day. Thanks to that, we had a clear view in every direction, but for some reason, the lions kept gazing toward the sea.
"What's wrong? Is something out in the ocean?"
It was a pointless question.
After all, a divine beast wouldn't answer.
And then—
"We need to change direction!"
"Why?"
"There's a sea cliff ahead! The divine beasts are headed straight for it!"
"Let's trust them—they'll turn in time!"
Even now, the chieftain was looking out to sea.
Strangely, it seemed to be running with its gaze fixed on something far out over the water. But there was nothing out there.
"We have to change direction!"
Donnie's concern was justified.
The divine beasts charged straight for the cliff's edge. If they were going to turn, they'd have to do it now—but they were moving too fast.
"Why are they running this way?"
Frrrr—
The chieftain divine beast glanced at me, then at the sea. I looked out too, but the water was just dark and empty.
"Roger! Why are we heading this way?"
"Trust the divine beasts!"
"Don't tell me..."
"No! Stop! Please stop!"
The chieftain divine beast charged full speed toward the cliff—then kicked off the ground and soared skyward. Clenching my teeth, I hung on for dear life. Surely, it wasn't trying to get us killed.
"Ahh! What are you doing?!"
The divine beasts leaped madly off the cliff—but at that instant! Their small wings unfurled with a whoosh.
"Oh my God!"
"Wow! What is this!"
Their wings were huge.
Until now, they'd simply been folded up as tightly as possible.
Now, like eagles, the lions spread their wings wide. They glided gracefully down. While maybe not able to fly for long, these divine beasts could manage a bit of flight.
For a moment, I worried they might plunge into the sea.
As always, I needed to trust the divine beasts.
We glided toward the water—
And with the skill of a swallow, we skimmed the surface and began to run across the water itself. It was astonishing.
"We're running on water!"
"Yuri, hold on tight!"
"Okay, unni!"
"Bronze knights, are you all right?"
"We're managing to keep up!"
With wings outstretched, the divine beasts raced across the water, but how long could this last? What's more, we were getting farther from shore.
We continued like that for more than ten minutes.
I began to think we might all die if they tired out midway. But the divine beasts didn't stop, relentlessly heading west.
Suddenly—splash! The divine beasts landed on something and, making soft noises, slowed and gathered around me one by one.
We weren't sinking.
There was something beneath the divine beasts' feet.
And then—
A black shadow loomed beneath the sea, and—
Land began to rise up out of the water.
An island was appearing.