episode_0251

Fairies are a special race.

Unbound by the flesh that is nothing more than skin, the soul can directly intervene in the world.

Based on their affinity for the five attributes of nature and magical powers, they also take on the noble role of cultivating and preserving nature.

Spirits are spirits born from nature, and fairies are similar to such spirits, but are also dominant species that control spirits.

They are a completely different race from the mongrel, scrap monsters.

[When was that story? Looking at our current state, it’s the same as before.]

That kind of perception is from the past.

It was a story that didn’t really resonate with the fairies living in this green forest.

One of the fairies, Kali, shrugged her shoulders with a bashful expression.

Her jet-black hair fluttered, and the dull, rainbow-colored wings spread behind her back folded gently.

[It seems too miserable for us to be proud of being the dominant species, being chased and wandering without even being able to find a place to live…]

[Profit… Don’t cut off other people’s thoughts as you please]

[You connected it… Anyway, let’s stop thinking strange thoughts and move on]

[Boo…]

The fairy, Leo, pouts after being scolded by Kali.

Behind her back, dull, rainbow-colored wings fluttered and pushed her body forward between her blond hair that poured down like a waterfall.

Rio poked his head out from under the bushes.

After hiding his presence as much as possible, he carefully detected whether there were any enemies around him and then moved his wings.

– Shashasha!

It moves quickly through the thickets and bushes.

Keep your guard up for a while just in case the noise spreads.

It only transmits signals when there is no problem.

[This way]

– Shashasha!

Only after Rio’s signal was given did the other fairies follow Rio’s path in a single file.

Rio’s unique ability is the chloride series.

Interestingly, this was a case where an individual’s unique characteristics were expressed in addition to innate racial abilities.

He is also good at blocking and detecting sounds, so he volunteered to be in charge of finding the way.

[No problem, keep going]

[huh]

Kali was at the tail of that group.

Kali is one of the more combat-savvy fairies among the weak fairies.

So, they kept guard in the rear in case of any attack.

Rio leads the way, filling the center with fairies with weaker combat abilities, and Kali follows behind.

They kept their formation and flapped their wings steadily.

[Alert… Hide!]

However, when a monster approaches, it quickly hides in the nearby bushes at the signal.

Or they might burrow into the ground or spring up through the lush foliage.

It wasn’t difficult because the average fairy’s body was quite small.

– Thump, thump, thump… Thump… Thump… …

[… went]

[Eww…]

[There’s dirt in my mouth…]

When the sound of the monster passes, I pull myself out with difficulty and start on my way again.

A truly desperate combat avoidance tactic.

At the same time, he is very slow in his actions as he is careful of all sorts of sounds.

I just wanted to fly high in the sky.

[Then, if one of them gets caught, it’ll all end on good terms]

[yes…]

Unlike the ground, it was too dangerous to cross the sky where there was no cover or anything.

The fairies, who had been trying their best to avoid combat, spent the whole day flying as far away as they could.

.

.

.

That night.

We huddled together in the dark bushes and had a miserable meal.

The menu consisted of a variety of tree fruits.

Most of them were tiny fruits, not even the size of a person’s fist.

The fairies were just as tiny, so it wasn’t a problem.

[… I feel suffocated…]

[I can’t help it, but I can’t fight, right?]

Rio frowned as he munched on a tree fruit that was huge compared to him.

I feel so suffocated.

Kali, who received such an image, responded.

[Even if you win, it’s not like you won. If you grab one and another one pops out, it’s over.]

[I know too…]

Even Rio, not just Kali, could defeat the monster that just passed by.

No matter how weak a fairy’s fighting ability is, there is a basic weight class.

Just pouring the attribute ability for cultivating nature onto the enemy can be quite lethal.

The problem is that when a battle breaks out, your location is quickly discovered by the surrounding monsters.

You can defeat that monster, but occasionally you’ll encounter a strong monster that you can’t defeat even if you all attack at once.

This fairy is famous for being the best health food for monsters and a living flying elixir.

If the location is discovered and those guys come running in droves…

[Eww, Rio, don’t imagine! It’ll scare us too.]

[I’m a coward, so even imagining it is scary… Stop it!]

[What? No! That’s not my imagination…!]

Rio jumped at the horrified reactions around him.

I did imagine something like that, but it wasn’t something that would cause such an outrageous reaction.

But the reason for such a strong reaction was ultimately to make fun of Rio.

Although Leah is the leader of this group along with Carly, she is not exempt from these pranks.

Fairies are originally a pure and playful race.

If the situation had not been so dire, all the fairies would have been smiling brightly and living peaceful days.

[… If only the King were here…]

If there had been a ruler, a king, it would have been so.

Rio licked his lips as a thought suddenly occurred to him.

The expressions of the other fairies who received that thought also sank and became gloomy.

Fairies are truly a mysterious race.

Although they are said to be quite talented, the normal fairy’s military power is not outstanding.

Rather, it was located on the lower side when looking at the overall distribution.

But in the knowledge that Rio possesses, the fairies of the past did not live in misery.

There were not just nine fairies, but so many that the sky was literally full.

Instead of wandering around in panic, chased by danger, they all lived in one hometown.

It had the ability to defend its territory even when invaded by a powerful foreign enemy.

… it was all possible because there was a king.

Give birth to fairies, give them blessings, build barriers to ward off enemies, and give birth to knights and soldiers to protect them.

It all comes from the king’s power.

But the fairy who lost her king could not help but become weak.

The blessings disappeared, and the knights and soldiers disappeared one by one.

Eventually, as time passed and they were unable to prevent invasions by foreign enemies, they scattered.

Eventually, at some point, I found myself living in a confined space like this.

[… Okay, forget it]

A single, blunt voice echoed through the increasingly gloomy atmosphere.

It was Kali’s voice.

She took a bite of the fruit with a sunken face.

[There is no king. Even if there is one, he can’t help us. So forget about it, just erase it. We have to live on our own strength.]

For a fairy, it was an extremely cold and firm statement, but no one really objected and everyone nodded sullenly.

Everyone knows this even without Carly pointing it out.

In the first place, they had never seen the king in person, and had never lived in a fairyland.

Born in this space, all the kings and fairies they encountered were nothing more than knowledge.

It was like a fairy tale.

I have the knowledge that there used to be a paradise like this, but I can’t quite believe it.

Even if you believe it, it is a fiction that does not exist now.

[Ugh…]

But I couldn’t help but hope for a glimmer of hope.

Rio also had that little hope.

Could it really be that, just like a dream, the king could reappear and gather the scattered fairies?

It’s like a lie that this suffering might end…

[…boundary!]

Sweet hope.

At the end of it all, Rio suddenly lowered his head to the ground with a bitter sense of crisis lingering.

Kali and the other fairies quickly fell to the ground.

– … Thud! … Thud! … Thud!

I feel a presence.

Rio’s face turned pale at the sound of heavy footsteps thumping on the ground he was lying on.

It’s a familiar feeling that I’ve been feeling very well these days.

At some point, the monster began to persistently target the fairy.

Nothing special.

Fairies are always under attack, and so was that monster.

What’s special is that… that monster is a particularly powerful entity in this space.

And strangely enough, he was good at catching the traces of fairies and chasing them.

If you stay still in one place, you’ll get caught right away.

The fairies, including Rio and Carly, had to move every day, risking danger.

– Kwung… ! Kwung… ! Kwung… !

But it somehow managed to chase me here.

Even though I flew all day without resting.

Rio covered his mouth with both trembling hands.

Kali and the other fairies all held their breath and made no sound.

No problem.

That monster has come close a few times, but I’ve never properly caught it.

Fairies are adept at hiding their presence.

If you control your magic well and hide your presence as if you are blending in with nature, hybrid monsters will not dare to find you.

Although it cannot be abused because it consumes a lot of psychic power, it is an ability that has saved the lives of countless fairies in extremely dangerous situations like this.

Also, the bastard can’t even destroy the surrounding environment.

If we do that, the corpse of the fairy we are supposed to eat will be damaged.

So, like usual, that too will go away.

– Boom!

“… … ”

The sound stopped.

Right nearby.

[…escape!]

After making her decision, Kali stretched out both hands.

All the remaining magical power in the body was pulled out.

The magic spread like flames.

The pale Rio and the other fairies also reached out at the same time.

Converts magic power into wind. Pushes away the flames that just burst out with the wind.

Hwarururuk! The flames that suddenly burst out engulfed the monster.

Even the bushes that burst into flames were not spared. The flames were strong and purely magical.

They all burst out of the burning bushes and flapped their wings in the opposite direction of the monster.

– Kwaaah!

[Ugh?!]

[Ah!]

[Ugh…!]

My body staggered from the explosion that erupted from behind.

The vibrations were so intense that they felt like their insides were being crushed, causing the two fairies to fall to the ground.

[Hurry up!]

I didn’t have the luxury of waiting around for the situation to change.

Hooow! The wind spirit that had not been able to bring many picked up the fairies that had fallen on the ground.

Rio and Carly hurriedly picked them up and spread their wings again.

[Eek…!]

At the same time, Leah turned her head without realizing it and met his eyes.

A huge, elongated head that spits out flames.

Huge teeth rooted in a gaping snout.

Black scales that are not easily visible in the dark, but can be seen briefly in the flames.

Huge, bright yellow eyes.

In the meantime, I met his eyes with a long, slit, evil pupil.

‘eww…!’

Rio’s heart sank.

That terrifying thing is targeting my friend and myself.

I grit my teeth and push my body against the wind.

– Kaaaah!

– Geeek!

– Woof, woof!

The binge drinking didn’t end with just one time.

In the middle of the night, the monster’s huge roar caused other monsters to flock in.

‘ah…’

My ears are ringing.

The sound filled my head, making me dizzy, as if rain was slowly pouring down from a dry sky.

They all started to flock towards this side.

Rio opened his mouth without realizing it.

How did I get caught? I clearly tried to hide my presence as much as possible. It would be pointless to hide my presence now, and since I’ve already been caught once, there’s a high chance that I’ll be caught again…

– Kaaah!

“What!?”

[Rio!]

While flying, absentmindedly avoiding the aftermath of battle and monsters appearing from all directions.

The shock hit Rio’s body.

The blown body was about to crash into a thick tree trunk.

Rio hugged the fairy sitting in his arms tightly and quickly turned around.

Boom! My back hit the tree. My vision went blurry.

My body, exhausted, rolled listlessly near the tree roots.

I heard a voice calling me in my head.

Rio flapped his wings absentmindedly.

The flight was difficult.

– Boom!

A familiar, tiresome presence approached.

Rio squinted his eyes.

The blurry vision cleared, and the gaping mouth of the monster became clearly visible.

Because he was already small, the sight seemed like the dark night sky was falling.

In a world that seemed to have slowed down for some reason, that scene appeared very clearly.

Death is clearly approaching.

[… Ugh, help me…]

At that sight, Rio unconsciously called out for help.

To whom? Even Rio himself doesn’t know.

To Kali? To Theo? To Rio?

Or to that monster? To my own kind who may be somewhere?

Or is it to the King of Hope, whose appearance was hidden in the past?

The answer was unknown.

– Please, someone help me…!

It may have just been a final struggle before death.

It is not an action that is done rationally, but rather an action that is done instinctively.

So, he haphazardly unleashed his unique abilities and asked for help from every being he could reach.

But the monster didn’t stop there.

The bastard closed his gaping mouth.

[no!!]

A multitude of screams ringing in my head.

The wind that hits the body with the mouth closed.

A strange sensation that runs from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes.

Rio squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating the brief pain that would soon follow.

The monster’s mouth closed.

– Kwaaang!

A harsh sound rang out.

‘…uh?’

The usual sound of skin being torn and chewed was not painful.

– Kkakakakak…!

Instead, the sound of metal scraping against metal rang in my ears.

Rio, who had been blinking at him, suddenly raised his head.

‘uh…’

Rio’s vision showed many different things.

The monster’s snout trembles as it is blocked in the middle of biting.

A pair of pure white hands clenching large teeth that seemed to have nothing blocking them without moving an inch.

A human female with a body filled with vast life force, who extends her fist while connected to the earth.

and…

‘…wings?’

Three pairs of wings, sparkling in five colors, spread out by the owner of the pure white hands.