It was one thing to talk about slaying Fiendrakes, but it wasn’t supposed to be an easy feat. In some instances, portions of national armies had to be dedicated to taking out individual threats. They were more powerful than standard Dragon subspecies, they weren’t capable of communicating, and they often came with unique abilities. The only saving grace was that they rarely came close to human settlements. But just because they didn’t directly terrorize people didn’t mean they weren’t serious threats. Their presence often caused other magical beasts to stampede into civilized areas, and they could have adverse environmental effects. The Hydra I’d killed, for example, was letting out a toxic gas that affected nearby water sources.
At any rate, they were ferocious dragonic foes. They weren’t the kind of enemy you’d face lightly... Or at least, they weren’t supposed to be...
“Hey, I found that one first!”
“You snooze, you lose!”
“You two need to be a little more gentle. You’re going to damage their resource value.”
Allis and Linne were casually wiping out beast after beast as they walked through the dense woodland. Frei was casually pacing behind them, tossing any valuable corpses in her [Storage]. The mood definitely didn’t fit the image of a group going off to face down a ferocious Dragon...
We carried on through the dense jungle, straight on course toward the Fiendrake’s nest.
“Daaaaaaaaad... Are we there yet?”
“Huh? It’s not much further. Just a bit past the upcoming river,” I said after checking our course on my phone. The news seemed to fill Linne with a little more energy.
Ende couldn’t help but sigh as he watched the kids bound along ahead of us.
“The kids sure are tough...”
“Keep it together, man. We’ve gotta set a good example.”
The kids with us were Frei, Linne, and Allis. The adults accompanying them were me, Ende, and Karina.
Linze, Hilde, Ney, Melle, and Lycee wanted to join us, but the first two had business to attend to, while Allis objected to her mothers accompanying us.
It wasn’t that Allis had a problem with them or anything, but she apparently wasn’t a fan of how overprotective they could be. It was clear from the outset that Ney and Melle wouldn’t be able to help themselves if they saw their daughter facing a Fiendrake. They might even interfere and kill the Fiendrake themselves if they saw her in danger. I had a feeling Allis was trying to avoid that kind of outcome. She didn’t even want Ende to tag along, but I had to ask him for permission to take her hunting. He was allowed to join us on the condition that he didn’t interfere with the Fiendrake battle under any circumstances, and I was made to promise the same thing.
Of course, we both secretly agreed to step in if the kids faced any grave danger. After all, Ende had only promised not to interfere with Allis, and I’d only promised not to interfere with Frei and Linne... Nothing was stopping us from saving each other’s children! Those poor, naive kids clearly didn’t understand how sneaky grownups could be. Though technically, I wasn’t a grownup... At least by Earth standards, anyway.
“BRAAARGH!” a massive boar roared as it suddenly charged out of the underbrush. It had sleek black fur and long, spear-like tusks. It was over three meters tall, and each time it turned or shook its head, it brought nearby trees crashing down. It honestly would’ve been more appropriate to call those tusks blades!
“Oh, it’s a Bladeboar. If we go by guild terms, it’d be a red-tier monster,” Ende casually explained what the creature was. I was thankful, since I’d never seen one before.
Red-tier implied it was the kind of monster you’d need a special listing for, the kind you’d need a veteran party to take down...yet the kids were casually playing rock, paper, scissors in front of it... Didn’t they have more pressing matters to deal with?
“Woohoo! I win!” Allis cheered loudly as she pounded the air with her fist. The two losers grumbled a little before backing off.
Wait, they’re doing a one-on-one?
“Bring it on!”
“GRAAARGH!” the Bladeboar roared once more before charging at Allis like a lance-wielding knight.
Allis didn’t waver at the sight, simply bracing herself instead. The Bladeboar continued charging forward like an out-of-control car, so it was only a matter of time before it crashed...
“Prismatic Guillotine!”
A crystalline material suddenly emerged from Allis’s right arm, taking on the form of a huge machete. She raised it high and swung it forward, slicing the Bladeboar clean in half as it charged headlong into the weapon’s edge.
“Overkill...”
“...She’s totally ruined the pelt.”
Ende and Karina couldn’t help but mutter. Allis was definitely a bit rough around the edges when it came to being a real hunter. She had the mindset that simply killing the monsters was more than enough.
“Hey, Frei, can you stash this for me? Arcy can cook it for us!”
“Sure thing, but...you’ve got blood all over you, Allis. Could you clean her up, father?” Frei casually shoved the Bladeboar into her [Storage] as she turned to me. She was right. Allis was basically covered in the animal’s blood, since splotches of the stuff were soaking through her clothes. It was a hell of a sight.
I quickly cast [Clean] on Allis, clearing away the blood and grime.
“If she’s this tough, she’ll make short work of the Fiendrake...”
“Don’t underestimate them. A Dragon’s still leagues beyond a beast, even when mindless. Plus, there are different kinds that have all manner of tricks up their sleeves,” Karina replied. She had a point. That poisonous Hydra I’d fought was pretty damn tough. It was important not to let your guard down around them.
We eventually came to the edge of the river, so I opened up a [Gate] to get us to the other side. We then carried on straight ahead, and the jungle gradually gave way to a more barren, rocky environment. We were in some kind of rugged canyon.
Linne and the others clambered up over the uneven, rocky surface.
Don’t go too far, now... Ah, wait...
“...You guys hear that?”
“I did. It’s nearby.”
I thought I faintly heard the roar of a Dragon off in the distance, so I checked with Ende. He’d heard it too. It was possible the enemy had already caught our scent. And so, I whipped out my smartphone and looked up the Fiendrake’s location. It was headed right for us.
“Hold it, kids. The enemy’s already on its way to our location. Let’s move to a more open space so we can fight it better, okay?”
“Okay! Linne, Allis. Let’s head that way. It’ll provide a better vantage point.”
“Got it.”
“Okaaaaaay.”
The two girls followed Frei’s instructions and moved to a broad slope without much cluttering it. Linne and Allis then equipped their gauntlets, while Frei equipped a spear. They were ready to go.
“Don’t forget that you guys are just here to watch! And go easy on the commentary too!”
“Yeah yeah, I know.”
I’ll switch from spectator to fighter if things get real bad, though...
Ende, Karina, and I sat ourselves down on a nearby rock.
Man...I kinda feel like a parent watching his kids on sports day. Oh, actually, I’ll record a video to show everyone else later.
As I moved to get my smartphone, Ende did the same thing. Apparently, we’d arrived at the same conclusion.
“Oh, I think it’s here,” I remarked as I heard the sound of flapping wings in the distance. The sound grew louder until I could see the form of a Dragon in the sky.
It was jet black and fairly large. It had four legs, while leathery, bat-like wings jutted out from its back. Huge horns adorned its head, while a red fin ran down its back all the way to the end of its tail. Its tail was jagged with a spiny flail instead of a tip, which kind of made it resemble a cocklebur. Its eyes were bloodshot red, so there wasn’t much in the way of friendliness radiating off them. I got the vibe that it was hellbent on wiping out these two-legged intruders who’d wandered in on its territory. Couldn’t blame it, really.
“Never seen that kind of Dragon before... It’s gotta be a Fiendrake, though...right?”
“It’s a Nidhogg. A rare kind of man-eating Dragon that feasts on human corpses,” Karina quickly answered my question.
A Nidhogg, huh...? And it’s a man eater? Kinda scary.
“GROAAARGH!” the Nidhogg let out a tremendous roar. To my ears, it sounded more like a joyful exclamation than anything hostile. It seemed more excited about finding new prey than anything else.
“All right, let’s do this!” Frei exclaimed as she twirled a spear that was longer than her own body, then lobbed it straight into the sky at the Nidhogg. The spear went hurtling through the air, but the Nidhogg deftly avoided it.
“Too easy,” Frei said, then grinned and waved her hand, causing the spear to stop and double back. I hadn’t noticed at first, but the spear was actually pointed at both ends. It came hurtling backward at an incredible speed, shredding through both of the Nidhogg’s wings.
“GKHACKH?!”
“Nice!”
With its leathery wing membrane torn, the Nidhogg lost its balance mid-flight. As that happened, Linne cast [Shield] to create footholds in the air, allowing her to jump up within striking distance.
“Take this!”
“GRAUGH!”
Linne swung both of her fists down hard against the Nidhogg’s back, setting off an explosive force right at the base of its wings. The creature was set completely off-balance by that, so before long, it tumbled down, smashing into the rocky ground below.
“Prismatic Guillotine!” Allis shouted as she brought her crystal machete down with perfect timing, completely shredding the Fiendrake’s wings. No matter what happened now, it would never fly again.
“Their attacks are pretty standard so far...”
“It’s smart to disable the wings. Same strategy you’d use with Wyverns,” Ende nodded and responded to my comment as we both watched what was unfolding.
The Nidhogg suddenly craned its neck and opened its mouth wide, glaring right at Frei.
Oh, I see what’s coming...
With a mighty fwoosh, flames billowed out from the Fiendrake’s maw. It was a classic fire breath attack.
“Oof,” Frei grunted as she suddenly dematerialized the spear in her hand, pulling out a heavy blue-white buckler shield from her [Storage] to take its place.
The Nidhogg’s fire breath lashed forward, hitting the shield head-on. But all the fire within a certain radius of the shield found itself diverting, protecting Frei completely. It was clearly some kind of magical artifact.
“Now!” Linne exclaimed as she suddenly burst in from the side, her gauntlet-clad fist smashing straight into the side of the Nidhogg’s face.
“GRAUGH?!”
Ouch. That’s gotta hurt.
“RAAAAAAAAARGH!”
The Nidhogg faced her this time, opening its mouth once more. But now it launched a volley of flaming globs instead of the direct stream it had unleashed earlier.
Linne was able to duck, dodge, and dive between the shots, avoiding harm. The same couldn’t be said for the nearby rocks, which exploded on impact and sent a hail of burning stones into the surrounding area.
“Hup!”
The Fiendrake’s tail lashed out, just barely missing Allis. The girl had crouched down low, then hopped back in order to get out of its range.
Frei stashed her buckler back into her [Storage], swapping it out for a hefty battle-axe. She then charged headlong toward the Dragon, but it quickly realized her intent. Without hesitation, it began spewing flaming bullets toward her to ward her off.
“Wait...isn’t the Dragon a different color...?”
“Now that you mention it...”
The Fiendrake’s scales had lost their jet black luster and were gradually turning red. Eventually, even the reddish hue changed to black again, with luminous orange lines running through its body. The entire creature almost appeared to be composed of molten rock.
“GRARGH!” the Nidhogg gnashed its teeth as it roared yet again, sending sparks flying from its mouth. In an instant, its entire body bloomed into a flower of flame.
“GROAAAAAAAAARGH!” with its entire body ignited, the Nidhogg let out a furious bellow. The heat rolling off it was so intense I could even feel it from my viewing area.
“Let’s see how the kids fare against its blazing malice form...” Karina grinned slightly as she gazed at the burning beast.
So what, you were waiting for this?
The intense flames made it hard to get close to the Dragon. If Elna or Quun were there, they might have been able to use Water or Ice magic, but that wasn’t currently an option.
“Yeowch, it’s hot! Do something, Frei!”
“Like what?! It’s easier said than done, you know?!” Frei replied to Linne as best she could while avoiding the Nidhogg’s claws.
“Uhm, let me see if I have anything enchanted with Water or Ice in here...” Frei mumbled as she started rummaging through her [Storage] space, looking for anything that could help. She organized her regular weapons pretty well, but her less-used ones were basically all cluttered up in there. It was a bit ridiculous to see her frantically looking through her stuff in the heat of battle.
“GRAGH!”
“Ah!” Frei yelped as she jumped to the side, avoiding another blazing swipe from the Fiendrake. That one was so close it had me on the edge of my seat.
“Hah!”
“GRARGH?!”
The Nidhogg was suddenly stopped in its tracks by a blast of raw chi from Linne’s fists.
“GRAGH!”
“Ack!”
As a consequence of drawing its attention away from Frei, Linne found herself almost struck by a flaming bullet launched from the Nidhogg’s mouth. She leaped up into the air to avoid it, using [Shield] to create more footholds for herself.
“Got it! The Icebringer!” Frei exclaimed as she raised a transparent blade high into the air. Even from as far back as I was, I felt a chill emanating from it.
“This blade was forged from eternal ice shaved from the perpetual frostwall in the Elfrau Kingdom! It all began five hundred years ago, when the elven spellsword Cradlestone needed to defeat Vocarumble the Manacrusher—”
“Skip the lore and just use it already!” Allis yelled out in a panic as she narrowly avoided the Fiendrake’s flames.
In response, Frei brandished the sword and pointed the tip toward the Nidhogg.
“[Freezing]!”
The air suddenly chilled, forming flakes of snow, which then clung to the Nidhogg’s body and cooled it down. The flames covering the beast died off, reverting its scales to their original black hue. But that proved to only be temporary... Soon enough, the flames began to lick their way outward from the Fiendrake’s cracked form once more.
“I can’t keep this up forever! Finish it now!”
“Got it! Prismatic Rose!” Allis replied as she formed a thorny vine of crystal around her right hand.
“Prismatic Guillotine!” she then exclaimed, as she conjured up her crystal machete on the end of the vine and began to swing it around like a whip. Once she’d built up sufficient force, she brought it slicing down on the monster’s tail.
“GYAAAAAAGH!”
With a sound that was more like a dull thud than a slicing chop, the Nidhogg’s thick tail was completely severed at the base. The Fiendrake lost its balance as a result, falling forward face-first.
Linne saw her chance and immediately cast [Shield], using it like a staircase to get as high up into the sky as possible...before jumping down.
“Meteor kiiick!”
“GRARGH?!”
Her body had been enchanted with [Gravity] to make her even heavier as she drove the full force of that extra weight into the Nidhogg’s back. The impact was followed by a sickening crack from the monster’s spine. Presumably, it broke.
“This is it for you!”
“Grauuugh...”
Before I could even tell what happened next, Frei ran her Icebringer through the Fiendrake’s skull. In the blink of an eye, the Nidhogg froze over with ice.
“I’m gonna finish it!”
“W-Wait, Linne! Don’t do what I think you’re gonna do!”
Before Frei could stop her, Linne slammed a devastatingly powerful strike directly into the Nidhogg’s side. Cracks ran out from the center of the impact, skittering across the surface of its body. The mighty Nidhogg’s form shattered into a million little pieces, not unlike a fallen Phrase.
“A-Ah... O-Oh no...”
“...I can’t say I’m terribly surprised.”
As the Nidhogg crumbled, both Ende and Karina let out their own comments. Clearly, my daughter hadn’t learned anything from her earlier hunts. Now there’d be no valuable resources to harvest from the beast. It was just frozen hunks of meat... Though maybe I’d be able to salvage something from the severed tail, at least. But still, this was more about the hunt than the spoils, so it was still a worthwhile venture.
“...I shouldn’t have frozen it.”
“I-It’s not a big deal! We beat it!”
“I would’ve hit it the same way...”
Frei grumbled quietly as she opened up [Storage] in a wide radius and absorbed the frozen Dragon meat.
Oh yeah, I guess if we defrost it, it could still taste good.
Dragon meat was generally good, but I didn’t know anything about Fiendrake meat. The Hydra I’d killed was too toxic to consume, at least.
“Daaaaaad! Where’s the next Dragon?!”
“Now hold on a second... Let’s at least take a break, okay? Lu and Arcia made us lunch.”
I didn’t want my reckless daughter getting herself caught up in her own impatience. It’d be better to rest before continuing the hunt, if we were even going to do that.
I took out a few chairs and a large table from my [Storage], then set out the boxes of food Arcia and Lu had prepared for us.
“Wow, looks yummy!”
The first set of boxes contained rice balls. The second had greasy stuff like chicken, fried shrimp, croquettes, and southern fried chicken. The third set had fried eggs, sausages, hamburg steak, meatballs, cherry tomatoes, and a side salad. The fourth set had sliced fruits and healthy dessert items in it.
It all looked pretty yummy, but it was pretty clearly aimed more toward the kids.
“Let’s eat!” I said as I conjured up a sphere of water for the kids to wash their hands in. They quickly rinsed their hands and started chowing down on the rice balls. They sure were eager...
I decided to have some too. I picked up one of the rice balls and took a big bite. It was just salty enough for my tastes, with tuna and mayonnaise inside.
“Bwugh! This one’s pickled plum... You take it, dad...”
“Huh?! B-But, I... Okay...”
Allis bit into a rice ball and apparently disagreed with the filling, so she passed it to her dad to finish. Her lack of interest in pickled plums certainly betrayed the fact that she was just a child.
I chuckled a little at Ende’s own reluctance, but then Linne suddenly came up to me with a rice ball of her own and held it up to me.
“Take this, dad...”
“You too, huh?”
I took the pickled plum rice ball from my daughter and begrudgingly chowed down on it.
Buegh! Eashen’s are way sourer than the ones in Japan!
We took our time enjoying our food, but we all gradually noticed the noise from the nearby woodland growing louder.
“What’s going on...?”
I heard the sounds of birds flapping their wings, of hooves on the ground, of rustling leaves and cracking branches...
Wait, no way... Don’t tell me...
I quickly pulled out my phone and did a search for monsters and magical beasts in the local area. The results screen showed an enormous wave of red markers rushing straight toward us.
Oh shit! It’s a stampede!
Stampedes typically began when monsters grouped up in a frenzy, running amok and charging forward in one big wave. And it didn’t just involve monsters or magical beasts either. Regular animals often got swept up in the mix, creating a veritable tsunami of irrational danger.
At the moment, that raging wave was headed right toward us.
What should I do? If I wanna get everyone to safety, then I should just open a [Gate]... But there’s a village nearby, and it’s right in the stampede’s path... Hell, protecting that village is why we came out to hunt the Fiendrake to begin with. And based on how loud the stampede is, I doubt they’ll stop.
“What do we do?”
“Well, we should probably stop it,” I said as I nodded at Ende. Pam would be upset if we let the stampede go unhindered, anyway.
“Killing a ton of monsters?! Count me in!”
“Oh! Me too! Hey, Your Majesty! Lemme join too!”
“No. I’m not killing them. If we just randomly poach the whole crowd, it’d disrupt the local ecosystem.”
“Aww...”
“Aww...”
Linne and Allis seemed disappointed, but I knew there’d be no point in killing the stampeding creatures. Magical beasts and monsters were good sources of food and materials for the local tribes. Killing them en masse was an easy feat, but also highly immoral.
“The smartest thing to do right now is to divert them. Let’s see... [Earth Wall].”
I erected a massive stone barrier that stretched several kilometers to my left and right. It was about twenty meters high. It was a great and mighty wall, more than capable of holding back a charging Dragon. And, at the very least, it granted us peace of mind.
“...I’ll never get used to your insane powers, Touya,” Ende mumbled as he slowly shook his head.
What?! I’ll take the wall down when the stampede’s over! It’s fine!
“But won’t the monsters just smash into the wall and crush each other?”
“Nope. It’s all good. I’ve infused the wall with a [Gate] enchantment that sends them about twenty kilometers backward.”
If the stampede kept on going, they’d just run in an endless loop until they tired themselves out. I’d come up with a rather simple, yet ingenious solution.
Still, what could’ve caused the stampede? These kinds of things typically happened as precursors to natural disasters. But there were no active volcanoes in the Sea of Trees, and I would’ve been warned by the spirits about any earthquakes.
If the monsters are panicking because they feel threatened...then did something show up that scared them?
I used [Gate] to move up to the top of the wall. It was more than ten meters thick, so I didn’t have to worry about falling off. I then looked off into the distance and saw the stampeding wave of monsters, a huge cloud of dirt behind them as they charged. It was clear to me they were fleeing something.
“I see... So that’s it, huh?” Karina seemed to have identified the cause in seconds.
“Hm?”
Huh? What can you see that I can’t? I just see trees and dirt clouds...
“[Long Sense].”
I projected my senses out toward the stampede.
Hm...? There’s something in the trees? No, it’s big enough to move the trees... Wait, what is that thing? Under...the trees? Wait, is that a head?!
I narrowed my gaze and finally realized exactly what I was looking at. A turtle. A ridiculously massive turtle. It was a turtle with a patch of forest on its back.
What the hell?! A Behemoth?!
“It’s a Zaratan. Rare to see them on land, I must say. It’s a type of magical beast that usually lives in the sea. There’s an old story about a group of sailors who found a mysterious island, only for it to be a Zaratan’s back. Oh, and it’s not a Behemoth either. That’s their normal size.”
“Seriously?”
No way... It’s way too huge. Isn’t it hundreds of meters across? Don’t think it’s over a kilometer, at least...
It was no wonder the beasts were running from that thing. It shook the ground with each step it took.
“Zaratans are extremely docile magical beasts. They just happen to be large, so they often leave a lot of collateral damage in their wake. I’m sure it’s probably just lost and confused,” Karina said, her expression filled with a sense of relief. I would’ve been a bit scared if the turtle was aggressive.
“Daaad! Are you gonna fight it?!”
“No, I don’t wanna do that...” I replied. I didn’t really know what else to say in response to Linne’s innocent question.
Can I even beat it? It’s larger than the wicked god was... What would I even do with its corpse?
“So wait, if this thing’s on land, then why hasn’t it caused stampedes before now?”
“Zaratans can hibernate for thousands of years. The forest probably grew on its back while it slept.”
So this thing’s just been sleeping in the Sea of Trees for thousands of years?
Fortunately, the Zaratan was slow, but less fortunate was the fact that it was so huge. Every step it took covered a considerable distance. At the rate it was going, it’d be at my wall before long.
“Why’s it coming this way, though?”
“It might be trying to eat the stampede?”
“Oh, yeah. When you wake up, you usually want breakfast.”
The kids had a few ideas, but I wasn’t so sure any of them fit the bill. One thing was certain, though. If it kept on shambling slowly, it wouldn’t catch anything.
Ende calmly looked off at the Zaratan before finally speaking up and saying, “It might be heading for the sea...”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. If it’s an aquatic creature, maybe it’s trying to get home?”
That made sense. If it wanted to return to the water, then it’d have to walk over to the other side of the nearby village. And that meant the Zaratan itself was just an innocent creature, making the stampede a mere byproduct of its existence.
“We’ll return it to the sea, then.”
“Whaaat, really? You’re not gonna fight? But I wanted to ride a Frame Gear...”
“You can’t solve everything through combat, Linne.”
My daughter grumbled a little, but I wanted to show her that there was more to problem-solving than brute force. I did feel like a hypocrite saying that, though... Fighting was definitely how I solved most of my problems.
“So, uh, how are you gonna send it?”
“I was thinking of just using [Gate].”
It knew it wouldn’t be hard to lock on to it, since it was pretty sluggish. Sure, a portal that large would suck up a lot of trees as well, but all the trees over there had gotten flattened by the Zaratan anyway, so it seemed like a fine solution.
I wasn’t going to drop it into the sea directly, however. Instead, I planned to put it by the shore. If I plopped something that large directly into the water, it’d create a devastating tidal wave.
“But there’s gotta be animals living on that turtle, right? Won’t they die?”
Ah...
Allis had a great point. I hadn’t even considered that. And so, after hearing her say that, I ran a search on my smartphone to see if there were any animals on the Zaratan’s back. Sure enough, there were. Some were fleeing, while others were staying still. Either way, if the Zaratan returned to the sea, they’d drown and die.
Guess I’ll warp the animals off first.
“Target lock. Every living creature on the Zaratan’s back.”
“Understood... Targets locked.”
“[Gate].”
I warped all the animals off to another location, freeing them from the stampede. They quickly scattered and ran to safety.
“There we go. Now all I have to do is move the Zaratan and—”
“GROAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” a sudden, loud roar echoed out through the nearby area.
The hell?!
I looked over and saw the Zaratan roaring to the heavens. Its movements suddenly grew far more erratic, and its massive body began flailing from side to side.
“What’s happening now?!”
“...It’s hard to see from here, but there’s something by its feet. I believe the Zaratan is being attacked,” Ende said, narrowing his eyes.
“Say what?!”
Don’t tell me the tribespeople are attacking it. That’s way too reckless!
“No. It’s not the tribes. It’s...Gigants. Tsk. That’s not good. They’re really swarming the poor thing.”
I’d heard of Gigants. They were vicious magical beasts that resembled gigantic ants and lived deep underground. Once they started attacking, they wouldn’t stop until they were dead. They were connected through a hive mind, so if one started attacking, it’d usually communicate with all others in the vicinity and they’d join in. The only way to deal with them was to completely eradicate the nest, since no matter how far away you got from them, they’d never stop hunting you.
Now these swarming menaces were attacking the Zaratan... It had probably crushed one by mistake during its advance, which would’ve alerted the entire nest.
Gigants had strong enough jaws to tear limbs off the human body. The Zaratan was huge enough to survive that kind of onslaught, but the Gigants had an overwhelming numerical advantage. The sight honestly reminded me of stories I’d heard back on Earth, of the Amazon’s army ants that could pick entire cows and horses clean of their flesh given enough time.
From the looks of things, the Zaratan was definitely in pain... It was a bad situation all around. My concern wasn’t so much for the Zaratan, though. I didn’t think the Gigants would be able to kill it... But if they kept biting it, it’d surely go even more berserk, which would only serve to make the stampede worse.
“Let’s get the Zaratan out of here,” I said as I opened up a [Gate] beneath the Zaratan’s feet, sending it to the Sandora coastline. Naturally, all the nearby features of the forest, Gigants included, went tumbling through with it. I was fairly sure the portal I’d opened up led to an uninhabited area, but I followed them just to be on the safe side.
My eyes adjusted to the sight of a rocky beach area, with the sea spreading out far in front of me. I saw the Zaratan, forest still on its massive back, slowly walking toward the water. However, thousands of Gigants clung to the poor beast’s ankles, gnawing at its flesh without mercy or any signs of stopping. The great beast’s legs were covered in open sores, and a trail of blood followed after its slow march.
“Hey! Leave the turtle alone!” Allis suddenly yelled at the Gigants, manifesting her signature Prisma Rose whip in her hands. It looked like she couldn’t bear to see the poor creature in pain.
“Wait, Allis?!”
Heedless of Ende’s cries, Allis charged forward and cracked her whip, striking down one of the Gigants that clung to the Zaratan’s leg.
Gigants had an empathic hive mind. One Gigant’s pain was shared across all Gigants within a certain area. And now, thanks to that attack, all the Gigants turned their heads to look at us. A sense of dread overcame me.
The chittering Gigants began to crawl toward us, apparently recognizing us as enemies.
“Hey, dad! Can we kill these?! Can we?! Can we?!”
“...Yeah.”
“Hurray! Take this!” Linne merrily exclaimed as she started punching out the Gigants.
...Of course this happened.
“Hee hee hee hee... Time to test out my new weapons!”
I looked over and saw Frei slashing Gigant after Gigant with a set of twinblades I’d never seen before.
You too, huh?
I let out a small sigh as the kids began fighting the swarm.
The Gigants just kept coming, but the kids didn’t let a single one get past them. You’d think the Gigants would’ve learned their lesson, but apparently not. It would’ve been pretty easy for me to wipe them all out with magic, but I got the feeling the kids would get really fussy at me if I ruined their fun, so I elected not to.
“Well, uh...they sure are doing a good job...”
“Can’t lie, I feel pretty mixed about this as a dad.”
Ende and I could only stare blankly as our kids kept on fighting. I didn’t really know how I ended up with such frantic battle fanatics for kids... They didn’t really seem to do much ladylike stuff either... Frankly, it made me concerned for their marriage prospects... Then again, I wasn’t in any rush to give them away.
Yeah, I guess this is fine, actually. Keep killing those ants, kids!
“Oh yeah, the carapace of a Gigant sells for a lot. You should pick them up.”
“Oh, sure.”
Karina’s voice snapped me out of my pondering. I opened up [Storage] and sucked all the dead Gigants up into it.
“Prisma Hammer!” Allis exclaimed as she formed a giant crystal hammer and smashed a ton of Gigants at once... Unfortunately, that rendered them unsalvageable, so there was no collecting to be had for me there.
The number of Gigants gradually began to dwindle, and before long, the amount of them clinging to the Zaratan had gone considerably down. I’d also put as many as I could into my [Storage].
The Zaratan finally made it to the water, one of his front feet submerging itself. The great beast was home safe.
“Last one!” Linne yelled as she charged forward with an explosive kick, blasting one final Gigant into a nearby dune. The beach was littered with the corpses of giant ants. There weren’t any living ones left on the land, and the ones still clinging to the Zaratan were drowning in the sea. It was over.
“That was fun!”
“The turtle’s safe too!”
“Mhm. That was really exciting.”
The kids all started cheering and hugging each other as they celebrated their victory. Ende and I just sort of sighed in relief. If the kids were happy...that meant our trip had gone just fine.
“The Zaratan’s heading out. Looks like it really did want to get to the water,” Ende mumbled quietly as he watched the troublesome creature swim out deeper.
“Bye-byeee! Don’t come ashore again, silly!”
The kids waved goodbye to the Zaratan, and the creature turned its head and gave them a little half nod...almost as if it were responding. Then, just like that, it sank into the watery depths.
“It’s gone.”
“Sure is. Let’s head back to the Sea of Trees and see if that stampede’s over,” I said before I warped us all back to the top of the wall I’d built.
Sure enough, the stampede seemed to be dying down. The beasts and animals that were once a uniform crowd were now slowly dispersing, which meant I could get rid of the wall.
I used Earth magic to undo the construction, returning the area to how it looked before.
“Well, there we go... Sheesh... It’s been a wild hunt...”
“It was really fun, though!” Linne screamed, seeming happy...which made me happy too.
“Okay, time to head home,” I said as I opened up a [Gate] and followed my kids through it.
We all made our way back to Brunhild Castle’s reception room. All my wives were there, enjoying a spot of tea. Melle, Ney, and Lycee were with them as well.
“Moms, I’m home!”
“Ah! Welcome home, Allis! Huh?!”
Allis charged forward, practically bounding into the air. Ney stood up and caught her in her arms.
“Welcome home, Allis.”
“Not hurt, are you?”
“I’m okaaay!”
Melle and Lycee crowded her too. They were probably worried about her... They had a habit of coddling her, as I recalled.
I looked over and saw Linne hugging Linze, while Frei was getting some head pats from Hilde. It was nice seeing them welcomed back in their own ways.
“You’ve been out a while, Touya. Did everything go okay?”
“Yeah, it was fine... As fine as it could’ve gone, at least.”
I could only say that and flash a strained smile in response to Yumina’s question.
“Would you like some tea, Touya? Ende and Karina, how about you?” Lu asked as she quickly started preparing some refreshments, which was just what I needed before dinner.
In the background, I could hear Lu bickering with her daughter. Something along the lines of, “I’ll make father’s tea!” followed by “That’s my responsibility! Stay in your lane!” and such.
I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes.
Whew... I’m more tired than I thought.
It’d been a hell of a day, and I’d ended up being dragged around a lot by my kids. But while looking over at Linne and the rest of the kids telling Elze, Linze, and the others about the Fiendrake and the encounter with the Zaratan...I realized the fatigue was all worth it.
This isn’t so bad, huh?
I smiled as I looked over at my family...when something suddenly materialized in the air and fell right on top of me.
“Ghagh!”
“Whagh?!”
The “something” made a strange noise, rolled off me, and landed on the next couch cushion over. It wasn’t a something at all. It was a someone. A girl.
Where’d she come from?! Wait, no way...
“Daddy!” as soon as the girl saw my face, she yelled and gave me a big hug.
Agh... Is it really...?
“Yoshino?!”
“Yoshinooo!”
Frei and Linne confirmed my suspicions. It was Yoshino, Sakura’s daughter. She must have materialized above me with [Teleport].
This was the sixth child now... They’d been coming in faster and faster as of late.
I slowly pried Yoshino’s hugging arms off me. Her pinkish hair was cut short, with a little cherry blossom hairpin clipped at the side.
She was Sakura’s daughter, so she had to be part of the overlord’s species...but there were no visible horns. Perhaps they were hidden in her hair? She was supposed to be older than Arcia, yet younger than Quun, so that put her at about nine...but she looked smaller than that.
She wore a navy blue dress with a fancy collar and hem... It kind of reminded me of the typical schoolgirl uniform back in Japan. Maybe you’d call it a sailor dress? I didn’t really know, but she sure was cute.
“You’re...Yoshino?”
“Ah! Mommy!” Yoshino exclaimed as she flew from my side and charged toward Sakura, pulling her into a tight cuddle.
Poor Sakura seemed more dazed and confused than anything else.
“U-Uhm...w-welcome...h-home?”
“Yay! I’m home!” Yoshino said, her smile wide.
The other children began to crowd her.
“Jeez, you showed up outta nowhere!”
“Nice to see you here, Yoshino.”
“You’re finally here, Yoshino...”
“Hurray, you’re here!”
“You’re late, sis!”
The kids started making a racket, but it was mostly celebratory cheering.
Let’s see here... So now there’s my second daughter Frei, third daughter Quun, fourth daughter Yoshino, fifth daughter Arcia, sixth daughter Elna, and the seventh is Linne...
I was once again overcome with shock at just how many kids I had. Then again, I did have a lot of wives...so it was probably inevitable.
“Ah?! Wait, I can’t get distracted! Daddy, you need to help! We’re in big trouble!” Yoshino abruptly turned toward me with a look of desperation on her face.
We? Who’s we?
It seemed like something big was going on...and whatever it was, I couldn’t ignore my daughter’s desperate plea.
Don’t worry, Yoshino! Whatever you need, I’ll provide!
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