We succeeded in freeing Veronica by borrowing the power of the Hummingbird Harpies.
Now that we’ve safely recovered our companions, let’s hurry and find Nigpyura. But a horde of enemies has gathered, determined not to let us escape through the narrow hallway. The ones at the front are approaching, weapons in hand.
“Stay back.”
“Are you alright? You look like you’ve taken quite a bit of damage.”
“I have, but I owe these guys.”
Veronica dodged the enemy’s sword and plunged into the crowd waiting behind her. A purple explosion erupted, and smoke enveloped the surroundings.
“You! Guah!”
“Where did she go?!”
“Never mind the Dark Harpies, focus on the ones in the room.”
Confused voices of Dark Elves could be heard. We fled to the other side of the hallway carrying Ryoku’s cage.
“Pursuers are coming from the front as well!”
Cowardly Ear detected enemies in the darkness. Before the opponent could notice them, Kiba’s spirit wolf lunged. The enemies, caught off guard, were pushed to the floor and dragged.
“Whoa, let go! Help me!”
“Just wait a second.”
Another one who said that was silenced by a dagger thrust into his heart by a Hunter.
“Hiii, ugh.”
Kiba delivered the finishing blow to the one writhing on the ground. Despite being half my height, he possessed incredible strength. Even with the help of spirits, he’s taking down prey several times his size. The dwarf race holds abilities beyond imagination for their size.
Kiba pulled the dagger from the enemy’s neck and turned back to Cowardly Ear.
“Hey, are there any other enemies?”
“Quiet for a moment… No, I don’t hear anything from the front.”
“Alright, let’s move.”
With Kiba at the front, we proceeded down the hallway. After a while, we spotted a window from which a faint light was leaking. The Hunter from earlier drove his twin swords into the wooden window with incredible speed. He then tried to pry it open by force. One of his companions stopped him.
“Hey, why don’t you just unlock the window?”
“Ah, ah, I didn’t see it.”
Shaking his head with a sigh, he unlocked the latch on the window frame. Speaking of which, this large Hummingbird Har, who has been performing so well, has a cloth wrapped around his eyes. Perhaps he’s blind, or is he intentionally blindfolded?
The female Hunter hopped onto the window frame and looked outside.
“It looks like a courtyard. We’re going the wrong way.”
“We can get over it if we get on the roof.”
“Your spirit is a wolf-dog, right? How are you going to climb up?”
Kiba declared it was no problem, but I agreed. Climb onto the roof, while carrying Ryoku?
“Hey, lend us your strength already. Or did they take your spirit?”
Kiba spoke to Ryoku in the cage. That’s right, he’s outside now. This is the enemy’s territory, but perhaps he can communicate with the forest spirits here.
“Ryoku, you’re outside now.”
“…”
He remained expressionless, just as he was when we found him. Could it be that his spirit has already been taken? I don’t know because I can’t communicate with him.
“It can’t be helped. Brother, let’s go back the way we came. I’m sure older sister has figured something out.”
“No, that’s not necessary. Eagle Eye has just found an escape route.”
Eagle Eye? Could that be the young man who was blindfolded? He returned from the window, removing his blindfold. His eyes were glowing pale blue, perhaps from the power of his spirit.
“It looks like there’s a path from the courtyard to the outside. This way.”
With that, he began to run at full speed. No, it would be more accurate to say he was flying rather than running. His companions, the Hunters, followed along, accustomed to his speed.
“W-wait for me.”
“Everyone’s too fast!”
Cowardly Ear was hopping, unable to get over the window frame. This is normal; those guys are superhuman. With her help, we managed to get into the courtyard. The lawn was neatly trimmed, and flowers were in bloom.
We followed a faint trail of pale blue light through a narrow passage. Beyond it was a small gate. It would be challenging, but not an insurmountable height. It had a lock, but the security was surprisingly lax. If we had entered from here, it might have been easier.
“Alright, where is Nigpyura?”
“Wait, I’ll try to find out.”
Kiba’s spirit let out a long howl. In response, howls echoed from various locations. They repeated this back and forth, as if in conversation.
“I found out. He headed for the Spring of Life.”
“That’s amazing. If that’s there, you can find out anything, can’t you?”
“That’s why we don’t use it normally. Plus, the others aren’t idle. Let’s go, this way.”
The others? Does that mean wild wolves? Kiba, as if there was no time for such talk, mounted his spirit and began to run. Do we have to follow him again in this dark forest? It’s hard to keep up with their speed.
“Hey, Brother, speaking of Nigpyura heading for the Spring of Life.”
“If he reached it, it would be the worst.”
Now, I began to regret freeing the King of Spirits. This was the very situation she had feared.
