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TL: ALT
Chapter 203 – Day 34 of Management Life
In the dead of night, we rushed east, leaving the rescue efforts in the west to the harpy flock.
The farther east we traveled, the more the storm’s destruction spread from the lowland towns to the highlands. Landslides and mudslides became widespread.
Slow-moving, pitch-black clouds chilled the refugees and blew away magicians riding flying carpets. We built makeshift shelters and tended to the injured.
It didn’t take long to work through the night. Where there were cliffs, it was easy to carve out shelters with magic cubes.
Before I knew it, the storm had caught up with us.
Dawn broke, and though the rain eased, the fierce winds and thunder continued unabated.
Rumble… rumble… rumble…
Thunder that shook the very core struck deep within the verdant forest.
The river flooded, the bridge to the capital collapsed, and the road was blocked.
We had no choice but to wait for the storm to pass.
The refugees huddled together in the cave that I had carved out.
“We wait, then. Once the rain stops, I’ll build a bridge, and you can head for the capital.”
I said to the middle-aged woman who was staring anxiously outside.
Chel’s already tattered robe was torn further. She had already removed her magic-sealing bracelet to increase her magic absorption.
In any case, Chel, I, and Kahiman had all been moving nonstop since last night, so fatigue was setting in.
Listening to the thunder, Kahiman yawned naturally.
Caught up in it, Chel and I let out big yawns, too.
“Yawns happen even when thunder roars.”
“Everyone’s filthy and worn out. If the Sorcerer’s Forest were nearby, everyone would be sleepy. It’s that time of year.”
It seemed we had reached the forest where I first met the sorcerer.
Deep within the forest lay the “Great Hole.”
Kiiieeeeeee!
After a shriek, the sound of a monster’s footsteps echoed through the forest.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
Suddenly, a small bolt of lightning streaked across the rain-soaked road.
In the blink of an eye, a pure white deer appeared.
Its size was comparable to that of the game deer of the demonic land, and it was likely an albino. It seemed to be enveloped in lightning and completely free of dirt.
It stood still, gazing elegantly northward.
The monster’s footsteps didn’t stop as it descended toward us, crunching through branches and leaves.
Thick, broken branches fell onto the road.
The white deer didn’t even dodge them, simply deflecting the branches away.
“Is it rotating magical power?”
A deer rotating magical power? It’s a beast like the Nushi.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
This time, a large dog covered in reddish-brown scales burst onto the road from higher up the slope.
“That’s…”
“A monster from the ‘Great Hole’!”
Cher and I shouted simultaneously. Could Cliff Garuda handle a monster from the “Great Hole”?
The giant dog growled menacingly at the white deer, its throat rumbling. Before our eyes, its brownish scales began to turn crimson.
“If they start fighting here, we’re screwed!”
I dashed out of the shelter and swung down to sever the giant dog’s head as it lunged at the white deer. Magic energy blazed from my fingers.
Clang!
The blow was easily deflected by the red scales, but the hound’s posture faltered. The white deer seemed startled by me, but didn’t move from its spot.
The hound’s hostility shifted toward me. Seizing the moment, I slapped its snout with my palm, which was charged with wind magic, as it fired flames from its mouth.
Boof!
The spinning dog was sent flying high into the air and hurtled deep into the Sorcerer’s Forest.
Bam!
The cracking sound split my eardrums.
When I turned around, the white deer had vanished like smoke.
“Kahiman!”
“Hmph!”
“I’ll leave this place to you! If monsters emerge from the ‘Great Hole,’ the damage will spread. If they rampage in the capital now, it’ll be disastrous!”
“Got it!”
“Chel, let’s go!”
“Jerky! You’ll run out of strength!”
I took the jerky from Chel and stuffed it into my mouth. The salty taste made my mouth water. It didn’t make the fatigue vanish, but it did give me a burst of energy.
I ran toward where the giant dog had been blown away. Since the plants were rooted and immobile, I could dodge them without hesitation and run straight through.
I grabbed the dog’s tail, which was still rolling and panicking, and dragged it along as I climbed up a small cliff.
“This is… awful.”
The great storm had definitely reached the “Great Hole.”
Lightning and boulders the size of cows rained down, and tornadoes formed everywhere.
“No wonder the giant dog ran off.”
I let go of the giant dog’s tail; it was frozen in terror.
At the center of the “Great Hole” stood a massive stake said to have halted the continent’s tectonic shifts.
“Pulling that stake out would be bad.”
“Magic power would overflow.”
We took a deep breath and stepped into the “Great Hole.”
Magic power gushed up from the ground and filled our entire bodies.
“Channel the magic through your bones to deflect the ice and lightning.”
“What about the tornadoes?”
“Keep your distance and deal with them.”
“Got it.”
We had to shout to hear each other.
But magic constantly filled our bodies, sharpening our senses. We could feel with our skin what was where, even what was happening directly behind us, beyond the reach of sight.
By the time we reached the bottom of the slope, Chel and I could use magic to control the falling ice and lightning.
In response to the falling ice, the bone monsters breathed fire, but it shattered easily, scattering bone fragments. The bones gathered and repaired themselves, but they fused together unnaturally, preventing movement.
The crimson bull and the black bear dodged the falling ice and lightning as they charged toward the center of the “Great Hole.” Perhaps there was an invisible route.
Thud…
Suddenly, the odd rock formation jutting out began to slowly move.
“What kind of joke is this?”
What we thought was a rock formation was actually a giant spider monster. It seems the Guardian Spider originated from a primordial monster.
The ice melted and spilled into a pool of pitch-black, filthy water that surged toward us like a torrential flood. Magic power dissolved into the water, increasing its momentum.
A white deer sprinted past us, crackling with thunder.
I chased after the deer, desperately spinning my magic.
Gwoooah!
The lagging black bear was swallowed by the torrent.
Immediately after, the water reshaped itself into the bear’s face and chased us. Cher froze it with ice magic, but it shattered in a second.
Even when I tried to block it with a magic cube, the cube was crushed in the bear’s jaws.
Looking ahead, we saw that the white deer was staring at us and had stopped.
“Makyo! Run!”
Urged on by Cher, I started running. The white deer began running alongside us, keeping pace with us. Did it want us to do something?
“Cube! Cube!”
At Chel’s command, I conjured a magic cube in front of us.
The white deer tapped the cube gently with its antlers and leaped over it.
As we chased the deer, it glanced back. The black bear slowed down, unable to crush the cube, and began circling around us.
“Did the cube stop time?”
I finally remembered the deer emblem I’d discovered while excavating the warehouse on the East Coast.
Just as I had done with the giant beast, I formed the cube into a staircase. The white deer stopped time for every cube.
Black water churned beneath our feet and turned into a muddy torrent that swallowed monsters and strange rocks alike, sweeping them away.
As I raced up the magical staircase alongside the white deer, I looked down upon the “Great Hole.”
It had become a pitch-black, murky pool swirling with whirlpools. Tornadoes whipped up the water, forming shapes—giant heads of beasts like bears, oxen, dogs, and tigers as large as castle gates—that raced about, swallowing the strange rock spiders trying to escape.
The water flowed toward a stake driven into the ground at the center.
From a distance, it had seemed gigantic, but now it looked frighteningly small.
“If a migrating monster came here, it would be wiped out in an instant.”
“So, we should just wait until it calms down?”
Looking up at the white deer only earned a blank stare in return.
Are we just supposed to stand by and watch, unable to do anything?
I leaned out from the magic cube that had frozen time, but the black torrent showed no sign of stopping; it was only spreading wider. It swallowed bones and strange rocks alike.
Finally, the beast’s head, formed from black rainwater, reached the great stake.
Splash!
The black water forming the beast’s head shattered and flew apart.
The stake sealing the magic seemed to reject contact with water containing such vast amounts of magic.
Even as the black water surged forward, it couldn’t touch the stake.
A voice like an incantation echoed from somewhere.
Come to think of it, the sorcerer had named the great storm. However, this was far too distant from the sorcerer’s hidden village. There was no way the voice could have reached there. Was this the work of sorcery?
The clouds covering the sky gathered and were blown down in one swift rush. The black water in the “Great Hole” shifted its flow toward the clouds.
Even the shattered bones of the monsters were swept away.
A massive whirlwind gathered and shaped everything. Bones were visible and translucent within the black water.
A sorcerer might imbue disasters with personalities to craft curses, then release them. Looking at what was created, I wish I could tell you if that’s truly the case.
JURAAAAAA!!
Chel and I stared at the enormous, black, seemingly molten dragon, speechless.
Zappp!
The mountain-sized black water dragon took a step forward, water leaking from every part of its body.
“What the hell are we supposed to do about that?!”
“Makyo, break that storm curse!”
“Impossible! It’s a natural disaster! Even I have my limits!”
“Then what about that thing?”
While Chel and I argued, the white deer vanished in an instant.
“Hey, the deer?”
“Over there!”
The white deer stood proudly atop a puddle created by the black water dragon.
BAM!
Lightning struck the water dragon from the thinning clouds, but it had no effect; the dragon kept moving.
“Where is it aiming?”
“This is bad!”
If the black water dragon took just a few more steps, it would reach the stake holding back the continental tectonic shift.
That stake could not be pulled out under any circumstances.
My body moved of its own accord.
I sliced the water dragon apart with magic released from my fingers. Even cut into pieces, the dragon was still water at its core and reformed into its original shape effortlessly.
“Chel! Burn!”
Chel vaporized the fragmented black water masses with countless spear tips. However, the mountain-sized dragon showed no sign of shrinking.
“You won’t pull that stake!”
We reached the giant stake first.
“Dragonfolks hold this stake to prevent the continent’s rupture. Its descendants, the Birdfolk, shall guard it forever.”
I could read the characters inscribed on the stake. Shueni had called it the “Sealing Wedge.”
“I’m not a Birdfolk!”
“This isn’t the time for that!”
The black water dragon was closing in as I turned back.
Its front legs lunged forward, but I kept slicing them off while Chel vaporized them.
“Why are you trying to pull out this stake!?”
Monsters are drawn to magic power. There’s a massive concentration of magic power underground. I knew that, but I couldn’t help saying it.
“WAAAAAAAH!”
Chel screamed as she made the water dragon’s forelegs boil. The veins in her arms turned black. I tried to gouge out the foreleg with my magic cube, but black water immediately surged in and repaired it.
I leaped onto the massive stake, bracing for the advancing front legs of the water dragon. I cast a defensive spell, but the magical power kept getting sucked into the stake.
Bam! Splash!
The water dragon’s front leg swung sideways.
The impact felt like being struck by a giant water bag, washing over my entire body with magic-infused water. Even when I tried to channel magical power, it was sucked into the stake, and I couldn’t brace myself.
I was blown away, tumbling and crashing to the ground.
“Makyo!”
Chel’s worried voice reached me from afar.
My left ear was ringing. My left side was bruised, and I thought I might have broken a bone.
Before checking my injuries, I stood up and scanned the ground.
There was a massive mass of magical power and a flow of magma.
After all, humanity could never win against a natural disaster. Even the technologically advanced people of Yggdrasil could only create a tiny margin of error. Driving in something like a “Sealing Wedge” wouldn’t alter the planet’s course.
A shock ran through my resigned chest, and I opened my eyes.
A white deer peered into my eyes.
Meeting its gaze, I felt drawn in.
Suddenly, the view of the “Great Hole” from above spread out before me.
Chel had transformed into a devil and was still attacking the water dragon.
Hel had joined the fray, resurrecting the monsters buried in the “Great Hole,” while Sylvia controlled the “migrating” monsters.
Lipa flew about, distracting the black water dragon. Jennifer blocked every attack unleashed by the water dragon.
Was this the scene half a day later?
What was I doing?
The question lingered as my consciousness began to fade.
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