Fwooosh!

Fwooooosh!

Koopa continued to flap his massive wings. The four huddled on Koopa’s back, tightly holding onto his feathers.

“S-Stop them…”

“What the hell?!”

“Stop them! Shoot them! Anything!”

“What the hell are the magicians doing?!”

“You idiots… Shut up if you don’t know what’s happening to us!”

The transferees, knights, and magicians at the mountain range were all left behind.

With despondent looks, they could only watch as the large bird flew off with their prey.

“How does this… make any sense…”

“They just flew off…”

Flap flap flap!

The birds that circled the sky before Koopa’s arrival followed behind them.

“Damn it… Follow them!”

“How are we supposed to follow them when we don’t know where they’re headed?”

Koopa headed south.

However, as they were flying toward the higher mountains, the thin air made it extremely difficult to breathe.

“Krgh… P-Princess Riona! Please hold on!”

“I-I’m slipping! The wind is—”

She wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest.

The fierce winds shook everyone, sparking worries that they might be blown off course.

Fwooooosh!

“Urgh…”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to…”

But then…

Fwirl!

Fwirl!

“...Huh?”

“Isn’t this…”

Shadow Hands shot out from Seol, supporting them all.

He held them so tightly that they no longer had to worry about falling off.

- Excuse me, sir? You have to pay a fine if you don’t put your seatbelt on.

- Phew~ I almost had to pay…

- WTF??? Are those hands???

Only then did they finally realize: that they were in the air, riding on the back of a flying creature.

Seol’s sturdy Shadow Hand allowed them to lean closer to the bird's back and observe their surroundings.

“Haah… Haah…”

Riona began to breathe quickly.

“Is it difficult to breathe, Rine?”

“I-I was just shocked. W-We’re flying right now.”

“We really are… flying through the sky.”

Fwooooosh!

Fwooosh!

They swiftly flew past the scenery as the steadily rising sun illuminated the landscape.

The sun brushing past the mountains only further highlighted how focused they had been sneaking through the mountain range overnight.

Caaaaaw!

Koopa slowly headed toward an unknown canyon.

Fwooooosh!

And they were greeted by the canyon’s fierce and chilling winds.

“Urgh…”

Riona clenched her eyes shut as the wind felt like knives cutting her skin.

She tightly held her body, trying to keep the cold from piercing through her.

Fwooooooosh!

“Riona, look ahead.”

“Ahead…”

“You should open your eyes, Your Highness,” said Chadorf.

Steadily, she fluttered her eyes open.

“......”

“The sun is rising.”

The rising sun removed the shadows from their faces, melting away the fatigue that had built up from the night.

Its warmth was just the right temperature.

“...How beautiful.”

“Hahaha! Precisely, Your Highness! The world is still filled with so many wonders you have yet to see!”

“It’s… completely different from what I knew.”

It required light to pull back the darkness.

However, that same darkness also taught you the value of light.

Riona had faced an immense amount of difficulty in such a short period of time.

Her brother commanded the world to kill her, leaving her with only her weak body to fend for herself.

She had just two… no, three allies.

It was the first time she had even formed blisters, the first time she had ever run with all her might.

She tripped and tumbled. She had even skipped multiple meals.

However, those experiences only made this moment that much more valuable.

“Hrgh…. Ahhhh…”

“...Riona.”

“I’ll survive no matter what… and go back.”

“......”

“I… I’ll survive this no matter what and say it with all my heart… That my…”

Tears continued to run down her face, the sunlight reflecting off them and making them shine like diamonds.

“That my life is worth living! That all of these experiences are valuable to me! I… will tell everyone.”

“That… is fantastic, Your Highness.”

“I won’t give up anymore! I will think of all of this as a test! A test to see the world with pure and just eyes!”

“...And I will continue to serve you with all my heart, Your Highness.”

Seol and the others continued to fly for a while after that as well.

They had put enough distance between themselves and the pursuers at the Bragrand Mountains to no longer worry about them for the rest of their adventure.

Caw caw…

Through Resonance, Seol received Koopa’s intent.

“...I think this is as far as he can take us.”

“Is Koopa tired?”

“He says he needs to go quickly. He seemed to have veered way off course to help us.”

Fwoosh…

Fwoooosh…

Koopa slowly flapped his wings as he descended to the ground.

Caw caw…

After letting everyone off, Koopa leaned forward.

Instantly understanding what Koopa wanted, Seol began petting him.

“Thank you, Koopa. Really…”

Caw caw!

“C-Could I pet him as well?” Riona asked, putting her hand forward.

“Of course.”

Pet pet…

“Thank you so much, Mr. Koopa,” Riona smiled while petting Koopa’s head. “Thank you for transporting us so safely. I would like to see you again.”

Caw caw!

Fwoosh!

Woooosh…

After a quick goodbye, Koopa once again returned to the clouds with the other birds that were following him.

“There’s not much left now,” said Seol, looking southward. “We’ll be arriving in Frion soon.”

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Gulp…

Their eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

The sacrifice died while bleeding from all of their orifices.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Pop!

The man’s body inflated like a balloon before popping.

And after his sacrifice, the magic circle around them activated.

Hum…

The people standing on top of it were all transported elsewhere.

After finishing the spell, Bria grimaced while grabbing her temple.

“Urgh… I feel a bit dizzy.”

“Are you alright, Miss Bria?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing serious. I’m just a bit dizzy after using the teleportation magic circle multiple times.”

“A side-effect for those with an immense amount of mana. Please rest before you continue.”

“Sure. How many sacrifices do we have left by the way?”

The stout old man began counting the number of gagged sacrifices.

“We have roughly twenty sacrifices left. We’ve used a bit more than we initially expected, but we can always receive more from the other branches.”

The fact that they called them 'sacrifices' instead of 'people' showed how far they had fallen.

After the Immortal disappeared, the Church of Eternal Life degenerated into a group of heinous villains who didn't hesitate to resort to nefarious means.

“Good, then let’s take a break first.”

Step… step…

With a fur scarf from an unidentified animal wrapped around her neck, she slowly approached the flamboyant chair before sitting down.

“We’re at a pretty good pace. We’ll barely be able to make it.”

“Also… According to the branch manager here, Shuro passed by not too long ago.”

“Shuro? So he was alive!”

“Yes, he is alive.”

“I knew it… I knew he wouldn’t have died like that. So, what else?”

“After being told that you would be arriving soon, he quickly left after leaving behind a letter.”

“Huh? Show me.”

Flutter…

Bria opened the letter Shuro left behind.

- Miss Bria, it’s Shuro. I’m sorry, I lost them. However, I’ve left something to track them with during the fight, so I should be able to catch up to them soon.

“Hm… So Shuro did lose.”

- I’m sure you’re worried about me because I haven’t contacted you in a while but don’t! I’ll catch up to them soon and slow them down! Also, I’ve written down some of their skills and strategies below. Miss Bria… I miss you.

Fwoosh!

Bria burned the letter after reading through it.

“He’s a smart kid. He knows exactly what to do.”

“Kuku… Isn’t that why you favor him so much, Miss Bria?”

“Regardless… Where are they?”

“They’ve passed through the line set up at the Bragrand Mountains,” a thin man answered.

“Already? They’re that strong? I mean… I guess they do have an archmage. Wait… Hold on a second…?”

Bria paused for a second and began rubbing her chin.

“Shuro didn’t mention an archmage, though?”

* * *

Moments before arriving at Frion’s gate…

Seol and the others were forced to pass through these gates to reach the harbor city.

As such, Shuro, after recovering from Karuna’s attack, was lurking here for them.

“I need to slow them down here.”

Fuu… Fuuu…

Shuro had to keep a cool head.

His opponent was strong.

‘But… Is he really a summoner?’

The knight he had faced before was incredibly strong with sharp swordsmanship.

Shuro had been one-sidedly defeated by him before.

Though he had recovered significantly, his injuries still stung.

‘Next time we meet… I’ll win.’

Shuro was a monster who became stronger with time.

After surviving a near-death experience, Shuro had faith that he wouldn’t lose so easily this time.

More than faith, he was sure of it.

‘...Still, I should probably avoid a head-on assault, right?’

The summoner’s gaze was a chain on his heart. It was almost as if they were stating that his defeat was inevitable.

“Don’t mess with me…”

Stab…

Squirm…

Shuro stabbed a scorpion with a dagger, causing it to squirm.

“Good boy…”

Shuro then extracted its poisons and stored them in a small vial.

He then proceeded to stab a snake, extracted venom from its fangs, and deposited it into the same vial.

Afterward, he found a colorful frog and scraped its skin off, adding it to the same vial again.

“Fuu… let’s see.”

Lick.

Shuro tasted the frog’s poison.

“Not ba—”

Thud…

His head drooped low.

And then, after a few seconds…

Fwip!

He quickly got up once again.

“Woah… I died just now.”

Shuro’s regeneration had increased massively after his narrow escape.

But despite that, he had lost consciousness from the poison.

It was just that potent.

“Now, let’s mix all of these and…”

Fssssssss…

It was a strange reaction.

First, it turned red like blood.

“I’ll dilute it a bit, and…”

Fssssssss…

Shuro then dipped his dagger into the vial.

And after an hour…

“All done.”

The dagger’s blade glowed red.

It was a poison that could kill with just a scratch.

“I’m sure even he won’t be able to survive this, right?”

Which meant that the princess, the knight, and the noble were also destined for the same fate.

‘Well, I guess it doesn’t matter who I stab.’

All Shuro had to do was buy time after attacking them.

In fact, that was his objective from the start.

And still, while the poison had been diluted, it was potent enough to kill most people with just a scratch.

Fwip…

‘They’re here! It’s them.’

Shuro had sprayed the summoner with a scent before making his narrow escape. It was a scent that only members of the Church of Eternal Life could recognize.

‘It doesn’t last that long because of it, but… it’s still more than enough time to track them down.’

Shuro had wondered if he should have attacked the moment he noticed them, but it was obvious what the result would be if he rushed it. As such, he waited in ambush.

‘He’s passing through here. I can’t believe he already made it here, though! I thought it would take at least a couple more days…’

Fwooosh…

[Shuro used Shrouded Blade.]

[You hide in the shadows to hide your presence.]

[While your senses sharpen in the shadows, your vision is greatly impaired until you leave them.]

Shuro entered his shadow.

He then heard a couple of voices.

“We’ll be in Frion once we pass through here.”

“We’ve… almost made it then.”

“I don’t know how much more we’ll have to walk until we make it there, but… it shouldn’t be too far.”

“Hahaha! It should be fine once we cross the gate, don’t worry—”

Shuro dug deeper into the shadows.

I am a shadow.

I am nature.

Step.

A heavy step.

This wasn’t the summoner.

It was the knight.

Step…

An old man’s step.

Step.

A light step.

It could be the steps of a child. How could they feel so light and clear?

Was it the princess?

No, this is him.

‘Those are the summoner’s footsteps…’

Then the princess must be next.

Then that means…

‘I should…’

Grab!

Someone had suddenly grabbed Shuro’s head.

“I didn’t expect you to survive.”

“Urgh…”

Seol had pulled Shuro out from the shadows.

‘This summoner… How is he so strong…’

Shuro tried to resist, but he couldn’t.

And then…

Staaab!

“Huh…?”

“Die.”

The dagger Shuro had prepared to stab the princess with was now lodged in his own chest instead.

“Kyaaaaaa!”

“Rine, close your eyes!” shouted Chadorf.

As he did…

Crush!

Seol popped Shuro’s head.

Splatter…

Blood splattered onto Seol’s crow mask.

After taking a second to wipe off his gloves and mask with a handkerchief, Seol turned back toward the others.

“Let’s go.”