Page 356

Mid Morning - Late Winter : The Nest

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*fwip-WOOSH* *tap-tap-WOOSH-WOOSH-WOOSH* Swiftly dodging each swing of the two cohesively moving sword and axe-wielding golems, I scrutinized each and every one of my own steps in an effort to try and reform my techniques to better fit my new body.

But tunnel-visioning on myself so intently in the middle of a fight was never a good thing.

*tap-Thud* Backing into the massive stone shield of one of the other golems without realizing it, I was engulfed in a plume of fire so hot it scorched everything around me, before the incredibly oversized sword and axe sliced through the flames from either side of me.

-To control so many golems with such fluidity. .. I'm impressed...-

I honestly felt like I was fighting a squad of giants.

But unfortunately, there was a limit to the ability of not only the controller, but the statues.

*THWACK* The shield pressed against my back was pulverized in an instant as my tail punched through it, reducing it dust along with the statue's abdomen before I reached up and caught each of the huge blades with one hand and swiped them over one another.

*Cr-CRACKLE-WHAAMM* Before the controller could even react, the two statues were slammed into one another, reducing both to rubble simultaneously.

It was truly an unfortunately lopsided matchup.

But while I watched the thunderbird controlling the statues slowly be consumed by panic and fear in a room directly above us, I wore a wide smile. -Who knew regenerating punching bags would be so fun to play with?!-

However, the time to play had to come to an end eventually.

*Vwoop* Reaching up as a chunk of iron flew up in front of my face, I pulled back my finger and gave it a hardy flick.

*zip-CRACK* It blew through the sound barrier severalfold in an instant, turning molten as it blew through the cloud of rubble from the still-colliding statues before caving in the neck of the thunderbird golem, blowing a hole through it and shattering its mana core with ease. *CR-VWOOM*

It was the only golem I properly destroyed. All the others, I only selectively damaged so that they would eventually regenerate and remain operable.

The last thing I wanted to do was properly destroy what I assumed to be unique ancient relics from a dozen millennia ago. The only exception to that was the thunderbird statue, all because of how it was poised to look down at whoever entered the room as if it were superior.

But while the other statues still had the ability to regenerate in a few seconds, that time, they remain piles of rubble. -Is he finally done?-

Looking up through the ceiling, I watched as a big grey chicken frantically disconnected himself from the control runes before turning to run away.

Of course, I didn't let him get that far. *VWOOM-CRUNCH* The moment he disconnected himself and moved a short way from the control runes, I slammed my aura into him, ripping him through the ceiling before pinning him against the ground and walking up to him.

"KYAA-!" His bird-like screech was deafening, like a human screaming for help, but with a wave of my hand, I wrapped him in silencing magic.

-Geez, if I scare him any more he might just lay an egg...- "I'm not going to kill you. Relax." Looking down at him from atop the mound of rubble in the center of the room, his gaze met mine, and he froze. "I just need you to open that door. Could you do that for me?"

"Kyee... Y-Yes, mighty lord!" He spoke in his native tongue with a stutter as his face lit up, and while it was a bit hard to understand, I understood the gist of it.

-How complacent...- *Vwoom* Pulling my aura off him, he wasted no time bolting back up into the control room.

But while it took a moment, the door did eventually begin to open. -Did he sound an alarm? The door alone couldn't have taken that long...-

However, the noise on the other side of the door was, instead of complete silence or chaos, the sound of muffled chirps and chatter until finally, the door opened enough to reveal a long road lined with massive carved structures in an absolutely colossal, brightly lit cavern with a ceiling at least a few kilometers high.

-Woah...- Unfortunately though, standing right in front of the door was a massive thunderbird, giving me a look of distaste before the controller jumped down next to him.

He was easily eighty meters tall, twice the height of the controller, with his legs as well as other parts of his body plated with thin metal. "Chamrosh, how could you not stop a single person?" He sounded more annoyed than angry.

But the controller, who appeared to be named Chamrosh, instead of quickly explaining himself to the guard, just faced me and bowed his head. "Would you like a guide, sir?" He spoke in the language of the Holy Kingdom fluently.

I was honestly taken aback. -Wow... Did he really not sound the alarm or call for help...- But I wasn't one to complain. "If you wouldn't mind-"

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" Rudely cutting me off, the guard, along with several other thunderbirds watching from the surrounding buildings, instantly shot him a heated gaze. "You dare treat that creature like a guest?!"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

As it looked like he was going to hit Chamrosh though, Chamrosh shot him a deathly cold look and spoke in his native tongue. "Sir, if you fight this man, you will be humiliated..."

I honestly wanted to laugh, but the guard didn't take it as a joke. "AS IF!" His voice boomed before the distance between him and I was reduced to nothing. "If you don't leave right now, I'll kill you."

His beak was right in front of my face, but after gently tapping it a couple times, I just looked him in the eye. *tap-tap* "Nah, you won't."

He snapped instantly, opening his mouth to reveal the bright blue glow of a flame in his throat.

But he didn't get that far. *VWOOM-CRUNCH* Slamming him into the ground with my aura, I casually stepped forward before punting him into the wall with my foot. *WHAAAAM*

The other thunderbirds watching instantly froze and fell silent, as a cloud of dust started falling from the ceiling.

However, as I turned back toward Chamrosh, who still had his head lowered toward me, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. -Hm?-

It was a human girl, standing in the lower-most entrance of one of the nearby buildings labeled with a symbol of meat, with bright blond hair and sky blue eyes.

For a human, her aura was more than a little impressive. Had you told me she was a late adult stage dragon, I could have believed you.

But none of that was what caught my eye.

"You..." -You're her...- Thinking back to my earliest dragon sleeps, I remembered stumbling across a small hut in a forest that appeared to be the home of an old mage and little girl.

*VWOOM* Instantly appearing right in front of her before her eyes could follow me, I looked down at her with a stern gaze.

"You're that little girl.. aren't you. .."

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(Back a few minutes)

- Michael Cotorel ~

*Sip* Taking a small sip of the extremely bitter alcohol, I looked down at the steaming, delicious-smelling food on my plate without any appetite.

We were brought into a tavern right after we got through the gate, but we couldn't bring ourselves to eat. We all simply had a knot of anxiety churning our stomachs so much that if we ate, we would have thrown up.

But there were two exceptions to that. Elizabeth Valia and Astren Ravenna.

"Mmmm, what kind of meat is this?"

Eve reluctantly glanced at her plate before looking at Elizabeth. "If I had to guess.. probably some part of a wyvern."

A gleam quickly came to Astren's eyes. "So this is what wyvern meat tastes like!" She looked like she was about to ask for more. "It's so juicy."

-How can they act so calmly...- I quickly slid my plate toward them. "If you would like my serving as well.. please help yourself."

"Hm? Are you sure?" They were so carefree it was honestly scary.

Eventually nodding, I looked at Arcana, Gale, and Mag with an inquisitive gaze to see if they were thinking the same as me.

And they were.

After being flawlessly guided through the forest in the middle of a blizzard, we were brought through a colossal cave system hidden with illusion magic so intricate that I didn't even know what types of magic it used, before eventually coming into a ritual-like area lined with countless runes, engravings, and massive statues tall enough to look over the top of most buildings.

Our group was only comprised of the most experienced of adventurers, those at the top of their class, and while we had all seen some incredible structures in our lives that made the statues seem like nothing, every single one of us felt a chill when we saw the eyes of the statues move.

They weren't just statues. "Those were golems.. weren't they..." I spoke softly, only getting the attention of Arcana, the only person in our group who even knew what they were.

"I'm thinking the same thing... But if these.. 'people' have the ability to make golems... Just what else will they have..."

My stomach churned just thinking about it.

We were undoubtedly in over our heads...

-This whole place too...- Looking around the plain stone room, I tried to find any other trace of humans being here but saw nothing other than empty, dust-covered tables that hadn't been used in decades.

-Humans were never meant to come here...

- It was the residence of monsters far outside the realm of humanity.

"If we get out of this alive, I might just retire to my laboratory." Arcana spoke softly before Mag tried to reassure her.

"We are here on peaceful terms. As long as we don't offend them, we should be fine..." He silently looked back toward the door where he saw our guide leaning against the arched doorway to the so-called 'tavern', sipping alcohol.

-Let's just hope everything goes well...- *Thump* Feeling the ground shake slightly as I turned back to the table, I overheard the guide mumble something to someone outside before hearing the ridiculously overpowering wing flaps of a thunderbird as it took off into the cavern.

It gave me a chill.

If there were only one or two of them, I could have maybe been more comfortable, but as we entered through the gate, we found the gazes of dozens of them on us, each with the ability to destroy considerably large cities, and since then, the idea that this place was infested with them refused to leave my mind.

Our only saving grace were the ones from the church who, while shaken up by the golems, didn't seem to mind the judgemental gazes of them, as if they were used to it.

But after a few minutes, a much.. much louder set of wing flaps approached before landing in front of our tavern, revealing talons bigger than people and legs thicker than trees.

It was a thunderbird that completely dwarfed everything we had seen until that point. A being that could flatten kingdoms.

But the next few minutes only made my expression warp with confusion.

After hearing a loud crash and the sound of crumbling rock, we heard the gate open before suddenly, the thunderbirds started yelling at one another. -What the hell is going on...-

I wanted to get up and look, but was so worried about being rude that I couldn't move. However, after a moment, the melodious voice of a human met my ears. "If you wouldn't mind-"

"SCREE!" He was instantly cut off by what sounded like the colossal thunderbird we saw a moment prior.

But just as we got up to the doorway to see what was happening, we watched at the massive, likely 80-meter-tall thunderbird was mercilessly pancaked against the ground and launched to the side, smashing through several structures before revealing a single man standing in the cloud of dust.

My mind simply went silent when I set eyes on him, but I knew one thing was for sure. -He isn't a human...-

But before that thought could finish, he suddenly appeared in front of us, standing over and looking down at Elizabeth with a harsh, inhuman gaze before gently speaking. "You're that little girl.. aren't you..."

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