In a fortification near the mountains of Torias, near the mountains.




　



'Grand Darkbore' is raging again.......
The 'Sanctuary Church' guys. They left that monster on our mountain...

　This is Torrius territory, a fort near the mountains.
　At the watchtower, the soldiers frowned.

　The mountainous area near here is a dangerous area where giant snake demons are swarming.
　According to the records, the 'Sanctuary Church' had driven the demon into the mountains and turned it into a nest of demons.
　It was endlessly annoying to the soldiers defending their territory.

''Is it true that there was a village on top of this mountain in the past?''
It's a legend. There's no way to know for sure. There's no way to know for sure. There's no way to know for sure.
Some say that the village drew the ire of the 'Sanctuary Church', though.

　The soldiers mumbled as they sipped their sleepy tea.

'Come to think of it, I heard a funny story before our changeover.
What's so funny?
Yeah. A black figure flew toward the mountains before dawn.
What's with all the tsk tsk reporting?
...that guard was yelling at the captain.
Of course. Who would climb a mountain with a demon in it? They're either suicidal or they're sorcerers who can change the world...



　Guh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh!



　Suddenly, there was a huge scream from the mountains.
　At the same time, there was also a roar like the earth shaking.

''What the hell?!''
What's coming down the mountain? Is there something else coming down from the mountains?

　The soldiers pointed to the slope of the mountain.
　On the slope, covered with dirt and mud, something huge tumbled down.


　It was a huge snake - the corpse of the Grand Darkbore.


　It was more than ten times the height of a human being. Its entire body was covered with black scales.
　The snake's corpse slid down the slope and came to a stop in front of the fort.
　It was completely dead. Even though the soldiers on the ground poked it with their spears, it didn't make a single move.

'........Hey, my dear colleague.
'....What. My term of office is about to end.
'That's ... that's the Mountain Nushi's 'Grand Darkbore', right?
I guess it's one of the five. The rest are zakos, though.
'I heard that the senior party from the Adventurer's Guild came back without beating any of them.
They're so big and hard-skinned, they're so big.
But I know you're dead.
Yeah.

　Then the soldiers were silent, staring at the mountains towering in front of them.
　Somehow, the trees seemed to be noisier than usual today.

''I wonder what the hell is going on up there...''

　The soldiers were shivering. They were looking at the mountains in front of them.




　Meanwhile, halfway up the mountain.



'Yes!　We destroyed the third one.

　I put my floating 'staff' back in my hand.
　While regaining my position on the tree, I stared at the falling "Grand Dark Boa".

　The giant snake-shaped demon falls while spewing blood from its mouth.
　The giant snake caught in the tree didn't move a muscle.
　It seems to have inflicted a completely fatal wound.

Two left. Dick, who went to the top first, will be back soon. Is Odette okay?
Don't worry. I can take down a zakos just fine.

　From the tree tops, we watched the swarm of demons buzzing on the ground.
　A huge snake, its companions vanquished, was staring at us.

The "Grand Dark Boa" features red eyes and a large mouth with fangs. Its body is as thick as a large tree.
　It is indeed very powerful to see two of them side by side.
　Well, until a while ago there were five of them lined up, so now the number has been reduced by half.


".........gee.......gee.......gaaaaaaaaaah!


　Suddenly, the body of the "Grand Darkbore" jumped.
　It spread its mouth full and tried to swallow us in the tree tops.

''Yup.''

　I kicked a branch with Odette in my arms.
I use my flying skills to jump up to the next branch.

The fangs of the Grand Dark Boa cut through the sky.
　The giant snakes swarm and chase us.
　It would be easier if they just missed us, but apparently that's not going to happen.

"I can fly, so I'm getting by, but if I were to walk up normally, I'd die. That's for sure.

　I didn't know it could get this rough in just 200 years.
　Frankly, it's a challenge just to get up there.

　The mountain slopes are crumbling and the trees are sparse on top of that.
　The slope was hard and there was no stable footing.
　If I hadn't been flying, I'd have been eaten by a snake long ago, and I'd have died.

'If I was walking on the ground, I'd either be coiled up by a snake, or eaten, or hit by its tail and blown up.
Even if I could fly, they wouldn't let me go easy.

　I grabbed my wand with my free hand - and threw it.
I'm not going to be able to get it to work. I'm sorry. You can't keep having demons raiding the mountain where our village is located.

　With my free hand, I grabbed the floating staff - and threw it.
It's a hollow space inside the wand. It's filled with my "Myster Blood".
　It's a good thing that you're a part of it, because it has the ability to fly for a certain amount of time.
　Furthermore, if you draw the emblem of Ancient Magic, it can be activated by remote control.

''Guaaaaaah!


　Poof.


　The "staff" that flew at me - "Grand Dark Boa" reflexively swallowed the flying "staff" - "Grand Dark Boa" swallowed it.

"Activate──『Burning meteo』.


　Bohum.


''Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


In the mouth of the "Grand Dark Boa", the magic to create a fireball was activated.
　The giant serpentine demon crawled around and became motionless - with its mouth closed.
There's no way to retrieve the wand. You've used up the last one.

Swallowing the wand and exploding magic inside the body is good and certain, but there's a chance you won't be able to retrieve the wand. Should I have brought more than that?
No.... to begin with, the idea of performing magic inside a demon's body... is beyond the norm, but...
Is that right?
'You're taking down four 'Grand Darkbores' in exchange for two 'wands'. You. Don't you think that's a little unusual?
It's amazing, isn't it, 'Ancient Magic'
'It's not 'Ancient Magic' that's amazing, it's Yuki... but more importantly, what about that last one?'

　The last 'Grand Dark Boa' is wrapped around the tree that Odette and I are in and is starting to climb.
　It doesn't seem to have any intention of running away.

　I don't have my wand at hand. I can't use my hands to aim at its mouth.
　Moreover, only the last one is unusually large. It was moving too fast.
　If this is the case, they're going to follow us to the village....

　I looked around.
　The mountainside is on a rather steep slope. The trees seem to be standing there somehow.
　I'm using my 'Boosted' and flying skills to fly from branch to branch of the tree.
　There should be an easy route to the top, but I haven't been able to find it yet.

"But it's time for Dick the bat to come back.
"Goshujin!



　Suddenly, I heard Dick's voice.
　And then...



　Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!



　His voice was followed by the sound of countless feathers.

''What, what is it?　A sky full of bats...?
It's okay. Odette. I know these guys.

　I looked up, holding Odette's shoulder.
　The bats that had been flying in the sky were coming towards me in unison.

''Goshujin?'' "My people? 'Grandpa's Goshujin! "Great-grandpa's Goshujin!

　The bats are calling me with their mouths. They're flying around me as if I were in the presence of an old friend.
They call me "Goshujin," which means they are the descendants of my demons.

　Two hundred years ago, when I decided to be killed by Lyle, I was going to use soul transplantation magic.
　As a prelude to this, I gave my bat, Kataros, a former user, plenty of my Myster Blood.

There are no humans in the former site of Fira Village, but there might be bats there.
　That's why I sent Dick ahead of me. That's why I let him go ahead of me.

　But ... there were a lot of them. All the bats in the mountains are here, aren't they?

Is one of them the demon Kataros?
He's gone...' 'He died a long time ago...' 'A hundred years ago.　'A hundred and fifty years?' "Before that...
I see.
'Receiving Yuki's blood doesn't make you immortal, does it?
'You'll have a longer life span, though. Then any of you who think I'm your master should gather around.

''Yes!''

　Twelve bats, including Dick, are coming for me.

'Odette, I'm sorry, but we need backup. Just for as long as it takes for me to reconfigure these guys as errand boys.
Yes, sir!

　Odette's fingers draw a crest.
　It's her signature move, 'Earth God's Dance (Force the Earth)'.

''Don't come over here, snake!　Activate 'Earth God's Dance (Force the Earth)'!

　A spear of rock jumps out of the ground and hits the body of the giant snake. But it doesn't penetrate.
　It's as hard as you'd expect. But it flinched.

　In the meantime, I give the bats the Mystel Blood.
　Some of the blood is still intact, but that was 200 years ago. It's fading.
　Now we just need to draw a patch on his wing...

Thank you, Odette. That's enough.

　I pulled out of Odette's hand and jumped up again with my flying skills...

　As it was, I landed on a rocky area directly above us.
　I looked up and saw the bats perched on the mountainside, drawing a line that led up to the top.

'.............What?　What's that?
Ophelia told me that I'm the only one who knows the way.

　To be precise, it's the "bat's recommended route".

　This mountain is quite steep and collapses easily. In addition, there were few trees to use as footholds.
　So we decided to call the bats and ask them to show us the best route to take.

　They've lived on this mountain all their lives.
　They'll know where there are stable rocky areas, caves to hide in, and easy places to target the enemy.

　This is what Ofelia was talking about.
　There's a 'route only I know how to take' in this mountain where I can talk to bats.



''Guh-ooh-ooh-ooh!



The Grand Dark Boa is chasing us, howling.
　But he's too slow.

Alright. This way. Next stop.
　Wait. That's amazing. That's too fast!

　I kick the rocky ground and fly upward.
　We're almost to the village.
　Let's take care of the 'Grand Darkbore' here.

'My messenger, stop that enemy's feet!
"This is the place...

　The bats all headed towards the 'Grand Darkbore' at once.

''Kyu Kyu. ''Earth God's Dance (Force the Earth)!'' "Chishin Ranbu," "Kurae," "Eiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! "Boom, boom, boom, boom!


　Boom!　Boom!　Thud!　Bang!


　The bats that have been certified as messengers activate their magic all at once.
　The 'Stone Spear' that jumps out from the ground continues to strike the body of the 'Grand Darkbore'.
　The other bats are grabbing the stones and throwing them at him.
　Even those who aren't certified as messengers seem to have quite a bit of power, probably because they have the blood of Catalos.


''Ggalaaaaah!


The Grand Darkbore may have been trying to avoid the spears of stone and the stone throwing, or it may have altered its course...
　He came to the front of me with his big mouth open.


''──────ga?''


''Red Lotus Star Bullet (Burning Meteor) in the right hand and Red Lotus Star Bullet (Burning Meteor) in the left hand. Double Activation (Double).


　Gosh.


　A crimson fireball the size of a house flew into the mouth of the 'Grand Darkbore'.
　And then──the explosion.


''Guaaaaaaaaaaa.........''


　


''It's finally taken care of?''
''It's said that the 'Grand Dark Boa' is only a C-level or higher magician from the 'Magic Guild', though, so it's impossible to fight it...''
'That too, I suppose. So, Odette, do you want to take the material with you?
I don't want it. I can't tell you how I got it. Do you think I can tell you that I defeated the Grand Darkbore by putting magic into its mouth while climbing the mountain with the bat's guidance?

　Odette shrugged.
　She patted the bat's back as she came closer.

'I finally understand why you were so sure the village site was still there.
...What?
With such a giant snake nesting in the mountains, one would think that the buildings and relics of the village would be destroyed.　But you were sure that the site of your village had not been razed. That's because ... well ... these kids were here.
I wasn't sure about that.

　I jumped again, holding Odette in my arms.
　From scaffold to scaffold.
　I climbed up the almost vertical slope with great vigor.

"But the messengers I left behind in my previous life are very loyal. I'm sure they wouldn't let a monster vampire ruin the place where I and the rest of the village used to live.
The 'Grand Darkbore' and the others, they were clearly on the lookout for Mr. Bats, weren't they?
They don't just use rocks. They use the terrain. They.

　As we were talking about it, we neared the top of the mountain and...


I'm here. This is where the Village of Fira used to be.


　I was returning home for the first time in 200 years.