Labyrinth Story 746

Chapter 746 – 737 the Road to Merianol

After escaping from the jungle, Hwanin and his party ran along the roadless Great Plain for two full days until they reached the river marked on the map, the Colagido River.

They didn’t move by dragging a wagon, and everyone was moving by riding or flying, so the speed of movement was no different from using a normal vehicle.

Even if there is no road, Que is a high-mobility vehicle that, unlike a horse, can climb mountains or cross narrow rivers by swimming. Even when running on the road, it can achieve a speed similar to that of a slow-moving car.

Even so, the reason it took two days to cross the slightly curved but mountain-less Great Plain was…

= Bell, that’s what we’re aiming for right now, right? I saw it about 10 minutes ago.=

= Yes… In terms of size, it looks similar to an Aviak Wyvern… Should I shoot it down?=

= If it’s an Abyak Wyvern, it’s a 6th grade monster. Can you drop it?=

= I can. It’s impossible to catch it with one arrow, but if you just want to drop it.=

= Well, Dolyeong. How about grabbing it? At this rate, they will attack our gaps. =

“It would be good to deal with it if possible. Baek Ryogang, if you can, do it.”

=Yes!=

Killing the giant flying monster chasing us, perhaps because he lives in a nearby mountain that is not on the map.

= Oh, that’s a group of iron scale horsemen…=

=Are you famous?=

=Did you meet a group of bloodsuckers in the meadow in front of Bijalux before? Similar to them, but more dangerous. Because it charges with the scales that are stronger than the iron armor, crashes into it, and destroys everything. =

=It would be terrible to meet an ordinary traveler or the Merchant.=

= It’s not like that. It is said that if there is one bigger than the pack leader or bigger than the pack, it won’t be attacked.=

=… So you’re saying that we look very easygoing right now?=

= Yes. Comes.=

Several battles took place, such as a group of ironclad horses the size of a huge truck, which used to live in groups like the Great Plains, charged and slaughtered them.

The Colagido River that arrived in that way was huge beyond imagination.

Coo-goo-goo-goo-

=Wow~.=
=Whoa—.=

Baek Ryeo-gang and Ah-young exclaimed in exclamation when they saw the fast-flowing river with a slight vibration.

“…”

I thought it would be gigantic because it was marked on the map of the world, where I couldn’t tell how much it was accumulated, but it was so wide that I couldn’t see the other side at all.

Hwanin, who looked around the river that could only be seen on the horizon with the eyes of a new spirit, told her girlfriends to wait for a while and then told Norn to fly up into the sky.

“… Huh? Hwanin, there is something over there.”

“Okay. Even though the current is very fast, there are creatures that stay.”

The water is as deep as it is wide, and the riverbed is not visible even though the water quality is very clean. Signs of strong vitality can be felt everywhere in the deep blue water.

It sticks to the river bed like a rat, but if this one tries to cross the river, it will immediately rise up and attack.

The number is roughly 20 objects.

“Hwanyeon, can you pull them all up?”

「Um~. It has quite a lot of phase power, so it would be impossible to raise all of them at once, right? It is also widely spread.”

“It looks like it’s around 4th grade.”

“Huh. I will grit my teeth and resist, but no matter how hard I am, I have to use a lot of strength.”

“… Now let’s test our new ability.”

Over the past few days, I could feel that my ability to apply spiritual art had greatly improved since I was able to handle the whole new spirit art.

There was a big change in the way soul magic was handled, completely freed from the restrictions on possessing soul beads and holding time.

Until now, I only used soul orbs individually or stacked to use arrows, bombs, or shields, but now…

Several middle-class spirit beads coalesce in Hwanin’s grip and turn into a long, straight stick like a thunderbolt.

In Hwanin’s perception, there is an image of god as Zeus and Zeus as thunderbolt.

Rumble—

In the 2m long spear of light held in Hwanin’s left hand, Hwanyeon’s eyes shine brightly and endow the spear of light with intermediate lightning spirits drawn by the light.

Then the sparks flew apart and really took on the shape of Zeus’s thunderbolt.

“Excellent.”

With those words, Hwanin smiled and threw the spear of lightning straight into the Collagido River.

=Hmm~.=

After Hwanin flew up to the sky, Ayeong, who was looking around from Jelfrie’s back, approached Baekryogang riding Kura and asked,

=Bell, this is not the sea, is it?=

=I don’t like salty water like Aleugel Great Lakes. And since it only flows that way, the river… Is this right?=

=It’s a river, but you can’t see the other side, it’s so wide~.=

While listening to their story, Anne saw Hwanin flying in the sky on a yolk, driving a coupin, sitting on a flying broom and approaching Yurupa, who was flipping through a fairly large book in the air.

= Sister. Is there a way to cross the river? There is a village on the coastline centered around the ferry… Wouldn’t it be better to get miniaturized and ride the Norn?=

= If you only want to cross the river, you don’t have to do that. I learned the secret art of walking on water in case something like this happens.=

= Oh. I heard that it is a difficult technique to master. As expected, the 7th grade mystic.=

= Whoops. Just like the ladies are getting stronger, I’m working hard to learn my secret arts and techniques.

= It’s a load! Even if you look at her sister’s style of space leaping, cosmetics and magic tools she creates, we can’t keep up!=

It’s just that they don’t realize it because they’re going to a place they’ve never been before, but Anne herself knows that she has recorded all the spatial coordinates of cities and villages she’s visited so far.

It is said that if enough phase stones and phase power are provided, it is possible to cross over to zero at once.

Anne, who raised her thumb to Yu Lepa who shrugged her shoulders cutely, looked up at the phantom yet to come down from the sky.

= But why doesn’t the spirit come down? What do you see above?=

At that moment, a golden laser-like pillar of light was launched from where Norn was, with a flash of light, crashing into the middle of the huge river.

Kuwaaaaang—!!

=… !?=
=Huh?!=

With a roaring sound that made the body shudder, pure white spray rising high, and lightning strings discharged from stem to stem.

When the women reflexively drew their weapons in surprise, dududududu—splashes as tall as a huge building poured down with a loud sound.

It is a bonus that something floats to the surface of the water.

=… Hux. What is all that?=

If you look closely, you can see a snake-like fish with a length of 3 to 5 meters. Baekryeogang mutters as he sees the eel-like fish floating on the boat.

= Looks like a monster was hiding under the river… Um, but that beam of light just now… ?=

She wondered if she could imitate similar power only if she put all the power she realized during her first awakening into a thunderbolt bow.

Since I didn’t feel the energy condensing, it must have been your brother’s spirit art. Was there such a skill in spirit art?

Wondering how she could imitate it, she flicked, felt a tap on her shoulder from beside her, turned around and saw Isilite pointing at her eel-like fish.

= Ryogang. Can you bring those fish here?=

=Yes?=

= That looks pretty tasty. I want to cook for lunch.=

= Ah! OK, wait a minute.=

While she was manipulating the water with her single horn to shine, attracting eel-like fish that were quickly drifting away, and Imorell flying to pick them up, the phantom descended from the sky and called for Yurpa.

“Yurpa, we must cross the river at this gap.”

= Yes. I’ve prepared a water walking secret. Shall we write right away?=

“Good. Gather everyone.”

As the party gathers and begins to receive the secret arts of walking on water and falling feathers from Yurupa, Hwanyeon immediately retrieves the fish that Baeknyeogang has gathered and puts it into Isilite’s food ingredient bag.

Anne confirmed that she and Kupin had two secret arts, and she moved aside from the White Ryeo River and Kura, and she asked Yu Lefe.

= Yul’s older sister. Why do you use all the secret arts separately? Can’t we just ride on the kids’ backs?=

=Water walking is related to weight, so the effect is reduced if it is heavy. Can you imagine walking on pudding?=

=Aha.=

As she said, water walking felt like walking on a slightly hard water bed. If she hadn’t been given the Feather Falling Secret, her feet would have sunk into the water.

After that, while walking across the river, several aquatic creatures attacked, but Isilite, who saw the presence, hurled multiple swords to make sashimi alive, summoned a high-level water spirit from Hwanyeondo, and quickly crossed the river while feeding them water.

=When I was crossing the river by boat last time, I didn’t get attacked by monsters, but there are surprisingly many monsters.=

Anne, who came ashore and released her secret art, saw the body of the monster floating along the Colagido River, and she muttered.

They themselves crossed over without any damage, possessing arms close to the pinnacle of Nionebreth, but the story is different for the unemployed.

Even a 3-meter toothy eel or a crocodile-sized flying fish with blades sprouting instead of fins on its body would cause enormous damage.

“The lower part of the river is where freshwater and seawater meet, so it must act as a kind of buffer zone. Rather, the other side of the river seen from the sky is gradually turning into a wilderness. Anne, do you know anything about this area?”

= Huh? Oh, right. From here, it is the Merianol area, but the environment is completely different from the main island. The farther you go from the coastline or river, the more desolate it becomes, and then the desert begins to emerge.=

“Is it a desert?”

= Yes. If you go down about 1-2 days to the south from your current location, you will find the United City of Colado. It is a place where the Desert Fleurs, Desert Prouds, and minority tribes live together with the Desert Sabi, and further down from there is the Southern Evil Faction border.

After thinking about her for a while, her Hwanin looked at her and asked for her opinion.

“Is there any reason why we should go to Collado?”

= If I had to pick one, would it be possible to see the atmosphere of Merianol from a relatively objective point of view? Because it is at the very edge of Merianol, the influence of the main island of Merianol is small.=

At the same time, it is a story that it is also a member of Merianol, so you can easily know the atmosphere of the main island.

= There must also be a space teleportation technique installed there. If you ride it, you will be able to go directly to the coastal city of Lepazan, where you can cross over to the main island?=

“I don’t think I’m going to use the high-risk space teleportation method in a place that’s no different from an enemy country.”

After thinking for a moment, Hwanin decided that the next destination would be the United Cities of Colaido.

According to the map obtained from Sprould, the entrance to the main island and the southern part of the main island are ruled by Elwidris.

It seems good to check the atmosphere in a place where there is little influence. If public opinion towards you is extremely bad, you will have to move to the passage, avoiding the town or city.

‘If that happens, it will be a long and difficult journey.’

Getting in will be difficult, but getting out will be easy, so that’s comforting.

It was enough to use Yurpa’s spatial jump.

Even if there is a wanderer’s haven, living in the wilderness for more than 10 days and running on something alive all the time is an act of rapidly accumulating fatigue.

For both the rider and the vehicle.

Isilite, Anne, and Baekryukang hardly get tired thanks to their strong bodies, and Immorel is fine as she has physical abilities and energy projection abilities that exceed level 7 after Immorel’s soul fuses with the body of the core.

However, even if Yurpa and Ayeong recover their stamina with holy magic, they cannot help but suffer from fundamental fatigue, and the same goes for Que.

Norn, who is a divine beast, and Gray Que, who is the strongest of the normal Que, and Jelfrie, who is the boss among them, are fine, but Kurti, Kufin, and Kurae are now having a little bit of a bigger head.

It was when some of the party felt unresolved fatigue that a vast city appeared in front of them as they ran through the barren wasteland, raising bright yellow dust.

= Huh?=
= Oh…=

Doo Kung, Kwa Kwang—

And in one place in the city center that can be seen far away, a fire was burning enough to be seen clearly even from dozens of kilometers away, and a building-sized pillar of fire was blooming as if a bomb had exploded in one place on the edge of the city where no barriers were built.

The party blinked at the traces of an unexpected large-scale battle.

=What is it, did the heterogeneous species flow backward in the labyrinth?=

=If it’s a battle like that, it’s a trace of at least 5th graders fighting. If the level 5 deformed species had come out, the whole city would have been in an uproar right now?=

=Then why did that place go away?=

= Well. A civil war broke out?=

=Ugh.=

Hwanin listened to Anne’s disgust and looked up over the city.

Three or four aircraft that appear to be black dots are circling, and a battle continues below them.

“Looks like it has nothing to do with civil war. The most persuasive is the Evil Faction’s attack, if not, the Three Kingdoms Alliance investigation team’s attack.”

The eyes of the women gathered at Hwanin, who spoke her words. In particular, Anne’s expression is a bit disbelief.

=I haven’t heard that the evil faction does a surprise attack like that without an all-out invasion. Those guys are so ignorant that they only know how to shut up and attack.=

When Hwanin raised her finger and pointed at the black dot over the city, the women’s expressions hardened as if they had finally discovered it.

Baek Ryeo-gang, who grasped the identity of the dot with his excellent eyesight, raises his voice as if embarrassed.

=Uh, it’s like an evil gargoyle…=

Evil Gargoyle, an estimated 5th grade evil faction top-tier monster.

It became famous because it was often found to be used as a mount by some high-ranking entities of the evil faction.

As soon as it is known that it is an evil faction attack, everyone except Ah-yeong hardens.

= Doryeong! Let’s go!=

Her cry makes her yolk run, and the women follow suit. As Hwanin ran down the slope of her hill, she narrowed her eyes disapprovingly.

Even Hwanin knows very well that evil factions often attack villages and cities.

Yeongdo also fought the evil faction coming down from the north in an annual event, and was attacked by 10,000 troops from Nira.

The brown-skinned skinhead monster that Hwanin met when he had just tripped with Nionebreath was also a monster from the Evil Faction, and the small monster with the head of a beast was also a monster from the Evil Faction.

What all three locations have in common is that they are borderlines of evil faction.

There, the Alliance City of Colaido is also close to the Evil Faction border, so it’s not strange to be attacked…

‘An attack by an entity using an evil gargoyle as a mount.’

For some reason, I have a strong feeling that something annoying and troublesome is about to unfold.

With that thought in mind, I ran past a bright yellow field where grain was growing everywhere, and some black dots started flying towards me.

Judging from the fact that he went down to the city just before and came up, it looks like something got on him… The Evil Faction area would be on the other side, but why did it fly this way?

The other black dots are flying in the opposite direction.

“…”

Hwanin’s expression becomes even more disapproving. It was because the idiot seemed to be flying without even knowing the direction.

=Uh, is there one flying over here?=

I feel agitated as if my girlfriends also found it.

Seeing their gaze, Hwanin first gestured to Baekryeogang and sent Immorel up.

It would be easily solved by using fantasy, but first of all, many Fleurs live in that city. If the spirits were used recklessly, the power could be exposed.

The existence of Fantasies must have been known because of Beltical’s work, but I still don’t want to write about it openly.

Immorel spreads her six wings and soars up, and Baekryeogang also aims with arrows attached to her thunderbolt.

After a while, the evil gargoyle that met Immorel flinched and stopped, the arrow of Baeknyeogang that was filled with the energy of water and flew like a beam of light.

=Hit.=
=You got it right.=

The moment the evil gargoyle with one wing torn off staggers, dozens of feather-shaped energy objects are projected to attack the evil gargoyle and the rider on its back.

It is an Evil Faction object that loses its ability to fly and hurriedly avoids the projectiles in a panic while falling, but it was unable to avoid all of them and was hit by several shots, spraying blood in the air.

As if she couldn’t stand being beaten, five or six spheres of energy covered in a black aura flew towards Immore from the evil gargoyle’s back.

However, Immorel simply annihilates the sphere with two wings containing phase power and shaking it once.

In the meantime, Baekryeogang’s arrows flew one after another like an assassin’s side, persistently piercing the body of the Evil Gargoyle.

= I will go. Ahyoung, go with me.=

=Old!=

Seeing her fall now, Isilite leaped from Kurti’s back and spurred her multi-sword skills and sprinted through her air, while Ah-yeong raised her sex fighting technique and chased after him.

Hwan-in follows him more leisurely and catches the appearance of the falling idiot in his eyes.

The evil gargoyle was already killed by the pincer attack of Baeknyeogang and Immorel, and the evil faction riding it is falling with the black wind wrapped around its body.

Like the chador, it was wrapped in black cloth from the top of the nose to the bottom, and the outfit was like an assassin’s uniform.

‘Is that the shadow that the race is the antipode of the Fleurs?’

The skin visible through the opening of the exposed hood was gray with a slight purple tint, and it had long ears like the Fleurs.

Sensing that the plan was completely disrupted, Hwanin clicked his tongue and tapped the shoulder of Hwanyeon who was sitting between his legs.

“How will the city react?”

「I just saw that it crashed, and some of the humans riding the Que started running. Wouldn’t it be difficult to shake off or hide your true identity now?”

“I can’t help it. I have no choice but to disguise when I leave Collado.”

When I was gathering information, I was thinking of hiding with Yurpa’s appearance transformation magic tool, but that idiot ruined it all.

It seems that you have no choice but to gather information and then hide it when you leave.

Perhaps the comforting thing is that it must have already been known that he is close to the Merianole area.

Now, thinking that she needs to find out why the evil faction attacked Colaido, Hwanin raised her rapier and coldly glared at Shadower, whose limbs were cut off in an instant while trying to resist Isilite.