Chapter 300: Wings of Freedom (1)

The birdfolk child instinctively closed his eyes as he stared at the sphere of light emitting an overwhelming glow.

I-it’s too bright...

What the elders had said was true. Just looking at the sun felt like it could blind him.

Still, the boy kept sneaking peeks at the sun.

“

Oh

, sorry. Is it too bright?”

With an awkward voice, an apology was given, and the sphere of light began to emit a softer glow.

“

Huh?!

” The birdfolk child reacted as if something terrible had happened. “W-wait, is that okay? It looks like the sun is going out!”

“

Huh?

The sun?” The man who had cast the Sacred Flare skill tilted his head in confusion.

“But the sphere’s light... the light is...”

Only then did the boy’s gaze shift to the man, and his gaze shook violently.

W-what kind of bird is he?

The man was shorter than an adult birdfolk, but he didn’t have wings, the most defining trait of the birdfolk. Not only that, but his upper body wasn’t covered in feathers either. And his beak—if he even had one—was nowhere to be seen, as if it had been broken off somewhere.

“A-a weird bird...”

A strange being in the dark forest who could control the sun, and even looked bizarre!

The frightened boy instinctively took a step back.

“

Ow!

”

As he moved, a sharp pain shot through his left wing as it brushed against a thorny bush. The wound stung so badly it nearly brought tears to his eyes! Unable to do anything, the boy looked up at the man with a helpless expression.

Watching him, the man simply shrugged and knelt down on one knee. “We can clear up the misunderstanding later. Can I treat your wound first?”

Seeing the wary look in the boy’s eyes, the man gave a gentle smile and extended one palm forward. “Sunlight’s Warmth.”

Golden particles of divine light descended onto the boy’s wing, and the wound began to heal instantly.

“

H-huh...?!

”

Witnessing such a miraculous sight, the boy’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”

At the man’s question, the birdfolk child touched his left wing, then vigorously nodded. “I-it doesn’t hurt at all.”

“That’s a relief. Be more careful from now on.”

“O-okay...”

“Now, can I ask what your name is?”

The boy eagerly nodded. “My name is Icarus.”

“Icarus... That’s a great name. My name is Kai.”

After exchanging names, Icarus seemed to let his guard down a little and asked, “But what kind of bird are you? Why don’t you have wings? You don’t have feathers and a beak either.”

“Well, that’s because I’m not a bird.”

“

Huh?

Then... you’re not a birdfolk?”

“That’s right. I’m not a birdfolk, I’m a human.”

“A human!” Icarus jumped up in shock and shouted. “I’ve heard about humans from the elders! Now that I think about it, you do look just like they described!”

After staring at Kai in fascination for a moment, Icarus suddenly tilted his head.

“But how did a human end up here?”

“

Oh

, well that’s a bit of a long story...”

With an awkward smile, Kai looked up at the dark clouds that filled the sky.

***

Thirty minutes earlier, Kai had arrived at the location marked by the Sky God Iska and found himself unable to hide his bewilderment.

“What is this?”

The ocean was vast. Especially in the Black Sea, no matter which direction one looked, there was nothing but the endless horizon.

However, Kai had never in his life heard of a sea of dark clouds. Waves of immense dark clouds filled the sky. While the rest of the world remained in the brightness of midday, the area beneath the clouds was as dark as a stormy day.

So, from here on out is Sea Serpent Harley’s domain.

Swallowing hard, Kai gently patted Mimic’s head. “Mimic, good job making it this far. Just a little more effort now.”

“

Kkaaak!

”

Responding energetically as if to say it understood, Mimic began descending toward a nearby island at Kai’s command.

Now I just need to meet the birdfolk and hand over the teleport scrolls.

Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, the air around them trembled.

“

Kkaaaaak!

”

Mimic flapped its wings desperately, trying to regain balance, but the force of the wind shaking them was beyond imagination.

There’s no way this is a natural wind.

Kai, gripping tightly onto Mimic’s back, slightly bit his lower lip.

At the same time, a deep voice echoed in his ears.

—A... human, is it?

Kai didn’t bother asking the foolish question of who was speaking.

“And you must be the Sea Serpent Harley.”

—Centuries have passed... yet the humans who know of my existence... are still your kind...

In the distance, Harley’s form began to emerge. As it lifted its head from beneath the water, the ocean roared, and seawater fell down like a waterfall.

—I’m sure I warned you... I would only grant you mercy... once...

“What?”

—For ignoring my warning... you shall pay with your life.

“Wait, I think there’s some kind of misunderstand—”

Seawater surged into the air and was sucked toward Harley’s mouth. Even though they were quite a distance away, Kai’s instincts screamed at him in alarm.

“Damn it, Mimic. That’s dangerous. We need to move—”

A shiver ran down Kai’s spine as he attempted to give an order, but Harley was a step faster.

A hyper-compressed water cannon fired with incredible force, piercing straight through Mimic.

“

K-kkaaaak!

”

“Mimic!”

Ding!

[Mimic has been unsummoned.]

Mimic had been unsummoned in a single hit! To make matters worse, an even bigger problem awaited Kai.

Dang it... I have no way to fly!

Having traveled here on Mimic in wyvern form, Kai had no way of staying in the air.

Wait, perhaps...

As he plummeted toward the sea, an island entered his view.

That’s the location Iska marked.

Kai locked his gaze onto the island, his mind racing.

It’s quite far... This is all or nothing.

Kai had only one way to travel a long distance while mid-air at the moment.

“Gravity Field!”

The moment the skill was activated, his mana drained rapidly, and the direction of gravity changed.

“

Argh...!

”

His body instantly bent at a ninety-degree angle and shot toward the island. The recoil drained his stamina and alerts continuously rang, warning that various parts of his body were breaking down.

Just a little more... just a little more...!

But just as the island came within reach, a message of despair appeared before him.

[Insufficient mana.]

[Gravity Field skill has been canceled.]

Damn it!

Kai’s body, which had been surging forward, suddenly came to a stop and began plummeting toward the sea. At that moment, there was only one thing he could do.

“Army of Light!”

Ding!

[Please designate the Warrior of Light to summon.]

[1. Desmond.]

[2. Empty.]

[3. Empty.]

Kai shouted as he looked at the interface window before him, “Desmond!”

At that moment, darkness slowly rose, and Desmond was summoned. His red eyes, the very symbol of the nobles of the night, vampires, gleamed as his cherry-red lips parted and said,

—

Ah

... It’s been a while since...

“Hey, I’m seriously sorry!”

Thud!

Before Desmond could even finish his dramatic entrance, a massive footprint was imprinted on the top of his head. With a bewildered expression, he rubbed the top of his head before bursting into anger.

—H-how dare you! Did you just step on the head of me, the lord of the vampires?!

Though he shouted in anger, Kai had already used him as a stepping stone and landed at the edge of the island.

“I had no choice! I’m sorry!”

—You...!

Just as Desmond was about to hurl a barrage of curses at the human waving at him from afar...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

—

Hm?

A pressurized water cannon fired by Harley pierced straight through his body.

—

Argh!

How dare you...!

The very first thing the Warrior of Light, Desmond, did upon being summoned was becoming Kai’s stepping stone. And that was all.

***

After finishing his brief recollection, Kai nodded with his eyes gently closed and muttered, “

Ahem

. After various turns of events, I finally managed to arrive here.”

“So, what exactly do you mean by various turns of events?” Icarus looked at him with a confused expression.

He had expected an explanation, but instead, Kai had simply closed his eyes and said something vague.

“Well, it’s a long story if I try to explain everything, so I’ll tell you later.”

“Then at least give me a summary.”

“A summary...

Hmm

... A summary,

huh?

Give me a second.” Kai organized the events in his head for a moment before clapping his hands. “Okay, got it. To put it simply, I was crossing the sea on a wyvern when Harley suddenly appeared and fired a pressurized water cannon. My wyvern got hit directly and disappeared, and I barely managed to land on this island by stepping on the head of a vampire lord.”

Icarus looked up at Kai with a face full of doubt. “A wyvern... That’s a lesser dragon species with wings, right?”

“

Yeah,

that’s right.”

“Can you show it to me?”

“

Oh

, well...”

Kai needed more time before he could resummon Mimic.

“Then what about the vampire lord?”

“

Oh

, him too... that’s a bit...”

As Kai hesitated with a troubled expression, Icarus smirked and said, “So... in summary, you’re an amazing person who can command both a wyvern and a vampire lord?”

“Exactly. You catch on fast. Do you take Kumon or something?”

Icarus sighed, shook his head, and muttered, “The elders said humans tend to exaggerate... but it’s way worse than I expected.”

“

Hm?

Hold on. I hear someone’s voice.”

At Kai’s words, Icarus flinched. “N-no, I wasn’t really doubting you or anything...”

“What are you talking about? Someone’s calling for you.”

“

Huh?

”

Hearing that, Icarus quickly shut his eyes and focused his hearing.

—Icarus!

—If you can hear us, answer!

—Where are you?!

“

Oh!

”

Icarus’s face lit up instantly. It was surely the village’s search party looking for him.

He quickly stood up and shouted in response, “I’m here!”

—

Oh!

That voice...

—Over there!

The search party arrived in an instant and let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that Icarus was unharmed.

“You little rascal, where have you been wandering around so late at night? Your mother is in tears right now.”

“B-but... the patrol team said they saw the sun, so I just wanted to see it too.”

“I told those guys to keep their mouths shut, but of course, they didn’t listen.” Shaking his head, the leader of the search party carefully examined Icarus from head to toe. “But are you alright? I smelled blood on the way here, so I assumed it was yours...”

“

Oh

, yeah, that was probably my blood. But Kai healed my wounds.”

“Kai?”

The leader of the search party, who closely resembled an owl, widened his round eyes in surprise.

At the mention of his name, Kai, who had been standing off to the side like part of the background, awkwardly raised his hand. “That would be me.”

“

Whoa,

you scared me. At least make some noise when you’re standing around like that.” Pressing a hand to his startled chest, the owl-like leader blinked his large, round eyes and asked, “But more importantly, you’re quite an unusual-looking bird. What species are you?”

“

Umm...

”

It seemed that the birdfolk didn’t know much about the world.