021-040 · 032-ch28
Chapter 28: The Awakened Threat
"Run, Robo!!"
"Gau!!"
The moment that gigantic thing emerged, I shouted at Robo while striking his belly with both feet. That was no good. That size was nothing to laugh at. No matter how you look at it, it's even bigger than that wandering dinosaur I'd seen before. It's standing alongside the World Tree with its trunk diameter of several hundred meters, so it might be mistaken for part of it, but what jumped out has a head alone that's dozens of meters in size.
The appearance of that massive creature instantly throws the entire World Tree into chaos. The commotion of the monsters raising their voices transmits that confusion all the way to the surface from several kilometers above.
Simply put, this is seriously bad.
"Keep running straight! '[Release]' '[Acceleration]' '[Leg Strength Enhancement]' '[Anti-Gravity]' '[Jump Power Enhancement'"
I flow magic power into the magic crest carved into the back of my hand to inscribe a formation, continuously stacking multiple spells on Robo. With each layer of magic, Robo accelerates dramatically, and eventually, he leaps vigorously toward the cliff we descended when coming down to the base of the World Tree.
As my feet land on a foothold, I leap again. This time, placing my feet on spots where only the front legs might catch, with my back legs kicking off the wall surface to accelerate upward.
And the moment Robo's body completely scaled the wall and landed on the land atop the cliff—
"Tch!"
Feeling something tingling on the nape of my neck, I looked back. I looked back.
A red that fills my vision.
The whites of its eyes are completely red, with black pupils. The pupils at their center are vertically long like a snake's. The golden color shining brilliantly within that blackness seems as if it could swallow me—
"Phew! I'm keeping my eyes on it! Run, Roboo!"
Despite Robo running at full speed. At this distance, no matter how good my eyesight is, and even though it's a giant monster, eyes that are only a few meters in size should look like nothing but dots. And yet.
I felt as if those eyes were about to swallow me.
Probably some kind of mental interference magic or something. Despite normally taking various precautions like fixing my own magic circles and using equipment that increases resistance to avoid such fatal magic, it took several seconds to resist. That means it's that level of dangerous.
"Seriously, that's bad!! It's been a while since I've seen something that legitimately intense!!"
Having seen something seriously dangerous for the first time in a while, I seem to be getting a bit excited. What's in my heart flies out of my mouth.
"We're escapin'!!"
I glance lightly backward again from Robo's back. I managed to resist the mental interference, and whether the opponent has intelligence or not, I won't be affected by mental interference again.
Where I looked back, countless monsters that had jumped out from the World Tree's leaves were flying even further outward. They were probably escaping.
Looking to the side, I saw that a large number of aquatic monsters were swimming in the same direction as us, right beside us moving at high speed across the land.
"Did I end up waking the sleeping princess?"
Even such a chuunibyou-sounding line slips effortlessly from my mouth. In a situation where that massive monster was clearly the cause, and while feeling something that makes my spine shiver, I couldn't suppress my rising mouth corners.
"Fuu"
『Hah, hah, hah—』
"Good work, Robo."
Having fled all the way back to our base in one go, Robo and I were lying on our backs on the grass, breathing heavily. I had made Robo run pretty seriously, and I was quite tired from holding on. The posture was awkward since I was also carrying my own luggage in my hands.
"Well, yeah, there was something dangerous there."
『Gau』
I had thought that there were strong monsters in the World Tree too, but that level was completely unexpected. I had assumed that the center of that area was the World Tree itself, but perhaps that's not the case. That's how much pressure this monster was emitting.
"Aah, but that's right..."
Recalling that massive thing I saw when I glanced back, its appearance as a monster, one thing came to mind.
"There's a Níðhöggr biting the World Tree, right?"
An overall blue-purple-colored, snake-like dragon. Judging from its body length and the difference in thickness from its head, its shape was close to a snake, but the crown-like horns on its head, and above all, the sharp-clawed feet that firmly grip the World Tree, showed that it was no ordinary dragon.
Honestly, it looked cool.
"Huh? But if that's the case, where's the great eagle... Hræsvelgr?"
Well, I find it hard to believe that mythology would be applied directly. But on the other hand, this strange coincidence with Norse mythology—that a giant dragon lives in this World Tree—feels like it might be some kind of clue. Is this coincidence entirely accidental?
Or, is it an inevitable coincidence? Where did Norse mythology come from?
"No, if there was a great eagle, it would definitely be chasing us, so I'm glad it's not there. A dragon that size doesn't move that much."
And there, Robo, having caught his breath, nudged my head from the side.
『Bau』
"Yeah, you're hungry, aren't you? There's bacon. Since I want to eat until I'm full, I'll make that into... garlic bacon rice using garlic."
Since I had ended the exploration around evening time and fled all the way back here, it's about time for dinner.
After removing the saddle from Robo and for the time being throwing my luggage onto the warehouse floor, I went to get the necessary ingredients and made a large amount of garlic bacon rice for both me and Robo. Robo seems to have taken quite a liking to rice, so being able to handle his volume with grains is quite helpful.
"Now then, they say dragons are deeply jealous of those who approach their treasures~. I wonder if it'll come chase us..."
I was humming a rhythm and talking to myself, but came back to my senses partway through. Honestly, it would be bad if it chased me. I've only seen one of the strongest dragon class monsters in this world so far, so I don't know how intelligent they are, but...
Well, I have set up various traps to avoid strong monsters, and there's the safe zone of the dungeon entrance. There's no way it would chase me, right.
While thinking about such things, I moved my hands, stir-frying garlic and bacon, and minced onions too. The rice is cooking in the pot, so it'll be ready soon, right?
"Roboo, hoy!"
I tossed the entire large block of bacon I had been frying first to Robo. Catching it, Robo bit down vigorously and swallowed it in one go. Well, his mouth size is completely different from mine, so it can't be helped.
Now, we just wait for the rice to finish cooking.
As I found myself with nothing to do, I finally remembered that I had been neglecting the streaming this whole time.