Chapter 280

The sound gets mixed with the wind and comes from the direction of the woods.

Bunnzzz… Bunnzzz… Accompanied by a strange surge.

It’s a long distance away. I noticed a dark cloud drifting in the distant sky as I stared carefully.

— A swarm of bees?

Did Titania call them? She said she was going to do something.

But can bees be spotted from that distance?

Me, Manager, the four girls, and Faymbaum’s soldiers. Everyone raised their heads to gaze at the bees, and a question mark emerged on the tops of their heads

Nobody had any idea what it was.

Except Abigail.

『Gevaudan!!!』

She was standing on a terrace that jutted out into the high rise of the anthill castle. She looked like a small figure in the distance, but I can see that she was waving her hand at me, trying her best to catch my attention.

『What’s wrong, Abigail?』

『Gevaudan! That is an attack!!』

『Attack? By who?』

Abigail’s voice became aggravated at my nonchalant response.

『It’s Humanity’s superweapon, Abaddon!』

『Superweapon……』

『It’s a Massive drone strike, run!!!』

Oh, drones. Superweapon, how cool.

『It’s nothing. It’s just a like….what? a hundred drones?』

I held up my hand to the manager in front of me and gestured for him to wait.

Walking back, I pick up the machine gun I left next to the four girls. I remove the armor-piercing rounds and insert a magazine of air-burst rounds. I’ll shoot them all down with anti-aircraft fire.

『That’s like pouring a cup of water into a house fire!! Twenty thousand!! Twenty thousand anti-personnel mines will be flying at us!! Run!! quickly!!』

『Twenty thousand!?』

I felt dizzy. Isn’t it off two digits? Twenty thousand…….

『What is it? drone? Is it that bad?』

Lydia was puzzled.

『It’s dangerous, it has a hundred bullets for each one, so a total of two million bullets and bombs will be striking you at the same time.』

The four girls are not quite convinced.

『You know how Earth people fight right? the bang bang bang thing? It’s like being hit by that two million times at close range at once. And from all directions. You won’t be safe no matter how many shields you put up. You should escape.』

Then Lydia waved her hands in the air and began to shout at Faymbaum’s army.

However, the army is still an army. They can’t move that quickly. The invisible barrier emerges one after another with a *buing*…… *buing*…… sound.

『go to the basement of the castle. The basement is definitely —- more secure.—-』

Just as I was about to grab Ferris and the others.

The ground suddenly turns dark.

It was as if pitch-black ink had been sprayed on us, dark shadows filled the area.

Something was blocking the sunlight.

I raised my head and looked up to see where the sun was.

–The sky was ripped apart….

The blue sky was cracking with a loud noise. That’s what it looked like to me.

『—-Nuhooooo!?』

Arshella gasped in shock.

『Ah, that! Isn’t that a Transcend spirit?』

『Transcend spirit……』

A super-weapon and a super-spirit. Quite an interesting contrast.

『What is that?』

I ask, and Arshella answers with a bit of trepidation.

『I don’t know its real name, but I’m pretty sure that’s <Colossal Cloud> They’re called “Shinki” the mysterious celestial beings led by the Dominion Clan, and this one, in particular, is known as a true tyrant. Elysium was messed up pretty bad by it in the past. Why is it here?』

I had never seen her, a dragon, look so flustered.

<Colossal Cloud> is an ostentatious name, but to me, it looks like a very huge moth.

–No, it’s not mysterious at all. you’re a moth, right? an adult silkworm.

It looks like a Fluffy-looking moth made of cotton candy. It’s so cute. But I can’t quite place it. The size was too big for me to comprehend.

At any rate, about half of the sky I looked up was covered by a giant moth. It was a spectacle to watch it descend through the clouds. I wondered if this is what it’s like to be attacked by a spaceship.

As I gazed up in amazement, something fell from the sky and hit me in the face.

When I picked it up, it look like a small wheel. It has many spokes from the center forming a circle and resembles a car wheel. A palm-sized wheel slowly falls from the sky while spinning. It reminds me of maple seeds. The moth must have dropped it. I wonder if it’s the same as a wing powder.

『–That means……』

The four girls’ gazes were drawn to the terrace when they heard Arshella’s words.

There, they saw Titania holding up the egg.

『Aaaaaaaahhh!!』

Arshella pointed her finger at the egg.

『That’s!! <Essence of heaven> — <Quintessence>!!』

『<Essence of heaven>!? Isn’t that thing like, you know, have to charge it first? uh……. what color was it, uh…….』

Ferris yelled at Tiriel, who was fidgety around.

『It’s fully charged! I can’t believe she has that kind of thing with her! It’s Oberon’s magic artifact that is the only one of its kind in the world, and it has the power to command the various Transcend spirits that govern all things in the world……. That’s why Titania was so confident she could have that entire castle relocated!! 』

『Not good! Everyone! Retreat!』

When Lydia jumped and raised the volume of her voice, Faymbaum’s army, which should have been in a defensive posture a moment ago, ran for their lives. Some of them were even screaming miserably.

–That bad?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen aliens tuck tails between their legs and run away without putting up a fight.

『Gevaudan, into the Nest』

I heard Titania’s voice.

Tiriel shakes her head and backs away.

『Umm……..then, we’d better part ways now! If this continues, we could really be branded as traitors……. I think it’s time to return to the city with information!』

Ferris caught her arm as she was about to run toward the retreating Faymbaum forces.

『Us women should act brave! let’s go!!』

『……I want to go home……』

Ferris pulled a dejected Tiriel along.

Arshella and Lydia were already running to the ant hill castle.

I needed to get going. I ran, leaving my heavy machine gun behind. The insects were also leaving.

Then, together with the four girls, we ran up to the terrace, gasping for breath.

It was a spectacular sight.

From above, I can clearly see a flock of drones slowly making their way through the forest at a low altitude. It looked like a dense flock of starling birds and sounded like a swarm of bees. The Faymbaum army flees as if to escape the approaching drones.

The next time I looked up at the sky, I saw a tremendous body hovering above. It was as if the heavens and the earth turned upside down like the ground was above our heads. It was a spectacle sight beyond the realm of reality.

『Titania, are you in control of this spirit?』

『Yes, I would like to use it to entertain our guests from Faymbaum, but I can’t allow them to ruin the nest I’ve built. First, I think we should clean up that noisy golem herd over there.』

Titania’s eyes glowed brightly and she shouted.

『–Obey my command, Taranis!』

hum-hum-hum-hum-hum… the air trembled.

『Respond to the Radiance of Heaven and Earth, lord of lighting! It is now to spin the wheel of fire! Lead the vermillion green flash from the west! Return them to the bed of the stars! –Crush those miserable Insolent who try to block our way!!!』

Titania twirled her palm in the air, and after a little pause, there was a rumbling sound like a big spinning wheel……

A myriad of lightning spread across the sky.

It was definitely a dazzling flash of lightning, but strangely enough, they moved so slowly through the sky like a lightning dragon.

Eventually, the lightning converged to form a single sphere, floating in the air.

The growing Thunderball was surrounded by swirling air, then the clouds were pushed out from the inside, revealing a chasm of ultramarine hue.

It was as if a big hole has opened in the Celestial sphere.

Then, the wind that came from it caressed the ground.

After that, the drone fell.

All the drones crashed with their blade frozen.

All trees on the ground are also frozen then shattering in the gusts of wind that followed.

The winds immediately froze the exposed earth’s surface, and a radial frozen ground stretched out corresponding to the circle in the sky above.

All the drones fell silent.

After everything was frozen, all that was left was dead earth with the glitter of sparking dust.

『Wow……. Abigail?』

I turned to Abigail with admiration in my heart and asked her to explain.

『I-I don’t know…..is it brought the cold air down from Tropopause…?』

She, too, was taken aback and looked at me.

So that moth called Taranis was the mystery behind the snowfall. That’s all I understand.

『–Quintessence is ready. Signposts and anchor set in Tartarus… Synchronize the Dungeon’s Harmonic Gear with the Wheel of Taranis………』

『Titania, what are you doing?』

『We will traverse the boundary of space-time with the assistance of Taranis. There is no need for us to stay on Earth any longer. We will conquer Tartarus in one single swoop, leaving no time for Narus to react.』

Titania’s right hand was enveloped in black flames and her left in white flames. As she raised the egg with both hands, Taranis above our head began its slow descent.

An intense low-frequency sound shakes the pit of my stomach, causing the surrounding mountains to chatter and tremble violently. Is this the cry of Taranis? Lightning strikes, rocks fall and landslides occur. I have a strong feeling that something big is about to happen.

I feel very nervous.

Actually, this is the first time for me to be away from the 88 areas. I’ve always been a workaholic.

I’ve heard that the greatest location to be at the time of departure is on a deck with the scenery. I’ve never been on a large ship before. I wonder if this is how it feels.

While I was looking around nervously, I suddenly noticed Natsuki with an anxious look on her face. It seemed that she had come out to the terrace before I knew it. She, too, was looking around and turning her head impatiently.

–What is it?

『Where is Yakumo?』

“Eh””Eh””Eh””Eh””Eh””Eh”

Six “Eh “, even Titania looked back at Natsuki in surprise.

『It’s just that….I haven’t seen him since I went to the bathroom earlier……. and I don’t think he’s been outside……. Jebotan, what’s happening?』

Immediately, I used <Hounding> to find out his location.

Amazingly, Yakumo is outside of Ant Hill Castle. In the place where we were just a moment ago…

There he is.

He was walking alone, slow and leisurely, around the area where Orlando and I had our one-on-one battle.

『W-Why?』

Natsuki’s face was drained of blood.

『I’ll go. You guys stay here.』

『I can delay it a little, but please hurry. The transition has already begun.』

Titania urged me before I jump.

I jumped off the terrace, skiing straight down the steep slope of Anthill Castle.

I kicked the small rocky peak to adjust my direction, and without slowing down, I ran all the way down to the ground.

Once at the base, I kept my momentum as I weaved through the trees.

—- found it!

“Catch!”

Sliding on the dirt, I yelled and scooped up Yakumo, holding him to my chest.

“What are you doing here?”

Yakumo shows me his hand.

There was a horn there.

“….? Ah, the one Garnier gave me.”

It was Garnier’s memento.

I must have dropped it when I and Orlando got into a standoff. I hadn’t noticed.

“Thank you.”

I shoved the horn into my apron pocket and turned on my heel to head back to the ant hill castle.

Then the sky exploded.

A huge pillar of earth erupted from the ground.

Just when I thought that I was being hit, I felt a tremor that knocked me off balance, followed by the sound of a body-crushing explosion.