Zephyr packed the Baron Bunnies into his bag, then glided forward, dropping bombs as he flew.
Boom!
Explosions echoed one after another. The hilichurls were either dead or gravely injured.
They were so badly hurt that Amber, feeling a bit of pity, decided to end their suffering quickly with a single, clean arrow.
Though Amber was kind to people, when it came to monsters, she was absolutely the Crimson Demon.
After a round of bombardment, the hilichurls in the ruin were all either dead or incapacitated.
Strangely enough, the ruin was quite large—there must've been at least eighty to a hundred hilichurls inside. A lot more than expected.
But under the power of modern artillery, they stood no chance.
"You guys really should've just set up camp outside, huh?" Zephyr muttered. "Had to pick a ruin, didn't you? Now look—wiped out.
If you camped outside and ran into bad guys, at least you could escape. But inside a ruin? One door gets blocked and you're all done for."
He was speechless. Though to be fair, he could understand why the hilichurls chose the ruin—it was safe and hidden. But the problem was, a ruin was a dead-end space. Once someone blocked the entrance, that was it.
Well, in a worst-case scenario, you could always jump off the edge. Technically. Supposedly there was an abyss below the ruin, though no one had ever jumped to confirm.
A few minutes later, Zephyr returned.
Though the ruin was vast, the sounds of bombing had kept the group together.
Amber asked, "So, how was it? Pretty handy, right? The Baron Bunnies?"
"Super handy! Way better than a sword, honestly. Can you make me some more when we get back?"
"Of course. Though if you want the best of the best, you should talk to Klee. When I've got time, I'll go find her and upgrade Baron Bunny a bit."
"Nice!"
They moved forward.
"Whoa," Paimon said, "the path just ends here!"
Amber looked around and said, "There's a way—we just need to glide across."
"But… Paimon is scared of heights…" Paimon whimpered.
"Scared of heights? Are you serious? You're a flying creature! What kind of bird is scared of heights? That's ridiculous."
"You—you don't know that! Maybe birds can get a fear of heights! It's just that the ones who do fall and die, so no one's ever seen one!"
"…You actually make a pretty good point. Anyway, just close your eyes and go for it. Close 'em and open 'em, and you're across."
"More like—close 'em and then Paimon is gone!"
"Alright, alright. Just get in the bag."
"Hehe~" Paimon happily dove into the backpack.
"To the war seat!"
"Stop ruining my childhood! Speed 24!"
They passed through several trap mechanisms and arrived at a room. In the center was a pool filled with water, and surrounding it were electric barriers forming a web of lightning traps.
Paimon asked, "How are we supposed to get through this?"
Zephyr looked around. This kind of low-level trap couldn't possibly stop him.
"See that mechanism over there? We just need to destroy it."
"Mhm!" Paimon nodded.
Zephyr continued, "Which means, Paimon—it's your time to shine."
"Eh? Paimon!?"
"That's right. In the game, we'd have to use a bow character to shoot and break the mechanism. But this is reality—we've got to use our brains.
Look, these electric barriers are all linked. If someone blocks the source, the rest of the system should shut down."
"That's nonsense! No way that would work! And why do Paimon have to be the one doing something so dangerous?! Paimon could die!"
"You're a god, remember? A god wouldn't die that easily."
"Paimon is not going!"
Amber smiled and said, "Traveler, stop bullying Paimon. Leave this one to me."
Amber fired a clean, precise arrow—bang!—and the mechanism exploded.
With a snap, all the electric grids in the room vanished.
"Ah, that was easy," she said casually.
"Ugh… Amber, thank you…" Paimon whimpered.
As the electric field disappeared, the water in the pool began to recede in a strange, unnatural way, revealing a large, die-shaped mechanism at the bottom.
Once activated, the main gate opened.
Paimon cried out, "More hilichurls? Why are there more hilichurls behind them? With their intelligence, how did they even get in there?"
"Doesn't that kind of suggest your intelligence is below that of a hilichurl?" Zephyr teased.
"No way! Paimon bet the ones inside are a different group from the ones outside—they must've dug a tunnel to get in!"
"I almost believed you for a second."
After clearing out this wave of hilichurls, Amber pointed ahead. "Look, there's an air current here."
She narrowed her eyes. "This wind current feels unnatural… I wonder how the mechanism created something like this."
Using the updraft, they deployed their Wind Gliders and ascended to a higher level. But after triggering another mechanism, they were met with yet another dead end.
Amber observed, "This one's a speed-type wind current. Traveler, let's glide across."
Paimon groaned, "More flying? Why is this ruin so big?"
After gliding over a broken cliff—
—was yet another cliff.
"Huh? Amber, look over there!" Zephyr pointed.
Across the way, a figure sat on the ground, breathing heavily as if resting.
The person noticed them too, eyes widening in disbelief.
"You… actually caught up? How are you this fast?!"
Paimon yelled, "Are you that freaky bird?! Tell us—how'd you get past all those monsters in the ruins so quickly?!"
"Hahaha, you really think I'd tell you?" the man laughed. "But I suppose it doesn't matter. I have an ability that lets me hide my presence.
I figured the monsters might take care of the pursuit for me, but I didn't expect you lot to be this strong."
The strange man chuckled darkly. "Still, if the Knights of Favonius had sent a whole squad after me, maybe I'd be concerned.
But just a few little girls? You think you can catch me?"
Zephyr snapped, "Who are you calling little girls?! Your whole family's little girls!"
Amber stepped forward. "Strange Bird, I advise you to surrender now!"
"Hahaha! And if I say no? What are you gonna do—fly over here and grab me?"
The man grinned. "Tell you what, little girl—why don't you go back and bring your Grand Master here. Maybe then I'll consider giving up."
"You're mocking the Reconnaissance Knight of the Knights of Favonius?!" Amber bristled. "I'll fly over right now and—"
"Wait. Calm down." Zephyr stepped in.
Amber huffed. "What's there to be afraid of? Let's just rush over and take him down!"
"Look at the bow behind him," Zephyr said.
Amber suddenly paused, her expression turning serious. "That… that's…"
"He's probably planning to ambush us mid-flight with his bow."
"Whew… that was close. We almost walked right into it."
Lumine suggested, "Then how about this? We fly over, and Amber can provide covering fire?"
Zephyr frowned. "No, it's too dangerous. Safety has to come first. If it comes down to it, we should abandon the artifact. It's not worth risking our lives."
"But…"
Zephyr snapped his fingers. "Wait—we still have Baron Bunny, don't we?"
Amber hesitated. "But it's so far… I'm not sure I can throw it that far."
"It's okay. We won't know until we try."
//END