PMZ 105 – ★Owl.

I need to cast a barrier. That’s what I’m thinking, but it won’t activate at all.

No, I won’t make it!

The moment it’s coming at me, I knocked it off with my sword and put up an ice wall instead of a barrier. Countless stabs pierced the ice wall, and the wall crumbled to pieces.

I need to think about a lot of things, but for now, I need to take care of this thing.

“Everyone, get back! I’m going to burn him!”

I called out, and everyone hurriedly retreated.

The black branches of the Dark Treant whipped around and attacked us. I blocked them with my sword and fired a fireball with improved firepower at it.

“Whoa, the fire is white!?”

A voice shouted from behind me.

That’s right.

If you compress the air and magic power simultaneously before releasing the flame, the flame color changes from orange to white. It’s useful to finish the fight quickly because the heat and destruction power is increased.

By the way, it turns blue if you compress it even further. That’s what I used for Alice’s ice wall. There’s nothing so far that won’t disappear with it. It doesn’t burn. It disappears. No matter how high the opponent’s defense is, it doesn’t matter.

The Dark Treant caught the white flame on its body, and a wind hole opened up. The fire spread from there, and in the blink of an eye, his entire body was engulfed in flames. A screeching sound came from IT.

As his body burns, he begins to flail about, swinging his branches. I slashed at the flying branches, trying to protect the people in the party who had taken refuge behind me. That’s when…

“Aa.”

 The sword snapped.

The warding was too thin to protect the blade. Is my holy attribute has become this weak!?

The next branch came flying at me before I had time to be shocked, and even I would not be unscathed if I were to be attacked in the flesh by an A-rank equivalent monster; furthermore, it’s burning in the meantime.

A burning branch approached me. Immediately, I guarded my face with my right arm. That right arm suddenly became heavy, and I looked at it.

 –In my right hand, a sword was being generated.

I know it’s strange for one to [generate sword], but there’s no other way to describe it.

The grip that remained in my hand was covered with a black metal that I had never seen before. The body was also covered at the same time, and the black metal extended itself to the broken blade.

The black metal continues to grow into a blade, and in no time, the tip of the sword was formed, and a magnificent black sword was formed. It only took a moment.

There’s no time for hesitation. I slammed it into the burning branch.

There was no response. It sliced right through. It seemed like a lie that the branch was felt so hard. The sharpness of this blade is unbelievable.

The black sword polished like a mirror, reflected the light so well that even the shadows flickering in flames were reflected clearly on the blade.

…This sword, what is this?

It’s like when a drops item from a monster, except, it dropped from me.

But an item requires the said monster to be defeated first before it can appear. This is different from a drop.

Is this Morion’s power too? If that’s the case, maybe he’s even more bizarre than I thought.

Eventually, the Dark Treant burned out and disappeared like a mist.

The situation was under control for the time being. But I can’t let my guard down just yet. I have to get everyone home safely.

I really wanted to take them back across the shadows, but I felt that it would be dangerous to take people into the shadow world after what had happened earlier. It would be better to take the time to walk back.

I wonder if it’s safe for me to enter the town.

If the appearance of a monster around the Capital city is because of me, then it would be better to stay away from the royal capital until I can deal with it.

As I was pondering this, I felt a tug on my clothes from behind. It was Mark. He looked up at me with a tear-stained face.

“Uu-uu, thank you, ……! I thought I was going to die. ……!”

I smiled and patted Mark on the head.

I’m glad you’re okay. Your mom was worried about you. Let’s go home now.

“Yeah, ……!”

First thing first, I need to send him to the entrance of the city.

I thought about that as I looked at Mark’s smiling face. I contacted Pete with the communicator and told him that Mark had been found safely.

He was surprised that I was so quick, then he informed me that the cause of the spot was still unknown and that nothing had been found. I couldn’t say anything and hung up the communication.

I couldn’t say that I might be the cause of it in front of Mark. If I frightened him, it would be difficult to protect him.

I carried Mark on my shoulders and headed back to the city with the rest of the party. We encountered some monsters along the way, but it didn’t give us any trouble.

“Are we going to split up here?”

I told them I will leave when we reach the city, they looked worried and said so.

“Yes. I really want to go to the guild, but there’s something I need to do. Also, I don’t think there will be any monsters once you get into the city. Mark’s mother should be waiting for him at the guild, so can you bring him there?”

“Sure. Leave it to us …Thanks, Hayato. Thanks a lot.”

“Don’t mind it.”

Mark and I waved to see each other off, and when I finally alone, I contacted Pete again.

A bell-like ringing sounded from the magic ear cuff, and then we are connected.

“Oh, Pete? Hey, I’d like to ask you something.”

As I said this, I heard a woman’s voice on the other end of the communicator.

“I don’t know where to start… but I’ve been watching you for a long time.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry. I’m in a bit of a hurry, so could you put Pete on for me? You’re close, right?”

“No. No, I’m not close. Well, in the broadest sense, I suppose you could say I’m close, but I’m sure that’s not what you mean.”

What? Our talk didn’t make any sense, and I don’t have time to be in this kind of in-depth talk right now. I’d like you to just give the communicator to Pete.

“…I see. Do you know where I can find him? I have something to tell Pete as soon as I can.”

“I know what you want to talk about. I’m on my way to you now. So, look up to the sky.”

“The sky?”

I did as I was told and looked up to see the night sky filled with countless stars.

No particular change could be seen. The next moment I thought so, a part of the space seemed to be distorted.

 –A monster!

As I braced myself, her voice echoed from the communication device.

“It’s okay. It’s not a monster. It’s me.”

[It’s me], she said, as if she knew what I was doing.

That is…?

A pure white thing appeared from the distortion of space.  It spreads its wings descent gracefully.

 –It’s an owl.

A pure white owl.

The owl circled, lowered its altitude, and flew around me. As it approached, incredibly powerful holy magic filled the area.

“Is this…?”

I muttered as I looked at the owl. The owl, which had descended to my eye level, gradually approached me and stopped when I held out my arm and put its foot on it.

It was an owl with mysterious magical powers. Or rather, I could say it is divine.

It’s a white owl that appears like a monster, but it’s not a monster. You can feel the intelligence in its eyes.

“I will make it quick to stall your time.”

As my eyes meet the owl’s, a voice echoes from my ear cuffs.

I see. I’ve been having a conversation with this owl.

She’s like a Morion. She talks.

“Stalling my time?”

“Yes, stalling your time before you lose.”

“My time to lose… to Morion?”

“Yes. You’ve decided to call it that, haven’t you? Just like you started calling me Minerva a long time ago.”

Minerva!?

“You are Goddess!?”

The white owl gave a small nod on my arm.

TL note:

…sorry for the cliff… I want to post more chapters, but I’ve got an incredibly packed week…