113 - - encounter

"You did it, Thor. The sun's still high enough. We'll make it.

"Yeah, I guess we've got a break."

"I'm going to sing Moo's happy song to you all. I'm tired and hungry... but I'll be fine...

"- Don't let your guard down too soon, ladies and gentlemen."

At Yuril's warning, Thor and the others who had been chatting and laughing stopped talking at once.

It seemed that the signs were already beginning to appear.

The wind, which until a few moments ago had only been weakly caressing their feet, was somehow gaining momentum.

Suddenly, a grain of sand mixed in with the headwind slapped Thor on the cheek, causing him to frown slightly.

A low, roaring sound of the wind enters his ears.

There was a clear sense of something approaching.

Thor and the others look around quickly as a precaution.

However, the wind only increases in strength, and no noticeable changes can be found.

"Ugh, it looks dangerous..."

"Moe, what do you see?"

"No, but it does feel weird, Tor-chan."

"All right, let's hurry up to that rocky hill."

Thor pulls a cloth from the sandbank to his mouth, pointing to a low rocky hill ahead that might block the wind.

Immediately, the air licking the ground turned against him.

"It's coming. ......"

Almost as soon as a small murmur was heard, a tremendous roar echoed from the front.

A cloud of dust was soon to rise high into the air.

Thor, who was suddenly knocked off his posture by the gust of wind, lowered himself and reached out his hand.

But he was too late.

"Tor-chan!

Moe, who was using the , was easily blown away by the wind due to his shoes.

He was hit by the wind and hit Sora, who was right behind him, with great force.

"Gufu!"

The girl, who had been hit in the back of the head by a child, screamed and crouched down, as a maiden should.

Holding onto her shoulder, Moe asked her with a surprised look on his face.

Are you all right?　Sora-nee-chan. Who did this to you?

"Ugh, don't shake it a bit. ......"

I'm sure To-chan will take care of it!"

"No, no, it was Moo-chan who did it."

Thor's mouth relaxes a little at the sound of their happy conversation, but now is not the time.

He found that his entire field of vision was now covered in a cloud of dust and sand.

The wind was blowing much harder than ever before.

The situation was changing so quickly that a decision had to be made right away.

But there was too little information to do so.

Thor hurriedly turns back and looks into the face of the guide standing behind him.

Saralisa's face was clearly tense and she seemed to be holding something back.

You said you would come. What is coming?

When Thor asked her a question, the woman of the Soukei tribe stared at him silently.

Touching her slightly shaking shoulder, he asked her again.

"As a guide, please warn me."

Perhaps Garudo has been dosing him with something, but there is no point in pointing it out here and now.

Saralisa looks up at Thor's words, takes a small breath, and opens her tightly closed lips.

That was a gale. We need to get ready now. ......"

"Is that it?"

The strong winds that suddenly swooped down from the sky above were the very weather that had become the article of the wilderness.

The name is said to come from the way it blows as if breaking the heavens.

The breaking winds that fell on a group of rocky mountains seemed to be violently chipping away at the rock surfaces, causing violent sandstorms.　

The grating sound that I heard earlier must have been the sound of the wind escaping through the gap.

And at this rate, Thor and the others would surely be caught in the strong wind.

But even if they tried to turn back, there is nothing but wilderness behind them.

There is no time to turn back.

Cut off from the path of retreat, Thor wonders if this is what Yuril was concerned about before.

Just when they finally made it through the flat terrain, a sandstorm like this awaited them.

"That's warning number two. What should we do?　You said we need to be prepared."

The guide nodded firmly and, as if shaking off his hesitation, loosened the straps of his backpack and took out a long piece of rope.

He handed the end to Thor and instructed him to tie it tightly around his body.

"This will tie everyone's body together. ......"

The rope extending from the waist of Thor, the leader, is bound several times in a loop, and then Saralisa ties it to her own body.

Yuril then wraps the rope around his body, followed by Mu and Sora.

In the meantime, the amount of sand that rolls up is increasing at a frightening pace.

Thor, after making sure that everyone is securely tied, begins to walk around the rocky hillside.

He must find a place where he can take shelter while staying as far away from the source as possible.

Holding his hands over his head, Thor makes his way step by step, trying to dampen the force of the storm as much as possible.

His vision is completely covered with sand, and he is gradually losing track of where he is going.

When Thor manages to catch his breath, he shouts behind him.

"Sora!　If something goes wrong, you take care of it."

"All right, I'll wait for you..."

Thor nodded at the carefree voice that came back to him, but his arm blurred slightly.

The sword, drawn in the fastest possible motion, moved instantly from the bottom to the top.

A hard, sharp sound emanates from the blade.

Thor slashed at something that emitted a low sound that came flying in the wind.

From the response, it seems to be a flying pebble.

But in this gusty wind, even a small stone could be fatal.

Thor continues to swing his sword again and again, paying maximum attention to the strange sound ripping through the air.

He has gone about a dozen paces when he comes to a halt.

Suddenly, the curtain of sand covering Thor's eyes disappears.

In its place was an open space and a white tornado rising in the center of it.

The tornado, while shaking its body slightly back and forth, left and right, strangely enough, did not move from its spot.

Thor has a small clue as to why this phenomenon is so unnatural.

"...... the evil spirit of the stormy wind?"

Like the evil spirit of red water that we once confronted at the bloody river, it is a spirit-type monster that occurs in this wilderness.

Thor raised his eyebrows at the worst opponent he had encountered in the worst place and called out behind him.

"Can you go?　Mr. Yuril."

Normally, they would have responded immediately, but there was no sign of them.

Thor turned his head gently back with a terrible feeling of foreboding at the absence of even the noisy voices of Sora and Mu.

There was only Saralisa, her face pale.

Thor slowly gulps down his spit at the sight of his guide standing there with a shredded rope.