216 - - 二百十四話 グレートエンペラーバード

I asked Belle and the others to put on their nature armor ver.3 and we entered the boss room. A big but very cute Great Emperor Bird ...... I think I can win, but it is a strong enemy.

"Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

The Great Emperor Bird, which had spotted me, approached me with a waddling gait characteristic of penguins. It was incredibly cute, but the echoing sound of its footsteps was not so cute. And the name "Great Emperor Bird" is too long. Let's call it a giant penguin.

The giant penguin doesn't stop and tries to trample me down. I can repel the attack with my fins with a magic hammer, but what about a full body weight stomp?　If I miss, I feel like I'll be crushed to pieces.

Thanks to the spikes Tulu made for me, my movement is smooth. I run across the icy ground, avoiding the trampling, and slam the magic hammer down on the back of the giant penguin's foot as hard as I can. A cracking sound is heard as the back of the giant penguin's foot shatters.

"PIGYAN!"

It makes a strange noise and slams its fins against me. That's the boss, those golden feathers are not bad. The normal Emperor Bird was rolling around in pain when its bones were crushed. The Emperor Bird intercepts the swinging fins with a hammer, and this time, it bounces back, smashing the bones in the giant penguin's fins.

"Peeeeen!"

The giant penguin, its fins bouncing off the penguins' heads, is knocked down and blows a blizzard of icy snow from its mouth. He's feisty. Belle's wind wall protects me, but it feels as if it's creaking.

They must have a lot of mass to be able to break through Sylphy's warm wind barrier. If the wind wall of Bell is broken, will it be more dangerous than the blizzard of the 76th layer? ...... I'm honestly scared.

"Yuta, go for it!" "Kyukyu!" "Kakeru!" "Kukyu!" "Kiai da da mane!" "......"

I can hear Bell and the others cheering. I asked them before entering the boss's room, but it seems they are really cheering me up. I can't be scared in front of Bell and the others. I should get fired up like Flare said.

I think about what will happen if the wind wall is breached, and move forward slowly, holding the magic hammer in front of me. As I move forward, the pressure of the breath increases, and the creaking wind wall breaks free, and the breath comes at me.

"Oh no, it's freezing!"

Ice and snow can be blocked with a magic hammer, but the cold air cools you down at an alarming rate. I should have dressed warmly. It seems that nature's armor has no thermal protection system, and even the only thing that should be warm, a fire blade, does not conduct heat to me. I die if I go too slowly.

Trusting in the spikes that Tulu had made for me, I used the magic hammer as a shield and pushed forward as fast as I could to get out of the breath, and golden feathers spread out before my eyes. It looks fluffy and warm,...... and the urge to jump on it to get warm strikes me, but I resist and slam the hammer into the golden feathers.

"PIGYANN!"

I can hear the giant penguin scream overhead at the same time as the hammer strikes, but I don't have time to feel sorry for it now. As I hit the hammer in succession, somehow the wind envelops me and I'm right in front of Sylphy's eyes .......

"Sylphy, what's wrong?"

"Yuta, don't be reckless."

I was twisting my head, not understanding what she meant, when Sylphy pointed towards the giant penguin. Hm?　...... giant penguin is lying on its belly.

"Did you almost get crushed?"

"Yes, the hammer would have kept him from being crushed to pieces, but even natural armor can be injured when crushed by such a huge body. Make sure to check your surroundings during the battle.

Ugh, I sure didn't look around. I was so cold I couldn't think straight. I found myself surrounded by a warm breeze. Sylphy, thank you so much.

"Yeah, I'll be careful. Thank you."

"Yuta, you did a great job." "Coo-coo-coo." "Great." "Coo, coo-coo." "Not bad." "......"

When I thanked Sylphy, Belle and the others waiting around me praised him. Well, it may not have been a hundred-point battle, but I did my best, so it was nice to hear their praise. As I was about to stroke the belles, I realized my condition.

"Thank you all for your support. It was very encouraging. So, I've got my natural armor on... I'm fine now.

At my words, Belle and the others take off their armor, but Flare looks a little unhappy. She wanted to see the blades of fire on the armor cutting through her enemies. That's a difficult request. The only time I'd rely on my natural armor is when I'm in a close combat situation with a broken wind shield, so in my case I'd probably swing my pioneering tools around before using my fire blades.

I tell him I'll try to use it next time, but Flare gets excited, so I give him a vague smile and pat him and the other belles again.

"Yuta, why don't you store the Great Emperor Bird?　You're going to freeze if you don't."

While I was playing with the belles, Sylphy warned me about them. That's right, it's an icy land, I don't know the temperature, but it's probably below freezing. The demons that die and lose their heat will eventually freeze. I finish playing with Belle and the others and hurry to put the giant penguins away.

I thought it's hard to fight when you're cute, but when you run out of room, you attack with all your might, regardless of whether you're cute or not. I now understand that all my thoughts about penguins being cute and hard to fight were only superficial. I feel one wiser now.

"So, Yuta, what are you going to do now?　Do you want to move on?"

What do we do?　I haven't gotten any of the magic wands I wanted, and I'm worried about Gina and the others. It's not efficient, but we can go back and dive the labyrinth one more time. Since the heroes gave up halfway through the next level, the treasure chests should be plentiful, and it would be a waste to dive into the labyrinth once and return to the fountain house like usual.

"No, I'll leave the labyrinth once. I want to replenish my supply of kamikaze grass, kamikaze grass, and almighty grass, so let's go back home while gathering them.

Oh, by the way, I was thinking of exploring the magma in the volcanic area. It's a basic RPG rule that there are treasure chests in the places you don't expect. Let's look for them. Treasure chests in hard-to-reach places are sure to have some great items in them.

"Really?　Then let's go back. We're flying back, right?"

"Yes, please."

I know I say I don't rely on the Great Spirit too much, but if I don't rely on Sylphy, it will take more than twenty days just to go back and forth to the labyrinth, so please don't let that happen. It would be a great advantage if we can rely on Sylphie, because it wouldn't take a day to go there and back.

*****

"I found it in gold!"

Belle jumped out of the magma happily. A little girl jumps out of the magma. I don't know if it's a good idea from a pictorial point of view, but she really has found a treasure chest. While praising Belle for jumping up to report it, I can't help but express my true feelings.

"I never thought I'd actually find it. ......"

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd find it. The labyrinth is a mystery.

"Yes, it's a mystery."

As planned, we went to the sea and the mountains to gather sacred, magical, and almighty grasses, and then returned to the volcano layer. While looking at the river of magma, I told Sylphy that there might be a treasure chest in the magma, and she worried about the heat.

I convinced her that it was just a possibility, and asked her and the others to search inside the magma. We watch them happily jumping into the magma, and are talking about how great it would be if it really existed, when Belle jumps out of the magma. Apparently, the labyrinths of the other world have something in common with the game.

There was a golden treasure chest. Can you lift it up with the bell?"

"I can't, I have no wind!"

Bell shakes his head from side to side. I remember you saying that in the sea. So how do we get the treasure chest out?　It's magma, so I guess it's more Tulu's domain than Rain's.　In the meantime, let's summon the others and ask them.

After Rain and the others praise Belle for finding the treasure chest, Belle leads us to the place closest to the chest.

"Right around there..."

Bell points to a large magma pond. And on the cliff is a flock of firebirds. ...... If we collect the treasure chest here, they will surely attack us. It reminds me of the last melee with the firebirds and I feel a little troublesome. But I'm too curious about the contents of the gold treasure chest that's sunk in the center of the magma pond to pass it up.

"Well then, let's take our time to retrieve the treasure chest after defeating that flock of firebirds..."

"Natural armor."

Bell raises his right hand. Come to think of it, I was wearing nature's armor during our last battle with the firebirds. I think I was saved by the nature armor when the wind wall was broken by the continuous attacks of the hordes. Belle seems to have remembered that very well.

"Hmmm...so much for the armor of nature this time..."

Sylphie smiles smugly. But it's true that you saved my life last time. We've improved a lot, so there's a chance we'll be all right, but we should still be careful.

"Everyone, take your natural armor!"

"Okay, okay, cue cue, deban, cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo this time!" ............"

Belles rejoicing. But Flare, I know you want to see the fire blades on your armor cut through your enemies, but they're firebirds. I don't think they're a good match.

After the ritual of the Belles, they put on their natural armor and walk around the magma pool to approach the cliff. The firebird notices the intruder and starts to make noise. It's about to attack us.

"Well, there's a lot of them, so you'll have to help me and the Bells. Oh, Moon doesn't have to fight, just observe with Sylphy.

Belle and Moon are showing their enthusiasm for doing their best, and Moon is flustered in Sylphy's arms. Spirits have different personalities.

"Speaking of which, Flare, does fire magic work on firebirds?

When I questioned him about it, Flare said with a smug look on his face.

"I'll give you a break!"

...... don't know what it means, but they are confident. Well, it's not like the demons are going to hit us, so we'll let them do what they want. I ready my magic hammer and charge into the firebird's territory.

I swipe at the swarming firebirds with my hammer. Belle's blade of wind, Rain's blade of water, Tamamo's blade of leaves, and Tulu's spear of earth rush the firebirds one after another.

Flare hits the firebird with a fireball, and it screams and falls to the ground. When the Firebird falls to the ground, it is charred to a crisp. When I look at Flare, I see that he has a super happy smile on his face.

In short, even though Firebird can withstand the heat of magma, it was burned at an unbearably high temperature. I feel a little sorry for Firebird.