Chapter 11: End of the day (Part 1)

"Spica, this is it. This is the crystal which causes those roars."

When Spica heard my words, she tilted her head back and blinked her big eyes in question.

"What do you mean?”

"It's hard to explain with words. Anyway, let's get closer.”

As I took a step or two on the ground, I heard a rattling sound.

A human skeleton clad in rags rose up from between the crystals.

The skeletons belong to the people who had left strong grudges in this world or the people who had died in places where mana is strong, and they would turn into demons with no will and their movements are slow and they are not considered to be scary.

Bright red light can be seen in their eye holes. If the light is cut off, it returns to a dead corpse.

I let my mana flow through my body, from the tip of my finger I shot ice magic at the two skeletons. As it plunged into the middle of their skulls it made a small, breathless sound.

A moment later, the skeletons fell to the ground.

A similar sound came from behind me.

As I looked behind, I saw piled-up bones on the ground next to Spica, who was floating with magic while covered with a glow.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine.”

"But ...why are there skeleton monsters here?”

Although I had doubts in my mind, I sort of could imagine why.

When Thanatos had accused us, he had mentioned us rebels. Maybe three bones belong to the previous rebels and became victims to him. They could be a family. 

...It’s sickening. I swallowed down the thoughts that came to mind.

I was not comfortable leaving them out in the open so instead of leaving them on the ground, I gathered the bones without uttering a word and gently sank them into the underground lake.

The surface of the lake rustled. I stare with an indescribable feeling as the bones of three people sink into the deep blue of the night sky.

I put my hands together and bowed in silence for a moment.

I wondered what Spica was thinking right now as she gazed blankly at the surface of the lake beside me.

"...I'm sorry for making you go along with… Shall we go to the crystal?”

Instead of answering, Spica slowly nodded her head.

As I turn my back to the lake, I feel a presence of her following behind me while I continue to explain the details about crystal to her.

“...That crystal is not just any ordinary crystal. It's called a wind crystal. I've seen them in places I've traveled in the past.”

I remember a place called the Desert region, where there is a sea of sand as far as the eye can see. There was a temple in the depths of the desert.

"It was explained to me that it was a mass of mana that had been stabilized by the influence of nature over an uncanny number of years.”

"And?"

"I don't mean to be pushy, but to know more about it, you have to breathe on the wind crystal."

As the skeleton monsters had attacked us before, we walked with caution.

The sound of our steps reverberated throughout the place. Sometimes we slipped on the ground as the surface was too smooth to walk on. Well, it was fun.

As we walked while enjoying ourselves, we soon arrived at the wind crystal.

Looking at Spica, I shrug my shoulders and point to the crystals with my hand.

"Hmm...."

In accordance with my words earlier, Spica squeezed her lips with a serious expression but still blew on the wind crystal.

The crystals vibrated slightly under her breath and returned a loudness that was many times louder.

"Whoa."

Like a frightened cat,  she jumped away from the crystal and hid behind my back.

The scene was comical and funny, and I couldn't hide the laughter that was building up in me.

"...Mmm."

Spica turned her back in front of me indicating that she was angry with me while her cheeks became slightly red.

I felt like teasing her, but I was afraid that she would get really mad at me if I went any further.

"I'm sorry for laughing.”

Making an apologetic face, I apologized, as best I could. Spica saw this and nodded. It seems to have been forgiven, thank goodness.

"I accept your apology. Somehow I understood that the roar came from this crystal. What’s the plan?”

“You mean, what are we going to do about Thanatos, right?”

"Yes.”

A question that was probably bothering Spica for a long time.

"You do have a big mouth, you know?" (MC)

She raised her lips into a smirk.

"So, what are you planning to do?” (MC)

"What would happen if the Lord of this Devil Den appeared before Thanatos and told him he didn't know him? He'll probably lose all the faith he's gathered till now. I am sure that it would be a pretty interesting scene."