Nido Tensei Chapter 108

Episode 108: Run and Chase

“Ahhh!!”

I ran away. I ran with all my might.

I threw away all shame and pride and ran. That was different. Clearly different, abnormal.

It’s impossible for someone to be attacked by thousands of monsters and 50 demons and not get a single scratch, and be able to annihilate them with just one magic spell. That is something else, something in the form of a human but not human.

“Hey, wait!”

“Eek!?”

I hear a voice chasing me from behind. And it’s close! Very close!

I desperately run away. But I’m already running at full speed. I can’t run any faster.

Then why not fly? Are the wings on my back just for show? I might be told that if I try to fly, there will be a momentary opening. When I jump, my speed drops slightly.

That slight decrease in speed will undoubtedly lead me to death. It’s not a guess, it’s my instinct telling me.

But if I continue like this, I will undoubtedly be caught. The distance is closing little by little even now.

“What should I do… what should I do…!?”

At that moment, I remembered the existence of something.

“That’s right, maybe this!?”

It’s an item, a magic ring with the power of teleportation that I received from that person. It’s disposable, but if activated, it can instantly teleport me away from this place.

“Better safe than sorry!”

It’s shameful to use such a valuable item for escape, but now is not the time to be saying such things.

“Ring! Guide me!”

When I chant the activation words, the ring activates.

In the next moment, my body is thrown into a mysterious space.

“Wh-where is this!?”

I was surprised by the sudden change in scenery, but I quickly remembered the current situation and hurriedly looked back. But there was only a mysterious space spreading out, and no sign of that terrifying Dragon Emperor anywhere.

“I did it! I escaped!”

I savor the joy of escaping from the Dragon Emperor. Along with relief, strength drains from my body and a warm feeling fills my heart. Ah, just the fact that there are no enemies makes a (demon) person feel so calm.

And now that I have regained my composure, I regain the judgment to assess the situation around me.

“Hmm, so this is what they call a subspace.”

There is nothing around me, and the surrounding scenery is a strange sight where multiple colors mix and change constantly.

Magic items like gates use subspace to guide the user to the desired space. So this must be a subspace.

“But when using a gate for teleportation, I never ended up in a space like this. Is this a phenomenon specific to this magic item?”

I thought for a moment that I might be forever trapped in subspace. But I saw a small light in front of my field of vision.

“Is that…”

As I approach the light, familiar scenery comes into view within the light.

“Oh!”

Thank goodness, it seems the magic item wasn’t defective. I am genuinely glad that I can return to a safe place, and I contemplate how I can defeat that monster.

Close-range combat is out of the question. Even from a distance, if I’m noticed, it’s over.

It was impossible even with a simultaneous attack from 50 comrades and thousands of monsters. Is there no good method…

“Oops, can’t let you escape.”

That’s right, if I fail now, then the Dragon Emperor…

“…Huh?”

I feel like I heard a sound I shouldn’t have… I cautiously look back. And there…

“Gotcha!”

There was the figure of the Dragon Emperor forcefully entering this subspace.

“This is unfair!!”

What is that!? With bare hands!? How!? What do I have to do to be able to do that!?

“Hehe Yes…”

A scream that couldn’t even be called a scream escapes my mouth. I’m going to die, I’m definitely going to die. Even though I used the teleportation magic item to escape, for the Dragon Emperor to chase me into subspace…

N-No, this is bad, if it continues like this, I will be killed. Even if I escape back to the original space, the Dragon Emperor will come along. Either way, I’m going to die!! I’m definitely going to die!

“N-No…”

But then, I saw a glimmer of hope in the form of the Dragon Emperor’s figure. The Dragon Emperor’s body hasn’t fully entered subspace yet. Only half of the body, the lower half, is still buried in the original space, as if in the process of being pulled out.

This is my chance! Even now, the light to return to the original space is getting closer to me. So if I can force the Dragon Emperor out of this subspace, there will be no worry of the Dragon Emperor following me to my territory when I return to the original space!

“Then! There’s no chance like now when the Dragon Emperor can’t move freely!”

I unleash a full-force attack towards the Dragon Emperor who is trying to pull his body out of the original space.

“Die, Dragon Emperor!!”

The magic that hit the Dragon Emperor explodes, and the shockwave rages through the subspace. The explosion at such close range also harms me, but that’s a trivial matter. What’s important is to force the Dragon Emperor out of this subspace.

“With a part of the body still connected to the original space, there’s no way to avoid a proper attack!”

Moreover, just before the explosion, the Dragon Emperor didn’t even attempt to use defensive magic. In other words, it’s certain that the Dragon Emperor was hit directly by my magic. I intended to use the magic to force the Dragon Emperor out of subspace, but it may have achieved more than that.

“Haha, with my full-force blow hitting directly, even the Dragon Emperor…”

“Blast Lancer!”

A giant spear of immense magical power passes right by me. Immediately after, intense pain shoots through my wings.

“Gwaaahhh!!”

I look and see that there is a large hole in my proud wings. They are almost torn apart, and it seems impossible to fly.

“M-My wings…”

“Well, attacking out of nowhere, that was a surprise.”

“Huh!?”

The voice that I heard again freezes my spine. When I turn my gaze back, there is the figure of the Dragon Emperor, unscathed.

“Th-This can’t be!?”

Ridiculous!? How can the Dragon Emperor be unharmed by my magic without even using defensive magic!? Humans can’t use magic without chanting spells, and their bodies are much more fragile compared to us demons. Why is he still alive!?

“Uh, huh?”

At that moment, the Dragon Emperor’s body begins to be swallowed by subspace.

“No, wait, is he going to be expelled back to the original space!?”

“Kuh! Blast Lancer!”

Just before being pulled back to the original space, the Dragon Emperor unleashes another magic attack. But unless it’s a surprise attack, there’s no way I’ll be hit by a poorly aimed magic attack that’s trying to resist being pulled back!

It was a mistake to try to use magic by force. By using magic, the resistance against being pulled back weakened, and the Dragon Emperor’s body was pushed back into the original space all at once.

At the same time, I am enveloped in a dazzling light.

“Kuh!?”

And when I slowly open my eyes, I find myself in a familiar room.

“I-I came back…?”

I am momentarily dumbfounded as I look around, but I quickly remember what happened earlier and turn around. I apply a Hi-Potion to my nearly torn wings to stop the bleeding. Using a Hi-Potion won’t immediately restore my ability to fly, but the important thing is to stop the bleeding. I can seek proper treatment later.

I remain vigilant, repeatedly looking around, expecting the Dragon Emperor to tear through space and appear again, but there is no sign of the Dragon Emperor appearing no matter how long I wait.

“D-Did I… finally escape…?”

With the worry of the Dragon Emperor chasing me gone, relief washes over me and my body relaxes.

“I-I survived, I survived!!”

I am the only one who survived. If that fact is known to that person, I will surely be severely punished. But even so, I truly rejoice in the fact that I survived.

“Hmm, there’s a reaction.”

After being pushed back into the original space, I calmly check the marker’s response.

“Hmm, it doesn’t seem to be too far away.”

When I sensed that the demon had used the teleportation magic item, I immediately intervened in the teleportation magic and opened up the resulting spatial distortion.

I thought about defeating the demon right then and there, but considering the high encounter rate with demons lately, I thought that defeating one wouldn’t make much of a difference. Because even if I were to defeat a demon here, there is a high possibility that another demon would commit another evil act. That was something easily imaginable based on my past battles with demons.

So I thought about having the demon take me to the demon’s stronghold. But when I thought about it, the town is still in the midst of battle. If I were to teleport to the demon’s stronghold now, it would take time to return to the town. I can’t just leave the town unattended.

With that in mind, I pretended to attack the demon and implanted a marker that would allow me to know the demon’s position. As planned, the demon didn’t notice that a marker had been implanted due to the shock and pain from the injured wing.

All that was left was to pretend to be pushed out of subspace and leave the subspace, then confirm that the marker was working properly after returning to the original space.,”The marker is working properly, so now we can teleport to the demon’s location anytime.”

Now that we know that, all that’s left is to eliminate the demons that were attacking the town. I managed to defeat the demons that came at us earlier, but I weakened their power so as not to involve everyone, so I haven’t completely defeated them.

“Well then, let’s quickly take care of the remaining demons!”