Chapter 49

The two continued moving their feet.
The area occupied by thousands of monsters was wider than expected.

Serpens was proud of his legs.
Now, he no longer felt tired even after walking for quite a long time.

The boy needlessly brushed his hands over his hips and thighs.
A smile formed on its own at the movement of his firm muscles.

“Now, start getting ready.”

Lars said, lightly rotating his wrist.
Serpens came to his senses and looked ahead.

There was a desert not far away.
It was a desert that felt strange.
The sand that formed the desert.
The color of that sand was strange.

In the boy’s mind, sand was reddish yellow or pale yellow.
But the sand over there was gray.
Unless he was seeing things, a desert of undeniable, deep gray sat there plainly before him.

‘Was there always a desert here?’

Serpens blinked.
One year ago, when he had come to the Navigatou territory because of Rail, he didn’t remember seeing a desert.

After they walked a little farther, Serpens began stepping onto that ominous desert.

It was definitely strange.
The sand had neither smooth curves nor a golden sparkle reflecting the sunlight.
It looked rough and murky, as if ash had been spread over the ground.
Looking at the sand that didn’t reflect any light at all, Serpens swallowed for no reason.

The gray sand added to the ominous feeling even when it scattered in the wind.
It didn’t have the lightness of something brushing over the ground.
It sounded as if something was scraping away.
As he watched the sand scattering like mist, he felt that it wouldn’t be strange if a ghost leapt out at any moment.

“This is strange…….”

Serpens covered his mouth.
Every time the wind blew, sand entered his throat.

“Right. It is strange.”

Lars lightly flicked his hand.
With the sound of glass breaking from somewhere, the rippling air around them regained its calm.

“This place wasn’t originally a desert.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Of course. Maybe in the east, but there are no deserts in the south. Besides, look at the weather. Would a place with a desert be this mild?”

Now that he mentioned it, that was true.
Serpens did not have precise knowledge about deserts.
But in the songs sung by bards, morning deserts were places so hot that one’s body would melt.
In contrast, though winter was ending, this place was far too mild.

“Then this place is…….”
“The Basilisk created it.”
“Monsters can create deserts too?”
“That one is a bit unusual.”
“Oh…….”

The boy’s unease rose again.
A monster powerful enough to create a desert.
And a fifty-meter lizard at that.

“Ugh…….”

Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.

Serpens unconsciously took one step back.
The footprint he had left on the gray sand was so clear that it caught his eye.
It felt as if the desert was warning him that it would remember him, and for no reason, goosebumps rose on his skin.

“Hmm. Our friend is more sensitive than I expected.”

While Serpens was looking at his feet, Lars clicked his tongue softly and stared into the distance.

As soon as his words ended.

Rumble rumble rumble.

The desert began to shake.
At first, it was a faint vibration.
But soon, it began shaking violently enough to throw the two off balance.

“Kid. Have you ever flown through the sky?”

Serpens was about to answer firmly, then hesitated for a moment.
Lucas had grabbed him by the back of the neck several times and he had practically flown.
He had also experienced floating around in a place called the inner world.
Depending on how one looked at it, couldn’t that be considered flying as well?

“Seeing you hesitate, I suppose you haven’t. Then, little passenger, we’re departing.”
“What?”

Clap-

Lars grinned and clapped twice.
The sound of the clap rang out cheerfully.
At the end of the sound, blue notes appeared, giving off light.

The blue notes slowly wrapped around the two of them, as if being placed on a staff.
The melody of light that wrapped around their bodies like soft silk soon lifted their feet from the ground.

“Uaaaah?!”

Serpens let out a short scream.
Even though he was rising slowly, the sight of the ash-gray desert growing farther beneath his feet made the boy uneasy.
Lars looked at the boy and gave a mischievous smile.

“Don’t be nervous, kid. I won’t drop you for now.”

Serpens turned his head in shock at the words ‘for now.’
But he couldn’t bring himself to ask about it.

Rumble rumble rumble.

The vibration gradually came closer.
The vibration he had felt could now be seen with the naked eye.

At that moment, a boom shook the earth.
Soon after, a large crack spread out from the center of the desert, and the gray sand writhed as if alive.

“It’s here.”

Lars’s gaze turned downward.
Serpens lowered his gaze as well.
Then he held his breath.

Kukwagagaga!

Sand surged upward.
At its center, a massive ridge that had pierced through the ground revealed itself.

Serpens couldn’t believe his own eyes.
He thought a red mountain had burst out of the ash-gray desert.
He couldn’t tell whether it was an extension of giant rocks or an artificial structure.
But when that ridge shook the earth and changed direction,
he could no longer deny that it was the spine of a single being.

The first thing that caught his eye was its scales.
Bright red scales, as if flaunting themselves, writhed on a body large enough to cover the desert.

After the scales, eight legs attached to its body entered his sight.
They looked like enormous pillars pressing down on the earth to maintain its balance.

When his gaze followed its long, thick body, so vast the end could not be seen, a massive head was writhing violently.
Its opened jaws were large enough to swallow three or four buildings in one bite,
and the enormous teeth visible inside glittered under the heat of the sun.

On both sides of its head, on the crown, and even beneath its chin.
A total of six eyes-

“Don’t look at its eyes.”

Lars cut off the boy’s gaze.
Serpens blindly drew his sword.
But the thought that he would not be able to swing it filled his head.

Kreeeeeeek!

As if driving a nail into the boy’s unease, the monster let out a massive roar.

At the same time, black poisonous fumes rose from its rough, cracked flesh.
The poisonous fumes took over the area at a speed that seemed about to swallow the two floating people.

“Now then, shall we begin the performance?”

In a brief instant.
Lars’s clothes changed.
Not comfortable everyday clothes, but a conductor’s uniform.
It was the neat outfit Serpens had seen once before.

Serpens was anxious.
A conductor’s uniform, when even comfortable clothes would not be enough.
Wouldn’t it hinder his movements?

Pachut-

A conductor’s baton appeared in Lars’s hand.
Holding the baton, he straightened his back upright.

At that moment, the Basilisk let out a roar.
A roar that tore through the earth shook the space like a vacuum.

The Basilisk drove its eight feet into the ground and leapt with all its strength.
The desert sank, and gray sand surged upward like waves.

“Lars! Get a hold of yourself!”

Serpens let out a shout close to a scream.
Fear and desperation mixed into the boy’s voice.

As if unaware of the boy’s feelings,
Lars slowly raised the baton with his eyes closed.

Just as the Basilisk’s teeth cut through the sky and were about to strike beneath the two of them.
Lars gently twisted his wrist and began the performance.

Ding.

A single note rang out.
Very subtly.
Yet so clearly.
In that moment, it felt as if that note was the only sound in the world.
As the note soon left their ears.

Kugugung!

The Basilisk’s massive mouth was blocked in midair.
The attack that seemed about to swallow the two bounced away as if it had struck an invisible wall.

Crack.

With the sound of rock splitting, the Basilisk’s body rebounded backward.
When that enormous weight bent in the air and fell, the gray desert kicked up a fierce recoil.

Serpens looked at Lars with startled eyes.
Various notes surrounded him as he wore a relaxed smile.

“Kid.”
“Yes?”

A faint blue light lingered in Lars’s dark red eyes.
The eerie contrast between the colors made the boy’s body stiffen for a moment.

“How much do you trust Lucas?”
“What?”
“If Lucas told you to run at that monster, would you run?”

It was an abrupt question.
At the same time, it was a stupid question.

A lizard spewing poisonous fumes. A fifty-meter one, at that.
It was a monster a thousand, perhaps ten thousand times larger than the boy.
If that giant thing breathed out, he might be blown away by its breath.
Telling him to run at such a monster.
Was that not the same as telling him to go die?

“Well, whatever the case, I’m in Lucas’s position right now, am I not? Think of me as him and follow what I say, will you?”
“What?”

Serpens grimaced with his whole face.

‘So that man really is driving me to my death.’

He didn’t want to follow him.
Even if he had wanted to, his body would not move.

But the boy gripped his sword.

“Haa……. Haa…….”

His heart pounded as if it would burst.
His whole body trembled as if warning him.
But Serpens took his stance.

Lucas was not here.
There was no one to indifferently order, as if it were nothing, “Serpens, attack the first leg.”

The two hands gripping the sword trembled.
But a smile hung at the corners of his mouth.

‘What a stupid question.’

Lucas wasn’t here.
The only one with him was Lars.

But if Lucas had been here?
He would surely have given some kind of order.
He might’ve told him to look for something nearby.
He might’ve told him to attack a leg.
Perhaps he might’ve even told him to enter that massive mouth.

That was the kind of person Lucas was.
He always gave sudden, overwhelming orders.
But the boy always followed those orders.
That was what Serpens did.

“What do I have to do?”

And so, even now.
He simply gripped his sword and took his stance.

At that sight, Lars’s right eyebrow rose.
He looked interested, and also amused.

“Now then!”

Brilliant light shone from the tip of Lars’s conductor’s baton.
Along with the light, a massive magic array unfolded in the air.
From the magic array made of staves, notes constantly burst out along with an enchanting melody.
The notes that burst out wrapped around Serpens and seeped into his body.

“Huh……?”

Serpens felt his trembling heart calm down.
It felt as if someone had placed a hand on his shoulder and told him he could do it.
And he actually began to feel that he could.

“I shall give our little knight wings.”

When Lars’s words ended, the boy’s muscles rose with elasticity.
His field of vision widened.
The acceleration of the blowing wind settled into his legs, and the sword in his hand felt as light as holding a dagger.

A state beyond his best condition. The greatest condition possible.
Serpens tightened his grip on the sword.

“Kid?”
“Yes.”
“You saw earlier, right? I can block all of that lizard’s attacks. So go wild as much as you want.”
“……Yes!”

When Lars made a small movement with his wrist, Serpens, who had been floating in the air, fell toward the ground at high speed.

Serpens’s eyes narrowed in the fierce wind.
The boy’s light brown hair scattered in the wind.
The moment he landed, ash-gray sand flew up in every direction.

“Haha……!”

He had clearly fallen from dozens of meters in the air.
But no impact came back through his body at all.

A smile bloomed fully on the boy’s lips.

Even as the giant monster twisted its body, regained its balance, and let out a roar that tore through the air, that smile remained.

The notes surrounding the boy formed light,
and the melody of the magic array gradually grew louder.

When the Basilisk began moving its massive body, the sound of the gray desert breaking apart rang out.

Serpens drew in one last breath.
The dryness of the desert passed through his lungs.
He could no longer hear Lars’s voice.
He could not hear the Basilisk’s roar or the desert’s scream.
At this moment, the only thing Serpens could hear was his pounding heartbeat.

Exactly five times.
After Serpens heard his own heartbeat.
The boy’s feet kicked off the ash-gray desert and began to run.