Chapter 124: Omen (1)

༺ Omen (1) ༻

Kyaaaaakkk—!

The massive bird streatched out its steel wings and roared aloud. It was a horrifying shriek— akin to the sounds of iron scraping against each other and being torn apart.

We covered our ears, grimacing due to the hateful noise.

Soon the machine-like bird started hopping, staggering on its two limbs, with its wings spread and flapping away as it came towards me.

Swiiisshh—

It seemed that the target of its sharp, metallic feathers was none other than the jar containing the collected spring water.

True to its title as the guardian of the lake, it seemed that it wouldn't let us take the black spring water out of this region as easily as I had expected.

Swish— Swiiish—

It continued its barrage of attacks while flapping those gigantic wings like a fan.

It was quite difficult to dodge its broad attacks while carrying this large and heavy jar on my back.

So, instead of dodging, I drew out my club from the waistband and swatted its wings with as much power as I could muster at the moment.

Clank—!

With a loud metallic noise, the monster bird staggered back with an unsteady gait.

"Hassan, I'll help you!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity I had created, Luna grabbed something from her bosom and threw it at the bird. Yet, despite its body being completely covered in steel and metal, it acted no different from a wild beast.

Shrrrrk—!

The massive creature hastily sliced through the object Luna had thrown with its sharp feathers of steel.

Pull— Spread—

However, the contents inside spilled out and splattered onto its steel body due to the momentum of the throw.

"N-Nice!"

Luna exclaimed in a bright tone.

"It has been hit with the grease bottle I threw, so its body is gonna get slick and won't be able to move properly!"

"What, grease?"

I didn't know what this grease was, but, from the looks of it, it must be the smooth and shiny liquid that currently coated the machine-like bird's body. The metallic friction sounds that could be heard every time it moved were now significantly reduced.

Kyaaaaaakkk—!

The massive bird-like creature screamed loudly, angry that a strange liquid had been sprayed on its body. Then, it leaped up and swung its wings like lethal blades while charging towards Luna.

The feathered wings of steel struck down like a guillotine towards Luna's head.

Swiiish— Crack—!

"Geeeeekkkk—!"

With the sound of breaking bones, Luna let out a desperate cry as she slowly collapsed to the ground.

Thud—

The machine-like bird's movement was so smooth and fast that Luna was unable to react to its attack in time.

"Luna! Are you okay?"

"Uh..."

A loud crash was heard after the attack, but since Luna leaked out a groan it was safe to say that she hadn't died yet.

The thought of Luna being hurt made me so angry that my eyes flashed red, and I tightened my grip on the club.

"You fucking bastard!"

Soon after, I kicked the ground hard and leaped towards the dastardly creature. It was challenging to run because of the heavy jar on my back, but I had not time nor mind to care about that inconvenience.

I swung my club with all my might, aiming it towards the ferocious creature.

Clang—!

Then I heard the distinctive sound of metal being struck, followed by the sensation of my hands tingling due to the impact.

Fortunately, due to the increase in my strength stat, my heavy swing was able to make the machine-like creature - standing on its two legs - tremble considerably and lose balance.

The ferocious creature was seemingly unable to find its balance any longer and staggered as though it was about to collapse at any moment.

Gegegegegeggeek—

Clang— Clunk—

Indeed, most problems in this world could be solved by swinging a club or fist at them!

Sweep—!

The creature seemed furious at me and struck back with the claws of its legs and its pointy beak. Its sharp attacks, empowered by the steel covering its body, left dreadful claw marks on the chest plate that was protecting me.

"T-This motherfucker! Do you even know how much this costs!? How dare you, fucking bastard!"

I kept hitting the dreadful creature with my club. Thus loud sounds resembling the banging noises of scrap metals being crushed under the weight of heavy machinery echoed in the surroundings.

Sweep— Sweep—!

The creature's steel body began to cave in as its flashy feathers started to break and shatter and the massive creature started rolling on the ground—

Kyaaaaaakkkk—!

I looked up as another scream echoed through the air.

And above, at the origin of that scream, I saw monstrous birds that were similar to the bird I had just been beating the crap out of, flying toward this place.

Damn it! It was still possible for me to handle this situation if there was only one of these bastards.

But now there were four more about to join the fray. How could something like this go through production?

"We're screwed."

An assessment filled with despair about our current circumstance involuntarily escaped my lips. Was this how it ended for us? I couldn't believe this was how my end would come. I had to die before I even got the chance to spend the gold that we had obtained here.

As I got a little anxious at that moment—

"...D-Ditch ditch, ditch water— Small stream water—"

A small almost imperceptible voice, filled with fear, burst out from somewhere.

"Stream, stream, stream water, by the small pond. Rabbit, deer, fox, sparrow, little nymph friends..."

Holy shit! It was full of the childishness, that you'd only hear in nursery rhymes. The scarlet-haired nymph, Paranoy, who had been trembling on the ground, began to sing!

Swooong—

However, as though reacting to the song, the bird beneath me seemed to have lost all of its strength. It appeared powerless; as if the power source had been cut off.

Not only that, but the birds in the sky also seemed to have lost their strength and slowly stopped flapping their wings and fell to the ground here and there.

Thud— Thwack— Thud—

"H-Hiiiikkkkk—!"

Paranoy screamed in surprise when one of the mechanical birds fell right next to her.

And as soon as she stopped singing, those mechanical birds of solid steel began to ominously squeak again.

"Hey, hey, sing! Sing!"

I urged Paranoy like a drunk boss at a company dinner. Her shoulders were trembling and she was crying her bawls out because of the sudenness of it all.

"Well, I can't remember the next lyrics...! It was a song that my mother used to sing to me when I was young..."

"Just sing any song!"

"Ah, I r-remember! Cute little nymph... Be careful of the deer. It's a big problem if they ride on your back. Poor little nymph— be wary of the swan—"

It was a ridiculous and weird song.

"R-Rumble, rumble, hide your head from the sound of thunder. Little ditch water, nymph of the stream water—"

Apparently, scaring the birds away through singing was legit. The birds stopped moving again at the advent of the weird song and became frozen like cold statues.

"Hehe, you're dead now, bastards! Get Sarah Connor'd you fucking bastards."

Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the nymph, I fiercely struck the fallen bodies of the mechanical birds on the ground with my club.

Since breaking down the unmoving mechanical birds wasn't that hard, I was easily able to crush and disassemble their bodies.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

By the time we came down to the entrance of the Black Rock Mountain, the sky had already become tinged with the vibrant colors of sunset.

It was only after coming down from the hot and humid volcano could I feel a sense of relief washing over me.

"Brother, it should be okay now."

Those mechanical birds.

It seemed that those Stymphalian Falcons only chased people within the territory of that rocky mountain.

"Huft, damn it! I thought I was going to die."

"I-I guess it's safe now even if I don't sing anymore."

Fortunately, we weren't attacked by any more birds as Marco sang nonstop the entire way down once he regained conscience.

"I heard that the cultists often appear near the rocky mountain, but I'm glad we didn't run into any."

"They must be busy too. Anyway, we made it down safely. That was one hell of a climb." "

After loading the luggage, just before the coachman started whipping the horses to start running, I glanced around at my party members and asked, just in case.

"We didn't leave anything behind, right? Check if anyone got hurt or injured."

"Ugh."

Luna removed her helmet and touched her forehead in response to my words. As Luna lifted her bangs with her palm, I could see a pretty big bump on her forhead.

It was probably because she got hit on the head when the bird struck her with its flapping wings.

"It's swollen..."

I was worried because of the sickening noise, produced after skull was cracked by the bird's attack.

Perhaps because she was wearing the sturdy helmet, the damage ended with a mild concussion and swelling.

I didn't want to imagine what could have happened if she hadn't been wearing that skull helmet. That was why adventurers must always be careful in choosing their armors.

I also would've been inflicted with a beak-shaped hole in my heart without the steel plated armor protecting my chest.

"I heard those birds were made to be sturdy by the blessing of Vulcan, but I didn't realize you could break them like that. Brother, you have quite the talent for breaking things! Even the sturdiest ones get smashed into smitherens by your hands!"

"Is that even a compliment?"

"Ah, right!"

After sighing a bit, Marco started to evaluate the battle just now as if he had witnessed something epic.

"Honestly, I don't know if people will believe it even if I turn this incident into a song. There's no need to even exaggerate it."

I didn't realize it when I was frantically hitting and smashing the mechanical birds, but now it seemed like they were pretty sophisticated and sturdy, making them very difficult to destroy.

Indeed, they were pretty strong, now that I pondered deeply. The scrap metal that fell off from their bodies was so heavy that we had no choice but to leave it behind.

I was enraged at the thought of Luna being attacked by the birds, so that might have enabled me to use more strength than usual. People often go beyond their limits and showed unnatural levels of strength when pushed into extreme situations.

Suddenly, I felt like I could understand why Hippolyte, Elfriede, and other famous adventurers embarked on dangerous and life threatening quests.

It was said that the human brain limits the exertion of strength so that the body wouldn't feel overwhelmed.

Perhaps for those who could momentarily go beyond the bounds of their natural capabilities, their limits gradually loosened and unraveled, allowing them to attain further powers.

Was that why high-level adventurers were able to wield strength, skills, and so much more advanced than what ordinary folks could do?

Of course, it was just my speculation, but it made more than a bit sense to me.

Or maybe not.

Just like that, I observed the sunset with a tired body as the carriage wheels rolled for several hours on the bumpy path.

In the distance, I saw smoke rising in the sky.

"Hey, Marco, isn't that coming from the direction of Sodomora?"

"I guess so, but that smoke... Could it be that there is a festival with roasted bird meat?"

When I heard the word bird meat, it brought images of greasy golden-colored meat to my mind.

Meat and alcohol would soak into my exhausted body like rain pouring into dry sand.

"Damn, that sounds delicious. I was feeling hungry anyways, so that's good."

"Bird meat...?"

Then, Luna sniffed with her nose.

"I don't think it's bird meat. It smells like something is burning, like burnt wood...! It doesn't seem to be the smell of grilled meat!"

Luna was right.

As we drew closer to the city, we saw black smoke rising everywhere from inside.

The city was—

On fire.

Precisely, it seemed like it was already done burning to the ground.

"What the hell? What happened here?"

I grabbed the guard, who was busily running around from one place to another, and asked. He had sweat dripping under his helmet with his tongue sticking out from fatigue.

"The cultists have appeared! Didn't we capture the cultist priests not long ago? So there was a fight between the temple knights who were trying to transport them to the prison city and the remnants of the cultists! It was so chaotic!"

The remnants of the cultists, the temple knights, and the prisoners were transferred to the prison city.

The familiar keywords that immediately came to my mind were Pluto cultists, Schizo and Somnia. I remembered hearing that they were supposed to be transported to a huge prison city.

"S-So, what happened then?"

Paranoy, who was listening on the side, reacted intensely. Perhaps since she was once a cultist, she was curious about what happened to her past comrades.

"Obviously, the temple knights won. They were very easy to defeat. The temple knights even found the remnant cultists' hideout— in the mountain range. Soon, an eradication campaign will be set up by the city. It may even happen today."

While we were struggling on top of the hot volcano, Sodomora was also struggling against the hot flames of conflict and going through its own hardships.

Anyway, it didn't really matter to us, so we simply moved on to the Venus Temple to announce the completion of our mission.

Whether it was the cultists or the temple knights, they were, in fact, like a distant story for the low-class bronze tiers like us.

As we arrived at the central street of Venus Temple, that place exuded a peaceful atmosphere, just like the day before when I came to visit it. White birds were flying all around the temple grounds, and flowers were blooming everywhere.

It seemed like it was in a different world than the city that just got attacked by cultists.

It was the temple of love indeed. I wondered if love was really stronger than violence.

"Wow, it's beautiful. So many roses."

Luna's mouth opened wide as she looked at the Venus Temple and its surroundings for the very first time.

In this sunset, the fading scenery of the garden seemed to have somehow touched the soft-hearted Luna.

We carried the water jar into the temple. However, unlike the last time I came, the magnificent interior of the temple was in a surprisingly miserable state.

The temple was guarded by only one receptionist whom I had met the last time.

"The whole city is in chaos, as you can see, and the Holy Maiden is currently in hiding. If you come next time, you will receive proper compensation along with our endless gratitude."

Since she was a VIP who could be targeted in an unexpected attack, it seemed that she had evacuated to a place like an air-raid shelter.

I wondered what kind of compensation we would receive from that VIP. Since she is a high-ranked person in society, she'll give us something great, right?

"Well then, let's go eat!"

As usual, we went to the inn and ordered drinks and meat to relieve the stress that we had accumulated from the hectic mission.

Regardless of whether the cultist raid burned down the city or not, the inn in the slums was always full of drunken, red-faced fools.

Of course, we were one of these fools too.

"You said it was a request from the Holdy Maiden, right? I wonder what kind of reward we'll get. Perhaps, it will be gold like what we got beforehand?"

Luna's eyes twinkled as she imagined the rewards she would receive for the quest. She didn't really seem drunk even though she had already had a few drinks.

Beside Luna, Marco sipped his drink and spoke.

"Brother, it hasn't been long since the time that we were out there selling goblin fangs. Isn't our current situation much better than during those grueling times? Let's go to the Rock Mountain again later!"

"You damn bastard! You fucking passed out in the middle of the mission, and we almost died for real back there. If it wasn't for Paranoy, we'd all be gone by now."

I recalled the critical moment from earlier. Now that I thought about it, it was a very dangerous situation enough to have made me plunge into endless despair.

Paranoy, who made a big contribution in killing those birds, was sprawled on the table while holding a glass of beer. She must've been feeling really tired.

"Gold... a lot of gold..."

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of the gold we had gotten our hands on slipping from her half-opened mouth.

I looked around cautiously in case anyone heard. At that moment, Luna took out a large-sized carrot from her dish and put it in Paranoy's mouth.

"Be quiet, Paranoy."

She better not say anything like "I stole the thieves' money" in her sleep. This was for the best.

"...."

As everyone closed their mouths, a brief silence engulfed the surroundings.

Clunk— Clank— Clank—

A group of armored soldiers rushed into the inn. And then, I was startled as Marco exclaimed out loud.

"This Marco knows nothing!"

This damn motherfucker Marco! Why did he suddenly utter that kind of gibberish? More importantly, why were soldiers coming into the inn? Did they already receive news about the stolen money?

The stolen gold in my pocket suddenly felt much heavier than before. However, the soldiers didn't pay any attention to us. Instead, they attached a small scroll notice to the inn's pillars.

And then, a soldier in a yellow cloak shouted at the guests who were staring at this scene in wonder.

"I am the Count's knight, Bayona! From now on, everyone who I shall call must rise from their seats! First, those above the age limit! Men who are capable of wielding weapons! All stand-up!"

In response to his shout, someone among the heavily drunk guests asked.

"Why the hell are you forcing people to get up when they are resting?"

All eyes turned to the knight's mouths in response to that question.

Sliing—

Knight Bayona, receiving the question, drew out his sword from his waist, slammed it into the table, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"War! War! There's a war!"