Chapter 65: The Taste of Wings and the Forest Guardian

Before us lay the massive, headless corpse of the monster. The body of Bahamut, the monster that had ruled over the sky-islanders’ precious hunting grounds for decades, was now still.

“Ooh, to think he could defeat the terrifying master of the Forest Island…” “As expected of Sir Rex!”

The knights raised their voices in praise.

“No, no, it was all thanks to those disposable magic items. Besides…”

“Besides what?”

“Well, part of the reason it was so easy is that this Bahamut was on the small side.”

“Huh?”

Karm and the others stared at me, dumbfounded.

“This… is small?”

“Yep. A full-grown Bahamut is easily over 40 meters long. This one was only around 20 meters, so it’s small. Maybe it didn’t have enough food… or maybe it was just a child.”

“Th-This was a child!?” “The monster that plagued us for so long was just a kid!?”

The knights’ eyes went wide as they stared at the headless corpse.

“That said, we’ve already beaten it, so it doesn’t matter if it was an adult or a child.”

I reassured the knights, who had started to look uneasy. The fight was over.

“Alright, alright, there are still plenty of monsters left on this island. Let’s be efficient.”

“What? But didn’t we just exterminate a massive number of them?”

Karm asked, gesturing to the monster remains that had been blasted apart earlier.

“No, we only defeated a fraction of this island’s monsters. The Forest Island is pretty big. There are still a lot more left.”

That’s right. The Forest Island is huge. My detection magic had already told me that we’d only wiped out a small portion of the monsters nesting here. Not only is the island massive, but it’s also a vital source of food, so I can’t just go all out and destroy the place. Wiping out all the remaining monsters will take time.

“Then please, leave the rest of the extermination to us!”

“To you, Karm?”

“Yes! The only reason we couldn’t take back the Forest Island was because Bahamut was here. With it gone, there is nothing left to stand in our way!”

Karm and his men, having suffered from food shortages for so long, were now brimming with motivation.

“We can’t have our guest handle a simple clean-up job!” “Besides, we have the magic items you repaired for us!”

The knights thrust their spears into the sky, showing their fighting spirit. Well, if they’re that insistent, I guess I’ll leave it to them.

“Understood. I’ll leave it in your hands.”

“Yes, leave it to us!”

“Have you all forgotten that I am your King? Or, more to the point, have you forgotten me?”

Ah. I’d completely forgotten about the Sky King. The knights all got a “whoops, oh crap” look on their faces.

“Hahaha, of course not, Your Majesty.”

Karm, as smooth as ever, placated the King as if nothing had happened.

“Is that so? You truly didn’t forget me?”

“Well, in that case, why don’t we collect the Bahamut and other monster corpses and head back?”

“Good idea. Most of the monster bodies were blown to bits, but we should recover any materials that are intact.”

Ah, come to think of it… those disposable magic items were great for killing, but they’re useless for gathering materials. I did blow most of them to smithereens.

Still, the Bahamut’s body is mostly here. This should be worth a lot. Or so I thought…

“Kyu!”

“”Ah!””

Fluffy was… eating Bahamut’s wing.

“Hey! Fluffy ! You can’t just eat that!”

“Agh, he’s eating the other monsters, too.”

Looking around, the wings of the scattered monster corpses were also being nibbled on. Does he have a thing for wings?

He’d been so quiet, I’d wondered what he was up to. This little…

“Kyufun!”

Don’t wag your tail so happily! And don’t try to get out of this by nibbling on me!

“Hey! I get angry when I need to, you know! Whoa! Did you just pee!? You’re hopeless!”

---

Whoaaaaa!? What is this!? What is this!? It’s sooooo goooooood!?

…Ahem. I am the king of monsters, who stands at the pinnacle of all magical beasts.

I was merely… sampling… the monster that my Master just defeated. It was a worthy opponent, but it was no match for my Master. Nor for me, of course. Still, blowing its head off? Kinda brutal, right?

And so, while my Master was busy talking to the bad-tasting wingless humans, I decided it was time for a meal. I was hungry, after all.

So, I started with the wings. You can tell everything about a monster’s meat from its wings.

An appetizing aroma was already wafting from it. So… time to dig in!

Gk-!? So good! So good! This is… amazing!

And that brings us back to my first statement. This monster’s wing was exquisite. When you bite into it, the juices just… gush out! Blood and meat juices fill your mouth, and the texture is perfect. Not too tough, not too soft. A sublime balance.

And the fat! The fat has a delicate sweetness that provides an endless, thrilling joy. To put it mildly, it’s a masterpiece. Ahhh, this is the best!

But the wonder of this meat is not just its flavor. It is brimming with rich, high-quality magical power. With every bite, that power floods my body. I can feel the power of the raging storm… dwelling within me!

Ah, this is it. This is a meal fit for a ruler. Yes, the meat my Master mixes with grass and nuts is fine. It’s soft and has many fun flavors. The fruit for dessert is also tasty.

But this… this is what I crave! My beastial instincts… they crave the fresh-taken life!

“[Your master is scolding you!]”

AND MORE THAN ANYTHING, I CRAVE YOUR MEEEEEEAT! Fuhahahaha! I will devour this flesh, dripping with blood and magic, and gain new power! Fear my awakened, savage instincts!

Munch munch… nom nom…

…I love the food Master makes for me.

“[Your master sounds REALLY angry!]”

Uh oh. His voice is different. I am in danger. I am in very, very serious danger.

…drip… drip… drip…

It’s not my fault.

---

“We have an emergency!”

It happened while we were recovering the Bahamut (now with Fluffy’s teeth marks in it) and looking for any other usable materials. A knight flew in from the sky island, his face pale.

“What’s wrong!?” Karm stepped forward.

“The West Village is under attack by monsters!”

“What!?”

“We scrambled the reserve guard, leaving only the minimum needed for the castle’s defense, but… most of our manpower was allocated to the Forest Island! They’re overwhelmed just trying to evacuate the villagers!”

“We sent too many to the Forest Island… No, reflections can wait. Your Majesty! We, the Knight Brigade, will go to aid the West Village!”

“Y-Yes. I’ll leave it to you, Karm. And, with Bahamut defeated, I shall return to the castle. The Royal Guard will return with me! The castle defenses are too thin! The Forest Island cleanup will be done later!”

“””Sir!”””

“Sky Knights, move out!”

“””Ooooooooh!!”””

At Karm’s command, the knight brigade soared into the sky.

“Well, I guess we’ll go with them.”

“Which ‘them’?”

Liliera, isn’t it obvious?

“The Knight Brigade, of course.”

Right now, the people of the West Village are being attacked. As an adventurer, I want to help them. My distrust of nobles and knights has nothing to do with the lives of those villagers.

“Mm. You’re starting to sound like the usual Rex again.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah. For the past few days, you’ve been a bit of a… ‘mean’ Rex.”

…I see. I hadn’t realized it, but I guess that’s how it looked to someone at my side.

“Thank you, Liliera.”

“Huh? Why are you thanking me?”

“Just because. …Alright, let’s go!”

“Right!”

We flew up, chasing after the knights who had taken off.

“Karm, is the West Village straight this way?”

I caught up to the vanguard and asked for the exact direction, just in case.

“Yes, that’s right. With these repaired wings, we should arrive in about an hour.”

An hour? That’s too slow. I’d better go on ahead.

“Liliera, I’m going ahead. Please follow with the knights.”

“Got it.”

“Kyu!”

I handed Fluffy to Liliera and poured power into my flight magic.

“Karm, I’m going on ahead!”

“Eh?”

By the time Karm turned to look, I was already far in front of the brigade. I accelerated, and once I was a safe distance away, I began to fly seriously—at the absolute fastest speed I could without damaging the sky island itself.

“Here I go!”

I used wind magic to mitigate the intense pressure and more magic to cushion the g-force on my body. The scenery blurred past. Rivers, grasslands, and then… I saw a forest and man-made structures.

“That must be the West Village!”

I scanned for any sign of attacking monsters. But, even with my magically-enhanced vision, I saw no trace of an attack on the village itself.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

I don’t get it… but is it a good thing the village is safe? Just then, a beam of light shot up from the forest and vanished into the sky.

“Magic? No… that’s the light from the knights’ magic items!”

I focused on the forest and saw a swarm of monsters. It looked like they were attacking something inside the woods. I bet the villagers evacuated into the forest, and the monsters chased them in.

They said only a few knights had been sent from the castle. It must be tough trying to protect the villagers. I have to help them, fast.

“Alright!”

I dove, maintaining my speed, and rocketed into the monster swarm. The monsters noticed me, but they were too slow to react to my high-speed assault. They were caught by the wind barrier protecting me and sent flying.

Seeing their comrades blasted away, the other monsters realized they were under attack, but I had already decelerated and was in a combat stance.

“But… there are a lot of them, and the trees are in the way.”

The monsters were flying low, trying to get at the people in the forest. If I use a wide-area spell, I’ll destroy the monsters and the forest.

“In that case… I’ll just use the environment!”

I ascended to get a full view, then activated a spell that wouldn’t harm the woods.

“Forest Fang!”

At my command, the branches of the trees themselves came to life. They stretched out, shooting toward the monsters, and impaled them with spear-like, sharpened tips.

A normal branch might only pierce a weak monster, but these were enhanced by my magic. The branches, now harder than steel, would chase any target I deemed an enemy and run them through. This way, the forest itself isn’t destroyed. In fact, the forest becomes the hunter… and a deadly weapon.

The trees began to hunt the monsters at an astonishing rate. If a monster tried to escape into the sky, the branches would stretch to catch it. If it fled deeper into the woods, the branches would weave themselves into nets to trap it, before the fangs finished the job.

In just a short time, the monsters were all annihilated. This spell… I could never use it in the Demon Beast Forest, where the trees were the monsters.

“Alright. Now to help treat the injured before the Knight Brigade gets here.”

---

Sir Rex, who we thought was far behind us, had just caught up. From his words, it seemed he intended to help us rescue the West Village. After the way we met… I am truly grateful. Although it was our duty, our long isolation from the surface has made us far too… insular.

I must properly thank this young man later.

Just as I was thinking this, Sir Rex spoke.

“Karm, I’m going on ahead!”

“Eh?”

By the time we turned at his words, Sir Rex was already far ahead. The next instant, his form… wavered. And then, suddenly, a-a tremendous, howling gale, like a storm, slammed into us!

“Whoa!?”

What in the world!? Is it a new monster!? But I looked around, and there was nothing. The wind died as quickly as it came. What was that?

“Sir Rex, that wind… wait, he’s gone!?”

I realized Sir Rex was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he had vanished with the wind itself.

I turned to the girl he’d left behind.

“Rex went on ahead,” she said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “That wind was probably just him.”

I stared in the direction of the West Village, but there was no sign of him.

“How fast do you have to be… to fly so far that you vanish from sight completely!?”

The power we’ve seen from this boy… Is it possible we’ve only seen a fraction of it? I couldn’t help but wonder.

It was a full hour later that we finally arrived at the West Village. By then, everything was over. The monsters were all dead, and the villagers, whom he had apparently saved, were thanking Sir Rex.

“Should we just be… glad the damage was minimal?” one of my men muttered, a strained smile on his face as he looked at the safe village. Ah, yes. Perhaps we should. But…

“We… didn’t get to do anything, did we…?”

“No… not a thing…”

I haven’t even used the spear he repaired for us in a real fight yet…

“By the way, Captain…”

A subordinate spoke to me hesitantly.

“What… is all that?”

Don’t ask, you fool. I was trying my absolute hardest to ignore it.

“The trees… they’re all… stretched out in crazy directions. And they have monsters impaled on the tips.”

Ah, he said it. I know! I saw it! I was just pretending it was a new kind of hell and looking away!

“We heard that inside the forest, the branches are woven like nets… and they’re stabbing even more monsters.”

He just had to add another horrible detail.

“…Haaaah.”

This, too, was no doubt Sir Rex’s doing.

“A child would weep at the sight.”

But, surprisingly, the villagers were thrilled.

“These are the trees of the one who protected us! From this day on, we will worship this grove as our village’s guardian deity!”

Are you people sane?