Chapter 51
In the ensuing air battle, all Cadel could do was hug Lydon's neck as hard as he could.
“Ahaha! He’s really going to kill me, isn’t he? Grandpa must be pretty pissed off!”
Lydon smiled as he flexibly avoided the ice spear rising from below. Even though it was a bloody attack, it was still clear that he was treating this situation as a game.
Cadel, on the other hand, clinging to his arms, was on the verge of being extinguished by the chill of the ice spears grazing his arms, the periodic blasts of frost, and the javelin-like barrage of ice balls.
‘No, what the heck is with that elder? Even if the ice giants were summoned by other elders, he continues pouring out these ignorant magic spells without a break?’
No matter how much this was the home ground of the fairies, the level of Melphis was way off the mark. Was this why even a born S-grade knight said he was difficult to deal with?
‘At least an 8-star magician, even considering the special status of having a good supply of mana. Within the Forest of Enchantment, he's better than Mamil. Definitely.’
A monstrous magician who surpassed his master. He was no match for him. If it weren't for Lydon, he'd be trapped in that frost, slowly freezing to death.
Swallowing hard at the ghastly thought, Cadel poked his head out and peered behind Lydon out of the corner of his eye. By flying, they'd avoided a head-on collision with the ice giants, but they'd been pursued by a group of equally flighty fairy warriors.
‘The good news is that the warriors can't attack Lydon hastily. Is it because…… he’s a descendant of the Fairy King?’
There was no way he'd be able to skim through the main story and still remember the character settings of an unused knight. As a result, Cadel was quite shocked to learn that Lydon was a ‘descendant of the Fairy King’.
If that was true, then he had become a ruffian, trying to drag the one and only precious heir of the Fairy Tribe out into the world.
‘Well, it doesn't really matter.’
It didn't matter if he was a scoundrel or a great con artist as long as he could get out of here alive.
“Lydon! Give me that human before you get hurt!”
“Lord Lydon! Please stop playing!”
The warriors' attacks were not aimed at Lydon, but were merely grazing and threatening him. Lydon seemed to recognize this and focused on dodging Melphis' attacks from below.
“Haha! What are you all saying? Who's going to get hurt? Will you get the hell out of here before I kill you? I hate it when boring people make noise.”
Lydon's flight speed was superior to that of other fairies, but it was difficult to shake off the pursuers easily. It was because of Cadel, whom he had to be protected, and Melphis, who was constantly attacking.
Lydon, who had been firing ice spears at the warriors pursuing him, gained altitude and looked down at Cadel in his arms. Lydon’s gaze locked with his, and his eyes twinkled fondly.
“So persistent. He's going to be after me forever. What do we do, Cadel? What can I do to get out of this?”
“Are you asking me that?”
“Uh huh. You know, I'm interested in that ‘offer’ you made. I'd love to talk to you further, but…… I'm not quite sure how to evade this chase. I mean, I can't just wipe out all the warriors, right? I would be scolded like crazy!”
Along with the loud laughter that reached his ears, one remark ran through Cadel's head.
‘He’s interested in my offer……?’
Was he saying he was interested in the offer to go out of the forest together? Right? That was the only thing, right? Cadel's head spun furiously.
This was his chance! A chance to secure the best chess piece for survival, without worrying about when Lydon would act on his whim. He could never miss it.
Cadel's urgent gaze moved over Lydon's shoulder. The chaotic scenery unfolded through his hazy breath.
‘Melphis and ice giants below, fairy warriors in the air…… fifteen or so. Lydon could fly, but they all had wings. It's not going to be easy to close the distance while dodging attacks. Besides…….’
The biggest weakness of air combat was the openness of the landscape. No matter where he went or how he moved, Lydon’s every move was visible.
That meant it was all about speed and momentum.
‘In that case, air battle would be meaningless.’
There was no need to insist on the sky. Decisive, Cadel tightened his arms around Lydon.
“Get down there, Lydon.”
“……Hmm? Do you know what's down there? I'm strong, but…… I'd like to avoid fighting the elder as much as possible.”
“Who wants to fight? There's no point in further air combat unless you slice off all of those fairies' wings. Our goal is not to win, but to escape, right? In that case, we might as well take advantage of the forest's terrain.”
“Hoo. That makes sense!”
At once, Lydon, who accepted Cadel's opinion, began to dive. The cold wind scratched Cadel’s whole body. And the moment they got close to the ground, the fist of the ice giant flew in as if it had been waiting.
The ice fist glided past Lydon's head as he quickly lowered his head. He shouted with a wide smile as he perfectly lowered his altitude while barely avoiding the attack.
“Ah ah, that's thrilling! It's so much fun! What should I do now? Should I smash everything? Huh?”
Was he even aware of what the purpose was? Cadel sighed softly, and his eyes lit up with seriousness.
‘Up or down, we’re still at a disadvantage, but at least if I'm closer to the ground, I have a chance to be part of the plan.’
At best, he could come up with one or two plans, all of which were highly risky and likely to be impossible to execute.
‘……Still, it's better than dying like this.’
You can't be sure of the outcome until you try something.
‘Let's try this.’
Having made a decision, Cadel grabbed the excited Lydon by the chin and yanked him down.
“Lydon. Your illusion magic works on your own people too?”
“Of course.”
It was a terse, confident answer, but before Cadel, who was beaming, could express his delight.
“About 10 seconds?”
Lydon's remarks were like cold water pouring over him. Cadel frowned with an instant look of dismay.
“10 seconds? That's the maximum?”
“That was the standard for other fairies, and considering Elder Melphis, it was 5 seconds at most.”
“5 seconds?”
“It's an illusion cast on my own kind. 10 seconds is a big deal?”
Lydon smiled and asked for praise, but Cadel ignored him. 10 seconds. His plan also included illusions that Melphis saw, and in the end, it was all about buying 5 seconds at the most.
‘……No. The time frame is incredibly short, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to execute the plan. The important thing is that the illusion works.’
In reality, all he wanted was a very small opening to give them the timing to escape. Of course, it would be nice if the illusion magic could be maintained for longer, but he didn't need to wreak havoc.
With his thoughts organized, Cadel turned to Lydon.
“5 seconds is fine, cast the spell.”
“Which scene do you want?”
“As it is now. Don't change anything. Keep your flight position the same, so that when the illusion breaks, it's hard to recognize that you've been caught.”
“Hmm? Does that make sense?”
It didn't matter to Lydon. He just needed to keep running, evading attacks and pursuit.
The only one who had to move was Cadel himself.
“As I said, what we need to do now is flee, not fight. So while you maintain the illusion spell, I'll…….”
Cadel resigned himself to listing the simple plans in his head. Lydon, who had listened to his explanation with interest, broke down in uncontrollable laughter.
“Haha! It's the best, Cadel! How could you think of that?”
“Okay, if you understand, go ahead and use the―”
“How do you get such funny ideas out of your little head every time? Huh?”
As if he couldn't wait to see what Cadel had in store for him, Lydon suddenly clutched Cadel’s head tightly and kissed his hair, which made Cadel squirm and shove Lydon’s face away with the palm of his hand with all his might.
“Are you crazy? Aren't you going to take your mouth off?”
“All right, all right, it’s too good to be true! Ahaha!”
Lydon was too much to handle in so many ways. Sweating inwardly, Cadel quickly lowered his arm to avoid Lydon's attempt to kiss his palm.
“We're running out of time, so let's get to it. If we fail, it's all over, you know?”
“What failure, Cadel? Is that even possible?”
Despite being denied a kiss, Lydon still looked amused. The corners of his mouth turned up gently, and his red eyes glowed.
At the same time, an intricate, formulaic magic circle began to form above his eyes. The quickly formed circle of magic flashed white.
“5 seconds start!”
With Lydon's arms wide open, Cadel, unable to hold on to anything, plummeted to the ground.
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