Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 272 (Part 1):
“Lord Igrelle.”
[What is it, silver-haired human?]
Igrelle looked down at Alea arrogantly while sitting lazily on the ground.
Its freshly preened feathers annoyingly reflected the light.
After grooming it so often, all four of them had become experts at feather maintenance. They were practically Igrelle’s personal attendants now.
Charlotte and Sian’s expressions weren’t pleased, but Asuka’s face was full of discontent.
“At this rate, we don’t know when we’ll reach the Central Region.”
[So what? That Helmut fellow won’t die in the meantime, will he? Think of it as a leisurely journey.]
Its tone was so irritating that Alea wanted to slap it, despite being the one delaying the schedule, it spoke with such arrogance.
Alea spoke again with a cold expression.
“I have a proposal to make.”
[A proposal? Very well, let’s hear it.]
“Lord Igrelle, ruler of the skies of the Forest of Roots, you’re traveling with us in this inconvenient way because we can’t keep up with your speed, correct?”
[That’s right. As I said, carrying humans on my back is out of the question. And let me be clear, hanging from my claws is also not allowed. I, the great Igrelle, cannot allow myself to be used as a mount by humans.]
Igrelle said arrogantly.
But that wasn’t Alea’s intention. She calmly asked:
“Then if we could match Lord Igrelle’s speed, would I be correct in understanding that you wouldn’t travel at such a slow pace?”
[…Well, I suppose so. But how?]
Igrelle looked at Alea with suspicious eyes.
‘How could mere humans keep up with my speed?’
“There is a way for us to match Lord Igrelle’s speed. We can fly together.”
It wasn’t flight magic. // That would consume too much magical power, and there were only two mages anyway.
Alea had an ace up her sleeve.
However, she was reluctant to reveal this method in front of Igrelle, who was not quite an ally even if it wasn’t an enemy.
She had been hesitating all along, but even the cool-headed Alea felt impatient now that they were inside the Forest of Roots.
Helmut was somewhere in the center, and she didn’t want to delay.
‘If we hadn’t met Igrelle, this method wouldn’t have been usable anyway.’
Flying through the skies of the Forest of Roots meant being exposed to the sight of countless demonic beasts.
Flying demonic beasts weren’t just Igrelle, so the attack range of demonic beasts probably wouldn’t be limited to the ground.
But no demonic beast would dare attack them if they were with Igrelle, so they could fly safely.
[How do you intend to fly? Magic?]
Igrelle didn’t ask why she hadn’t brought this up earlier. It had realized that Alea had been keeping something in reserve.
Alea silently spread her hand towards the empty air.
The dense demonic energy in the Forest of Roots interferes with the manifestation of magic.
Even great mages have difficulty freely using magic here, and her abilities hadn’t reached that level yet.
So it required more magical power and concentration than usual.
However, without fail, pure white magical power bloomed from Alea’s hand and shone brightly.
Zing!
A round circle spread out in the air.
Starting from a tiny point, it rapidly expanded into a huge entrance.
Alea softly chanted a spell.
“Gate of Light.”
She summoned a sub-space corresponding to part of the dungeon.
‘As expected, there are restrictions on interfacing with sub-spaces in the Forest of Roots. I can’t fully open the dungeon, but I can at least take something out from inside.’
Dungeons and similar sub-spaces that constitute entire worlds can basically only be opened in stable environments. Even that itself is high-level magic.
In a place filled with oppressive demonic energy like the Forest of Roots, entering a dungeon is impossible even for great mages.
Igrelle watched the scene unfolding before its eyes with curious interest.
Even for the ruler of the Southern Region who had lived for countless ages, it was its first time seeing proper magic.
[So this is magic? Opening space! You’re quite a skilled mage!]
And then a huge object leaped out of that entrance filled with white light.
Thud!
Everyone’s gazes turned towards it.
The object that fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, was enormous – about half the size of Igrelle’s body.
The object, which had a metallic golden hue, looked like a boulder. A huge boulder densely engraved with magic symbols.
However, there were long cracks all over it, suggesting it could be separated into pieces.
As Alea closed the sub-space, a bead of sweat formed between her brows.
She had consumed a large amount of magical power in an instant. She reached into her pocket and gripped a magic stone.
The magic stone, rapidly drained of power, soon crumbled into an ordinary pebble in her hand.
At that moment, Sian muttered:
“Is it a golem?”
Asuka spoke in a doubtful voice.
“It just looks like a rock to me. How is that a golem?”
Sian spoke with certainty.
“Those magic symbols, it’s definitely a golem. Come to think of it, Archmage Lampione was deeply versed in golems. But I’ve never seen a golem in this form before. Golems are usually made in specific shapes. But this one has no form. Which means, could it be…”
Instead of explaining, Alea pointed towards Igrelle and opened her mouth.
“Mimic.”