Episode 106
EPISODE.53
Parbat-.
Arriving at the Red Canyon, they quickly left the tourist area.
In the first place, their goal was to find a cave leading to the Underworld.
Of course, strictly speaking, Russell’s reason was a little different from that, but anyway.
‘There’s no way the cave heading to the Underworld is near the tourist district.’
As it is a place where people often step foot, the dwarves must have wanted to reduce even one possibility.
Parbat-.
Every time their toes hit the floor, Russell and Vermillion’s new model flew between rocks in the canyon.
Whether it was a rock the size of a house or a rocky mountain tens of meters taller than that, there was no problem.
For them, who can jump dozens of meters with a single leap, the height of the mountain was not a big deal.
After about a few hours, I felt that the signs of the tourists were gradually fading.
As she landed on the floor, Vermillion opened her mouth.
“Let’s rest here today, priest.”
“yes. execution.”
When I raised my head, I saw a red sunset spreading across the sky.
‘A red rocky mountain spreading wide like the sea and a sunset of the same color…’ It was
a spectacle that even Russell, who had traveled all over the kingdom while working as a freelance wizard and mercenary, had never seen it.
‘No, back then I didn’t have time to look back at this scenery.’
It was not an easy environment to live in every day.
It was a life that was daunting enough just not to forget the purpose and goals you had.
‘It’s amazing-.’
For a moment, I couldn’t take my eyes off the majestic scene, as if everything from heaven to earth was engulfed in flames.
Russell, remembering the scene in his mind, turned around.
It was time to prepare for camp.
.
.
“Can’t we start at this point?”
As they ran at high speed, the wind pressure whirred and disturbed them, but it was not difficult for both of them to understand what was being said.
At Russell’s voice, Vermilion, who had been running about half a breath ahead, stopped the model.
He looked around and opened his mouth.
“Surely it is as you say.”
The only thing you can see around you is the red rocky gorge that spreads out under the blue sky.
There were a few birds flying through the sky, but they weren’t too far to bother.
It is a remote area where no human presence or footsteps can reach.
“yes. Baektap Lord also told me to start after about half a day.”
Vermillion nodded, and Russell manifested the door to the spirit realm.
Fire-.
He summoned Pepper through the door and muttered as he stroked his neck.
“request.”
No detailed explanation was needed.
Because Pepper and Russell had a bond that was connected by spirit to spirit. Pepper let out a low cry as if he knew at Russell’s request.
Gyareuk-.
Food Duck -.
Soon after, it fluttered its four wings and soared high into the sky in an instant.
It circled and circled the air.
Vermilion wrinkled her nose as she watched Pepper fly up in an instant and transform into a dot.
“Hmm, I don’t know if I can feel the spirit’s presence from such a high position.”
“Maybe it didn’t go up because it worked? If you don’t like it, you’ll come down on your own.”
If Pepper can’t find a way to the Underworld in this area, he’ll have to move again
…
Thinking so, I looked around for a while. Vermilion, who had been gazing at the sky for a while, let out a drool.
“hmm?”
What followed from Pepper was a sharp will to fight.
Looking up, I see several dots of similar size approaching the flying Pepper.
“her. I thought it was an ordinary bird, but could it be a monster?”
Vermillion murmurs.
As he used his magic to sharpen his eyes, the birds approaching Pepper came into view more clearly.
It was much bigger than an eagle with a wide spread wingspan of about 5 meters, and what grew on its forehead was the horn of a unicorn like that of a unicorn.
“…It’s a one-horned repair.”
It was a fairly high-ranking flying monster that even an Orc could catch if it became an adult one-horned eagle.
The moment when Vermillion prepares for interception as soon as he can see through their identity.
Fire-.
“execution.”
“huh?”
“Don’t do it.”
Russell stopped such Vermilion. At that moment, Pepper flapped four pairs of wings.
He glared at the three one-horned eagles charging at him and let out a roar.
Kyaoooooo-!
“I have to show bitterness to the cheeky bastards.”
I didn’t actually say that, but the mental wave of that feeling was transmitted.
Pod at that moment!
A trail of flames is engraved along the air. Immediately after, Pepper moved in an instant and bit off the neck of one of the one-horned eagles.
Kwajeok!
Firecrackers like fireworks exploded between teeth, and Pepper stretched out her legs.
Only a part of the body returns to its original form, and the short legs expand in an instant.
Then, at the same time snatching the one-horned eagles flying in from different directions.
Snap Snap!
Roaring!
Flames spewed out between the claws and attacked the one-horned eagles.
A little later, well-roasted eagles fell to the ground.
thump-.
No matter how high it fell, the moment it touched the floor, it was terribly crushed and turned into a lump of meat.
Russell delivered Pepper’s mental waves to Vermillion, who was watching him.
“The death penalty.”
“Uhm?”
“Since it’s well cooked, they tell me to take one bite at a time.”
“…?”
“It’s said to be a reward for giving me a piece of meat the other day.”
Although the state of the meat was not the kind that humans could eat at all.
Curry-!
* * *
It was about three more days later that Pepper sensed something.
A situation where you have entered much deeper into the canyon than when you first started exploring.
Gyareuk-.
Pepper, who detected a sign of something, sent a mental wave to Russell.
Food Duck-.
Then, it descends from the high sky and slowly flaps its wings in one direction.
“I seem to have found it.”
“I guess so. Even a country whose minds are not connected will understand.”
Because the way he flapped his wings seemed to tell him to follow him.
“Um…”
The place we arrived at after being guided by Pepper was located not too far away.
A small valley created between rocky mountains and rocky mountains. When I turn my head, I can see large and small caves like ant burrows.
“Seventy seventy one seventy two… Huh, at this point, there’s no point in counting.”
Vermilion, who had been counting the numbers carefully, soon expressed disapproval.
“Even if you roughly count, it seems to be over three hundred. If we had to check all these caves, it would not have been possible even if we used up the research period.”
Maybe I had to return without even setting foot in the Underworld.
Gyareuk-.
Then Pepper groaned again.
It stopped in front of one of the caves high in the valley, tapping the floor with its forepaw.
“I think it’s over there.”
“Let’s go in.”
The inside of the cave he entered was quite different from the usual caves Russell knew.
‘Not damp or damp at all. I can’t even see the figure of the stalactite. This-.’
As if thinking the same thing as Russell, Vermillion muttered, rubbing his chin.
“hmm. It’s an artificial cave. Perhaps most of the nearby caves are artificially created.”
“yes. It seems to be to hide the entrance by increasing the number of caves.”
The surprising thing was that the width of the cave thus created was quite wide.
It was wide enough for a couple of wagons to pass if necessary.
‘Well, no matter how dwarves are, they can’t be self-sufficient in everything.’
If necessary, they may have traded with the outside world.
Perhaps the reason why the aisle was widened was to prepare for the moment when they went out to trade.
How many hours did you walk like that? Russell and Vermillion stopped at almost the same moment.
Signs of magical power flowed from the depths of the cave.
As I hurried my steps and approached the cave, I felt magical energy flowing in a circle along the outer wall of the cave, twisted in a strange way.
“Is this the death penalty?”
“Is it some kind of warp gate? It’s space refraction…”
It was similar to magic, but it felt a little different.
Perhaps this is the lost technology used by the dwarves in ancient times, now forgotten.
Although they have been looking for muscle skills and traces of dragons, the essence of the two are wizards. Russell and Vermillion instinctively worked their magic.
Using image magic, the flow of magical energy and its structure were recorded.
“after. Going back to this, one more report to submit.”
As she muttered, she threw herself into the flow of magical power.
At that moment, the flow of air surrounding Russell and Vermillion is transformed in an instant.
As soon as they checked the scenery around them, which had changed in an instant, the two people exclaimed.
“her-!”
“This!”
They were standing in the middle of a steep cliff.
Huge cliffs surround it like an outer wall in a circle, and it is a huge city built on a hill hundreds of meters below.
‘That’s right-.’
‘Underworld!’
The size of the city was so huge that it rivaled Endymion’s royal capital.
It was unbelievably huge for a city built entirely underground.
In addition, hundreds of softly shining luminous stones were hammered into the ceiling of the city to illuminate the city like stars.
As I turned my gaze, I saw dozens and hundreds of caves along the cliffs surrounding the Underworld like an outer wall.
Perhaps all of those are other passages to the Underworld.
The two wizards recorded the situation reflected in their eyes using image magic as if possessed.
How long have you been recording?
Russell and Vermillion turned at the same time.
It was because I could feel the presence of people between the exit of the cave they came out of and the stairs going down to the Underworld.
‘These signs…maybe they’re dwarves?’
How should you react if you run into them?
There was also the possibility that humans would not be very welcome to enter the Underworld.
‘Maybe he’ll attack without hesitation.’
First of all, I filled the sub-space with liquor jars to convince the dwarves, but would it work?
After a few worries swirled around in my head and disappeared, the dwarves showed up.
number is two.
Contrary to the diminutive body that barely exceeds 1m and 30cm, the forearms look thicker than the thighs of a fairly tall adult.
“oh?”
“hmm?”
The two dwarves who discovered the two gave a short exclamation and then laughed while exposing their white teeth.
“Oh, you are human.”
“Human visitors have been around for a while. Where do you guys come from?”
Far from being hostile, it seemed very welcoming.
dragon-swallowed wizard
