After finding the gem that Wizel mentioned, I quickly headed towards Emerald Bay.
“By the way, is it really okay to swallow the magic stone like this?”
“Yes. Normally, people can’t, but you can.”
“Why is that?”
“Dragons can eat stones, you know.”
I wondered what it meant to eat stones, but Wizel didn’t seem to be joking.
When I arrived near Emerald Bay, the moon was high in the sky.
I flew quite fast, but it was still no short distance.
Finding Emerald Bay under the night sky was quite difficult.
The forest covering the city made it hard to identify, causing me to get confused with another forest.
After lowering my altitude and circling the forest a few times, I finally found a glimpse of the rooftop of JS Hotel between the trees.
After landing on the hotel rooftop, I immediately began to survey the city.
A fair amount of time had passed, so my companions must have gone to face the Undead Commander by now.
Though I was late, I started searching for the location of the battle to help if I could.
It was strange. If there was fighting going on anywhere in the city, it shouldn’t be this quiet.
First, I dropped by the banquet hall inside the hotel.
As I opened the banquet hall door, countless eyes turned to focus on me.
In the corner, my companions, including Maran, were gathered.
“Have you all not gone yet?”
“We went and came back.”
Maran sighed heavily and leaned against the wall.
I took a seat and asked what had happened.
“When we were about to launch a surprise attack, we encountered that giant over there.”
“And then?”
“I stopped him because he was trying to attack the hotel.”
Maran explained while stroking her side.
“He was strong.”
Although they defended the hotel, they had realized the strength of their opponent.
Given Maran’s personality, she surely had not let her guard down.
“What about Epiro’s sword?”
It had been quite effective against other Undead Commanders.
“My sword didn’t work.”
“He didn’t weaken from divine power, and as you said, he wielded a sword skill.”
“He also used magic. It was like watching the commander.”
Melorna frankly shared her impressions of what she had seen.
“In my opinion, he seemed to be worth at least three members of the Knight Order.”
Revelin compared it to the Knight Order.
“Especially that flying sword; it was particularly difficult to deal with.”
“The most astonishing thing is the magic he uses.”
When I didn’t respond and silently gazed at them, Jema hesitated briefly before speaking.
“A spear made of lightning.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise at those words.
It’s not that there weren’t any magicians who used lightning magic.
However, if someone had reached an exceptional level in both swordsmanship and magic alone, they would definitely not be a trivial opponent.
“He said he would come again after that.”
“Next time…”
I wondered if the situation would have changed had I been there.
A small consolation was that they had managed to stop him without significant damage.
“For now, let’s start taking shifts for guards, three at a time.”
Maran, Revelin, and Epiro decided to take the first shift.
The rest would try to rest a bit and regain their strength in the meantime.
“By the way, did you find that treasure?”
“I did find it.”
“Let me see.”
“I don’t have it. I ate it because I was told to.”
With a dumbfounded expression, Jema stared at me.
“You can’t just pick up and eat anything.”
“I think it’s okay for now.”
Jema left those words and quickly fell asleep.
Though I had flown several kilometers and back, I wasn’t very tired.
I was very curious about what kind of effects the magic stone I swallowed had.
I quietly slipped away from my spot and called Wizel over from the corner.
“Hey, was what I ate really a magic stone?”
“That’s right. It’s a bit special, though.”
“Please explain.”
“Can you go to a place where there are no people?”
Since Wizel wanted a place away from people, I left the banquet hall and headed up to the next floor.
Entering an empty room, I seriously asked what it was.
“That was left by the Fairy King. It can easily be called a fairy relic.”
“It sounds important. Is it really okay for me to have eaten it?”
“It wasn’t left for fairies anyway.”
The magic stones left by the Fairy King totaled five.
Wizel said that one of them was the one I ate today.
“What are the effects?”
“It’s just like a magic stone. The difference is that you can use all five.”
“Ah, magic stones can be used in multiples.”
“It can’t be more than two.”
The magic stone left by the Fairy King could exceed that limit!
“What if someone else eats one?”
“They can’t be found just anywhere.”
Without guidance from a fairy, it would simply appear as an ordinary stone to regular people.
Eager to see the effects of the magic stone, I cast a simple spell.
“Fire.”
As I conjured a flame, I felt that it was indeed hotter than usual.
Using my mana to gaze into the flame, I found it to be of quite high purity.
“With this level, it could probably devour any ordinary fire?”
High-purity magic can devour low-purity magic.
“Those with light will be affected.”
“And there are five of these?”
If I gathered all the fairy’s magic stones, I felt that I could really destroy a whole country by myself.
I stayed awake, waiting for my turn as a sentry.
When I went down to the lobby, the sentry location, Jema and Melorna were already there.
“They said they dealt with a few Undead approaching the hotel.”
Jema relayed the message left by the front team to me.
Since their location was specified, they would continuously attack from now on.
We needed to eliminate them quickly to utilize the escape route.
Looking out into the dark hotel lobby, I could see Undead wandering around.
As long as we didn’t launch a preemptive attack, they would never notice us.
Occasionally, there were those who showed interest in the hotel lobby, but they never entered.
I began to think the Undead’s behavior was strange around dawn.
One by one, they gathered near the hotel and began to settle down.
Among them, a large skeleton stepped forward with an axe resting on its shoulder.
“They’re attacking. Go take care of it.”
At my command, Melorna drew her sword and stepped outside the hotel.
That kind of opponent was one Melorna could easily handle alone.
Blue flames flared up on Melorna’s sword.
Snap!
As Melorna snapped her fingers, a massive chunk of ice fell from the sky.
With that one attack, the surrounding Undead fell into a state where they were virtually incapable of moving.
An Undead that had confidently charged forward swung its axe at Melorna.
Whoosh!
The heavy sound of the swinging axe reached the lobby.
Melorna bent over, narrowly avoiding the axe, and jumped into the air.
Above the Undead’s head, Melorna’s swift sword descended like rain.
“You’re fighting better than I expected.”
“I learned swordsmanship.”
Clang! Clang!
The Undead that blocked Melorna’s sword with its axe reached out.
Even though it was just bone with all its skin peeled away, its moving hand aimed for Melorna’s neck.
“I think I need to help.”
“I agree.”
Bam!
Melorna, who was grabbed by the neck and thrown to the ground, struggled.
“Magic Arrow.”
I created an arrow and shot it toward the Undead’s arm.
With a faint light, the shot arrow pierced the Undead’s arm and broke apart.
Not missing that opportunity, Melorna quickly escaped and targeted the Undead’s core.
The core located at the back of its head pierced, and the Undead vanished into ashes.
Once the leading Undead was taken down, the rest were easily dispatched as a disorganized crowd.
After the battle finished, Melorna returned to the lobby and bowed her head to me.
“Thank you for your help.”
“You fought well.”
“I still think I’m a bit lacking.”
Melorna’s swordsmanship didn’t seem complete yet.
While it wasn’t at the level where she couldn’t use it in actual combat, there was room for improvement.
After that, the Undead attacked several more times.
We took turns going out and repelling the Undead’s attacks.
When Maran’s group came down to switch out, they looked very surprised at the scene outside the hotel.
“At this rate, why didn’t you call us?”
“We were more than enough on our own.”
Maran said that during her shift as a sentry, the Undead’s attacks were around two times.
I quickly realized why there was such a difference between us.
Epiro had planted a sword imbued with divine power in front of the hotel and returned to the lobby.
“It looks really convenient.”
“The problem is the ones who break through it.”
Thanks to the sword imbued with divine power, the weak ones couldn’t approach.
However, those who could break through would definitely be stronger than ordinary soldiers, according to Maran.
Revelin stared outside the hotel with determination.
“Today, we will definitely win.”
“Today?”
“Ah, one managed to escape yesterday after fighting.”
Revelin faced the opponent, losing by a very slight margin, and the Undead fled.
I suddenly became curious about the Undead that could break through Epiro’s divine power.
While Jema and Melorna went up to rest, I decided to stay in the lobby.
“Aren’t you going to rest?”
“I’m curious about the Undead that can break through that.”
Finding a spot in one corner of the lobby, I sat down and refined my mana while passing time.
Revelin was engrossed in practicing, moving a sword made of mana around.
Clang! Clang!
I heard the sound of metal being struck from outside the hotel and turned to look.
There stood a figure clad in a cloak, wearing a helmet, resembling a typical warrior.
The warrior was banging the shield he held in one hand against the ground, making noise.
“I’ve come to settle yesterday’s unfinished business!”
From the way he spoke, he didn’t seem to be an ordinary soldier.
“That guy really isn’t affected by divine power.”
“It’s certain he’s not Undead.”
From his not-so-large stature, he didn’t seem to be a giant.
If the opponent were a giant, Revelin would never stand a chance on his own.
As he appeared, Revelin stood up and headed out of the hotel.
Five magical swords manifested around Revelin.
As Revelin appeared, the warrior drew his sword from his waist.
The first to move among the two glaring at each other was the warrior.
Clang!
Revelin’s magical sword collided with the warrior’s sword.
