Isekai Nonbiri Sozai Saishu Seikatsu - Chapter 203

When I took the feather floating in the air, I saw it was black.

It was as if it had been carved from obsidian and crafted into a knife. If touched carelessly, it seemed sharp enough to cut through skin cleanly. Such sharp feathers were falling from the sky.

…Could it be that the enemy is in the sky, not on the ground?

The moment I looked up, the sun disappeared.

No, to be precise, a massive creature was flying towards us, blocking out the sun.

It had powerful, large wings and a sharply pointed beak.

Its body was covered in black carapace, and from its neck grew silvery-white fur.

【Garalgon – Danger Level A】

A giant bird covered in black carapace and beautiful silvery-white fur.

The carapace is extremely hard and becomes even harder when it gets angry.

Its beak and claws are highly developed, becoming weapons that pierce and slice its enemies.

It harbors strong wind magic.

It has a tendency to seek out battles, attacking without hesitation even if the opponent is stronger.

It wanders various regions in search of fights and is a rare monster that is seldom encountered.

When I appraised it, the monster’s information appeared in my vision.

The monster wasn’t on the ground; it was in the sky.

No wonder there had been no response despite my searching.

“Franryule-san!”

“Yes!”

We separated, putting distance between us.

The Garalgon passed through the spot where we had been and soared back into the sky.

“Of course, there’s a monster here.”

“What is that black bird!?”

“It seems to be a Garalgon, a Danger Level A monster.”

“Danger Level A!?”

“Calm down. Dangerous A-level monsters are everywhere.”

“No, they’re not! Even as an adventurer, meeting one in your lifetime is a rare event!”

That’s strange. I’ve encountered them multiple times in less than a year.

I must have weird luck.

I wish I had a higher chance of finding rare materials instead of rare monsters.

“For now, let’s retreat.”

“I’d like to, but it seems we won’t be able to.”

As we made a move to retreat, Garalgon flapped its wings powerfully.

Sharp feathers shot out from its wings, pinning to the ground and blocking our escape route.

“Even if we could descend, Garalgon would chase us relentlessly.”

It’s impossible to avoid Garalgon’s attacks and descend the giant tree given its ability to fly and high mobility.

“We have to either drive Garalgon away to escape or defeat it to harvest the fruit.”

“Yes, I’ve resolved to fight as well.”

Understanding the situation, Franryule took hold of her staff and nodded firmly.

“Franryule-san, please support me with your magic. Avoid stepping forward or doing anything that draws too much attention.”

“I can’t agree to that. It’s not in my nature to hide in the back after asking to come along.”

Expecting a straightforward agreement, her words almost made me stumble.

Why are the women around me always so brave?

“Uh, if something happens to you, Artorius-sama will be mad at me…”

“That’s why I expect you to protect me this time as well, right?”

Franryule gave me a trusting smile.

With her saying that, I can’t very well tell her to hide.

Franryule can perform delicate magic manipulation that I can’t.

I’ll have to rely on her magic and quick thinking in this battle.

Looking up, Garalgon was gracefully circling above.

Its sharp eyes, like those of a raptor, were fixed intently on us.

“It seems to be a fully flight-capable type.”

“To land an effective blow, we’d need to either stop its movement or drag it to the ground, but that seems incredibly difficult.”

If it flies around freely at high speed, it will easily dodge any spells we cast.

We have to find a way to strip it of its mobility.

As I observed, Garalgon made the first move.

“Kiieeeee!”

A piercing screech echoed as feathers shot from its wings.

If they were just feathers, there would be no problem, but each of Garalgon’s feathers was as sharp as a knife.

They rained down over a wide area like a shower.

If we took that head-on, our bodies would be torn to shreds, no doubt about it.

As I ran to evade, a jet-black knife stabbed right behind me.

Continuing to run, Garalgon pursued, sending feathers flying.

“Whoa! Attacking from the sky like this is unfair!”

“Wind!”

While pondering how to counterattack as I ran, Franryule unleashed a wind spell.

The fierce gusts caused the trajectory of Garalgon’s feathers to veer off course.

“Now’s our chance! Ice Pillar!”

Taking advantage of the lull in attacks, I immediately activated an ice spell.

Several ice pillars struck Garalgon’s body, but they were blocked by its black carapace, much to my surprise.

“It’s tough!”

Despite prioritizing speed, the attack’s power was lower than expected.

Upon closer inspection, the carapace bore white marks, but that was all. It wasn’t very effective.

As I continued to launch ice pillars, Garalgon ascended gracefully to evade.

Though I tried to pursue with more ice pillars, the opponent soared higher and smaller, making it hard to hit.

“Indeed, it’s impossible to hit them once they take to the sky…”

“Magic tends to lose power and speed as the distance increases, and the image of activation becomes more difficult as the physical distance grows,” Franryure, who had come closer, explained.

I had a vague sense of that since I’ve been self-taught, but it seems there’s indeed such a rationale behind it.

“Moreover, it seems that your magic can’t penetrate its sturdy carapace.”

“I might be able to penetrate it with a bit more magical power, but it’s difficult to gather that much magic.”

“Yes, indeed. It seems that with your recent attack, Garalgon is quite wary of you.”

The eyes of Garalgon, circling in the sky, were firmly focused on me.

“Wow, it’s really glaring at me.”

It seemed that my recent attack had made Garalgon quite wary.

Oops. Instead of attacking half-heartedly, I should have unleashed my full-power magic when I had the chance.

That way, there would have been a higher chance of delivering a fatal blow by catching it off guard.

But, that opportunity had passed. There’s no use regretting it now.

“We need to find a way to stop its movements somehow…”

“Shu-san, do you have any sound light spheres? Using those, we might be able to stop Garalgon’s movements!”

“Yes, indeed! I still have a few left, so let’s give it a try!”

That’s right. When I fought the Red Dragon before, I was able to stop its movements using the sound light spheres.

If everything goes well, we might be able to drag it down to the ground like before.

“I’ll throw it, so please attack when its movements stop!”

“Understood!”

Quickly putting in earplugs and donning sunglasses, we prepared to confront Garalgon.

After waiting for a while, Garalgon made a large turn and dived down.

It rushed toward us, utilizing positional energy.

“Here it comes!”

Just as Garalgon approached us head-on, Franryule threw the sound light sphere.

Garalgon quickly tried to evade the sound light sphere by deflecting its trajectory.

Without the impact, the sound light sphere failed to activate and became ineffective.

“Shock.”

However, it seemed Franryule had anticipated this, as she ruptured the sound light sphere by releasing a shockwave.

With the added impact, there was a fierce flash and roar echoing.

While it didn’t burst near its eyeballs, Garalgon had firmly fixed its gaze on the sound light sphere.

Deprived of vision and likely having lost its hearing due to the wave-like attack of flash and roar, it screamed.

Though I was convinced as I cast the spell, the Garalgon in my sight remained completely unaffected.

In a hurry, I halted the magic and leapt sideways, clutching Franryule.

Massive wings passed over our heads.

Late but met with a fierce gust of wind, I struggled to remain standing, my body threatened to give way.

When I looked up, the tendrils that had been standing tall were cleanly severed by Garalgon’s wings.

Its wings, covered in tough carapace, seemed to boast a cutting edge like that of a giant sword.

With that massive mass and the added positional energy of the falling attack, I had anticipated dire consequences upon direct impact, but it seemed to possess even greater power than expected.

“Franryule, are you alright?”

“Yes, thank you. But still, why didn’t the sound light sphere work? Or perhaps the timing of detonation was off, missing the mark?”

“No, it definitely hit its mark, and I believe it had an effect.”

Though Garalgon was flying normally in the air, it seemed to be shaking its head in annoyance. It didn’t immediately launch an attack on us, so the sound light sphere should have had some effect.

“So why?”

“I believe it charged in despite being hit. According to my Appraisal skill, Garalgon is described as highly combative and not easily intimidated.”

“Just how ferocious…”

Hearing my speculation, Franryule groaned.

“However, now that its movements are sluggish, it’s our chance!”

Aiming at the struggling Garalgon in the air, I continuously shot ice pillars.

Franryule also generated lightning arrows and sent them flying.

As a result, several spells hit, chipping away at Garalgon’s carapace.

Perhaps due to the temporary interruption of its sight and hearing.

However, only the initial shot hit, as the subsequent spells were evaded.