part0012

Despite the giant statue it was carrying on its back, the Scylla flew through the sky at a frightening speed. It flew above the clouds, at a distance where the humans could not see it.

“Is it really fine to leave those humans alone?” said the first head. “We can still turn back and annihilate them. It’s clear that they’re after your treasure, God Evander.”

Before leaving the Forbidden Region, they had seen over a hundred people near the labyrinth’s entrance. They were definitely the mercenaries and magicians Nickolai had gathered for his expedition. Unfortunately for them, Lark had already taken all the treasures away.

“No, it’s fine,” said Lark. “We’ve already taken everything anyway. There’s no need to shed more blood.”

The first head said, “As you wish.”

“God Evander, isn’t it uncomfortable?” said the sixth head.

A dome-shaped barrier was currently surrounding Lark, preventing the winter wind from hitting his body.

He looked at the sixth head quizzically. “Uncomfortable?”

“Yes, God. My head is a lot softer, you see. I believe it’ll be more comfortable if you rode on top of me.”

Hearing the sixth head’s remark, the first head—the one Lark was sitting on—hissed indignantly. “This scheming snake! What are you saying to God Evander! Stop spouting nonsense! My head is definitely softer than everyone else here! That’s why he chose me! That’s why he chose to ride on top of me!”

The other heads snorted. The sixth head gave a mocking laugh.

“Hey, isn’t it about time we switch places?” the fifth head hissed unhappily.

“I agree! Why are you monopolizing God Evander in the first place?” the seventh head snarled.

Lark had been sitting on top of the first head for more than an hour and this brought forth pangs of jealousy among the rest of the Scylla’s heads. It was amazing how some of them even started threatening to rip the first head into shreds.

“Everyone, lower your voices,” said the third head. “Don’t you see that you’re making God Evander uncomfortable?”

The bickering heads immediately shut their mouths upon hearing those words. Although the other heads were clearly frustrated, they no longer shot menacing glares at the first head. The threats and curses thrown at the first head stopped too.

Lark smiled wryly. He started wondering if he should have sat on top of the body, right next to the statue, instead.

“It’ll take us several more hours before we arrive at Blackstone Town,” said Lark. “So, how about this—I’ll alternate between the seven of you during that time.”

“What a great idea!”

“As expected of God Evander!”

“Then, please ride on top of me next!”

“No, I’m next!”

The decision was unanimous. Everyone immediately agreed to Lark’s suggestion. Lark chuckled. Despite its scary appearance, he found the seven-headed monster quite cute and amusing—just like an overly eager puppy.

Lark noticed that the Scylla had reduced its speed considerably. Despite rigorously flapping its wings, it was now moving at almost half its previous speed.

It was obviously stalling for time.

Lark sighed lightly. He decided to let this pass. Even if the Scylla moved at half of its maximum speed, it was still a lot faster than horse-drawn carriages. With its ability to ignore the terrain, the three weeks of travel time from the Forbidden Region to Blackstone Town could be reduced to one day.

True to his word, Lark alternated between the Scylla’s heads every hour, all the while maintaining the gravity spell he’d cast on the giant statue. After expanding his mana pool and obtaining the Sword of Morpheus, the amount of mana being consumed by the spell had become comparatively meager. It was almost negligible.

Although he still hadn’t reached the same amount of mana he had in his previous life, being able to use high-ranking spells without worrying about running out of mana was such a great feeling. He no longer had to restrict his spells just to conserve his mana. His trip to the Forbidden Region had been truly fruitful.

After almost a day, Lark finally saw the Aden Mountain Range. He also saw a large fortress inside a valley. Its towering walls were comparable to Yorkshaire City.

“That’s the Valley of Witches, huh?” mumbled Lark.

His assumptions should be correct, since there was only one fortress in this area. If Yorkshaire City was the stopper preventing the Empire’s forces from crossing over to the kingdom’s territory, the Valley of Witches was the stopper preventing the United Grakas Alliance from advancing into the kingdom. A fortress that held grave strategic importance.

“Lizard, look over there. At the town below us,” said Lark. “That’s my Blackstone Town.”

The Scylla looked at the town covered by snow below. Although there were several hundreds of houses, it was surprisingly small. All seven heads thought that it did not befit someone of Lark’s status.

“Fly higher, make sure no one sees us.”

“As you wish, My God.”

The Scylla flew higher and went past Blackstone Town. It continued flying toward the east. Everything in front of it and below it had now become a sea of trees. Even when flying above the clouds, the end of the forest was nowhere in sight.

“This forest is quite large, isn’t it?” mumbled the seventh head.

“The Endless Forest,” said Lark. “This will be your new home. No one has managed to map the entire region before, but according to some people, this forest should be at least as large as the entire kingdom itself.”

“Our new home. The Endless Forest. It doesn’t sound bad.”

“We should look for a nice place to make a nest!”

“That’s right! A nest! A proper one, unlike the hole we used to sleep in on the fourth floor of the labyrinth!”

Although the Earth Scylla called it a nest, Lark knew that it meant something similar to a dragon’s lair. A protected territory where it could slumber peacefully.

After flying for an hour, Lark decided that they were far enough from the town. Even Herbalist Mores wouldn’t delve this deep into the Endless Forest.

“This should be good enough. Let’s leave the statue here,” said Lark. “Make a large clearing.”

The Scylla hovered down and fired several wind spells toward the ground, destroying more than a hundred trees in an instant. Lark disabled the barrier surrounding him, jumped onto the ground, and pointed at the clearing.

Using all seven heads, the Scylla carefully laid the statue on the ground.

Although they were quite far from the town, there was always the possibility of someone wandering the Endless Forest seeing the giant statue. Its towering height and its golden luster made it conspicuous even from a distance.

“It’s sticking out like a sore thumb, huh?” said Lark.

The Scylla nodded its heads in agreement. “If you give us permission to build a nest, it’ll be possible for us to conceal the statue, God Evander.”

“Hide it inside the nest of a Scylla,” said Lark. “Not a bad idea.”

After Lark gave the Scylla permission, the seven-headed monster started casting several spells one after another. Even now, the spell-casting speed of the Scylla amazed Lark. The way it used seven heads to create several layers of runes at once greatly hastened the creation of magic formations.

In mere seconds, the Scylla had cast several high-tier spells.

The forest shook and the ground started to move. With the Scylla’s precise control of magic, the earth molded itself into a large shrine, with the statue at its center. There was a two hundred-meter empty space around the statue, which was probably meant for the Scylla’s nest.

For almost an hour, the Scylla repeatedly molded and hardened the earth, until it was satisfied with the shrine’s appearance. In the end, a far more conspicuous sight than the giant statue had appeared in the Endless Forest.

The Earth Scylla stopped for a moment to appreciate its creation.

“I don’t like it,” said the first head.

“We should make it larger. How about a castle?” replied the seventh head.

“Definitely. Something this small does not befit God Evander.”

“No, the size is good enough. What we’re lacking is gold.”

“That’s right! Gold!”

“I agree! We should cover the shrine with gold!”

“But where can we get the gold?”

“We should be able to get enough if we attack the capital of the nearest kingdom!”

“Then let’s go right now!”

The seemingly innocent ramblings of the Scylla started turning dangerous. They even started discussing how they’d break into the royal treasury without damaging the treasures within. Lark decided to interfere before things spiraled out of control.

“Seriously.” Lark sighed. “Hey, lizard.”

The chatters died down in an instant. The Scylla respectfully bowed all of its seven heads. “Yes, My God.”

“You can roam around the Endless Forest—you’re even allowed to wander around the entire kingdom—but you absolutely must not attack any humans,” said Lark. “Do you understand?”

The heads looked at each other. They must have been conflicted by Lark’s words. How could they gather the needed gold if they weren’t allowed to take it from the humans?

“Understood, God Evander.”

For some strange reason, Lark understood what was going on in the Scylla’s mind right now. He said, “There’s no need to coat the entire shrine in gold. What matters is that the statue remains hidden from other people. Is that clear?”

The amount of treasure inside the golden statue was more than enough to support the entire kingdom for several decades. Lark couldn’t possibly take all of it with him to Blackstone Town. He decided to only take a handful—just enough to support all of his projects—and leave the rest in this forest.

“Just to be sure, we should set up a barrier spell to prevent other people from reaching this place,” said Lark. “A mirage spell or an illusion spell. As for the treasure room, I’ll personally set up a defensive ward inside it.”

“As you wish,” said the first head. “We’ll make sure anyone who approaches this shrine will be killed in an instant!”

Lark creased his brows and rubbed his forehead. He said firmly, “No, there’s no need to go that far. I forbid all of you from killing any humans, even if they intrude into your nest. Just make sure that they can’t get near it.”

Although the chances were low, Lark didn’t like the idea of one of his subjects being killed by the barrier spell they’d set up in the forest.

The third head said slowly, “Then, an illusion spell that messes with one’s sense of direction and vision should do the trick.”

Lark was relieved that the third head was at least reasonable. He nodded. “Exactly.”

“Please leave it to us,” said the third head.

After the Scylla was done building the shrine, Lark entered the statue and placed several defensive wards inside. Unlike his disciple, he didn’t place an extremely dangerous spell like the Hand of God. He simply placed several barrier spells, which would prevent other people from taking the treasure out of the statue.

Lark took several adamantite ores, pinnacle-grade potions, mithril ingots, gold coins, a bloodstone fragment, and two mandrake roots from the treasure room. The leather bag he bought from Daxton City could hardly contain all of the treasure.

Lark smiled. It was such a great feeling.

He now had more than enough money to hasten the development of Blackstone Town.

After Lark left the statue, he said to the Scylla. “Lizard, did my idiotic disciple give you a name?”

“Yes, God Evander. Master Kubarkava bestowed upon us the name, Blackie .”

Lark’s face momentarily contorted. What a horrible name. But, amazingly, the Scylla seemed proud of it. It was apparent by the way its tail wagged after mentioning the name given to it by the Dragon Devourer.

“Blackie,” repeated Lark.

“Yes!” the Scylla replied enthusiastically.

Lark sighed. The Scylla was very fond of the name it had been given. Although it sounded horrible, Lark decided to stick with it.

“Then, Blackie,” said Lark.

“Yes, God Evander!”

“I’ll be going back to Blackstone Town for a while,” said Lark. “I’ve placed several defensive wards in the treasure room and the statue, so it should be fine, even if you leave the nest and wander the kingdom for a bit. Just make sure you’re not spotted by humans. Is that clear?”

The Scylla eagerly responded with a yes and enthusiastically bobbed its heads.

“Here, take it.” Lark tossed a gemstone toward the Scylla. The seven-headed monster caught it using wind magic.

“A communication crystal?”

It was similar to the item Lark had given to Zacharia during the previous war with the Empire.

“It’s connected to the necklace I’m wearing,” said Lark. “Contact me should something happen here.”

“Contact you? O-Of course!”

The eyes of the Scylla grew wide and all seven heads looked at the gemstone as though it was the most precious thing in the world. They started a heated discussion about which head should keep the gemstone.