236 times
Deep Valley Abyss, Erebor 236 – Deep Valley Abyss, Erebor #6
Elfriede watched me from a distance, indifferently, as I massaged the palms of Antiophe and Hippolyte.
The guy must be quite mentally and physically exhausted. He should feel better if he gets a hand massage.
Because that guy loved getting massages so much that he would give me merciless orders to press his back and waist all day long.
It might be unbearable to not be the only one getting a massage on this occasion.
But I asked as if I didn’t know anything.
“Why, do you need it too?”
“…no.”
Then, as I expected, I got a cold response. Probably because of his pride, he wouldn’t do what I asked him to do even if it meant dying.
So I was just going to ignore it, but then I realized that Elfriede’s power as a flame-wielding magician was quite important in getting out of this situation.
When the torch runs out, we have no choice but to rely on Elfriede’s flame.
In that case, it would be best to keep Elfriede’s condition as high and stable as possible.
So, although I didn’t really feel like it, I felt like I needed to put my feelings aside for the public good rather than my personal feelings.
“Hey, give me your hand.”
“… .”
Then Elfriede glared at me without saying a word.
Bad girl.
If you still won’t cooperate until the end even though I have put my pride aside and shown compromise and reconciliation, then there is nothing more I can do.
So, wherever Elfriede is, she is Elfriede – that was the thought I had as I tried to take back my outstretched hand.
Swish.
When my patience was at its limit, Elfriede finally extended her hand to me.
It was so unexpected that I raised my eyebrows slightly and at the same time felt like hitting the palm of his hand that was reaching out while wearing a glove.
“You have to take off your gloves. You’re giving a massage.”
“Then, take it off yourself.”
“Well, then.”
If you say it like that, you’ll think I can’t do it. My experience now is different from my experience in the past.
Swish.
I grabbed the end of Elfriede’s glove, the middle part, and pulled hard.
Then, as if a blanket had been lifted off, Elfriede’s pure white hand appeared in my palm.
The guy’s hands are so white that they seem to glow softly in the darkness. His fingernails are well-trimmed and his skin is smooth, without a single callus.
However, he is so cold and indifferent that you can’t even imagine him as a wizard who uses fire.
Elfriede’s characteristic is that her hands and feet are as cold as ice, perhaps due to poor blood circulation, and it seems that this has not changed.
Familiar palms.
As I touch the familiar temperature, memories from long ago begin to come to mind without me even intending to.
Memories like the first time I massaged Elfriede’s hand, or the time I squeezed his hand without realizing it and got hit in the head with a hammer.
It was actually the first time I ever touched the palm of a woman other than my sister or mother. I was quite nervous and trembling.
Even now, the thought of a woman’s hand still felt awkward and tense to the point of being difficult to get used to, but now, to me, Elfriede’s hand was no longer a woman’s hand, but simply Elfriede’s hand.
I’ve touched it so many times and I’m familiar with it.
I can tell with my eyes closed where and how I should massage her to make her like it.
“What, why are you just sitting there?”
“Be quiet.”
I gently pushed up the inside of Elfriede’s palm with the thumbs of both hands.
As I recall, Elfriede liked to be stimulated like this, stroking her skin as if pushing it up, rather than pressing painfully.
By stimulating the surface of the skin and allowing the blood flow and energy inside to circulate without obstruction, Elfriede’s hands and feet, which were as cold as ice, would become a little warmer.
Swish-.
“… .”
Ugh.
“… .”
Swish-.
“… Ugh.”
Elfriede, unable to hold back her sounds due to the continued stimulation of the palm, let out a faint moan through her tightly shut lips.
I pushed the guy’s palm up and rubbed his wrist with my thumb while I was at it.
Swish, swish. It was so amazing how my once-white hand would turn red and start emitting a faint heat wherever my thumb touched.
So I thought I’d dye it all red while I was at it, so I rubbed every nook and cranny from between his fingers to the back of his hand with my thumb, making sure not to miss a single spot.
In fact, it feels more like licking with your fingers than rubbing.
However, as I was getting heated up for a while, Elfriede slowly pulled her palm out of my hand.
If I remember correctly, Elfriede’s massage was funny for an hour. And she’s giving up after not even five minutes? Even though she’s still in the middle of the massage.
“… It’s done now.”
“Okay, then.”
“excuse me-.”
Elfriede moved her lips as if she was about to say something to me.
“No, no.”
Soon he closed his mouth again.
The guy and I didn’t speak for a while after that.
There was no need for that.
*
*
*
Whether it was because my massage had had enough effect or because Hippolyte and Antiope felt they could no longer afford to waste time, our steps continued without a hitch.
Gehahak-!
All the little monsters that appear are crushed to dust by Hippolyte and Antiope’s swords and spear tips.
“Look carefully at the floor. Don’t miss even the smallest clue. That’s what you need to do to get out of the abyss.”
“Look over there, sis, is there something over there?”
As we were proceeding like that, we discovered something very huge lying on the ground.
“What is this? Samaritan, what does this look like to you?”
I couldn’t help but furrow my brow at Hippolyte’s question. What is it?
“It’s like a feather. And a really huge feather at that.”
“Is this a feather-.”
Hippolyta, fearless as she was, touched a feather several centimeters long that had fallen on the floor.
“With feathers this big, I wonder how big the bird is. Was that a giant bird that was summoned from the summoning circle earlier?”
Hippolyte’s comment made me think of a really big bird. A bird that sheds feathers that are dozens of centimeters long. It’s really scary and terrifying.
However, as I progressed a little further into the darkness, I had no choice but to admit that my imagination was wrong.
The first thing I saw was something like a huge wall.
In this empty, dark wilderness, a barrier appears.
We couldn’t help but be bewildered by the appearance of this wall out of nowhere.
“Hey, you, wizard. Shine a light up here. Maybe there’s a way up.”
Hwaruk-.
At Antiope’s suggestion, Elfriede forms a fireball on the top of her wand.
“A feast of fireworks-.”
I knew about that too.
It was a magic similar to a flare that Elfriede used to shine light in dark places. It would rise high and explode, lighting up the surrounding area for a dozen seconds.
Pew pew pew.
Finally, a fireball is launched high above the cliff from the tip of Elfriede’s staff.
phut-!
When it exploded with a loud noise and illuminated the surroundings with a strong light source, we were all literally speechless and frozen.
What we thought was a cliff was actually a giant chair.
A chair that must be at least thirty meters high.
And on that chair sits something incredibly huge, chained to it.
A form that resembles a human. However, the skin seems to have been completely peeled off, revealing horribly red muscles, and on top of that are crudely attached iron plates.
Behind the creature’s back were huge wings as large as its body, and the scattered feathers gave it a very ominous appearance.
A giant angel.
That was my first impression.
“What the heck is this? Is this a Titan imprisoned in Erebor…?”
“Sister, I don’t think that’s right. The Titans were thrown into Tartarus, not Erebor.”
Antiope and Hippolyte also seemed to have no idea about this guy’s identity.
One thing was certain: no matter who this guy was, it was not going to be a good thing to get involved with.
It seems like he’s asleep, but if this guy wakes up and starts causing trouble, it’ll be nothing short of a disaster.
What a fucking size, it doesn’t feel real.
Isn’t this a bit too far?
As I was examining this huge body with eyes full of fear, I noticed something odd. There was something between the guy’s legs, under the chair.
Slurp-.
However, when I tried to take a closer look at it, the flare that Elfriede had set off lost its light and died down. This left me no choice but to go and see it for myself.
“Where are you going, Samaritan?”
“There, there’s something. Between my legs, something sparkled.”
“for a moment.”
So, as I was about to take a step towards it, Hippolyta stopped me. She put her palm to my forehead as if she doubted my rambling explanation.
And then he even shines the torch here and there into my eyes.
“You don’t seem to have any mental issues, but you speak strangely.”
Subal, I didn’t originally have a lot of room for words, but I never thought I’d be misunderstood like this again.
“Anyway, there was something strange over there. I’m sure I wasn’t seeing things wrong.”
As if my persuasion had worked, we eventually headed to the area between the legs of this giant monster.
When we reached the center of this huge chair, where the guy’s legs were tied like a pillar, we could see letters that were flashing with a rather strange light.
Glowing letters.
No, upon closer inspection, they were not glowing letters, but bugs similar to fireflies. The bugs that emitted light on their tails were attached at regular intervals and in shapes to form letters.
Dimension Gate
Dimensional gate?
What does this mean?
Elfriede’s expression brightens just then.
“This, this is Edwin’s mark. A dimensional portal. Edwin must have opened a dimensional portal somewhere in the wall here.”
“Dimensional gate?”
It was Antiope who responded to those words.
“A spell that twists between the law lines to open a door? Your party members were able to use that? It’s a spell that only one person in the Knights Templar can use.”
“Edwin is a court scholar. Anyway, there must be a recipe somewhere here. He must have gone through there to get to other places.”
Hippolyte also says something to those words.
“Okay, then let’s look around. What does the dimensional gate’s law circle look like?”
“If you touch it with your palm, it will glow.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to invest some time. But it’ll be a big harvest.”
The expressions of all the party members brightened, perhaps because they had discovered a little clue in the darkness. My eyes were not deceived.
As I was scanning the wall of this huge chair with that feeling, I could see strangely-feeling letters engraved in front of my eyes.
Is this a dimensional gate?
However, it doesn’t look like a magic circle or a trace of sorcery, it’s just letters.
Guardian of the task, Gnosis Augeas – and three others. Seal the otherworldly monster Nephilim here. Third failure. Erasing the records of the abyss -.
After that, something was written, but the letters were so jumbled that I couldn’t understand them.
“Antiope, where are you, can you see anything?”
“No, there isn’t any.”
“It takes time to find it like this. Wizard, can you perhaps use that lighting spell again to turn on the light?”
“It’s not difficult.”
Huruk, huruk-.
Soon, the flames that had been rekindled rose high into the air and exploded with a bang.
However, I, who was just watching it, couldn’t help but be really surprised.
Flash.
The guy sitting on the giant chair had huge red eyes. Weren’t his eyes closed just now?
Shit, I think I’m going crazy.
Kwarur, charur-.
Also, the chains and armor that restrain the guy’s body start screaming loudly.
I could tell that the thing was waking up from some kind of sleep or seal and trying to attack us.
Grrrrrrrr…!!
The creature opened its mouth wide like a crayfish’s, revealing countless sharp teeth in a double jaw.
What a fucking horrible sight.
Ka-ching, kachi-ching-!
Not only that, the guy even manages to pull out the chains that are entangled around his body.
Ghhhhhh-!!
A giant who must have been half a hundred meters tall was looking down at us and screaming.
It’s so noisy that I miss the darkness that was so quiet and still just a moment ago.
“Hey, wizard! It’s because of you that I woke up! Hurry up and apologize to that guy! Why are you waking up a sleeping child!”
“Is this the time to be talking about that? Are you crazy? Shouldn’t you run away or knock him down?”
Paaaaat-!
At that moment, the guy spread the wings on his back wide to the left and right.
The already large creature spreads its wings like that, and it feels like a huge apartment building is looking down on us, sending a chill down my spine.
“This won’t work, I have to knock it down!”
“Sister, I’ll take the right side! Wizard, you prepare a big one!”
“I would have done that even if you didn’t say anything?”
But Hippolyta, Antiope, and Elfriede seemed to be thinking of fighting that guy. Is it possible for a person to fight an apartment?
On the one hand, I felt respectful of where such confidence came from.
Gh …
However, the mysterious giant monster let out a roar so loud that it seemed like my eardrums would burst, and then it flapped its wings with all its might and jumped high into the air.
Paaaaaaaaaa-.
Just once.
With just one flap of its wings, a huge gust of wind was created, and I felt like an ant flying in a typhoon.
Of course, I managed to avoid being swept away because I had used all my strength in my legs and molars, but it was still a very scary gust of wind.
“… Did it go? Did it go? It flew up.”
Hippolyta looking up at the sky, straightening her posture.
At this Antiope growled like a truly aggrieved person.
“Oh, if I had known this would happen, I would have wrapped a rope around that guy’s leg. Then we could have climbed up together!”
What the heck, I was scared for nothing.
Is it the end?
However, I felt a chill on the back of my neck, making my thoughts seem meaningless.
“… Oh, it’s coming… !”
“Coming? Samaritan, what do you mean coming?”
“Fuck, it’s coming from above again! It’s coming again!”
“What are you talking about-.”
“Here it comes again, fuck!”
“We have to trust Hassan’s words now! That guy has a good instinct!”
Elfriede seemed to believe my words, and she lowered her posture slightly, regaining the composure she had just regained. She seemed to be preparing herself to move at any time.
Hippolyte and Antiope also take up arms, perhaps because their vigilance has been reawakened by that attitude.
When we were so alert.
Kwaaaaang-!
Something came hurtling towards us again. What do you mean by “hurry”? In this case, the word “missile” would be more appropriate.
Perhaps due to the impact of the overwhelmingly large body hitting the ground, a wind pressure and shock wave of a different dimension from the flapping of wings earlier swept through the surrounding area.
“Geueuugh-!!”
A storm so powerful that it literally makes you scream.
As it cleared and my eyes adjusted to the darkness, what I saw was a monster holding a giant streetlight.
What a giant streetlight.
Even though I described it, it’s still incredibly strange.
When I saw the strange blue light shining from the thing that looked like a stone the guy was holding, the only thing that came to mind was a streetlight.
Of course, it couldn’t have been more hideous, since its length was similar to the guy’s size.
“That guy didn’t run away, he was coming with a weapon! Sister, we have to fight!”
[Work Review] There are two more…
