'Release'
Ten Jet Dragonfly came out of Summoner cards and buzzed. As they were picking up speed, Orca's words came to my mind.
— You can understand us! You know we aren't the mindless monsters you humans make us out to be! We are also living and breathing beings, like your species! How can you slaughter us as if we are livestocks! —
— Wasn't it enough? You killed thousands of our brethren! Yet, you are going to cause the death of tens of thousands more… Y-you murdered everyone… even after they begged for their life… —
— It is you who is the monster! —
Back then, I acted as if those words meant nothing to me. The truth was different, however. Those words shook me deeply. They left a deep impression on me, whether I liked that or not.
If I opened the entrance of the Labyrinth, thousands of sentient monsters would die.
I would help the monster tribes fight the monsters from the labyrinth and minimize their deaths, ultimately fulfilling the promise with Orca. This was the best I could do with the current situation.
But was my choice correct?
I closed my eyes and thought deeply, 'I'm being hypocritical. I've killed thousands of monsters already. Backing down here won't change anything. I need to keep moving forward.'
Besides, in a way, I was the cause of death of the 8 billion lives in my previous world that Melione destroyed.
Yet, Orca's words refused to leave me alone.
'Just why, why am I feeling this way?'
I wasn't feeling sorrow, sadness, regret, or misery. No, being the cause of countless deaths, I was feeling…
Nothing.
There wasn't an ounce of regret in my heart. In fact, I simply rationalized the deaths of those 8 billion lives as them being unlucky. They were unlucky to be born in the same world as me.
Did I become heartless after my 2nd life? Or was this my original personality?
I didn't know. My mentality in 2nd life was skewed intentionally to maintain the balance that my Summoner blessing threatened to destroy, or so I was told.
And I'd long forgotten my original – 1st life – to make any conclusions about what I once was.
My rational side knew that my current actions were wrong and life shouldn't be taken lightly, yet the countless deaths didn't cause a single ripple in my heart.
'Forget it. I need to destroy the entrance. Even if that choice would result in more deaths, that is the only way to resolve this situation.'
Morality didn't matter. My choices won't be wrong. After all, right and wrong were decided by the winners in life.
I got ready to command my summons, "Jet Dragonfl—"
Suddenly, the ground shook. Faint tremors appeared and caused me to lose my footing.
No noise followed the tremors. This meant they came from afar. But, out of the 3 Grandmasters in the forest, no one could use such an attack that would leave shock waves for hundreds of meters.
"What was that?" muttering under my breath, I swiftly rode the hound wolf beside me. "Run to the top of the tree."
The wolf howled and jumped. It ran on the vertical bark as if it was moving on a straight road.
'Please don't be Jae-sung, please.'
I prayed earnestly.
Jae-sung should be under the after-effects of <Limit Break>, he would be weaker than me right now. But I knew better than to use common sense with that overpowered gamer.
We reached the top of the tree, where the nest of Griffin was, and I scanned the Forest. "What the…?"
A scene straight out of a fantasy novel was presented to me.
The forest covered in blazing crimson fires. Pillars of moonlight peeking through the dark clouds. A mighty monster with the body of a lion, head of an eagle and majestic wings was roaring furiously.
Clashing against the Griffin was a human clad in azure blue flames. He was dodging the Griffin's attacks by jumping from one treetop to another.
Each time he swung his sword, massive white arcs flew out. The energy behind those attacks caused my heart to palpitate even though we were thousands of meters apart.
It took me a few seconds to digest the information. 'The Griffin returned and surprise, surprise, Jae-sung is using <Limit Break> even though it should be in cooldown.'
'Did that idiot have a Skill cooldown removal item!?'
The urge to curse was never stronger.
With <Limit Break> Jae-sung's current combat ability should be comparable to a half-step Saint rank. The Griffin stood no chance.
Krieee—!
'Hmm? Why can I hear the Griffin's roar? It shouldn't be possible at this distance.'
Krieee—! Krieee—!
Now, I could hear wings flapping faintly. Something weakly tugged at my leg. I looked below. A monster, that was one-fifth of my size, was fluttering its wings and pecking at my leg.
'Ah, it's a baby griffin.'
The baby Griffin stopped flapping and fell down, out of the nest, as if strength left its body.
"Go down!" The wolf rushed downwards and I hurriedly caught the small monster in my embrace before it fell to its death.
It was hot, the body of the baby griffin was searing. It growled weakly at my touch and tried to peck me again.
'This condition, it's mana overload. I'm sure of it.'
The signs of mana overload were easy to identify. It was a condition that occurs when you use mana too much in a short span of time.
Mana was similar to the life force, but different, too. Unlike life force, our mana reserves can refill themselves automatically. But if your mana reserves hit rock bottom or dangerously close to that, it causes Mana Overload.
The ailment is life-threatening, and it reaped many lives in the past wars and Labyrinth expeditions. Now, every knight and mage is ordered to carry Mana Overload medicine on them all the time.
'Wait a second, could it be…'
I turned to the Griffin fighting against Jae-sung. Looking closely, it seemed as if the Griffin was trying to take Jae-sung away from its nest.
'The Griffin leaving the forest suddenly and targeting human villages, while its child is afflicted with mana overload.'
It was clear as day.
'The Griffin wasn't attacking the human villages. It was searching for medicine for its child.'
As soon as I understood that, I decided. "Rush to the area where the Griffin is fighting."
The hound wolf howled and started running at frightening speeds. At the same time, the ten Jet-Dragonflies were following behind.
I finally found the way out of this situation. I needed to save Griffin and its child. After that, the overlord of the forest would stop the war by itself.
But I needed to hurry. If Jae-sung was using <Limit Break> again in the midst of the enemy territory that meant one of two, he either has one more Skill cooldown removal item, or he is close to leveling up.
Leveling removes all fatigue and skill cooldowns for Jae-sung. It also refills his mana and stamina and gives him free stat points to invest.
'Don't die before I reach there…'
