Muddy Land, Lord of Crows

Gelman encountered quite a few novel sights along the way.

A compound-eyed insect so enormous that several airships put together would not compare buzzed overhead.

Tiny black dots like fireflies skimmed past his feet, occasionally igniting little flickers of flame.

Plants that seemed familiar yet twisted and bizarre reached toward him with thorny vines, withered branches, plump fruits, and strange drifting pollen.

Following the north indicated by his compass and adhering to the principle of "don't stop carelessly, don't touch carelessly," Gelman continued onward.

After climbing a small slope, he finally left the wilderness.

Before him, a stretch of brownish-yellow reeds emerged from the open land, spreading endlessly to either side.

These reeds grew as tall as trees in the human world, rooted in a field of gray mud.

Gelman glanced at the pocket watch he had deliberately brought along.

It showed that he had been walking for half an hour.

Thus, he decided to rest briefly before the reeds and took out compressed biscuits and a water bottle.

After taking a sip of water, Gelman opened Memo on his completely signal-less phone and recorded his observations in concise words.

"Human world time: 1:00 a.m., January 14. Proceeded due north from Arid River Valley. After half an hour, took a brief rest in Muddy Land. Along the way, observed..."

As his fingers rapidly tapped the keyboard in a steady rhythm, he suddenly sensed an unusual presence approaching quickly.

Turning his head, Gelman met the eyes of a crow.

This crow was about the same size as those in the human world, and its feathers were likewise glossy black.

However, it had several scarlet eyeballs, located on its head, belly, wings, and back.

At that moment, all of those eyeballs rolled about, staring in different directions.

Its gaze was vacant, yet all the more eerie for it.

It extended its short, sharp beak and pecked the Backpack beside Gelman once before drawing back.

Then, it tilted its head to study Gelman for a few moments before pecking the Backpack again.

It wants my Backpack?

Gelman vigilantly reached out, snatched the Backpack back, then rose to his feet and retreated several steps, watching the crow.

The several eyeballs of the Multi-eyed Crow blinked together, and it suddenly opened its beak and let out a strange caw.

The reed field, as calm as a lake and as tall as trees, responded less than two seconds after ripples spread from that cry.

The fluttering of wings came from deep within the reeds.

A great mass of black surged into the sky and flew over, like a locust swarm passing through, or rolling dark clouds.

Dozens of Multi-eyed Crows either landed upon the reed tips or circled above Gelman's head.

That meant hundreds of striking scarlet eyeballs were staring at him.

Gelman immediately realized that he had been surrounded by a flock of Multi-eyed Crows.

This was troublesome.

They cawed for a while, their cries deafeningly noisy.

The mixed flock of crows suddenly launched a dense assault.

They descended in a sky-covering mass, like a black net falling from above.

Whenever this net of crows descended upon a wild beast, it would take less than three minutes to peck its flesh clean.

Even the white bones left with scraps of meat clinging to them would be dragged by the crows into the bottomless Muddy Land.

Those bones and scraps of flesh would nourish the Muddy Land, making it more fertile and its reeds taller, allowing it to endure as the natural nest of the Multi-eyed Crow flock.

Gelman did not want to meet such an end.

The instant the flock swooped down, a bronze Flamethrower appeared in Gelman's hand.

Whoosh—

Flames like serpents spewed from the Flamethrower's narrow nozzle, engulfing and igniting the "dark cloud" surrounding him.

In an instant, the "dark cloud" turned into a brilliant "fire cloud."

[ ]

"Caw caw caw—"

The crows cried out miserably as the whooshing sound of burning played like a terrifying score.

More than half the crows fell in an instant like tiny fireballs.

The survivors also shrieked as they soared into the sky, cutting through the air and fleeing far into the depths of the Reed Forest.

That should have taken care of them, right?

Gelman stopped the Flamethrower.

He did not dare use it too much. Each use was like burning the aura stored within his body as diesel or gasoline, consuming an enormous amount.

Gelman nudged it again with the tip of his foot, kicking the charred lump of flesh at his feet that no longer moved and still smoked faintly.

He turned it over and inspected it. Those terrifying eyeballs had all closed.

He had heard that crow meat was sour and bitter, hard to swallow. He wondered if that was true.

Gelman had no intention of trying it himself.

He did not want to linger here. After glancing at the Muddy Land and the Reed Forest, he prepared to leave.

Suddenly, the area around the reeds fell silent.

There were no shrill crow cries, no chirping of unknown insects. In an instant, it was as if this place had become a barren wasteland.

A distant howl of wind came from the depths of the Reed Forest, forcing the tall reed stalks down to either side and revealing a muddy path.

Countless skulls, skeletons, and finger bones gradually rose from the gray mud, like beasts crawling across the ground, their hollow eyes staring at Gelman.

Something was coming.

Gelman had a premonition.

Then, it appeared in the depths of the Reed Forest.

It was a tall, burly Demi-human, draped in heavy black wings. Its face was hidden within chaotic shadows, with only the tip of a sharp beak faintly visible.

Crack.

Walking upright, its dark-red claws stepped upon the white bones of those buried here, crushing their fragile shells before pressing them back into the mud like an endless abyss.

Scarlet eyes opened across its head, neck, and abdomen!

With most of its body pitch-black, they looked like eyeballs peering out from a crack in the darkness.

The Lord of Crows slowly approached Gelman, stepping out of the Muddy Land and looking down at him.

Gelman noticed that among the densely packed eyeballs on its body, one had silently closed its eyelid, making it particularly conspicuous.

Before long, his left arm began to itch and twitch.

Sensing something ominous, he pulled up his sleeve and saw a small bulge on his elbow.

A damp slit split open there, and an eyeball protruded. It rolled twice from side to side before staring fixedly at Gelman.

Pressure +5

Gelman ignored the text notification manifested by the Hunter Badge, as well as the extra eyeball on his left arm.

He raised the bronze Flamethrower and blasted orange-red flames at the Lord of Crows with a roaring whoosh.

Normally, creatures with lots of fur were vulnerable to fire. The Gale Ripple Moths and the flock of crows had both been like that.

However, the Lord of Crows' wings were as thick as shields and could even block fire. Once it raised them, they stopped the flames from reaching it.

When it swung one of those wings, the flames instead gave off dull popping sounds and rebounded toward Gelman.

Gelman retreated in time, dodging the backlash of fire.

Since it consumed too much aura and was not very effective, Gelman dismissed the Flamethrower and switched to the Blunderbuss and Meat Saw he was more familiar with.

After slipping a small ball into the pocket of his Hunter Robe, he flung his Backpack far away. Then he circled the towering Lord of Crows for several steps, observing it cautiously.

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