Ian, who had returned to Ollibus Village again after many twists and turns, immediately went to Ikaelâs house.
Ikael warmly greeted Ian, who had returned.
âThatâs right, I definitely think preparations are complete.â
After checking the pattern that was engraved on Lyâs forehead, Ikael wore a satisfied expression.
âYes. I think Iâve done everything that I can do.â
At Ianâs words, Ikael nodded his head.
âGood work, Ian. I should show you the place where Orvil is now.â
Ikael paused a moment to take a breath, and Ian waited patiently for his next words.
His words continued.
âOrvil is sealed at the top of Moonlight Peak.â
âMoonlight Peak?â
âThatâs right. Moonlight Peak is at the southernmost part of Forlas Plateau.â
Ikael, who paused to take a breath, opened his mouth again.
âHave you never seen the peak that rises above the clouds, which is so sharp itâs incomparable to any other peak?â
âHmmâ
There was a place that Ian roughly a.s.sumed was correct.
He already knew the geography of Forlas Plateau well because of Harinâs cooking ingredients.
âI think itâs that place that Harin and I needed to turn around from last time after trying to go up because there was no pathâ
Of course, he could go up if he just rode his Griffin, but at that time, because there was no reason to go up there like that, they had just pa.s.sed by.
âThen if I go there, will I be able to find Orvil right away?â
Ikael shook his head.
âNo, of course not. Wait a moment.â
After speaking, Ikael pulled out a small pebble that let out a dim light from his chest and handed it to Ian.
âIf you go up the peak and into the centre of the open s.p.a.ce at the very top, there is an altar that will go up to about your waist. If you stick this stone in the middle of that, the barrier that surrounded the whole peak will lift.â
Ian received the white pebble from Ikael and lifted it up.
The interesting thing was that he could barely feel a weight from the pebble.
âBut do you have a way to go up there? It wonât be easy to go up by climbing the wall.â
Ian nodded his head.
He had Pin.
âYes. I have a method, so you donât have to worry about that.â
âGood, good.â
âAnyways, by any chance, is there anything that I should be cautious of?â
âHmm Things you should be cautious ofâ
After thinking about it for a moment, Ikael spoke.
âFirst of all, youâll need to go as fast as possible.â
âHuh?â
Ikael pointed to the sky.
As it was the evening, they could see the round moon that hung high in the sky all by itself.
âThatâs because two days from now, it will be a full moon. Once itâs a full moon, all of Orvilâs abilities will increase by almost double.â
âI see.â
It was definite that he was an opponent that would be a burden to face just as is, but for his stats to increase double the amount.
âI need to finish this before then no matter what.â
Ikaelâs words continued.
âHowever, donât go this instant, but go after the sun rises tomorrow morning.â
âIâm a.s.suming he gets stronger when itâs just night as well.â
At Ianâs a.s.sumption, Ikael nodded his head.
âThatâs right. Itâs not necessarily that his stats become stronger at night, but he has an Inherent Ability that he can only use in darkness. If possible, fight him during the daytime.â
âWhat is that ability that youâre talking about?â
âItâs an ability called âDarkness Encroachmentâ that turns his whole body into pitch black fog. If Orvil goes into Darkness Encroachment state, it nullifies 70% of the attacks received.â
âAhâ
Ian, who heard those words, grumbled to himself.
âI have no idea how long the duration is, but isnât this a fraud skill? Can I get this skill somewhere? This Darkness Encroachment or whateverâ
Ian, who heard a couple more matters that he needed to be careful of afterwards, firstly moved towards Forlas Plateau.
He had no intentions to fight him immediately right now, but because he was planning on going right up to the location and log out to try to fight him right away after logging in tomorrow morning.
âOrvil or whatever, Iâm going to catch him quickly.â
âWhat? A festival?â
âYeah, a festival.â
âWhat does that have to do with me?â
While looking at Jinsung, who stared at him blankly with a puzzled expression, Yoohyun wore a dumbfounded expression.
âWhat do you mean what does that have to do with you, dude, are you not a student at this school?â
Jinsung slightly frowned.
âIs attendance mandatory? The time I spend attending cla.s.ses is a waste for me right now as well, so do I really have to attend such a thing?â
At Jinsungâs complaining, Yoohyun wore a troubled expression.
âWhat should I do? I donât know about the other guys, but I need to make Jinsung attend no matter whatâ
The festival went on for three days, and although there was a lot of different things going on, there was one event that Jinsung was absolutely needed for.
That exactly was the E-sports compet.i.tion that was opening on the second day during the track meet.
The E-sports compet.i.tion was an event where departments were ranked based on their score with a total of ten different types of games, and there was an awards ceremony depending on the highest-ranking departments, with the prize money and benefits being quite big.
âEven if we donât get the prize, the expectations of the professors is quite big as wellâ
As much as it was the first year that the department was formed, the professors were hoping for the existence of the VR department to become widely known in the school through the festival.
Yoohyun began to slowly persuade Jinsung.
âTheyâre doing a E-sports compet.i.tion on the second day at that festival, and if we win there, then a portion of scholars.h.i.+ps will come out for the next semesterâ
Had about ten minutes pa.s.sed like that.
At Yoohyunâs long and persistent persuasion, Jinsung eventually promised to come to the festival just on the second day.
âStill, since Iâm a little interested in the E-sports compet.i.tion.â
From hearing the explanation, there was not one game amongst the ten events including Kailan that Jinsung hadnât played.
With the intentions of playing the games from his past for the first time in a while, Jinsung also accepted Yoohyunâs suggestion.
After actually thinking about it positively, he was looking quite forward to it.
âYou could say all of the darkness cleared at this rate, right?â
Ian, who quickly ran home and logged onto Kailan as soon as his morning cla.s.ses ended, mumbled as he looked up at the sky once.
It was about 11 oâclock in the morning, and the sun was already high up in the sky.
âAlright.â
Amongst his Familiars, Ian summoned just Pin for now.
âPin, Summon!â
Kku-ruk- Kkuk-kkuk-!
Pin, who was summoned, happily flew up to Ian and sat down.
As he was now bigger in size than even Ian, he couldnât sit on his shoulders or anything like that, but Ian still thought Pin was cute.
âPin, please take me up to the top there.â
Kku-ruk-!
As Ian got on top of his back, Pin carefully began to flap his wings.
Flap- Flap-.
He wasnât as skilled in riding on Pinâs back yet, but still, compared to before, his posture had become more stable.
âPin, do you want to try flying with a little more speed?â
As if Pin was waiting for Ianâs words, he began to flap his wings faster little by little.
âUmph!â
At the strong wind that suddenly blew in front of him, Ian quickly lowered his posture.
âWhew, Pin is really fast once he starts gaining speed.â
As the wind that blew from the opposite direction was too strong, he thought that he could just fall like that at the slightest slip up.
âIf I fall from this height, then I will immediately fall to death.â
Ian moved the balance of his body here and there as he tried to adjust riding on Pinâs back.
And shortly after, he was able to step foot on top of the incredibly high mountaintop.
âWhen you look at it from the bottom, it looks really sharp, but coming up here now, itâs quite s.p.a.cious. Thatâs a relief.â
From Ianâs perspective, where he needed to manage multiple Familiars, it couldnât help but be unfavourable the narrower the s.p.a.ce.
It was even more so at a place where it was immediately a thousand-mile cliff if they broke away from each other.
Ian summoned all of his Familiars.
And from his chest, he pulled out the pebble that he received from Ikael.
âSo, this is the key that will lift the seal, huh?â
Ian strode up to the centre of the empty s.p.a.ce.
And just like Ikael said, an altar-like thing that was short in height was there.
And as he approached it and checked the top of it, Ian was able to know the place that the pebble went into right away.
âIt must be here, right?â
As he placed it in a small, round, groove-like place, the pebble rolled and was sucked into a place like a helix-type hole in the middle of the altar.
Keu-Keu-Keung-!
As a mechanical noise rang out from within the altar, Ian became slightly nervous.
However, as nothing else happened, he wore a fl.u.s.tered expression.
âHmm?â
However, just then
A white light began to ooze out from within the altar.
Whoong-!
âWhat the h.e.l.l? The seal is not lifted but invoked?â
Something was a little weird, but Ian, who checked the system message, took a couple steps backwards.
âEverybody prepare for battle!â
As he did so, in the next moment, a completely unexpected phenomenon began to arise.
Crack- Cra-cra-crack-!
Beneath Ianâs feet, it began to crack.
âWhat the h.e.l.l is this?â
And didnât the high-rising mountaintop begin to collapse downwards?
Thud- Thu-thud-!
Ian couldnât help but firstly Summon Release Ddukdae.
Ly, Lake, and Halli could ride the collapsing boulders here and there and not fall, but in Ddukdaeâs case, not only was his Agility too low to do that, but he was too big in size.
âDdukdae, Summon Release!â
Ian, who Summon Released Ddukdae, hurriedly got on Pinâs back.
And he diligently watched the Familiars, who jumped around frantically on top of the collapsing altar.
It was in order to immediately Summon Release them if they looked like they were going to even accidentally fall.
Ba-ang- Bang-!
As the giant peak collapsed, incredibly loud booms and clouds of dust spread out in every direction.
However, even despite that, Ian couldnât lose his mind.
âSince the seal has been lifted, the Orvil will definitely appear from somewhere!â
It was a situation where it was truly a relief that he could ride on top of Pin.
Ian eventually couldnât help but be forced to even Summon Release Lake, who was unable to move as nimbly as Halli or Ly and was falling between the boulders.
âWhew, this is a big problem. To have to fight Orvil without Ddukdae or Lakeâ
And had about ten minutes pa.s.sed like that?
The peak that had completely collapsed to the point that even its shape was unrecognizable had become a giant hill made of piles of stones.
âPin, let me down.â
And Ian also came down from Pinâs back and stepped foot on top of the pile of stones.
âNo, but when exactly is Orvil coming out?â
It was at that moment.
Whoong-!
As a bizarre sound rang out, incredibly strong beams of purple light began to be sucked into the middle of the pile of stones.
Kwaah-.
With a dazed expression, Ian watched that scene.
This was because the beams of light that were being sucked in from every direction was presenting a grand sight much like a meteor shower.
The beams of light gathered in the middle of the boulder pile and formed a giant sphere.
And in the giant sphere of light, a dark shadow began to faintly appear.
âIs that Orvil?â
Just when Ian was about to strengthen his eyesight and check the ident.i.ty of the dark shadow within the light, the rays of light burst out in every direction while letting out a loud boom.
Ba-ang-!
The boulders that flew out in all directions because of the explosion continuously smashed into Ian and his Familiars.
It wasnât a large amount of damage, but as his Vitality was cut down even before the battle began, Ian frowned.
âd.a.m.n it, what the h.e.l.l?â
However, that wasnât the end.
Awhooo-!
A giant shadow rose from the spot where the pile of stones burst out from.
As Orvilâs howl rang through the air, a shock wave exploded out in all directions.
Pung-!
Ian shouted before he even realized.
âNo, what kind of crazy damage is this?!â
Ly had gone into a critical condition from just one hit.
Because Halli and Pin didnât have as paper-like bodies as Ly, they still had over half of their Vitality left, but they had still definitely received a huge amount of damage.
And lastly, a system message that was just one line long additionally popped up.