We return to the village where the high elves are resting, and they peek over our way.
I don’t feel animosity from them, more like curiosity. And I feel like they’re thankful too.
But they still don’t say anything, and I’m thinking it might be because they’re not good at dealing with people.
“Is Nidhogg secure…?”
“It’s in the darkness prison, but there’s no sign that it will break out or anything.”
Asks Brynhildr, the only one who has been with us, with a concerned tone, so I try to reassure her.
Katima also said it was impossible to escape from a darkness prison, so I assume it will be fine.
Even the fire and earth great spirits couldn’t do it.
And I would know if it somehow broke out, so I want her to be sure of that.
She breathes a sigh of relief, and goes over to the other high elves to explain what’s going on.
“If the darkness prison works, you should’ve thrown the stags in there too.”
“But if I make those in multiple places, high elves might stumble into them, so I have to be careful.”
Unlike Storage Magic, I can’t just make it appear and disappear at will when there are things inside, so there would be darkness prisons here and there.
Nidhogg is near the roots of Yggdrasil, in a place where people won’t stumble into it, and in the sky for good measure. If it was at the center of Yggdrasil, someone might stumble into it.
And since I can’t just take one person out of it, I would have to let everything out.
“But thankfully, neither the stags or Nidhogg hurt the high elves.”
“All that’s left now is Víðópnir’s, but I heard it just sucks magic energy and doesn’t move, so…”
As I talk with Elga, I hear screams coming from outside.
We rush out of the tent, and see a bird bigger than a dragon attacking the high elves.
“Wha…!?”
“Hey Arata! Let’s go help!”
Elga is a great warrior that protects the divine beast people’s village, so he jumps into action while I’m taken aback.
“Oooooraaaaa!”
Elga hits the giant bird, and it breaks several trees as it’s thrown far away. But it doesn’t look like that dealt damage, as it seems to be going to attack the high elves right after, but then looks at me.
It suddenly changes direction towards me.
“Arata!”
“It’s all right!”
I jump to avoid involving the high elves in its path, land between them and the giant bird, and catch it.
“All right!”
I feel more power than when I caught the emperor boar, but I can stop it.
If Elga’s attack didn’t work, I think it’s safe to assume this one can’t take damage either. So rather than flinging it away, I’ll just push it and…
“Darkness prison!”
I throw the bird in it like I did with Nidhogg.
It lets out a weird sound, but I show no mercy, and it disappears into it.
“Ahh…”
“Hey, good job.”
“Thanks, but what was that…?”
I ask, but healing the injured high elves comes first.
There don’t appear to be any casualties, but I felt that bird was stronger than them, so it might have killed people if it was left alone.
“You even caught Víðópnir…”
Says Brynhildr as she approaches me, while the high elves help each other.
That tells me that bird was the last of the beasts threatening Yggdrasil.
“Thank you father. Now we can help Miss Miriel and the others.”
“But wasn’t that bird stuck to Yggdrasil? How come it…”
It clearly changed direction the moment it saw me too.
“I don’t know… Nidhogg should be impossible to pry from Yggdrasil, so many unprecedented things are happening…”
I hope nothing bad happens, but for now at least, we managed to catch the beings sapping magic energy from Yggdrasil.
“So what about the great spirits like Snow?”
“They are supposedly one with Yggdrasil, supplying magic energy. But now its natural recovery will be able to catch up, so they should be out in less than a day.”
I relax my body without thinking, and Elga catches me.
“I see…”
“That’s nice.”
“Yes. Thanks Elga.”
The four stags are still out there, but the high elves should be able to do something about it. And if it comes to that, I can throw them in a darkness prison.
For now at least, there are no beasts threatening Yggdrasil or the high elves.
“Can we wait here until Snow comes back?”
“Of course. But we might not have a place for a human to sleep…”
“Hahaha, it’s fine. I’ve camped before, and the vegetation here makes it easy to sleep.”
The high elves don’t sleep on beds or futons. Apparently they lean against trees or sleep in giant flowers.
Sometimes they dig holes near trees to protect them from the rain and wind, so it really feels like a fantasy world to me. But when I really think about it, this way might be more natural.
“Then I’ll go tell Reina Snow’s safe.”
“Thanks Elga.”
“Ou.”
Elga leaves, and so does Brynhildr, to talk to the other high elves.
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Thanks for the treat.