THUD—!
The wind roared, catching the goblin Puck off guard. He was blown away like a dancing kite and slammed into a nearby branch. The branch bounced him off, making him wince in pain.
He tumbled several times between the branches. Before he could spread his wings, he was caught by another gust and sent plummeting toward the muddy ground, landing in an undignified heap.
Unexpectedly, a dark shadow enveloped him. A cold, hard hand reached down, scooped him up, and held him in its palm.
"Huh?" Puck struggled, caught again. He shook his head, a little dizzy, looked up, and realized he had been caught by a man in knight's armor.
But when Puck looked up, he saw that the knight's head was a skull!
"Ah! A gho—" Puck screamed, struggling desperately.
The skeleton knight paid no attention to Puck's cries. He simply wrapped his cloak around them both, using it like a wall to block the wind, and sheltered Puck.
When the wind died down, he lowered his cloak and straightened up. Then he opened his hand and let Puck fly out with some difficulty.
In truth, the skeleton knight had visited the Island of Fairies many times. But he always kept to himself. Most of the fairies worshiped the former Fairy Queen and would turn away and leave when they saw him—all sorts of misunderstandings. He had never encountered Puck, a resident of the Island of Fairies, before.
Puck was also quite naive. He didn't even know how significant the lord of his fairy island, the Snow King Hanafubuku, was, let alone the rarely seen skeleton knight.
So, at this point, they miraculously did not know each other.
Puck, feeling he had escaped death, flew up into the air and was about to turn and make a face. But when he saw the skeleton knight not even looking at him, just staring at the serpentine tree monster, he couldn't help but find it a little strange.
Didn't the elders say that skeletal monsters are evil beings that specialize in attacking living creatures like us? Why does this skeleton not seem interested in me? Did the elders lie to me again? Or is it not a skeletal monster?
Right... It seems to have a fairy aura. If it has a fairy aura, how could it be attached to a skeletal monster? Something's not right, is it?
Puck muttered to himself, glancing curiously at the skeleton knight. Then he followed the skeleton knight's gaze and looked in that direction.
With that look, he saw the serpentine tree monster just rising. A black arc of light flashed past, piercing the snake-headed tree monster's head!
FWOOSH—!
The snake-headed tree monster's head snapped back, and it fell, raising clouds of smoke and dust, then rolled over.
Nidhogg, clad in his Confessor Set, rode Torrent and emerged from the smoke. Torrent's four hooves leaped into the air and landed lightly on the ground.
"Putrid Tree Spirit"—that was the invader he and the skeleton knight were dealing with tonight.
They had hurried back to the Kingdom of Midland from the Spirit Tree Pavilion. It had taken them less than a month, and they had encountered invaders up to tonight.
The Putrid Tree Spirit had suddenly risen from the soil beneath the camp where they were resting, attacking them both. Of course, its main target was Nidhogg.
Nidhogg had already informed the skeleton knight about this. The golden brand would certainly bring him great benefits, but it would also attract powerful invaders from beyond.
The skeleton knight easily understood this situation. After all, the sacrificial demon-subduing ritual also attracted endless monsters. It was similar.
So when the Putrid Tree Spirit attacked them, both remained very calm and quickly launched a counterattack.
Under their combined assault, the Putrid Tree Spirit was severely damaged and was forced to unleash a holy light burst, trying to take them all out in one wave.
But Nidhogg knew the Putrid Tree Spirit's patterns. He had, of course, reminded the skeleton knight that it might pull such a trick.
So when it actually tried to explode, both quickly evacuated and escaped the blast unscathed.
After that, it was the skeleton knight who noticed Puck, the fallen goblin. Though he didn't know him, Puck was, after all, a goblin. So he rode over and caught him.
And Nidhogg, after the Putrid Tree Spirit self-destructed, seized the moment when it was at its weakest—before it could launch its next round of attack, heavily wounded—and struck with Bloodhound's Fang. The blow was fatal!
The Putrid Tree Spirit was defeated and quickly dissolved into specks of light, leaving Nidhogg with only two rewards.
「Spirit Ashes」 "Oleg the Lost Knight"
「Item Enhancement」 Flask of Crimson & Cerulean Tears +4 (Restores HP/FP, Recovery +4, now usable 10 times)
The Flask gaining an extra use was good, but not the main thing. The main thing was the new spirit ashes.
Oleg the Lost Knight!
"He was once known as one of the wings of the Storm King. Later, he was chosen by the Blessed King to hunt countless traitors, thus earning the right to return as a hero."
He already had Ingvall the Lost Knight. Now he could assemble the wings of the Storm King.
In the future, the two "Lost Knights"—Oleg and Ingvall—would become his wings!
Besides, the second and third brothers were all there. Was the eldest brother (especially referring to the mimic tear) still far off?
At the same time, the growth progress of his golden tree, which had never moved, finally changed. It reached 5%.
It finally moved. If this growth progress had remained stuck, it would have been very difficult. Now it could finally progress.
Nidhogg turned his horse and headed toward the skeleton knight. Then he looked up at the point of light flying above the skeleton's head and stared at it, recognizing the goblin Puck.
At the critical moment during the fight with the Putrid Tree Spirit, Nidhogg had heard someone shout, but he had been too focused, and the Putrid Tree Spirit had made the earth tremble again, so he hadn't heard it clearly.
Now it seemed that Puck had been the one shouting.
But why was Puck here?
Nidhogg thought for a moment. Puck did have a reason to be here.
Puck had left the Island of Fairies before the Eclipse and traveled all the way to the Kingdom of Midland. He had joined a traveling troupe of performers. By chance, or perhaps inevitably, he would save Rickert, who was nearly killed by an Apostle.
It's just that, although Rickert could see Puck, he would scream in fear whenever he saw him, and afterwards, he dared not get along with him.
Puck called this a condition called "goblin phobia."
After that, before Rickert left, he received some goblin scale powder from the troupe leader. The source of the goblin scales was, naturally, Puck.
It was this encounter that allowed Rickert to use the goblin scale powder in time to help Guts and Casca, who were seriously wounded and dying after the ordeal of the Eclipse's brand.
Two years after the Eclipse, the traveling troupe was attacked by the bandits of Gaol Castle and nearly annihilated. Puck was captured by the bandits as a rare pet.
At that time, Guts was hunting Apostles. He had his sights set on the Snake Baron, one of the bandits, so he attacked them, delivered a war letter to the Snake Baron, and, incidentally, saved Puck.
By then, Guts was physically and mentally traumatized. Puck's appearance gave him a brief respite.
So, many things were truly connected.
Puck was quite surprised to witness Nidhogg's entire process of killing the huge monster. Thanks to his goblin instincts, he sensed that Nidhogg and the skeleton knight bore no ill will toward him. He couldn't help but descend.
"Who are you?"
Then, without waiting for their answer, he cleared his throat again and pretended to be serious:
"I haven't introduced myself yet! I am Master Puck of the Seventh Stage of the Fairy Dimension Stream! I think your swordsmanship is also very good, and there is room for growth. Do you want to join me and learn the Fairy Dimension Stream?"