Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer



[OP: ]

Eon and the company walked on a dry landscape, their destination just ahead of them.

The creatures that resided around their land, or their land situated near the home of these creatures were visible to them, even though they were still quite a distance away.

This was their first time to actually see these creatures themselves and they sure were just as the books and illustrations depicted them.

Long legs and necks, a long wide beak curved at the end, dark red eyes that induced fear from just a look, and vivid colorful feathers covering their bodies that made them look even more dangerous. 

Everyone knew they should never get too close to creatures with vibrant colors, and red eyes as dangerous as theirs would definitely be enough to drive any normal person away.

But again, they weren't normal, and the way these creatures were flying or standing, or dancing with their partners was an attractive sight for all four of them.

"Let's-"

"We don't have to. They all will be our neighbors."

"Right…"

Rein had an excited smile as she looked at all those colorful creatures.

They were vibrant, they looked dangerous, they had sharp and dangerous beaks and sharper claws, and even a long neck that made their big heads seemed strangely intimidating. 

They perfectly fit her definition of 'cute' creatures. And they had adorable red eyes like her darling so, how can she not want to take them with her?

But, well, their future home was going to be right here so she didn't actually have any need to 'take' them with her.

"Big brother~. They actually are beautiful~! They have different colors even though they all look almost the same!"

Zoe saw things differently. And in her eyes, these colorful creatures were not as colorful as they seemed.

They were colorful, yes, but all of them had a unique color to them, and a very clear unique color that one can actually differentiate between if they see it properly.

They were unique and pure, so she liked all of them.

"They are creatures of magic, possess the power to control a unique element like some other special creatures. And every part of their body is a unique material, so they are prime targets for protected energy beast smugglers."

There was a helpless smile on Miss Moon's face, as if she had seen something terrible and pitied these creatures but, Eon had a positive smile, as if what she was thinking would never happen after they settle here.

"They are special creatures." Nodding at Zoe and Rein, they approached the area with the frontline of these colorful beasts.

"Hope they keep their calm when they see us."

Taking a deep breath, they approached the creatures, and though they had hoped with all their heart, when the flamingoes saw some unknown figures approaching them from a distance, their instincts kicked in and everyone seeing them was alerted.

[[ Intrudersssssssssssssss! ]]

A bigger flamingo among a group of shorter ones curled in his long neck, opened its colorful wings wide, extended the neck back as if gathering force, and screamed so loudly that his scream was audible even almost as far as the middle area of this flamingo territory. 

And when a similar tall flamingo heard that voice, he also did the same, cured in his neck and straightened it, releasing a scream that was heard till the area with another one of these tall flamingoes.

[[ Intruderrrrrrsssssssss! ]]

Their longer necks probably made them louder but as Eon, Rein, and Zoe understood what these creatures were saying, their tone, which was funny in a way, was enough for them to know what they weren't hoping was inevitable now.

"Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

There were hundreds of them and they all shouted in unison once they heard the emergency signal. And at the same time, many of them prepared their elemental skills to fight against these intruders.

And the intruder's response…

"You are lucky today." 

Eon looked at his dear fiancée that had a wide smirk on her pretty face with a frown.

He did not want this, he knew it was a possibility but he was sure once they sense Zoe, all of them, or at least their queen would stop and come out to greet her.

But instead of that, they considered them an enemy and were acting like in any situation they would sense an invader.

She wanted something like this to happen so that she could fight against those hundreds of flamingoes at once and have some actual fun.

She had a terrible luck that only shined when she really wanted or needed it and right now was one of those rare moments when something that shouldn't have happened actually was happening against the great odds.

It was a bad situation, which, for her, was nothing more than a fun opportunity. And, her totally excited smile was enough of an answer he needed.

"Don't kill any of them."

"Of course~!" And, she ran forward at the hundreds of elemental skills without any hesitation.

He shook his head at that fearless girl and called out Asta his partner arrow and Chip, the last of his nine favorite bows.

"Miss Moon, looks like you will be seeing some more of my archery." Eon smiled at them after saying that and nodded at Zoe, asking both of them to just stay there and watch the two of them.

Rein, while running towards the hundreds of skills, called out Nept, and just like always, a powerful stream of water flowed out from her hand and materialized in the form of a unique scythe.

And just like how she was in position, he also took his stance after commanding Asta to do a certain thing and throwing him high in the sky.

Then, he observed the incoming rain of skills carefully, and just when they were in the right range…

[[ "Go." ]]

He gave her the signal, and…

"Death scythe first unleash: Cage!"

In a swift movement, she finished a very complicated footwork and swung her dark Mana-covered scythe at all the spells as if hitting an incoming ball with her bat.

And, just after that brief moment, a net was created in the sky.

-Ooooooooooooong!

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish!

-Booooooooooooooooom!

A strange net of purple energy collided with all of those hundreds of skills in the sky and as if a trap catching a helpless animal, this cage bound all of those spells and exploded in the sky, creating a colorful explosion more beautiful and dangerous than the conventional fireworks.

Just this much was enough to wake up the slumbering queen, Eon knew that, so it was only a race against time now.

"Huuuu…"

He had more than enough faith in her to know none of these beautiful birds would die by her scythe today, but, he didn't know if they will knowingly or unknowingly get hurt too much.

He couldn't let that happen, or there will be complications so, he also took his stance for multifire pure physical archery, prepared his silver quiver, and switched the arrows to the special enchanted arrows.

He couldn't kill them, nor could he harm them so much that he would regret even engaging in this confrontation.

He could do little about Rein but she knew they couldn't die so, after clearing his mind and taking another deep breath, he looked at the creatures before him and prepared himself.

There were a total of three hundred seventy-two of them in this particular area. Rein would take care of almost a hundred and twenty of them, so, he had around two-fifty of them.

He could leave around a hundred and thirty of them that were too far away from them and would take a long time to even reach them so he was also left with a hundred and twenty of them that needed immediate attention.

If he fires three arrows at a time, he would be firing forty times, and if he took it easy and fired twice every second, he would be done in twenty seconds.

He can do it faster but considering the tempo of Rein's attacks and these flamingo's resistance, twice every second was enough.

And, He had sent Asta at the back so if anything happens here, he can tie down the ones at the back to stop them and distract their back lines with some fake things.

His little plan was prepared, so, he released the first batch of the three enchanted arrows that flew to the creatures a little further away from Rein and when they collided with them, they turned into a magic net that immediately put them to sleep.

"Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

It was a special enchanted arrow and they were more than enough to buy the needed time.

-Swish. Swish. Swish. 

And after that, he continued his barrage of arrows which mesmerized their Miss Moon, while Rein continued playing with the flamingos and their offensive skills, and knocked them out with a little bonk on top of their heads.

It was their weak point, but she only used enough force to put them to sleep so they weren't hurt much. However, there were hundreds of them, and some were good at fighting close combat too so sometimes, she had no choice but to defend herself with Nept or take the attacks with her body...

Thankfully, the clothes she was wearing had multiple layers of advanced protective enchantments so she wasn't hurt, but, some of the attacks were reflected back to them, which ended up hurting them.

Still, the rebounds weren't too severe, so they were pretty fine. But it sure was fun playing with them like this.

They were strong, and if she wasn't overgeared like she was right now, she sure would have loved fighting them even more properly.

And the creatures were also fighting back properly without hesitation.

They were intruders invading their homeland so they had to be driven out or more of their kin would be taken away like it happened in the past.

They couldn't risk it. They were also one of the rare creatures that considered their entire pack a family, and any young one their own children.

They were special in this regard, even more special than the bees and the ants. So, they fought back. 

Even though their other members were being caught in that strange net or were being knocked out by this strangely strong witch, they were fighting back for their remaining family. 

But… just when everyone was in the middle of what they were doing, a large shadow fell upon every one of them.

[[ Stop, everyone. ]]

A voice similar to these flamingos but strangely filled with power, warmth, and authority was heard throughout the vast area and Eon looked up with a relieved smile.

[[ They are not intruders. ]]

The one that would surely know of Zoe's identity just by being there was here now. The one that all these hundreds of flamingoes looked up to the most was here. 

At last, he could now breathe a sigh of relief. 

Though short, Rein did have her own fun so she was happy.

Moon was astonished by his archery but that surprise was nothing before the shock of seeing the creature standing above them with her own eyes.

And Zoe was surprised too. Not at the level and magnitude of the creature before them, but, the way her eyes perceived this giant bird with countless colorful feathers covering her body, and not red, but sky blue eyes that looked strangely attractive.

This creature, the queen of these flamingoes, was already beautiful, but in her eyes, which saw the truth of everything...

"Gorgeous~!"

The flamingo queen looked gorgeous in Zoe's eyes, and in the eyes of the flamingo queen, Zoe looked like the being she could not help but bow her head before.

So, she bowed her giant head before the queen of not just her kind, but all the kinds that the nature considered 'birds'.

She was feeling blessed to be in the presence of a divine being like her, and the one seeing this, the one that still considered Zoe a 'normal' person until a moment ago, could not help but bitterly laugh at her foolishness…