Miles passed the log bridge without a problem. He thought there would be a surprise on it, but even the bouncing Jelly passed through safely, and from the way it was leading Miles, he could say Jelly was familiar with the place. So it probably used this bridge more than once.
On the other side of the bridge, there was a steep wall reaching all the way to the ceiling. Climbing wasn’t an option at all. Miles looked at the steep cliff and Jelly. “I don’t think we can go up there.”
“You pulled me here to take you there?” Miles asked after getting Jelly’s message. No monster in the cave was able to fly. Miles didn’t know if the monsters were coincidentally all terricole.
‘So, Jelly couldn’t ask for their help and pulled me since I could fly. It probably read my mind when we first encountered and got the information. It is too dangerous. I actually never thought of wing orbs until I reached the mountain!’
Miles looked at the pitiful monster and remembered the emotions he felt from it. It got separated from its mother and pulled Miles all the way here to reunite with her. So he wanted to help too. He still didn’t know if the feeling and urge to help were psychic influences of the monster or his own ideas, but his heart was asking him to help the poor monster, at present.
Miles asked Coin to charge the wings, and stone-like grey wings appeared on his back. They attached to his spine and he felt two new limbs appearing on his body. He willed it and started to fly. Because he was afraid to plummet back to the ground, he didn’t float too high, but after standing at three-meter height for more than ten seconds, he realized he could fly just fine.
Miles descended to the ground once again and landed beside Jelly. Since Jelly was a round monster, he couldn’t wrap his hand around it. So he tied a rope around its body without hurting it, he then floated with the monster.
Miles flew up and reached the top in a short few seconds. After all, the wings were fast, and the ceiling wasn’t that far. But when he reached the top, the scene in front of him wasn’t anything like he imagined. The cliff wasn’t connected to the ceiling but instead, there was an open area starting after the cliff. The open area wasn’t so large, it was pretty small but what caused him to be shell-shocked was the thing at the end of the open area.
Sunshine could be seen from the hole at the wall of the mountain. The hole itself wasn’t that big but it was big enough for him to see beyond it. There was a crimson sky beyond the hole and a giant head. The head was human-like with eyes and lips but no nose and no ear could be seen on the head. The hair on top of the head was white. Unblemished white. The face was beautiful although it was missing a nose and ears. But the similarity was the real reason why Miles got shocked.
The monster beyond the hole looked a lot like Jelly, except Jelly wasn’t humanoid at all. It was a round, jelly-like monster with no ears and no nose. Miles looked at the monster beyond the hole. He could only see its face, but the face was angry, lost, desperate. There was quaking on the platform he was standing on. Miles looked at the mountain wall and noticed the monster was the source of the quaking. The whole mountain was shaking.
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The giant monster beyond the wall was punching the mountain, trying to pass through it to find its baby. But the mountain was standing tall, not even a rock fell from the mountain after thousands of similar attacks. Miles landed with the Jelly and Jelly looked at the face over the hole. All of a sudden
the punches stopped and quaking was gone. The face on the other side of the hole looked inside and its eyes locked with Miles. It only lasted for a single second, but Miles felt like his every cell was under constant threat of annihilation. He felt death was upon him, and with a single thought of the monster, he would cease to exist.
Bloody hell appeared in his visage. Death and carnage, the smell of blood and putrid, helplessness and desperation… He felt weak and puny. What that pair of eyes felt to him was worse than anything he had seen before. Not even the Evil-Rank monsters he had seen earlier had threatened his life like this. When he was facing those monsters, he felt as if he could run if he were to put his all, but now, all he could do was wait for death. That pair of angry and desperate eyes brought too much emotion.
What kind of a notion was that? He would vanish with a thought. How strong was that monster!
Miles felt his back was wet with sweat. He was shivering uncontrollably and his legs begged him to run away. But his reason kept his legs steady. Monster’s eyes move away in a single second and lock with Jelly’s. They looked at each other for a long time. Maybe it was because Miles felt it was long.
After a time, Jelly once again started to bounce towards the giant face. Jelly arrived at the base of the mountain wall where the hole was and turned back to look at Miles. But Miles dared not to walk there. The giant head was still there, and he couldn’t muster his courage to walk there. But Jelly’s urgent messages appeared in his mind. It wanted Miles to bring it up into the hole. Miles looked at the giant head and Jelly, after taking a deep breath he took a step.
One after another, he walked very slowly, but in the end, reached the base of the wall. His body was aching, and it felt like climbing on a mountain with regular human strength. Just the pressure alone was enough for Miles to give up and kneel on the ground, but he preserved. His will was tested with the dangerous breath around him. Luckily eyes weren’t looking at him anymore and only watched the cave.
Miles grabbed Jelly once again and started to float. But his wings couldn’t carry them to air. Miles thought it to be the aura, and not the gravitational force causing it. He closed his eyes and ignored the bloodlust around him. Focused on his inner breath and mustered his courage. Now he had to fly, he had to fly to the mother and deliver Jelly. Not because he was afraid of the giant monster, not because of anything else, but for only, he thought so. He felt so.
Miles’s wings flapped and he appeared in front of the hole, he pushed Jelly to the hole but the hole wasn’t big enough for it to fit. “How come you came from there but can’t pass through now?” Miles questioned the fat monster.
“What? You got bigger over time you fed on this side?” Miles was at a loss. He didn’t know how he should solve this problem.
“Can you do anything about it?” He asked once again, and an idea formed in Jelly’s mind. Its body started to shrank. In just a few seconds it was as small as a basketball now.
“You can do that? Then why didn't your mother do that and come to this side?” Miles questioned with a twitch.
“Oh, this is your innate ability, and your mother doesn’t have it. I see.” Miles nodded and placed Jelly to hole on the wall. Jelly bounced forward and jumped to its mother. Miles now could see the giant monster. It was a humanoid with two arms and two legs. There was a silver dress on her giant body. It was maybe five meters long, and except for missing a nose and ears, it looked just like a human. It held the now expanded-back Jelly in its hand and looked at it lovingly. Miles could see the monster's love for Jelly from those eyes.
As Miles was about to turn back, a voice appeared in his mind. “Wait, human!”