#1281 Junior’s Adventure – Earth Power 

"Gyaaaaaaaa! It’s over! We’re all gonna dieeeeee!!!" 

Even Shaldot loses his cool and starts rolling around in sheer panic. 

"Please calm down!” 
"Fugyep!" 

I stop him mid-roll by stepping on him. 

"I have a request. Let me do it. Give me permission to stop that monster." 
"Hah?" 

Maybe caught off guard, Shaldot snaps back into some calmness. 

"Well, you don’t need my permission or anything… But Junior, are you serious? You think you can stop that giant monster? This isn’t about whether you’ll try or not, it’s about whether you can or can’t!" 

No. This is about that I must. 

The Terra Beast doesn’t have a will of its own. It’s a disaster, nothing more. 
The fact it’s heading toward the capital might just be coincidence. And it could change direction at any moment, the way a typhoon might shift its path. 

But if it doesn’t and hits the capital head-on... 
The devastation would be unimaginable. 

That’s why we have to stop it and keep the damage at zero percent while it’s still in the “maybe” stage. 

"But still… I mean, sure, Junior, you’re strong, so maybe there’s a sliver of hope…! No, no way! No matter how strong you are, one person can’t deal with something that huge!" 

He’s so restless... 
Of course, I don’t think I can handle the Terra Beast alone either. 

What did we do back in Farm Kingdom when one appeared? 

Mostly, Veil just blasted it away with dragon breath. 
Of course, I can’t breathe fire like Veil, and I can’t wipe an island off the map with forbidden magic like Sensei. 

I’m just a tiny person who can’t do much alone. 
Which is exactly why I need help. 

Friends I can count on in a moment like this. 

"Haaaaaaahhh...!" 

My thoughts seep into the earth, and in response, heads sprout from the ground. 
Then shoulders, chests, arms, legs, until their full bodies rise. 

Small girls. 
Lively girls with very long hair. 

Of course, they’re not human. 
They’re spirits. 

Spiritual beings that blend into nature and keep it running smoothly. 
They don’t have bodies, and normally you can’t see them, but with the right process, they take on form. 

And now, dozens of earth spirits appear at once. 

"Yaaay, it’s Juniorrr!" 
"What a coincidence to meet here!" 
"A fated encounter, yes indeedy!" 

Well, not coincidence. I did call them here. 

Spirits are nature. They’re everywhere, always watching. 
You just can’t physically perceive them unless you make contact or they choose to materialize. 

On the farm, they’d appear without me even asking. When I was little, they played with me every day. 
To kid-me, they were the best babysitters and precious friends. 
And they still are. 

"What are those little people? Monsters too?" 

Hibina stares, confused. 
She probably has no clue what I’m trying to do. 

Fair enough. I’d be just as confused if I saw this without context. 

"Uh-oh, dangerous guy incoming!" 
“Pattern Bwue!” 

The spirits notice the Terra Beast right away. 
Their instincts are sharp. 
Since it’s also born of the earth, they can’t just ignore it. 

"We need to return that thing to the earth. Spirits, will you help me?" 
"’Course we will, wike Toshiie says!" "Gotcha woud and cwear, wike Sukekiyo says!" 

The spirits agree without hesitation. 
Don’t mind the weird references. Better not to think too hard about them. 

"Junyaa? If this is summoning, wouldn’t calling that demon from yesterday be better than a bunch of kids…?!” asks Hibina. 

She must mean Rakshasa King Ravana. And sure, he’s dependable, but these earth spirits aren’t weak either. 

"Just watch. We’re about to launch some fireworks." 
"Fiwthy fireworkssss!!!" 

Thoom, thoom the heavy footsteps go. 
Each step louder, closer. 

Good thing it’s slow. That gives us time to prepare. 

I close my eyes and focus. 
The spirits do the same. 
Right now, we’re linking our minds and mana. 

The natural mana rising from the earth flows into me, ready for use. It’s all thanks to them. 

"…Hah!" 

Mana floods through me, so much it feels like my body will burst. 
At the same time, the spirits start their own preparations. 

"First stage, spin-up!" 
"Safety wock, weleased!" 
"Impact twigger, onwine!" 
"Aiming sequence, awigned!" 

My body, crammed with mana, is like a cartridge stuffed with gunpowder. If I unleash it all in one precise direction, it’ll launch like a bullet. 

"Wet’s go!" 
"Bwing it ooooon!" 

One spirit thrusts both arms forward, striking a Superman pose. 
I fire her, compressed mana blasting her off like a shell! 

This is the Farm God Fist secret art: Farm Spirit Cannonball! 

"I’m fwyiiiiiingggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!" 

Probably at Mach 4 or 5. 
The spirit, wrapped in dense mana, becomes a living bullet. 
With my mana propelling her, she’s transformed into a high-speed projectile. 

Nothing can withstand this! 

...At least, that’s what Dad said last time he explained the technique, anyway. 

The spirit shell slams into the Terra Beast dead on. 

ZBOOOOM! 

A deafening blast, and the monster’s entire upper body is blown away. 

"Impact confirmed!" 
"Direct hit confirmed!" 
"Second wound, spin-up!" 

Nope. 
We don’t need another shot. First one was enough. The target has been neutralized. 
Our mission here is complete. 

"That was fun! Cannonball game, yay!" 

The fired spirit happily zooms back to us. 

"So jewwy! I want a turn!" 
"Even a wollercoaster would be jeawous!" 
"Me next!" 
"Wait your turn, evewyone!" 
"Currently a 30-minute queue!" 

Wait, wait, wait, wait. 
This is not an amusement ride. Don’t turn it into one. 

Sure, blasting through the air at that speed must be thrilling, but firing them like machine-gun rounds would be catastrophic. 
Calm down, I’ll play with you later. 

"That huge monster... got blown to pieces...?!" 
"Junyaa…what in the world are you...?!" 

The adventurers are left dumbstruck. 
But the danger has passed. The capital won’t be trampled today. 

...Oh. 

Looks like we get a bonus from slaying it. 

"Huh? What’s this...?!" 
"Snow? No… golden snow?" 

Countless golden particles rain from the sky 
They look like snow, but they aren’t. 

They’re condensed mana crystals. 
The stuff that formed the Terra Beast. The dragon fertilizer had overloaded the land, and that excess energy erupted as a beast. 

Now that the Terra Beast is destroyed, the mana disperses and falls back to the ground. 
This land will brim with life. Crops here will thrive in abundance. 

Maybe that’s the true purpose of the Terra Beast. 
To release the surplus energy that can’t be contained in one land, sending it out in the form of a giant creature to transfer that power elsewhere. 

By doing so, nature keeps its balance, a kind of natural equalization of energy. 
Nature really is a well-thought-out system. 

Destruction is always followed by rebirth. 
That much is the same with natural disasters. 

That’s why Dad and the others never tried to completely wipe out the Terra Beasts. 
They serve a greater purpose.