novelraw Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Chapter 129
At the same time, Yuwon, who was still recovering from the injuries he’d sustained after defeating the River Serpent, sensed a disturbance among the Thunder Bird Tribe through his intuition.
“Hmm? This aura… it’s Terrien’s….”
Yuwon turned his gaze toward the distant place where Terrien’s energy could be felt.
“Well, well? Even Hastings now? Looks like Terrien and Hastings are up to something interesting….”
For a moment, Yuwon considered helping them—thinking perhaps his comrades were in danger—but soon shook his head.
“Well, they should be able to handle themselves. I doubt they’d even want me to interfere….”
Yuwon couldn’t always be the one to rescue his subordinates.
This time, he decided to trust his comrades. Instead, he focused more intently on his intuition, trying to sense how events were unfolding.
“This energy… it’s the Thunder Bird. It’s moving. And the one opposing it… must be Terrien.”
Feeling the Thunder Bird’s presence, Yuwon’s brow furrowed. As far as he knew, Terrien was no match for that creature.
“This is turning into a bigger deal than I thought… just in case, I’d better….”
Yuwon shifted his gaze from the direction of Terrien to the reptiles that accompanied him. Under his gaze, countless reptilian beasts came into view—crocodiles, snakes, lizards, even turtles.
Each of them, befitting the name of a monster, was several times to dozens of times larger than ordinary animals. With discipline gleaming in their eyes, they all fixed their gazes on Yuwon’s mouth.
“I’ve recovered enough to take care of myself without your protection. Don’t just linger here—go and see what’s happening. The Thunder Bird is no match for you, so don’t push yourselves. Be my eyes and ears.”
Though his words carried that intent, what actually left Yuwon’s mouth wasn’t in the Imperial language or the tongue of the Great Jungle natives—it was a subtle hissing noise, like that of serpents whispering.
The reptiles seemed to understand immediately, nodding as if acknowledging his command before slipping into the dense foliage and waterways of the jungle.
Sssrkk—
This was the change that had come after Yuwon defeated the River Serpent and became recognized as the king of all reptilian beasts in the jungle.
Yuwon’s intuition had already been abnormally sharp for a human, but now, anywhere his reptilian followers could see or hear, Yuwon could instantly perceive as if he himself were present.
Entrusting the task to his loyal subordinates, Yuwon’s heart felt lighter as he once again turned his gaze to the distance.
Boom—!
Far away, a surge of power erupted as Terrien and the Thunder Bird clashed, the waves of force reaching Yuwon’s heightened senses and sending rough ripples through his heart. Yet Yuwon didn’t panic.
“Why do I feel… that even though Terrien is clearly at a disadvantage, somehow, he’ll manage to bring that thing down.”
It was just a feeling.
At the same time, on the opposite side of the Great Jungle, Terrien Calmodet’s grueling battle against the Thunder Bird raged on.
Kyeeeehk—!
Whenever the Thunder Bird screeched, lightning burst from its gaping beak, striking down at Terrien.
“You damn…!”
Too fast to dodge after seeing it—Terrien evaded each time the creature’s mouth opened, moving instinctively before the strike landed. That instinct had already saved his life several times.
Boom—! Crack—! Boom!
Bolts of lightning slammed into the altar where Terrien had been standing moments before, shattering the stone and scattering dust violently through the air. Of course, mere debris like that couldn’t harm him.
‘The problem is… I can’t hurt it either. At this rate, I’ll just keep getting pushed back until I’m finished. I need something that can actually deal real damage….’
But even having that thought was a luxury in his situation. As Terrien’s focus faltered for an instant, the Thunder Bird unleashed another bolt toward him.
‘Tch! Too late to dodge!’
Realizing he couldn’t evade in time, Terrien gave up retreating and met the strike head-on. He clenched his sword tight, channeling all the mana he could muster into it, determined to repel the attack.
“Please…!”
At that moment, Terrien struck at the oncoming lightning, almost as if praying to a god he didn’t believe in.
Kwooooom—!
A blinding flash swallowed the world, followed by a deafening explosion. Fortunately, Terrien was still alive. His clothes had been reduced to blackened rags, but his body—protected by mana—was battered yet unbroken.
And then—
Crackle—! Crack-crack—!
“…!”
For just an instant after deflecting the Thunder Bird’s lightning, his sword had absorbed a flicker of that energy, crackling faintly with electricity.
The lightning vanished as the sword’s mana dissipated, but Terrien didn’t miss what had just happened.
‘That’s it! With this, I can compensate for my lack of strength and cut it down!’
Yuwon had built up tremendous mana by combining various elixirs and martial arts forbidden in this world, amplifying the sharpness and destructive power of his sword with magic. But Terrien was far from that level.
Even so, at this moment, Terrien had found a way to pierce the monstrous creature’s nearly indestructible body. A flash of determination lit his eyes.
‘It’s do or die. This is my only shot. I’ll bet everything I have on this!’
Intuition was a power normally reserved for monsters.
Terrien, who had learned and internalized that sense, now intended to make use of yet another beast’s power as his own.
He raised his voice, shouting boldly to draw the Thunder Bird’s attention.
“You beast! Look over here! I’m still alive!”
Perhaps it was irritation at seeing the man who’d survived its lightning, or maybe Terrien’s taunt worked—the Thunder Bird inhaled deeply, preparing a massive strike.
Terrien focused every ounce of his being into the tip of his sword.
‘A big one’s coming!’
He didn’t intend to dodge—he planned to turn the lightning back.
Planting his feet as if nailed to the ground, he fixed his gaze solely on the Thunder Bird.
Two seconds later, the creature exhaled, releasing a roar and a blinding torrent of lightning.
Kyaoooooohk—!
Terrien, too, raised his sword straight toward the creature’s open beak. And then—
‘I’ll stake everything on this one strike!’
Flash—!
As Terrien swung his sword with all his might, lightning split the dry sky. But unlike before, there was no deafening explosion. The Thunder Bird blinked in confusion at the odd silence.
Slash—!
The lightning that Terrien had deflected cleaved through the Thunder Bird’s two wings in a perfect, clean line.
Kkiieeeeeek—!
The divine creature of the Thunder Bird Tribe—the one that stirred the winds with its mighty wings and rained thunder through its enormous beak—was now crashing down before the very eyes of its own people, its wings broken.
Kuwaaang—!
Having soared so high it seemed to pierce the heavens, the Thunder Bird now plummeted at a terrifying speed, striking the ground with a roar that shook the earth.
The Thunder Bird’s fall—or rather, its downfall.
The native tribespeople of the Thunder Bird Tribe, who had been watching the scene below, screamed in horror.
“Ah…! No…! Lord Thunder Bird…!”
The golden feathers that had once shimmered with divine radiance were now soaked red with blood, and its massive body, buried in the earth, was reduced to torn chunks of crimson flesh.
For a being that had been worshiped as a god for countless generations, it was an ignoble, pitiful end.
And at that very moment, Terrien still stood tall atop the towering altar.
Shrrk—Clack.
His arms and legs trembled from exhaustion after giving everything he had, but Terrien sheathed his sword and quietly lowered his gaze to glare at the fallen Thunder Bird below.
“…Got you.”
He Who Cuts Lightning—Terrien Calmodet. True to his name, Terrien had cut lightning itself.
The lightning of the Great Jungle had been struck down from the heavens.
Rumble—! Boom!
Thunder roared a beat too late.
By Yuwon’s hand, the River Serpent had fallen.
By Terrien’s hand, the Thunder Bird was slain.
The hierarchy of the Great Jungle was shifting—centered around Yuwon and his comrades.
Four hours later. Deep in the Great Jungle under the cover of night, the Teacher and Kahaad met quietly to talk.
“What were you thinking, releasing that monster? Did you take him in for this? A few days ago, the Tyrant of the Deep Sleep died, and yesterday, the Thunder Bird fell. Is this what you wanted?”
“Kahaad. If you’re going to blame me, at least get your facts straight. The one I took in only killed the serpent. I thought even with your blind eyes, you could still see clearly—but it seems you’ve been too busy enjoying the company of your disciple lately to notice.”
At those words, Kahaad’s already sightless eyes widened.
“What…? You mean he wasn’t the one who killed it? Then who—?”
“You probably already have an idea. It was one of the ones who crossed over from the continent along with the two children you and I took as disciples. The one who was saved by your hands with help from the Thunder Bird clan—that’s the one who killed the bird.”
The unexpected answer left Kahaad momentarily speechless.
“Heh… You’re telling me that one of those two brats—barely above the level of ordinary men just fifty days ago—killed the Thunder Bird? And I’m supposed to believe that…?”
“Do I look like the kind of person who has time to lie about something like that?”
Kahaad let out a dry laugh, as if he found the notion absurd.
“Tch, laughable. To hear the word ‘person’ come out of your mouth… even with your tongue twisted, you should choose your words carefully. I guess spending time among humans made you forget what you are. You’re the one they say went extinct—the Dragonkin of legend….”
“Enough.”
The Teacher’s voice, sharp as a blade, cut him off.
For an instant, a deadly glint of killing intent flickered in his eyes before vanishing just as quickly.
“I’ll let that pass once since you said it to my face. But if I hear you say such things elsewhere, you won’t lose just your eyes next time—you’ll lose your life.”
Of course, Kahaad wasn’t the sort of man to be cowed by threats like that.
“Oh? Sounds like you’re asking for a rematch right here and now. I wouldn’t advise it. I’m not the naïve whelp whose eyes you took back then. I’m not that boy anymore.”
If the two monsters were to clash with full strength, the Great Jungle itself would not survive. For once, the Teacher was the one who stepped back.
“Hmph, enough. The jungle’s already restless as it is—who knows what would happen if you and I fought now. So, tell me what you came here for.”
“Tch, fine. Since you backed down first, I’ll let it slide this time. Let’s get back to what I was saying. The continentals are moving closer to the jungle’s outskirts. The Tyrant of the Deep Sleep was killed by your disciple, and the Thunder Bird by another. The orcs are growing unstable too. The natives, who worshiped that bird as a god, surely aren’t in their right minds now.”
“So you’re asking how we plan to deal with the continentals if they invade?”
“Pretty much. The Great Jungle’s forces are in chaos right now.”
He wasn’t wrong—but it wasn’t something the two of them needed to worry about just yet.
“Continentals setting foot near the jungle’s edges is nothing new. You think it’s serious enough for us to intervene?”
“No, not exactly. But I had a vision recently….”
At the mention of a prophecy, the Teacher perked up his ears.
Though he looked down on Kahaad in many ways, there was one thing about him that could always be trusted—his prophecies.
“What did you see?”
“The beginning was cut off, but the result was clear—the Great Jungle will be reduced to ashes. I’ve never had such a vague vision before, hmm… so I took a closer look. Among the continentals, there are a few capable ones, and one of them—the leader, it seems—is a monster who’s barely human.”
“…Then we’ll need to be cautious. But why would the continentals suddenly… ah… is it because of him?”
As he spoke, the Teacher’s mind turned to Yuwon—the man who had introduced himself with regal confidence as the Emperor of Aphahiel. From the strange energy that slept within him, the Teacher had already sensed that he was indeed a child of Aphahiel. What puzzled him was why someone claiming to be the Emperor of Aphahiel was suffering in a place like this. Now, at last, he understood.
“Of course. Unless something has happened in Aphahiel, the Emperor wouldn’t be here….”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Wait and see. Let’s watch how the new King of the River reacts.”
The Teacher smiled faintly, an unreadable expression on his face. And at that very moment—
“From here on, we’re in the Great Jungle. Stay sharp—one careless moment and you could lose your life. Somewhere in this place hides the depraved Fifth Prince.”
Leading the group, Ipalim warned his subordinates.
At last, the enemies who sought Yuwon had entered the Great Jungle.