novelraw Chapter 203
Chapter 203
Chapter 203
What would the clueless local Smallfolk think if they saw Kait?
At most, they'd see him as a reckless creature trying to take on the Beast of Despair. From their perspective, there's no way they could imagine why Kait would want to help them. They might just be thinking, "Don't fight right in front of us."
"Come, Worker Bees!"
To overcome the size difference, Kait chose the Worker Bees. If he used the Psionic Launcher, he'd have to worry more about the environmental damage than the harm to the giant beast.
For the same reason, he didn't summon the Queen Bee. The Queen Bee also served as an amplifier for Kait's psychic power.
Countless Worker Bees spun around Kait. Only then did the giant beast seem to realize something was in front of it. Even with the swarm, Kait was still just a tiny creature from the beast's point of view.
The giant beast opened its mouth. Parts meant only to crush pitiful creatures caught in its path and snap trees in two came into view.
Those parts swung down in an arc toward Kait and the Worker Bees. The upper jaw pinned down, while the lower jaw clamped and crushed. But the upper jaw alone, with its massive weight, was already a lethal weapon.
"Worker Bees... Let's go with three."
Kait accelerated using his psychic power. Three of the Worker Bees spinning at the top shot toward the descending upper jaw.
A direct hit from that upper jaw would easily mince even a massive Lion-horse. But the jaw was effortlessly deflected—by just three steel plates. Kait was more worried that the Worker Bees might accidentally shave off the upper jaw entirely.
In any case, the lower jaw, now gaining momentum, came rushing toward Kait, who had safely repelled the upper jaw. Of course it did. The movement was meant to clamp down, and just because the upper jaw bounced up didn't mean the lower jaw would stop. If anything, the recoil made it even faster.
But Kait didn't have to do anything—Worker Bees spinning around him absorbed the impact. Compared to the size of the beast's mouth, it looked absurd that Kait could stop it. But in reality, the lower jaw's motion halted. More precisely, it crumpled—part of it stopped, while another part surged forward.
The ends extended far behind Kait. The skeletal structure might have been shattered. Kait felt uneasy at how quickly destruction had already begun.
***
One of the local Smallfolk Kait referred to, Borno-kki, was speechless at the destructive reality unfolding before him.
As the village leader, he should have told his people to flee. He should have said it when the giant beast first crawled out from underground. But when he thought about the countless dangers they'd face after fleeing, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
They chose to repair the damaged settlement and wait for the beast to leave. Their work, while praying the beast wouldn't come closer, went more smoothly than ever now that their natural predator had moved on.
Still, the fear that this might not be the right choice always lingered. The moment the beast turned toward them, all their efforts would be meaningless. Swallowed amid the surrounding trees, they'd be crushed into pulp. Just imagining that was terrifying. And even if they ran, there was no guarantee they'd escape.
Maybe his younger brother, Parna-kki, who dashed off in anger to strike back at the beast, had been the braver one. As Borno-kki worked to rebuild the village, thoughts like that swirled in his mind.
"W-what is that...?"
When the beast turned toward them, he thought it was over. He was about to shout for everyone to run when he saw an unfamiliar back in his lifted gaze.
Two legs, two arms. A figure that looked similar to them, yet not quite. A body so large they had to look up at it, but still nothing compared to the beast.
Countless plates flew in from nowhere, spinning to protect its two arms. Despite the vast difference in size, it was a pitiful sight to watch. And yet—
A sound like the sky neighing rang out, and the beast's descending head bounced back. Then the lower jaw was caught in a strange position. The ends surged forward from the momentum, swinging close to the village. A collective gasp rose from the crowd.
"Am I... dreaming?"
No, if this were a dream, then he wasn't the only one dreaming. Everyone else working nearby had the same look on their faces as they watched this scene. The unbeatable magical beast said to be made by their underground kin—was being stopped, without retreat, by a much smaller creature.
Born in the village, Borno-kki had never met the underground kin. He only knew the stories passed down by the village elders.
Their ancestors had committed a sin and were cast out of the underground. That's why they were forced to live on the terrifying surface—so the story went. But now, Borno-kki found himself cheering for the two-armed figure before him.
Even if the underground kin were more righteous than them, dragging their humble, fearful lives into this kind of violence was unforgivable. It should never be allowed.
"Get 'em, two-arms!"
"Y-yeah! Get 'em, two-arms!"
"Smash it to pieces!"
Following Borno-kki, the others raised their voices too. None of them had ever lived underground. They didn't know what sin their ancestors had committed, but their envy and resentment toward the underground kin living in safety was strong.
The two-arms controlled the surrounding plates without even touching them. After repelling the beast's ultimate weapon—its jaws—it twisted and flew around like a Winged Snake. It kept striking the upper jaw repeatedly to stop it from returning to its original position.
That giant beast couldn't do a thing. Serves it right. Borno-kki and the others cheered wildly, thrilled by the two-arms' actions.
***
"Now then, what should I do about this..."
Kait was troubled.
He controlled the situation by casually striking the raised upper jaw with Worker Bees to keep it from returning.
What he was doing was simple. It didn't take much effort. But continuing it too long wasn't good either.
After all, no matter how much he spread out the impact, the upper jaw was still taking considerable shock. Kait didn't want to damage it too much, so he hoped the beast would retreat on its own soon.
Another problem was not knowing what the beast was thinking. If it saw Kait as a mortal enemy and had no intention of retreating, that would be bad.
"Maybe... another one's coming?"
The beast's body was covered in the hide of a Ramadite beast. If it had been patched together to grow to this size, that alone would've taken a lot of effort. But what Kait was really concerned about was how the materials had been obtained.
If the beast had grown while collecting pelts along the way, that was fine. After reaching a certain size, it could've just swallowed beasts along with trees to get more hide.
But how had it gotten pelts before that? Kait suspected there might have been another unit specifically for collecting pelts.
If there was an enemy the giant beast couldn't handle, another unit might be deployed just to eliminate that threat.
Not that two beasts would threaten Kait's life. It would just make things harder to clean up and even more difficult to hold back.
"Still not done, Emotion?"
'Not yet. Are you tired, Captain?'
"Not physically. Maybe a little mentally."
He responded with a wry smile to Emotion's obvious reply.
Muttering softly, Kait said he didn't want to earn any more hatred from the underground Smallfolk.