Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Chapter 5. Tree and Iron
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It was definitely a raptor. Small in stature, but in exchange, they possessed nimble movements and cunning intelligence—famously known as egg thieves among dinosaurs. There were even tales that dinosaurs went extinct because raptors stole and ate too many of their eggs.
However, these raptors didn't originally inhabit the Decarman Mountains. As one of the lowest-tier demonic beasts from the demon realm, they were annoying pests you could encounter later in the Forgotten Kingdom of Iberk on the Second Continent.
For them to appear in Silan—on the First Continent, no less, practically on the opposite side of the world—meant either a gate to the demon realm had opened, or someone had summoned them. But there wasn't much point in overthinking it. They had obviously been summoned and sent by someone.
'...Ah.'
The familiar he'd spotted earlier that day came to mind. He'd wondered why it hadn't attacked immediately after pinpointing his location—it wasn't that it hadn't attacked; it simply couldn't.
'I see. Not a mage, but a summoner, huh?'
He'd been thoroughly mistaken. Letting out a hollow chuckle, Judah lowered his stance and charged forward. With his legs stretched out long, the distance to the oncoming raptors closed in an instant.
Screech?
Perhaps startled by the sudden illusion of him appearing right in front of it, the raptor facing Judah widened its eyes and reflexively bared its teeth.
Saw-like teeth were densely packed in its jaws. As it lunged to tear into his throat, Judah swung down the sword raised over his left shoulder.
Slash!
The bastard sword gifted to him by Viscount Pierchen of Serenia Castle gleamed. A sharp blade of mana formed along the edge of the sword, slicing straight through the raptor's gaping maw. But in that instant of the downward swing, Judah was startled.
"It dodged?"
Given its charging speed, he hadn't thought it could evade, yet the beast clawed the ground with its sickle-shaped talons, halting abruptly before springing backward.
However, the bastard sword's blade was a bit longer than it appeared. Just as the raptor smirked, thinking it had fully dodged, a gash opened on its neck, ketchup-like blood spraying out in a stream.
────!
He hadn't severed the head completely, but it seemed he'd at least cut the vocal cords. It writhed as if shrieking in agony, yet no sound emerged due to the damaged throat. No pity stirred in him. He swung the lowered sword upward in another arc. Then, summoning Artemisia to his left hand, he gripped it in reverse and hurled a dagger at each approaching raptor before spinning his body.
Three or four raptors closing in on Judah dropped dead in an instant. The one that had leaped into the air had its upper palate pierced by Artemisia's sharp blade, penetrating straight to the brain. It crashed to the ground in its airborne pose, twitching.
Judah immediately locked onto the next raptor with his demon eye open.
"Sneaky bastards."
It lowered its stance, sliding forward to target his lower body. As he lifted his left foot, he looked down at the raptor snapping at empty air. With a glint of "oh no" in its eyes, he crushed its head underfoot. Its serrated teeth shattered from the kick. Spotting another raptor aiming for his back with a sickle-talon kick, he activated [Shadow Sword 3rd Form - Single Point].
Shadows gathered along the bastard sword's blade, spiraling from the guard to the tip, forming a single lance. Thrusting it upward with all his might, he impaled the raptor. He felt the sensation of flesh tearing, bones shattering, and entrails churning inside. Without time to feel disgust, Judah flung the impaled beast aside.
Thud!
The skewered raptor writhed on the ground before going limp. The shadows enveloping the bastard sword's blade dissipated, revealing its original edge. The raptors targeting Judah slowed, seemingly gripped by fear at the sight.
In that gap, he glanced back. The elves were clustered together, guarded by the wraith knights. They easily blocked a charging raptor with their shields, shoved it back, and slashed downward with their swords. The blades, infused with physical force, tore through the raptor's body like paper.
At times, they even used their shields not just to block but as weapons for attack, displaying combat prowess beyond expectations. Thanks to that, there was no need to worry about their side.
'But if there are summons, doesn't that mean the summoner's nearby?'
Probably. Even if the familiar was meant for safe, remote control, raptors were summons—they had to be within a certain range for control. Just in case, Judah expanded his shadow domain further. A flood of information began pouring into his mind. Yet within the forest, aside from the rampaging raptors, he sensed no other living presence.
'Tch.'
He didn't know what kind of summoner it was, but they seemed extremely cautious. Frowning, Judah lowered his stance, spun, and slashed with the dagger in his left hand. The charging raptor's legs were sliced off like paper the moment they met Artemisia's edge. Unable to stand, it collapsed face-first. It tried crawling with its sickle forelimbs and severed stumps, but the pain from the clean cuts seemed unbearable, eliciting pitiful whimpers.
He silenced it with a dagger to the forehead, then swiftly cleaned up the rest. Normally cunning hunters that toyed with prey, they were simply outmatched this time.
Aside from the interruption to his precious sleep, there was no real damage. The spreading blood stench naturally soured his mood. He hoped no blood had stained his coat, but alas, it had.
The magic woven into the coat would eventually shed the dirt and stains, but the stickiness lingered. He swung the bastard sword through the air to shake off the blood from the blade, then approached the elves.
"No injuries, right?"
The elves exchanged glances and nodded in response. There was no chance of injury. The wraith knights had excellently protected them from the raptors, and whenever the elves tried to assist, the knights dispatched any nearby foes in a single blow. The mangled corpses scattered around were proof.
He unsummoned the silently standing wraith knights, who faded like mist and vanished. Judah kicked the severed raptor head at his feet. The gruesome sight of it rolling away made him grimace.
"Hmm, moving camp in the middle of the night sounds rough, so let's roughly clear these out and get back to rest."
Using magic would make cleanup easy. At his words, they nodded, dug a pit on one side, and moved the corpses. Though the bodies were gone, the blood smell lingered stubbornly.
Repulsed by the foul odor, the elves spent the night near the campfire with furrowed brows. Some slept, others dozed fitfully until dawn. As the sun rose, they ate a quick breakfast and promptly set off toward the Decarman Mountains.
The Decarman Mountains stretched across from the Silan Kingdom to the Elf Forest, all the way to Calypso—a vast range. Upon reaching the base, they saw untouched wilderness, free of human hands.
Arriving before noon, they began climbing immediately. From here, a few elves took the lead instead of Judah. The forest had been flat with widely spaced trees, easy for visibility and navigation, but the mountains were different.
Trees crowded so densely it felt suffocating, and the path was treacherous even following the . Elves had an innate talent for finding ways. They guided him along quick, easy routes in the direction he'd indicated, and in some sections, they even carried Judah and Arhil on their backs, leaping from tree to tree.
On the third day of traversing the mountains.
Their pace through the range was no slower than in the forest plains. Absorbing the forest's energy, the elves moved with remarkable vigor. Yet the unseen summoner persistently sent raptors and other beasts whenever they let their guard down. They'd just finished dealing with a pack chasing from the rear.
'Really starting to piss me off in every way.'
Raptors were relatively low-level, barely yielding experience—pure annoyance. Reuniting with the elves, Judah summoned several wraith knights to guard the rear, preparing for any sudden threats.
Fed up, he activated [Shadow Deployment]. It generated a lot of information influx, so he avoided it outside combat, but hunting the summoner peeking via minions left no choice. The shadow expanded to maximum range in an instant.
[Shadow Sword 10th Form - Swordsmanship and Heresy Arts Enhancement] lived up to its name, bolstering prior forms and extending [Shadow Deployment]'s max range.
'The moment they step on my shadow, I'll chase and kill them.'
Whoever kept sending summons was surely trailing nearby. The instant they entered range and he pinpointed direction, he'd pursue. The massive info surge caused a momentary headache, furrowing his brow.
Wider range didn't mean better. Overkill fit it perfectly—especially in a forest teeming with life, it wrecked focus. After some deep breaths, he adjusted to the pain and data. Then.
'? What? Found them?'
Before full expansion, he detected a human presence. Startled by the ground-covering shadow, it even jumped—he could tell. In these mountains devoid of people, no ordinary hunter would be here; this had to be the summoner. Surprisingly, they were far ahead, not trailing.
'Were they anticipating our route?'
With elves in tow, guessing they'd head to the Elf Forest was easy. No surprise there.
But the summoner being alone felt off. Wary of companions, he pushed the shadow to max despite the strain. Sure enough, he spotted about twenty scattered at intervals around the summoner.
'Ten... no, around twenty?'
Of course. Judah smirked, halting his charge.
"Halt."
His quiet mutter reached the sharp-eared elves, who stopped. Amid their puzzled gazes, he shrugged and shrank the shadow to about 500 meters.
"What's up? Find something?"
"No, we've got enemies. Around twenty... probably the summoner and crew who've been hounding us. They're waiting ahead, looks like they've set a trap."
He explained politely to Arhil's question. No one asked how he knew—summoning wraith knights via shadows made such minor feats believable. Or they guessed the thick shadow blanketing the ground revealed positions. Either way, the elves trusted him.
"So, what's the plan? Head back?"
"Hmm, that's the dilemma. We're pressed for time, but do we really need to walk into a trap?"
Stroking his smooth, beardless chin, Judah muttered. Lingering long in Silan with elves wasn't ideal—smack in enemy territory, his goal was swift passage over the mountains to the Elf Forest.
If alone with just Arhil, he'd charge any trap without worry, but with elves, protecting them unscathed was priority; no diving into ambushes.
Silan had time before attacking the Elf Forest, so waiting a day here?
They wouldn't want to camp in these mountains indefinitely either. It'd come down to whose patience held. Or, as young Sirin suggested, circling back—paths in mountains were beast trails or anywhere, especially for elves where trees meant roads.
Maybe they were the pressed ones.
"...Hm, retreating's not bad, but since you're with me, they'll keep chasing. Let's wait here today. Nice flat basin for a mountainside spot—good for a day."
"Got it."
"Oh, and while I handle some, they might try snatching you, so stay sharp. Clear all waist-high bushes nearby. Flatten any spot that screams ambush."
The elves hesitated to cut foliage themselves but wordlessly used magic to tidy up. He'd prefer felling trees too, but for a one-night stand, unnecessary.
Then, through the ground shadow, he sensed something stealthily approaching. Looking yielded nothing visible. Focusing, the background faintly warped.
'A familiar?'
Tireless, another one. He'd prioritized and slain every familiar detected so far—dozens at least.
Activating his demon eye confirmed it instantly. From afar, a round-bodied, eyed demonic beast toddled forward, froze eye-to-eye with him, then—thinking itself unseen—crept a step before dashing and leaping.
Landing lightly on a branch like a pigeon, it scanned around. Definitely the summoner's familiar. Tempted to summon Artemisia and end it, Judah wiggled his fingers then relented.
'Let it see freely. I can give them the choice.'
Unaware of the courtesy, the familiar frantically surveyed.
Checking for real-time positions, the enemies scattered then regrouped, seemingly conferring—motionless for a while. Finally deciding, they advanced en masse.
'Decided to attack after all?'
Judah smirked.
========== Author's Note ==========
Everyone.
Merry Christmas.
I wanted to do a double update... but I had to head out this morning, so I'll probably be at the PC bang by now. Not sure if I'll pull an all-nighter and get home.
Sorry. Can't do the double.
ㅠ
Still, I wrote as much as I could from dawn.