Chapter 607
Chapter 607
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 607
Chapter Title: Scent of Spring
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An adventurer who had been diligently swinging his axe up front shouted out.
"Kekeke! These drake pups ain't shit!"
The strike team's morale had already pierced the heavens and was now begging at its gates. The clouds scattered across the blue sky were proof of that. The white vapor from the battlefield's heat had defiled the firmament. Violence was never that kind of sin, after all.
The advance was unstoppable, and every thrust of sword or spear felled another drake. The flank attack had landed perfectly—that much was clear.
Plus, no matter how mighty the monster, it couldn't beat an army with strategy without any brains of its own. This was vivid proof. In this monster-infested otherworld, humans survived purely because they had armies.
—Splash!
I swung my shortened sword through the drakes too, carving them up to save the men around me.
Chasing down every fleeing one would be a pain. Better to stick with the group and bulldoze forward like a tank—easier to kill more that way.
The rewards might get split more, sure. But even if they divvied it up like crazy, it'd still net more coin than hunting them solo.
None of this would've been possible without entrusting ourselves to the army.
—Queeeek!!!
The drakes, boxed in on all sides, died without any real fight left in them.
—Leap!
Sometimes the ones in the back would jump our way, but the adventurers handled that much without issue.
And those drakes would tangle mid-jump, crash into each other, and tumble down. Straight-up self-destructs. Wars between brainless monsters and human armies weren't really wars—they were hunts.
—Uwaaaaaah!!!
Truth was, it was easy for me since I was hitting them from behind. The guys at the far end were fully exposed to counterattacks. Still, we held the edge. We were piling up their corpses while armored and pushing forward.
A few careless ones might've gotten killed, though.
As we trampled drake bodies and advanced, I spotted banners from the other strike teams moving in the distance.
Looked like they'd succeeded too.
—Boom!
—Kwa-bam!
—Thud!
And over there, chunks of shattered drake corpses were flying through the sky. That had to be the First Strike Team, led by Lady Isvant.
Only she could unleash that kind of power right now.
Her greatsword had one-shotted that mighty ogre. But she'd missed sometimes, so her agility and accuracy must suck. In this state, though? Those flaws were gone.
At this rate, the extermination would wrap up soon.
Judging by the vibe, the other teams had crushed it like us. All that was left was the infantry phalanx advance. Once that happened, the drakes would scatter without their center.
We might finish this before afternoon. Grab our fair share of rewards, hop in the wagons, and head home.
"High ground ahead! KeeEEEEEEK!!!!!"
I bellowed to boost the strike team's morale.
"Huff, huff...! Yeah! It'll end soon!"
"Haa...! This is insane!"
Still, after hacking away non-stop, their stamina was flagging. Our pace slowed, more heavy breaths filling the air.
I was fine, but if we kept this up, combat effectiveness would drop. No biggie—they were vets. Just switch to defensive advance.
We only had to follow the lead vets' calls.
"Halt! Halt! Pass it back!"
"Halt! Halt! Pass it back!"
Then the order came: stop.
Briefing back at camp said if the four strike teams smashed through to the core, they'd dig in and expand their attack radius to link up.
Simple terms: another team's nearby, so ease up and merge with them.
For us? Just keep fighting.
"Phew! Guess we've wasted all the drake bastards!"
"Feels like I got at least ten myself!"
"Bullshit artist!"
The adventurers were soaked in drake blood. Not a single one wasn't crimson. Same for me, obviously.
The raging drakes had faltered. Link up, form defenses, wait for the infantry push, and done.
—Rumble.
—Groooan.
But as things quieted, it felt like... an earthquake?
—Groooan.
The ground... shaking?
Hard to tell.
Too noisy to judge properly. No time to think deep anyway.
—Groooaaaan.
—Groooan.
—Rumble.
But it was getting louder, stronger.
Adventurers started muttering.
"Hey! Hear that?!"
"Nah!"
"Listen close! Sounds like the ground's collapsing..."
"An earthquake?!"
—Flinch.
I tensed up.
If everyone around me was hearing shakes and noises—not just me—then it was real. In this racket of a battlefield?
Massive quake?
Could be drake footsteps tricking us, but this felt off.
—Grrr...
—Grreeeeek!!
—Keeereeeek!!!
—KEEEEEEK!!!!!!
The drakes' panic spiked out of nowhere.
Already freaking out, now after this lull, they went berserk, scattering every which way.
"These fuckers lost it!!!"
"They're all running!!!"
"We won!!!!!"
—It looked like desperate flight.
Running now?
Something's wrong.
"Drakes are fleeing!"
"Waaaaah!!! Victory! Victory!!!"
"Look at those cowards run! Kekeke!"
"Tired~ Gonna drop dead~, fuuuck!!"
Adventurers cheered wildly at the fleeing drakes, even throwing up victory signs.
—Quek! Keeek!
—Kekekekek!!!
Drakes trampled kin, bit and shoved to break free, kicking off the ground in frenzy. To them, us humans barely registered.
These beasts that raged till now... fleeing? Suddenly?
Who knows what triggered it.
I'm no monster ecologist.
—Groooaaaan!
And the booms kept coming.
"Waaaaaaaah!!!"
"Hooray! Hooray!!"
"We wiiiin!!!!!!!"
But cheers drowned the rumbles. Ground shaking...? Still unsure, but fuck, I suddenly feel like we're screwed!
"Hey! Hey! You fucks, stay alert!! Don't celebrate like it's over!!!"
I scanned sky and ground, analyzing what the hell was happening, and yelled.
Monsters sense natural disasters better than us? Big quake maybe. Could split the earth like a joke!
I focused mana in my legs. Worst case, Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon for a long jump out.
"Hey, barbarian bro! We won... Huh?"
That's when an adventurer grabbed my shoulder.
—Thud-booma-booma-boom-KABOOM!!!!!!!!!!
A sky-shattering roar hit, and a massive dirt avalanche blasted our way.
—Patter-pat!
I shielded head and eyes with arms and sword. Sand and gravel pelted me, sneaking into my collar.
"Wh-what?!"
"Sand!"
Victory cheers turned to confused shouts. Sun blotted out, huge shadow fell. No clue what happened, but one thing was crystal.
I knew we were fucked.
"Wh-what? What's going on...?"
"It's dark? Wait, what's that! Something in front!"
"It's huge! Something rose from the ground!"
—Plop.
Crimson blood rained with mangled drake corpses and guts. Grotesque, dreamlike—like food from heaven, 19+ version.
I eyed the epicenter.
—Some kind of pillar.
The earth flipped, birthing something gigantic. Standing mid-plain, so alien it felt like Digimon's Dark Tower spawn.
"M-monster!!!!!!"
"Dragon! It's a draaaagon!!!!"
"Earth dragon!!! "
"Basilisk!!!!!!"
Now I saw it clear: tower-like thing ahead.
—Crunch crunch.
—Gulp.
A horrific sea cucumber face fused with inhuman peanut head on an armored, elongated beast chomped a drake viciously.
Just the neck rising was ~4m. Trunk-thick as a tree. Whole size? Unimaginable.
No bullshit: biggest otherworld monster I'd seen, tower-top visuals.
—Fwooooooaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beast swallowed drake whole, roared—unbelievable boom. Fangs splayed everywhere! —Whirrr!!! It whipped its body, sweeping surroundings. Drakes fled. Humans too.
"Death Worm!!!!!!"
"Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Earth Dragon! Earth Dragon appeared!!!!!!"
"No! Demon!!! It's a deeeemon!!!!!!!"
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!"
Adventurers spouted theories, broke ranks, fled every direction. What the fuck is that thing?!?!?!
"U, uwaaaaaah!!!!!"
"Run!!!!"
"Save me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I joined the chaos, sprinting full tilt!
"Family technique secret art dashhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!"
Don't care what that mad beast is! Army or not, can't kill that giant unscathed!!
"D-don't run!!! Hold formation!!!!!"
"We're fucked, you idiots!!! Hold ranks and we're all dead!!!!!!!"
Strike team scattered instantly, panic exploding.
"Your mom's fuuuuuck!!!!"
—Kwaang!
—Queeeeeek!!!!
Beast slammed head to ground, snagged another fleeing drake, crunched away. Overwhelming power, size! Adventurers fully routed! Soldiers held firm, spears and swords at the new foe.
They planning to fight that?!
"All hands, intercept the beast!!!!!!"
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!!!"
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!!"
"Uoooooooh!"
Brave soldiers charged, unleashing fury.
—Thump!
"Kwaaaaaah!!!"
But no handling a monster that size.
—Kweeeeeooooh!!!!!!
Beast thrashed wildly, hugging earth. Dozen charging soldiers flew skyward like jokes.
—Thump!
—Kwaang!
"Guhk!!"
One soldier crashed beside me, sprawled.
"This can't be realityyyyyy!!!!!"
Couldn't help him. Rewards, army—bullshit. Run.
"Fuuuuuuuck!!!!!!"