Chapter 315
Chapter 315
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Can One Who Has Seen the End of the World Plant an Apple Tree? (20)
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“Pursuit?”
“They seem too busy cleaning up their own mess over there, right? No tails on us, after all.”
“That figures. One entire defensive line just vanished into thin air—they’d be idiots to let this chance slip. With their main base pretty much sunk, could this be the end for the Kaulradi forces?”
“Doubt it. According to our scouts’ reports, the oasis is gone, but most of the troops stationed there managed to escape. The whole fleet’s retreating now while keeping an eye on the enemy lines. That’s why we’ve got some breathing room.”
A shame. I’d gotten my hopes up when I saw the oasis was bigger than expected.
The entire warrior corps had been there. Swarms of shamans, rarer than mages.
From military ships to regular desert vessels, even war-beast tamed desert creatures—they were all near Kaulradi’s lair. I figured at least half would get swallowed by the quicksand, but nope, they all escaped unscathed and are pulling back.
“They that well-trained?”
“Less training, more thanks to the rumors of Kaulradi’s ‘power,’ I think? We had intel that the shamans revered it like a faith, but to think it could single-handedly lift an entire fleet out of a taboo that size. No wonder they dared to wage such an reckless war.”
I nodded in agreement with Rakshasha. The power to command sand in the desert. It was as formidable as controlling ocean currents at sea.
Forget raw physics—when fleets clashed, a mere gesture could smash enemy ships into each other, tangling them up.
A force worthy of the title Desert Ruler. And the one who granted it... that bastard.
‘What the hell did the Mutants find in the desert?’
The way he’d been waiting there as if it were natural. How he’d prepared two Named monsters yet made no real moves. And... that look in his eyes when he faced me before leaving.
Not the green, zealous kid from the past, but a calm, fully realized gaze.
That, more than anything, felt ominous.
“...He’s tangled up with Kaulradi. Beat him down, and we’ll find out.”
There were two ways to face an enemy.
Bolster your own forces.
Weaken the enemy’s.
...Professor realized it was time to stop relying on reinforcements.
****
“Se, Senica Kwamar... ini... ra...”
“Kruk, hem! I go by Aldar Ashams.”
Having stepped back from the rail to observe Kaulradi’s retreating fleet, Professor finally got to greet the lizardman siblings, now calmed down, with Rakshasha’s guidance.
“Professor. Here, I use Saladin, and... uh, is it okay to say this?”
“Yeah~ No need to hide anything from them.”
“Alright then. Holy. Of the Light.”
“Ho... Holy! Ta, Taboo!”
“Kerrrruk! Stay back, Senica! This priest just sank an entire city!”
“Fo, Foreign gods summon terrifying monsters!”
See? Told you not to say it.
While the two barely calmed lizards started ker-ruking at each other on the foredeck again, Professor took a closer look at their appearances, which he hadn’t had time to examine before.
Lizardmen. Semi-aquatic race.
They lived in swamps, slow river deltas, islands, coastlines—various places, but always near shallow waters—
In 2World, a race known to have gone extinct despite Levit Princess’s every effort.
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- Deer Drug Please: Extinction’s no easy feat, but it’s been decades since their line nearly died out, and they’re still hanging on? Weird. That lizardman with Levit back then... what was his name? Shibal or something?
- Jokasss: Sigil, dummy. Handsome reptile bastard.
- Deer Drug Please: Right, Sigil. Wasn’t he confirmed as the last lizardman?
- professor: That’s what it looked like to me. We wrecked the water for a day with some massive deprivation curse from black magic, and most aquatics got tainted and went bad.
- Jokasss: Exactly. Sigil’s wish was to meet a surviving female of his kind. He racked up contribution points with the Abundance Church, donated every scrap he begged for to get more points. Even got a divine oracle that way?
- Holy: And the result was... yeah, about that.
- Take a Look: Watching it, even I felt sorry for the guy.
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It was a video that had been a hot topic for quite a while, so it stuck in Professor’s memory. At the heart of the Abundance Temple, the lizardman’s desperate cry: “Can I find a mate of my kind while I yet live!” The wheat stalk in his hand withering pathetically. The Abundance Goddess proving no female lizardmen survived.
That day, proud warrior Sigil wept for three days and nights. He lost his reason, rampaged, and died on the battlefield. By the time his commander Levit arrived, he was beyond saving. Sigil’s final song in the vanishing lizardman tongue, calling to Levit as he sobbed, touched many wastelander hearts.
Until a curious player visited a lizardman village early in 2World and decoded the lyrics.
‘Something about shiny tail bounce, soft scales, brooding eggs together—total smut.’
The horny lizardman warrior Sigil, chanting mating lust till his last breath. A pathetic end.
.
.
.
.
Anyway!
The Abundance Goddess had confirmed it via oracle. Lizardmen went extinct with warrior Sigil.
‘So what are these guys?’
As he took a step closer, the blue lizard and white lizard huddled behind Rakshasha, clinging desperately.
They spoke clearly, with coherent logic and knowledge—definitely beastkin category.
‘Looking closer... yeah, they’re different from lizardmen.’
A few observations revealed differences.
First, scales. The Named Nigmi he’d faced earlier was based on lizardman genes—rough, hard, sharp scales. Lizardmen scales varied by environment: salt-crusted and sharper in dry areas, thicker and moister in wet ones. Slit eyes, anaconda-like flexible muscles—traits fitting a warrior race.
But these two?
“Kkiruk, kkiruk...”
“We mustn’t... lose our dignity, Senica... Not shame our ancestors...”
None of that fierce warrior vibe. Smooth, glossy scales. Big doe eyes, tiny flaring nostrils.
Limbs shorter than lizardmen’s slender ones, balanced by thick tails half their body length...
“Cute, huh?”
Less heirs to a great desert kingdom, more amusement park mascot.
Flap!
Misinterpreting his words as hostility, the two lizards flared their neck frills beyond warning, hissing kkiruk. As he admired the frill confirmation, a flustered Rakshasha blocked his view.
“Um... Professor? You into that sort of thing?”
“Hm?”
“If so, it explains your stone-faced demeanor till now... Coming with elf and troll women fits too, but... should I prep ears and a tail next time?”
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- Deer Drug Please: YEEEEEEES!
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“Wh-what? No! I’m not like that. Just... for royal blood they revere so much, they lack majesty, that’s all.”
“Phew, good. If you were, I’d have a ton to prepare.”
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- Deer Drug Please: NOOOOOOO!!!
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A sigh echoed from the chat and somewhere deep in his chest, but Professor ignored it with superhuman will and pressed on rationally.
“Anyway, it’s clicking now. Powerless bloodline inheriting legitimacy. When I first heard, even with shadow support, how could they survive preserving their line? But different species makes sense.”
Kingdom falls, heirs survive, but no strong backing. Yet their blood’s legitimacy acknowledged across the desert?
A ruler facing them had obvious choices. Kill the male heir, wed the female, fold her into your line. Absorb the people’s reverence naturally.
It should’ve happened, yet the line endured centuries. Bizarre—until now.
“Different species kept them safe that way. Right?”
“...”
“Right?”
Rakshasha glanced back nervously, smiled awkwardly, then whispered.
“Not exactly... the case.”
“What?! Then...?”
“Yeah. After aggressive attempts like that, we lost some royal blood too... Even Senica was set to be Kaulradi’s seventh wife once things stabilized.”
Lord Roham mercy. This place wasn’t done with one sun crash. Needed two or three to wipe all life.
“Power corrupts to beast levels... So those kids back there, born from... that?”
“...No. Many attempts, but no heirs ever... Royal blood just kept dwindling since the ancient calamity... Now confirmed only those two, born just before it.”
Rakshasha’s sigh-filled explanation. Listening quietly, eyeing the young reptiles and her alternately, Professor’s eyes narrowed.
[Hey. Something’s off.]
‘You feel it too?’
[No lies, but pieces don’t fit.]
‘Exactly.’
Senica Kwamar and Aldar Ashams siblings. Different surnames aside, both screamed infant, hatchling.
Issue was Rakshasha’s final words.
‘Royal blood only dwindled since ancient calamity. Only those two siblings, born right before, survived.’
Seemed mere lament for lost blood... but the unspoken vibe. Last siblings born before calamity were the last survivors. Like no more since? No others born in between?
No, ancient calamity centuries ago at least. Mad rulers’ crossbreeding yields no heirs. So where’d these drop from?
‘Drop from... the sky?’
Racing thoughts screech-halted. Nah, wait. No way. Even in forgotten GG endgame backdrop, no.
“...Rakshasha?”
“Yes?”
“Uh... those two—no, the pair... any idea on their age?”
Rakshasha crossed arms, pondered, then stated confidently.
“Senica’s 342, Aldar too, per records. Eggs laid same time, but he hatched first, hence the dynamic... Professor? Where you going?”
“Ju, ju-just, deck stuff! I’m crew here sorta!”
Thudthudthudthud!
Bang! Crashclang!
He bolted desperately, not shattering the wooden ship. Footsteps chasing—turned to see Ottoman tumbling from their rest room.
Right, he’d been listening via message magic, curious about desert kingdom legends.
Thank goodness. Someone to share the shock.
Professor grabbed wide-eyed Ottoman, raced to deck, climbed mast crow’s nest lest seen.
“Hey~ Saladin, and mage—”
“Naruka! Ottoman and I got this—borrow the nest! Go drink below! Please!”
“Uh, y-yeah... Th-thanks...”
Chased off the lookout, Professor gasped, spilling pent-up words.
“Ottoman, Ottoman Ottoman Ottoman!”
“N-no, don’t check with me. Please!”
“Shut up and listen. Rakshasha asked me to rescue two ancient desert kingdom heirs from top dog Kaulradi-whatever...”
“Aigoo! Sea! Flows in all things! Mercy!”
“Th-those... reptiles, over 300 years old, still kids despite age... noble beings like that... how many kinds?”
“Uwaaa! D-don’t say it! Don’t speak it! Aldrich was right. Joking how incidents escalate to this... just yesterday... aigoo!”
This time, neither could stay calm, try as they might.
Beings over 200-year lifespan: Long-lived species.
Senica Kwamar. 342. Hatchling.
Aldar Ashams. 342. Hatchling.
Descendants of ancient royals who challenged a god, mutual destruction with desert kingdom. Ancestors who crossed fists with ancient god.
Rakshasha said: Desert’s noblest.
“No, tell me no, please!”
“Can’t. If true, denying them defies fate’s flow!”
“Aigoo! Ottoman! We’re doomed!”
Usually, creatures challenging gods: one kind.
Dragons. World harmonizers, born with mountains, seas, earth—supreme beings.
Their hatchlings.
Hatchling, Senica Kwamar. SenicaKwamarSenicaKwamar... Senicamars. 342.
Hatchling, AldarAshams. AldarAshamsAldarAshams... Aldarax. 342.
Faced with unwanted truth, Professor hugged Ottoman, sobbing.
If with him on ship: ancient desert kingdom heirs. If hunch right...
Fallen heirs of ancient dragon kingdom that peaked, challenged god, mutual annihilation. Hatchlings.
Breath incinerates kingdoms, legend says hero party appetizers.
Even official records of “You bastards!!!” shout turning village cows, pigs, chickens, humans to pups, dooming it. Transcendent.
They treasure hatchlings above life.
‘H-how’d I... handle those two?’
[Uwaaaak! Eaten!]
[You’re imprinted as their kind’s predator...]
Recalling hours ago, Professor closed eyes, looked up.
Drip—
A clear tear slid from shut lids.
“Huh, hahahahahaha”
Ottoman’s hollow laugh, third tranquilizer down, swam despair-filled nest. Self-abandoned Professor’s tears glistened atop.
Scratchscratch—
Yggdrasil’s futile charcoal sketched them on paper.
****
Tick.tick.tick.tick—
『The king of the ancient desert kingdom lusted after the moon, which sank eternally beneath the waters, never to rise. The enraged sun, losing its mate and dying, hurled the corpse atop the kingdom, dooming it.』
.
.
.
.
Click—
『The ancient dragon kingdom challenged the moon god, felled it, but mutually destroyed with the pursuing sun. Transcendent and god’s deaths remade the desert, birthing the sand sea and taboos.』
『Mutants target ???? in desert, invested many Named.』
『Kaulradi gained sand control, from Valkatus per him. Valkatus secured ????. Location: Kaulradi territory or ???? site.』
『Why’d Mutants let us go. Ultimate desert goal. What, where, how doing. How to crush.....』
[Hmm. Pretty much pieced together...]
Hyde, fitting memories, gazed pleased at filled blanks. Upload, shell’ll figure path...
“Uwaak! We’re all dead! Dead!”
“Hahahahaha Aldrich... should’ve fled when you did... virtuous friend, ancestors bless... hahahahaha—”
[...Later.]
Seeing two broken, Hyde set notes aside.
****