Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: The Tyrant's Wandering
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Elves wore glittering green clothes that looked as if they were made directly from leaves, overlaid with armor resembling tree bark on their shoulders and chests.
Among their sparkling white hair that shone in the sunlight, large ears like those of rabbits protruded, their chins were pointed, and their eyes were about twice the size of a human's.
Jade had heard countless stories about elves from Daniel.
The elves matched the descriptions in those stories—they possessed beautiful appearances.
But they showed none of the gentle, quiet philosopher-like demeanor that Daniel had described.
The moment the elves spotted Barshu at the front, they raised their spears and swords into attack positions.
"Stop!"
Ruby stepped in front of Barshu and shouted.
Their weapons then turned toward Ruby.
In an instant, the atmosphere turned hostile.
He hadn't expected the first encounter with another race to be romantic and beautiful, but he certainly didn't want it to start with a fight.
Much less did he want it to escalate to killing.
While Jade was too flustered to do anything but flail about, Hur hurriedly grabbed Ruby's shoulder.
"It's fine, it's fine. Elves don't engage in needless killing..."
Hur stepped slightly forward, bowed his head to the elves, and quietly said something in the Kuhn tribe's language.
It sounded like an apology.
There were six elves, all men.
They lowered their weapons and conversed among themselves for a moment.
Oddly enough, Jade could understand their conversation.
"Why have humans come all the way here?"
"This Kuhn hunter says he had no choice but to come. Kuhn hunters don't do strange things."
"That doesn't mean we need to get involved. The sentinels will handle it."
"Let's hurry. Humans coming here doesn't seem like a good sign."
One of them nodded to Hur.
Then they vanished into the forest beyond the pond with quick steps.
"Elven language... was that it?"
Jade's eyes widened as he turned to Saf.
Saf looked confused, not understanding why Jade was surprised.
"That's a relief. Looks like they were just passing through."
Hur let out a sigh of relief.
Ruby narrowed her eyes, glaring in the direction the elves had disappeared.
Hur approached Jade and explained.
"But that's strange. I've met elves more than ten times, but I've rarely seen them carrying weapons like that. I know they don't appear in the Dark Forest like this unless something special is happening. Isn't that right?"
Hur sought agreement from Barshu.
Barshu looked puzzled as he asked Jade,
"I understand you're surprised because it's your first time seeing elves, but why are you so flustered?"
"Just now, the elven language..."
Jade trailed off, and Barshu shrugged.
"Sorry, but I don't know the elven language either, so I can't translate."
Hur followed up.
"I only know simple greetings..."
Jade held out his hand.
"Actually, the opposite. I understood it."
"You understood? What do you mean?"
Hur asked in surprise.
Jade turned to Saf again and said,
"I've learned it before. Very diligently, too."
At Jade's words, Saf's eyes widened as she asked,
"You learned it too, Sister?"
"Yeah. Daniel taught me, calling it the 'ancient tongue.' He said it'd come in handy someday. I thought it was the most useless, hardest to learn, and most unpleasant among all the pointless knowledge he shoved at me."
"Actually, I felt the same. It was for reading ancient texts, but I didn't understand why we had to learn to speak and listen too."
Hur said in bewilderment,
"The ancient tongue...? Am I misunderstanding the Rom language?"
Jade, Saf, Hur, and Barshu all just stared at each other's faces, when Ruby cut into the conversation.
"Enough. What's so amazing that you're all making a fuss? Your teacher must have taught you elven language to preach to elves! Drop it now. I hear the Tyrant's voice over there."
"What? Where?"
As Jade tried to step forward,
Ruby held out her hand.
"I'll go alone. You stay here."
"You'll be okay alone?"
"Wasn't that the wrong question? You should say, 'Ruby, can we stay here without you?'"
Ruby snorted and dashed into the trees.
Jade turned to Hur, Barshu, and Saf and said,
"Ruby's right. Let's hide here."
♦
Ruby quickly spotted the Tyrant.
The creature couldn't properly avoid the dense trees, bumping into them everywhere as it walked.
It kept tripping over the uneven ground, making it slower than Jade walking normally.
"Cowking! I've come! Please take me in!"
The Tyrant bellowed so loudly the forest rang with it—no need to strain her ears.
'Cowking... As easy to remember as Goatking.'
Ruby could have caught the Tyrant anytime but held back, waiting.
'Yeah, keep calling. Let's see your master's face.'
The Tyrant shouted up at the trees.
"Goatking is dead. As long as his name didn't get out, he said he could rule the Kuman Plains and soon even the human empire, arrogantly imitating the lord of hell, Cowking, calling himself Goatking—and that guy is dead."
The Tyrant veered left then right with every step, seeming to have serious balance issues.
'Even with a demon's body, lose too much blood and you can't move properly. It's not going to die like that, is it?'
Ruby silently followed behind the Tyrant.
"Watercorn, I've come! It's me, the Tyrant. Didn't you tell me to take his place if Goatking died?"
The Tyrant kept shouting.
"Give me the same orb you gave Goatking. He uselessly fed those orbs to the plain beasts! But I'll feed them to humans, turn them into demons, and build an army. No, I'll eat all the orbs myself and build an empire alone."
"Shut up, you foal!"
Just as Ruby hoped, something appeared in the trees. But she couldn't see what it was.
"Pretending not to know? If I leave you alone, you'll blab every secret, real or not. And... your name is Tyrant? Since when were you permitted that name?"
The voice came from a tree about two hundred paces away, then shifted to one a hundred paces off. It was hard to pinpoint direction or location.
'Where is it?'
Ruby waited for now.
"Sorry about that. But I'm a well-known demon on the plains—even so, isn't 'foal' a bit much? I named myself Tyrant. Anyway, thanks for coming, Buffalord! Take me to Cowking."
The Tyrant said gladly. But Buffalord's tone wasn't welcoming.
"You came at a bad time, foal. I don't have time to deal with the likes of you right now."
"The likes of me?! I'm the Tyrant! I'll be Cowking's great warrior—"
"The lord needs no warriors. Only martyrs and believers."
"Martyrs? Believers? Wh-what do you mean...? If that's the condition, I can be that anytime."
"Then praise Cowking now. I'll judge your faith and loyalty through that."
"I'll praise him! Before his great power and the flames that burn hell—"
"Wrong already. Go follow Ramatus and graze on plain grass."
"I told you, he's dead!"
"Is that so? Then you die too."
"You're going to kill me?"
"No. You're going to die to the tracker you've had on you since the forest entrance. I'm just saying I won't save you."
For a moment, Ruby thought her position was exposed.
"Wh-who's following me?"
"Sentinels."
Buffalord said his last words and vanished. He hadn't shown himself to begin with; the voice just disappeared.
"Who's following me?"
Ruby muttered to herself when a thick voice addressed her from behind.
"Not bad at holding your breath, little one."
It was elven, and quite close. But even at this distance, Ruby couldn't see the speaker.
'This is ridiculous. The Buffalord guy was far away, fine, but this one's so close and still invisible?'
Ruby turned and asked in a small voice the Tyrant wouldn't hear,
"Which pretty flower dares call me 'little one'?"
"You speak elven."
"Hmph, I speak all languages."
"Good. If you understand me, take your companions and leave. You've come to the wrong place at the wrong time."
"So who are you? What's a sentinel?"
"Who I am doesn't matter."
"You know I have companions?"
"Two Kuhn hunters and two Rom humans. You don't seem intent on disturbing the forest, so I'll let it slide. If your goal is that horse, I'll handle it. Your business is done. Leave."
"Show your face first, you leafless weed."
"Is it my fault your senses are dull and you can't see me?"
The thick, serious voice carried a mocking tone.
"You flower seed..."
Ruby spat curses, but the voice had already vanished.
The surrounding forest suddenly fell silent. The Tyrant was still wandering, searching for his ally.
"Buffalord! Watercorn! Take me! I'll praise Cowking. If my way of praising is wrong, I'll learn anew."
Then the voice that had spoken to Ruby addressed the Tyrant.
"A demon from the Kuman Plains, huh."
"Who are you? Ah! You're the sentinel of the Dark Forest!"
The Tyrant bellowed energetically.
"Yeah. Sentinel, I'll kill you and offer you to Cowking. If I kill you, he'll accept me."
"If you're a demon following Cowking, I have no warning for you. Die."
An arrow flew from an unseen direction and struck the Tyrant's head. The Tyrant slammed his head into the ground as if crushed by a house-sized rock, not an arrow.
Arrows followed in quick succession, hitting all four legs.
Ruby tried to locate the archer but saw nothing.
The Tyrant, head planted in the ground, panted heavily.
"Qu-quite... the trick, huh. B-but mere arrows like these won't kill me! I'm a demon with an immortal body, destined to be king of the plains."
"I know. You're hard to kill."
The thick voice replied.
Moments later, blue flames ignited at the ends of the arrows embedded in the Tyrant's body.
"But you'll regret having a body that doesn't die easily."
The flames spread from the arrows along the Tyrant's body.
The Tyrant screamed and writhed. But he couldn't pull out the arrows pinning him to the ground, nor even move from the spot.
The archer vanished too. Ruby never caught sight of him, not even his position.
Ruby muttered softly.
"Sentinel?"
♦
"The Tyrant said he had no name, right?"
Jade asked.
"At least from what I saw, no. But he might have just hidden it."
Saf said.
Jade had opened his holy book and found the passage to dispel dark demons in advance.
Ruby led the way, warning them.
"No need to be so tense. He's completely immobilized right now. And we probably won't even need to dispel him."
Soon, the Tyrant's screams reached Jade's ears too. It was a horrific cry utterly unlike a normal horse's neigh. He almost didn't want to approach.
"No need to dispel?"
Jade asked.
"He's dying."
"I never thought 'dying' would sound so refreshing."
The Tyrant lay under a large tree, his four legs stuck to the ground as if glued. From afar, it looked like a charging stance, but up close, the prostrated position seemed unnatural.
His head dragged on the ground like it had a heavy weight attached, as he vomited out his pain. On closer inspection, an arrow had pierced his head and embedded in the earth.
Blue flames wrapped around the Tyrant's massive body. Even at five paces, no heat was felt. The color was so mesmerizing and beautiful he wanted to keep staring.
Ruby explained.
"It's like a magic flame that burns the target until death. It only burns the target, not the surroundings. From what I know, this is a very advanced spell."
As if to prove it, Ruby touched the Tyrant's flame-wrapped body. The blue flames didn't transfer to her hand.
Trees and grass right next to the Tyrant touched the flames but only swayed, unharmed.
"Who is it?"
The Tyrant asked, unable to lift his head.
Black blood poured from his eyes. His fur had mostly burned away, and his thick hide was melting like candle wax.
"Ruby, who crushed you. The second crushing was someone else."
"Then you've brought a human who can dispel me too."
From within the flames, the Tyrant spoke in a voice splitting into two or three tones.
"What if I did?"
To Ruby's question, the Tyrant made an unexpected request.
"Then dispel me quickly."
Ruby silently turned to Jade.
Jade left Saf with Hur and approached the Tyrant.
"Tyrant, what is your name?"
Pinned by the arrow, the Tyrant slightly turned his head. But he couldn't meet Jade's gaze.
"I'm a nameless lesser demon. So dispel me anytime! I'll accept death meekly."
Jade examined the Tyrant's condition more closely.
Arrows pierced through the Tyrant's front and back hooves. The arrows were nearly as long as Jade's leg and as thick as three fingers. He couldn't imagine the size of the bow needed to fire them.
But their size alone shouldn't immobilize a beast as huge as the Tyrant. The spots where they were embedded were just ordinary dirt.
"Please... kill me. Kill me... Dying like this..."
The Tyrant whimpered.
"It hurts so much... Please dispel me. Please..."
"Is it that painful?"
Jade asked.
"Yes. Show me mercy."
The Tyrant said.
Jade looked down at the Tyrant and said,
"Whoever it was did exactly what I wanted. If that magic hurts so much, die like that."
"Y-you bastard!"
The Tyrant screamed.
"I curse you. May you be forever filled with misfortune and sorrow."
"Yeah, curse me like that until you die. It'll prove your suffering."
The creature thrashed and screamed on, while Jade watched coldly with narrowed eyes.
Soon, the ear-piercing screams faded slowly. And he died in that position.
"Looks like it's over?"
Ruby asked.
"Let's make sure."
Jade opened the book and completely incinerated the Tyrant with the light of dispelling. Only then did the blue flames vanish.
Jade looked down at the ground where only the arrow remained embedded and asked,
"This was made by the Dark Forest's sentinel?"
"Yeah. But I don't know who it is. I don't remember anything like that when I was in the Dark Forest."
Ruby easily pulled the arrow from the ground. It wasn't because she was strong; Jade could have done it too.
Barshu approached from behind and said,
"We've confirmed the Tyrant's death, so that's good. Let's leave this place quickly. If the Dark Forest sentinel warned Ruby to leave, it means he doesn't like us being here."
"Yes, you two go ahead."
Jade examined the heavy arrow from all sides and said,
"But the three of us will keep going. We might have to meet that sentinel."