Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Yormungand's Descent
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"Th-this can't be."
The thick cloud of dust settled.
Arman gaped, his face etched with utter disbelief.
The man who had plummeted from the sky.
Even amid the tremendous impact that shattered the altar,
he strode out unscathed.
Darcor brushed off the hem of his black uniform and lifted his head.
His eyes burned with unparalleled arrogance.
"H-how dare you... disrupt this sacred ritual?"
Arman couldn't contain his surging rage and bellowed.
But Darcor didn't even glance at him.
He merely dusted off his shoulders lightly.
His gaze pierced beyond Arman,
fixing on the center of the frozen lake.
'Whoa... it's disgustingly huge.'
The ancient being, Yormungand.
But for some reason, something was off.
It writhed in agony,
letting out grotesque screams.
"Kieeeek!"
Yormungand's upper body had emerged majestically, but
half its torso was still stuck in the hole in the lake.
Darcor's brow furrowed.
"What the hell? It got stuck halfway?"
The impact must have disrupted the causality of the summoning ritual.
'An opportunity?'
Darcor's eyes gleamed.
This wasn't a novel—no need to wait for it to fully transform.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'No...'
Darcor clenched his fist but then shook his head.
Attacking rashly in this state might scare it off,
sending it back through the dimensional rift.
'That would be a problem.'
He couldn't give another chance to something that had already escaped causality.
Now, in its unstable state, was the perfect moment.
Darcor's lips curled into a sly grin.
"Hey. Tower Master."
"What?"
"Yeah, why didn't you hurry it up? The thing's stuck and can't come out."
As Darcor pointed at Yormungand,
Arman's face flushed beet red.
'D-damn it...'
It was due to the shock from Darcor's fall—the ritual had been twisted.
At this rate, Yormungand wouldn't fully descend
and would be sucked back into the abyss.
Arman's eyes trembled with anxiety.
"Sh-shut your mouth. What would you know, you insolent fool?"
Arman swung his staff and roared at the soldiers.
"Block this bastard now! Tear this irreverent scum apart!"
Just as the Daroa soldiers lunged forward.
Zzzt.
A cheerful voice echoed from the sky.
"Ah, can you all hear me?"
Everyone on the battlefield looked up.
The wyverns soaring through the thunderclouds.
From the one showing off the flashiest aerial maneuvers,
a magic amplifier flashed brightly.
"Everyone, receive your gifts."
With Veronica's excited voice.
Thud thud thud thung!
Dozens of glass vials began plummeting from the sky.
High-concentration holy water bombs glimmering iridescently.
"Wh-what the hell is that?"
As the soldiers panicked,
the holy water bombs started detonating.
Kwaaang. Puuubooom!
"Gaaah!"
Anyone even slightly tainted by black magic
found smoke rising from their bodies everywhere,
screaming in agony as their flesh burned away.
The biggest gift package, naturally, was delivered to the biggest target.
Clang.
Holy water bombs rained down on Yormungand's head.
Sssshhhh.
"Kieeeek!"
Yormungand began thrashing wildly.
The holy water seeping between its scales scorched its flesh.
Yormungand writhed in pain.
Kwajik. Uuuduk.
"Guhk, T-Tower Master."
"E-everyone, dodge! It's g-going to crush us!"
No distinction between friend or foe.
The god, having lost its reason to pain,
trampled its own followers and wreaked havoc around it.
The frozen lake turned into a hellscape in an instant.
Seizing the chaos, the wyverns descended from the sky.
Whoosh.
Darcor's companions landed beside him.
The first to land steadily was Escort Knight Edel.
"Your Majesty, are you hurt anywhere?"
She drew her sword upon landing
and positioned herself in front of Darcor.
The perfect picture of an emperor's escort knight.
"All units, battle ready! Protect His Majesty!"
But no one responded to her resolute command.
"H-heeek."
Hero Eris, the moment she landed,
hid behind Edel's cape.
Her face drained of color, she pointed at Yormungand.
"Wh-what is that thing? S-sis, it's too big. Gr-gross!"
The holy sword Excalibur trembled violently too.
⚔ EXCALIBUR ⚔ This is insane. Kid, can't you see that poison aura? If that touches me, the blade melts. I'm not fighting. No way in hell! "H-how are we supposed to catch a monster like that..."
There was no trace of a hero's dignity to be found.
Eris backed away, eyes welling with tears.
Amid the commotion, one person calmly assessed the situation.
Saintess Chloe.
"Hmm..."
She narrowed her eyes, studying Yormungand intently.
"One of those fangs alone would fetch at least 50,000 gold."
Chloe muttered, licking her lips.
"The poison sacs could go to the alchemy guild—they'd pay top coin.
Grind the bones into powder for noble ladies' aphrodisiacs? Jackpot."
Chloe tallied it up like she was punching a calculator.
Eris's ears perked up from her whining.
"Sell it all, and we could buy ten top-tier mansions in the capital easy."
She slowly—ever so slowly—turned her head.
Her teary eyes began to sparkle.
"M-mansions? T-ten of them?"
"Yeah. At least that much."
Gulp.
Eris swallowed dryly.
She looked up at Yormungand again, now with grim resolve.
Just moments ago, a repulsive monster,
an object of terror—the ancient calamity.
Yormungand.
But after Chloe's explanation,
it started looking different.
A walking bag of gold.
"Holy Sword."
Eris's voice dropped low.
"Time to start. For justice."
⚔ EXCALIBUR ⚔ What? W-wait a sec. What about my say? Eris's eyes flashed gold.
She gripped the holy sword tighter.
Kwaaak.
"Hand over those fangs!"
⚔ EXCALIBUR ⚔ K-kid! Gyaaaaah! The terrified girl had vanished in an instant,
replaced by one leaping forward with all the hero's might.
Edel shook her head in exasperation.
"Haa, our hero is just..."
"Truly magnificent."
Chloe nodded in satisfaction, watching Eris.
Money was the best motivator, after all.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "N-no! This can't happen!"
Arman's desperate scream echoed.
Bathed in holy water, Yormungand rampaged like a mad beast.
Unable to endure the torment, it slammed its head into the tower's outer wall.
Kwaaagwang.
As the tower's pillars crumbled,
Arman's face turned ashen.
'At this rate, the ritual will fail...'
Causality was insufficient.
Yormungand was trying to flee back to the dimensional rift to escape the pain.
Its body was already sliding bit by bit into the hole.
Darcor clicked his tongue in pity.
"Tsk tsk. Can't even manage your pet properly."
Darcor slowly advanced toward Arman.
Dark crimson mana rose like haze from his fingertips.
"You're unqualified as an owner."
Arman sensed it instinctively.
Fighting that man now would mean death.
And if he lost Yormungand too,
he'd lose everything.
'No choice now... only one way.'
Arman's eyes began to glow red.
The deranged Tower Master's gaze turned to his own soldiers lost in the chaos.
Insufficient causality.
The surest, fastest way to fill it.
"Hear me, warriors of Daroa!"
Arman raised his staff high.
His voice twisted with madness.
"Offer your lives and souls to the great god! That is your glory!"
Wuuuuung.
The hidden magic circles around the altar glowed scarlet.
"Cough?"
"T-Tower Master? Wh-what are you..."
"Gaaaaah!"
A horrific scene unfolded.
From the bodies of thousands of nearby Daroa soldiers,
their souls were forcibly ripped out.
Betrayed by the master they trusted, they twisted in agony and died without understanding.
"Sp-spare me! Aaaagh!"
Hiding in a corner,
Varkas trembled and turned away.
"Th-that bastard... he's lost it, finally snapped..."
Thousands of souls were sucked into the air amid screams.
All those souls poured straight into Yormungand's maw.
Kugugung.
⚠️ SYSTEM WARNING ⚠️ [Causality fulfilled.] [Ancient existence, Yormungand descends.] ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The wounds scorched by holy water regenerated in an instant.
Its hazy eyes flashed with dark crimson vitality,
brimming with life once more.
Kwaaaang.
The frozen lake exploded outward.
Finally, even its serpentine tail sprang onto the surface.
Its endless body coiled around the entire tower.
Mana raged like a storm, thick enough to choke the air.
"Kuhahaha!"
Arman laughed maniacally, blood tears streaming from his eyes.
The result of sacrificing countless lives.
But he felt no shred of guilt.
"Behold, the work of my lifetime! At last, success!"
Arman stood atop Yormungand's head,
looking down at Darcor.
The tables had turned.
Before such absolute power,
that arrogant human was nothing but a bug.
"Die!"
Yormungand opened its maw toward Darcor.
Its throat glowed with breath in this moment of life or death.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
An untimely round of applause rang out.
Arman's laughter halted.
Darcor was clapping slowly,
looking utterly delighted by the situation.
"Huh?"
Arman doubted his own eyes.
Why was the wretch, who should be crawling in terror, applauding?
'Has he lost his mind?'
Darcor smirked and spoke.
"Congratulations. You really worked hard."
"C-congratulations?"
"Dragging it out alone would've been a real pain."
Darcor stretched and strode forward confidently.
"But you went and fed your minions into it too? I'm touched."
His eyes gleamed more sinisterly than Yormungand's glare.
"Thanks to you, less hassle for me."
Darcor's lips twisted into a savage grin.
"Now, shall we sort this snake pup for recycling?"