Chapter 32
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Kabakshuz
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Fishing is about waiting.
Dane flicked Bankers' tail up and down repeatedly at the end of the line, dangling it enticingly.
‘No bites at all.’
He thoroughly targeted every massive tunnel bored into the floor below, waiting for it to come.
As the scent of the tail spread, the hearts of the spectators pounded harder and harder, but the monster still refused to show itself.
‘Should I add some chum?’ He sliced a long gash into his arm gripping the tail with the cleaver. Blood flowed, soaking the tail and splattering everywhere as it whipped up and down.
He repeated the process patiently. And then—
*Meat... meat... meat... meat...*
The meat chant exploded like thunder. The massive hole amplified the intense impulses like a speaker, growing louder and louder.
‘It’s coming.’
A head stealthily emerged from the end of one of the tunnels. Then a long body slithered out at regular intervals. Scales bristled and flattened repeatedly as it kept emerging. It emerged endlessly.
‘This is the giant specimen!’
The massive, powerful monster that could force the kingdom to abandon its home fully revealed itself, vividly reflecting the glow of Yadus ore.
[Giant Monster: Harbinger of Earthquakes - Kabakshuz]
Uralen had called it a snake, but to Dane, it looked like an eel. An enormously huge eel.
The red glow in Dane’s eyes clashed fiercely with the blue radiance.
He had grown tremendously stronger after devouring the Krekator and traveling all the way to Harac Bar. But his opponent was more than three times his size.
‘This is the difference in class. Comparing raw power with a giant specimen is pointless.’ Even mid-to-large specimens were the same. He couldn’t win in a straight clash of strength, but fortunately, Dane had the ability to overcome that.
First, he needed to examine its body thoroughly.
‘It’s too big. The hide is too thick. Attacking from outside is suicide, just like the dwarves said. The mine would collapse before we could bring it down.’ In the end, there was only one way. He steeled himself. The fight would be decided in an instant. The thought made his body tremble.
Even so, the awe-inspiring sight of the colossal monster was profoundly moving. He couldn’t even guess how delicious it would be or how much power it would grant.
‘Guess I’ll have to eat it and find out.’
He forcefully flung Bankers' tail toward the floor. It bounced precariously near the monster’s head. The scent spread. Blood droplets scattered.
The monster lifted its head after the tail and shot upward.
“z̶̕͢k̷̡͠q҈҇͢k̵͜͝…… z҈̕͜m҉̛͜!”
At the same time, Dane unfurled the monster meat he had slung over his shoulder.
Meat rained down. The instant the monster gaped wide to swallow it all, Dane severed the tongue tied to his ankle.
-Splash!
He plummeted straight down. Layers of razor-sharp teeth filled his vision.
He tossed Bankers' tail below, snagging it on the monster’s teeth, and yanked hard. It accelerated his fall.
The meat tumbling into the monster’s maw slid along Dane’s oiled body and scattered to the sides.
‘Devoured to devour!’ Dane entered the monster’s maw first.
“z҈̕͜m҉̛͜!”
The teeth couldn’t scratch Dane at all. It had opened far too wide.
The throat was excessively spacious for Dane to enter.
But it narrowed gradually. Like rock and prey being crushed into powder or juice in one go, it began compressing Dane’s body instantly.
“Ugh!”
Without the oil slathered on his body, he would have gotten stuck long ago. Instead, Dane slipped on the frictional force, sliding down the esophagus even faster. Still, the damage was severe.
His shoulders snapped first. Clavicle and scapula shattered.
He barely scraped the esophagus walls with his fingertips as he slid. A little regeneration, then more bones broke.
The excruciating pain threatened to make him black out.
Amid it all, he scanned outside the esophagus. Unidentifiable organs passed by, followed by spine and ribs in sequence. He forced the narrowing passage wider with the cleaver and kept sliding inward.
‘Almost there!’
As the esophagus tore, the monster thrashed even more violently. Pulsing contractions snapped Dane’s ribs with sickening cracks. Less resistance meant faster sliding.
“Argh!!”
Deeper in, a fiery red organ loomed ahead. The roughly pumping source of life!
Once past, there was no turning back. If he couldn’t end it in one go, he’d have to destroy it from the stomach.
‘The fight will drag on.’ He couldn’t predict how much it would twist and wreck the mine.
‘One chance!’
He slashed the esophagus with all his might. Broken bones knit, and full power returned.
He thrust his hand into the gash. Clinging to a rib, he halted his suctioning body. He brutally carved through muscle and unidentified membranes.
Finally, he savaged the massive heart.
* * *
“Ahh...!”
The expedition team’s eyes filled with horror, spilling out as pained groans.
They had anticipated it, but seeing it happen was shocking.
The giant monster had surged up the moment it appeared, swallowed Dane, and crashed to the floor.
-Kaboom!
After slamming down, it coiled briefly, then thrashed like an eel salted with coarse grains.
-Bang! Kwabam!
Each collision of its massive body and tail against the mine walls boomed like thunder, shaking the ground like an earthquake. Then an even louder, more horrific scream than the quaking earth erupted beyond the mine.
“z҈̢͡k̷̕͢!! q҉̡҇ķ̷͡z̵͢͝m̷̧͞! t̴҇͢b̴̧͠!”
Those barely clinging to the railings let go and clamped their ears shut.
Kabakshuz showed no mercy to the spectators.
Unable to endure the agony starting from inside, it shrieked and kept shrieking.
“q҉̡҇ķ̷͡z̵͢͝m! t̴҇͢b!!!!!!”
The monster’s torment pierced through the Yadus mine, spreading via hundreds of branched tunnels. The vibrations from the sound widened cracks and spawned new ones as it propagated.
The echoes lingered all the way to Harac Bar’s sole city before finally fading.
The quakes stopped too.
Those who had rolled on the floor enduring it all rose shakily, faces drained of soul. They peered below.
Kabakshuz lay with tongue lolling long, belly up, completely limp. No breathing, but the tail tip twitched occasionally.
Death hadn’t reached the tail yet.
“Dane?!”
“Where is he?!”
River and Bankers shouted and raced down the stair path. It was a long detour to the floor where the monster lay, but they didn’t care.
Dane had entered its gut and slain the beast from within, so they focused on extracting him quickly—ideally intact.
In his haste, Bankers hoisted River onto his back and leaped dozens of stairs at once. He kept his eyes fixed on the monster, watching for any change.
Then he saw movement.
“Huh, haha! Th-that’s...”“The cleaver... He’s alive.” Halfway down the hole, one side of the monster’s body split and tore. Dane wriggled out forcefully.
River and Bankers had to watch the monster’s body disassemble completely by the time they reached the bottom.
* * *
Transporting the captured monster to the city proved far harder and longer than hunting it.
The 20-meter-plus body was sliced into ten chunks and hoisted one by one via crane. Vast slabs of flesh, skinned widely along the spine, loaded onto ore carts.
It lived on land, but the meat was fish-belly white. Inside, it was just like an eel, true to its looks.
“The tail’s mine.”
Dane barely uttered that before sinking into sleep.
-Groooarrr!
The quadruplets spun the rail-end crank rapidly. Gears clicked into the rails and carts, starting the long train of ore carts moving.
The return trip was rough.
Kabakshuz’s thrashing had littered the rail path with fallen rocks everywhere. The expedition pooled their strength to clear it and reached the city in a day.
The city wasn’t intact like when they left. Everyone bustled repairing collapsed buildings, cracked roads, sunken floors, and more.
“It’s here!!!”
“The expedition’s back!!!!” To them, the expedition’s gift was a shock.
“Is that... really Kabakshuz?”“They took down a giant monster with just this crew?!” They belatedly realized the roars came from the dying beast and rejoiced that quakes were over.
Even amid cheers, Dane didn’t stir. Bankers washed his body with hot water and laid him in bed, but nothing.
As if he’d exhausted every ounce of vitality, he breathed shallowly in deep slumber, refusing to wake.
River watched him worriedly, then patted Bankers’ shoulder and headed out.
“He’ll wake when it’s mealtime. Let’s do our job.” She returned to King Tuparak and Prime Minister Grad.
“We’ve hunted the giant monster as promised. Now it’s time to prove it. So, may we use some facilities here?” An outrageous request to use the kingdom’s smelting facilities for monster cuisine.
The prime minister wanted to dismiss the nonsense, but the king’s resolve was firm, and his own prior words prevented refusal.
“We need your help.” River gathered dwarf smiths and casters, explaining her plan.
“We’ll roast Kabakshuz whole, as the King of Hunters decreed. The issue is grilling this much meat quickly, efficiently, repeatedly... Can’t we do it with your facilities?”
They lived by melting ores into metal and refining it.
Using those facilities to grill meat? Monster meat, no less? Absurd.
“Still, it piques my curiosity.”“And it’s a clever idea.” Bolstered by those who’d tasted monster meat, the dwarves swiftly proceeded.
“Considering chunk weight, how about Forge Room 4?”“You’re not suggesting shoving it in the furnace, right?”“Nah. That cook said repeat high-heat quick grills.”“Conveyor belt idea!”“Exactly. Adjust thickness with rollers while moving it.”
They buzzed excitedly, tossing ideas. River, listening, chimed in.
“How about charcoal right under the belt?”“Charcoal smoke would infuse nicely. Harac Bar’s arc white charcoal would be perfect... What about seasoning?”“Half salt-roast, half sauced.”
Ideas poured for River’s plan.
“Use the heat treater for salt?”“Swap water for salt and sauce in the sprayer.”“Great idea. Retrofit to control amounts right away.”
Energy surged.
Dwarfs scavenged and adjusted instant devices from smelting and casting rooms for the monster meat.
“Belt on! Fine-tune spindles watching speed!” Steam hissed everywhere, gears clashing noisily.
-Tararararara...
Five 2-meter meat slabs on the conveyor belt began slow movement.
“Rollers on! Thickness level 4!!”-Kreeee... sizzle sizzle...
Post-roller meat flattened uniformly, high flames from arc white charcoal searing the underside rapidly.
“Speed’s good now! Two more round trips like this!!” River directed, using the heat treater to sprinkle salt evenly.
“Flip!”
She adjusted rollers and reversed the conveyor. Meat flipped naturally, other side searing fast.
“Sauce next!!” The adjacent belt for five slabs activated.
Sauce sprayed from the swapped heat treater onto passing meat surfaces. River tweaked charcoal heat and belt speed to avoid burning the sauce.
-Sizzle sizzle...
As unexpected aromas filled the usually acrid space, crowds gathered outside the workshop.
Giant monster meat, never seen before.
Among curious onlookers was Dane, carried on a stretcher.
River approached, bent down, and whispered in his ear.
“Wake up. Time to eat.”
Dane finally opened his eyes.