Chapter 246: The Power of Wood (木)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 246: The Power of Wood (木)
A chill ran down my spine with every word Taotie spoke.
I couldn't just dismiss it as the ramblings of a strange old man; there was an odd sense of incongruity in his voice.
If I had to classify it as high or low, I'd say it was low, but something about it was off.
I had a strong feeling he was putting on an act.
Since the human form he'd just shown me was a fabrication, it was no surprise he could fake his voice as well.
It was easy to tell he was hiding more than just one or two things.
And yet, there was no doubting that his strength was real.
Just look at him—he was like the personification of killing intent.
One wrong move and my head would fly.
"Grrrr..."
First, I needed to gauge his skill.
I focused my mind.
Kwoooong!
Countless roots and vines surged toward Taotie like a tidal wave.
It was a simple release of the Dragon Gate's power, but there was no better attack for gauging an opponent's strength.
"...The Power of Wood, is it?"
For the first time, the smile vanished from Taotie's face as it briefly hardened.
"I heard you defeated Gongbok, but did you dispose of that green wench as well?"
By 'green wench,' he must have meant Chodo.
Was he concerned for her because she was family?
Kwaaaaaak!
His massive foreleg mercilessly shattered the charging roots.
Kwwaaaaang!
I hadn't expected to even scratch him with that.
What I was aiming for was the small opening created as he destroyed the roots.
Kududuk.
I kicked off the ground and dug into his flank.
My Dragon's Claws swung through the air.
"This is... quite something!"
The fact that Taotie said that meant he had the leeway to react.
Kaaaaang!
He swatted my descending claws away.
My right hand and his left hand trembled simultaneously.
Zzzzing.
I felt the shock penetrate my scales and rattle my bones.
"Incredible! Then again, you'd have to be at least this strong to defeat Gongbok!"
Taotie's arm was trembling, but he ignored it and charged at me.
Kwagagagak!
I continued to unleash a barrage of attacks, but he paid them no mind, charging recklessly like a wild boar.
Such a tactic shouldn't have been a good choice.
By disregarding defense and evasion, he was leaving himself open to a counterattack.
But Taotie's absurdly tough body compensated for that weakness.
It was an ironic situation where his brutish tactics met his brutish body, canceling out the weaknesses and leaving only the strengths.
Swaaaak!
It was a simple body slam, but its power was anything but simple.
A direct hit would surely shatter every bone in my body.
He was smaller than Gongbok, but he was still definitely bigger than my current self.
Kwaaaaaang!
Of course, that was assuming he could land a direct hit.
Paaang!
Bending my body like a drawn bow, I instantly escaped his range.
"Bow Body Elastic Shadow!" Taotie exclaimed in surprise.
Even so, he immediately changed his trajectory.
Just because I dodged once didn't mean his attack would stop.
It seemed he planned to keep charging until he hit me.
Normally, he would have slammed into me with his shoulder, but I had no intention of making direct contact with that monstrous thing.
I planted my two feet on the ground.
My movements were as natural as a small dragon soaring through the sky, as fluid as flowing water.
Pabababat!
"To use such footwork with that physique... you're cheating!"
One of my specialties is speed.
In particular, the unpredictable movements of the Little Dragon's Heaven-Ascending Steps, performed on two feet, were enough to make one think I was defying the laws of physics.
Kwaaang!
I stomped with a Dragon's Roar Stomp, causing roots and vines to shoot up.
The scattered wooden debris became footholds for me.
Swaaaaak!
I slammed into his flank.
Kwaaaang!
"Keuk!"
This time, it seemed he wasn't entirely unscathed. Taotie grimaced and retreated.
"That movement... it looks familiar for some reason."
The Little Dragon's Heaven-Ascending Steps looked familiar?
Could he have met old man Compy?
Or was there another spirit beast that used the Little Dragon's Heaven-Ascending Steps?
"Come to think of it, your face is familiar too."
After creating some distance, he slowly examined my face.
"Black scales, and a suspiciously long tail."
It would be stranger if he didn't know I was related to the previous Gomodo.
"You remind me of someone..."
He didn't know for sure, but unless he was an idiot, he had to realize there was some connection.
"Hmm, I can't seem to remember."
So he is an idiot.
"I'm sure I'll remember if we keep fighting!"
With that shout, Taotie charged at me once again.
He was simple-minded, but that made him easy to read, which was nice.
A black and red aura gathered on his claws and teeth.
...Did this mean the probing was over?
Since he'd shown his power, it was only right that I show mine.
I drew power from my dantian.
It was time to show him what the Power of Wood truly was—not just manipulating trees.
"Internal energy so strong it makes even my body tingle! Good, very good!"
He laughed heartily, for whatever reason, and rushed toward me.
A storm in my right hand.
Thunder in my left.
With the energy of Wood cloaking both hands, I swung at him.
Swaaaaaaaak!
Just as my attack flew toward his neck...
[「Dragon Eye」 has been activated.]
【Taotie LV???】
【Status】
「Competitive Spirit」「Inferiority Complex」「Self-loathing」「Jealousy」「Acting」「Avoidant type」
The Dragon Eye activated on its own.
Using a skill with the name 'Dragon' in it required a significant investment of resources.
The more information it processed, even just reading the eyes of a wild animal, the more it overloaded, which was why I usually kept it deactivated.
The Dragon Eye was even more demanding, never less.
Seeing through high-tier spirit beasts like Taotie or Chodo was as taxing as using the Dragon's Word.
Thus, the sudden activation of the Dragon Eye completely shattered my concentration.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
I ended up taking the full force of his diagonal strike.
"Kaaaargh!"
Gulp.
I coughed up blood after taking just a single hit.
"Khahahat! Focus!"
His assault didn't end with one blow.
Kwang!
Kwaaaang!
A merciless chain of attacks continued.
His aura, which could be described as black flames, seeped into my body, continuously worsening my wounds.
If I kept taking hits like this, I would surely lose.
Swaaaaaak!
As I swung my tail, I took a deep breath.
Jjeeeeeoong!
By firing a Gaegek Death Beam at point-blank range, I barely managed to create some distance.
What in the world was happening?
I was full of questions.
Not just about the Dragon Eye activating on its own, but about the information it had revealed.
Competitive Spirit, Inferiority Complex, Self-loathing, Jealousy, Acting, Avoidant type.
The competitive spirit was understandable; I could have figured that out even without the Dragon Eye.
But the others were different.
Inferiority complex and jealousy.
Why on earth would he be jealous of me?
If he knew I was a descendant of Gomodo, it might make sense.
But he didn't know that.
So, what was he jealous of?
In terms of raw attack power, he had the upper hand, and our recent exchange had put me on the defensive.
Could it be that I possessed something he didn't?
Other than speed, I had nothing.
And even that wasn't a huge difference.
And then there was self-loathing and acting.
What was he loathing, and what was he acting out?
The most incomprehensible part was the last one: 'avoidant type.'
Did that even make sense?
If it were a skill like, 'Evade enemy attacks with a certain probability,' I could understand.
But it wasn't like that.
It was describing his personality, or his current emotional state.
Can 'competitive spirit' and 'avoidant type' even coexist?
What was going on?
"A bit disappointing."
Taotie, who had been preparing to charge again, spoke.
"To be born such a strong male, yet this is all you can show."
Kwaaang!
Taotie stomped his foot hard.
I hastily tried to block his path with vines and roots, but his stomp had the terrifying power to literally make the earth reach for the sky.
Naturally, mere trees couldn't restrict his movements.
Kaaaaang!
My Dragon's Claws clashed with his.
He was certainly a tough opponent.
Thanks to the Dragon Eye activating on its own, I'd even sustained an unexpected injury.
At this rate, I had no chance of winning.
"That expression... don't tell me you're holding back your strength in front of me."
Taotie's red eyes flashed.
His voice trembled slightly.
I didn't know what it was, but I had clearly touched a nerve.
"How dare you... in front of me?"
The dark red aura erupted even more intensely.
It was a vicious killing intent that felt like it could slice through my scales just by looking at it.
"Hiding one's strength can be called a strategy. You can kill your opponent with all your might when they let their guard down."
Jjeeeeeok!
Every step Taotie took created a huge crater, as if a meteorite had fallen.
"But I see no such killing intent in your eyes."
Damn, this old man is sharp.
"Are you... daring to go easy on me?"
Kurururung...
Dark clouds gathered.
"Come at me with all your strength! Show me your power! The power you were born with as a male!"
A dry laugh escaped me.
He wasn't even using his full power himself, yet he was telling me to do so.
He was ridiculously strong.
Still, through our fight just now, I was beginning to get a faint idea of what kind of being Taotie was.
He was holding back his own power, yet telling me to fight with all my might.
Furthermore, the old man's appearance he first showed wasn't his true form.
He was just trying to imitate an old man.
Yes.
He was a walking contradiction.
A being with a competitive spirit who also had avoidant traits.
If so, could that competitive spirit have been created by someone else?
Chodo hated Taotie.
Taotie, in turn, looked down on Chodo, calling her a wench.
Did he dismiss her because she was weak?
No, that wasn't it.
Chodo was a powerhouse, at least on par with Gongbok, perhaps even stronger.
He wouldn't look down on her for her strength.
Then why did he have that attitude?
Gongbok saw Taotie in a positive light, but why did Chodo consider him the worst?
What was the difference between Gongbok and Chodo?
The only visible difference was their gender.
...Could it be that he was looking down on her just because she was female?
It wasn't entirely impossible, but his strange obsession with being male was bothering me.
And the fact that he was jealous of me.
"Prove to me you are worthy of being born a male!"
Gongbok had said that Taotie was obsessed with, for lack of a better term, looking cool.
Why would he do that?
With his level of power, he shouldn't need to be obsessed with such things.
Could it be because he was lacking something?
Could it be because there was something he could never change, no matter how hard he tried?
...If I kept thinking, I might reach a conclusion, but I didn't have the luxury for that right now.
My own speculation wouldn't change anything.
Besides, I'd rather not overtax my small lizard brain with too much thinking.
Why take the hard way when I could just get the answer from his own mouth?
He was finally unleashing what could be called his full power.
It had been so difficult to draw this out of him.
The way to make a guy like that submit is to devour his full power.
To make him accept defeat.
Only by engraving in his mind that he could never win, even in a rematch, could I bring Taotie under my command.
"Grrrrrrr..."
[「Status: Miniaturization」 has been deactivated.]
Udeudeudeuk.
[Due to the effect of 「Miniaturization LV10」, 「Status: Gigantification」 is now applied.]
For the past week, I had been preparing for him.
A technique that's become indispensable.
Gigantification, using the side effect of Miniaturization.
"Your small size was a bit of a letdown, but this changes things!"
Taotie laughed loudly.
"Yes, this is what it means to be a male!"
Full power against a full-powered opponent.
He seemed to like that simple concept.
But he was mistaken about one thing.
What I had been hiding was nothing so trivial as this.
"Good! Let's have a proper fight! The conclusion to this life-and-death battle..."
Taotie couldn't finish his sentence.
Because I was about to grant his wish and use my full power.
Pzzzzzzzt.
The Power of Wood isn't simply about being able to control trees.
The direction corresponding to Wood is East, and the season is Spring.
Life begins on a warm spring day, and the sun, the beginning of all life, rises in the East.
Therefore, Wood can be seen not as mere trees, but as 'beginning' and 'creation'.
Thunder and storms are also about beginning and creation.
The spring rain falls when thunder strikes, and seeds are scattered when the wind blows.
Kwagagagak!
The power of a fierce wind dwelled in my right hand.
Wooooong.
The Fox Marble reacted to the Wood energy, swelling to the size of a storm.
Pzzzzzzzt!
Blue lightning crackled in my left hand.
Kwarurururung!
My domain reacted to the Wood energy, causing countless thunderbolts to strike from the sky.
A storm in my right hand.
Thunder in my left.
With different aspects of the Power of Wood gathered in each hand, it was obvious where they would unite.
Ssssssssup.
I took a deep breath.
If you can block this, then try.
