Chapter 98: Seol-hwa
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 98: Seol-hwa
【Elasmotherium】
The largest of all rhinoceroses, it grows to about 5m in length and weighs up to 5 tons. It is characterized by a long horn, earning it the name "the unicorn of the Ice Age."
Its sharp horn, which can grow up to 2m long, is a threatening weapon that makes most predators think twice about approaching it.
Calm down.
It might look like that, but it's a unicorn.
It’s kind of like a horse.
It has a horn.
Seeing it charge over, all excited by the presence of a virgin, it must be a unicorn.
“Guwoooooo!”
Its cry is very unicorn-like, too.
Now, I knew what I had to do.
Show it my pure, chaste lizard self, and then get its horn.
“Gekek.”
I revealed myself, swaying my body languidly.
The unicorn stared right at me.
It seemed to have realized I was a pure being and was about to give me its horn.
Look. Isn't its horn turning blacker?
…Its horn is turning black?
“Ilbuuuu….”
A sound like human speech came from the unicorn's mouth.
Did that mean it was close to being a spirit beast?
But still, its head wasn't human, so how could it talk?
“Ilcheoooo!”
It was slurred, but it was definitely a language with meaning.
“Ilbu-ilcheoooo!” [Monogamy!]
…Is that just its cry?
“Ilbu-ilcheooooooo!” [Monogamy!]
Did it pick that up somewhere and adopt it as its cry?
Whatever it was, it was still fascinating.
But its cry wasn't what was important.
What was important was that it was roaring and charging at me.
I couldn't understand why, but it didn't seem to like me.
A fight was unavoidable.
[[Status: Miniaturization] is deactivated.]
Wudududuk.
[Due to the effect of [Miniaturization LV1], [Status: Gigantification] is applied.]
The beast wasn't surprised by my sudden increase in size.
Which made sense, since in terms of pure size, the unicorn was still bigger.
If that horn stabbed me, even I would end up as a lizard kebab.
Kwaaaaaang!
I blocked its charge with my shoulder.
Its horn missed me, cutting through the empty air.
To be precise, I took the base of the horn with my shoulder.
No part of it wasn't sharp, but compared to the tip, you could call the base blunt.
And my Dragon Scales could defend against that much.
Chiiiiik….
The impact of blocking the charge sent my body sliding backward.
Normally, I shouldn't have just been pushed back; I should have been sent flying.
Ggudeudeuk.
But by bracing my legs, I managed to stop after sliding back a certain distance.
“Ilbuuuu…?”
It finally looked a little flustered.
A lizard much lighter than itself had stopped it in its tracks. Of course, it would be surprised.
“Grrrrr….”
I had no ill will, but I couldn't just let it go.
A strike imbued with the profound principles of the Dragon's Claws slammed into its head.
Kwaaaaaang!
Unlike before, I had now realized how to use my internal energy more efficiently.
In other words, my firepower was incomparable to when I fought the Megatherium.
Jjeooooong!
The unicorn's massive head was slammed into the ground.
Kugugugung!
The earth trembled from the impact.
But the beast was no pushover.
A blow like that would have snapped the neck of any ordinary creature, killing it instantly.
But the muscles in the unicorn's neck were on a level that could only be described as transcendent. Despite taking my Dragon's Claws head-on, its thick neck was perfectly fine.
“Prrrrrr!”
The unicorn immediately lifted its head and got up.
It seemed to back away for a moment, but then it charged at me again, horn first.
If it was the same attack as before, it would just get beaten by me again.
It must have known that too.
That's why the unicorn used a different tactic.
It didn't thrust.
It swung the horn on its head.
Bwoooong!
As if it were a sword.
Swaaaaaak!
This was harder to dodge than I thought.
Its horn was a powerful weapon, dangerous even to me.
To block that attack, I'd have to grab the relatively blunt part, but if it came at me like this, that was impossible.
I moved my body quickly, dodging its sword strikes.
Chwaaaak!
It was in that moment.
I felt a profound internal energy stirring from its inner core.
The unicorn, like me, was a creature that had mastered a mental cultivation method.
Its internal energy was imbued into its sharp horn.
That wasn't all.
If it had a mental cultivation method, it must have a corresponding martial art.
Chwajajajak!
A flurry of countless slashes followed, as if attacking from thirty-six directions at once.
It was the Thirty-Six Swords of the World that Baek Woon had shown me.
Chwaaak!
Compared to him, its proficiency was lacking.
Although Baek Woon wasn't at the Peak Realm, his swordsmanship proficiency was quite high.
But its low proficiency wasn't a problem.
Its overwhelming physique filled that gap.
That size, combined with that ridiculous speed.
And mixed in with it, the profound principles of the Thirty-Six Swords of the World.
Was there anyone who could dodge that?
That is, if they were seeing this sword art for the first time.
[[Reverse Scale LV1] is used.]
[You have temporarily acquired [Uprooting Heavens and Overpowering the World].]
Guguguguk.
I had already experienced the Thirty-Six Swords of the World.
Ancient Dragon Leg Art, Descending Dragon Tremor.
Kwaaaaaang!
I stomped hard on the ground with a leg art infused with the principles of the Descending Dragon Tremor.
Jjeojeojeojeojeok!
The ground instantly cracked as if in a drought.
As long as it stood on the ground, an opening was bound to appear.
Bwoong.
Not missing the opening, I swung both my hands.
Kagagagang!
Its horn met my attack.
Its horn was a sword, and my claws were swords as well.
Kagagang!
A close battle ensued, so intense that sparks flew.
Kagagagagak!
The Thirty-Six Swords of the World was ultimately countered by my Dragon's Claws.
But it wasn't over yet.
It still had strength remaining.
The unicorn swung its horn wide.
The moment I moved to dodge, it also pulled back.
The unicorn took a deep breath.
It looked like it was about to use a big technique.
A big technique should be met with a big technique.
I was about to use the Gekek Death Beam in response to its movement.
“Guwoooooo!”
It let out a roar and immediately turned around.
And then, with the same speed it had charged at me, the unicorn ran off in another direction.
For a moment, I was so stunned I couldn't do anything.
Was it… running away?
Now?
Because it thought it was going to lose?
No, just from our brief clash, I could grasp its nature.
It didn't run away because it was afraid of me.
It just found something more important than fighting me.
Whatever that was, my goal was its horn.
I immediately chased after it.
The unicorn was already long gone.
Its charging speed was faster than mine.
But tracking it wasn't difficult.
It had charged through, breaking trees, leaving a very clear trail.
Tadadat!
After running for a long time, I finally found it.
It was up on a distant hill.
But… its horn was gone.
And it was wagging its tail.
What in the world was going on?
Why was its horn missing?
And why wasn't it taking this seriously? Why did it look so satisfied?
Something was strange.
Seuak.
I flicked my tongue, using my unique lizard sense of smell to its fullest.
I caught a scent that was somehow familiar yet strange.
A fragrant aroma wafted over.
It was… like the smell of the honey dango I tasted in the Silver Dragon Cave.
That wasn't all.
I also smelled a human.
A scent even more fragrant than honey.
Its horn was gone.
It was smiling very happily.
And the smell of a human.
That crazy unicorn must have smelled a pure maiden during our fight and scurried off. Not only that, it even offered up its horn, its own weapon.
…Despite its appearance, it really was a unicorn.
Now I had no reason to mess with the unicorn anymore.
The urgent thing now was to meet the human who took its horn.
But there was something I had to do first.
I didn't know why, but humans seemed to be scared of my appearance.
Oddballs like Baek Yeon-yeong or Tang Soyeong were exceptions, but normal people like Jang Bong or Baek Woon were wary of me.
Now that I was even bigger, they'd be even more cautious.
I used Miniaturization to shrink myself.
Some people were scared even when I was the size of a crocodile monitor, so I went smaller than that.
About the size of a green basilisk.
Chwaaak….
Good.
They won't be scared of this, right?
I'll try to negotiate in this state.
If I tossed them a few scales, they'd probably take them happily.
If some malicious person tried to hunt me, I'd just shoot them with a Gekek Death Beam.
I pushed through the bushes and ran toward the source of the human scent.
Tadadat!
Having learned directly from Little Dragon, I could move through the jungle much faster than before.
Papat!
After running for a while, I found a human.
Even if I was small, they might be startled if I just popped out recklessly.
I had to move as gentlemanly as possible.
I checked the human's appearance.
…Wait a minute, that looks familiar.
Black hair.
Blue eyes.
And snow-white skin.
…Baek Yeon-yeong?
It was a stroke of luck in a bad situation.
I was worried about what to do if they refused to negotiate, but if it was Baek Yeon-yeong, that was a different story.
If I wagged my tail a little, she might just give me the unicorn's horn.
I was also curious about how the spiders were doing.
Time to make a confident entrance.
And show off my achievements so far.
Using the principles of the Little Dragon's Ascending Heaven Steps, I leaped toward my target.
My target was Baek Yeon-yeong's soft-yet-firm finger.
Taat!
Landing complete.
Before she could react, I made my move.
Waaang.
Teop.
As expected, it wasn't easily pierced.
I chewed and chewed, but the result was the same.
But I hadn't used my full strength yet.
This time….
…This tastes a little different.
“Gekek?”
I lifted my head and looked up at "Baek Yeon-yeong."
Something was a bit different.
From a distance, her hair had looked black.
But now, the color was fading.
Her internal energy pouches were also extraordinary.
They were more magnificent than Baek Yeon-yeong's.
No, they wouldn't lose out even compared to the Snake Queen's.
They might even be bigger than the Snake Queen's.
Tadat!
I immediately jumped off her finger.
After landing on the ground and looking up, the hair of the woman I thought was Baek Yeon-yeong had now turned completely white.
As if that had been her original hair color all along.
“Hmph.”
The woman, letting out a hum that Baek Yeon-yeong would never make, crossed her arms and looked down at me.
“So, a handsome lizard was making all that noise.”