Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: The Serpent's Brood
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“There are young ones—!”
Arjan and Kaljak didn't immediately understand Ruan's shout.
It took them a few seconds to fully grasp his meaning—he wasn't just stating the obvious fact that there was a young snake—a Sapphire Snake—in this cave...
‘There are hatchlings?’
Kaljak instantly expanded his senses.
It wasn't difficult to detect the multiple presences swarming from the entrance.
‘This is insane…’
But awareness and panic were two different things.
The moment Kaljak realized the enemy's presence, his mind went blank.
When… when did it give birth?
And why didn't I know about it?
Immediately after, Kaljak also witnessed the scene Ruan had seen earlier.
He saw the space beyond the cave wall.
The moment he confirmed the presence of the pure white eggs there, a chill ran up his spine.
Then this situation…
‘Did it intentionally hide this from me?’
Kaljak felt a fresh wave of terror.
He knew Jewel Beasts were intelligent.
After all, he was the one who had told Ruan and Arjan that fact.
But he had been arrogant.
While he had acknowledged the Jewel Beast as his lifelong adversary, a part of him had thought…
*It's still just a beast. It doesn't have the brains to engage in a battle of wits with a human…*
In this moment, he realized just how wrong he had been.
The monster he had dismissed as a beast had deceived him with clear malice.
Just as Kaljak had spewed hatred at the thought of the Jewel Beast,
the Jewel Beast must have also considered Kaljak a disgustingly persistent pest.
That was why it had hidden the fact that it was carrying eggs.
This monster might not have concepts like deceiving an enemy or setting a trap, but…
it must have instinctively understood that hiding this fact could turn the tables.
So, the Jewel Beast had blocked the opposite entrance with its massive body, raising its offspring beyond it.
‘In that case…’
Choosing this cave as its lair might have been the very beginning of this insidious scheme.
While Kaljak was engaged in an unseen war of nerves with the Jewel Beast, its offspring must have been steadily growing.
To one day kill Kaljak in their mother's stead.
‘Kaljak, you idiot. Why didn't you notice?’
Looking back, there were more than a few strange things.
The Sapphire Snake had been unusually weak.
Even for winter, this hibernation was too long.
A creature that usually moved its lair at every opportunity had stayed in this cave for several years.
What if Ruan hadn't come here?
Or if I had ignored his insistence on hunting it today and waited another six months.
Wouldn't that mean Kaljak would have foolishly kept waiting for an opportunity, only to be torn to shreds by the fully grown hatchlings a few months later?
*Kieeeeeek!*
The Jewel Beast's offspring charged.
They were much smaller than their mother, but their smaller size made them nimbler.
Kaljak retreated, slashing at the swarm of young snakes.
A brief clash was enough to tell him that the strength of their scales was also formidable.
‘Just how many of them are there?’
He could see dozens at a glance.
To finish them off one or two at a time, he'd have to infuse his blade with a considerable amount of mana, but Kaljak wasn't in a position to do so.
His original plan had only accounted for a single enemy: the Sapphire Snake.
Thinking he was on the verge of achieving his revenge, he had gleefully swung his mana-filled sword without a thought for the aftermath.
Dammit, now that he thought about it, he should have been suspicious from the start.
The reason the Jewel Beast had seemed easy wasn't because Ruan and Arjan had joined him, nor because Kaljak was in good condition.
It was simply because the creature was exhausted from laying eggs.
‘This isn't good.’
Once his mana ran out, even Kaljak would no longer be able to land a significant blow on them.
Frankly, the situation was bleak, but he had no intention of dying quietly.
“Shit.”
Grinding his teeth, Kaljak poured mana into his blade and roared.
“First one who wants to follow their mommy to hell, come and get it! You sons of bitches!”
* * *
Do snakes understand insults?
I couldn't tell if they actually understood him or were just annoyed by his shouting.
In any case, Kaljak's vicious shout drew the attention of the snake swarm, buying me the time I needed to assess the situation.
First, the Jewel Beast.
‘It's in a state where it'll die even if left alone.’
In other words, it's still alive.
Who knows.
If we leave it be, it might recover.
The blood flowing from it was enough to form a puddle, but the vitality of a Jewel Beast should never be underestimated.
I looked at Kaljak and Arjan.
The first thing that surprised me was Arjan's movements.
She was fighting with the same movements she'd used to shake off the assassins last time.
It must be a technique with severe side effects, as I could see her body creaking even from a distance.
‘She won't last long.’
Kaljak's condition looked even worse.
It was unavoidable, since he'd used up all his strength to slash the Jewel Beast.
To make matters worse, most of the hatchlings' attention was focused on him, and it looked like one wrong move could get him killed instantly.
The bottom line was, the one in the best condition right now was me.
This meant I was the only one who could turn this situation around.
There was no more time for deep thought, so I immediately put the plan forming in my head into action.
*Thud!*
I stepped on its tail, tattered from the repeated blows, leaped up, and sprinted down the snake's back.
*Kaaaaaaaaaaak—!*
The Jewel Beast let out a monstrous shriek and thrashed its body.
‘Tough bastard.’
Kaljak must have cut it at least ten times, yet it still had this much energy left.
The cave was huge, as I'd mentioned, but it wasn't wide enough to contain the rampage of the hill-sized Jewel Beast.
The rampaging beast's massive body struck the cave floor, walls, and occasionally even the ceiling.
*Ruuuuuumble...!*
The entire cave trembled as if it would collapse at any moment.
Don't tell me this bastard plans to crush us all to death?
The thought came, and I dismissed it.
Its children were here, and the wounds it had sustained were not shallow.
Since it was an insidious creature that had even set a trap, it was a strange situation where I could actually trust it in this regard.
Anyway, it was thrashing around like it was on a hot griddle, making it difficult to run along its smooth back, but…
on the other hand, the pursuing hatchlings were also shaken off in droves.
I wouldn't say I was grateful, but because of that, I was able to continue running, albeit slowly, along the snake's back.
At that moment, the thrashing Jewel Beast's movements came to a sudden halt.
*Swoooosh…*
I felt a chill as the air seemed to be sucked into one spot.
I'd heard about this phenomenon from Kaljak.
“────It's a breath attack!”
The moment Kaljak's shout echoed from somewhere below.
*Fwooooooooosh—!*
An icy chill erupted from the Jewel Beast's entire body.
* * *
Breath is normally expelled through the windpipe.
But she had heard somewhere.
Amphibians like snakes and frogs can also breathe through their skin.
Then can this thing also release its breath—its icy chill—through its skin?
“—”
Arjan almost lost consciousness in the swirling blizzard.
Just a moment ago it had been merely chilly, but now she felt she might literally freeze to death.
If she had lost consciousness, she probably would have.
“—Haaaah…”
Arjan exhaled a hot breath.
I have to use… mana.
I have to make my heart pump, to circulate my sluggish blood.
It didn't work as she intended.
The cold had already seeped deep into her body.
So, so cold.
‘…I can't move. It's much colder than what the Master Teacher told me.’
Its body should be weak right after laying eggs, so why is its icy breath even stronger?
Arjan looked around the cave and quickly realized the reason.
It wasn't just the Jewel Beast that had released its breath.
Its offspring had also understood their mother's intent and released their icy breath at the same time.
Arjan gripped her dagger tightly. In fact, she wasn't sure if she was gripping it at all. Her entire body was numb, feeling nothing but the cold.
This meant that this was all she could do right now.
‘Dammit.’
Even Arjan, who was farthest from the Jewel Beast, was in this state.
Kaljak, who had been swinging his sword nearby,
and Ruan, who had been running straight down the Jewel Beast's back, must have frozen to death long ago.
Arjan's consciousness began to fade.
In a situation where not even a drop of blood came out when she bit her lip hard…
Arjan felt as if she were seeing something surreal.
The sight of flames, it seemed, erupting from near the Jewel Beast's back—a back that looked like it was carved from ice, in a place where only cold air drifted.
* * *
I almost died.
No joke, I really did just see a faint, shimmering image of the Spirit Mountain.
If I'd realized it was releasing its icy breath even one second later, I would have become an ice statue.
Of course, I'm fine now.
I'm not frozen, nor do I feel the cold.
Not only that.
*Szzzzzzzzzle!*
I'm still sprinting.
Even in the moment the Jewel Beast released its icy breath, I didn't stop running.
That was also the reason I was still alive.
I used the Sun Shadow Steps, concentrating and releasing fiery energy from my entire body, especially the soles of my feet.
I didn't need to control the firepower like when I fought the assassins, because my purpose now wasn't misdirection.
As a result, my steps left behind the shape of flaming footprints…
Even in this urgent situation, I named the technique out of habit.
Sun Shadow Steps: Blazing Sprint.
*Kieeeeeeeek—!*
This son of a bitch, it must be burning hot.
That was the point. I was infusing each and every footstep with a generous amount of internal energy.
For the weakened Jewel Beast, these flames would be an unbearable pain.
I was even putting weight into my steps, so wasn't it feeling the pain of fireballs randomly striking its back from the sky?
In any case, that last breath attack must have been its final card, because now even its struggles lacked strength.
Thanks to that, I was running much more easily.
*Shishishishit!*
When I was about halfway down the Jewel Beast's back, the offspring that had been shaken off started chasing me again.
Their devotion to their mother is truly admirable.
You know how snakes have that cold-blooded image.
‘But I guess they're close-knit amongst themselves.’
So, what should I do now?
First, I couldn't stop running.
If I get surrounded by those hatchlings in my current state, it's game over.
But running to the very end wasn't a brilliant move either.
This snake was incredibly long, but of course, it had an end.
Once I reached the snake's head, I'd have no choice but to jump off, and the moment I landed on the ground, I'd be surrounded.
…Even as I was thinking, my internal energy was draining away in chunks from using the Blazing Sprint.
Just then, I reached the snake's head. I caught my breath for a moment and looked back.
The swarm of hatchlings was now close at hand.
A moment where I had to make a decision, one way or another…
I poured my internal energy into my fist.
White Sun Eclipse, Sixth Form.
Falling Fire.
My flame-wreathed fist slammed down on the Jewel Beast's head.
*Craaaaaack!*
I felt the Jewel Beast's scales crumple, and beyond them, its skull shattering.
More than half of my remaining internal energy vanished in an instant, but that was fine.
With this, I had definitively finished off the Jewel Beast—the Sapphire Snake.
*THUUUUUD!*
The Jewel Beast's massive body collapsed to the ground.
I could see the pursuing offspring tumbling down.
It was a fall from a considerable height, but I didn't think they'd be injured by it.
Would it be lucky if one or two got crushed to death as they tangled with each other?
In any case, in this moment of brief freedom from their pursuit, I also finished my landing on the ground.
“—”
I saw the dead Sapphire Snake, its maw wide open.
A blood-like fluid was constantly flowing from its eyes and mouth, and I could also see the cross-section of the tongue Arjan had cut.
And I stepped directly into the maw of that Sapphire Snake.
*Kieeeeeek!*
A moment later, the hatchlings came to their senses and swarmed toward me.
They seemed extremely agitated, as if they had realized their mother was dead.
“Huuuuu…”
I watched the approaching enemies and slowly exhaled.
The snake's maw.
This is the battlefield I have chosen.
It's damp and unpleasant.
A place where I only have to worry about the enemy in front of me.
A place where, at least, I won't be surrounded.
‘Though there's nowhere to run, either.’
I let out a low laugh.
I have no intention of running away, not after coming this far.
Now, there are only two possible outcomes.
Either I kill all these snakelets,
or they kill me.
*Kaaaaaaaaaaak—!*
Of course, a stinking place like this cannot be my grave.