Chapter 13 - {Mammoth Prime}
{Mammoth Prime}
Translator : Elizabeth
Chapter 13
"We found it!"
The massive main gate of Winter Castle opened, and Aide Lowell ran in panting.
His face was flushed, and a magical communication tool was in his hand.
"The wizards succeeded in tracking its wavelength! Mammoth Prime's exact coordinates have been confirmed!"
Kang Jin-ho and Frederica, who had just returned to the castle after finishing their meal, and Kalian, who came out of his office upon hearing the news, ran into each other in the lobby.
Kalian's eyes shone fiercely.
"The location?"
"Northeast from here, the snowy field area beyond the Howling Canyon! It is said to be moving in that direction."
"Howling Canyon… the terrain is rugged."
Kalian tried to summon the Knight Commander and operations officers immediately.
"Gather in the operations room right now. We must plan a route to capture it. Block its movement path, use decoys…."
"Ah, forget it."
A voice cut off Kalian, who was giving serious orders.
It was Kang Jin-ho.
He picked his ear and extended his hand to Lowell with an annoyed expression.
"Just give me the coordinates."
"P-Pardon? But His Highness is holding an operations meeting…."
"Do the meeting among yourselves. Since I'm going."
Kang Jin-ho snatched the map and the note with coordinates written on it from Lowell's hand.
Kalian frowned.
"Fist Emperor. Even if it is you, the opponent is an ancient demonic beast. Minimal strategy is necessary. Without using the terrain features, let alone capturing it alive, even approaching…."
"Approaching, I just have to go there, and capturing alive, I just have to beat it down."
Kang Jin-ho scanned the map roughly and shoved it into his pocket.
"Don't think complicatedly. I'm a person who uses his body, so I detest using my head."
"Ha…."
Kalian put a hand to his forehead.
He knew he was strong.
But that attitude of speaking about a matter involving the fate of the North as if going on a neighborhood errand was hard to accept.
"Haven't you heard this saying? If the body isn't good, the head suffers."
"First time hearing it."
"Then remember it from now on."
But there wasn't a hint of wavering in Kang Jin-ho's eyes.
It was composure coming from absolute confidence, not recklessness.
At that moment, Frederica, who was next to him, stepped forward.
"Then I will go with you."
"Hm?"
"Wouldn't you need guidance? The geography of Howling Canyon is complex. The blizzards are severe, so it's easy to get lost. No matter how strong you are, if you don't know the way, it will be a wasted trip."
Frederica had already put on a coat and packed her sword.
There was logic to her words.
But Kang Jin-ho burst into a smirk.
"Look here, pretty older sister."
At Kang Jin-ho's words, suddenly using polite speech, Frederica tilted her head.
"……?"
"You can't keep up with my speed."
Kang Jin-ho turned his body toward the city wall.
"Don't tear your crotch trying to follow for no reason, just drink warm tea in the castle. I'll be back."
"What? Hey! Wait!"
It was before Frederica could retort anything.
Boom—!
Kang Jin-ho kicked off the ground.
His figure leaping toward the city wall was like a fired cannonball.
Kang Jin-ho, who landed on top of the city wall dozens of meters high in an instant, threw his body into the air again without looking back.
Bang—!
Only the tearing sound of air remained on the city wall.
Not a trace of a person moving, but noise as if an explosion had occurred.
Frederica and Kalian looked up at the city wall blankly.
Kang Jin-ho's figure had already disappeared beyond the blizzard.
"…That is human speed?"
Frederica let out a hollow laugh.
It was overwhelming mobility that made her feel embarrassed for trying to follow.
"He was a more interesting man than I thought."
Soon, a strange smile appeared on Frederica's face.
Shooooooom—!
A single streak of blue flash crossing the snowfields of the North.
It was Kang Jin-ho.
A distance that ordinary knights would have to ride top-grade warhorses for days to reach.
But to Kang Jin-ho, it was merely a light jogging course.
'The terrain is indeed a bit rough.'
Kang Jin-ho leaped over the peaks of the snowy mountains as if crossing stepping stones.
Every time he stepped, rocks shattered and avalanches almost occurred, but he was already not there.
Leaping power that seemed to ignore gravity.
It was a method of gaining propulsion as if exploding by concentrating Aura on the soles of his feet.
"Grrrrr!"
"Kyaaaak!"
Throughout the snowfields, ferocious demonic beasts unique to the North inhabited.
Yetis, Ice Trolls, or packs of Ice Wolves.
Upon seeing the blue flash invading their territory, the bastards tried to attack instinctively.
However, that was a stupid act of inviting death.
Kwaaaang!
"Kueong!"
"Yelp?!"
Kang Jin-ho didn't stop.
No, he didn't even reduce his speed.
If there were demonic beasts blocking the front, he just bounced them off with the wind pressure of the Aura wrapped around his body and advanced.
Some bastards flew away with full-body fractures just from being grazed, and some rolled like snowmen swept up in the shockwave generated after Kang Jin-ho passed.
'Move. I'm busy.'
To Kang Jin-ho, the bastards were less than gnats.
His goal was only one.
The place the coordinates pointed to, beyond the Howling Canyon.
Running at full power like that for dozens of minutes.
Finally, something massive came into Kang Jin-ho's view.
'Is that it.'
Kang Jin-ho landed on a high rock peak.
He was in a calm state, not even breathing roughly.
In the middle of the snowfield he looked down upon, an unrealistic scene was unfolding.
Rumble….
The earth was crying.
No, it was screaming.
A monster like a giant mountain moving slowly but surely over the white snowfield.
Mammoth Prime.
Its height alone looked well over 30 meters.
Its entire body was covered with ice crystals that had endured thousands of years and fur like steel.
Every time the bastard took a step with its massive foot, the ground subsided and a small-scale earthquake occurred.
Its majesty was a natural disaster itself rather than a living creature.
"Wow, it's really big."
Kang Jin-ho admired.
It was that big even from a distance, so he could imagine how overwhelming it would be up close.
It seemed Kalian's words about having to grind up half of the Northern Army weren't an exaggeration.
"Kueooooooo—!"
At that time, Mammoth Prime lifted its long trunk and roared.
It wasn't a simple cry.
A wave of infrasound shaking the atmosphere.
With just that sound wave, the perennial snow accumulated on the surrounding mountain peaks collapsed, causing a massive avalanche.
Rumble—!
The avalanche poured down, but Mammoth Prime didn't even care.
The pouring pile of snow just hit the bastard's massive legs and scattered.
Even a natural disaster was merely a passing breeze to the bastard.
'I have to catch that alive, right?'
Kang Jin-ho crossed his arms.
Killing is easy.
Just one full-power punch to a vital point would end it.
'I should control my strength moderately. Since it'll be trouble if it dies like the dragon.'
Kang Jin-ho loosened up his body.
Rotated his shoulders, and cracked his neck making popping sounds.
'Shall I try saying hello first.'
Pat—!
Kang Jin-ho jumped down from the rock peak.
His body fell toward the front of Mammoth Prime like a meteor.
I am the King of the North.
Since ancient times, this snowy mountain has been my garden and bedchamber.
In the distant past within my memory, there was a bastard called Azhdaha, a black lizard that suppressed me.
Because of that bastard's disgusting smell and evil energy, I had to sleep holding my breath in the deep places.
But one day, that energy disappeared.
I don't know if the lizard died or left, but what is certain is the fact that the ruler of this land is now me.
I stretched.
A walk for the first time in hundreds of years was enjoyable.
Things like ants threw spears and shot magic from under my feet, but it was only ticklish.
My fur is harder than steel, and my hide deflects even magic.
Nothing in this world can stop my advance.
But… what is this?
'……?'
Something fell on the snow-covered plain in my direction of progress.
A very small dot.
It was a microorganism.
A two-legged beast called a human.
'Dare.'
It was unpleasant.
To dare block my path.
Other beasts pee themselves and run away just hearing my footsteps, yet that microorganism was looking up at me standing crookedly instead of running away.
'Arrogant.'
I didn't stop.
There was no value in stopping.
Just stepping on it and passing by is enough.
But those cheeky eyes bothered me.
Eyes that do not revere me.
An attitude that does not fear me.
'Pay the price for that arrogance with death.'
I decided to hand down punishment.
I swung my long tusk.
There was no need to use full power.
Just turning my head lightly has the power to carve out a mountain range.
Vwoom—!
My tusk tore the atmosphere.
Tremendous wind pressure occurred, blowing away all the snow on the snowfield.
The terrain changed.
A hill was swept away by the trajectory of my tusk and became flat land.
It was a natural result.
That microorganism would have been crushed without a trace, leaving not even a pool of blood.
I tried to move my steps again.
Thud.
'……?'
I couldn't move.
My tusk stopped as if caught on something.
My strike that destroys even mountain ranges was blocked?
It is impossible.
I blinked my eyes and looked down.
The thick snow dust cleared.
And at the revealed sight, my thinking stopped.
It was that microorganism.
That human was still standing in that spot.
Neither crushed nor flown away.
The bastard raised one hand and was lightly holding the tip of my massive tusk.
'No, what… is this?'
My tusk is the size of a house.
The bastard's hand is the size of a leaf.
But the earth the bastard was standing on cracked like a spiderweb and subsided due to the shockwave, yet only that single point where the bastard stood was intact.
I was flustered.
Instinctively, I put strength into my neck and pushed.
I put my whole body weight into it.
I pressed down with a mass of dozens, no, hundreds of tons.
But the bastard didn't even budge.
Rather, at the recoil transmitted from the bastard's arm, my massive upper body stumbled backward.
'Pushed back?'
Me?
I, the ruler of this snowy mountain?
I was pushed back by strength by just that tiny microorganism?
It was then.
Suoooo—.
Blue light rose from the bastard's body.
At first, it was like a heat haze.
But in an instant, it became a massive pillar of fire piercing the sky.
Aura.
I know it's a power humans use.
But this is different.
The standard was different.
Rumble!
The energy the bastard emitted began to crush the entire snowy mountain.
The atmosphere screamed, and space wavered.
To the extent that my massive bulk felt insignificant, the bastard's presence expanded.
'Th-This energy is…!'
Hundreds of years ago, the black lizard that made me tremble in fear, Azhdaha.
The evil dragon energy that bastard emitted.
The energy this human in front of my eyes is emitting far transcended that.
If that lizard was <Calamity>, this bastard was <Apocalypse>.
'Dangerous!'
Instinct rang a warning alarm.
Dangerous.
Must run away.
This is not a microorganism.
This is not an existence I can handle.
I tried to step back.
But my legs wouldn't listen.
It felt like invisible giant hands were binding me.
My whole body was paralyzed by the pressure of the Aura the bastard emitted.
Primal fear felt by a herbivore standing before a predator.
I felt like I became not the ruler of the snowy mountain, but just a trivial prey.
'Gasp!'
The bastard raised his head.
Met eyes with the bastard.
Indifferent.
There was neither murderous intent nor anger in the eyes looking at me.
Just dry eyes as if trying to clean up annoying junk.
That indifference made me tremble in fear even more.
'Save me.'
An emotion felt for the first time since being born.
I wanted to scream.
But no voice came out.
The bastard clenched his fist.
Very slowly. Lightly.
But at that motion, the surrounding air made a metallic sound and compressed.
Space seemed to be sucked in around the bastard's fist.
In my view, neither the snowy mountain nor the sky was visible anymore.
Only that fist like a blue sun filled it.
That single fist of the bastard looked more massive than my giant body.
'Ah….'
It's the end.
The fist of the bastard who jumped up moved.
It was a simple trajectory.
But it was an absolute trajectory that could neither be dodged nor blocked.
Kwaaaaang—!
The world flashed white.
A roar as if eardrums were tearing.
And a terrible impact struck the head.
There was no pain of bones breaking or flesh bursting.
Just my consciousness was falling into darkness.
King of the North?
Ruler of the snowy mountain?
It was all futile.
That in front of a true monster, I too was merely a microorganism.
I realized it too late.