Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Forest of the Profane (4)
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At Rian's point, Shirone snapped his fingers.
“Right. Let's think about it. If there are living creatures, it means they need to eat. In that case, the ecosystem's food chain would be a pyramid. If we were to extract only the predator distribution and run the statistics, wouldn't it look something like this?”
Shirone drew a pyramid with dramatic curves, like a woman's body.
It was a shape with a small number of mutant predators wedged between the lower, middle, and upper-tier predators.
Because it only charted carnivores, the lowest and middle tiers showed an equal distribution.
“What are these mutant predators here?”
“Because many predator species don't acquire food through hunting. They might use traps, or there could be creatures that feed based on their intellectual abilities. Like monkeys in our world.”
“I see. Then where would the giant be located?”
“The gravity is similar, and there's air, so its biological characteristics probably won't deviate too much. Assuming that, maybe around here? Between the middle and upper-tier predators.”
“Oh? The giant is a mutant predator? But it's so strong.”
“Well, it's possible it's an upper-tier predator. If that's the case, there's hope for us, but its fighting style is too primitive, wouldn't you say? Even cats, for example, have a sophisticated hunting method. But uprooting a tree and swinging it around doesn't seem very helpful for hunting. That's why I classified it as a mutant predator.”
Tess tilted her head and asked.
“Couldn't it be a mutant between the lower and middle-tier predators? Wouldn't that be a problem? It would mean most of the predators in this forest are stronger than the giant.”
“I don't think so. Because it seemed to use language. If it has even a little intelligence, it can't be below a middle-tier predator.”
Canis said.
“I see. Then we can assume the giant we first met is in the top 30 percent. Of course, there's still a chance it belongs to a different distribution.”
“Statistically, yes. In any case, its population won't be large. Based on a rough calculation, the probability of encountering an enemy stronger than the giant seems to be less than 10 percent.”
Amy, who had been summarizing the situation, came to a conclusion.
“Then isn't that fine? It's not an opponent we can't handle if all six of us fight. And no one's hurt.”
Shirone analyzed the situation carefully.
Looking at it positively, Amy was right. But it was also true that in a life-or-death situation, probability was nothing more than a mirage.
The fact that it had been less than an hour since they'd arrived in Heaven seemed to make it impossible to turn back. It was a baseless illusion, but they all understood that.
In the end, they just didn't want to go back yet. Even if a greater danger than the present one were to befall them.
“Alright, let's at least go to the castle wall. I don't want to give up here either.”
Just as they shouldered their backpacks and prepared to leave, an explosion echoed from the forest.
Tess's hearing detected a woman's voice.
A sense of unease flickered through him—this could be more dangerous than the giant's attack. But if it really was a woman, that meant she was an intelligent being. The amount of information they could get from her would be nearly infinite.
Exchanging glances, Shirone's party plunged into the forest as if by agreement.
@
Kiiing! Kik! Kik!
The six-legged Dokgakgwi let out a harsh cry.
A member of the crustacean family, the Dokgakgwi moved by planting its six sharp, triangular legs into the ground. Its light purple body was encased in a carapace, and a single large eye was embedded in the center of its face. The long, single horn on its forehead looked longer and harder than a unicorn's horn.
“Rena! Drive it this way!”
“Got it! Be careful, sis!”
Kanya and Rena surrounded the Dokgakgwi from the front and back.
The woman with black hair cascading down to her waist was Kanya, and the pretty girl with large eyes was her younger sister, Rena.
They were of the Meka race, God's People from Heaven. Their slender jawlines, small noses, and thin, crescent-moon lips made them look young for their age compared to other races.
Their ages were seventeen and fourteen, but one couldn't tell who was younger just by looking at their faces.
Rena, having taken the Dokgakgwi's rear, aimed for its blind spot and swung her sword. The blade, crisscrossed with countless perpendicular lines, was a weapon made through a complex assembly process, and its effect was tremendous.
When she struck the Dokgakgwi's back, a shockwave erupted with a *pang*, sending fragments of its carapace flying.
Struck for the third time, the Dokgakgwi shrieked its usual cry and moved sideways. Rena launched herself to match its movement.
The Dokgakgwi's single eye had a wide field of vision, able to see a 330-degree radius, but Rena stayed in its only 30-degree blind spot and struck its carapace again.
As the agitated Dokgakgwi changed direction and charged, she held out the kite-shield-shaped buckler on her wrist.
It was a shield as small as a toy, but when the horn collided with it, the phantom of a shield many times larger appeared and pushed the Dokgakgwi back.
Flipped onto its back, the Dokgakgwi flailed its many legs like a beetle. It barely managed to right itself, but it kept staggering to the right as if the shock hadn't worn off.
Kanya aimed her Arc.
It resembled a bow in shape but was made of iron and had no bowstring. Instead, there was a handle that could be pulled back. When she drew it, red light shot out from both ends of the bow and targeted the Dokgakgwi.
It was a weapon that could aim at a target through triangulation.
As long as it zeroed in, the projectile would not miss. Kanya aligned the red dot where the red lights converged onto the Dokgakgwi's face.
Sensing danger, the Dokgakgwi moved left and right despite its dizziness. Kanya twisted her waist to match its movements.
When Rena disappeared into its blind spot again, the terrified Dokgakgwi leaped at Kanya.
Kanya aimed at the Dokgakgwi's single eye and released the handle. As the wire rapidly coiled back, a small bead shot out from the center of the Arc.
The bead bored into the Dokgakgwi's eye and exploded inside. The Dokgakgwi's body shuddered violently before collapsing to the ground.
Its insides must have melted, but it continued to let out bloodcurdling screams.
Rena held her sword in a reverse grip and stabbed a gap in its carapace. With a *pop*, the Dokgakgwi's body shot up as if it had been sprinkled with salt. Then it moved no more.
The battle over, Kanya lowered her Arc and wiped her sweat.
“Phew, that was tough. This one was pretty resilient, wasn't it?”
“Yeah. Are you okay, sis?”
“As you can see, I'm fine. But this is strange. Why did a Dokgakgwi show up here? We should be far from their habitat.”
“Maybe we're lost?”
“No way. The drone is pointing in the right direction. Perhaps the laws of the forest have changed. Let's get out of here quickly.”
“But we have to get the elixir. You never know, it might have one.”
Rena climbed onto the Dokgakgwi's body. Prying open its carapace, she thrust her hand inside. The melted innards were warm like porridge.
Despite the grotesque sensation, Rena boldly stuck out her tongue and rummaged around until she felt something.
After searching for a while, her eyes filled with delight.
“Huh? It's here! Sis, it's here!”
A glowing red orb emerged from the Dokgakgwi's body.
“Yahoo! It's a Red Elixir. Thank you, Dokgakgwi.”
Seeing her sister hopping around, Kanya smiled warmly.
Most species of creatures in Purgatory cultivate elixirs within their bodies. While not particularly necessary for God's People, who were under divine protection, it was a substance of utmost importance in Purgatory.
“We got lucky. Now, let's hurry.”
The moment she reverted to the stern older sister and urged her sibling on, Kanya felt a strange chill run down her spine and turned around.
Eyes embedded in the forest flashed with killing intent.
A moment later, they revealed themselves, tapping on the rocky terrain with their sharp legs.
They were Dokgakgwi. Seven of them.
“Rena! Get over here!”
Pulling her sister close, Kanya assumed a combat stance. Even so, a question lingered in her mind.
For Dokgakgwi to appear so far from their habitat, and in a pack at that, was unheard of.
*'Tch. I let my guard down. I should have kept checking the drone.'*
Purgatory was called the Hell Beyond Heaven, but even here, God's will was present. Of course, since these were mindless beasts, the law acted like instinct. This meant some event had occurred nearby, significant enough to alter their instincts.
“Of all times...!”
It was rare for the laws of the forest to change. And it was almost unheard of for God's People to leave Heaven and enter Purgatory.
The fact that two such low-probability events had occurred at the same time made her even more anxious.
“Sis, what do we do? There are too many Dokgakgwi...”
One Meka could handle a single Dokgakgwi. But for two, it would take five or more Meka.
According to the law, the Meka's specialty was group combat based on their technology.
Their physical abilities were the weakest among God's People, but when they formed a group, even the Kergo or Norr tribes couldn't dismiss them.
This was why Kanya was trembling with fear. Even with her Arc, defeating seven Dokgakgwi was impossible.
What in the world was happening in this forest?
She had spent a year checking the route to avoid monsters, but now all that effort had come to nothing.
Kiiing! Kik! Kik!
As the Dokgakgwi brandished their horns threateningly, the sisters stood back-to-back, protecting each other's rear.
One of the Dokgakgwi, which had been approaching cautiously, leaped at Rena.
She held out her Exde, a Meka shield, and a powerful repulsive force sent the Dokgakgwi flying.
Kanya switched places with Rena and fired her Arc. Unable to aim precisely, the projectile struck the Dokgakgwi's carapace and exploded.
As the Dokgakgwi rolled on the ground from the impact, the remaining ones charged.
“Sis! Get behind me!”
Rena switched positions again and held out her Exde. Every time a Dokgakgwi's horn hit the shield, it sounded like thunder.
She also swung her Signa, a shockwave weapon, but unless she attacked from its blind spot, the Dokgakgwi was a difficult monster to hit.
The time she could hold out with the Exde was dwindling. Once its repulsive force exceeded its limit, the shield's function ceased, and it became a mere toy.
As the seven Dokgakgwi closed in from all sides, Kanya and Rena hugged each other and closed their eyes.
More than the fear of death, they dreaded the pain that would lead to it.
The Dokgakgwi would plunge their snouts into the bellies of living humans and suck out their organs. Kanya wondered if she should snatch Rena's Signa and slit her throat right now.
Just as the seven Dokgakgwi were about to impale the sisters with their horns, a light flashed in the sky, and a beam descended.
Kanya and Rena saw the back of a boy. He had blond hair and was dressed in strange clothes they had never seen in this world.
Shirone cast Radiant Burst the moment he landed.
A curtain of light swept back and forth in a radius of three to five meters, repelling all the Dokgakgwi.
As the ground caved in to form a circular crater, the two women collapsed. Still, their eyes were fixed on Shirone. They had never heard of people living in the Forest of the Profane.
“Are you alright?”
Shirone smiled and turned his head.
In a world where he could run for a lifetime and never return home, meeting another person was a joy incomparable to homesickness. Whatever the identity of the two women, the grotesque monsters felt like enemies, and the humans felt like allies.
At the boy's appearance, Kanya raised her guard. In contrast, Rena, an adolescent girl, felt her cheeks flush.
*'He's handsome. Is he a Norr?'*
While the two women were lost in their own thoughts, Shirone's party was engaged in a fierce battle with the Dokgakgwi.
Rian and Tess each took on one.
After a single clash, Rian was considerably relieved. It wasn't an easy opponent, but he had faced plenty of monsters of this strength back in his own world.
He grabbed the Dokgakgwi's horn and bent it back with sheer force, causing its six unstable legs to flip over.
Rian plunged his straight sword into the creature's abdomen, pinning it to the ground.