402. Soul Night (3)
402. Soul Night (3)
- 1 -
- Kuhaahaha!!
It was fun.
The darkness of the overcast clouds, the burning plains, the ridgelines with their peaks shattered, even the city already dyed in corruption from its own venom.
The world she faced after a thousand years—everything looked wonderful.
And among it all, what she anticipated most was.
Kwakwakwang!!!
"Kuaaak!!"
Those humans of the Holy Kingdom down below, running about as if their bodies were on fire.
『Die!!!』
Kwaaaaa —— !!!
The hypocrites who had placed a seal of over a thousand years upon her and indulged in every pleasure this world had to offer.
Those very creatures were now dying.
The breath she spewed forth scorched the surface, froze it, and melted it.
Kwakwakwakwang —— !
The protective barriers cast by the humans possessing the greatest power and those assisting beside them shone desperately.
But that light was incomparably weaker than before.
'Yes, that was it.'
Simply killing them was no fun.
The powerlessness and pain this body had felt over the span of a thousand years.
That was something...
'You bastards will feel the exact same thing as you die.'
Tiamat paused her breath for a moment.
Then, raising one of her tails, which swayed like tentacles, she gave a light tap to the edge of the barrier the clerics had spread.
It was a playful attack, yet one imbued with highly concentrated mana.
Kwajijik!
"Kyaaaak!!"
"Keok!!"
As spiderweb-like cracks spread across the entire protective barrier, dozens of screams burst out at the same time.
With just a single attack, she had caused a mana and holy power overload in dozens of them.
Tiamat was not merely a powerful monster. Her mana manipulation ability rivaled that of an archmage.
"Steel yourselves!! In the name of God, we must stop that beast!!"
The Commander of the Holy Knights rallied the people around him.
Yet, within that cry, despair and terror were already mingled.
- Keuhuu...
『Pathetic! While I was sealed away, you truly did a splendid job of whittling yourselves down! Clerics!!』
Tiamat burst into gleeful laughter.
The seal of a thousand years had sharpened her five senses far more keenly.
Especially her hearing and sight.
The screams and cries of the humans sounded to her ears like the most beautiful symphony in the world.
『Struggle desperately.』
'So I may be further entertained.'
Her voice, and the frenzied will contained within it, tore through space and descended upon the surface.
"Keok!"
"Kuluk...!"
The weak humans on the ground collapsed, vomiting blood, and even the strong ones cupped their ears in agony.
『Heuheuheu hahaha!!!』
Tiamat opened her mouth wide and spewed out a dark-red breath.
The flames and poison that burst forth along with her frenzied laughter swept across the surface.
The barrier of the saintesses confronting it also held a powerful light, but it did not last very long.
Ujijik!
Cracks spreading across the entire barrier.
The clerics who saw it let out despairing screams.
"We cannot hold! O God, have you abandoned us?!"
"Shut up! God has not abandoned us! We are simply weak!"
Tiamat smiled as she listened to their desperate cries.
『Your God is not here now. If God existed, would something like me have been unleashed upon the world...!!』
Her mocking voice pummeled the surface.
Those who had not burned to death from her breath lost even their last hope at those words and fell to their knees.
'Hm?'
Tiamat, who had been looking down upon that sight with delight, spotted something and raised her head.
Even though this place was under attack, there were some humans who had broken away from the herd.
At first, she thought they were fleeing, but they entered their citadel and were now leading out numerous other 'bugs'.
The very ones she had left behind to eat later, after capturing those who had stepped forward before her.
『Ah... the instinct of those who become mothers, is it...』
She wore a smile filled with amusement.
Attempts to protect the weak always stimulated her interest.
Because what she liked most, always, was 'crushing hope'.
Peolleok —— !
Two pairs of gigantic wings blotted out the sky.
Execution was postponed.
When the breath that had been pouring down upon them abruptly ceased, Adriana and Clementine stared blankly at Tiamat's tail end.
"... No...!"
But immediately after, Adriana's face went ghostly pale.
She had realized where Tiamat was headed.
That it was where the evacuating citizens of the Holy Kingdom were, the ones they had been trying to protect.
"Quickly!! We must stop her!!"
Tutututung!
All kinds of shells fired from the direction of the capital's walls were launched toward Tiamat.
But such things had no particular effect.
The shells merely struck her scales with a trifling impact, and some passed by as if grazing her.
Tiamat paid no mind.
Her eyes were already fixed upon the citizens of the Holy Kingdom down below, fleeing desperately.
'This will be fun.'
The snout covered in grotesque scales stretched long to the left and right.
That smile was filled with thoroughly calculated malice.
She wanted to bring them the greatest despair possible.
Their most precious things. Their faith, their hope, and the weak they sought to protect.
By destroying it all before their very eyes.
『Try to run. My play has only just begun, after all.』
Her voice shook heaven and earth, and everyone on the surface cowered at the sound.
When her massive shadow fell over the line of refugees, the screams turned into shrieks.
"Please... stop...!"
"O Lord...!"
The shrieks of the saintesses were merely pleasant background music to her ears.
She leisurely spread her wings and circled above the heads of the refugees.
Then.
Peolleok — !
『Kuhiii —— !』
Her enormous form, which had been flying through the sky, made a wide turn and plunged down toward the surface.
To inhale the fear and despair rising from the ground, that sweet fragrance, without leaving a single trace behind.
- 2 -
He was free.
The blue sky, the soft grassland perfect for lying down, the mountain ridges jutting up just right for sharpening claws, and the great river that seemed like it would quench all thirst with a single mouthful.
Everything in the world he faced after a thousand years looked incredibly delicious.
And among it all, what was best was.
- Kuraaak!!
The overflowing abundance of 'meat'.
'Prey' that would satisfy a hollow hunger of over a thousand years.
A front paw struck down as if swinging a flyswatter.
Two wyverns were simultaneously caught in Behemoth's grasp.
The massive monster, having paused, began to toy with its front paws.
It was a meal eaten after a long time. It needed to be savored with care.
Kwajik!
First, he twisted the tail tips and sucked out the blood bit by bit.
A pleasantly fishy yet salty flavor spread through his mouth.
The moment his sense of taste, parched from long starvation, came back to life, it felt as if vitality was returning to his entire body.
Udeudeuk! Kwadeuk!
Next, he stripped off all the tough outer scales and chewed them up thoroughly with care.
The nutty yet bitter taste, and the crispy texture of chewing something hard, delighted his jaws.
Lastly, he chewed the skull whole.
After tasting the soft and greasy brain, he crunched down the remaining meat in his mouth and swallowed.
The chewy yet tender flesh of the wyvern melted on the tip of his tongue.
- Kuhuuuu!!
'Delicious!!'
Behemoth, having let out a satisfied roar, only then turned his head and was able to see the small 'nest' beside him.
Among the structures built of large, square stone blocks, tiny dots were bustling about in confusion.
He could tell by the smell.
That there were more 'delicious' things packed inside there.
"Hik... Wh-what is that...!"
"A massive, supermassive monster!! Everyone run!!"
What he particularly looked forward to were these small, fragile 'bugs'.
Long ago, he hadn't known because he'd only focused on filling his belly, but now he knew.
Just how much of a delicacy these things were.
- Kuuuuu...
The being once called 'Bes', 'Behemoth'.
He grinned inwardly and laughed.
'Tia... knew everything.'
In that space that had been nothing but pure white, his only friend who had played with him for a thousand years.
When he did as she had taught him, the world became a playground filled entirely with delicious things.
Just thinking about trying out her words made joy well up from the tip of his tail.
No, in truth, everything was joyful.
Kwang —— !!
The very first thing he did was approach the small 'nest' before him and block its 'holes'.
Tia had told him that if he 'lightly' pressed down on top of the holes with his front paw, it would block them without crushing them.
And it turned out just as she had said.
Kwakwang!! Kwang!!
The thick castle gate twisted and became completely blocked beneath Behemoth's hoof.
The soldiers who had been keeping watch on the walls fell, screaming.
The gate, completely twisted and crushed, now became an iron wall penning the citizens in.
"The gate, the gate is blocked!!"
"Run for the moat!! Let's escape through the sewers!!"
Some of the 'bugs' living inside had disappeared somewhere, but it was fine to let a few like that slip away.
Because there was still this much delicious food left.
"Save, save me!!"
"Daddy!!"
Behemoth raised a front paw covered in armor.
A shadow loomed.
His manner of carefully clutching a corner of the nest looked as if he was handling a precious treasure.
He couldn't put too much force in. Tia had warned him that if he did, all the prey inside would be crushed and lose their flavor.
'As expected, Tia is a genius.'
Behemoth carefully scooped up the prey and the stone chunks surrounding them and swept them all at once into the mouth located on his hand.
He had other 'mouths' located closer, but this one was best for tasting things.
"Uwaaaak!!"
Dozens of 'bugs' were poured into his mouth at once.
Kwadeuk! Udeudeuk!
The sound of citizens and stone chunks being chewed and crushed together echoed out.
Between the tasteless but crunchy stone chunks, fragrant meat juices burst forth.
He was slightly dissatisfied that the quantity was small, but Tia had also taught him the answer to that.
[The world is full of things to eat, Bes. Filling your belly with something a bit bland is enough. For example, things like this. These are also a delicacy.]
Kwajijik!
Behemoth pulled up a few small trees that had been in the middle of the 'nest' and ate them, roots and all.
The old oak tree in the plaza vanished, and the center of the nest became empty and bare.
Chewing on that for a while, a slightly sweet taste and a refreshing flavor overflowed in his mouth.
- Kuu...!
Feeling satisfaction from that, Behemoth raised his front paw again and began to rummage through the 'nest'.
"You!! Dare to touch Herilda!!"
Occasionally, when he caught and ate strong bugs that charged at him screaming incomprehensible things, the mana they contained pleasantly warmed his throat as well.
A special kind of taste that popped, like a fizz.
'There are many flavors mixed in...?'
Tia had said that a mixture of many flavors was rare, and if he ever experienced it, it was something to be very happy about.
Thinking he must boast about this experience to her later, he grinned to himself once more.
'What shall I eat next...'
Behemoth smacked his lips and lowered his head.
There was still much to eat. He was still hungry, too.
The first meal in a thousand years was the best.
- Kukukukeu...!
Thus, at the moment Behemoth let out a satisfied cry.
'Hm?'
Behemoth's forehead, which had been peacefully continuing his 'meal', furrowed ever so slightly.
Because suddenly, he felt a disturbing vibration.
And the next moment.
Kwaang ——— !!!!!!!
A powerful 'red impact' that tore through the earth and surged upward struck Behemoth's jaw from below with pinpoint accuracy.