Chapter 196
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 196
The Yaksha and the knight, who had been glaring at each other, snapped their heads toward the center of the plains in unison.
—Calamidad had just made landfall.
"Crazy..." the Older Yaksha Sister muttered.
For a brief moment, she had forgotten that the true calamity was right in front of them.
The knight, too, turned pale the instant he saw Calamidad, freezing in place as if he were carved from stone.
Everyone present knew exactly what Calamidad's arrival meant.
The reason it had traveled south, the reason it had descended upon the land—it all came down to one thing.
To lay its eggs.
To lay eggs, it had to build a nest.
To build a nest, it had to tear apart the earth.
...And now, the time had come.
"Everyone, get down!"
The Yaksha's command had barely left her lips when Calamidad began to thrash its legs wildly.
Boom! Crash!
Its colossal legs, each spanning tens of meters, obliterated everything they touched. A violent dust storm engulfed the area. Small trees, kicked by its feet, soared for hundreds of meters before slamming into the ground like artillery shells.
The earth was gouged open as a tidal wave of soil swept out in all directions. Human soldiers too close to Calamidad were buried alive under the deluge or blown away, unable to withstand the gale-force winds. Some were unfortunate enough to be struck by the uprooted trees, dying before they could even scream.
"Ugh... ah! Aaaah!"
The soldiers who had maintained some distance threw down their weapons and fled. They lacked the courage to endure the storm and hold their ground.
Just as they lost their will to fight and scattered in disarray, a new threat appeared.
Through the storm, creatures could be seen calmly flapping their wings, hovering in the sky.
—They were the giant insect monsters that dwelled on Calamidad's shell.
Fleeing soldiers were ambushed by the insectoid monsters and dragged back toward Calamidad. Fewer than two hundred humans managed to escape the maelstrom with their limbs intact.
*
The storm finally subsided after what felt like an eternity. A hush fell over the plains, and the Older Yaksha Sister slowly raised her head.
The battle with the humans had ended in an absurdly anticlimactic fashion. The annoying knights must have failed to react in time; they lay groaning across the field, their numbers matching the exact headcount she'd taken earlier.
The Older Yaksha Sister stood and released her magic energy. Taking it as a signal, the monsters began to rise from the debris.
Some were injured, but none were dead. Sighing in relief, she moved to finish off the surviving humans.
Then, she immediately turned her head to look at Calamidad.
The giant turtle's pupils darted about before finally settling on her. The black of its pupils alone was larger than her entire body.
"..."
The Older Yaksha Sister fell silent, cowed by its chilling aura. However, there was no hostility in Calamidad's eyes. It didn't seem to perceive the monsters as enemies.
But that didn't matter.
"...The eggs," she muttered, her voice filled with joy.
Stopping the humans had been worth it. The white shapes visible beneath the turtle's belly were its eggs. At a rough count, there were at least ten.
"A success."
She had already sent a scout from the vanguard back to Lord Swallow as a precaution. Soon, Renena Swallow herself would arrive.
The mission was a success. Now, they just had to protect the eggs until the turtle left and then collect them.
Just as the Older Yaksha Sister was letting her guard down...
Thud!
A large boulder soared through the air and slammed into the ground right beside the turtle.
The resulting gust of wind whipped the Yaksha's hair wildly.
"Huh?"
She let out a bewildered sound at the sudden attack. Then, as if trying to calm herself, she very slowly turned her gaze in the direction the stone had come from.
"..."
More humans had emerged from the castle.
Whether they were just itching for a fight or had a death wish, she couldn't say. In either case, the humans had set up several catapults in the distance and were relentlessly launching stones at Calamidad.
Fine. That was fine.
She didn't care what the humans did now.
"..."
If only the egg hadn't broken.
"..."
She stared with hollow eyes at one of the eggs, which had taken a direct hit from a stone and completely shattered.
The Older Yaksha Sister wasn't the only one who noticed. The sticky contents of the broken egg had splattered all over Calamidad.
The great beast's eyes were still fixed on her. Now, however, they were far more terrifying than before.
"Hey, look... that wasn't me..."
The massive body began to move. The turtle inhaled, and it felt as if all the air on the plains was being sucked into its lungs.
"Gaaaaaaaah!!"
A titanic roar, nothing like the cry of a turtle, echoed across the plains.
Phase. 7
Curiosity comes with a price.
The Yakshas were a race steeped in it.
They had so many things they were curious about, so many things they wanted to experience. For most, satisfying that curiosity was their life's purpose. It was simply the way of the Yaksha. Fanatical curiosity was a trait unique to their race, with no exceptions.
And of all their curiosities, the greatest was their obsession with strength.
To have fought a strong opponent was an honor. They wore the wounds of defeat like stigmata, bearing them with pride.
Conversely, this same curiosity was what killed the majority of Yakshas. Their bellicose nature meant they had, on average, a short lifespan.
...The point was, she was now about to experience the glory of 'fighting a Great Evil Cave' for the second time—an achievement other Yakshas couldn't dream of even if they dedicated their entire lives to it.
One of them was none other than 'Swallow'.
The other was Calamidad, right before her eyes.
So, she had to look on the bright side. She only had one life, yet she was experiencing twice what others would be lucky to encounter even once. This was the greatest honor for a Yaksha. An achievement that would go down in history.
"...Whew. Still, I don't want to die."
Despite her best efforts to think positively, the situation didn't seem to allow for it. The Older Yaksha Sister clicked her tongue.
Calamidad's roar continued for several seconds. The shockwave rattled her skull, making her dizzy. A warm liquid trickled from her ears—blood.
Her ears were ringing. Just as she thought she'd gone deaf, a high-pitched whine pierced the silence. Tinnitus.
The moment the roar ended, Calamidad began to move its body, which had been still since it laid its eggs.
First, it straightened the legs that had been folded to keep its belly low to the ground. The movement wasn't fast, but given its sheer size, its shadow grew by tens of meters every second. To make matters worse, its high-domed shell blotted out the moon, plunging the ground into absolute darkness.
Once again, the world went black.
"Ha, seriously."
The Older Yaksha Sister swallowed hard.
Swallow had warned them beforehand to avoid engaging Calamidad. He had clearly and firmly asserted, 'You can't win.'
She had no objections. She didn't think she could win against such a massive monster either.
'In the past, I would have charged in first and thought about it later.'
But now, she belonged to the Primordial Core.
Her service granted her countless opportunities to fight the strong. In short, she had chosen to invest in the future rather than satisfy her immediate curiosity.
Therefore, there was no reason to fight a battle here where death was a certainty.
"Everyone, run for..."
Whoosh.
Just as the Older Yaksha Sister was about to shout, the crushing pressure on the ground vanished, replaced by a sudden feeling of weightlessness.
"What..."
She let out a hollow sound. Only then did she realize.
Calamidad had raised its front leg.
Whoosh!
A wall of air slammed into her, preceding the limb itself.
...A leg tens of meters long was a deadly weapon just by being swung.
She had to dodge. Her senses, honed over countless battles, screamed at her, but the Older Yaksha Sister couldn't move.
Part of it was her own delayed reaction, but Calamidad moved far faster than she'd expected.
Above all, with only black silhouettes visible in the darkness, her depth perception was useless. She couldn't gauge how close the leg was.
I have to block this.
The Older Yaksha Sister raised both hands. To draw out as much power as possible, she unleashed her latent energy. Heat flooded her body. Her vision turned red.
Crash!
She caught the mace-like leg with both hands. The impact sent a jolt of intense pain through her arms. Gritting her teeth, she held on.
For a fraction of a second, the leg stopped.
Just as she was deluding herself that she might actually block it...
Boom!
The Yaksha's small body was launched into the air, sent flying back hundreds of meters.
Since the trees that might have cushioned her fall had already been uprooted, she flew for a long time before crashing into a jagged stump, coughing up a spray of blood.
It took dozens of seconds for her limp body to stir. Her lungs finally unlocked, and the barely conscious Yaksha dragged in a ragged breath.
"Haah, haah."
She had only been hit once, but her body was a wreck. It felt as if blood was pouring from every opening on her face.
Staggering to her feet, the Older Yaksha Sister wiped the blood from her eyes with both hands and spat out the mouthful pooling in her mouth.
"Ha, ahaha."
A laugh escaped her lips, manic and unhinged.
It hurt. It hurt like hell. She must have been struck by a sharp part of the stump, because a searing pain lanced through her waist.
'I'm considered strong, even among the Yakshas, but I can't even make a dent?'
But this was well within her expectations. Gathering the power left in her body, the Older Yaksha Sister used the edge of the stump as a springboard and shot forward.
She charged at Calamidad, which was rampaging mindlessly.
Along the way, she scooped up the sharpest-looking tree trunk from the debris.
Knowing what to expect did not mean she could win. Though a part of her was thrilled by the fight, the Older Yaksha Sister never forgot her true purpose.
The highest priority was the eggs.
But in this situation, she couldn't just wait for Calamidad to calm down. Since it was going to rampage anyway, she had to at least keep the eggs safe.
She had to draw its attention—lure the rampaging beast away from its nest.
Clutching the tree trunk in one hand, the Older Yaksha Sister leaped onto the turtle's claws and scrambled up its massive leg. The turtle swung its limbs wildly, but she held on grimly.
As she climbed, she saw Calamidad's long, extended neck. She couldn't tell if the beast was angry or scared, but its massive head was trembling.
"..."
If she drove this into its neck, she would definitely command its full attention. Retrieving the eggs would become easier, but her own chances of survival would plummet.
Without hesitation, the Older Yaksha Sister threw the tree trunk with all her might.
The makeshift javelin flew true, piercing deep into the giant turtle's neck. Its hide was thick, so the wound wasn't deep, but it was enough to make the beast scream.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
Calamidad shrieked and twisted its body violently.
Thrown from her perch by the sudden movement, the Older Yaksha Sister plummeted to the ground.
Calamidad immediately pulled back its front leg and began stomping the earth repeatedly.
The ground shook as if from an earthquake. Cracks spiderwebbed across the plains, and the terrain itself began to shift.
Crack.
—Unable to withstand the shockwaves, another one of the eggs beneath the turtle's belly broke.
"Vanguard! Vanguard!" the Older Yaksha Sister shouted in a panic.
The monsters, who had been scrambling for their own lives, snapped to attention at her cry and rushed toward the nest.
As for the Older Yaksha Sister...
—Even with Calamidad's attention focused on her, looking away had been a mistake.
"Ah."
Before she could react, the massive front leg filled her vision and slammed into her. Kicked once again, she flew through the air and crashed into the ground, unable to offer the slightest resistance.
A deafening impact echoed across the field.
This time, it took her even longer to get up.
The Older Yaksha Sister lay face down, as still as a corpse. Only when the dust began to settle did she slowly push herself to her feet.
"Ha..."
Standing, the Yaksha laughed again. Of course, no proper laugh could come from a face that was already a battered ruin.
Blood gushed from her mouth, following the sound. Staring ahead with half-lidded eyes, the Older Yaksha Sister slowly raised her head as she felt a massive shift in the air currents.