Chapter 296
Chapter 296
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 296
Chapter Title: Forgotten Giant's Ancient Forest #3
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The Giant's Forest, commonly known as the Ancient Forest, was a place that had preserved its primeval essence from the dawn of this world's creation right up to the present day.
It was a world of survival of the fittest, dominated by massive and merciless beasts.
I'd once called Sodmora a ruthless and barbaric city, but in truth, compared to this genuine primordial wilderness, that place was as orderly as a library.
Grrooo...
Karrrooo...
The deeper we ventured into the forest, the more the dense undergrowth and colossal trees seemed to teem with enormous presences looming toward us, ready to pounce at any moment.
Fortunately, none of the grotesquely massive magical beasts lunged at us. If there was one rule that held sway in this merciless wild, it was domination by the strong.
We were currently being escorted— in a bizarre sort of way— by the offspring of the being called the forest's king, as we made our way toward its heart.
It seemed they were inviting us into their domain. They said it was a rare occurrence. Even I might be seeing the forest's king for the first time.
The dragon Isvaron, who had lived nearly 500 years, let out an admiring chuckle at the situation, clearly amused. But the only one maintaining composure amid the magical beasts was the enormous blue dragon, no less massive than they were.
Luna, Paranoia, and I could do nothing but tremble and stare up at the beasts encircling us like suffocating walls.
Karruk-.
"Ah, th-that one's licking its chops looking at me... It definitely thinks I'm a tasty nymph... Th-this is unacceptable—mmph—."
"Shut your nonsense."
I hurriedly clamped Paranoia's mouth shut and glanced warily at the surrounding white furballs. If she provoked them unnecessarily and they turned on us, we were done for in every way.
....
Thankfully, the massive furballs filling our surroundings seemed interested only in walking, nothing more.
What in the world.
What was I even doing right now?
I'd thought the magical beast we'd just taken down together with my party members was the lord of this forest.
But it turned out that one was just a juvenile or subadult, and we were now surrounded by its siblings or kin, being led to the king that had birthed it.
"This qualifies as very courteous treatment."
Hippolyte laughed as if she found the beasts' escort amusing, but to me, this wasn't an escort— it was more like—.
"Hassan, it feels like they're watching us to make sure we don't run."
Exactly. As Luna said, this was a vast white prison enclosing us.
If we tried to shake off their "escort" and flee, those enormous claws would undoubtedly pulverize us like garlic.
Escaping would be difficult in any case, since an even larger specimen than the one we'd felled earlier was mixed in with the procession. It had to be insanely powerful.
That was when it happened.
!!!
A thunderous roar echoed from somewhere, and we all instinctively dropped low to the ground. Knees bent, ears covered, foreheads pressed to the dirt.
It wasn't a trained response— it felt like some instinctual switch deep in our guts had been flipped.
Gaaak, gaaak, gaaak-.
Zhi-jib, zhi-jib-.
At the same time, countless birds lurking in the forest cried out and fluttered in chaos. It felt just like a bomb had gone off, leaving us utterly disoriented.
After a few seconds— maybe a dozen or so— as the echoes and bird cries began to die down, Luna lifted her head.
"Did you hear that just now?"
She brushed the dirt from her forehead where it had stuck to the ground.
"Whoa. I thought a volcano had erupted! The one in the island's center exploded with exactly that sound!"
"Indeed, quite the impressive shriek. I nearly flinched myself."
But Hippolyte stood tall, as if unfazed even in that moment.
How could a person be this fearless? I started worrying if Hippolyte was somehow broken or damaged in some way.
"I-I saw that giant furball open its mouth to scream...! It's a scaredy-cat...!"
"...Be quiet! You're the one who was crying—."
"Shh, Paranoia! I told you not to cry so easily!"
It was chaos in every sense.
Only after calming my pounding heart could I finally grasp what had happened. As Hippolyte said, that earlier explosion of sound had been a scream.
A massive someone's scream.
And a creature capable of such a thunderous scream would rightly be called the sovereign of this vast, bizarre primordial forest.
Why would something so enormous and majestic let out a scream like that? My meager imagination couldn't even hazard a guess.
As if reading my thoughts, Elfride— who had been touching her lips— tossed out a casual remark.
"We killed one of its young, so the mother must be furious."
"Oh crap. Then we're screwed?"
"Ask it yourself. Look, we're almost there."
Elfride's red eyes gazed up at the high sky. More precisely, at a staggeringly massive tree that seemed to pierce the heavens.
A colossal tree.
Though I'd described it as such, I wondered if it could even be called a tree. Vines and strangely grown trees intertwined chaotically, forming a single thick pillar.
Plants tangling together into a mass wasn't uncommon, so that alone wasn't particularly special. But when the scale reached dozens of meters, even terms like "majestic" and "grand" felt somehow inadequate and cheap.
I recalled a documentary I'd absentmindedly watched as a kid.
A single mature tree is an ecosystem unto itself for small creatures.
A tree grown to this scale was truly a forest and a world in its own right.
A World Tree in every sense.
What did Elfride, the elf from Alvheim, think of it?
"It does resemble the forests back home. Though the trees there are incomparably smaller—."
I see.
I mentally added a star to the World Tree's size in my head.
A tree bigger than this? That was terrifying in its own way. And I added another star to Elfride's depravity for setting such a tree ablaze.
"Hassan, you're thinking something super shitty right now, aren't you?"
Damn, could this elf read my mind?
"Nope."
After brushing it off, we climbed onto the backs of the white furballs and ascended the tree. At the top, we came face-to-face with the being called the sovereign of this forest.
The king of magical beasts—.
Its bearing was truly regal.
Regulus, my greatest sore spot, aaah—!! My little king is dead—!
Its body towered dozens of meters high, with skin as pale as snow. Bones from various beasts clung to it like jewelry and clothing, artfully covering parts here and there.
Flaming red hair, slit golden pupils, and a long tail covered in red scales— it was as if someone had fused a giant serpent and a human halfway.
How could such a being exist in this world?
The sheer cognitive dissonance made my brain feel like it was splitting again, not into left and right hemispheres, but upper and lower.
Even Hippolyte, who had been so relaxed until moments ago, furrowed her brow slightly and fell silent before this immense presence.
My..., my firstborn child, gone so pathetically and simply—!!
Before this colossal being lay the corpse of the white beast we'd... no, I'd strangled to death earlier.
Echidna, the serpent woman and sovereign of the Ancient Forest, clutched the scruff of the white-furred corpse and wailed in utter grief.
I could understand her sorrow at losing a child she'd birthed, but watching it filled me with dread.
Damn, it was self-defense.
We'd all nearly died too.
It attacked first— would excuses like that fly?
Swish-.
Soon, those enormous, eerie golden eyes fixed on me.
Cursed black hair! Not content with slaying Denebola, now you've killed my eldest son Regulus too! Be cursed! I shall curse you! I told you never to return to this forest!
Shk, shk-.
Its long, serpentine tongue produced a horrifying sound. But something about its speech felt off.
Gathering my trembling legs, I forced strength into them, braced my lower abdomen, and asked.
"Um, s-sorry, but I only killed that one just now. And this is my first time here...."
Liar, black hair! You came to the forest last week too, causing havoc! You killed my second daughter Denebola and skinned her! Now my heir Regulus too!
Ssshhh-.
The serpent woman's massive hair stood on end like living creatures writhing.
I told you I had nothing more to say to you!
At the same moment, the white-furred beasts that had been escorting us bristled their fur toward us.
Puffing up their bodies was a universal sign of aggression. Hippolyte and Elfride accordingly aimed their sword and staff in all directions.
"No, hear me out. We really are here for the first time—."
Silence! No need to hear you out! You've killed two of my children, so I'll kill two of yours! Offer up two lives obediently!
It was a powder-keg moment.
We were probably about to get wrecked.
Just as my vision started to blur with dizziness, someone spoke up.
"Shk, shk-!"
It was Luna. She slowly approached the massive serpent woman, making strange hissing sounds.
"Shk..., shk-!"
My brain couldn't keep up with this bizarre scene. My other companions looked equally baffled when Paranoia shouted.
"L-Lady Luna's finally lost her mind...! Using serpent tongue in a situation like this!"
Ah, serpent tongue—.
Only then did I remember Luna's peculiar ability to speak with snakes.
I'd struggled with English after over ten years of study, but Luna could handle human speech, snake speech, and even bits of other beasts' languages.
Is there one who speaks the serpent tongue? But your skill is poor. Pronunciation imprecise. Use the continental common tongue instead.
"Shk-."
Few know the serpent tongue regardless. For your sincerity, I'll hear you out once.
Whatever it was, Luna seemed to have succeeded in swaying the massive serpent woman with her odd words.
Her bristling hair settled down, and the surrounding beasts, who had been growling with fangs bared, calmed noticeably.
The blades at our napes receded a few centimeters, and blood finally returned to my body.
Sssswish.
The serpent woman's enormous face slowly approached us.
Then make your excuses, black hair. Not only did you kill my cherished daughter and wear her as clothing, but you slew my most beloved firstborn too.
"Well, that one attacked us first. It was self-defense— lack of illegality due to justification or whatever. And I swear, this is my first time here."
I mounted my own desperate defense.
Liar. You came last week and tore up the whole forest. I remember your loathsome face clearly, black hair. Your scent too!
Churp, churp-.
A massive tongue extended and licked my face.
Was this how a nut felt being licked by squirrels? I was the nut. No, nuts had hard shells— I was less than that.
But the serpent woman, continuing to lick me, furrowed her brow in puzzlement.
No, the scent is slightly different. Who are you exactly? You have a strange smell. Not quite female.
"I'm not a woman, I'm a man."
Indeed, a different one! Other black hairs keep coming and killing my children—!
Huge teardrops began falling from the massive woman's eyes. She looked utterly heartbroken,
But since it was about me, my anxiety spiked. Crying one moment, raging the next— total emotional whiplash.
The opponent was the king of magical beasts. Trying to read her was pointless.
We promised to live quietly in this forest, didn't we? This forest is our everything. Yet you keep coming and tormenting us!
"Well...."
My firstborn Regulus was a very brave child! He must have seen you as the enemy of his sibling. That bravery led to his death.
"Well, sorry.... We should've talked it out, but it was so sudden and overwhelming, we couldn't even think of that...."
Lately, it felt like I kept having to apologize.
In some ways, I was a master of apologies and reflection. Perhaps my sincere remorse worked, as Echidna stopped crying.
Was my child strong?
"Uh.... Insanely strong."
I see. My firstborn Regulus was the little king of this forest. A child who flew like the wind. Now he's grown cold and stiff, unable to take a single step....
Damn, what kind of conversation was this? The surreal situation left me feeling drunk and dazed.
Then Echidna spoke.
Well, what's done is done with the dead. Children can always be made again. I'll forgive you, black hair.
"Really?" I nearly jumped for joy. They say extreme happiness makes people dance involuntarily, and that's exactly how I felt.
At least until her next words.
Yes. The black hair from last time was a female like me, so mating was impossible. But you're male. Gift me as many children as you killed, and we're even.
That is the condition for forgiveness— the massive serpent woman concluded.