Chapter 370
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 370
Chapter Title: I'm Curious About That Too.
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Like he wasn't sure how to explain it.
After trailing off for a moment,
Rimon stared silently at the massive, mountain-like form rising before them, then opened his mouth with a sigh.
"It's a beast."
"...A beast? You mean an animal, like that thing?"
"Yeah."
Rose looked stunned.
Hasneti was the same.
Her perpetually cold expression cracked as she blinked in disbelief.
If anyone else had said it, they would have dismissed it as a joke— it was that absurd.
As if he'd anticipated their reaction,
Rimon gave a wry smile and continued.
"I get why you wouldn't believe it. If I heard someone treating that thing like an animal without knowing the details, I'd call them insane too."
"But you're still insisting it's an animal?"
"Depending on the criteria, there's some variance, but if we define it by whether it originally existed in this world or not... then yeah, that's definitely not a monster."
The very concept of a "monster" had only been established after the Iron Age began.
Sure, bizarre creatures had existed in the past, but they weren't all lumped together under that term.
It was just weird that dungeons started spitting out identical monsters like factory products, varying only by floor.
Mystical animals with special powers.
Benign ghosts with kind natures.
Humans worse than beasts.
Without being able to know everything at a glance, it was hard to blanket-label anything non-human as a monster.
"Taxonomically speaking, it's an animal first and foremost."
That's why Rimon could state it with such certainty.
That it was an animal.
Because he'd seen it before the Iron Age even dawned.
"The problem is, it's one of the most horrific beasts in history."
"What do you...?"
Rose froze mid-sentence.
She was Countess Serpent.
Not as versed in myths and legends as Einsha, the high priest of the Holy Alliance, but still knowledgeable within the Seven Dragon Society.
So when she heard "one of the most horrific beasts in history," something clicked.
"...There are only two beasts that could make you say something like that."
And Hasneti, who knew Rimon's feats as well as Li Chingwei did, felt the same.
No, even another princess might have guessed it.
That beast was ancient enough to be recorded in the Seven Dragon Society's scriptures.
"One would be the Spirit Beast that caused the Spirit Cataclysm."
"That doesn't look like a Spirit Beast to me."
"Then..."
"The other one."
"Yeah, exactly."
Unable to accept the truth,
the two princesses hesitated to voice it, but Rimon nodded and revealed the beast's identity with a wry smile.
A foe he'd faced only once in his long life, barely defeating it after immense struggle.
It had existed since primordial times.
Freely reshaping the world's geography.
Devouring islands like snacks.
And causing even greater catastrophes.
A name now only vaguely remembered in legends, a being whose very existence was a disaster.
"That's a Satiation Beast."
[What's a Satiation Beast?]
"..."
[Hold on, Team Leader? What's with that look, like you're staring at a chicken head only good for frying?]
"It's the kind of gaze you'd give a birdbrain whose only use is as fried filling."
Yuna Kyung hopped mad.
[That's too harsh! Do you know how hard I worked this time?!]
"Fine, I'll give you that much."
Rimon chuckled as he glanced at the sprawled Azure Dragon Troops and Scarlet Dragon Troops at the edge of the plain.
Without Yuna Kyung, rescuing Rose and Hasneti while aiding the troops would have been impossible.
Her performance deserved praise.
Petting her head in commendation, Rimon spoke calmly.
"Blue, do you know how many continents there are in the world?"
[Five, obviously?]
"That's now."
[...You're talking like it was different back then?]
"Because it was."
[Huh?]
Caught off guard by the random topic,
Rimon flicked the forehead of Yuna Kyung, who was giving him that "demented old man" stare, and murmured softly.
"Kids like you wouldn't know, but originally, there were six continents in the world."
Europe.
Asia.
Africa.
North America.
South America.
And one more.
As Rimon spoke of the continent that had existed in the ocean, Yuna Kyung asked hesitantly.
[...Is that the Central America that was supposedly in the Sword Dragon Sea?]
"No, not that one. The continent I'm talking about was devoured before the seven dragons even appeared."
[Devoured...?]
"Yeah."
Not just the Bronze Age,
but even legends from the Silver Age whispered of it, as Rimon continued softly.
In ancient times, the world had six continents.
But one was erased—not just from maps, but from history itself.
A beast that had existed since before the Golden Age, humanity's earliest era, had swallowed it whole.
That was the Satiation Beast.
From Fairy Queens and Word Mages to Great Witches and Saints, seven dragons and Sword Masters.
In every age, when it appeared, the supreme beings hunted it down as top priority until it was extinct.
[...Extinct?]
"You can't leave a beast that could end the world anytime a single one survives."
[Sure, but... then what's that Satiation Beast over there?]
"I'm curious about that too."
Rimon crossed his arms.
If it were any other animal, he'd shrug it off.
Rediscovering a "extinct" species happened often over a long life.
But he couldn't help being suspicious for one reason.
He was the one who killed the last Satiation Beast.
And it had taken decades of grueling effort, even postponing dealings with the Seven Dragon Society, just to eradicate them.
So seeing one now, after thinking they'd been wiped out, was absurd.
That's why he muttered absentmindedly.
"Don't tell me that one's been summoned by a skill too?"
And the one who picked up on his soliloquy was Hasneti, listening silently beside him.
"...To my knowledge, the Summon Lord never called forth a monster like that."
"Maybe he could but kept it hidden. Wielding a summon that could destroy the world would incite outrage."
"Does he look like someone who hid it until his arm was severed and his summons wiped out?"
"Maybe he was elsewhere and couldn't summon it then."
"Hmm."
Rimon stroked his chin.
Hasneti's claim that Branga lacked the ability to summon a Satiation Beast.
Rose's point that whoever was using one now must be the summoner, so Branga.
Both had merit.
Thus, Yuna Kyung, who had been stealthily gauging the mood, found herself stuck mediating their debate.
[Shouldn't we deal with that thing first before worrying about why?]
At the same time, red and blue eyes turned toward her.
One serene as a lake.
One fierce as flame.
Yet both equally pressuring.
Yuna Kyung flinched but cautiously raised a wing to point at one side.
The colossal monstrosity rising across the plain.
The Satiation Beast chomping away at the earth.
[No matter how I look at it, that thing's getting bigger by the second.]
Yuna Kyung broke out in cold sweat.
It was already huge, but as it devoured the ground, its size swelled, now nearly double its original.
But Rimon and the two princesses took it in stride.
"It'll grow. It's a Satiation Beast."
Eating anything.
Growing with every bite.
That was a Satiation Beast.
Yuna Kyung gaped at Rimon's nonchalant words.
[Wait, doesn't that mean if we leave it, it'll keep growing until it swallows a whole continent?!]
"Not 'might.' It will."
[Then why are you just watching? Hurry and catch it!]
"That's why we're waiting."
[Huh?]
As Yuna Kyung tilted her head at the cryptic response,
two aides appeared.
"Princess, retreat complete."
"Continental Alliance side has finished evacuating too."
Despite magical healing, their pallor showed they weren't fully recovered.
Yet Lucas and Nadia had faithfully executed orders and reported back amid the chaos. The princesses asked softly.
"Civilians confirmed?"
"Yes, any late evacuees were escorted by clan reinforcements as you instructed."
"Then everyone's with us on this plain."
"Not just the plain—within a 100-kilometer radius, no civilians left..."
Thanks to the Continental Alliance pre-evacuating locals before war, it went faster than expected.
Nodding at the reports, Rose and Hasneti turned to Rimon.
"Sword Duke, preparations are complete."
"No need to worry about nearby damage now."
"Good. Time to get started then."
As if he'd been waiting for those words,
Rimon rose to his feet.
Picking up the sword he'd set beside him, he suddenly asked.
"How about you and Pharaoh evacuate? Staying here must be tough in your condition."
Lucas and Nadia behind them shot fervent agreement with their eyes.
Fresh from dragonization,
wounds still vivid across their bodies—it made their aides anxious just looking.
But the princesses didn't budge.
"As long as I'm not a burden, I want to watch until the end."
"...This fight with the Summon Lord started because of me. Don't think you can chase away the one who barged in midway."
Rose with a faint smile.
Hasneti with a cold reply.
Opposing attitudes, but united in refusal to retreat.
And behind them, aides and the two dragon troops stood resolute, ready to protect even unto death. Rimon chuckled.
"If you really wanna watch, fine. But be careful, yeah?"
Crack.
He cracked his neck side to side.
Stretched his legs wide.
Rotated his arms.
Loosening up as he hadn't even against the lord, Rimon took a bold step forward.
From the Golden Age to the Heroes Age.
A beast of extinction only the era's supreme could handle.
Facing a prey he hadn't seen in ages—one requiring no holding back—Rimon grinned ferociously.
"You can't hunt that thing while fussing over collateral."
Crackle!
Thus, crossing space in an instant to appear above the Satiation Beast, Rimon drove his sword hilt-deep into its head, unleashing a sword art.
"The lion's roar splits heaven and earth"
⟨ Great Law of the Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword ⟩
The sword howled.
The blade's edge wavered.
In that instant, the mountain-sized Satiation Beast's body split in half.
And from between, pitch-black mud erupted like an explosion, swallowing Rimon's small frame whole.