Chapter 207: The Legacy of Witch Heluram (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 207: The Legacy of Witch Heluram (3)
Rattle, clatter…
Round boulders rolled away, nudged by the monster’s forepaws. It pushed and pulled them with the tips of its claws, playing with an innocent air before occasionally stopping to lick its own body. It looked exactly like a cat.
The only things that distinguished it from a common housecat were its massive size and the white leopard spots scattered across its pitch-black fur.
Naturally, Jin had never heard of a monster that looked like this. While countless monsters existed in the world, no feline species had ever been reported.
I’m supposed to defeat that…? It looks more like a divine beast than a monster.
The creature was still unaware of Jin’s presence.
Thanks to that, he was able to observe it calmly for a while. He soon realized that the thorn trees filling the forest were the monster's food source.
Crunch, munch, snap!
A loud noise erupted as the monster chewed through the thick trees as if they were stalks of sugarcane.
Since settling here, the creature had lived like this for over a thousand years, feasting on the thorn trees. When it cleared enough land, it would carve rocks into smooth spheres to play with until the trees grew back—just as it was doing now.
Swish! Slash!
With a light flick of its forepaw, a boulder embedded in the ground went flying. Before the rock even hit the dirt, it had been carved into a perfect sphere, its original jagged shape gone. The monster stared blankly at the fallen rock for a moment before letting out a small, satisfied cry.
I’ll have to be careful… of those claws.
Jin shook his head, recalling the sickle-like talons that had briefly emerged to slice through stone as if it were a radish.
Could he approach without being detected?
Just as he was about to take a step, the monster flinched and scanned its surroundings. Jin hadn’t expected a surprise attack to work, anyway. The miasma was so thick that he had to maintain an Aura shield even with the effects of the Ten Thousand Poison Liquor.
The faint glow of his Aura had caught the monster’s eye. It turned its head, its gaze landing squarely on Jin.
[Kyahhh!]
The monster shrieked the moment their eyes met. The sound was deafening enough to make his ears ring, but it was manageable compared to the roars of the Pluto Tribe.
Lightning began to crackle around Sigmund. The Pluto Sword Basic Form: Lightning was an excellent technique, even against giant monsters.
I wonder how strong this thing is… Hm?
Thud, thud, thud!
Suddenly, the monster spun around and began bolting deeper into the forest. It was so fast that Jin didn’t even have time to think about catching it; he could only stare blankly at the spot where it had vanished.
It’s running away? With a body that massive, it’s scared of me?
The absurdity of the situation struck him before the fight had even begun.
No. It must have encountered the Black Knights before, so it’s probably developed a fear of humans. The Black Knights must have suppressed it without killing it before they left this forest.
For some reason, he felt a twinge of pity. The creature had clearly been living peacefully by itself, and here he was, an intruder tasked with striking it down.
…Let’s chase it for now.
Regardless, defeating the monster was a test from his father and Vanessa. He couldn’t quit just because he felt sorry for it.
However, that pity vanished the moment he began his pursuit.
Creeeak, crash!
As soon as he followed the monster into the dense woods, a massive forepaw came flying at him. Despite its size, the creature had skillfully hidden itself by weaving through the gaps between the thorn trees.
The paw swept through the trees like they were weeds, lunging toward Jin. He managed to raise Sigmund just in time to block, but the force of the blow sent him flying backward.
While he was still airborne, the forepaw swung at him once more.
“Urgh!”
Unable to block with his sword, he called down a bolt of lightning. The discharge repelled the monster’s paw, but Jin was already plummeting toward the thorny ground.
Just before impact, he released a burst of sword energy in all directions. Even so, there were too many thorns to avoid being pricked and scratched. Thanks to the Rune of Mul-ta and his Black Light Armor, he avoided any fatal injuries.
And thanks to the Ten Thousand Poison Liquor, he was still alive. Without it, the combination of the forest's miasma and the thorns' lethal poison would have turned him into a corpse instantly.
He had been played from the very start.
Standing up, Jin let out a deep sigh. His arms and legs were torn and bleeding, and his coat was in rags. Poison seeped relentlessly into his wounds, making his entire body feel like it was on fire. The Ten Thousand Poison Liquor didn’t negate the pain.
The monster didn’t follow up. Instead, it leisurely vanished deeper into the forest once more.
Right… I must have been crazy for a moment. Pitying a monster, feeling like the villain. It seems the damn thing had a plan to kill me the second it saw me.
The monster hadn't run away. It had simply chosen a more efficient and safer way to deal with him—a textbook response for an unknown opponent. Jin, on the other hand, had let his guard down, deceived by the monster’s familiar appearance.
No one had seen him get ambushed and left a bloody mess after mindlessly chasing it, but he couldn’t forgive himself. The fact that the creature—a black cat with white spots—reminded him of a giant Nabi Runcandel was no excuse.
“I’ll deal with you properly now.”
Grit!
Jin clenched his teeth and channeled his mana.
He intended to start by summoning Tess and burning this entire godforsaken thorn forest to the ground. No matter where the beast hid, it was still inside a forest, and trees were meant to burn.
However, when he formed the summoning circle to open the fire realm, the portal failed to appear. The result was the same no matter how many times he tried.
…Sigh, what a mess. It doesn’t seem to be the miasma, and I have enough mana. Is this place a dead world, just like Laprarosa?
Tess couldn't be summoned in a dead world. He had learned that fact while training with his Pluto Tribe brothers in Laprarosa. Jin quickly concluded that this forest was the same.
It didn’t matter. Not having Tess didn’t mean he couldn’t burn the forest. Soon, a fierce red flame coalesced in his left hand.
Flame Orb.
A sphere of fire imbued with 7-star mana flew into the dark thorn forest. The moment it touched a tree, it spread like a net, instantly incinerating the entrance to the inner woods where the monster had fled.
Next, he cast Wave Wind in rapid succession. He remembered burning a forest just like this to save Mesa during his cadet days.
But the mana Jin possessed now was incomparable to back then. The wind from the same Wave Wind carried far more power, and the fire devouring the trees was a 7-star Flame Orb.
The forest turned into a sea of fire in an instant. Still unsatisfied, Jin walked past the burning trees and prepared another Flame Orb.
Surprisingly, the miasma didn’t burn away with the flames. Instead, the lethal poison from the thorn trees mixed into the air, making it even harder to breathe. While it would hinder the battle, Jin judged that if the poison was this taxing for him—even with the Ten Thousand Poison Liquor—it would be just as burdensome for the monster.
“Come out this instant, or I’ll burn the entire forest down!” he shouted, his voice vibrating with power, not caring if the monster understood.
He threw three more Flame Orbs.
[Whimper…]
Finally, the monster surrendered. It let out a dejected cry and trudged out from the flames.
Hah, what a sly creature. It’s putting on a ‘please don’t do this’ face.
Seeing its perked ears drooping and its eyes squinted in sadness, guilt pricked at him again. The burning thorn trees were the monster’s home and its only source of food. Jin intuitively realized this as he faced the whimpering beast against the backdrop of the inferno.
However, he had no intention of repeating his mistake. If he let his guard down, the beast would surely lunge for his throat or play another trick.
“Don’t act pitiful.”
The moment Jin spoke, the look in the monster’s eyes changed.
It’s not working.
That was clearly what its eyes said. Simultaneously, Jin felt mana erupting from its pupils.
Magic?!
It was a Magic Eye.
Jin had never considered that the monster could use magic, so he failed to look away from its mana-imbued amber eyes.
Ancient dark magic included many ‘mental’ spells designed to drive a target insane. The magic the monster unleashed was exactly that, and Jin was already seeing hallucinations.
It started with the illusion of his entire body being shredded by daggers. Then it shifted to visions of the most depressing moments of his past life. In a single second, dozens of hallucinations pierced his mind.
The monster smirked as it watched Jin’s eyes go vacant. Buried in the illusions, Jin couldn’t see its treacherous smile.
Now, all the monster had to do was approach the trembling man and tear him to pieces, suppress the flames burning its home, and then quietly watch as his corpse rotted away in the miasma.
[Meowww…!]
The monster let out a low, ominous cry and took a step forward.
But in the next moment, it could only tilt its head in confusion.
“I really hate hallucinations.”
Something completely incomprehensible had just happened.
Jin, who had been fully exposed to the Magic Eye, had regained his senses and was now glaring back with eyes full of murderous intent.
The three mirages he had experienced in the Great Desert. The faith he had forged by overcoming them to become a brother to the Pluto Tribe in Laprarosa. What defined the current Jin wasn't just talent, but absolute willpower.
He was a man who had endured the desert where Temar Runcandel stood—the third mirage—and had swung his sword until the very end. There was no way this monster's clumsy mental magic could work on him.
He had shattered its illusion with sheer will. For him, it was as easy as breathing.
“One second. You should have finished me during that one second I was trapped. And you… you seem to understand human speech, don’t you?”
This time, Jin smiled. The monster, frozen in its tracks, darted its eyes around frantically as its fur stood on end.
Thump, crash!
The fire-engulfed thorn trees collapsed around them. Amidst the chaos, Sigmund once again radiated a brilliant blue light.
Pluto Sword Fighting God Technique 3rd Sword.
Judgment.
Without hesitation, Jin chose that technique.
“But I don’t understand what monsters say. I won’t know even if you scream, so shut up and swing your claws.”