Chapter 86
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Old Primeval Forest
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[Karenden: Meian, begin.]
As Meian raised the famed Moonlight Sword and began her beautiful dance, moonlight poured from the heavens onto the old primeval forest like a meteor shower.
Down below, upon the primeval forest steeped in an eerie silence.
It was not the silence of absence, but the silence of something lurking within.
[Chapter: 02 - Old Primeval Forest.]
The forest looked less like a forest and more like a swamp that had taken its shape.
The lights from the Keltoros transport crafts could not penetrate its interior at all.
The trees rustled in the gale, but the sound of their leaves was thick and sodden.
[Ryukael: As I thought. Communications have been unstable ever since we arrived.]
Hiding within that transcendent shadow, countless undead danced and cackled, worshipping a formless, eyeless, voiceless evil god.
[Water Dragon Yeriserika: We've identified the locations of Grade 4 and 5 Abyss entities. Current count is 342,364, but the number is increasing rapidly.]
Kelek-Shak had turned its land into a demonic realm of seclusion.
It bestowed the blessing of the insect upon its followers, turning them into insectoid humans. In the ancient tongue, they are called Kinwae—maggot-humans.
Through metamorphosis, the Kinwae boasted a diversity incomparable to the undead of other True Kings.
[Karenden: Eldia, prepare for descent. Thirty seconds.]
The Kinwae evolved into three forms through metamorphosis.
One was the flying insect form, ‘Salkille,’ the most troublesome of foes.
Another was an ambush-type entity called ‘Rusatku,’ which hid in the swamps before attacking.
The last was a humanoid entity called ‘Katoron,’ with a physique tougher than an Uruk and the strength to tear a human body apart in an instant.
And creatures like these emerged endlessly from a forest echoing with the drumbeat of madness.
Even by the standards of The Ones Who Came, entering a forest teeming with such creatures seemed like madness.
- We should terraform it first.
That was Karenden's conclusion.
If you can't enter the enemy's front yard, why not just destroy it?
It was a tactic befitting The Ones Who Came, and a strategy they could execute.
"The descent order is in. Stand by."
Since it was impossible to produce any more clone armies, Enuel, unlike the other Eldia, was entrusted with the most elite warriors from among the liberated peoples instead of a clone battalion.
They were veteran warriors who would lead the charge in every battle, later known to posterity as 'Enuel's Assault Team'.
Of course, they were given physical modifications and armaments equivalent to those of the clones.
[Baraniye: Hehe, are we the vanguard again this time?]
[Gripisorn: Don't get cocky, Ollen. It's not us, it's Captain Enuel who is the vanguard.]
[Ollen: Well, you're not technically wrong, so I'll let it slide.]
The top three warriors from the Idea Peninsula, which had been under the rule of the Abyss.
First in rank, Gripisorn.
Second in rank, Baraniye.
Third in rank, Ollen (one of the five Prince-Electors, ancestor of the Grand Ducal House of Duren).
Under the command of these three, a thousand assault troops stood in disciplined formation, each holding their heavy equipment.
The veterans in the front rank held ‘Reyrn’ greatshields that covered them from neck to foot, while the soldiers in the rear wielded ‘Takenon’ longspears, operated by five men.
All were Grade 5 pieces of equipment, only two tiers below the Supreme Holy Swords of the present day.
It was strange to think Karenden had grumbled about only being able to make them to mass-production specs due to a lack of time.
'Subordinates...'
Why did fighting as part of a single corps always evoke such deep nostalgia? Like yearning for home.
[Karenden: Ten seconds.]
At that moment, streaks of moonlight, wielding the power of Heaven's Light, struck the primeval forest.
The first wave swept the earth in a brilliant torrent of waste heat. Primeval giant trees burned and melted, and swamps vaporized into steam.
The Kinwae swarmed out, letting out piercing screams, but they too were incinerated in the dazzling vortex of moonlight.
[Karenden: Five seconds.]
The second wave focused on the giant tree-beings called Ents.
They were the highest-ranking old ones under Kelek-Shak's command, Grade 3 Abyss entities, and the guardians of the forest, much like Shu'yulkla's Kyulun.
There were over five thousand Ents in the northern part of Idea alone. The Ents began to exhale the breath of the Abyss, creating a barrier.
It was all according to Karenden's plan.
The streaks of moonlight that had been storming in like a meteor shower from all directions suddenly converged into one, shattering the barrier in an instant and plunging into the earth.
It was a beam of light whose power was maximized by narrowing its area of effect.
It didn't just stop at burning the earth's axis, but was designed to burrow deep into the ground.
[Karenden: Three seconds.]
The result was a hole 124 meters deep.
[Karenden: One second.]
And so, the path was opened.
The path to the underground city that stirred with a demonic desolation and a primal sacrilege that could shatter human reason.
The path to the 'City of Decay, Kesheurendak'.
[Karenden: Commence the subjugation operation.]
Age of Myths,
Tarhye Rondel - Eldia - Rebirth (7)
"A subjugation campaign, you said? Against whom?"
4 hours and 32 minutes before the operation began. April 12, 635.
Ryukael asked.
All available combat commanders on the peninsula had been summoned to the operations room of Karenden's flagship, the 'Rin' (Spring Breeze).
"We've simultaneously lost the coordinate signals of thirteen Rasepin squadrons and three Krael units sent north of the Idea Peninsula. There were two Praimoas and two Glams as well."
Karenden answered.
A bubblegum bubble popped from the lips of Meian, who was chewing gum with her arms crossed.
"The third True King?"
Meian was the youngest of The Ones Who Came, and her immaturity was matched by her foul mouth. She was a dancer who drew upon the power of moonlight by performing sacred dances, and she was the wielder of the Moonlight Sword, created from a fragment of the second-tier creator god, Avrem.
For reference, the Moonlight Sword was a short sword, less than half the length of a typical longsword, and moonlight flowed from its blade.
"There's no hard evidence. However, the liberated peoples fear that land, calling it the 'Land of Insects.' Human sacrifices were rampant, and people were said to have died while being devoured by insects. That's enough circumstantial evidence."
"As you've confirmed from the geological scan data, the northern part of the peninsula is a dense forest, unsuitable for large-scale operations."
"Th-that's right. The m-maps are incomplete, too..."
Ryukael and Shurviel each voiced their concerns, but knowing the future, the current situation felt even more dire to me.
'The northern part of the Idea Peninsula...'
It was once the domain of the Insect Lord, Kelek-Shak, and was now a sealed land.
In the present day, it was a beautiful forest, cultivated with reverence and love by the dark elves who served the Water Dragon Yeriserika.
Who could have imagined that this land was originally a festering forest of decay?
"Tervel's Azure Sky forces have begun their assault on the 'Kingdom of the Desert' on the Adrion continent. They should succeed in purifying the continent soon."
"That's good news. Are General Alkaios and Kaduel safe?"
"So far. After that, we plan to advance to the Akrad continent, but according to information from Shurigan, the coastal barrier is extremely powerful. We have no choice but to neutralize it with a pincer attack. We must open a land route through the peninsula."
The expression of the Noble Moon, Jyeannir, darkened slightly.
"But... can we really subjugate a True King with the forces we have left here? You know I can only provide limited combat support, and Maxencia can't help at all."
"This is a race against time. We have to seal all the True Kings before Yotiatos intervenes."
"I-if the M-Master p-personally participates in combat... wh-who will take overall command?"
"These ones will help."
At Karenden's words, everyone's eyes widened as they saw the beings who entered the operations room and bowed their heads.
The Three Divine Dragons.
The beings who, after the war, would protect the order of this world in place of the vanished Black Sun Karenden.
"I am the eldest daughter, Yeriserika."
"I am the second son, Haraderiman."
"I'm the third son, Vel'dakidun!"
The ones who had been mere infants during the subjugation of Shu'yulkla had grown considerably.
It is said that for the dragon race, mental growth leads directly to physical growth. The image of carefree children was gone, and they had become adolescents.
The Water Dragon Yeriserika, in particular, already showed the makings of a young maiden, having become a woman of command with an intelligent gaze beneath her light blue hair.
It was truly bewildering to see the three dragons, who would be revered as Divine Dragons in the future, bowing so politely.
'Humans treat even True Dragons with the utmost respect...'
Before my eyes now were the childhoods of the Divine Dragons who commanded those True Dragons.
To see these Divine Dragons being so courteous was a testament to the status of the Eldia.
Yeriserika spoke on behalf of her siblings.
"This operation is built on an incomplete foundation and therefore contains many variables. And... as you all know far better than I, we do not have the forces here to launch a war of annihilation against a True King."
"Then what do you suggest?"
Ryukael asked.
The Light Dragon Haraderiman, who was still less mature than the Water Dragon Yeriserika, replied.
"When a King's Abyss is sealed, the Abyss entities under its command are sealed as well. We'll feign a war of annihilation and go for a swift battle, striking down the True King directly..."
"What? We're already short on manpower and you want to split our forces again?"
"We'll help!"
The Fire Dragon Vel'dakidun shouted, his voice filled with a fiery passion. At this time, the red Divine Dragon still retained a boyish youthfulness.
It was their declaration of service.
The declaration of Karenden's three miracles, who would carve their names into myth as the three-headed dragon, Asura.
Nevertheless, that battle was a nightmare.
It would also be recorded as a battle that inflicted enormous damage on the forces of The Ones Who Came.
And in this battle, the Holy Elimine Knights would lose something irreplaceable.
* * *
As the moonlight pierced a hole in the earth, the geological strata began to squirm like a living creature, licking its wounds.
Of course, the assault team had already entered the underground city before that could happen.
The City of Decay, Kesheurendak, was a maze with a honeycomb structure.
[Enuel: Listen up. Your mission is to guard the passages leading to the royal palace. Hold them until I subjugate the True King.]
A blasphemous, primeval architectural style...
Foul water teeming with maggots that rose up to their thighs...
The bizarre proportions of the structures, the outlines of an architectural style that used the corpses of humans and beasts...
[Baraniye: Being separated from you, Captain, my heart already aches with loneliness.]
The breath of the cosmos was deeply ingrained in everything. Terror was not an ornament, but a part of its internal structure.
Countless corridors and rooms, with no discernible direction or destination, were intertwined like an anthill or a beehive.
Furthermore, it moved fluidly like the digestive system of a living creature, making a fight within its confines akin to a struggle in a nightmare.
[Gripisorn: Ignore that fool's nonsense and leave it to us. We will not disappoint you.]
Karenden's solution to this was a blockade breakthrough.
The idea was to make maximum use of the maze's structure. Specifically, its narrow corridors.
The infantry of the Age of Myths were fundamentally heavy infantry.
The first rank, clad in anti-gravity full-body armor, drove the spinal columns of their greatshields into the ground, creating a steel fortress.
The ground shook from the impact.
With the help of this ground anchor, an ordinary infantry unit was instantly transformed into a steel fortress.
[Ollen: First rank, plant shields!]
There was only one type of gap.
A hole made to precise specifications with no margin for error, just large enough for a Takenon longspear to pass through.
[Ollen: Three, two, one, thrust!]
The Takenon longspears pierced through the heads of the Kinwae that swarmed from the maze with horrifying screams.
The spearheads messily pulverized their skulls and brains, turning their drooling mouths into masses of blood.
With a single thrust, a longspear could kill over ten Kinwae before returning to its slot in the shield.
[Baraniye: Haha! They've been turned into absolute rags!]
Seven men had to thrust in unison, and they had to pull back in sync, like pulling a rope.
Even if one was lucky enough to break through the barrage of spears and reach the shield wall, there was no effective countermeasure.
They would just scratch the surface of the shields before being skewered by a returning Takenon longspear and sent back to their kin.
[Gripisorn: Stop laughing and pull! More are coming!]
With each wave neutralized, the secured territory advanced diagonally, expanding.
This was because they used the tactic of the right flank of the first rank removing their shields, taking one step forward, and then re-anchoring them.
This was the Holtrankas (Hedgehog) formation, still used by elven soldiers to this day.
[Ryukael: This is Mu Special Forces, clearing a path from the eastern entrance. Currently proceeding smoothly.]
The core of the operation was to leave a hundred infantrymen at each battleground, or strategic point, to establish a Holtrankas formation.
This was to prevent the Kinwae, scattered throughout the City of Decay, from interfering in the subjugation of the True King.
To achieve this, Eldia Del (03), Mu (04), and Kata (05) had to infiltrate from three different directions to find the path to the True King's palace.
[Shurviel: C-confirming Abyss reaction... please confirm!]
[Water Dragon Yeriserika: Confirmed. It's a Grade 1 Abyss reaction.]
[Meian: Alright. I'll open a path. Give me the coordinates!]
[Light Dragon Haraderiman: Triangulating coordinates now. Eldia Del, I'd appreciate it if you could maintain your current position.]
And in the next moment, a powerful beam of moonlight struck down like lightning, creating a massive hole.
...Shieeeeeekkkkkkk...!
The city, as if it were a living thing, writhed and squirmed, letting out a bloodcurdling scream.
[Enuel: From now on, I'm entrusting field command to you, Gripisorn.]
[Gripisorn: Yes, Captain.]
[Ryukael: This is Eldia Mu, moving to coordinates! Enuel, hurry! The passage is closing again!]
I tore open a path with the light of Sharrilion and threw myself into the vertical shaft Meian had created.
'It's already been 40 minutes since the battle began...'
This truly is a race against time...
As time passed, the enemy would only gather and grow stronger.
Meanwhile, The Ones Who Came had only Meian's Moonlight Fleet, and not even a reserve force. The main fleet had been mobilized for the subjugation of Neigalas.
[Ryukael: Enuel, where are you?]
[Enuel: Almost there.]
[Karenden: Avoid direct engagement until I join you. Understand?]
I plummeted down at least thirty-five floors to reach the source of the Grade 1 Abyss.
The highest-ranking old ones guarding the throne room were just being torn apart by the violet flurry of the True Holy Sword Yoniulan.
In front of the palace gates, Ryukael shouted to Shurviel, who was waiting with the light of the True Holy Sword Aizaiya raised to its peak.
[Ryukael: Alright, Shurviel!]
The great gate, formed from tens of thousands of writhing maggots, was shattered by the pressure of the light, and the three Eldia kicked off the ground simultaneously.
Silence.
Something was wrong.
I entered, illuminating the darkness—where the rustling of insects was louder than a heartbeat—with the light of Sharrilion, but there was nothing there.
[Ryukael: What is this creepy place...?]
[Enuel: We've lost communication signals. Something is jamming them.]
[Shurviel: S-something's moving, but it's not showing up on the detectors at all.]
Beep... Beep... Beep... The radar showed sonar pulses spreading out in all directions.
But the texture of the waves was strange.
Or rather than strange, it seemed too large, as if its shape couldn't be fully captured.
[Ryukael: Right. The wave is too big to tell what... Are you sure the Grade 1 Abyss is really here?]
[Shurviel: W-we need to get out of here first—]
Was the cold sweat that inexplicably broke out on my back, my breath turning icy, a premonition of despair?
Beep, Beep, Beep... BeepBeep, BeepBeepBeep, BeepBeepBeepBeep.........BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep... !
The moment the light of the three True Holy Swords flared with a mad brilliance, the darkness rose up immensely, and.
[Ryukael: —Sh-Shurviel!]
As if a swarm of tens of thousands of flies was taking flight, the darkness scattered, revealing a viciously gleaming crown of chaos beyond it.
[Warning: Insanity level exceeds 140%.]
What that crown scattered was the mystery of corruption, a delirious mirage of ecstasy that transcended nature, dizzying and alluring.
[Ryukael: Dammit, Enuel! Find Shurviel! She disappeared somewhere in the darkness! It's a critical wound!]
The atmosphere trembled and shuddered in terror, and as the darkness of the ancient secret chamber—where only royalty was permitted to dwell—slowly receded...
It revealed itself.
The master of a secret kingdom untouched by human eyes since the corruption of the cosmic order...
[Warning: Insanity level exceeds 180%.]
The form, achieved through the twisted union of the souls of a ruined world in the shape of maggots, was not of a nature that could be expressed in words.
Awe, terror, revulsion, madness, chaos.
The lord of the Abyss who gnawed at the providence of creation with the stench of decadence, something that humans should never dare to look upon or describe... its name was.
[Chapter - 02: Old Primeval Forest.]
- Chapter Boss: The Insect Lord, Kelek-Shak.