Chapter 297
Chapter 297
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 297
>Chapter Title: The Warden Awakens
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Swooooosh…
A vast field stretched out before them.
The landscape brimmed with the vibrant life force of the earth.
When had he begun to yearn for a scene like this?
It must have been then, yes…
Another nightmare, perhaps.
A ploy to shake him to his core.
“Tankred…”
The Earth Dragon Tankred had laid her noble body upon the ground, gazing at the same vista as Jamad.
Jamad looked down at her.
‘Again…’
His form reverted to that of a young troll. The emotions and thoughts from back then flooded back.
“Lady Tankred, do trolls have to be ruled by the primordial gods forever?”
- Child, why do you think that?
“The adults say so. That trolls are foolish and need to be ruled by the primordial gods. That we can never escape them in the end.”
- I see.
“Then can’t you protect us, Lady Tankred?”
- ……
“Then can’t you scold the primordial gods, Lady Tankred?”
Whoosh…
The Earth Dragon Tankred pressed her head to the ground and spoke.
- Come up here.
“No… I’ll get scolded again…”
- It’s fine.
“Then…”
As Jamad climbed onto Tankred’s head, she slowly lifted it.
“S-Scary…”
- It’s your first time, so that’s natural.
“…Huh?”
- Everyone fears the first time they do something. Even a winged dragon fears flying before taking to the skies for the first time.
Jamad tilted his head.
The words felt cryptic, somehow.
- You trolls are the same. You fear the primordial gods because none of you have ever stood against them.
“Then are we all cowards?”
- I just said the first time is scary for everyone. It’s no easy path. But…
Tankred gazed toward the sunset as she continued.
- It is a great path.
“How great?”
- Hmm… Why do you ask?
“As great as you, Lady Tankred? That great?”
- What are you saying…
“If I walk that great path… then can I talk to you anytime, Lady Tankred?”
Tankred smiled.
- Of course.
“Then we’d finally be friends?”
- Child…
She seemed to find the little one on her head utterly adorable.
- I already consider you a friend.
“That’s no good!”
- ……
“Friends have to be equals! We have to see the world at the same eye level!”
- Hmm…
“So just wait a little. I’ll… I’ll definitely… Huh…?”
Slide…
In an instant, the child grew into an adult.
As if the world had frozen, Tankred didn’t move.
“…Tankred.”
The gaunt Jamad, perched atop her head, spoke.
“You’re still so far away.”
Standing upon the great path, Jamad thought of her.
[Using Forbidden Sorcery: Tectonic Shift.]
[Damage greatly increases in mountainous terrain.]
[Enemies already damaged by Tectonic Shift take 25% reduced damage on subsequent hits. Reduction caps at 50%.]
[Caster is unaffected by Tectonic Shift.]
[Caster is immune to Tectonic Shift damage.]
[Caster cannot use any abilities during Tectonic Shift activation.]
[Cannot use mountain sorcery for a short time after using Tectonic Shift.]
[Forbidden sorcery consumes the caster’s vitality as tribute.]
Crunch!
Craaaaaack!
After these messages appeared before Kang Seol, Jamad briefly lost consciousness.
Only when everything was nearly over did he regain his senses.
“Ugh…”
“Jamad!”
Jamad shook his head against the pouring pain.
“My vision’s blurry… What happened?”
“You okay?”
“Must’ve blacked out for a bit. To think I’m still alive…”
The two were one.
If one fell, the other propped them both up.
“Thank you, Kang Seol.”
“…More importantly, Branca endured it.”
“…What?”
Jamad turned his gaze to survey the surroundings. His blurred vision gradually cleared.
The quake had been so massive it shook off the eternal snow, exposing the mountain’s raw flesh. Tectonic Shift had power enough to reshape the terrain itself.
Rumble rumble rumble…
Aftershocks continued to roll in.
Yet Branca had wrapped himself in a massive ice shield to weather the Tectonic Shift.
“Ptooey…”
Branca spat out a mouthful of blood.
He hadn’t died, but his body was already in ruins.
“Haa… haa…”
“Kh… heh heh…”
Jamad laughed too, his own condition no better. Their fight would likely end swiftly.
‘He’s recovering with Ancestral Blood, but… it’s dangerous.’
Kang Seol warned Jamad.
Jamad agreed with the assessment.
Ancestral Blood boasted miraculous recovery, but the vitality sacrificed for the forbidden sorcery far outstripped it.
Craaack!
The ground shattered from repeated sorceries, cleaving the mountainside in two.
Fitting a grand sorcerer showdown, the battlefield had expanded to encompass the entire field.
“Cough…”
Branca approached, blood dripping from his mouth.
His face had grown noticeably gaunter.
“Heh… hee hee… Incredible power… A strength I couldn’t have imagined.”
“To survive that, you monster.”
“I’ll ask…”
“Go ahead.”
“What was wrong… with my way?”
“What?”
“It’s easy for you to say… You think you can escape eternal domination with such soft notions?”
“And you? Do you think the freedom you gained your way has any value?”
“……”
“You’re just trying to become another primordial god.”
Rustle… rustle…
Branca pressed toward the Night Raven.
“If you don’t know… shut your mouth! The primordial gods are nature itself!”
“……”
“Beings far greater than our reason or understanding…”
“I know.”
Crunch…
“So I will become greater than them. I, Jamad.”
Branca saw something in Jamad’s unshaken resolve—himself, in his youth.
It clung to him like a spirit.
“Foolish child… I once thought like you.”
“……”
“Ambition and vigor drove my steps, convincing me I could place all things beneath my feet…”
Branca halted abruptly.
“That day… when I fell into the crevasse… the souls of ancient trolls awakened me.”
An event known only to Branca, tied to ancient sorcery.
His experience remained secret from others.
- We shall grant you power.
- Be reborn with our strength.
- Offspring of the waterfall…
Branca had followed, entranced.
Ignoring the dizzying cliffs, he walked the path guided by the spirits.
“There, I saw everything. The birth of trolls, the flow of their lives… It was…”
The place they led him to.
There, murals depicted not only ancient incantations but the lives of Branca’s troll ancestors.
“A history of submission!”
Tears streamed from Branca’s eyes.
Whoooosh…
But they quickly froze in the blizzard’s icy grip.
Memories of ancient trolls he couldn’t bear to accept.
“We’re slaves! We’ve never escaped the primordial gods, not for a moment! They collared us and made us crawl the earth! We… never…”
“You’re right…”
Branca stopped.
“That’s what makes my ambition all the more worthwhile. Isn’t it worth betting everything on?”
“…You speak of the impossible, young troll.”
Jamad smiled.
“I speak of the future, old troll.”
“……”
“Remember the name Jamad from down below.”
An unknown vitality surged through him.
“This body… will be the first.”
Branca steadied his staggering stance.
He meant to fight on.
The Night Raven took a guarded posture as well.
Swoosh…
At that moment, a commotion pierced the blizzard.
“Warden! The Warden is awakening!”
At the cry, Jamad and Branca’s gazes snapped toward it simultaneously.
They swung fists at each other in unison.
And then, Jamad and Kang Seol saw it—the hesitation in Branca’s eyes.
This punch lacked his true intent.
Whoosh…
Thwack-!
“Urk…”
The Night Raven’s fist struck Branca first. He’d already expended too much.
The impact sent him tumbling down the snowy slope.
The Night Raven watched him roll away briefly before charging upward with renewed vigor.
Whirr…
Whirrrrr…
An ominous noise.
More frightening than the unrelenting blizzard, somehow—the mechanical whirring.
“Found it!”
The Warden of Myriad Forms was finally awakening.
For Kang Seol and Jamad, it was the worst possible scenario.
Everything unfolding exactly as Branca and the Glacier Fist desired.
‘Jone and Santio…’
Kang Seol urgently sought the two sorcerers.
Why had the Warden awakened?
Why hadn’t they stopped the Glacier Fist sorcerers?
The answers were glaringly obvious across the battlefield.
“Uwaaaah!”
“Push back the sorcerers!”
“Damn it…”
Jone and Santio had been occupied fending off trolls pouring from the fortress.
Trolls fearless of blizzard or death, joining the Night Raven and Branca’s battle.
“Jone! Santio!”
“Sorry! Couldn’t hold them off!”
“We have to stop them before they seize the Warden!”
Chaos reigned around the Warden amid surging trolls.
They should’ve been trapped inside by the blizzard,
But that clashed with Glacier Fist nature.
They’d fight to the death.
Even buried in snow, they’d pursue their goal.
“Uwaaaaa-!”
“Kh…”
Just then, the Warden straightened its bent waist.
“No!”
A Glacier Fist sorcerer reached toward the Warden of Myriad Forms.
“Come! Myriad Forms! I command you…”
Spluuurt-!
In an instant, the sorcerer turned to frozen meat. Every life on site, Night Raven included, reeled in shock.
“Why… why don’t you… ob… obey… You’re ours…”
Crack!
The Warden’s arm seized the sorcerer’s nape.
“Gurk…”
Snap…
It effortlessly snapped his neck.
All combat halted immediately.
Clank… clank…
Whirr…
The Warden of Myriad Forms declared its intentions slowly, clearly, for all to understand.
- Critical anomaly detected.
Whirr…
- Lower level connection system requires repair.
- Upper level narrative leak confirmed.
Clank…
- Responding with full annihilation of Layer 8.
- Lifeforms detected.
- Eliminate. Proceeding with total annihilation.
- Time limit exhausted. Initiating charge for total annihilation.
‘…What?’
No deep thought needed—the Warden’s next moves were obvious.
‘It plans to kill not just Glacier Fist, but us too.’
Jamad let out a hollow chuckle.
- Trouble’s brewing.