Chapter 322
Chapter 322
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 322
>Chapter Title: The Waterfall Spirit
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“Kuakha! Get out!”
“Run away, Kuakha!”
“Eek… Keeek….”
For a moment, the fighting around them stopped.
The moment their ruthless leader, the mole, got cleanly caught in the enemy’s move, they sensed something was off.
Kang Seol and Jamad spoke at the same time.
“So… shut up already.”
Kuakha shuddered as it met their eyes.
“I-I’ll… be quiet, I’ll be quiet, right? Yeah? Kuakha will be quiet now….”
Kang Seol clenched his fist tightly.
Then, the rock hand followed suit, squeezing Kuakha tight.
Wooddrdrdrdrk-!
“Keeek! Keeeek!”
“Kuakha!”
Pffftaaaaaaa-!
Plop… plop….
“…….”
“Eek….”
A heavy silence fell.
The sight of Kuakha scattered across the battlefield in chunks struck terror into everyone.
“K-Kang… Seol?”
“What the hell….”
Yeba and Ishii backed away hesitantly.
Kang Seol said.
“Now it’s a bit quiet.”
Swoooo…
Kang Seol released the energy he’d been suppressing. Thick, black shadows billowed out in all directions.
“Eek! Keeek!”
“Run! We have to run!”
“Danger! Dangerous sorcerer!”
Whooooom…
Zzzzzzt…
The rock hand that had just gripped Kuakha floated lightly into the air.
Jamad, the Great Curse.
One of the changes since becoming the Pillar of Earth.
Now, the source of his mountain could continuously recover.
Kwaaaaaang-!
“Kigigik….”
“Ruuun!”
The rock hand floated lightly before crashing down, crushing the moles.
Thududududu!
Rock fragments slammed into the moles’ heads.
“Keeek!”
“Danger! Danger!”
Loyalty be damned, the moles ignored formation and turned to flee for their own lives.
In the process, countless moles were killed by the Glacier Fangs.
“Huff… huff….”
Burtul panted heavily.
And the others watched tensely as the moles fled the outpost.
Kang Seol, who had effortlessly crushed Kuakha and single-handedly repelled the moles, looked every bit the absolute being.
“Gr-Great… Gr-Great Curse!”
“The Great Curse has come for the Glacier Fangs.”
“Great Curse! Us… save us….”
In troll society, warriors and sorcerers were the mainstay.
Among them, great sorcerers held leader-like status.
And above them, the pillar sorcerers—the single most powerful ones upholding attributes—were revered like gods.
Trolls could not become gods themselves, so they venerated these closest servants of the primal gods.
Srrrr…
Kang Seol’s shadow rose enormously.
Jamad’s eyes scanned everyone.
“Burtul.”
“Great Curse… sir… why… here….”
“I am Jamad of the Rock Fangs.”
“Jamad… sir, the Glacier Fangs… have no news of you. We don’t know your name.”
Jamad smiled.
“You’ll remember it from now on.”
“Then we… we….”
Burtul pushed aside the sorcerer tending his wounds and asked.
“Can we survive? Can we protect this land passed down from our ancestors?”
“Since I’ve stepped forward for you….”
Jamad smiled chillingly.
“You will.”
[You intervene in the war between Faction: Emon and Faction: Glacier Fang.]
[Faction: Emon watches you.]
[Sudden Adventure ‘Mole Hunt’ occurs.]
……
* * *
“Teach us!”
“Great Curse, teach us!”
After Kang Seol repelled the mole raid, the Glacier Fangs’ reactions were sharply divided.
Some eyed warily why the Pillar of Earth had come all the way to Whigeltung and what motives lay behind helping the Glacier Fangs.
Others revered Kang Seol and Jamad.
Unfortunately, Burtul’s lacking ability made Kang Seol and Jamad’s presence loom disproportionately large.
Burtul readily admitted it.
Three days after the raid.
“It’s all because of my shortcomings….”
He sat on his sickbed, mocking himself for a long while. Kang Seol didn’t respond much.
“But, Great Curse, how did you come all the way here? Whigeltung isn’t exactly ideal for training.”
“Circumstances.”
No point in saying he’d flown here on a boundary stone explosion after the Yaksha War—they wouldn’t believe it anyway.
“You really… intend to help us?”
“…Yeah.”
“You must want something in return.”
Kang Seol nodded.
They weren’t fools.
A great sorcerer like him fully committing to a faction war meant he wanted something.
“The staff that mole called Crom used.”
“You don’t mean… you want that relic?”
“Yeah.”
Hearing this, Burtul’s expression eased.
“No need for groundless worries, then. It’s not even our tribe’s relic to begin with. If the Great Curse takes that cursed thing, it’s more than welcome.”
Burtul now showed Kang Seol polite deference.
A great curse was a rare powerhouse even among trolls beyond tribes.
Like how tribal alliance elders wielded immense authority across tribes.
“But… one question.”
“Ask away.”
“Who’s she?”
“Th-That’s….”
“The moles seemed to know… I need to know if I’m fighting them.”
During battle, Kuakha had asked Burtul about some “her” whereabouts. As allies, Kang Seol figured he should know who she was and where.
“…I’ll tell you everything. Follow me.”
Burtul donned leather armor etched with patterns and led to the outpost’s underground.
Kreek…
Kreekreek…
Burtul sweated as he opened the magically sealed secret door with his forehead. He almost seemed like Kang Seol’s subordinate now.
- Burtul! So pitiful….
- Feels like survival of the fittest. Kinda sad ㅋㅋ
- Jealous? Get stronger! Strong eat weak! Snowman’s always strong!
Swooo…
The door opened, unleashing a flood of moisture.
‘Hm?’
The dampness moistened his face with a refreshing coolness he’d never felt before.
Swipe…
Kang Seol reached out, brushing the moisture with his hand.
‘Sorcery power. Not ordinary moisture.’
Seeing Kang Seol’s expression change, Burtul lit a torch and said.
“You feel it too, Great Curse.”
“Yeah….”
“She’s here.”
“Feels like the perfect spot. Incredible sorcery power.”
Step…
Step…
Burtul staggered forward with the torch, recounting the past.
“I remember the first time I saw her.”
“What was she like?”
“Like facing the purest… cleanest being in the world….”
Jamad answered instead.
“They’re usually like that. It draws worship and obedience.”
“…Maybe. When I saw her peeking from behind my father and she smiled at me, I swore.”
Burtul gazed at something unreachable in the distance.
“To carry on the ancestors’ will. To protect her.”
“The ancestors’ will….”
“Do you know the origins of the Glacier Fangs?”
Kang Seol grinned.
“As much as is known.”
“Our ancestors settled here long after. We’ve ruled Whigeltung for ages, but even longer ago, we lived elsewhere.”
Nod…
Kang Seol nodded.
“We are descendants of the waterfall. The now-vanished Soul Shower Tribe was our forebears.”
“…….”
Soul Shower Tribe.
Mountain, cloud, sulfur, lightning, whirlwind, and waterfall.
In the past, the six troll tribes split and lived apart.
Each borrowed power from their primal god and adapted to all things.
The Soul Shower Tribe inherited the waterfall’s power. They grew into a massive tribe before the others.
Water was tied to life’s genesis.
The trolls wielding it knew this well.
But clashes with belligerent tribes grew frequent, and their own size bred internal strife.
Eventually, great crisis struck the Soul Shower Tribe.
“A curse fell on our land. Plague came, flesh melted into swamps.”
Plague.
Even primal god power couldn’t overcome it.
“We fled that land. Those who stayed to the end all died. In the end, we… were pushed out until we settled barren land.”
Burtul looked drained.
“That’s Whigeltung.”
“We lost the waterfall power then?”
“Not exactly lost. Just… couldn’t reclaim the glory.”
“Couldn’t reclaim the glory….”
“Our power froze solid into glacier strength. Rarely… very rarely, waterfall-powered children are born….”
He shook his head.
“But now, it can’t take root.”
“Why?”
“Because my father, Bron, left this world.”
“Bron….”
“You know my father?”
“A bit… more than most? We were acquaintances?”
“…Acquaintances? Ha… hah… Father hated humans in life. I’ll take it as a joke.”
“Hmm….”
Burtul didn’t believe Kang Seol.
Time had passed, and Kang Seol and Bron had never lived in the same era, not even a day.
“Father was… the tribe’s last flame.”
“The Glacier Fangs’ golden age.”
“Yes… More than Branka’s era, Bron’s time is hailed as our strongest. Branka wielded mighty glacier power from ancient sorcery… Father wielded near-pure waterfall power.”
“Waterfall power….”
One regret from Mansang Library was never witnessing Bron’s power.
Bron the Great Whale, famed stronger than notorious Branka, etched in history. No chance to verify if the legend held true.
“My… apologies for the long tale. You’re not here to talk to me, Great Curse.”
“Yeah….”
Kang Seol reached the deepest underground.
Drip… drip…
Water dripped from the ceiling.
“Then… speak with her.”
Underground lake.
Mystical water glowed in iridescent hues, utterly still.
No fish lived there; it simply halted, flaunting its clarity.
Burtul shouted.
“Madria! Awaken!”
“…….”
“Spirit of the waterfall! Now, please….”
- Ahh! So loud!
Splash…
Waves rose, forming something like a young troll girl.
Incredibly, her body was translucent water, visible through.
[You witness a wondrous being.]
[Wisdom permanently increases by 5.]
Same message as with Purgar.
- Human! I waited. You helped my children?
“…You were watching?”
- Of course! I see far away.
Waterfall spirit.
Primal god Madria.
She stood before Kang Seol’s eyes.