Chapter 350
Chapter 350
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 350
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Paaaaang-!
The sight of Azanic transferring to some forest somewhere on the continent was utterly satisfying.
'Quick Exit' has sponsored 2,000 Madness!
[Azanic took sick leave right after clocking in and headed home.]
- Ridiculous lol, what kind of poison was that;;
- Got smacked by Night Raven and snapped to attention lololol
- Ugh, just one more round! One more game!
- ???: No way, you're terrible. (1-1, undefeated)
- And they say those two never met again.
- Was Azanic just a cameo they scouted?
As Azanic vanished, countless messages popped up.
[Faction: The Heavenly Dragon's Black Sky Project has hit a snag.]
[The hidden adventure that grants Era Power, 'Grand Scheme: Black Wings,' has been delayed.]
[Azanic the Heavenly Dragon's condition has become unstable. He will remain silent for a long time.]
[The Heavenly Dragon's fury has reached its peak. His entire nest has gone into high alert.]
[Factions that were watching the Heavenly Dragon's mood have begun to rise all at once.]
[Various irregular adventures may emerge.]
...
Kang Seol and Jamad's joint assault had truly landed properly on Azanic.
And right now, the one who had witnessed it closest but struggled to accept it was there too.
"My god... Azanic..."
Tantuinu, still wearing the shattered Red Prison around her neck, couldn't believe this situation.
Azanic.
Her opponent was a colossal being whose name functioned like a concept across the continent.
To inflict a near-fatal wound on such a monster of the era.
Tantuinu's gaze shifted to Kang Seol and Jamad.
'Both of them kept their promise...'
Tantuinu recalled what Kang Seol had said when he handed over the map to the underground garden.
- When the dragon enters the trap, there's exactly one chance. Even if it senses the attack, it won't be able to escape right away.
- Its defenses are solid. What if the attack doesn't get through?
- I'll handle that. The key is having enough destructive power to capitalize on the opportunity. Can you do it?
- ...I can.
The expressions on Kang Seol and Jamad's faces back then had been chilling, somehow.
To execute this plan, Kang Seol and Jamad hadn't counterattacked Azanic even once while being chased. They hadn't given him the slightest clue to predict their power.
That must have been why Azanic had charged into the trap so recklessly, like a wolf hunting rabbits.
'...Incredible. No, honestly, I didn't even have expectations...'
For a dragon who had lived thousands of years—or perhaps one unbound by any lifespan limit— the lives of ground-bound creatures were laughable.
Their wills, their convictions, everything about them.
'Come to think of it...'
Even when they had encountered each other at the entrance to the underground garden with Azanic, Kang Seol had helped her.
Without him, she would have been captured before even setting foot in the underground garden. She would have undoubtedly lost her mother's descendant and been killed.
'How does Kang Seol act like he knows everything?'
He knew the terrain here in detail, as if he frequented the underground garden.
No, if she had only accepted Kang Seol as her ally, they might have escaped, but they wouldn't have gotten such a satisfying revenge on Azanic.
Her gaze turned to Jamad.
'He really... wounded Azanic.'
How many in Pandea could wound a dragon?
Landing a blow on a dragon wasn't something you could do lightly. Even with Kang Seol setting the stage like he did, she couldn't think of anyone who could pull it off properly.
'I couldn't either...'
Even Tantuinu herself would shake her head if told to land an attack that could wound Azanic.
She too was a dragon aspiring to the supreme realm.
But she couldn't challenge Azanic, who had long surpassed that supreme realm.
She recalled her mother Tancreed's words.
Tancreed, who had entrusted her body to Tantuinu while clinging to life in the Red Prison, had said this.
- ...Head to the Forest of the Sleeping One, child.
- Mother, I think that's wrong. We no longer have the strength to shake off Azanic's pursuit... No one left to help us. Even if we reach there...
- An old bond will be staying there briefly. The sprout that's been waiting all along will break through the ice and poke its head out.
- ...Do you still have hope, Mother?
- New winds naturally begin from unexpected places sometimes.
- I will heed your words, Mother.
Back then, it had been blind faith.
No, truthfully, she hadn't believed it.
'A sprout breaking through the ice and poking its head out...'
Tantuinu glanced at Kang Seol and Jamad for a moment, then nodded with resolve.
'I'll bet the future on these two.'
Her reminiscence shattered at the words of the ancient tree.
"Yes, it's been quite some time. For tiny creatures to visit my garden. There must be a reason you went to the trouble of waking me from my deep slumber to talk."
It was wondrous how such a massive being was still alive, but the sleepyhead yawned in front of Kang Seol's group.
"Yaaawn... I'm sleepy. The forest only breathes when I'm asleep."
An attitude of "don't bother me, just get to the point." Grumpy, but it seemed to uphold its duties regardless.
Kang Seol stepped forward.
He had run through his head hundreds of times what to request as payment for tending the garden.
A choice would pop up for him soon.
"However..."
But before the choices even appeared, an unavoidable situation arose.
"Ugh..."
Jamad's body began to tremble.
"Jamad?"
"Uwaaaaaah!"
He clutched his head and slammed it into the ground. Kang Seol urgently turned to the sleepyhead with a desperate expression.
[Jamad's condition is unstable.]
[Jamad's loyalty is decreasing.]
[If loyalty continues to decrease, unpredictable events may occur.]
Messages just like when Karuna had rampaged after meeting Karen before.
"His power is going berserk. At this rate, reaching the realm he desires will be hopeless. It's the price of wielding power beyond his station."
Without a moment's hesitation, Kang Seol bowed his head to the sleepyhead.
"Please help him."
"Is that what you desire? I could give you something far more valuable."
He shook his head as he replied.
"I'll set the price."
"......"
Truthfully, it didn't make sense.
Even that confident Karen was holed up in futility, not sending word as he worked toward perfecting his realm, yet for Jamad to reach complete supremacy overnight without any signs.
'...It's too much. To keep the promise.'
Jamad had drawn out power beyond his original realm and was now bearing the backlash head-on.
In this situation, Kang Seol, as Jamad's master, could do nothing.
'But... the sleepyhead is different.'
This ancient tree, at a level where it could produce divine elixirs itself, could surely fix Jamad's condition.
Just like Duke of Frost Azlan had stabilized Blaine when he was on the verge of vanishing in the past.
"Fortunately, Tancreed's energy she left in the garden is still here. With this..."
"Does that mean..."
"I can't guarantee success. Do your best."
It was probably addressed to Jamad.
* * *
Sizzle...
Its vine burrowed into Jamad's body.
Sizzle...
A wooden vine tearing through skin.
One might wonder if even Kang Seol had ever seen someone other than himself reach supreme realm, so nothing would be surprising at this point.
"Aaaah... Aaaaaaaaah!"
[Jamad's condition is unstable.]
[Jamad's loyalty is decreasing.]
"Suffer. That will guide you to the right path."
"Uwaaaaaaaaack!"
Crack...
Startled by the sudden noise, Kang Seol looked down at Jamad's feet.
'His feet...'
Tantuinu was equally shocked.
"The stone... it's turning to stone."
"No... Jamad, Jamad!"
Crack...
Jamad's body was petrifying, as if it had taken a basilisk's gaze.
The petrification progressed very slowly, but there was no way to stop it.
Kang Seol looked at the sleepyhead's face, but even it was frowning, the situation not boding well.
"Such astonishing vitality. Your body should have been devoured by the origin and crumbled already—how are you still alive...? Little creature... Hang in there! It's a shame for a life like yours to turn to dust here!"
"...What’s Jamad's situation?"
Jamad's awakening was critically important to Kang Seol too. No, more than ascending realms, this was a risk of losing him entirely, wearing on his nerves.
The sleepyhead spoke gravely.
"If he can't overcome the pain, he'll never reach the next step... The suffering he's enduring is the task of a pioneer."
Those who run ahead face the headwinds first. Running while battered by flesh-tearing winds, pushed back—that's what such people did.
'Pain... pain?'
Instead of answering if there was a way to help, it tossed riddles. Kang Seol resented the decrepit tree, but he came up with what he could do himself.
'What I can do... pain... pain... pain!'
He trusted Jamad, but watching was too agonizing.
And then, a flash of inspiration—he felt like he'd found the key.
Because he'd had a similar experience before.
Right, when the red energy linking to Karuna had snapped during his battle with the Black Knight, nearly costing him Karuna.
And when he'd grabbed it and reconnected, returning him to normal.
'Primordial Blood! Primordial Blood might work!'
He recalled that Finn Modria, the owner of Primordial Blood, had a similar ability.
Right now, the only power worth betting on was that one.
He had to stake everything on its potential.
Swooo...
Kang Seol focused his mind and placed his hand on the vine connecting to Jamad.
'Jamad and I are connected by bloodline.'
Imagine.
Imagine it.
The connection to Jamad.
And sharing his pain.
Rustle...
The vine began to turn black.
Kang Seol grimaced with eyes closed.
'No, more... more...'
The sleepyhead's vine, which had turned black, reverted to its original color.
'More!'
Tsss...
It heated up, then turned dark red.
That dark red energy reached Jamad in an instant.
[Epiphany! Awakening a new ability.]
[Bloodline: Pain Sharing awakened.]
[Bloodline: Pain Sharing duration: Influenced by superior bloodline.]
Craaaack...
By the time Jamad's lower body had fully turned to stone, they were finally connected.
Kang Seol's mind now shared the winds battering Jamad.
Whooooom-!
'Kuugh...'
Darkness closed in.
Everything turned black, but faint light leaked from ahead.
Just walking flooded all senses with pain. Kang Seol nearly lost consciousness to it but endured by thinking of someone.
'This... was even worse?'
The pain Jamad had borne must have been double what Kang Seol felt now.
Since Kang Seol was now sharing it.
"Kuaaaaaaaaack!"
Screams escaped naturally.
No helping this pain.
No choice...
Instinctively, Kang Seol knew he had to head toward the light. Just walk.
'But...'
That very act of walking weighed impossibly heavy.
Pain intensified with each step.
Step...
'Kuugh...'
Hard to walk.
Walking hurts.
Can't walk.
Don't want to walk.
'I won't walk...'
If this was crossing the supreme wall, did everyone who reached it suffer like this?
So agonizing...
So immense.
Overwhelmed by it.
Thud...
Just as Kang Seol lost strength and dropped one knee to the ground.
"Ugh..."
Sss...
"Uuuuuugh..."
Someone was groaning.
He heard faint movements.
Kang Seol opened his eyes amid the pain.
'...My god.'
Jamad was crawling on the ground.
He had already succumbed to the pain, eyes closed, facing forward.
Perhaps his senses shredded by excessive agony. That sight roused Kang Seol.
Step...
Step...
Pain came, but watching him was worse.
Before he knew it, the light was close.
Sss...
Jamad finally stood and began walking.
"No more... no more..."
He stopped.
Exhausted, perhaps.
Tap...
Kang Seol bumped into his back.
"...Kang Seol, is that you?"
"Yeah."
He felt Jamad smiling through his back.
Jamad chuckled and spat out a line.
"Pathetic sight I made, huh."
"......"
"Can't walk anymore. Out of strength. So..."
"Got it."
Kang Seol shouldered Jamad's back, pushing them both toward the light.
Fwaaaaaaaa-!
The moment of mental breakdown and reassembly.
* * *
Craaaack-!
Stab...
Jamad fully turned to stone.
Kang Seol hung his head limply, showing no reaction.
Tantuinu closed her eyes.
"Failed... How could this..."
""
"Ancient tree, can't you at least revive Kang Seol's breathing?"
Right then.
"Hohohoho... Remarkable, truly remarkable."
"...Pardon?"
"They've done it, young dragon. These little creatures did it themselves."
"What do you..."
Right then.
"Cough..."
Kang Seol jerked his head up and yanked his hand from the vine.
Blood trickled from his mouth.
"Kang Seol!"
Tantuinu rushed over to support him.
"Haa... haa..."
When pain and endurance stand shoulder to shoulder, euphoria arrives. Blindly walking the tunnel leaking light, glimpsing that world even briefly—it gave Kang Seol both despair and thrill.
Doubt if he could reach that light himself, and excitement at having peeked behind it.
"You okay?"
"Ah, aaah..."
Instead of answering, Kang Seol looked at Jamad.
Fully stoned now.
Tantuinu bowed her head.
"Jamad..."
Crack...
Then, cracks began forming on Jamad's statue.
"No... way..."
Craaack...
Craaaackcraaaack-!
Kwaaaaang...
Jamad's statue fully crumbled, and something awakened within.
Not black shadow, but a being with complete substance.
Whoooosh...
[Shedding! Breaking free from shadow's limits.]
[Can now define your own substance.]
The troll turned around—skin etched with faint fissures, parts turned to rock.
"Feels like being born anew."
Kang Seol and Jamad faced each other and smiled.
[The Walking Mountain Jamad is born!]
[The Walking Mountain Jamad reaches complete supreme realm!]
...