Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: Naga's Island 5
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It wasn't a joke—the sea serpent naga's skull caved in from the stone Azadin hurled, its eyeball popping out, scales tearing from its neck, and vertebrae snapping.
It was a gruesome sight, as if it had been struck by a cannon shell rather than a mere rock.
"If we thin out the nagas now, it'll make things easier when we fight in Btuma!"
It didn't seem like something to say while the two of them were raiding the naga army's encampment tents, but the battle had already begun.
"Grimsrown's bow—this thing is way too good. No sign of it breaking, and it secretes its own sap for automatic maintenance. Thanks to the sap, it doesn't get waterlogged either, making it far more convenient and powerful than my old Moon Shell Bow."
Azadin fired off slingshot stones one after another, smashing the heads of the sea serpent naga guards standing watch outside the tents.
The guards toppled over one by one, clueless as to what was happening.
"Scott!"
"Yes, Captain."
Scott began animating the dead nagas with necromancy, and Azadin cleared a path through the naga guards, handing them off to him as he advanced to the next tent.
He shot and killed more naga sentries patrolling the tent's perimeter with his bow, then left those to Scott as well.
By the time they passed three tents, Scott commanded around twenty undead nagas.
But the fourth tent didn't go as smoothly.
The disappearance of guards from the previous tents had started causing a commotion.
-Bwoooo!
A horn blared from one of the tents Azadin had passed.
"Krrrk?!"
Nagas began bursting out from inside the tents.
"Good. Scott—do it!"
Azadin kept firing slingshot stones while ordering Scott. As Scott advanced his undead nagas, the nagas charging out of the tents recoiled in horror.
"Wha—undead?!"
The naga who said that had its head instantly pulverized. With every slingshot stone Azadin fired, a pebble the size of a fist rocketed out at unbelievable speed, bashing naga skulls.
"Nice!"
Azadin scanned around for more stones suitable for slingshot fire.
But... there weren't many big ones. The gardeners and servants of Dehasuram's estate had apparently tidied up the area thoroughly—only small gravel remained.
Azadin hurriedly loaded a small stone into the slingshot and fired it off...
"Krrrk!"
Some of the nagas transformed into massive forms.
As the nagas grew more ferocious, their shells and scales thickened, causing Azadin's stones to shatter against the surface without penetrating.
"Damn. Their hides really are thick. Won't work unless I hit them with something heavier."
On top of that, a few naga sorcerers summoned mud spirits from the ground, using them as barriers against Azadin's stones.
"Not bad."
Impressed by the naga sorcerers' quick response in summoning mud spirits, Azadin stepped forward himself.
The nagas reacted to his movement, but Azadin unleashed Kazas Shadow Step—Earth Spider—vanishing into the midst of Scott's undead.
The next instant.
-Thud!
A blue longsword burst from the chest of a massive naga armored in chitin.
Azadin's Azure Steel longsword, Parangi, had pierced the naga's heart, baring its teeth. Clearly having slipped between the undead, Azadin had reappeared amid the nagas for a surprise attack.
"Kwek!"
A naga sorcerer took Azadin's kick and flew into the air, sprawling across the tent roof made of fabric.
A hulking naga lunged at Azadin, but he stabbed Parangi into its upper palate, then swung the blade horizontally in a flash of blue sword-light, severing the naga's lower jaw.
"Whoa. The captain's pissed."
Was it rage over the nagas devouring a human child and dog without permission?
Azadin felled the charging nagas like leaves in the wind, then swung Grimsrown's club upward into another naga's jaw.
-Crack!
The jaw split in two, front teeth caving into the skull for an instant kill. It seemed Grimsrown's club only exerted its non-lethal effect when thrown.
*********
From the observation deck of his mansion, Dehasuram summoned Shati.
"What brings you here, Dehasuram?"
"How long have you served him?"
"Since he captured me while I was fleeing Sarasma—about two and a half months, I think."
"Have you slept with him?"
"Pardon?"
"Tell the truth. I'm not going to punish you anyway. That was the deal."
"No, I haven't."
"Surprising. He advocated for you without even a physical relationship? He seemed to care for you quite a bit."
"That's just who he is. He probably figured that if he did, I'd at least feel some goodwill toward him, even if not full loyalty."
"And? Did it work?"
"No. My loyalty belongs solely to my homeland, the Naga Empire, and the Cobra Queen."
"Good. That's how it should be. Hm."
Dehasuram gazed toward the sea serpent nagas' tents.
"Though I issued the request myself, I do wonder if they can handle it properly."
"You mean Azadin?"
"Yes. I know he's accomplished great feats, but can he take on sea serpent nagas who've sold their souls to the Nether in a mere human body? I'm worried this mission is too much for just three humans. What if they get captured and reveal I ordered it?"
"If I may be so bold, Lord Dehasuram, you needn't worry. In fact, inviting him here has been a very fortunate outcome for both you and me."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
Dehasuram was taken aback by Shati's words.
For the lowest-status Shati—little more than a slave—to talk back to royalty like Dehasuram was unthinkable in naga society, and the content of her statement was astonishing.
Inviting Azadin and fostering friendly relations had been a blessing. That's what she was saying.
'Even if he's from the Herald clan, has she been too influenced by humans?'
Dehasuram himself was criticized among naga royalty for being too pro-human, but Shati's words were hard for even him to tolerate.
However...
"Let's see."
Using scrying magic to observe Azadin's group, Dehasuram was stunned.
*********
-Bwoooo!
With the horn's blare, sea serpent nagas poured out of the tents. Stealth was over—it had turned into full-scale combat.
But...
Naga heads soared into the sky.
Typical nagas were twice the size of humans... yet Azadin wasn't pushed back in strength at all.
Instead, a faint glow emanated from his body as he overwhelmed them with immense power.
"Kraaaah!"
A Colossal Naga appeared, wielding massive ship anchors in both hands and swinging them wildly as it charged.
This giant was slightly smaller than the naga Count Sarasma had transformed into back then. Even so, its sheer mass in motion was majestic.
As massive as it was, its reflexes were sluggish, but the naga spat venomous bile toward Azadin, spraying it everywhere.
With his movement options blocked by the venom, Azadin would either have to take the drenching or get hit by the anchor chain!
'The naga's mucus and blood are poisonous... like a moray eel?'
Thinking that, Azadin kicked off the ground.
The poison in a moray eel's mucus and blood wasn't potent enough to kill unless it hit the eyes or mucous membranes.
For a split second, he wondered if he could just tank it, but Azadin dodged the venom and leaped straight toward the anchor chain.
And...
-Swoosh!
Azadin grabbed the bow from around his neck and dropped the Azure Steel longsword to the ground.
Twisting his body midair to evade the anchor and avoid tangling in the chain, he nocked and fired an arrow in that contorted pose.
-Thud!
The arrow embedded into the Colossal Naga's thick hide. Such was the force that the shaft vanished completely, tail feathers and all—like a parasitic worm burrowing into flesh.
Azadin hammered in several more arrows like that, then charged while reaching for his club.
Grimsrown's club flew to his hand on its own. Gripping it, Azadin smashed down on the spots where he'd embedded the arrows.
-Thud!
Cracks already spiderwebbed across the Colossal Naga's scales shattered them, flesh tearing open. The buried arrow shafts splintered under the club blows, slicing through meat alongside them.
"Kieeeek!"
The Colossal Naga writhed in agony.
Enraged, it thrashed to grab Azadin, but he moved too swiftly, hurling the club to whirl around him.
The club spun like a pack of hyenas circling prey, darting through the air around Azadin.
In that gap, Azadin slung the strung bow over his shoulder, picked up the dropped Azure Steel longsword, and faced the Colossal Naga.
"With that bulk, even light carving will yield several platters!"
Blue sword-light danced, severing the Colossal Naga's legs and tailfin in rapid succession.
The Colossal Naga sprayed blood and fluids poisonous to humans in its torment, but Azadin thrust his longsword into the ground, flipping up paving stones to block the splatter.
"Krwar!"
As the Colossal Naga barreled forward bodily, shattering the stones and trying to swallow Azadin whole, he sidestepped and instead cleaved off its jaw.
'About the count's size—slightly smaller, oddly enough. Of course, this one's not as strong as the count back then... but still too easy. Have I gotten stronger?'
Was it from absorbing mana from the Divine King Scripture replica every day?
Feeling his enhanced power, Azadin slashed at the Colossal Naga with the Azure Steel longsword.
But...
-Crack.
A sound came from the hilt.
The blade was fine, but the wooden peg securing the hilt's scales had given way and started breaking.
"Damn it!"
Azadin panicked as the Azure Steel longsword 'Parangi' slipped in his grip.
The blade was intact, so replacing the peg would fix it, but of all times for it to fail now. Fortunately, there were plenty of usable weapons around.
Azadin snatched up the anchor the Colossal Naga had thrown.
Even for a coastal sloop's anchor, no single person could lift it. Equivalent to two grown men's weight in iron, Azadin hefted it effortlessly and smashed it into the Colossal Naga's skull.
The giant naga screamed... and in that moment, the anchor's hook pierced its cheekbone, embedding into its face.
The Colossal Naga reared up, but when Azadin yanked the chain, it was dragged along like a massive bull by its nose ring.
"Hup!"
Azadin swung the chain to fling off surrounding naga soldiers, then hurled the Colossal Naga over the seaside cliff.
As the enormous beast plummeted screaming into the coastal drop, a waterspout erupted below.
"Im—impossible!"
The watching nagas who still had their wits screamed.