Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Fall of Tuah Bardcommon
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Kan, on the verge of being crushed like iron.
"That's enough."
The one who saved him was none other than an old crow tribesman.
His fur hung limp, and he was adorned with trinkets all over his body.
Just from that, his status was apparent.
"And who might you be?"
Havel tossed out the question, and the old man let out a cackling laugh.
"Just an old-timer who serves the gods."
He was no ordinary elder.
"That's the real Star Sword, alright."
His eyes, hidden among the feathers, sparkled.
Just like a crow enamored with shiny things.
"Follow me. I'll take you to meet the chieftain."
"Priest!"
Kan cried out then.
Priest—definitely a high rank in a tribal society like this.
Maybe even above the chieftain.
Ignoring Kan's protest, the priest turned and trudged away.
Havel followed, and Kan couldn't bring himself to stop him.
"That boy's a candidate for next chieftain."
The priest spoke up at that moment.
"If the Tendarr you've chosen wants tribal unification, treat him as a warrior would."
"It's not what I want. It's what the God of Night desires."
"Ah, heh heh, right you are. So it is."
This old man was not to be underestimated.
He hadn't earned the title of priest playing games.
"I envy you young folk."
The priest smiled meaningfully, as if he knew something.
"Young, huh."
Havel let out a short, dry chuckle.
"Don't you feel your youth? No matter your lifespan, you'll get it around eighty."
'Sorry, but I passed eighty ages ago.'
Unaware or not, the priest stepped into a building.
Inside were various wooden and stone carvings.
A clear cultural difference from the Tendarr.
After following the priest for a good while,
he came to a halt before a massive door.
"The chieftain should be inside."
Without a hint of hesitation, Havel kicked the door wide open with a bang.
The priest froze, not expecting Havel's boldness.
Havel sauntered in regardless.
There, in the back of the room,
sat a crow-man upright on a huge chair.
His presence was on another level from the others.
Lustrous feathers and massive wings.
Definitely a cut above the rest.
Kan looked ridiculous by comparison.
He was Bardcommon's greatest warrior in history.
Tuah Bardcommon.
"So you're the Lion of the Night from the reports."
He rose as if he'd expected Havel's arrival.
"Tribal unification. Such sweet words."
He stepped forward toward Havel.
"Ugh!"
Just that made Elasia on Havel's shoulder swallow a groan.
She'd felt an ominous presence since entering.
Now, face-to-face with Tuah, she could barely breathe.
Havel had no choice but to wrap his body in aura.
Elasia was enveloped in Havel's aura radius as well.
"Hoo, haa."
As Elasia panted raggedly, Havel eyed Tuah.
"So, the youngest went out on his own because he couldn't stand leaving his worthless brothers behind. Commendable. Cooperate, then."
Tuah let out a brief laugh at Havel's words.
"Even if I cooperate, will my tribesmen accept it?"
"That means no cooperation, right?"
Havel felt there was no need to hear more.
"I've heard you're strong."
The detachment leader went down in one hit.
Whether it was Havel's power or the Star Sword's, he didn't know.
But Havel was strong, that much was fact.
"But the youngest Tendarr you belong to isn't."
The youngest Tendarr's forces were pathetically small.
Tuah, chieftain of Bardcommon, could say that with certainty.
The Tendarr, caught in war, would be devoured by the flames of disaster.
Could he handle that? Tuah asked.
"Looks like you don't know."
Aura began pouring from Havel's body.
Tuah twitched with every surge of intensity.
"Just how strong I am."
With those words, Havel flung Elasia backward.
She layered defensive spells hastily as she retreated.
Kwaaaaang!
With that roar, Elasia was hurled away.
"Kyaaak!"
She tumbled across the floor, biting back a scream.
Good thing she'd used defensive magic; otherwise, she'd be dead.
A chill ran through her as she looked up in alarm.
Black smoke was rising there.
The smoke writhed like a living creature.
Not Havel's doing.
It was Tuah's unique manifestation.
Dark Cloud.
Tuah's personal battlefield.
Within it, no attacks could touch him.
But the Dark Cloud relentlessly assaulted the foe.
This manifestation had propelled Tuah to the top.
Havel scanned the pitch-black Dark Cloud.
Sight, sound, presence—all senses devoured.
'Hmm.'
Quite the bizarre manifestation.
Thud!
In that instant.
Havel was shoved forward half a step by a blow from behind.
But the assault didn't end there.
Something kept flying at him from within the Dark Cloud.
The clouds battered him like a bombardment.
It felt like the entire Dark Cloud was attacking him.
A crisis by any measure.
Yet Havel's gaze was indifferent.
Because even that couldn't pierce his diamond-hard body.
Confusion emanated from the Dark Cloud.
Tuah realized Havel was unnaturally tough.
The attacks gradually ceased.
Sensing it, Havel lifted his head with a chilling glare.
"Done already?"
No answer, naturally.
Then.
Something snagged in Havel's warped senses.
At the Dark Cloud's edge.
Tuah gathering power, crystal clear.
Ordinary attacks wouldn't cut it, apparently.
Havel lightly pulled his foot back.
Tuah's power swelled stronger.
The growing force warped the Dark Cloud.
Then.
Grrrind, grrr rumble rumble!
Havel's body began inching toward Tuah.
The pull intensified over time.
At the Dark Cloud's fringe.
A pitch-black sphere hovered.
Centered on it, objects—even light—distorted.
A neutron star that swallowed light itself.
The whole space twisted.
Havel's hair and clothes whipped wildly.
The neutron star gaped greedily to devour him.
But Havel smirked at the sight.
"Confident you can swallow it all, huh."
In response, he raised the Star Sword overhead.
Star Sword
Light convergence / Calamity amplification
Whoosh!
Light surged toward the Star Sword.
The blade glowed brighter with the influx.
A neutron star absorbs all light.
But Havel's light was different.
It was sucking it in diligently,
yet no matter how much it devoured, it couldn't consume it all.
The space around the neutron star brimmed with light.
The twisted dark space filled with radiance.
Then.
Havel felt his Calamity draining.
Simultaneously, the Star Sword's etched galaxy lit up.
The sword devoured Havel's Calamity, intensifying the Dawn.
"It has a function like this."
Havel eyed the Star Sword in mild surprise.
Unmistakably an amplification ability.
A god's sword with solid power.
His already excessive Dawn grew stronger.
Dark Cloud stood no chance.
Light leaked wildly through the clouds.
Outsiders would've seen the chieftain's mansion ablaze with light.
The Dark Cloud crumbled under the onslaught.
And through the collapsing clouds, Tuah appeared.
Too exposed to Havel's Dawn up close?
His fur had turned ghostly white, unlike before.
His eyes bulged wide.
Tuah knew Havel was strong.
But light that erased even his Dark Cloud and neutron star?
A first for him.
He'd always lived as the predator.
"What... what the hell are you?"
Tuah questioned if they were even the same kind of being.
His earlier arrogance was gone.
A lifelong hunter reduced to prey in an instant.
All that remained was the reality of being caught.
"I told you already."
Havel had answered.
"The Lion of the Night."
A lion perhaps stronger than gods.
"Don't give me that crap!"
Tuah shrieked in frenzy, spreading his arms.
His body ballooned endlessly.
Kwaaaang!
Shattering the ceiling, Tuah activated gigantification.
His head nearly touched the sky.
Havel looked tiny again by comparison.
The tribe outside erupted in chaos at the sudden gigantification.
Commotion echoed everywhere.
But Tuah had no attention for that.
His eyes fixed solely on Havel.
Under the blazing sun.
Tuah raised both hands.
The neutron star's power gathered anew.
Rumble rumble!
All nearby buildings shook violently.
Everything was drawn to Tuah's neutron star.
Bardcommon itself would vanish at this rate.
Practically a suicide thrash.
Tuah slammed his gathered hands down at Havel with full force.
Anything it touched—Bardcommon included—would be obliterated.
"A chieftain."
Havel thrust one foot forward.
Pulling his shoulder, he extended the Star Sword ahead.
The Dawn-infused blade surged toward the sky.
"Who can't even protect his own tribe."
Dawn Cleave
The swirling Dawn devoured everything, shredding Tuah's neutron star to pieces.
It pierced beyond, permeating Tuah's body entirely.
"Aaaargh!"
With his final death cry.
First, Bardcommon's chieftain.
The greatest in history, Tuah Bardcommon, collapsed.