Chapter 79
Chapter 79
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Chief of the First Bardcomon Tribe
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The chief of the First Bardcomon Tribe.
Tua Bardcomon.
Havel dragged the fallen man along as he walked.
He planned to haul him outside just like this.
Once they learned their chief had been defeated, even those in Tendal dissatisfied with unification would come around.
If they still wouldn't accept it, he'd make them.
After all, might made right.
"Ah."
Then Havel realized he'd overlooked one thing.
'I needed to get the key fragment for the next floor from this guy.'
The Tower really loved those key fragments.
Havel clicked his tongue and turned back to Tua.
With his eyes rolled back like that, it looked like it'd take days for him to wake up.
No helping it.
He'd have to ask someone else.
"Elasia."
"Lord Havel!"
Her voice came from afar when he called.
Turning his head, he spotted her behind a collapsed wall.
She'd fled as far as she could, thinking she was about to die.
Havel approached her.
"Didn't see the priest anywhere?"
"Could you at least ask if I'm okay first?"
She'd truly nearly died this time and swallowed a bitter sob.
"You look fine to me."
"...Well, I ran for my life."
She whined that he should at least consider her next time.
Ignoring her, Havel hoisted her onto his shoulder.
Then he leisurely started walking again.
"So, the priest?"
"He's pursuing with light magic."
Quick on the uptake, as expected.
Light began to shimmer before Havel's eyes.
He was used to it by now.
So he immediately followed the glow.
Luckily, it wasn't far.
The priest was leisurely sipping tea in the inner courtyard.
"Hm, you've arrived? The chief looks a mess."
He tsked at the sight of Tua being dragged by Havel.
"Did you think from the start I'd lose?"
"Of course not."
The priest let out a hollow chuckle.
"Your presence overshadows even the Night Lion."
Havel caught on to something from those words.
'Not a priest—a Calamity Lord.'
He seemed able to sense Calamities.
In the end, even the Night Lion was a creation of the Tower.
God or not, it carried a Calamity all the same.
"Anyway, priest, I've got a question."
Havel tossed Tua aside and pulled up a chair to sit.
The priest, having finished his tea, nodded toward the back.
"What you want is behind me."
Havel narrowed his eyes.
The priest had known his goal from the start.
"Heard something from the Night Lion?"
"Haha, wouldn't the Night's Lion know best?"
He laughed openly at Havel's question.
"Just handed down through generations. Like how you lot come from another world."
Another world.
What did a Calamity seed mean by another world?
For Havel and the others, the Tower itself was another world.
"I told you, I'm the Night's Lion."
"Close enough."
The priest didn't belabor the point and stood.
"I don't put much stock in our tribe anyway, so it doesn't matter to me."
He walked to a drawer and yanked it open.
Inside lay a fragment—the front piece of the key.
"The other tribes won't be so easygoing. They'll surely try to summon the Night Lion's power directly."
"You mean the Night Lion itself descends?"
"Something like that. A kind of advent. And the vessel would be their tribe's strongest warrior ever."
Havel stroked his chin.
It might be a chance to absorb a massive haul of Calamity.
His own Calamity stat was nearing four digits already.
And that was before meeting those Memento Mori bastards.
Transcending it beforehand wasn't a bad idea.
"Here."
Havel caught the key fragment the priest tossed him.
Three more to go.
The path to the next floor was almost clear.
"Hm, sounds like a commotion outside."
Just then, the priest reacted as if hearing something.
Havel perked his ears.
Sure enough, clamor rose from beyond the building.
And it wasn't just from Tua's defeat.
It was the sound of battle.
"Perfect timing for what you want, no?"
"The Second Ronir tribe's invading."
Havel got the priest's meaning.
Bardcomon and Ronir had long vied for territory.
Ronir spies must have been hiding among the Bardcomon.
They'd witnessed Chief Tua Bardcomon's fight.
Seeing him fall, they'd reported straight up.
'And that report reached Ronir's chief intact.'
For the Second Ronir, it was an unmissable opportunity.
They'd charged in without hesitation.
"Tsk, they must figure even the Night's Lion is worn out after fighting the chief."
"Planning to take us both out at once."
"Exactly. No way they'd expect you this fresh."
Crows or humans, they all loved a backstab.
Havel clicked his tongue and turned.
"Elasia, hide somewhere safe."
"Yes!"
Battle was imminent.
He wouldn't need her translations.
Leaving the soaring Elasia behind, Havel stepped outside.
Clang, claaang!
As expected, weapons clashed outside.
The sounds came from sky and ground alike.
True to their crow tribe nature, they flew freely.
"Good, their outfits are different."
Havel distinguished Bardcomon from Ronir by attire.
'Bardcomon are clearly getting pushed.'
Witnessing their chief's fall had thrown the Bardcomon warriors into panic.
They milled about in chaos.
Ronir, meanwhile, rode high on momentum.
Tua was down, of course.
And the pesky Night's Lion had to be weakened too.
To them, it was like fish in water.
"Kill all the warriors! Leave none!"
War was the same everywhere.
While warriors held the line, children, elders, and women fled.
Havel gradually picked up speed.
He felt no particular grudge against Ronir.
Their choice was the rational one.
But they needed to learn.
What kind of being the Night's Lion was—the one declaring tribal unification.
Boom!
Accelerating, Havel kicked off the ground and soared.
He plunged straight into the aerial battle.
"Caw?"
No Elasia, so no translation.
But it didn't matter now.
Whatever they said, he'd beat it into them.
Havel swung at the startled Ronir warrior.
Kaboom!
Like hit by a shell, the Ronir warrior's neck snapped as he plummeted.
Havel didn't stop, kicking the sky again.
Kaboom, bang, kaboom!
Thunderous roars echoed everywhere.
Each punch sent a Ronir warrior crashing down.
"Caw!"
"Caw?!"
The Bardcomon warriors panicked at the sight.
Havel, dominating the skies in an instant, twisted midair.
Then shot toward the ground.
On the surface, Ronir warriors thrust spears behind shields.
They were brute-forcing the wooden barricade.
Crunch!
Perhaps from their sheer force.
The wooden barricade the Bardcomon desperately held crumbled.
"Caaaaw!"
Ronir warriors flooded in, spears lancing out.
Bardcomon warriors crushed under the fallen barricade fell helplessly to the spears.
Into that chaotic mess.
Havel landed with tensed legs.
Kaaaaabooooom!
The area shattered, everything flying.
Bardcomon and Ronir warriors alike soared skyward.
Crash, clang!
"Caw!"
"Caaaaw!"
Screams and pandemonium erupted everywhere.
All eyes turned to one spot.
The epicenter of it all.
First to catch the light: silver hair near white.
Beautiful silver locks that effortlessly captivated gazes.
Amid the fluttering silver, a single sword gleamed.
A pitch-black blade etched with a vivid galaxy.
The moment they saw it, all knew.
"Caw, cackle!"
Even without translation, Havel got it this time.
The Night's Lion.
As eyes converged, Havel drew breath.
Gathering his lungful, he bellowed.
"Warriors of First Bardcomon and Second Ronir, hear me!"
His thunderous roar halted the battle in its tracks.
The front-line crow warriors fainted outright from the sheer force.
Havel blew away the smoke before him.
Then addressed the stunned onlookers.
"I defeated First Bardcomon's chief and placed Bardcomon under the Night's Lion."
The Bardcomon warriors stirred uneasily.
They'd seen their chief fall.
But hearing it from his mouth hit different.
"And now, Second Ronir will fall under the Night's Lion too!"
This time, Ronir warriors' faces hardened.
Havel, fresh from crushing Tua.
Far from the battered state their reports suggested.
Ronir had thrown everything into hitting Bardcomon.
If he marched on them now, Ronir was done.
"So I'll show mercy."
Havel had no intent to wipe out Bardcomon or Ronir.
He sought Tendal's tribal unification.
To ease clearing the floors above.
"Ronir warriors, take your forces and return to your territory at once. Wait there with your chief for my arrival."
The Ronir warriors hesitated.
They'd all but swallowed Bardcomon.
Turning back now? Unthinkable.
But Havel decided to force their resolve.
He raised the Star Sword skyward.
Light poured from it in unison.
"If you refuse to follow."
Banpellyon Style Dawn Swordsmanship
Dawn Sky
The light blazed, blinding all.
Havel thrust the sword toward the heavens.
Kraka-kaka-kaka!
The encroaching night sky was devoured by dawn's glow.
The crows screamed amid the violent power.
They flattened themselves, as if the sky itself crumbled.
Dawn blanketed the heavens.
All clouds erased beneath the overwhelming spectacle.
Every warrior gaped up in awe.
Havel lowered his sword slowly, gazing upon them.
"I'll make you follow by force."
Listen when I speak nicely.
This was it.