Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: The Night God's Descent
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There was a crow tribesman leaping nimbly across the rooftops.
Though his natural build was smaller than the other crow tribesmen,
his agile movements were on an entirely different level from the rest.
Thanks to that, he scattered night seeds across the entire Tendar tribe at breakneck speed.
Night-infused seeds.
Through selective breeding, these seeds could transform tribesmen into monsters via the mist they released.
Seeds that dramatically heightened aggression and hostility toward their own kind.
And the result of using those seeds was unfolding below him right now.
The Tendar tribesmen were attacking each other without mercy.
Watching the chaos, he scratched his beak and chuckled.
'A resounding success.'
With this, the Tendar were finished.
And if things went according to plan, the other tribes would soon follow...
Thwack!
Sudden impact sent him tumbling across the ground.
As if he'd been struck by a flying iron club.
"Guh... ugh!"
Grunting in pain, he felt the world spinning before his eyes.
When he dimly opened them, he saw fluttering hair.
Silver hair, nearly white.
The moment he saw it, he thought of the Lion of the Night.
Even through the pain, he hurriedly glanced at the man's waist.
A black scabbard etched with a galaxy motif.
The Star Sword.
No doubt about it.
This was the Lion of the Night.
His instincts screamed danger.
Even he, with his exceptional sensory perception, hadn't noticed the attack.
There was no way he could defend against the next one.
He had to escape.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, his body began dissolving into particles of light.
There was a reason he was born a natural scout.
He had mastered a special technique passed down through his tribe's generations.
Light Passage.
With this alone, he was confident no one could catch him.
But at that instant, the Lion of the Night's eyebrow twitched.
'Too late.'
He'd noticed the escape attempt.
But once activated, there was no chasing it down.
"This again."
Yet the Lion of the Night casually extended his hand,
swatting at the light particles as if it were routine.
Crack!
"Ack!?"
The crow tribesman hit the ground rolling once more.
A similar shock coursed through his body.
Shaking from the impact, the crow tribesman panicked.
His Light Passage had definitely completed just now.
How had he been hit?
Staring up in confusion,
he found the Lion of the Night—Havel—right in front of his face.
"Wanna get hit again? Or just talk?"
I've already been hit twice.
The crow tribesman wanted to protest, but he had no choice.
With Light Passage blocked, all escape routes were sealed.
"I... I..."
As he tried to put up a desperate front, Havel swung his hand.
Crunch!
A massive tree toppled over.
It crashed down, blocking the path out of the village.
A single punch had shattered a tree of that size.
"You what?"
Havel turned back to the tribesman with a relaxed expression.
"P-Please, just hear me out!"
A live crow's gotta stay alive.
Havel listened to the full explanation afterward.
And after hearing it all, he scowled deeply.
"Are you people insane?"
The crow tribesman hailed from the Third Gardan tribe.
The reason they'd pulled this stunt was simple.
They alone possessed the antidote to the night seeds.
So their plan was to infect all the other tribes,
then dole out just enough antidote to force submission.
Perfect timing, too, with Havel's arrival throwing the chieftains into chaos.
They'd judged now the ideal moment.
Havel let out a hollow laugh at their foolish scheme.
Using a kind of contagion to let one faction dominate?
One slip-up, and they'd suffer massive losses too.
And now that plan was unraveling.
Because Havel knew.
"You've planted those night seeds in the other tribes too, right?"
"Y-Yes... We'd prepared them long ago."
The Gardan tribesman sweated profusely as he answered.
Havel's rising pressure was suffocating.
As the man replied fearfully, Havel stood up.
He had the situation grasped.
"What will you do?"
Elasiya asked, probing his intentions.
"Start with their main camp."
These guys were bragging about handing out antidotes.
But Havel didn't need any antidote—he'd already figured out the cure itself.
The night seeds harbored calamity essence.
Calamity that stirred and rampaged the instincts of calamity breeds.
Extract enough of that calamity, and the problem solved itself.
They must've thought they had the cure all to themselves.
Sorry, but that was a colossal miscalculation.
In fact, this worked out perfectly.
He could turn it around, make the crows owe him one.
That would cement his position as the true Lion of the Night.
Thinking that far, Havel frowned briefly.
Am I using everything now?
Back during the unification wars, when he preached justice.
That self was worlds apart from who he was now.
Justice held no sway over him anymore.
After witnessing hell in the Demonic Palace, his emotions had dulled.
Now he was a monster who held nothing back for his goals.
A hollow laugh escaped Havel's lips.
No point dwelling on it now.
His goal was to climb the Tower and restore House Banpellyon.
Sure, new curiosities cropped up lately, but the core aim hadn't changed.
And to reach it, he'd do whatever it took.
Humanity? He'd discarded that long ago.
"Sleep until then."
Havel swung his hand at the Gardan tribesman.
Before the man could react, his mind snapped clean.
Severed flawlessly by Havel's pinnacle technique.
"Elasiya, hold tight."
Back to normal size, Havel hoisted Elasiya onto his back.
Then they bolted from the Tendar village.
With things as they were, Havel kicked into high gear.
His transcendent agility unleashed light-speed motion.
"Ugh... ahh."
The acceleration was leagues beyond before.
Elasiya groaned on his back.
Even with layered protective spells, her body shuddered under the strain.
Glancing around occasionally, the blurring scenery was downright terrifying.
Her body instinctively shrank from primal human fear.
"We're here."
Just moments later.
Elasiya jolted at Havel's words.
The Third Gardan camp was already in sight.
Unbelievable speed.
She knew he was a monster, but feeling it anew shook her.
The Third Gardan had erected sturdy wooden barricades.
The towering walls looked painstakingly built over years.
Havel snorted at the sight.
They'd clearly planned the night seed scheme long ago.
These barricades were to keep out the infected.
"Damn fools."
Cursing for the first time in ages, Havel raised a leg mid-stride.
Before they noticed, he thrust it forward.
Boom!
A deafening roar, and the barricade shattered spectacularly.
"Gwah?!"
"Wh-what's happening?!"
The guards screamed.
Ignoring them, Havel strode through the breach.
The Gardan tribesmen spotted him belatedly.
"Who goes there?!"
They drew blades against the intruder.
"Me?"
Now giant-sized, Havel grinned at them.
"The Lion of the Night, come to deliver heavenly judgment upon you sinners."
With those words, his aura flooded outward.
The tribesmen's faces froze as it engulfed everything.
They all stiffened on the spot.
Every process in their bodies halted instantly.
Primal terror stopped even their hearts.
Havel withdrew his aura.
Thud, thud, thud—
The Gardan tribesmen collapsed en masse.
The toll of that momentary freeze was steep.
They'd either live forever in nightmares or barely cling to life.
Havel stepped past them unperturbed.
The Star Sword was now in his hand,
flaunting his identity as the Lion of the Night.
As he advanced, more Gardan tribesmen poured out.
Some shouted, some cowered in fear.
A few bravely blocked his path.
But it was all futile.
Unlike raids on other tribes,
Havel swung his blade mercilessly, claiming lives.
His ruthless advance heralded genocide for the Third Gardan.
Soon, his path lay deserted.
No one dared stand before him.
Like a tyrant treading his dominion.
Havel walked the empty street.
His steps aimed true.
The building ahead brimmed with calamity from the Star Sword.
And soon, he realized where the sword's absorbed calamity had gone.
"So that's the setup."
Muttering to himself, Havel narrowed his eyes.
No wonder this floor felt easier than the others.
They'd been prepping their "lord" all along.
That was the moment.
Boom!
A blast from the building, smoke billowing up.
And piercing the smoke, something soared into the sky.
"Elasiya."
Havel signaled her to get clear and looked up.
A crow tribesman with six wings hovered overhead.
A black circlet ringed his brow.
Above all, the calamity pouring from him included Havel's own.
The Night God had claimed the Star Sword's absorbed calamity.
Thus, Havel's essence dwelled within the god.
What did that mean?
The being before him was the Night God incarnate.
Rumble!
Lightning crashed from the heavens,
drawn by the immense power within him.
The sky darkened into night.
Three moons rose vividly.
The voice echoed directly in Havel's mind.
No need for Elasiya's translation anymore.
Hearing the command, Havel raised the Star Sword to the side.
"Want it? Come take it."
Though you'll pay dearly for it.