READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 182
I can’t believe how fast that creature is! It’s quicker than when it was digging underground before. What the heck has changed?
I’m using every skill I have, including storm and elasticity. It’s not that I’m unable to chase it down, but it ain’t easy. As I closed the distance, I realized how surprisingly little the ground trembled. The noise was about the same.
Immediately, the wolf, using its detection skill, discovered that there were holes deep in the ground. This wasn’t a hole created by the disease as it passed by; it was a path that had been there for a long time. It was like…
“A tunnel?”
A tunnel tangled up like an anthill. I realized that one reason the creature was hiding was because of this. It hadn’t noticed the tunneling because it was hundreds of meters up in the air. The floating island was a safe place from the disease, but unsuitable for monitoring its movements.
If it was an already dug path, it made sense it wouldn’t be as fast as it would be on the ground. It meant it wasn’t only preparing for itself.
And at that moment, the ground beneath my feet began to crumble. No, it was splitting open like the Red Sea. As the earth cracked, I caught a glimpse of the creature’s scales underneath the collapsing ground, and the wolf’s eyes lit up with excitement.
Even if the ground collapsed and crumbled, it posed no real threat. Marang ran across the land that was splitting open like the Red Sea.
Following closely behind were the black flames that began to ignite. It seemed it was planning to drop me into the underground, but that meant nothing to the wolf who could run in the air. No, it was a blunder. The splitting ground was just what the wolf wanted.
While the wolf wanted the disease to fall, the only thing that actually fell was the black flames. They plunged into the tunnel, fiercely burning the underground.
However, the disease wouldn’t be directly hit by the flames immediately. Their heights were different, but they were running at nearly the same level. But at the moment the black flames erupted, pushing the storm away from the wolf’s toes, the wolf finally surpassed the disease and shot ahead.
Just as the black flames fell, the monster’s scream echoed through the air.
“―――!”
The wolf looked down and thought it felt like a hellish scene.
In the depths of the Abyss, black flames licked upward, and inside, the monster shrieked in agony. The writhing disease began to leap up through the cracked earth. As it crouched, its form slowly emerged from the ground.
The approaching jaw—its speed was unexplainably absurd. The huge jaw opened wide, as if it were going to swallow everything in sight, widening to its limit.
Seeing the murderous intent in its jaw, the wolf gulped.
It felt as though the earth itself had a will and was trying to kill it. But that wasn’t all coming for the wolf. The ground was breaking apart, debris was flying, and the creature’s tentacles, the black branches, stretched out endlessly.
Just before all of that rushed toward it, the wolf read the future with its super sense and was already jumping into the air. Although it was jumping up, it didn’t mean it had escaped.
What appeared to be rocks—the scales of the creature—scratched against the ground, creating a loud, screeching noise. Just as the wolf’s ears were about to go numb, the first thing that reached it was the black branches—they reached out towards the wolf’s location like a pinpoint.
Filled with unimaginable power. They seemed to tear through the air, followed by a late echoing sound, reminiscent of dozens of black lightning bolts. Those things falling from the sky relentlessly chased the wolf as the disease jumped and climbed higher.
It was as if each one had a living soul. The moment more branches sprouted from the black ones, thorns began to bloom at their ends.
At the same time, the earth itself. Under the creature’s control, countless fragments of land honed in solely on the wolf. It felt as if the whole sky had turned black, and the wolf’s eyes widened.
Thorns and fragments of earth were chasing it down. Behind them, countless tentacles were tagging along as if supporting them.
Even with super sense, it was impossible to avoid them all. Therefore, it had to be blocked. The shadow the wolf had held onto—the power unfolded, and a long black curtain covered the air.
The moment the curtain was raised again, the thorns and fragments disappeared. The shadow connected with the power of the void consumed everything.
In the silence that even erased sounds, the wolf knew this wasn’t the end. Right behind the shards and thorns were the black branches—that was the real threat.
No, the void couldn’t stop it. No matter what it used, there was no way for the wolf to block it. It wasn’t due to the lack of power but because there was no time to do so. The black branches imbued with magic. The tentacles clinging to its body received boosts from statuses and skills, making them impossible to devour in an instant.
Moreover, that distant speed surpassed the wolf by a huge margin. The rising branches caught up to the wolf, overtaking it and enclosing it like a cage.
The black branches turned the wolf’s movements in the forest into a confused mess. A cauldron of chaos. In the irregularity lacking any rules, the wolf used its super sense to find a way to survive. In the black forest full of intention to kill it, the wolf fully utilized elasticity and storms to distance itself. The moment the chasing tentacles smashed the ground, the wolf launched itself off the disease’s tentacle.
The B-grade tentacles suited the name “monstrous” as it was exceptionally vicious. Right where the wolf stepped, new branches sprouted to chase it down. Just a little further. If it could get a bit farther, it thought it could escape, but realized how ridiculous that idea was.
The disease, writhing in agony, had already drawn near, exposing its gigantic jaws.
Instead of crashing down from below, it was plummeting down from above. The jaws yawning wide seemed determined not to miss anything as they descended. Just when it seemed to fill the entire view, the wolf’s figure flickered and vanished, leaving only pitch-black darkness for the disease to see.
Shadow. Despite the sudden encroachment of unlit darkness, the disease didn’t stop. It wasn’t going to get hurt by mere shadows. Instead, the jaw, opened wide as if to swallow the entire shadow, continued to descend, consuming everything in its path.
The falling disease. As this happened, the black branches fell too, disappearing beneath the split earth.
A massive collision occurred inevitably. The shockwave caused pieces and dust to rise, covering both the ground and sky, but amidst that dust, the wolf’s silhouette was drawn. As if that place was untouchable.
Invisibility—at the moment the wolf wrapped itself in wind, the dust dispersed, and the shockwave’s debris was also devoured by the void and disappeared.
If there had been a moment’s delay, it would have been dead. But this time was different. It wasn’t to a level it couldn’t stand against. It was because the wolf, having devoured the plague, had taken a step further.
There was certainly a gap, but with the boosts of skills, including super sense, it could somehow evade. A single attack could be fatal, but it was still able to fight.
—If it hadn’t shown its full power yet.
The disease, blazing in the flames of plague, was in agony, but not long after, those flames were extinguished. More precisely, it would be correct to say that it extended its tentacles and swept the flames away.
This was possible because it had an absurd amount of stamina and magical power.
When the disease, concealed below ground, began to move, the wolf furrowed its brow. Contrary to what it thought it would do, the creature wasn’t chasing it down.
Even after all this, it was deliberately ignoring the wolf.
Perhaps the death of the plague instilled a sense of caution in it, or perhaps the previous square bombing was still painfully ingrained; whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. The creature was now heading towards the square.
Like a beast burned by fire fearing flames, the disease had learned that the square and itself were threats. Instead of targeting the wolf, it probably judged that the square would be an easier target. That’s why it must have been waiting for the floating island to descend.
That was the truth.
A defenseless square couldn’t kill the disease, and without the square, the wolf couldn’t face the disease alone. The wolf gritted its teeth.
Time is running out. It has to buy a little more time somehow. Just a bit more. It has to lure the creature a bit more… In that moment, a crack in the ground caught the wolf’s eye.
***
These last few days have been nothing short of strange. My master says they’ve lost their memory. They claim to have amnesia, but it’s hard to believe that easily. Yet, I can’t ignore it. It’s not just because it was the master’s word, but because the plague has actually died. There’s no sign of disturbance, and no armies or hunters have come to stop it.
I’ve heard that out of the blue, Marang took it down, but it’s hard to believe a monster could defeat the plague.
…How could someone forget about something like that? I asked my master, but they couldn’t answer that.
Deep in thought, Dorothy felt like a fog had settled in her mind and looked up.
Then she frowned, realizing something was rapidly approaching. The identity of what she’d enhanced her magic to confirm was a long dragon several dozen meters long. She blinked, thinking she must have seen something wrong, but nothing changed in her sight. Could it be she was hallucinating?
Strangely, there was a sense of déjà vu with the dragon, but she couldn’t just stand by while a monster approached the square. As the heir of the Red Square, she thought she had to act, strength radiated from her, and the spell was chanted.
“Stâlp de flacără― Gigantic. Multiplex.”
The moment the spell was completed—a colossal pillar of flame burst forth suddenly, exploding towards the dragon’s form, obscuring it in a flash. It didn’t stop there; it was two layers, three layers. Eventually, dozens of fire pillars adorned the sky, but Dorothy frowned.
Because she missed the mark. She thought she could shoot it down, yet the dragon’s form had vanished like a ghost. Was it really just a hallucination? As she was confused, Dorothy’s eyes widened the next moment. The dragon from before suddenly appeared right in front of her. How was that even possible? She shoved her thoughts aside and quickly resumed chanting when a familiar voice shouted at her.
“You crazy girl!”
No, it wasn’t just the voice. Something black advancing—Dorothy found herself slammed into the ground by Hong Yu-ri’s shoe.
“H-Hong Yu-ri! Are you out of your mind…?!”
Dorothy, about to ask if she was losing her mind, was lifted by the scruff of her neck and froze the moment she met Hong Yu-ri’s crimson eyes. The pupils in her blazing gaze looked like narrowed slits of a reptile.
“You just shut up.”
A growling, irritable voice. For the past three days, Hong Yu-ri had known that Dorothy was suffering from amnesia. It was funny like sesame seeds, but it turned into grinding teeth when the magic took shape.
Had she not hastily avoided the fantasy world, she could have easily died. It didn’t mean she had wagered her heir’s position just for fun. There was no way she couldn’t be irritated.
Remembering the situation and barely holding onto her patience, Hong Yu-ri took a deep breath, calming herself, and then threw Dorothy aside. She often heard howled insults, but this time was particularly tough because her blood was boiling due to the strengthening magic of the dragon.
“You idiots, launch the floating island right now! Do it, you fools! The disease, the disease is coming!”
Suddenly bellowing out her words left the mages dumbfounded, but they soon grasped the situation, bewildered, and began to rush towards the plaza.
—An ignorant person couldn’t be the mage of the square.
In a nervous fit, Hong Yu-ri bit down on her lip. The square would rise again soon. The problem was the people of Semnan… If the floating island could just move away, the residents of Semnan could avoid it. She couldn’t help but hope the Alpha would buy just a little more time… While the mages dashed in unison, the dragon that remained all alone gazed into the vast sky.