Chapter 37
“That monster couldn’t have woken up already?!”
At a villager’s shout that the Monster of the Mountain had appeared, Jackson cried out in disbelief.
It wasn’t just Jackson—every resident in the village likely felt the same.
After all,
“G-Grandfather, didn’t the Monster of the Mountain last fall asleep just last month? How could it……!”
“N-Nora. You stay here. Do not step outside under any circumstances!”
The Monster of the Mountain usually slept for about three months once it fell asleep.
Waking up after only one month was naturally shocking.
Of course, Ruth knew exactly why the Monster of the Mountain had woken up so early.
‘Whether the Monster of the Mountain… no, the Fierce Dragon wakes up or not is something those bastards decide.’
The Fierce Dragon was not a naturally occurring monster.
It was a dark spirit artificially created by the <Silver Snake Group>, which meant they could control it at will.
If they wanted, they could wake the Fierce Dragon not once a month, but every single day and sweep through Riter Village.
In other words, the lives of everyone in this village were essentially in the <Silver Snake Group>’s hands.
Bang!
Jackson kicked open the door, leaving the terrified Nora behind.
When he stepped outside, most of the villagers had already gathered in one place, staring in one direction.
The moment Jackson turned his gaze the same way,
“Ah…….”
A scene of utter despair filled his widened pupils.
At the peak of the towering mine behind the village,
Guoooooooo—!!
A massive monster raised its lion-like head and roared.
The Monster of the Mountain.
The Fierce Dragon.
Though called a dragon, aside from its tattered membrane wings, its appearance had nothing to do with actual dragons.
The monster pulled its eight legs out from where they had been embedded in the mine’s peak.
Whoosh—!
It began flapping its wings and flew straight toward Riter Village.
“I… ah, ah…….”
“Ugh!”
The sight of the mountain-sized monster gradually closing the distance was pure terror.
Especially for the residents of Riter, who had already experienced the Fierce Dragon several times and lost loved ones to it.
People couldn’t even think of running away. Their legs gave out, causing them to collapse on the spot or stand frozen in despair, shedding tears.
Jackson’s reaction was no different.
‘We’re… going to die…….’
Originally,
There were several ‘omens’ before the Fierce Dragon woke up.
For example, an earthquake would strike the Riter Mine,
Or a member of the <Silver Snake Group> would come to the village in advance to warn them that the Fierce Dragon was about to awaken.
Thanks to those warnings, the residents would hide in advance in the escape tunnels they had dug.
Even then, a few people died each time, but……
At least they could minimize the damage. Until now.
But this time,
“It came too suddenly!”
“T-the tunnels! Everyone, run to the tunnels!”
“It’s coming—!”
The Fierce Dragon had awakened without any warning whatsoever.
Disaster had struck while everyone was off guard.
At someone’s shout to flee to the tunnels, a few people tried to turn around, but—
Swoosh.
Night descended upon Riter Village, which had still been in the early evening with the sunset lingering.
Grrrr—.
“No… please…….”
The massive body of the Fierce Dragon now hovered overhead, looking down at the people.
It cast its shadow over the entire Riter Village.
Kugugu—!
Green poisonous gas leaked from between the Fierce Dragon’s jaws as it let out a bizarre cry.
Poison Breath.
The people had not forgotten what kind of tragedy unfolded the last time that attack struck the village.
Their family, friends, and children—
“Ah, aaaaah…… ah……!”
Their skin melted away as they writhed in agony until their last breath.
“Kyaaaaaaa!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaah!!”
Screams exploded.
Before the Poison Breath could pour down, people turned pale white and began fleeing in panic.
In the chaos, people tripped over each other and fell.
Some trampled over fallen children and elders in their desperate rush to escape.
‘N-no way out… there’s no way to survive…….’
In the middle of this hellish pandemonium, Jackson simply sat there motionless, looking up at the Fierce Dragon.
An overwhelming sense of despair filled his chest as he faced a calamity that could not be resisted.
He had only just been freed from the brand, yet he was going to die right after?
No. It didn’t matter if he died. He was already an old man with little time left anyway.
But what about Nora? He couldn’t bear the thought of that child getting caught up and dying with him—
“Get a hold of yourself and stand up quickly.”
At that very moment,
Someone grabbed the shoulder of the seated Jackson and carefully helped him to his feet.
Jackson turned his head in confusion to see who it was.
“If you stay sitting like that, you might get trampled by the others. Those are valuable hands that are supposed to make a weapon for me.”
“B-benefactor……?”
“Take your granddaughter and get as far away from here as possible.”
Thud.
Ruth lightly pushed Jackson away as if brushing off fallen leaves.
Swish—!
He summoned a greatsword with <Blood Weapon> and stepped forward toward the Fierce Dragon.
While everyone else was fleeing backward, he alone advanced forward.
“…….”
Jackson stared blankly at Ruth’s back for a moment before
Snapping back to his senses. He ran home, grabbed Nora, and came back out.
“G-Grandfather…… shouldn’t we take Sir Ruth and run too?”
“…….”
He didn’t know.
He didn’t know for sure, but
For some reason, he held a baseless belief that the man who had erased their brand could somehow deal with that terrifying Fierce Dragon as well.
“It’ll be fine, child.”
The thought brushed through Jackson’s mind like a gentle breeze.
***
<I hate to admit that such a hideous creature belongs to the same dragon race as me, but it does know how to use quite a powerful breath. If you take a direct hit, you will not survive.>
“Yeah. I know.”
Despite Entur’s grim warning, Ruth remained indifferent.
Every time Poison Breath churned in the Fierce Dragon’s maw and leaked out as gas, his skin tingled painfully.
Getting hit by something like that would literally leave nothing but bones.
But.
“Coincidentally, I’ve already experienced far more dangerous poisons and far more powerful breaths than that.”
So there was no reason to fear something like this.
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!
The Fierce Dragon finally opened its maw wide and unleashed Poison Breath.
Rather than feeling like flames being shot forward like other breaths,
It felt more like a massive barrel of hydrochloric acid being dumped all at once.
Boom—!
Ruth kicked off the ground and leaped. The distance between him and the giant falling wave of poison closed in an instant.
‘Feels like charging into a wave.’
That was Ruth’s first impression as he faced the approaching Poison Breath.
A tidal wave—not of water, but of poison—trying to swallow him whole. Cutting through something like that with a single greatsword was impossible.
If he couldn’t cut it, then
‘Penetrate.’
He would pierce through it.
With a full-powered thrust aimed at a single point, he would break through the wave of poison in one go!
Chiiiing!
The moment Ruth made his decision, intense cold energy surged from the tip of the blood-red greatsword.
The secret sword art created by the North’s strongest swordsmanship family.
It merged perfectly with the martial enlightenment Ruth had gained, unleashing an ultimate strike.
[<Frost Fang> Second Form]
[Cold Orchid]
The thrust burning with pale pink currents punched a hole through the wave of poison.
The tremendous cold energy released by <Frost Fang> froze part of the split Poison Breath.
But not all of it.
Some of the fragmented breath remained unfrozen and continued falling toward the village.
He had expected as much.
“Entur!”
<You take all the cool parts and leave the cleanup to me!>
Entur complained even as she moved. Through their connected souls, she instantly understood what her contractor wanted.
<This is unfair!>
Kwaaaaa—!
A cold shockwave spread out in concentric circles centered on Entur as she roared.
Crack—.
Every last drop of the falling breath residue froze solid without exception.
It was the skill <Frost Pulse>, which spread ice-attribute mana to freeze everything within a wide radius.
“Huk…….”
“Hik……!”
A few villagers who had closed their eyes in resignation upon seeing the falling Poison Breath slowly opened them again.
Even those who had been running stopped in their tracks, unable to close their mouths at the scene unfolding before them.
Boom—!!
The frozen remnants of the breath crashed down and destroyed several houses in the village, but……
Not a single person had died. It was a miracle created by Ruth.
“D-did we survive……?”
“Survive my ass! The Monster of the Mountain is still there!”
“Is that kid seriously thinking of fighting the Monster of the Mountain all by himself……?”
Even while fleeing, the people looked back at Ruth with eyes mixed with various emotions.
The red-haired boy stood alone against the Fierce Dragon.
His physique was small, but no one thought of him as small.
The aura and accumulated Rank radiating from Ruth’s entire body made him appear as towering as a mountain.
And just as someone had muttered, Ruth had no intention of fighting that monster right now……
‘Not yet.’
Ruth narrowed his eyes as he stared intently at the Fierce Dragon.
He could see dark blue mana, as if melted darkness itself, wrapping around the monster’s massive body.
‘The energy flowing from the Demon God Stone is amplifying both its power and defense.’
The Fierce Dragon was not moving of its own will.
Someone was commanding it through the ‘Demon God Stone,’ an artifact used to control artificial spirits.
Moreover, the Demon God Stone had the insane ability to increase the target’s stats.
Fighting something like that in the middle of the village would definitely result in collateral casualties.
‘In other words…….’
If he could get his hands on the Demon God Stone,
He would be able to control that brutish giant monster as easily as a pet.
‘The Demon God Stone’s power cannot reach the target from a long distance. There must be someone nearby controlling the Fierce Dragon.’
Finding them wouldn’t be difficult.
The dark mana enveloping the Fierce Dragon was connected to the Demon God Stone like a ‘thread.’
All Ruth had to do was follow that thread with his senses.
Hwaaaaak—.
Ruth’s sharply honed senses moved along the thread.
Having reached 5 Stars, his perception extended not only throughout Riter Village but also deep into the outskirts without hesitation.
And exactly three seconds later,
“There you are.”
He sensed it.
A single rat hiding in the bushes at the village entrance.
***
‘What the… no, what the hell was that? The breath definitely just…….’
In a small forest at the village entrance,
A black-haired man whose face was covered in tattoos couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
The man’s name was Alfonso. He was an executive of the <Silver Snake Group> branch stationed in Riter.
He had been hiding in a spot with the best view of the village, manipulating the Demon God Stone.
Fwoosh—.
The black orb in Alfonso’s right hand continuously emitted dark blue mana.
He had been planning to use the Demon God Stone to control the Fierce Dragon and massacre fifty villagers as ordered, but……
‘D-did the breath just freeze? There shouldn’t be any mages in that beggar’s den, right?’
He had fallen into confusion after seeing the breath split in the distance and suddenly freeze.
The distance was quite far, so he couldn’t make out the fine details——
……Crunch!!
“Kyaaaaaaaak?!”
At that moment, a blood-red arrow flew in from the side and pierced straight through Alfonso’s right forearm.
Thud!
The Demon God Stone slipped from Alfonso’s hand and rolled across the ground.
At the same time, the Fierce Dragon rampaging in the distant village suddenly stopped, but Alfonso was too busy screaming to notice.
“Ughhhk!! My arm! You son of a bitch, my arm!! Who the fuck—!”
“Here you were hiding.”
Step.
Ruth parted the bushes and appeared before Alfonso.
In his left hand was a crossbow made of congealed blood.
Even with his forearm pierced, Alfonso felt his sanity snap.
He drew a dagger with his good arm and swung it.
“What the fuck are you— Blegh?!”
It was instantaneous.
Ruth changed the arrow into a knuckle and delivered a lightning-fast punch that caved in Alfonso’s face.
Alfonso’s nose collapsed, and his teeth mixed with blood poured onto the ground.
While the man collapsed pathetically with his facial features brutally distorted,
“So this is what you were using to control the Fierce Dragon. Disgusting bastards.”
Ruth picked up the rolling Demon God Stone and spoke.
Only then did Alfonso realize that the man knew the true nature of the Demon God Stone.
As if he could see right through him, Alfonso let out a mocking laugh even while on the verge of death.
“Kuk, puhehe… Y-you think you can control the Fierce Dragon with the Demon God Stone? Or are you planning to destroy it?”
“…….”
“It’s useless…… If you think you can do anything with the Demon God Stone, forget it… Only we know the incantation… Otherwise it won’t respond, you know…?”
To use the Demon God Stone, a specific incantation was required.
And the only ones who knew that incantation were Alfonso himself and Bruno, the branch leader of the <Silver Snake Group>.
Step—
At that moment, Ruth silently approached Alfonso.
Alfonso laughed with a gurgling, blood-filled voice.
“Why, what… are you going to torture me to find out? You son of a bitch, you’ve already beaten me half to death—what’s the point of torturing me n—.”
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Ruth repeatedly slammed his fist into Alfonso’s already caved-in face, silencing him forever.
Right after, without hesitation, he activated a skill.
[Reading the target’s memories through ‘Blood Trace’!]
It took less than ten seconds to learn the incantation.
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