NOVEL WEB Chapter 183
“`html
The Wolf that surpassed the Disease realized it was now just a short distance to the Square.
It had to make a choice.
If things continued as they were, the time it would take for the creature to arrive at the Square would be no more than 2 or 3 minutes.
With it intentionally ignoring him, he had no choice but to prevent that from happening. And the answer lay deep within the labyrinthine tunnels below.
—No, let’s not think about that.
All he could do was trust Hong Yu-ri. At this distance, there had been enough commotion for someone at the Square to have noticed.
For now, he would do his utmost. The Wolf willingly threw himself into the depths of the earth, as dark as the Abyss.
***
Ku-gu-gu―!
There are often animals that dig through the ground, but surely there are no monsters that break through it. Humanity referred to that monster, which corrupted the earth with awe and fear, as Disease.
When it moved, all wingless creatures began to flee in panic. A monster that evoked an earthquake simply by its presence. There was no one below who could challenge it.
It had always been this way and surely would continue to be so. No one harbored doubts or questions about that.
“―――!”
—Yet, it had arrogantly thrown down a challenge.
Unforgivably, it had stepped into its domain, intent on killing it. As the black flames danced before its eyes, Disease roared. The sound echoing in the Abyss shook every creature beneath the ground, sending them into paroxysms of fear, bringing with it a taste of death.
No being could oppose it in this deep underground. And yet, those flames flickered as if to voice a disagreement.
Usually, it wouldn’t have hesitated, but with Disease aflame with rage, it understood that there was now a slim chance that those flames could reach it, marking its path to death.
It instinctively knew it would be hard to survive if it threw itself into the roiling flames.
However, it wasn’t impossible to surpass the flames. It was exactly for this reason that Disease decided not to back down.
Thus, the earth began to shift.
The ground crumbled, covering the raging flames. With that, no matter how fearsome they were, the flames were extinguished without a chance to burn.
Both Disease and the Wolf understood this.
While the flames had been snuffed out beneath the earth, that also meant it had bought some time. With the tunnel collapsed, Disease could no longer proceed at the same speed.
There was a significant difference between passing through a pre-dug tunnel and digging through the ground. It was more than enough time bought than initially aimed for.
Even so, it wouldn’t take long for it to reach the Square. As the tunnel started to cave in from a distance, the Wolf quickened its pace.
To avoid being crushed by the collapsing tunnel.
***
It wouldn’t take long for the Square to rise, but Hong Yu-ri nervously bit her nails. With the evacuation order in place, the residents of Semnan piled in. She had to ignore them along with the mages stationed on the surface to supply the Square.
The floating island would rise, dismissing the cries of the panicked crowd crawling up the stairs. Scornful words mixed with resentment towards the Square, asking if they were abandoning them. Hong Yu-ri shook her head vigorously.
This choice was, after all, made to save them. As long as they got to the Square, the Disease couldn’t possibly reach here. It had to be this way. No, there was no other choice. But persuading others in such a situation was impossible.
Ku-gu-gu…
“……Ah?”
Someone’s utterance caused everyone’s heads to turn.
At a distance visible to the naked eye. As the ground trembled, the crowd fled in abject terror.
Mixed in with their screams was resentment towards the Square that had abandoned them. People reacted in various ways: despair, anger, or struggles to survive.
The approaching disaster stopped at a distance.
Why? Had it given up? …It couldn’t be. It was all too aware of how horrific and relentless the Disease was.
The halt was but temporary.
Soon Disease began to move again. However, the tremors sensed beneath their feet had ceased. The floating island had finally begun to rise.
Alpha had superbly bought them time. But there was still not enough time for the citizens of Semnan to escape. No, it was something they had to earn for themselves. They had to rise quickly to escape Semnan.
Was it a mistake to come here from the start? No, if Disease was chasing the Square, it wouldn’t have mattered where they went; the outcome would have been the same.
“Se înroșesc―”
Chanting the spell, Hong Yu-ri began to prepare the Great Magic, and Dorothy, who quickly regained her senses, began reciting her own incantation. This was all they could do. In the meantime, as they released their magic and the mages began to rise higher and higher, chaos erupted.
***
As the Wolf raced through the collapsing tunnel, it felt a powerful tremor. This was surely proof that Disease was drawing near. Cutting through the pitch-black darkness where not a sliver of light penetrated, the Wolf heard a colossal howl that shook the earth.
“――――――!”
The target of that furious roar was undoubtedly itself.
The Disease, which had been intentionally ignoring the Wolf, was now expressing its rage. If things continued this way, it could lure it. The end of the tunnel was not far now. If the path it had prepared disappeared, it would be caught in an instant. Fighting underground would be unbearable.
Yet, exiting wasn’t particularly difficult. Something black began to spread from the Wolf.
That black something was a Shadow. Now stretching over 100m, the shadow formed another path.
The Wolf, hidden within the shadow, tried to move toward the surface, but when the earth started to tremble, it became impossible. As the terrain itself began to collapse, the hastily formed shadow could only scatter. Even amidst the great earthquake, the black quills flailed through the ground indiscriminately.
The earth that was collapsing as it chased the Wolf fell apart in an instant, and the Wolf gritted its teeth.
The black branches maintained their power even underground. It was no wonder, given that it was bolstered by the power and divine strength of Disease’s B-class skill.
As the ground trembled, the Wolf held a strong thought.
It was about the Wolf itself. Its duty as Marang. As its will to devour grew stronger, a mirage began to rise amid the shifting earth. The mirage enveloped the Wolf, creating yet another version of itself.
It was like the mirage’s armor. Enveloped by the Void, the Wolf tore through the quake-ravaged underground towards the surface.
Yet, the distance between it and Disease only narrowed. With the tunnel collapsed underground, even if it was wrapped in the Void, there would be limits to its escape.
This wasn’t to say there were things it couldn’t devour; rather, like when it took its time eating the Volcano Ceratops, it needed time due to quality and quantity, just like when the Tentacles were barely consumed.
Though it ran toward the surface, the Wolf was now only half its usual speed. The enraged Disease no longer considered the past. It was a horrid beast chasing it down, intent on killing it.
“――――――!”
As the beast’s cries echoed in the Abyss and its jaws crept up right behind the Wolf, it realized that the upper and lower jaws were closing in around it.
The ground trembled by that monstrous strength, and the Wolf gritted its teeth. There was little distance left to the surface. But…
Without being able to use its escape skill, the Wolf’s magic would eventually reach its limit. Yet it had no choice. The Wolf gathered all its magic and summoned forth a storm.
As the black tentacles formed yet another cage, the wind interposed itself between the Wolf and Disease, tickling both.
A wind blew from a place devoid of atmosphere. As the black cage closed in, and while the trembling earth threatened to consume the Wolf, the Wolf concentrated its amassed magic on its hind feet.
—The Wolf’s magic was by no means negligible.
Having reached level 49, exceeding 600 and possessing Great Magic, the Wolf’s mana could surely rival that of the heiress of the Square. That magic exploded amidst the crumbling earth.
The giant jaws of the one who corrupts the land snapped shut, but it could only consume the Wolf’s lower half.
The explosive magic birthed yet another storm, and the two types of explosions inspired by skills and magic simply pushed back the Wolf. No, it was more accurate to say it shot it forward.
Left with only its upper body, the torn Wolf next faced a bundle of tentacles reminiscent of a black cage. They constricted in an attempt to capture the Wolf. In the narrowing net, the Wolf, missing its legs, grew new ones.
As it finally unveiled the black tentacles, the Wolf summoned a dark fog. Though the Disease’s tentacles ripped through the black magic in an instant, that was sufficient.
The tentacles severed the Wolf in an instant, and while it seemed to disappear, it soon reappeared and continued to run.
For that brief moment, the controlling magic had been gnawed away by the black magic, and the instant the tentacles sliced past, the Wolf managed to burrow into the thin layer of shadow, slipping out the other side.
If it had been just a moment earlier or later, if the timing had been off, it would have died; but the Wolf did not allow itself any mistakes.
Now, nothing remained to stop the Wolf that had evaded the cage. Finally reaching the surface, it had to sprint without a moment’s rest to embrace the sunlight that welcomed it.
But even though it emerged, the Disease was still in pursuit. The elevated Square was floating dozens of meters above, but the Wolf grit its teeth.
Ku-gu-gu…
Frantically, it summoned both the Void and the engulfing fear, but it was too late.
As the scales collided with the earth in a thunderous clash that sent the crowd fleeing, it erupted from the ground.
—Surpassing the Wolf and climbing to an even higher place.
***
When the disaster leapt up, countless shards and black branches followed suit. Even dozens of meters above would hardly be enough. The mages who had long fought the monster knew this all too well.
From the mages who were preparing, countless spells were unleashed. An uncountable array of magic aimed at shooting down the disaster. But the name “the Arm of Magic” held true, for the conjured magic shattered into pieces. Only a few managed to graze the Disease, but the monster wasn’t so easily halted.
It knew this as well.
Meanwhile, Dorothy’s Great Magic, which had been prepared in advance— a massive bird that shone like gold, flapped its wings and advanced toward the Disease. As if it possessed a will of its own, the golden bird descended, absorbing the scattered magic and power from earlier and growing in size.
With a power befitting its name, the air distorted with every flap of its wings, crimson flames flickering around in each gust. As the golden phoenix gained momentum, the mages clenched their fists, and determination shone in Dorothy’s eyes.
Perhaps they could shoot it down. Hope swelled within them.
But the Disease was about to demonstrate precisely why it was referred to as a disaster.
—Hope was tainted with deeper despair.
The gargantuan jaws devoured the golden phoenix, and still it did not cease.
“……!”
An explosion erupted within the jaws, smoke spilling forth. Regardless, the Disease continued to leap upward. Just as the golden feathers from the great magic fell, another mage awoke.
Their eyes were crimson. Within them glimmered a vertically split pupil.
Heat ignited at the back of their neck.
Alpha had warned. Using magic would spark a transformation. Once that started, there would be no turning back. They had to make a choice.
Would they remain human, or would they become a dragon?
There was surely a method available to them. Hinging on a straightforward confidence in that moment, the unwavering red gaze was something Hong Yu-ri would remember clearly.
What would happen next was uncertain.
She had never truly lived a life that was anything other than human. But at the moment when the nerves of the mages focused on the floating Square, all she could do was her part.
Even if she couldn’t shoot it down, that was alright. All she needed was to buy time. Just a little while until the mages of the Square could prepare their magic.
There was no need for hesitation. Because…
‘Don’t worry.’
‘No matter how I change, I will help you. No matter what.’
—He would keep that promise. No, he would be made to keep it.
‘…If he doesn’t, I’ll kill him.’
No matter what, definitely. And thus, shaking off even the slightest lingering hesitation, Hong Yu-ri resolutely pulled the trigger.
“Arzând în abis și transformându-se în cenușă―!”
“`