Chapter 213: The Dawn of Magical Beasts and Sand Dunes
212 – The Dawn of Magical Beasts and Sand Dunes #3
Roll!
I expertly rolled to avoid the massive paw of the Giant Behemoth coming down on me. Dust flew everywhere as I tumbled, scraping my body in a million places, but hey, that beats getting smashed flat by that paw any day!
WHAM!
After dodging another looming paw, I seized the moment to claw it with my sturdy, sharp talons as it slammed into the ground.
RIP!
That paw, already battered from my previous assaults, began to bleed through its thick hide.
“Alright, this is actually worth my time!”
That giant has stamina for days, but at the end of the day, he’s just another beast like me. Sooner or later, he’s bound to run out of steam.
“At least there’s no regeneration like in those fancy mangas.”
THWOOOM!
Startled, I froze for a split second as a thunderous roar erupted right above my head.
The Giant Behemoth lifted its paw again to strike me. That paw, with its sharp claws and ominous size, was as intimidating as a collapsing building!
“Whoa, I hesitated for a moment! I’m definitely too late to roll away! Time for a full-on dodge…!”
I pumped my hind legs with all my strength, channeling my agility to the limit. My muscles bulged as I kicked off the ground, rocketing upward like a launched missile.
“Curse your bulky body!”
Leaping over the paw, I landed on its nose and gave it a good scratch with my talons.
ROAR!
The Behemoth recoiled in shock, flinging me off. I twisted in midair, landing gracefully on the ground.
“Ah, so you just woke up, huh? You’re not looking so hot— this isn’t the kind of scene I expected…”
From a distance, Satan watched the brawl with a casual shrug. He then conjured a round orb in his hand.
HUUUUUM!
“This is the concentrated evil of magical power. The darkness that even the God of Light would desecrate. Enjoy!”
He flicked it toward me without a second thought!
“What on Earth is that…?”
Whatever that orb was, it didn’t seem like something I wanted to touch. As I hesitated, wondering whether to dodge or counter it—
FLARE!
A fiery ball collided with the orb in midair, causing it to vanish completely.
“This piece of work is my responsibility. Yingyi, take care of these friends!”
Yingyi-Yaing!
As Azidahaka passed off Yingyi to Sand, he stretched and began slowly approaching Satan.
“Hey, are you sure about this? Didn’t you say it’s hard to wield magical power in this Pyramid?”
Azidahaka jangled a bronze bracelet on his right wrist.
“I have Orichalcum. And besides, I’ve been dying to settle things with this guy. It’s been bugging me for a while now.”
“Bugging you? Such an unfortunate way to phrase your interest, Red Dragon. Your flames would make an impressive backdrop for my envisioned endgame.”
“Look at you, trying to seduce me with those strange words again. I’m going to beat you to a pulp!”
“Can you truly take on my power, Magic? The power I gained after devouring the Divine Being Odin? I won’t hold back. It won’t take me minutes to handle you.”
Satan’s bragging is unbearable. Is his ability to make everyone squirm with just words?
ROOOAAAR!!
Once again, the thunderous roar of the Giant Behemoth filled the area. Angry that I had scratched its nose, it bared its massive fangs at me.
WHOOSH!
It swung its massive paw at me once more.
Having a legendary beast like me dodging a couple of attacks was proving predictable. I soon picked up on its rhythm.
“Just resurrected, huh? I get it. After it slams down, there’s a little delay before it can attack again. Must be tough handling that huge body!”
That brief window of vulnerability was my perfect chance to either attack or leap onto its back.
CRASH!
The gigantic paw planted back on the ground, and I noticed my prediction had hit the mark.
I sunk my claws into its thick fur and climbed up to its back. The Giant Behemoth thrashed around, utterly confused as I latched onto its head and back.
“Your front paws can flail all they want, but you can’t scratch your own back. Trust me, I know that pain!”
Even with a powerful beast body, sometimes I missed being a human, especially when a hard-to-reach itch on my back showed up.
Those paw limbs are as flexible as human hands, but extending them back there? Forget it!
It’s like asking a bodybuilder to scratch his own back; the struggle is too real.
Anyhow, it was a critical vulnerability that this chubby giant couldn’t escape!
THWACK! THWACK! SLASH!
My sharp claws tore through its tough skin, forcing it to bleed. Gathering flaming energy, I shot fire into the gaping wound, making the great beast writhe in agony as it flailed around.
“It’s in pain but isn’t burning up. Being a Behemoth must mean it’s immune or resistant to my fire!”
In that case, I just needed to change my tactics.
I slithered along its back, gouging it with prickly spikes all the way down its spine.
ROOAAAR!!
Overwhelmed by that impressive strike, the Giant Behemoth collapsed, writhing on the ground.
“Yes! It’s groggy! Time to unleash the ultimate barrage!”
Charging at its face gave me the same thrill as raiding a game boss.
“Watch out! It’s going berserk! Something massive is coming!”
Just as Sand warned, fiery aura erupted from the Behemoth.
Shaking its head violently, the beast stood up tall, bellowing angrily at the ceiling.
ROOOAAAR!!
In a furious roar, I could see strange clouds forming in the air.
“What the heck is that…?”
CRACK!!
Thunder and lightning erupted from the dark clouds inside. Not only that, but a faint reddish glow flickered within them…
“No way… It’s a meteor…! Isn’t that cheating?!”
A gigantic boulder appeared from the clouds, making my eyes go wide.
WHOOSH!
The house-sized rock slammed down with a fierce impact.
THUD!
A powerful shockwave swept through the area.
“I’m… being swept away!”
I dug my claws into the ground, battling the force. I watched as Sand and Jack were flung off by the shockwave.
Even worse, the ominous clouds began to swirl with that red glow again.
“Is it ready to drop another rock?! No way! The first one nearly wiped me out!”
I could only panic in my mind, not knowing how to stop the impending doom.
“What on Earth do I do…?!”
As I struggled to think of a plan, a familiar, serene voice broke through.
Yiying! Yingyi!
That nurturing cry came from somewhere, and suddenly, Yingyi floated up into the air, swiftly heading toward the stormy clouds.
“No! Don’t!”
Ying! Yiying!
FLASH!
A dazzling burst of light flooded my vision, rendering everything white.
When Azidahaka regained his senses, the dark storm clouds that had filled the deep underground space had vanished. The anticipated second meteor had been eliminated by the tiny Cloudring’s self-detonation.
“What just happened…?”
As Azidahaka opened his eyes to assess the situation, a chill crawled down his back. He sensed a potent surge of wrath and murderous intent unlike anything he had ever felt before.
The malevolent aura didn’t emanate from Satan, who was being held hostage, nor from the Giant Behemoth that had just awakened.
No, it was a creature, only half the size of Azidahaka himself, entirely white-furred.
“Got it, finally…!”
Satan, being held down, laughed weakly through bloodied lips.
“It’s going to go berserk. Nobody can stop that now. This world is finished. Hahaha!”
Azidahaka ground his teeth as he glared at the mocking Satan.
“Did you plan this…?”
“It didn’t go exactly as I envisioned, but my point stands. Treasures and divine powers mean nothing in this fickle World Tree’s world! The World Tree, Laplace, who showed no mercy even to her own children, let alone any other… your rightful heir is going to lose it! Now, nobody can stop it!”
“Impossible…”
“I heard you were supposedly a cool-headed one, but you’re panicking over a pathetic little Cloudring’s demise?”
Azidahaka’s eyes flickered between the unconscious grave robbers and the white beast attacking the giant.
“If this goes on, we’ll definitely be wiped out! Just as Satan warned, that white beast is truly losing control!”
Glaring from Azidahaka’s eyes switched between the fallen allies and the berserk white beast.
“Grrr, no one can stop it now. As one of the twelve mythic creatures, you should understand the threat of a rampaging magical beast!”
“Ugh…”
Swallowing his spit, Azidahaka felt a pang of dread.
True, the threat of a rampaging magical beast was beyond imagination; when the magical beasts called Delta and Epsilon rampaged, two of the twelve mythic creatures perished trying to hunt them down.
But this little creature, the White One, was undoubtedly on a whole different level than the Epsilon they had previously hunted.
To calm or subdue it, he couldn’t fathom the sacrifices and bl**d that would spill. Even with his brilliant mind, the future was shrouded in darkness.
“If it comes to it, maybe I’ll resort to exterminating it….”
“No one can stop the magical beasts! Nobody! The world that belittles tiny males is doomed to extinction!”
Satan kept laughing wildly.
Yiying!
Right at that moment, a strangely familiar cry echoed in the air.
The massive paw of the white beast stopped in its tracks, right then and there.
Yingyi!
“What the heck are you? You’re alive!”
Ying!
From the air, mist gathered and morphed into fluffy clouds. The white beast turned its attention away from the Giant Behemoth it was pounding and moved toward the adorable Cloudring.
Yingyi!
“I thought you sacrificed yourself for us!”
Ying! I’m a warrior! Yiying!”
“Why would I sacrifice myself? We’re buddies!”*
The white beast returned, seemingly out of nowhere, to its amusingly light-hearted demeanor, shocking Satan to his core.
“A rampaging magical beast regains its sanity? Even with the power of the gods, its spirit should be shackled to the beast label! How can a mere creature escape from fury…? That’s insane!”
