Chapter 1083 — Book 2: Chapter 280: The Night does not Equate to Fear (1)
10 min read ·
The night at Aipotu wasn't as dark as expected.
That was the thought Tasha had after seeing the sky in this world when they first arrived.
The night sky with a countless number of stars was dark but also bright.
On a night of the full moon like today, it was inaccurate to call it dark.
Of course, it was lacking in light compared to the sun shining down in the middle of the day, but…
Tasha thought that this place she was at right now, the land covered by the shadow of the forest, was darker than the night sky.
“…What the-”
But she had to stop walking and look back.
All of the Dark Elves stopped walking.
They had chills all over their bodies.
It was terrible.
They felt something they could not explain.
“Boss, this-”
The subordinate could not finish his statement but Tasha still responded.
“…Black despair.”
The dreadful liquid that the Mogoru Empire’s Alchemists’ Bell Tower had created.
“It’s worse than that.”
Something even worse than that had appeared.
Her instincts were warning her.
She could see the existence standing at the center of the cause of that warning.
The figure with his back to the full moon…
The Dragon surrounded by blue mana.
The First Star, Ryan.
“Holy shit-”
She could see the black liquid that he was wearing like a cape.
The liquid must have shot up from far underneath at a spot Tasha could not see.
‘It’s like-
The only flame burning on top of the altar that resembled a black mountain…
That seemed to best describe Ryan.
A Dragon that was trying to become a god…
Why did she suddenly think of those words?
‘Snap out of it.’
Tasha focused herself.
Despite what happened, the only thing she was certain about was that this black liquid was the thing that Cale had talked about. She also knew that this was something they must get rid of.
“Boss!”
It was at that moment.
Tasha turned her head.
“!”
It was no longer just the Beast people. The residents of Ryan's castle were all escaping.
It significantly increased the number evacuating, forcing them to send only the weak and the old through the underground tunnel. The adults who were capable of moving were being protected by Tasha and the Dark Elves as they scattered throughout the forest.
“Oo–”
“Ugh!”
There were naturally some Beast people among the group Tasha was protecting.
“M, my goodness-”
“Ah, oo-”
They suddenly started plopping down on the ground.
‘This is different.’
This was different from the forced berserk transformations earlier.
They did not show the same violence as before.
‘…Fear?’
They were actually scared.
“Aaaaaaaaaah! I don't want to hear it!”
“Stop it, stooooop it!”
They covered their ears or curled up on the ground and wrapped their arms around their bodies.
“What the…?”
The situation made Tasha feel extremely anxious, incomparable to her nerves when someone was going berserk.
For some reason, she could tell that this situation was worse.
Oooooo-
A noise that sounded like an animal's hour could then be heard.
Tasha turned her head. She could see Ryan.
Chhhhhhhhhh-
He extended out his left arm.
The black liquid followed his hand as if it was a fluttering cape.
The black wall covered the stars.
It was as if there were two different nights with Ryan at the center.
Unlike the night with sparkling stars and the shining moon, the night underneath Ryan was simply darkness.
“!”
Tasha’s body started to shake.
– Aaaaaaaaahh—-!
She heard someone screaming.
‘Where is it coming from?’
She didn't even get the time to think about it.
– Aaaaaaah!
– S, save me!
– Please at least save my child!
– Ahhh, my, arm, a, ahhhhhh—!
She heard voices full of pain, despair, and fear all around her.
Furthermore, Tasha felt like Ryan's black wall was getting bigger and trying to envelope her starting from the moment she heard the noises.
‘What is this?’
Her heart was beating fast.
‘What is going on right now?’
Tasha felt like she heard the screams of countless people stuck in darkness for a moment.
“Huff, huff.”
Her breathing became heavier.
It was at that moment.
– Do you want to be at peace?
She heard a voice.
Only that voice was clear through the screaming.
It subconsciously made her want to rely on it.
Tasha's breathing became even heavier.
At that moment…
Swoooooooosh-
A streak of wind brushed past Tasha.
“!”
She snapped back to her senses after recognizing the refreshing scent mixed with the wind.
‘What-, what was I about to do?’
She then recognized it.
‘- Do you want to be at peace?’
She had heard that voice before.
‘Ryan.’
It was that bastard's voice.
Tasha got chills after realizing something she had not noticed earlier.
She then heard a voice in her ear.
“Ah… Rin, this is Rin’s voice!”
She heard someone's desperate shout.
One of the Beast people on the ground raised her head. It was a young woman.
Tasha grabbed her.
“Rin?”
She then asked.
The woman did not look at Tasha. She looked up at the sky and screeched.
“You, you died such a painful death- ah, I didn’t know about your pain, I didn’t know! How could they do that-”
The woman’s gaze was dying despite her eyes being open.
And-
Hooooooooooowl—-
Grrrrrr—
The animals started howling again.
Tasha looked around.
In addition to the Beast people, the regular residents and even her subordinate Dark Elf were all breathing heavily in pain.
Tasha subconsciously commented.
“…The cries-”
The screams she was hearing right now were the voices of the dead Beast people.
This black liquid.
Within it were the pain, despair, fear, and terror of the Beast people who ended up as sacrifices-
The more Ryan’s black wall rose into the sky…
The greater the shadow the black wall cast upon the forest…
It made everybody fall into despair to try to imprison them within the darkness.
“…Domination-”
Ryan's voice that was reaching a hand out to them from within the darkness…
This was the domination he was trying to create as a god.
No, it was hell.
“Fuck!”
Tasha scowled.
Swooooooosh-
Wind roared around her.
She reached out her hand.
It wasn't that her wind had some sort of power.
But maybe some of the people might snap back to their senses as she had done.
That was why-
“Go wild!”
Wind started to spread throughout the forest.
Tasha then walked up to her subordinate.
Slap!
She slapped him.
“Grr, rr? Huh?”
She shouted at her subordinate who was blankly staring at her.
"Snap out of it, you fool! What kind of Dark Elf gets controlled by dead mana?!”
This black thing was something dreadful that went away from the true nature of dead mana, but…
“Ah, ah-”
The subordinate subconsciously commented after stuttering for a bit.
“W, what do we do?”
His face was pale.
Tasha subconsciously looked away instead of answering.
She then smiled.
“As I expected.”
This night…
Tasha could see a color that was more radiant than any other was shining brightly.
No, it was burning.
It was like the sun.
“Hey. Gather the people. Tell the others as well.”
Tasha clenched her long spear and ran toward Ryan's castle.
“I'm going to go help the young master-nim.”
The burning rose gold light…
Tasha ran toward the black wall with that as her guide.
“I think Mary should come as well.”
She mumbled to herself as she realized she did not hear the screams anymore.
Of course, her heart was still beating fast.
Her black jewel-like eyes observed the radiant rose gold light that was growing in size.
It felt as if her own eyes were burning.
“Hmm?”
Tasha then found a different flame.
“What is that?”
Between the rose gold light and the blue flame…
There was a faint and small blue dot near them.
She could not tell what it was.
This light was too small compared to the other two.
But Tasha subconsciously focused on that small blue light because it felt oddly familiar.
She then suddenly stopped.
“Oh no!”
Baaaaaang!
Baaaaaang!
She heard two loud bangs before people shot up into the air.
“What a mess!”
Tasha shouted as she kicked off the ground.
However, there were still a lot of people who could not move.
And among them…
“Huff. Huff.”
A large body staggered.
Boom!
A white body smashed into a building wall and became buried.
“Huff. Huff.”
It was Wiesha.
She scowled.
– Ahhhhhhh!
– S, save me!
– Mommy, daddy! I, it hurts, it huuuuurts!
The voices of the dying…
‘They are Beast people.’
She could tell as soon as she heard the voices.
It was painful.
And that motherfucking bastard's voice she heard in the middle…
– Do you want to be at peace?
Ryan.
She heard that motherfucking bastard’s voice.
Wiesha ignored that voice.
Her sight became dyed black the more she ignored it.
No, to be more accurate, it felt like her mind was being submerged into a black swamp.
Despair, fear, and terror that overwhelmed her whole body…
These infectiously strong emotions gnawed away at Wiesha.
‘Why-’
She had experienced quite a lot of things in her life.
That was why she wasn't swayed by hallucinations like these before. Why was it that she was completely paralyzed, unable to do anything?
‘Is this, is this the power of the Dragon trying to become the god of the Beast people?’
The last thing Wiesha saw was Ryan holding the divine item that was dyed black. She also saw Cale and Lock, who were fighting against him.
‘Ah’
She thought about Lock.
‘He’s so close to Ryan right now. Will that child be okay?’
Wiesha felt herself losing strength the deeper she became submerged into the darkness.
She could feel herself becoming powerless.
– Do you want to be at peace?
She felt like she might end up following Ryan's voice at this rate.
‘No.’
‘Do I want to be at peace?’
Of course she wanted to be at peace.
‘No!’
But she could not let herself do that just yet.
Lock.
Lock may call himself an adult, but he was still a young boy to the White Snake.
He looked like one too.
Wiesha recalled her own child while thinking about that young boy.
That little thing-
‘That little girl needs to live longer!
So I cannot be at peace!’
Wiesha forced strength back into her almost powerless body.
At that moment…
Crackle. Crackle.
She heard an odd noise.
It was the sound of a thunderbolt.
After that…
Ruuuumble-
She heard the sky rumbling.
It sounded as if thunder was striking down.
“Ah.”
Her mind that was going dark saw a weird rose gold light.
The moment she recognized that…
The White Snake realized that her eyes were still open and that she had not been able to properly recognize what she was seeing because of fear.
“Ah-”
No words were coming out.
Ryan was glowing blue with a black wall around him.
He was not the only enemy.
Chhh-
There was a white-haired black human with weird black wings.
Ooooooooong-
There was also a Dragon casting numerous magic circles with yellow mana around her.
All of them looked like difficult enemies to defeat.
‘Enemies I cannot defeat.’
Wiesha could tell as soon as she saw them.
Nonetheless, the fear in her heart was slowly disappearing.
Ruuuumble-
The sky roared.
She then saw her allies.
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben. He was standing next to Cale with white gold dust surrounding him.
Choi Han was slowly floating up into the air as well.
His body was covered by a black aura as well.
“Are you back to your senses?”
Wiesha could see Witira and the Tiger warriors extending their hands toward her.
Of course, the enemies were no longer chasing after the escaping people and retreating to the castle as well.
Hooooooooooowl—-
Grrrrrr—
Those enemies were naturally animals.
Wiesha was no longer in her berserk state and back to her human appearance. She reached out and grabbed Witira's hand.
Witira nonchalantly commented with an angry look on her face.
"Even I can’t get near them.”
“It is giving me such a headache. Haha.”
Gashan mumbled with a bitter look on his face.
The Beast people on Cale's side wanted to charge at Ryan but they could not do so as long as that black liquid was present.
They were already at their limit just maintaining their consciousness.
“But how is it that-”
Wiesha subconsciously commented.
The smallest light among the people by Cale's side…
“Those children, especially that child-”
Lock.
“How is he completely fine?”
—
Translator's Comments
Because he is a bad ass!
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