Chapter 421: The Great Jungle of Adur (2)

“Drive it! Push it toward the wall!”

The shout echoed through the jungle. As Karyl crossed into its boundaries, his red-scaled mount balked and refused to go any farther. Leaving it behind, he ventured deeper on foot.

Before long, he heard the shouts again and looked ahead, as if he had been expecting them.

“Kaaak! Khaaaar...!!”

A sharp roar pierced the air.

Pinned against the cliff wall, the Shaveliger bared its gleaming fangs at the people surrounding it. The creature tensed up, with nowhere left to run. This kind of A-rank monster was typically found in the Demon Realm, but here, it was just one of many creatures roaming the jungle as prey.

The Promised Land was likely the only other place on the continent where one could casually run into such monsters. However, unlike the Great Jungle, the Promised Land was uninhabited.

And this one’s a variant.

Shaveligers were more commonly found in the deserts and grasslands where dungeons formed, but this one, native to Adur, looked entirely different.

“Pour poison into the swamp! Trap it so it can’t escape!”

The shout came from a man at the front of the group, broader and more muscular than anyone around him.

It was Halkata, the chief of the Wildlings. Karyl knew exactly who he was, though Halkata likely had no idea who Karyl was.

“Grrrrrr...”

As the variant Shaveliger stood cornered in the swamp, the Wildlings poured barrels of poison into the water around it. The liquid hissed and bubbled, sending up plumes of smoke.

The monster flinched and stepped back, but the Wildlings didn’t stop. Most of the plants that grew in the Great Jungle were poisonous, so the Wildlings, born and raised on those plants, were nearly immune to toxins.

Karyl remembered how even the Jannabi tribe, in his past life, had claimed they had never seen anyone like the Wildlings.

“It stopped moving!”

The variant Shaveliger huffed nervously—not through its nostrils, but through the gill-like slits on its head. Now, with poisonous fumes filling the swamp, thick mucus oozed from those slits as the creature twisted in pain, its massive frame convulsing.

“Don’t move.”

Halkata licked his lips as he stared down the beast, then cracked his knuckles and charged forward.

Thud!

A dull, heavy sound rang out. The monster let out a choked shriek as Halkata drove his fist right into its skull, sending it flying across the field.

Rumble... Crash!

The cliff behind it crumbled from the impact, and boulders tumbled down onto the Shaveliger. Even crushed under the rubble, the beast let out a furious snort and shook its head wildly. It then rose back to its feet as though nothing had happened, charging at its hunter.

Schlinnk

—

That was exactly what Halkata had been waiting for. He reached for his mace, bound to his chest by a thick, X-shaped chain. With a grunt, he swung it up and over his head.

WHAM!!

With a thunderous roar that split the air, the mace slammed directly into the Shaveliger’s stomach.

Crack!

A shard of bone burst through the monster’s hide, the broken ribs piercing straight through its belly from inside.

“Kreeegh...!!”

As the monster let out a pained growl, blood streamed from its gills in a crimson waterfall.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The sheer physical force behind Halkata’s attack had been staggering. It was likely that no one else besides Gordon Fabian and Hwarin could match that kind of raw strength.

“Now, eat the liver and the heart right here. Skin the rest and take the meat with you. The gallbladder’s poisonous, so give it to the kids who haven’t come of age yet. They need to build up a resistance to poison as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Halkata’s command, the Wildlings swarmed around the fallen variant Shaveliger and proceeded to butcher it with practiced hands.

Karyl watched in silence as the Wildlings boxed in the prey, made sure it couldn’t escape, and let the strongest among them deliver the kill.

It was a simple yet efficient method.

In the Great Jungle, where death could come at any time, group hunts were risky. Losing too many warriors in one fight could cripple an entire tribe. That was why only one person ever did the fighting.

Some would consider their methods inefficient, but the Wildlings placed absolute trust in that one hunter.

It was that very belief that kept their numbers alive.

“Hurry up!” the sharp-faced man standing next to Halkata shouted to the others.

“Kyaaaaak!”

Just then, a piercing roar erupted from deeper within the jungle.

“Another one?!”

The Wildlings scrambled to rise. A massive shadow loomed over them from behind the collapsed cliff—another Shaveliger, lunging straight toward them.

Karyl quietly observed the scene. The hunters, still deep in the middle of the butchering, were caught off guard, but none of them ran.

They didn’t let fear take hold and plunge them into chaos. Instead, they deliberately made themselves the monster’s target, limiting its movements so that Halkata would have a clean shot.

“Gutsy bunch,” Karyl muttered with a smirk.

Crack...

!

Suddenly, he emerged above the Shaveliger’s head and stomped down with his foot. There was no roar, just the sharp sound of something snapping.

Thud...!!

The monster’s knees buckled, and as it staggered, Karyl dropped in front of its face. He then swung the flat of his blade across its cheek.

Whip!

The monster’s head snapped to the side.

“Waugh!!”

“G-Get back!!”

The Shaveliger that had been lunging at the Wildlings went flying, slamming into the remains of the first monster’s corpse and crashing to the ground.

“...”

The Wildlings stared at Karyl, stunned into silence.

“With only one blow...?”

“Wait... What’s an outsider doing here...?”

“Who are you?!” they demanded, eyes sharp with suspicion.

“Who am I? So this place really is cut off from the world. Seems like you lot have no clue what’s been going on out there.”

Karyl sat himself down on the severed head of the Shaveliger at his feet, using it like a chair. The sight left the Wildlings speechless.

It wasn’t just that Karyl had knocked the Shaveliger away. The Wildlings realized that the monster hadn’t simply been flung aside. Its head and body had been completely torn apart. And this hadn’t even used the blade’s edge, but its flat side.

Their murmurs grew louder. Not even Chief Halkata had ever split a monster in two with one hit.

“What are you?”

Halkata understood immediately that Karyl had deliberately used the back of his blade, as if to show off.

[This place is fascinating,] Rasis remarked, seemingly more intrigued by the surroundings than the tense standoff.

[It’s hard to believe places like this still exist...]

[This is such a dense jungle, and yet I don’t sense a single trace of spirit power. That’s strange.]

[Don’t you remember? There was a place like this even during the Mythical Era,] Ethereal replied.

[A land absent of spirit breath... Ah. You’re talking about that place,] Rasis said with a nod.

[You don’t think he’s here, do you?]

[Unlikely. After the Great War of the Spirits and Gods, he was sealed away and returned to the Spirit Realm. There’s no way he’d be in the human world.]

[But wherever that bastard shows up, the natural order just goes to hell, just like now. And this is still the human realm. If he were here, the entire ecosystem would collapse in a heartbeat.]

[That may be, but I doubt Yula or Rasis, for that matter, would have left someone they both hated that much in the human world.]

Who are you talking about?

Karyl, still focused on Halkata, asked the question silently.

[We’re talking about Thunder Lord Kungen, the Spirit King of Lightning,] Rasis revealed.

“Hmm...” Karyl’s lips twitched slightly.

The twin swords he had handed to Aidan, Thunderstrike and Thunderclap, were known to be sealed artifacts. They had only emerged after the Magical Era, which meant Kungen’s current whereabouts were still unknown.

Of course, the Great Jungle was humid and saw storms frequently, but that didn’t necessarily mean the Thunder Lord was there.

However, Karyl didn’t dismiss the idea entirely. If there was even a chance Kungen was tied to this place, it would mean he was one step closer to finding one of the two remaining Spirit Kings.

“You bastard... How dare you ignore me—”

Crack

—

The sharp-faced Wildling who had been standing next to Halkata collapsed forward before he finished his sentence.

“Ghk...

Cough

...! Argh...!”

He thrashed in the swamp water, his face submerged.

Everyone stared in confusion, wondering why he didn’t get up. It wasn’t long before they realized he was unable to stand, for his legs were shattered.

“In case you didn’t catch what I just did with my sword, I suggest you stay out of my way.”

Karyl stepped forward and pressed his foot down on the man’s head. His curt warning had silenced every Wildling around him, even though moments earlier, they had been on the verge of rage.

“You ain’t fooling me. You didn’t incapacitate him with your sword. You kicked him.”

“You caught that? As expected of the chief, I suppose.” Karyl shrugged. “Anyway, I assume you all realize you can’t take me down.”

Halkata was now more baffled than angry. “What kind of lunatic storms in here and causes this much chaos?”

“The master of the continent,” Karyl said flatly. “Someone who’s going to be

your

master too.”

The humid air of the jungle felt like it had just dropped ten degrees.

“I’m here to tame the beast.”

“The beast? You’ve lost your mind,” Halkata scoffed. “Even the emperor once tried to take this land, and it broke him.”

“I know who you are, Karyl MacGovern. You might be making noise out there on the continent, but we Wildlings won’t kneel to you. Leave.”

“Oh?” Karyl slowly raised his head, then gave him a sharp grin. “So you do know who I am. Then why are you still standing?”

Halkata narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“If you know about me, why aren’t you kneeling?”

At that moment, Karyl slammed his fist deep into Halkata’s side, digging into his muscles as though they were soft clay.

“Ghk...!”

But instead of collapsing, Halkata seized Karyl’s arm and spun around, locking him in a bear hug. He then grabbed the chain from his mace and looped it around Karyl’s torso, tightening it fast.

Crack... crack...

The bloody hole in his side visibly writhed, and his broken ribs knit themselves back together within seconds.

[Did he just heal his shattered ribs in less than a second? What kind of monster is this guy?] Allen Javius stared in disbelief.

That’s how Wildlings are

.

Poison doesn’t affect them, and their regeneration puts monsters to shame.

[That guy Darryl was right,] Ethereal added. [These aren’t humans. They’re beasts. Not even the Magical Era had freaks like this.]

Beasts, huh...

Karyl smirked.

That guy ain’t no beast. More like an oversized mutt.

[...What?]

Karyl gripped the chain and pulled with both hands.

Clang!

The metal snapped with a sharp, clear ring. The next instant, Karyl twisted his body to flip Halkata overhead and slammed him straight into the swamp.

Splash!

“...?!”

The fierce impact sent water splashing everywhere. Halkata stared up in disbelief just as Karyl grabbed his wrist and twisted it.

“Graahh...!”

There was a sickening crack as his hand bent the wrong way.

“Halkata.” Karyl pinned the giant down, speaking in a quiet, steady voice. You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not here for you. I’m here for the real beast you’ve locked away.”

“...What?”

“I’m here for Anchar, Anchar Halun. I won’t get into explaining, as you know exactly who I’m talking about.”

The moment that name left Karyl’s mouth, murmurs swept through the Wildlings.