Ch.70Intermission

I charged the axe’s blunt side with lightning and struck the fragment embedded in the giant ant’s head. The fragment drove deeper, and lightning followed it, burning through the creature’s head.

*Boom…*

The lightning successfully fried its brain, and the giant ant, seemingly drained of all strength, could no longer support its massive body and collapsed to the ground.

It seemed truly dead, but to prepare for any contingencies, I grabbed the largest fragment and struck the connection between its body and thorax.

The creature showed no reaction, merely swaying with each of my strikes. Eventually, its innards were exposed, and the demonic beasts and I grabbed its neck and pulled with all our might…

*Riiiiip—!!*

Finally, its enormous neck gradually tore apart and fell to the ground.

*Thud—!!*

The giant ant’s head fell to the ground with a massive cloud of dust.

*Roooaaaar—!!!!*

I raised the massive head high into the sky and let out a victory roar that echoed throughout the forest, and the other demonic beasts did the same.

The roar that spread through the forest signified our victory and the insects’ defeat.

*Thud—!!!*

After finishing my roar, I threw the head—larger than my own height—to the ground. As I climbed down from the creature’s thorax, Mary was the first to welcome me.

“Khan! Great job! I can’t believe you were able to take down this monster…”

“Grrrr (It was all size and no skill, just hiding behind its minions. The carapace gave me some trouble, but I’m glad we won.)”

“Yeah, yeah. Good work. And Khan, there’s something you need to see. Will you follow me?”

With a questioning look, I followed Mary, and various demonic beasts approached to congratulate me.

The horned deer—Mary told me its species name was Psychic Reindeer—and his wife Kamin, along with my fellow tribesman Wraaw who had appointed himself as their guard.

Storm Wing, owls, gorillas, hedgehogs, and many other demonic beasts welcomed me. Of course, there were quite a few casualties too.

Five beasts had been caught in the giant ant’s final attack—its acid sting and various projectiles. In total, about seven demonic beasts had died just to kill this giant ant.

But the dead were dead, and the living were living. We had banded together to destroy this giant ant, so while we paid our respects, we didn’t mourn.

As I moved forward receiving congratulations from the demonic beasts, I saw Minky lying there.

He had been hit by acid stings in several places, leaving holes in his once magnificent shell, and his feet were similarly punctured.

“Minky is being treated now! I think he’ll need intensive care for at least two days…”

*Groooan…*

I stroked Minky’s head as he whimpered in pain. Mary seemed to sympathize with his suffering, perhaps because she had formed a bond with him during their brief time together.

“Grrrr? (You called me here because Minky was injured?)”

“Huh? No! Minky was just on our way! Where we need to go is the center of the forest!”

*Groooan!?*

Minky howled as if to say that was too harsh, but Mary paid no attention and moved forward. I patted Minky’s head to comfort him, then followed after Mary.

The demonic beast alliance that had fought alongside us looked fearful when Mary and I headed toward the center of the forest, but they soon seemed to make up their minds and followed behind me.

Following Mary, we passed the middle of the forest and finally reached the area closest to the center—the giant ant’s habitat. Perhaps because we were getting closer to the forest’s master, I felt increasingly overwhelmed by its killing intent and pressure.

Many demonic beasts tucked their tails and fled from this overwhelming killing intent and pressure, leaving only the Psychic Reindeer couple and Wraaw.

The giant ant’s territory was so devastated it could hardly be called a forest. It seemed to have gone on rampages frequently, as broken trees were everywhere and the open space provided clear visibility.

There were also numerous insect corpses. Most were ants, with occasional remains of aggressive insects like rhinoceros beetles, stag beetles, and hornets.

They had been dead for a long time, with only their exoskeletons remaining to indicate they had once existed. Mary paid no attention to these sights and continued advancing toward the center of the forest.

We advanced and advanced until we reached… the domain of the forest’s master.

*Grrrr…*

The killing intent and pressure emanating from this place filled me with terror, as if entering meant instant death. The pressure was so strong it was difficult to breathe properly.

In fact, my feet were stepping backward. If I continued forward, it felt like I would truly die. The reindeer couple and Wraaw were in the same situation, gasping for breath and struggling to breathe.

“Khan, this way.”

Only Mary seemed unaffected by the master’s influence, calmly leading us forward. My face must have looked pathetic, contorted with fear.

Meeting Mary’s eyes, I steeled my resolve, nodded firmly, and took a step forward instead of backward. To shake off the fear consuming my body, I roared with all my might.

*ROOOAAARRR———!!!!!*

After roaring loud enough to shake the forest, I slapped my face hard enough to make a smacking sound and moved forward.

Surprised by my attitude, the reindeer couple and Wraaw looked at me with shocked expressions… and then bowed their heads and bent their knees in respect as they saw us off.

I advanced with my guard at its highest, tensing my entire body to avoid being overwhelmed by the master’s killing intent and pressure… and finally met the forest’s master.

“This is the master of the forest.”

The forest’s master was dead, nothing but a skeleton the size of Mary.

“Grrrr…? (This small thing?)”

A skeleton so tiny it would barely be visible in my palm. Yet it was indeed the forest’s master, as the killing intent emanating from the bones was terrifying.

For mere remnants of power to emit such killing intent and pressure… in life, it must have been a monster like Lassis.

“Yes. The forest’s master was a small squirrel. But it was a squirrel that could control the power of the earth. It used that power to enlarge its body, causing people to mistake it for a giant stone beast. When I came with the Queen, it showed its true form, so I knew what kind of being it was… but I never expected to see it dead like this.”

“Grrrr (But how strong was it that even its bare bones emit such killing intent and pressure?)”

“Well… the forest’s master once fought against Lassis and survived.”

It fought against Lassis and survived… If I had faced it while it was alive, I would have been instantly destroyed.

“So, the reason I brought you here, Khan… is because I want you to eat the master’s remains.”

“Grrrr? (Eat its remains?)”

Mary nodded at that. Though I couldn’t speak, her expression made it clear I had to eat it, so I closed my eyes tight and swallowed the skeleton.

[You have consumed the remains of the Earth-Running Stone Spirit. You have obtained a remnant of the power of a giant who dominated an era.]

[Identified the stron#% pow₩☆♡ from the remains. You have obtained Elements[Earth].]

The being must have been so powerful it nearly broke the system, as the text came out corrupted. What I gained was Elements[Earth], similar to my Thunder.

I felt two energies circulating through my body—the intense energy of lightning and the solid energy of earth. Feeling these two powers flowing through me gave me intense satisfaction.

“Congratulations, Khan. I don’t know what you got, but I can tell from your expression that you’re satisfied! The remains of powerful demonic beasts contain powerful forces.”

“Grrrr. (Thank you. But then… wouldn’t the same be true for that giant ant?)”

“Did you feel stronger killing intent or pressure from that insect than from the master’s bones?”

When she put it that way… hmm. Indeed, comparing the intense killing intent and pressure emitted by mere remains to the giant ant, it made sense.

“Now let’s get out of here! We need to treat Minky quickly, we’re busy!”

With those words, Mary quickly left the place, and we followed her out of the master’s domain.

* * * * * *

Two weeks had passed since the battle with the giant ant. During that time, Mary had treated the injured demonic beasts, and I had collected the giant ant’s carapace.

“Grrrr (Let’s get going now.)”

“Yes! Everyone take care of yourselves!”

After resting well for two weeks and becoming somewhat accustomed to the master’s power, we prepared to leave the forest.

[Are you really leaving? We finished our discussion and decided to serve you as the forest’s master…]

“Yes! Khan says he has no interest in such a position! He came here to fight, and he’s satisfied after fighting to his heart’s content!”

When I nodded at her words, Kamin looked at me with disbelief. But knowing it was the truth, she nodded readily.

[If that is your wish… I understand. Then please accept this.]

As she nodded, a gorilla beside her handed over an enormous horn. I remember that’s what her husband’s horn looked like…

[This is a horn flute made from my husband’s horn. No matter how far the distance, it has the ability to reach our ears. If you blow this horn, we promise to drop everything and come to your aid.]

“Grrrr. (Thank you.)”

“Thank you! I’ll make good use of this backpack too!”

When I put the huge horn into Mary’s bag, the enormous horn flute instantly disappeared.

“Well, we’re off! Take care!”

*Grooooan!!*

Minky’s large eyes welled up with tears, unable to believe we were leaving… but despite acknowledging his destructive power, we couldn’t take him with us because his movement speed was too slow, making him likely to die.

After stroking Minky and briefly communing with him, we left the Forest of Demonic Beasts where we had spent about a month and set off again toward human territory.