Chapter 154 – Chapter 29: War Destruction #5

The giants living in the Curtis area could be classified into three types.

There were: the Gullams, a hunting clan in the vicinity of the forest; the Paran, a warrior clan near the Western Limit Line; and lastly, the Hwarin, a clan that lived scattered throughout Curtis.

Among the three clans, the Paran clan was the biggest when it came to scale.

In fact, there were only 1,000 giants, but they were giants with an average height of 10 meters. In addition to that, the combat power of the White Warriors, a group of 100 Paran warriors, was beyond imagination. The Demon King’s Palace considered the combat power of the White Warriors alone as equivalent to one army consisting of thousands of soldiers.

In contrast, the smallest one was the Hwarin clan. They led livestock such as sheep and cattle all over Curtis, so there weren’t more than 100 of them.

The size of the Gullam, a hunting tribe, was between the Paran and Hwarin tribes. The Gullam lived in a few villages throughout the forest, and their total population numbered approximately 300 to 400.

Those who heard about Curtis only heard about the Paran tribe, usually referred to as the ‘western giants’. It wasn’t because the Paran had the largest number but because they were more prominent due to their ability to maintain the Western Limit Line. They were a powerful giant clan which could be called a steel castle.

However, those who lived in Curtis and encountered the three giant tribes knew the Gullam were a mighty combat clan which didn’t fall short of the Paran clan.

The Gullam hunted the animals living in the great forest. Unlike the Paran clan, who fought against the western barbarians, the Gullam considered it more glorious to fight gigantic monsters. The huge size of the giants was a minimal requirement to fight against the monsters in the great forest.

Thus, the Gullam hunters were strong. Among the three giant clans, the Gullam had the best individual strength.

Galang, one of the three best hunters in the Gullam clan, voiced his concerns with a very serious face,

“Your Highnesses, that is a place we don’t go into that often. It is very dangerous.”

In-gong wasn’t going to the area where the Gullam usually hunted. It was a deep place which would require almost a day to reach, even with the quick pace of the giants.

In-gong climbed onto the huge map on the Gullam’s table and said.

“Don’t worry too much. I’m not going to run in recklessly.”

However, Galang still seemed concerned. Those who came to the countryside always talked this way. Galang hesitated to answer, and Felicia backed In-gong up.

“It is okay because we have Shutra. I understand your concerns, but we are children of the demon king. So, please believe in us.”

She said it with a friendly smile, but the last sentence was a type of warning. At this point, Galang realized In-gong and Felicia weren’t spoiled and immature children but the children of the demon king.

As a seasoned hunter, Galang was a quick-witted person. He understood Felicia’s warning immediately. Although the prince and princess still seemed small and tender, he hid his thoughts. Then he started thinking rationally. As Felicia had said, they were children of the demon king. This meant that unlike their appearances, they had considerable skills.

The demon king was the apex of the Demon World, the most powerful person in this world. Just like how a tiger would give birth to tigers, the demon king would have the most powerful children.

“I understand. Please forgive my rudeness.”

Felicia smiled at Galang’s apology and responded,

“No, it is natural to worry. Rather, it is nice to know that you are trustworthy.”

“She handled this really well.”

Carack murmured as he gazed at Felicia with an admiring expression.

“It wasn’t taken seriously, but I truly mean it. It will be okay if we have Shutra.”

“Why is he so valuable?”

Telling Galang this meant Felicia thought he was reliable. Felicia, who travelled all over the Demon World to explore ruins, knew how important it was to cooperate with the locals. It was better to maintain a good relationship than to pressure them with her authority.

After their path was arranged to a certain extent, In-gong looked at the party and said,

“Karma, please look after Felicia noona. If something happens, your top priority is escaping with Noona.”

“I understand, Your Highness.”

Delia was already Felicia’s escort, but that wasn’t enough. Karma’s quick feet meant she could lift Felicia and escape from the battlefield in an instant.

“Carack, protect Felicia noona, Karma and Delia.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll show you what an orc shield is.”

Carack smiled and raised his shield. He was wearing the new full body armour made by Amita, so he really was like a moving castle.

Finally, In-gong looked at Carlos, who was the guide soldier given by Anastasia. After taking various medicines which had been sneaked in last night, Carlos had abdominal pain, diarrhea and a headache. So, Anastasia’s subordinate wasn’t able to join the ruin exploration, but he looked a bit pitiful.

“Okay, then let’s depart.”

After finishing his preparations, In-gong left the village of the Gullam clan, leaving behind Carlos, who was lying down.

&

“I want to go back…”

It had been two hours since leaving the village, and Felicia was muttering in a small voice from her position on Galang’s back.

The weather in the forest was unusual, just like in Evian. Thanks to this weather, the forest showed a very different appearance from ordinary forests. The outskirts of the forest, where the Gullam village was located, was cool. The trees were the thin, straight types commonly found in winter forests. Despite the winter weather, it started to become hot as they headed deeper, and it soon became like a rainforest.

However, Felicia’s desire to return wasn’t due to the humid weather or the sweat all over her body.

Just like how the giants and trees were big, so were the other things in the forest. The serpents in the trees were so big that they could swallow a human in one bite. Bugs the size of a human’s head flew around, causing them great fear.

Carack, sweating in his armour, crouched on a tree and clicked his tongue as he watched a giant monkey. The monkey was watching the party like they were its prey. If Galang and the giants weren’t present, it would attack straight away.

“Now I know why only giants live in this forest.”

The elves were a species that lived in forests. However, right now, a dark elf, who could be called a relative of the elves, was showing her desire to go home.

Moreover, she was sitting on Galang’s back, so she got motion sickness. Felicia was limp, while poor Karma and Delia also seemed to be in a bad state.

Carack swallowed his saliva and looked up at the sky. White Eagle was clearly seen in the sky.

‘Master, is it cool?’

“It is cool. Green Wind is really competent.”

While everyone, including Felicia, was suffering from the heat, In-gong was enjoying the cool wind created by Green Wind. The air itself was hot, so creating wind would just cause hot air. However, In-gong solved this problem by using the ice spirit he contracted some time ago. It was simple for Green Wind to create a cool wind by filtering the air through the ice spirit.

Felicia was able to do this, but she refrained since it was a waste of magic power. However, it wasn’t so hard for In-gong who had a dragon heart.

Green Wind laughed with pleasure at In-gong’s praise and said,

‘Yes, I am competent and useful.’

“Yes.”

In-gong stroked the surface of White Eagle which he was sitting on and looked at the mini-map.

‘There are too many creatures with hostility.’

He was scouting from the sky, but there were too many red dots on the mini-map. It was understandable that Galang had been reluctant to go into this area.

‘It was a good choice not to bring Kappa.’

Kappa had fallen in love with Felicia and wanted to come along, but Galang and the other Gullam hunters opposed it. They judged that this journey would be too risky for a young girl to come along.

There were five Gullam hunters on this journey, including Galang. According to the calculations of the Demon King’s Palace, they were equivalent to 200 soldiers. Many enemies were staring at them, but there were none who actually attacked.

It would be nice if they could arrive without any problems.

Just as In-gong was thinking this…

“Down!”

Galangs suddenly gave a loud shout. The surprised In-gong jumped up, looking down at the ground and the mini-map simultaneously. Huge vines were protruding from the ground and rushing toward the party like snakes.

“It is a carnivorous plant!”

One of the Gullam hunters exclaimed. Each of the hunters, led by Galang, swung a spear or sword at the vines. Felicia cast a magic spell hurriedly.

“Fire Barrier!”

The barrier of fire was larger than usual and spread to the sides of the party. No matter how humid the forest was, there was a lot of wood around, so it was crazy to create fire. However, In-gong had no doubts in Felicia. She controlled the flames perfectly using the fire spirit and wind spirit.

Over the past six months, Felicia had been training while following In-gong. She showed significant growth compared to how she had been six months ago.

“Too small!”

Felicia complained while sweating, but it was enough. Thanks to the barrier of fire which reached up to Gullam’s waist, the carnivorous plants didn’t dare approach In-gong’s party.

However, it was still too early to relax. There were many monsters aiming at the party through the gap created by the carnivorous plants.

“The side! Be prepared!”

Galang cried out. There was a flash as something jumped out from the left.

It was a huge monkey. The large monster, the size of Gullam’s head, leapt forward, and its power was really enormous.

Felicia screamed, while Karma and Delia swallowed their saliva. As Carack raised his shield, In-gong headed down from the sky.

It was like a white flash. In-gong flew straight toward the jaw of the leaping money and pulled back his right fist, while both legs were firmly set on White Eagle. The closer he got, the more he felt like he was heading toward a cliff.

What could he use against that huge enemy? In-gong decided to think in a straightforward manner. He concentrated aura on Earth Quaker, and it gave off an angry roar. He would use the most succinct, yet effective measure—

Explosive Power!

Kwang!

In-gong’s fist struck the jaw of the monkey monster. In-gong’s fist was small compared to the jaw of the huge monster. However, this wasn’t a simple hit but one with an aura explosion behind it. The monkey was hit by a terrible aura and fell to the ground as soon as it jumped. Its brain was shaken by the impact, and it didn’t stand back up immediately.

Simultaneously, In-gong had added momentum to Night Watch and wasn’t propelled back by the backlash. He stood on the jaw of the monkey monster and calmed his breathing.

In-gong had poured a lot of aura into the attack, and fortunately, it had ended the monster.

In-gong circulated his aura as he caught his breath, and the Gullam hunters stared with surprise at In-gong’s blow. Then Green Wind shouted,

‘Master! The sky!’

“Protect your heads! Breath is coming!”

Galang shouted again. In-gong looked up at the sky hurriedly. A giant monster was descending rapidly from the sky toward them. In-gong had faced it in Knight Saga.

‘Wyvern!’

One of the dragon species—it wasn’t intelligent enough to write or speak magic, but it was a terrible monster. Additionally, they were able to shoot out breath attacks. The wyverns had bodies which spanned approximately 10 meters from the tip of the head to the tail. So, from the standpoint of the Gullams, the wyverns were difficult monsters to deal.

The breaths of the wyverns poured down from the sky.

There were five wyverns attacking, and instead of rushing, the five of them flew past, shooting out breaths.

Kwang kwang kwang!

There were loud explosions as five energy bombs hit the ground. Galang pulled out his bow hastily, while Felicia lifted the barrier of fire. If the barrier of fire wasn’t controlled during the chaos, a tremendous disaster could happen.

“They are coming back!”

The wyverns turned in the air and fired breaths toward the ground again. Breath was limited to three times a day, and it was the same for the wyverns. However, they were pouring the power out generously toward the party.

The shock swept up the ground again. One of the Gullam hunters was directly hit by an energy shot and collapsed to the ground. Since this was an opportunity, the wyverns tried to directly attack the person who had fallen. Galang fired arrows hurriedly, but it was impossible to keep all five of the wyverns in check.

“Shutra!”

Felicia shouted. One of the wyverns was staring at the stunned monkey monster, and a sharp atmosphere poured out from it like lightning.

In-gong looked at the wyvern. He had many thoughts in that split moment. How should he deal with it? It was the first time he had to deal with a giant flying monster like the wyvern. When he thought about it, In-gong had no means of ranged attack.

He could use Fire Arrow. However, that was impossible. The Fire Arrow was too small for the wyvern. It was possible to pour in too much magic power to create a ballista style Fire Arrow, but he wondered if that would have enough power.

Galang shot an arrow. The wyvern turned away from In-gong hastily, and a sharp strong wind swept the ground as it headed back to the sky. It was aiming for a ranged attack.

Then something came to In-gong’s mind. He didn’t have to be beaten to get an attack. What he wanted to do now was innate. His instincts said it was possible, and his logic agreed with his instincts. However, he couldn’t help being perplexed by his thoughts.

‘W-what is this? This?’

His confusion was short-lived as In-gong returned to reality again. He invoked the power of Conquest and gave an order to the dragon heart.

Felicia had said it. Since he had the dragon heart, he could use dragon magic which was a privilege of the dragons.

Dragon magic—it was the language of dragons, and the magic created the breath naturally. However, there was something more instinctual than that. There was a great power which only a person with a dragon heart could use.

The wyvern reached its peak height and prepared to attack. The rest of the wyverns tried to shoot their breaths again.

However, In-gong looked at them sharply, and the power inherent in his dragon heart—the great authority of the dragon king—was invoked!

Dragon Breath!

A green cluster of energy grew from approximately 10 centimeters away from In-gong’s open mouth. It condensed until it was a pillar of light shooting into the air!

The pillar of light pierced the chest of a wyvern, and the other wyverns felt an instinctive fear toward the power of the dragon king. The flights of the other four wyverns, which had not been hit by the attack, became unstable.

[Dragon Breath Lv1 has been learnt.]

Everyone, except Galang who was firing his arrows, stared at In-gong. No, even Galang was looking at In-gong constantly.

In-gong endured their gazes and aimed another Dragon Breath at the wyverns.

&

“Shutra is amazing. No, you are strange. A scam.”

“Oh, this time there are some similarities, Princess.”