Iron Blooded Hound

Chapter 90: Rising from the Depths

"In the event that you don't have the foggiest idea what you will get, try not to make anything." That's what Hugo Les Baskerville used to say whenever he wanted to forge the Seven Teeth. He always faced many challengers, and he always managed to put them under his blade.

Among the people who have challenged Hugo meanwhile, there are numerous who have performed unexpected and unusual actions, such as surprise attacks, assassinations, ambushes, betrayals, and condemnations, but ultimately, all of them were futile.

Overwhelming strength.

Before that, all variables and surprises are bound to deteriorate into mere tricks.

And Vikir was utilizing that pattern to his advantage.

[grrrrr... ... ]

The only difference was that the overwhelming power was not his own, but someone else's.

<Oxbear>.

Risk Rating: A

Size: 5 meters

Seen as in: Red and Dark Mountains, seventh Edge

- A monstrous beast with two large horns.

A predatory bear, the strongest terrestrial predator, and a perfect killing machine, it is considered the strongest and pinnacle of the Red and Dark Mountains seventh Edge ecosystem.

They have few natural enemies other than their own kind.

A beast with two massive horns.

Standing at around five meters tall and weighing a ton, it is one of the most dangerous creatures in the world.

This oxbear was even known to Vikir.

"... ... a filthy, blind female."

This oxbear was over two times as tall as the others and weighed over two times as much.

If I had to rate this one, I'd give it an A+ or better.

This was the old female's territory, where the Iliad was taking place.

Vikir knew the area from a previous joint hunt with Aiyen and had deliberately caused a commotion to attract the female oxbear.

Achheman, who had never been out hunting, hadn't realized it, and that's why he had encountered this fate.

"Ugh...."

Ahheman desperately wiped the foamy spit off the edge of his mouth with two hands.

Oxbear strained its ears to hear what was happening around it.

'It seems that his already bad eyesight worsened.'

This, too, was something Vikir already knew.

Shhh.

Vikir fell backward silently.

<Gorge Fly 'Beelzebub'>/Drill

-1 space: Consume - Cerberus (A+)

Opening - 2: Quiet Slope - Mushuhushu(A+)

Opening - 3: Sacrum - Oxbear(A)

Thanks to the skill I acquired from capturing the monster snake Mushuhushu some time back, my steps are silent.

Ahheman, on the other hand, can't help but groan in pain as Cerberus' fire still burns in the wound Vikir left behind.

"Hmph! Hmph!"

Add to that the fact that his back, which had been struck by Oxbear's forepaw just minutes ago, was now feeling the impact.

The slowly growing irritation, and the constant surge of pain, finally forced Ahheman's bloodied lips to twist open.

"Aaaaaaah!"

And Oxbear responded to the sound immediately.

Thwack!

Oxbear slammed its front paws together, sending Ahheman's lower half flying.

He spun like a top and crashed into a tree, his legs and back bent in an odd manner.

[Crunch!]

Oxbear once again unleashed its fury on the intruder.

[Shriek]

Her ears perked up at a cry from behind her.

She whirled around to see two wide-eyed Oxbear cubs.

Their sturdy bodies were reminiscent of whelps, and their gleaming eyes showed intelligence.

The female oxbear grunted at the intruders before turning back to her cubs.

By now, she likely concluded that she had demonstrated her protective greatness and resolve.

And then.

Vikir emerged from the bushes.

Ahheman was lying on the ground, unmoving.

But he was clearly still breathing, as his labored breathing could be felt.

Stir pass-sac

The leaves rustled around him.

The champions of Balak, who had been observing the Iliad, were gathering.

All the champions surrounded Vikir and Ahheman.

The winners and losers were quite clear. Vikir was unscathed, and Ahheman, though alive, was literally hanging on for his life.

"It's over. We have a winner."

"Right now, does it matter if Ahheman is innocent or not?"

"No matter who's innocent, Ahheman was just too bad."

"I think it turned out well in the end."

The fighters each voiced their opinion.

From the Red Plague to the present-day Iliad, they'd all had their own encounter with Ahheman, big or small.

And as he listened to what they had to say about him, he sank to the ground like a worm, trembling.

"Why! Why!"

Ahheman was shouting.

What was the difference between him and this Vikir before him?

Why was his path so different from his own, even though they were both brought as slaves from a foreign land?

He thought of all the years of misery he had endured.

And all that Vikir had.

Youth. The daughter of a tribal chief who adored him. The trust of all her peers around her. The support and love of his tribe long ago. Her extraordinary abilities and radiant appearance.

But that gleam in those eyes, as if he didn't care about any of it.

"...! ...! ...!"

Ahheman gritted his teeth. He ground his gums, even though all of his teeth were missing.

He tore his eyes away from Vikir and examined himself.

Old. An old shaman who was treated like a puppet. Scorned and disregarded by all his peers. Used and abandoned by the Empire. Unnoticed abilities and a body that was now crippled.

The sense of inadequacy, defeat, scorn, anger, resentment, and compensatory feelings of an old man who has lost everything to a young man who has everything.

And.

"...."

Ahun quickly averted his gaze from the one that met his.

The last straw. His grandson's presence ignited Ahheman's emotions, causing them to explode.

Meanwhile.

"...."

Ahun's head was turned away, his fists clenched tightly.

Then, a hand clapped him on the shoulder.

Vikir. He looked at Ahun with calm eyes.

"What about taking matters into your own hands?" he said.

"... ... I don't want to."

Ahun shook his head. He almost lost his sister during the Red Plague.

He could never forgive his grandfather for that.

There was also bitterness and anger at the way he had treated her and his sister all those years.

But Vikir shook his head.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing to save him in the nick of time. It's for justice, but also to prevent what is happening... ... ."

"Enough! That defeatist deserves to die, he's not worthy of pity!"

Ahun slapped Vikir's hand away and turned away again.

Suddenly.

Ku-oh-oh-oh!

Something happened.

All around the grounds, strange currents of mana began to form.

Snap, pop, pop!

The

sound of bones interlocking, and the bodies of the orangutans that had been struck by Oxbear's front paws earlier began to rise again.

They shed their heavy cloaks of decaying flesh and regained their skeletal forms.

Balak's champions recoiled at the sight of the undead.

The orangutan bodies soon moved like marionettes, walking over to help Ahheman to his feet.

Then. Ahheman raised his red eyes to look at Vikir, then at Ahun beside him, and at Balak's fighters beyond.

" ... ... I don't need you. Any of you."

Ahheman resigned. He wasn't talking about the Iliad.

He meant giving up everything he had as a champion of Balak.

And.

When one Balak was gone, one Lavish was born.

When he abandoned his champion's pride, Ahheman began to practice a forbidden discipline that had never been practiced even within the Lavish itself.

A forbidden mantra to bring back the dead to life in flesh.

When the Balak champions heard him utter the spell, they gave him looks of disgust.

"What is this, another of your foolish resurrection spells?"

"How grotesque. Even though you claim to be a shaman,... ... ."

"But what else is there to do, we don't even have corpses to resurrect anymore!"

There are no more dead bodies around here.

Perhaps a few orangutans here were the only dead that Ahheman could raise.

But.

"...!"

Vikir snapped.

He realized that Ahheman's spell was not directed here, but rather further away.

Vikir turned his head to follow the dark mana flow.

There he saw a familiar place.

A valley and waterfall rising high above the low rolling hills, and a spring of dragon's water flowing beneath it.

It was the Tomb of the Brave, where Balak's ancestors were all said to be buried.

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