V2 Chapter 149
[You have successfully plundered [Spider Crawl]!]
As Cian walked through the forest while munching a spider’s leg, an intense stench of blood and death freely permeated the air. Although there were no corpses that could be seen, if one looks closely, the way Cian passed by, the leaves and trees and even the green ground were painted in red and purple blood.
As he walked with a faint smile, the temperature seemed to have gone down, steeply, turning the atmosphere to one of cold and gloom contrary to the sunny smile on the ash-haired youth.
Signs of death could be seen everywhere across this long stretch of verdant green.
Even those weaker monsters and magical beasts that had sensed the horrifying atmosphere immediately run away from the devilish madman. This caused Cian’s time walking in the wild to be somewhat peaceful.
A pity…
Cian swept his gaze over every nook and cranny in the forest.
When he spotted a certain shrub at a few distances away, he was incapable of looking away.
This particular shrub reached up to his knees and had many branches. Its appearance was not unlike a sculpture made of ruby—pure, translucent, and radiating with vibrant colors. Tucked away within the shrub’s leaves was a single scarlet red fruit that resembled a cherry—tender and glistening.
This is a Crimson Blood Fruit!
I didn’t think a plant like this could appear in this kind of place!
But isn’t this fruit considered extinct…?
Then, how did this fruit end up here?
Just where is this place…?
Cian’s interest in this place continued to increase. However, he didn’t dare carelessly approached it. Using his [Night’s Eye], Cian immediately saw lion-like monsters standing beside the tree. It has gold-colored fur and blade-like sharp claws.
Looking at it closely, it was none other than a [Manticore].
They are monsters classified as B rank Monsters.
Manticores were monsters possessing the head and body of a lion and a scorpion's poisonous tail. If struck by the stinger at the end of their tails, no matter who you are, you would become poisoned and slowly die if not consumed antidote immediately.
Furthermore, there was also a chance of paralysis. Therefore, if anyone didn’t bring Anti-Paralysis Potions, they would end up maimed to death before the poison had any meaningful effect.
Cian frowned. However, his expression was still as calm as ever. He was not afraid of it, not the least bit. Whether it was their poison or paralysis, it would not affect him at all. However, what made Cian stop was the fact that three Manticores with the same size was fighting against six large serpents, almost the same as the one Cian had encountered in the ruins. Well, are they from the same place?
Perhaps.
But the two sides seemed to be fighting for the fruit hanging on the tree.
Cries and wails rang out in the surrounding forest. The Manticores prove their worth as a relative of the King of the Jungle as they overpowered the serpents. With their fangs, claws, and stinger, even if the serpents tried to coil around them, they were able to rip them apart. Watching this scene, Cian withheld his hand and jumped, landing on a large branch of a tree where he can see everything that was happening. Sitting on it, he withdraws a bear’s paw and started eating it.
Hm… one of the Manticores was heavily injured. Its body littered with bite marks and even seemed to be poisoned, it looked like it was dying but it was still biting of an enormous snake without fear. Incredible…
After a few minutes, the battle ended with Manticores overwhelming victory. They then started dragging the snake’s corpses towards the largest one which was guarding the Crimson Blood Tree.
Seeing this, Cian knows it’s time to make his move.
The [Imagis Realis] once again started to wriggle. But this time, it was much longer and looked extremely complex as it started expanding, longer and bigger than a pistol. After almost twenty minutes, unlike a pistol, this time, Cian made was a large rifle, equipped with an adjustable front bipod.
It looked extremely similar to PGM Hecate II, just without a scope. Cian slowly crouched down and adjusted his form into a more comfortable position. This time, Cian didn’t use any ore to make bullets. Instead, he loaded the gun with his own magic power. It’s much stronger this way, and also easy to control the magical effects of the bullet.
At this moment, the anti-materiel rifle was like a long accurate magic wand, and Cian’s magic was cast through it.
Even without a scope, Cian can still shot far away things with his [Night’s Eye]. His first target was the heavily wounded Manticore.
Baaang!! A black spear-like magic streaked in the air along with a thunderous sound. Immediately after, one of the Manticores was shot in the head, the black spear pierced through its head, stabbing on the ground just in front of the Crimson Blood Tree.
The Manticores death caused the other Manticores to become furious and immediately surrounded the corpse of their comrade while surveying the surrounding. However, they cannot see anyone or anything and they could only roar in anger.
Baaang! Another gunshot echoed and a Manticore was hit in the head. However, although black spear managed to hit its head, it immediately dissolves into particles, leaving only a somewhat deep wound on the Manticore.
“Golden Body…”
Cian smiled faintly as he saw the golden radiance from the Manticore’s body.
It was a skill possessed by the Manticores. A weaker version of [Invulnerable Body] that a mythical creature [Golden Lion] possessed, which, for some unknown reason, Cian realized that from the monster's description he had known, was extremely similar to the [Nemean Lion] in Greek Mythology.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
In this world, Manticores are said to be related to that mythical creature, the King of Beasts.
[Golden Body] has the ability to block any weapons or swords, making it almost invulnerable. However, unlike the true [Invulnerable Body], [Golden Body] only reduce the damage to a certain degree, and the fur of the Manticore was already powerful enough, to begin with, so it looks extremely like the [Golden Lion's] invulnerable body!
Cian already expected this. Hence, his first target was the weakest one. He was certain of a sure hit-kill due to the fact that it was already on the brink of death.
The Manticores roared in anger.
In their rage, they opened their mouth and foot sized purple spikes shot down in every direction.
They attack randomly as they cannot find Cian’s location. Cian frowned, but he ignored it and once again powered up his gun. On his current strength, he can still shoot a magical bullet six to seven times before his magic power would be depleted beyond his tolerable limit. Cian didn’t want to waste all his magic power in one fight.
Baaang!!
Another gunshot.
This time, Cian gave more magic power than normal and just as expected, Cian’s attack has much more strength behind it, breaking the [Golden Body], the gold-like aura emitting from the Manticore, and successfully piercing through the Manticore’s head. This time, with the last attack, it accumulated the damage and killed the Manticore in one go. However, Cian’s eyes widened in shock.
The largest Manticore who was staying behind the Crimson Blood Tree turned towards Cian and the latter’s eyes met with him. Cian was certain that his concealment didn’t wear off, but the Manticore seemed to have seen through him. It roared loudly, enough to shake every tree in the area, and started rushing towards Cian’s direction.
Fast! Cian’s expression darkened.
The Manticore’s speed was so fast, if not for his [Night’s Eye], Cian would surely not be able to see its figure!
Booooom!!
The Tree that Cian was hiding exploded into pieces the moment the Manticore pounced on it. However, Cian had already jumped from the tree, his eyes focused on the Manticore’s eyes.
Cian’s eyes widened slightly, he can actually see a hazy and blurry figure, almost as if was a mirage that would wink out of existence with a simple blink of the eye.
It can see him…?!
Cian was shocked!
How high is this monster's awareness?!
Cian already realized that his concealment had lost its meaning as the Manticore’s gaze was like a sharp hawk following its prey no matter where it goes. However, Cian still didn’t deactivate his concealment… who cares if you can see me? Try your best to follow me then!
The Manticore roared in rage and once again lunged at him. The rifle in his hand had already turned into a pitch-black sword.
Purple spikes shot towards him.
They were spikes that were coated with paralysis poison. Once hit by it, you would surely be struck by a paralysis poison and would never be able to move. Even a drop of its poison can immobilize a powerful person in an instant. This is how frightening a Manticore is!
Swinging his sword, Cian blocks all the spikes and repels them. Some managed to hit him, but it didn’t even touch his skin before shooting towards where it came from. The Manticore was surprised but it immediately jumped away and stops, staring at Cian’s figure with a wary expression.
Cian grinned as he stood a few meter distances away from it. Physical attacks are much easier to reflect than magical attacks. As long as kinetic energy is present, he can deflect them all without a problem. And unlike Magical Attacks, he can easily repel their attack even without understanding the law behind them.
As he was about to take the initiative to attack, suddenly, his left wrist shook. Hm? The green bracelet in his left wrist was glowing with emerald color. Sibylla? Immediately as he realized what’s going on, Sibylla’s voice rang out inside his mind: ‘Where are you?!’ her voice seemed somewhat angry.
“Oh…hello baby, something wrong?” he asked lightly as he made a distance by jumping backward. Cian's awareness was extremely high, and suddenly as he was making a distance, he immediately felt danger, and instantly stopped his movement and made a horizontal dodging motion on his toes.
Boom!
A black shadow jumps out from the forest and attacks him. It was a Manticore that suddenly out of nowhere, pounced at him. He twist his body midair and evade it.
‘Where are you?!!’ once again another voice rang out within his mind. She seems really pissed. Cian smield wryly.
“I'm sorry I--?!!” Cian was about to answer, but the once again, without finishing his words, he jumped sideways, as a Manticore lunged at him from behind. Now, the last two remaining Manticores started attacking him from two directions. “...I think it’s a bad timing right now. Can we talk later?”
‘You’re fighting? What monster? The Red Crown Dragon Serpent?!’ Oh, she knows? And why does she seem surprised? ‘…with your ability, you should have already killed it by now, right?’
Ah, so that’s it… Cian chuckled in amusement. This girl really understands me…
“Nope, the Red Crown Dragon Serpent was delicious~”
‘As I thought…anyway, why are you not heading back? What are you still doing there?!’
“I’m kinda busy, right now actually. So I’ll probably take a long time to return, so please wait for me…”
‘Are you insane?! Why the hell did you think I came with you?’
“I’m sorry baby, things suddenly took a drastic turn. Anyway, I’ll compensate you for this after I return. And I will also explain this to you later, because I think I will be here for quite a while. Please?”
‘…fine, but you owe me one. You better tell me what’s going on next time, and also better return as soon as possible,’
“I know, and I love you baby, bye-bye,”
After saying that, Cian ended the mental connection with the golden bracelet and slashed down his sword, repelling the Manticore’s stinger. But the Manticore opened its mouth and spat out a purple mist.
Poison again! Cian sneered, poison doesn’t work on me, stupid! With his leg raised up, he kicked the Manticore’s abdomen, sending the monster crashing against a large tree, all while ignoring the poison mist that covered him. The Poison Mist surrounded him like a fog, but rather than choked and suffer, Cian felt his blood boiled as he breathe the foul air--he then felt as if his blood crazily absorbed the poison within him, causing him to feel somewhat energized. He even felt quite comfortable, as if he was dipped in a cold spring under the hot summer sun.
But under Cian's complicated expression, he saw the Manticore he had kicked with all his power, slowly standing up like nothing, though, it appeared wobbly. However, “Tsk! Even the Red Crown Dragon Serpent spat out blood after receiving that hit, and yet… you just stood up without feeling anything… truly a monster!”
Just what kind of laws does this Golden Body adhere to…really? Physical Attack Reduction? Is it slowing down kinetic energy? Cian furrowed his brows as he analyzes the Manticore’s power. Then, he stared at the monster's movement calmly, matching its movement. This battle seemed to be not as easy as he expected.
… …
“…fine, but you owe me one. You better tell me what’s going on next time, and also better return as soon as possible,” Sibylla gritted her teeth in frustration. She really doesn’t know what to do with this lover of hers whose recklessness was beyond any others.
“I know, and I love you baby, bye-bye,” he said with a clear chuckle at the other end of the connection. The way his voice went all soft and low when he said it gave her goosebumps. Then, the mental connection towards the golden bracelet was cut off.
That bastard son of a…!! Sibylla took a deep breath to calm her boiling emotions down. Does he think that just a mere ‘I love you’ could ease her anger? Although she was certain that Cian was fine, even if it’s against an A-ranked Monster, but without confirming it, she was still a bit worried.
And yet this bastard… instead of going back immediately after encounter danger, he once again went somewhere she doesn’t know and was fighting monsters without care!
How selfish could a person be…?
I know I shouldn’t have let that idiot go alone!
Damn it!!
“H, how is he…?”
As Sibylla was having a headache in what she should do, a worried voice called out from behind her.
Sibylla turned towards the source of the voice. She almost forgot this ‘guest’ because of that idiot. This ‘guest’ was a woman she had not seen before, but she knows that her extremely fickle and womanizing fiancée had once again provoked another woman without her knowledge.
How long has it been since they’ve entered this City?
It’s just two to three days, and yet this bastard had already fished out someone…?
What kind of talent is this…?