Read Novel Full Chapter 505: The Otherside? [7 - END]
Chapter 505: The Otherside? [7 - END]
While Emilio continued to resist the push of the Drowned King with every ounce of mana, willpower, and strength he had left...
The Jungle Lord began to regenerate from his dastardly wounds.
However... He still didn’t choose to wake up.
More accurately, he was unable to yet, for it seems the Drowned King’s omnidirectional attack had caused him to fall into a dream...
***
It was only days ago that he remembered sitting upon his stone throne. And for countless years, he sat upon that same throne that he claimed from the previous Jungle Lord.
Apart from watching the tribe people of the jungle climb the steps of the Jungle God’s Temple, he wasn’t given anything to do other than train and sharpen his skills.
Every now and then, he would face an opponent that was brave enough to intrude into the Heart of the jungle to face him, but even so...
They were still too weak.
Drip... Drip...
Countless litres of blood his stone tools drank belonged to dozens, or even hundreds, of monsters that intruded into his arena. But he gained no thrill from battles with regular monsters.
The thrill he had to survive when he was but an infant in the jungle was long gone.
The last time he felt high on the thrill of battle was when he faced the previous Jungle Lord. But when he took home victory... He had also accidentally left behind the thrill that he was fighting for.
By instinct, monsters were born to devour and grow stronger; only rarely would they develop sentient minds of their own before developing their Mana Core to the 3rd stage.
But he was different.
He was born strong, fast, and... Intelligent.
He continued to kill, wait, watch, and kill all on repeat. And as the duty of the Jungle Lord, he remained in his place—protecting the Temple—and continued to please his divine master.
But that was all until that fateful day that he met a creature he hadn’t ever seen before arrive, and in a group, as well.
He found them interesting the moment he laid eyes on them, mainly due to the fact that they wielded equipment.
However, like most beasts he came across, he thought that they would attempt to overwhelm him in numbers.
But, he was left wrong as only one from the group came to face him.
They seemed to be a female of their species.
And...
To say that was the first time he enjoyed a battle after so long would be an understatement.
He was enthralled in the dance he had with his opponent!
At first, he thought about relying purely on physical prowess alone to not decrease his mana reserves. But that was only a mistake.
He should’ve gone all out from the beginning!
Even if rage bubbled through his blood at the wounds inflicted on his body, that only made his blood bubble even more—not out of rage, but out of excitement!
When was it that he had such a thrilling battle? One where his very life was actually on the line?!
Sizzle...
So the moment he lost his life, he was disappointed with the thought of no longer being able to fight in another thrilling battle.
But as fate would have it, he was reborn, but this time... He was chained to another master.
While the connection he had to the Jungle God still remained through his blessing, he knew it was merely out of formalities.
It was only right; he had failed his position as a protector of the Jungle God’s Temple and even assisted with tearing it down. He had failed his previous master and lost his purpose...
But, in this new life, he was granted freedom, a new path of combat, and he found his new master to be rather entertaining to be around.
So, he needed to wake up.
He knew he was currently trapped in his daze of a dream.
He had a battle to win and the two that were still living to protect.
Although he may have failed once before, he refused to fail again!
He refused to fail yet another master!
***
[12h: 33m: 30s]
C-crack! SHATTER!
Emilio fell to his knees, his arms becoming limp as they fell to his side. Under the constant pressure from the Drowned King, his last reserves of mana soon dried up—leading to the destruction of his Eclipse Barrier...
And the moment his body hit the ground...
Thud...
... The light in his eyes soon flickered out as the beating of his heart came to a slow...
Stop.
Fortunately, with Emilio’s last-ditch effort to protect Viesta and the Jungle Lord from what might’ve been instant death, the Drowned King had already retracted his Mana Pulse.
"E-emilio...? H-hey...! Wake the hell up!"
Crawling over to Emilio’s collapsed body, Viesta cradled him with tears of sorrow and grief in her eyes.
"Wake up... Come on! You’re a Nighraven, aren’t you!? You have family that cared about you, don’t they?! Wake up! You can’t just leave without saying goodbye!"
No matter how many unreasonable requests she made to the young man, his purple eyes still remained blank without even an ember of life in them. He was truly gone...
The tall man gazed down at the young man, whose blood had begun to lose its warmth, with a mixture of respect in his eyes and then glanced at Viesta.
He hated humans, despised them even, but even he knew when to respect a Blessed’s last-ditch effort to save another, who grieved over them.
But.
His patience could only last so long.
Raising his harpoon, he prepared to ask Viesta for his last words before joining her comrade.
But then, a blinding light erupted behind Viesta, followed by an explosion of vines rushing towards him from all sides with speed comparable to bullets.
He dodged and parried them, but even he began to struggle to keep up with the multitude of them, especially with an opponent he didn’t expect to wake up to appear.
The Jungle Lord, having entered into his second stage, [Immortal Cycle], planted himself into the ground while raising his greatsword, which began to glow to an extreme degree.
The Regular Greatsword, a weapon that was cursed with growing heavier to the wielder’s mind, was a tool that had a special condition similar to the Regular Cutlass.
Once the wielder’s resolve towards a goal becomes heavier than the cumulative psychological weight of the greatsword, that—that was when the weapon could truly awaken from its slumber!
Wielded in both of his hands was a black greatsword 6 feet in height with one singular, but long, curved edge that sparkled and buzzed with golden electricity.
And along its flat side was a line of runic inscriptions that pulsated rapidly once the Jungle Lord began to swing, swinging his slashes that interlaced together into a net.
The 4th Technique of the Deep Sea Hunter, the Drowning Net!
The Drowned King, raising his harpoon, watched as slashes of electricity streaked through the air, colliding with his Temple’s pillars and erupting with an explosion comparable to a dozen dynamites!
He widened his eyes in shock before noticing the Jungle Lord’s charge towards it.
Chasing after the Drowned King like a persistent serpent in the water, the Jungle Lord let out a savage roar:
"KRAAAAH!"
And swung his greatsword, which upon impact on any hard surface—
CLANG-BOOM!
—Released a thunderous explosion that flung the Drowned King back with serious burns.
The Drowned King leapt around his Temple, dodging the Jungle Lord’s vines, which had grown much more resilient to damage.
And also avoiding Wendigo’s personal attacks, which began to have an effect on his harpoon.
With each parry he made, he felt as though his harpoon had grown far heavier than before—this happening more than once.
He gritted his teeth and began to expend more of his mana to combat the Jungle Lord, this time, utilising his harpoon’s abilities.
With each stab and strike against the Jungle Lord, it felt as though the Wendigo’s body was being pulled towards the trajectory of the attack, leading him to become wounded.
The attacks made against him going forward were far more hazardous and deadly.
[12h: 34m: 00s]
The Drowned King’s body emitted Mana Pulses rapidly with short intervals in between.
Sensory, defensive, offensive.
All known forms of Mana Pulses that gave an edge for the Drowned King were useless against an enemy that couldn’t be put down unless completely reduced to pure ashes.
However, the Jungle Lord was also experiencing the same sort of issue.
Due to the Mana Pulses interrupting his attacks, he can’t deal any kind of mortal wound on the Sea King!
Hope was beginning to fade from the Jungle Lord’s glowing green eyes.
But then, from the darkness, something appeared in between the Drowned King’s short interval of Mana Pulses.
It was Viesta with Emilio’s feathery cloak wrapped around her shoulders!
And held in her hands was a fist-sized metal nail and—
BAM!
—The red energy hammer!
[The Hammer of Solrak]!
Staggering the Drowned King, Viesta screamed tearfully before disappearing:
"THIS ENDS NOW!"
Together with the Jungle Lord and his vines, they were able to push back the Drowned King!
Even going as far as being able to take an arm off of him!
[12h: 34m: 25s]
BAM!
"THAT’S FOR THE PAIN YOU CAUSED ME!"
[12h: 34m: 35s]
BAM!
"THAT’S FOR JON!"
[12h: 34m: 40s]
"AND THIS IS FOR—"
"ENOUGH!"
Right as Viesta was about to land another blow, the Drowned King roared in a furious manner as a Mana Pulse of a much greater magnitude erupted out of him.
She managed to avoid it by hiding in the nearby darkness, but the Jungle Lord wasn’t so lucky, as he was shredded apart almost instantly.
The Drowned King breathed heavily, looking over his body as it was covered in cuts and severe burns. He was also shaking a bit... He was pushing this shell of a body too far...
He then stiffened as he sensed something beside him.
FWIP!
He stabbed to the side, but his harpoon only pierced through a black feathery cloak that warped and pulled towards the tip of his weapon.
...
Wasn’t the woman wearing this?
[12h: 34m: 50s]
Viesta, who had taken off her cloak as a distraction, appeared from the other side with the help of her echo-cancelling ability and swung the red battle hammer:
BAM!
"AND THIS IS FOR EMILIO, YOU BASTARD!"
Slamming her hammer to the side of the Drowned King’s head and staggering him, Viesta quickly dashed around and stood before his chest with a determined fire in her eyes.
Then, with a swift and forceful motion, she stabbed the nail into the area right beside the Drowned King’s heart.
His Mana Core.
As long as she crippled him of it, then we would win! That was what Lillian said. And she was far too into the plan to back out!
SHK!
Stabbing it into the Drowned King’s chest, Viesta found the nail to not be deep enough!
One hit with the hammer!
That was all she needed!
...
FWIP!
A harpoon with a long shaft covered in glowing silver veins soon became dyed with a crimson liquid as it pierced through the centre of Viesta’s chest...
Piercing through her heart.
Viesta, who had tried to protect herself with her metallic wings, failed.
[12h: 34m: 55s]
"P-puaghk...!"
Blood erupted and vomited out of her mouth, falling onto the arm of the Drowned King, who didn’t seem to be too bothered.
Instead... He was displaying an emotion Viesta didn’t expect to see with the last few seconds she had left.
It was an expression mixed between heartbreak and severe shock.
"Your face... It really is so... Similar to hers..."
Viesta, hearing this, smiled in a gloomy manner as she noticed the Drowned King didn’t make any moves to finish her off.
Did he remember something by getting a better look at her face?
...
Unwilling to let this opportunity slip away, Viesta grabbed hold of whatever strength she had left!
She gripped the red energy hammer—that had yet to disappear—and swung it at the nail still embedded in the Drowned King’s chest, who was too dazed to react.
And...
Dink...
Just that weak tap was enough to cause a reaction between the hammer and the nail—a reaction so horrifically powerful that it caused the Drowned King’s mana to go haywire as his Mana Core crumbled rapidly.
[12:35 AM]
"A-ARGH!"
The Drowned King dropped his harpoon that held up Viesta and tried to drag the nail out of his chest, but to his dismay, it was already too late.
Excruciating pain filled his entire being, becoming shared with the connection he had with his other self, who was definitely experiencing the same torment he was in.
"I WAS SO CLOSE TO HAVING MY GET BACK WITH THAT WRETCHED STORM...!"
Soon enough, the connection between him and his other self ceased as he...
"This can’t... Be..."
Dropped to the ground—
Thud...
—like a puppet without its strings.
{50% of the Final Boss, The Drowned King, Ruguda, has been defeated by Viesta Gla Jorlinstan, Emilio Von Nightraven, and Jon Smith}
{1/2 Enemies needed to be eliminated for Exit Portal to appear.}
Viesta laid on the ground with the harpoon still through her chest, which was soon pulled out by the Jungle Lord, who had managed to regenerate from the Drowned King’s last attack.
The Jungle Lord tried to stop the bleeding with his vines, but he couldn’t do much more, for he wasn’t a healer or a medic—he only knew how to heal himself.
Viesta realised his and chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"I... See..."
The corners of her vision began to become slightly darker... She was feeling a bit cold...
She turned her head to the side, gazing at Jon and Emilio, and there was a sorrowful look.
’Guys, we did it... We won...’
Viesta breathed harshly, but struggled to even grasp consciousness, or what she thought it was...
She felt her body going numb...
She then thought back to Lillian.
Was this the reason why Lillian wanted her to take off her hat? To stun the Drowned King? Was this... Really, all a part of her plan?
Viesta smiled crookedly.
’I would’ve preferred if you kept your promise for all of us to get out of here... Oh, well...’
The corners of her ears then began to water again as tears streamed down her face.
’I don’t wanna die...’
She didn’t wanna die here... This place was cold... And dark...
She hated being in the dark... She hated not knowing what to do, or where to see, or what would happen next...
Maybe that’s why the gods granted her the element of Echoes.
Bats used echolocation to see, so that they could see, which was what she wanted... Just like how she wanted to see everyone at the academy grow up alongside her...
’Beatrice, Zain, Penelope, Rudolf, Neo, Lisander...’
She remembered the friends she made on the council...
’Mom... Dad... Bro...’
She remembered her family...
Faces of countless beloved people she knew flashed through her mind, causing her to feel saddened and even more tearful as her lips became shakier.
Then, with one sniffle—
Sniff...
—Her blood ran cold, and her limbs turned limp as the life in her eyes soon became snuffed out by the cold.
But, before she fell into eternal slumber...
’I’ll be going first... Everyone...’
She was able to say her last goodbye, even though no one was able to hear it...