Chapter 272: After Sunset, the Night (2)

Whoosh!

The wind blew.

In the scene where the roar had ceased, there now stood the Dragon Ryan.

The barrier he had deployed with his hand blocked Eruhaben’s attack.

Pfft~

The Ancient Dragon Eruhaben looked at him and scoffed.

Ryan looked at Eruhaben and the white-haired Wisha who was beyond him. And he looked around.

The atmosphere, which had been slightly agitated in anticipation of the festival’s spectacle, was now filled with chaos.

“My lord!”

He could also read the anxiety in his subordinate mage’s urgent voice.

The unexpected variable that had arisen just before the final execution, the Great Cause, made him feel ominous.

Ryan’s mouth opened.

“More prey has arrived.”

The concern disappeared from the old mage’s eyes upon hearing that.

‘That’s right, that’s right!’

More prey had arrived.

The more they had to offer as sacrifices, the greater Ryan would become a great god.

‘We cannot miss this opportunity!’

The old mage realized what he had to do.

Not only that.

Those closest to Ryan sprang into action as soon as they knew what to do.

“Catch that old snake now!”

“Stop the White Snake!”

The mages and knights began to move.

But their actions were not careless.

“She’s the kind that even the Holy Knights and Inquisitors couldn’t catch!” “Don’t let your guard down! That woman’s power is more than that of an ordinary Beast People!”

The troops secretly deployed for the Great Cause moved in unison.

In particular, the mages immediately took out their magic stones and drew a combined magic circle, preparing to confront the white-haired woman.

Moreover, they were not only concerned about the White Snake.

“Silence!”

“Those who are causing a commotion will not escape from this sword!”

“The situation will be resolved soon! Wait at your designated posts!”

The appearance of the White Snake and the Dragon.

As a result, the residents who felt confused were immediately stopped to prevent them from acting recklessly.

The soldiers moved, and then the knights followed them.

One of the Elven knights among those guarding the entrance to the underground passage leading to Ryan’s lair abruptly stopped.

“What’s the matter?”

His gaze turned to his back.

His subordinates were moving with an unusual clumsiness, unlike the other knights.

The Elven knight’s eyebrows furrowed.

He approached his subordinates.

“Do you want to die?”

He knew very well why his subordinates were doing this.

“Do you not want to fight the White Snake?”

Many of his subordinates were Beast People.

Although they could not enter the Berserk State properly, they were physically superior to normal people who could not use Aura, which qualified them as knights.

“I know you don’t want to raise your swords against your own kind. But if you don’t, you will die. And your families will also die.”

He was also being forced to do this to protect his hometown. So, he scolded his subordinates.

“Move. They are watching you from here.”

Besides them, other knights and mages, Ryan’s subordinates, were watching. If they didn’t act properly here, the consequences would be death for his subordinates and their families, and for their village.

“Leader.”

Then, one of the Beast People Knights asked him with a firm face.

“...Do you know what’s happening underground?”

“...I don’t know.”

He turned his gaze away from his subordinate’s face.

‘Of course, they are taking the Beast People down there and doing horrible things to them.’

None of the Beast People who had been dragged underground for a while had returned.

He didn’t want to know what they were doing to them.

He wanted to pretend he didn’t know.

So, he spoke coldly to his subordinate who was bringing this up.

The elven leader asked, “Don’t you already know to some extent?”

His voice echoed in the dark underground chamber.

Among his subordinates, some were knights by force, compelled to serve for the sake of their families.

Others, however, had chosen to follow Ryan in hopes of rising in the hierarchy.

The knight who was now speaking was one of the former, a Beast People who had been discovered by the elven knights while he was trying to gather information about the Beast People who had been sent to the depths.

Because of this, this type was often ignored or despised by the other Beast People Knights who sought to gain Ryan’s favour.

The elven leader thought, “It’s strange.”

Despite this guy’s unfavourable position, the other Beast People Knights hadn’t said anything to him.

In fact, they seemed terrified.

He didn’t know what they were afraid of, but he sensed that something terrible was about to happen.

The Beast People Knight said, “...Since the leader is in the same situation as me, I will show you,” while extending a scroll towards the elven leader.

The elven leader exclaimed, “What is this?” while taking the scroll with apprehension.

“In a situation like this, what do you want me to...?”

But upon reading the first line of the scroll, he stopped dead in his tracks.

The scroll had two notes.

[All the Beast People here today will die.]

[The final offering of the festival will be their lives.]

The elven leader read the words over and over again, his mind trying to grasp their meaning.

Below these lines, he saw fragments of other notes, indicating that the first note had been written before the second.

[Ryan is killing the Beast People one by one and dragging them alive into the swamp filled with Dead Mana to become a God.]

[The third floor of the underground is where this operation takes place.]

The elven leader was paralyzed.

He thought, “…Sacrifice? Dead Mana?”

The information he had been ignoring was something far more horrible than he had ever imagined.

“Moreover, Ryan plans to sacrifice two dragons today.”

The Beast People Knight’s voice echoed in his ears.

“Seeing how things are now, it seems the content of this note is true. But, leader, do you think it will be enough just sacrificing our Beast People and two dragons?”

The elven leader slowly lifted his head, observing his surroundings.

His eyes fell on the faces of his subordinates, and finally fixed on the eyes of the Beast People Knight.

‘It’s the end!’

At that moment, he heard a familiar voice, the voice of his friend, the Wind Elemental.

Since he started working for Ryan, his friend had been frequently fulfilling his requests, but at some point, he became more reserved. Now, his voice was soft but firm.

‘This is our last chance!’

The words of his friend resonated in the heart of the elf leader.

And it wasn’t just him who realized that this was their last chance.

“Elder.”

An elderly Beastman, without responding to the voice, looked at the scroll in his hands.

Born right after the Catastrophe Era, he had become the eldest member of his tribe. His parents and ancestors had been hunted and killed, leaving only the weaker members of the Tiger Tribe, unable to fully transform.

Perhaps that’s why, despite his long life as a Tiger, he seemed to be aging prematurely.

Maybe it was because of the many hardships he had faced.

In the end, he was forced to seek refuge under Ryan’s protection, living a life of servitude.

He would have preferred a life free of worries, but the concern and anxiety for the members of his tribe who had been taken to Ryan’s Lair kept him awake at night.

However, he couldn’t show his fear.

He thought, “We are weak.”

His own life was no longer worth it, but he couldn’t allow the members of his tribe, who had found precarious refuge in this place after submitting to a life of slavery, to die.

‘But now…’

Despite his age, he harboured the hope that this was the right path.

Amidst the festivities, a message reached his hands, brought by the wind.

An hour later, another message reached him, revealing details about the events in Ryan’s Lair.

At the end of the last message, one phrase resonated strongly.

[This is the beginning and the last chance. Trust what you see and follow it.]

The sender of the message did not demand blind obedience but invited reflection based on the evidence.

However, until six in the evening, no movement was observed, and the elder, who was also the Tiger Tribe Chief, found himself unable to make a hasty decision.

Then, an imposing figure appeared.

The White Snake.

For the beastmen who still inhabited the land, the White Snake represented the last hope and pride of their race.

The snake, with a body as large as a Dragon, inspired an aura of enormous power.

Despite the attacks from knights, soldiers, and the rain of magic, she remained unfazed.

“Baaaaaang! Baaaaaaang!”

Even amid the clamour, the White Snake dodged spells or blocked them with her body as she advanced.

The elder looked around: wolves, lions, bears… most of the beastmen present belonged to the fiercest beasts.

However, there were also others, most of them subdued by Ryan.

The elder exchanged glances with other leaders in similar positions.

‘They also received it.’

It was evident that they had also received the message.

However, none of them dared to speak.

The difficulties they had faced over the past two hours did not allow them to act lightly.

“What are you doing?”

At that moment, the sharp tip of a spear pointed at the elder. A knight, with furious eyes, confronted him.

“Move over there! Don’t you dare have crazy ideas!”

The knight was warning the elder not to harbour false hopes upon seeing the White Snake.

The elder understood the implicit message perfectly.

‘But can we continue like this?’

His gaze shifted to the side.

“Elder.”

He was one of the few beastmen from the Tiger Tribe who had received the message, the future Tiger Tribe Chief. In his eyes, there was a mixture of anger and determination.

‘But what can we do here, unable to use our powers?’

They could fight, yes. But only a Dragon and the White Snake were facing Ryan.

Could they defeat him?

Even if they killed him, there were still the Dragon Lord and other Dragons.

Wouldn’t they end up being hunted and killed anyway?

‘But aren’t we doomed to die if we don’t fight?’

Wouldn’t they be sacrificed anyway?

The elder was overwhelmed by despair.

How had they come to this point?

No matter where they looked, only death seemed to be the fate for all.

“Aren’t you going to obey my orders?”

The knight pricked his hand with the tip of the spear.

“What do you have in that hand?”

The knight’s eyes lit up upon seeing the message.

“Baaaaaang! Baaaaaang!”

The clamour continued unabated.

“…And who are you?”

The elder could see the future Tribe Chief blocking his way, protecting him.

At that moment, the voices around him flooded in.

“Aren’t they moving?”

The knight shouted.

“Why are they suddenly not obeying? Do you want to die?”

The beastmen remained motionless.

In particular, they were not common beastmen but leaders who, like the elder, had received the message.

It’s not that they didn’t want to move; they simply couldn’t.

With that information in their hands, with the truth revealed, how could they obey the orders of their oppressors?

The elder squeezed the message in his hand until it crumpled.

Although the beastmen did not fully master the Berserk Transformation, they were not weak. And, of course, the elder was from the Tiger Tribe.

Beasts, by nature, possessed an innate attack instinct.

The elder murmured, “Maybe dying here or there is the same.”

The knight frowned upon hearing the elder’s words.

He exclaimed, “This old man!”

However, the young tiger blocking his way laughed.

“Hahaha!” he laughed with relief.

The young man asked, “What do we do?”

The elder recalled the last words of the message.

[Prepare to flee.]

Prepare to flee?

They had nothing to prepare.

Having spent their entire lives fleeing, they were always ready to escape.

In a world where it was difficult to flee without carrying anything but their bodies, the experience of escaping did not fade even after living as slaves for a few years.

“What do we do?” the young man repeated.

The elder responded, “Yes, let’s do it. Let’s flee to wherever.”

Somehow, they had to survive.

However, their escape would come at a price.

The knight shouted, “This damn…”

The young tiger grabbed the knight’s spear with force.

At the same time, small hairs began to grow on his body. It was an incomplete Berserk Transformation.

They needed time to escape, and to achieve that, someone had to fight the enemy to protect the others.

The elder looked into the eyes of the beastmen around him and said: “We must flee!”

In an instant, the gaze of the beastmen transformed.

The elder looked at the leaders of the other clans, who nodded in agreement. The elder also nodded and began to move.

He ordered, “Move aside!”

Thud. Thud.

His body grew larger. The reason he had been chosen as the Tiger Tribe Chief was that, despite his age, he could perform the Berserk Transformation with some degree of success and was the strongest.

However, he was now old.

The one who had to buy time for the next generation was him. And it seemed the leaders of the other clans also understood.

“Khuffh,” the elder growled.

The other elders also transformed.

The elder couldn’t help but laugh.

Yes, White Snake-nim is fighting, so it’s right that we, the old ones, also fight.

Kwa-jijik!

The moment the elder grabbed the spear, it bent easily.

Although his strength was insignificant compared to the ancient Tiger Tribe, he was still strong.

The furious knight shouted, “Damn!”

Biiiiiiip...

A sharp sound resonated in the air.

The elder sighed, “Oh.”

The door of Ryan’s Lair opened, and an army began to emerge.

Yes, Ryan was the First Star Dragon and a direct subordinate of the Dragon Lord.

The troops of such a being were much more numerous than the elder had imagined.

Soldiers and knights poured out incessantly from the Lair.

Kii-eek!

The doors that had remained closed opened, revealing a multitude of soldiers, knights, and mages outside the castle.

“So, they planned to exterminate all the beastmen,” the elder thought.

It was logical.

To capture two dragons, an enormous army was needed.

Fleeing the castle would only lead them to another hell.

The elder let out a bitter laugh. But his determination grew stronger.

In such a situation…

They had to fight more. And create more opportunities to escape.

His fist moved…

Bang!

The sword he drew from the knight’s waist clashed with his fist.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]