Chapter 206
Episode 67: The Witch Helluram’s Legacy (Part 2)
August 15, 1797.
Jin and his companions stood in the middle of the Black Sea, staring blankly at their map.
They had arrived at the Black Sea ten days ago. In that time, they had killed over three hundred monsters—tearing, slashing, and beating them to death—and their food supplies for the return trip were running dangerously low.
There was nothing edible in the Black Sea.
Jin had his poison immunity elixir, so eating monsters wasn’t a problem for him. Murakan and Quikantel were dragons, so they could safely eat monsters with mild toxins. But no one wanted to rely on monsters for every meal.
“Damn it, even with a map, finding our way isn’t easy. Why can’t I see the stone pillars marked here? It should be nearby. Is this map wrong?”
“We’ve been following it fine so far. It has to be accurate. Father and the previous Black Knights wouldn’t have made a sloppy map.”
“I can’t even fly up to check. This is frustrating.”
Except for a few monster species, even dragons couldn’t fly high over the Black Sea. The thick black clouds above rained down a deadly poison that could melt dragon scales like chocolate.
If dragons could freely fly here, the previous Black Knights wouldn’t have had to painstakingly create such detailed maps.
“And I think that pillar over there is the one. Unlike the others, this one has a circle drawn nearby on the map.”
Jin pointed toward a huge pit ahead.
It was a massive crater, as if the moon had settled there for a moment before rising again. It looked easily over a hundred meters deep, with a towering stone pillar standing right in the center.
The map Vanessa had given Jin was an early version, deliberately obscuring much of the information. Even those skilled in map reading found it difficult to interpret.
“Hmm, that seems right.”
“Oh dear, how are we supposed to get down there? I don’t have the confidence.”
“Don’t worry, Jett. Getting down is simple.”
The poison clouds only hung in the air above. The group transformed into their true forms and flew down on Murakan.
Up close, the pillar was even more enormous than expected. And contrary to their assumptions, it wasn’t an ordinary stone pillar.
It was a nest. The pillar was the massive nest of the flying monster species called ‘Colchians’ that inhabited the Black Sea.
“Kreeeeek!”
“Screeech!”
Suddenly, cracks opened in the pillar, and a swarm of Colchians let out terrifying cries. Within moments, the sky darkened with hundreds of them.
Jin and Kashimir quickly drew their weapons, but Quikantel raised a hand to stop them.
“Stay still. Murakan will handle this.”
[How dare they…]
Murakan’s eyes glowed fiercely as he gathered his breath. Darkness swirled between his parted jaws, ready to be unleashed.
Thanks to Jin’s strengthened spirit energy, Murakan had grown far more powerful than when he first awakened.
Ssshhh…!
As Murakan exhaled, over half the Colchians vanished without a trace. Even Jin was startled by the sheer force, and Kashimir and Jett stood with their mouths agape.
Suddenly, darkness enveloped everything.
Not just a figure of speech—everyone except Jin realized their vision had actually gone pitch black.
The spirit energy in Murakan’s breath had completely filled the pit where they stood.
Even the Colchians that hadn’t been hit by the breath were torn apart in the darkness. Not a single scrap of flesh fell to the ground; the once fierce Colchians disappeared without a trace.
“That’s why they called him the strongest back in the day.”
As the spirit energy faded, Quikantel clapped her hands. Kashimir and Jett, still stunned, followed suit.
“Hmph, but compared to his prime, this is just a scratch.”
“W-What? You call this a scratch? I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Is this really the same Murakan who jokes around with us every day? Isn’t that right, Sir Kashimir?”
“Y-Yeah… I guess. But Murakan, if you have this kind of power, why have you let Quikantel and me kill almost all the monsters so far?”
“You’re questioning me now?”
“No, no. I was just saying because it’s impressive.”
“Something’s off. The little guy’s spirit energy has reached six stars, but my power is recovering way too slowly…”
Ignoring Kashimir and Jett’s surprise, Murakan clicked his tongue, clearly dissatisfied with the breath’s effectiveness.
“Considering your heart was shattered, isn’t this recovery pretty good?”
“The kid’s spirit energy hit six stars, so I should have at least 60% of my power back.”
“You’re asking for too much. You should be grateful you’re even alive.”
“We should look into it. The recovery is definitely slower than I expected.”
“Then go find your sister.”
“Ugh, I’d rather not run into that.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
While Murakan and Quikantel bickered, Jin and the others studied the map.
“According to the map, we need to pass through a canyon here and cross the river marked ‘Molos.’ After that, we’ll arrive. If we keep a steady pace, we should reach it by tonight—assuming the monsters don’t become any more frequent.”
“Then let’s aim to arrive by tonight. Once we get there, Jin should get a good night’s rest. We don’t know what kind of monster Helluram raised, so it’s best to face it in top condition. That’s what we’re supposed to do, right? Defeat it?”
Fortunately, no monsters appeared while passing through the canyon or crossing the Molos River.
The local monsters had learned that approaching the Molos River meant certain death.
Sirron and the previous Black Knights had spent years exterminating monsters in that area to control Helluram’s creations.
Unaware of this, the group moved forward comfortably and reached their destination by evening.
What awaited them was a kind of forest.
“A forest?”
It was commonly believed that the Black Sea had no trees—only rocks, volcanoes, and poisonous swamps and rivers.
But that was wrong.
The Black Sea was home to many forests. The one they saw was just one of over ten marked on the Black Knights’ map.
Of course, these forests were unlike any others. The thorns of the poisonous bushes were sharper than spear tips, and their leaves had ‘mouths.’
These thorny bushes grew so densely that only a single person could squeeze through.
“Eek!”
Jett stepped toward the forest entrance without thinking, then quickly backed away. The leaves hanging down to his chest suddenly opened their mouths, revealing sharp fangs. When the mouth snapped shut, it sounded like a sword clashing.
Just imagining what would happen if he’d touched it sent chills down his spine.
“What kind of bizarre forest is this? Are you seriously going to send me in there alone, sir?”
“Come on.”
Quikantel strode past Jett and entered the forest. She casually broke the thorny branches with her fists and burned the leaves with magic.
But soon, she returned with a grim expression.
“Even just a little way inside, the poison is thick. You’d need the poison immunity elixir or something similar to survive. Vanessa was right. This is troubling. What kind of monster could live in a place like this?”
The group still couldn’t guess the identity of the monster Helluram had raised. She had bred many, most of whom had been killed by the era’s strongest warriors or dragons.
“Whatever it is, she must have given us the map because it’s a monster the kid can beat. But I don’t get what kind of reward we get for killing it. Its internal organs? That’s useless to humans.”
The internal organs of monsters were considered a potent elixir for dragons but had no effect on humans.
“You say it’s a monster Jin can beat, but then talk about internal organs? How is Jin supposed to take down a monster with internal organs like that all by himself?”
Monsters with internal organs like that were usually hunted by dragon hunting parties. They were intelligent and self-aware, hiding to avoid human eyes.
“True, that makes sense. Anyway, Jett! Set up the tent and prepare dinner. Even if we eat less on the way back, we have to make sure the kid eats well tonight and tomorrow morning. Got it?”
“I’ll use plenty of protein and meat powder!”
“We’re already low on food, so no need to go overboard.”
“Quikantel and I will hunt monsters and eat while you rest. Don’t worry.”
The next morning, the companions waited outside the forest while Jin prepared some spells for the upcoming battle.
He stepped boldly into the forest, cutting through the thorny bushes with his sword and burning the leaves with magic. Progress was slow but manageable.
“The poison starts here.”
Beyond the initial thicket, the bushes were less dense, but the thick poison fog made breathing difficult. Without the poison immunity elixir, Jin wouldn’t have lasted a minute.
He had been walking for quite some time. The forest’s interior was structured in a very peculiar way.
It seemed like a mix of open plains and dense woodland. There were stretches of perfectly round, artificially smoothed boulders scattered across the plains, and beyond them, the thorny forest would begin again, then another plain would appear… and so on.
The forest was divided into these distinct sections.
Walking naturally, Jin found himself pondering the difference between the two zones—the plains with the rolling round stones and the thick forest.
“Why is it divided like this? Who rounded these rocks? The Black Knight, maybe? But why would they bother smoothing them out?”
Even if the trees were a natural extension of the Black Sea, the smooth round stones seemed utterly useless.
Could they be objects used in some kind of ritual?
He let his imagination run wild as he pressed forward. It had already been three hours since he entered the forest, yet no monsters appeared—only the round stones and the dreadful thorns, which was starting to grate on his nerves.
Then, absentmindedly, he glanced down and noticed something he hadn’t seen before.
“…What’s this?”
Fur.
Thick, black fur—soft and out of place amid the poisonous thorns of the forest. Jin instinctively followed the trail of fur on the ground.
When he reached the fifteenth plain, he finally understood who had made the round stones—and what purpose they served.
[Meow.]
In the middle of the plain, a cat was playing, rolling one of the boulders around. The problem was, unlike a normal cat, it was about the size of Murakan in his true form.
It was the witch Helluram’s cat.