NOVEL NEXT Chapter 147
147. The Storm Returns
“This feels like it’s finally over, doesn’t it?”
As the three were hugging each other, Raize spoke to me. When I looked where she pointed, I saw a stone glowing red at Laura’s feet. Without a doubt, that was Zane’s magic eye.
We managed to stop Laura’s rampage. Sierra and Laura’s relationship is back to normal. And we’ve reached the deepest part of the dungeon.
…Wait. Isn’t this a pretty good outcome? All the problems were solved, and no one got seriously hurt.
“We did it, Arx! Mission complete!”
Eleanor ran up to me excitedly. As she said, everything’s been resolved. Now we just need to return to Ortea, treat the injured, and—
“Hold on. I feel like we’re forgetting something…”
“Hahahahahaha!! Marvelous, simply marvelous!!”
As if to confirm my bad feeling, a vulgar laugh echoed across the plains. A shiver ran down my spine.
“I was cast out as the leader of the exploration team once. Betrayed by Laura, dragged through the dungeon… But now, I’m back!!”
The voice came from a blood-soaked Gerda. Having been used as a weapon by the rampaging Laura, Gerda had gone half-mad, shouting wildly.
“Hey! What the hell are you saying?! Calm down!”
“Shut up, you scum! I am far more brilliant, far more beloved, and far luckier than any of you! Why? Because I am chosen by the gods! Hahaha!!”
I really had no idea what he was talking about. We were all thoroughly fed up with the crazed ramblings of this lunatic.
“Hmph! Seems you haven’t realized anything! That’s why you’re all such fools!”
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
“I’ll show you now! No—it’s better to say I’ll let you witness it! The proof that I am the hero chosen by the gods!!”
With that, Gerda let out a sneering laugh and ran towards Laura and the others. His hand reached out in a headlong dive—
For Zane’s magic eye.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing!?”
“Hahahaha!! At last, the conditions are met! The northern plains, the jewel that amplifies magic power! And me, the one with divine talent!”
Gerda babbled incoherently, touching the ground with his hands.
“Come forth! Behemoth! Appear before me as my servant!!”
A red magic circle expanded from where Gerda touched the ground. In the next moment, the ground beneath our feet began to shake violently.
“What the—?! An earthquake?!”
Raize braced herself. The tremor seemed to be directly under us, and it was growing stronger by the second.
“No, this is not an earthquake! Everyone, stay alert!”
Just as Laura shouted, our eyes were drawn ahead—where, in the distance, a mountain appeared. I couldn’t make sense of it. A mountain appearing out of nowhere? That shouldn’t be possible. But that was the only way to describe it.
A massive mountain, larger than the dungeon itself, rose from the earth as if it were a growing plant. It kept rising, higher and higher into the sky.
“That’s no mountain—It’s Behemoth!!”
Raize’s words made me understand. That was Behemoth. And it wasn’t like the small ones we’d seen in the dungeon. This must be its fully grown form. Its body length easily exceeded 40 meters. Its sheer size was overwhelming. As soon as it emerged from the ground, it let out a deafening roar.
I had forgotten. Gerda was a Tamer. He had likely amplified his own magic power and awakened the Behemoth slumbering beneath us. The reason so many dragonkin had been appearing was because they were drawn to this Behemoth. Gerda had realized that.
“Hahahaha!! How about this?! This is my true power! Are you in awe yet?!”
This was no joke. If a monster like this rampaged, it wouldn’t just flatten the area—it could devastate the entire country!
“If you want me to stop this thing, surrender to me now! Or else… I’ll send it straight to Ortea and crush the city flat!”
With Behemoth behind him, Gerda made a throat-slashing gesture. As frustrating as it was, we had no choice but to give in. Everyone was exhausted, and if we provoked him, we wouldn’t stand a chance.
Laura seemed to realize that too, as she stepped forward with a pained expression.
“…Fine. Gerda, we surrender. Just stop the Behemoth.”
“Laura! After all the nerve you’ve got to say that?! You betrayed me, didn’t you?!”
“That’s because you—No, never mind. What do you want me to do? What will make you forgive me?”
Laura’s face twisted in frustration as she submitted, while Gerda stood triumphantly, laughing wickedly.
“Then, first of all, I want you to rub your forehead on the ground and apologize. Then I’ll stomp on your face. Just like this—”
As Gerda mocked her, mimicking stomping on Laura’s face—a massive shadow loomed over his body.
“Wha—?”
The moment Gerda turned around, his body was crushed. It happened so fast that we all gasped. Looking up—what had crushed Gerda was Behemoth’s foot.
“Gerda was… crushed?”
“Don’t tell me… He couldn’t control Behemoth perfectly, even after waking it up…”
Raize’s guess seemed right as Behemoth’s roar echoed once again.