Chapter 279
Kwaang!
Kuuoooh!
With a thunderous explosion, a gigantic magical beast collapsed.
It was an Explosive Hippo, a B-rank magical beast.
The Explosive Hippo was a massive creature standing over ten meters tall, and it possessed the unusual trait of sweating red perspiration.
Whenever that crimson sweat was struck by another beast’s attack, it exploded.
Because of that, most magical beasts didn’t even dare attack an Explosive Hippo.
The creature itself was extremely violent and highly aggressive.
Its enormous mouth was lined with teeth larger than full-grown men, sharp enough to tear through the hides of most magical beasts in an instant.
That was why ordinary magical beasts never even considered challenging it.
And yet, even such a terrifying beast was nothing more than prey in this place.
Crunch! Crunch!
The magical beast tearing apart the dead Explosive Hippo’s leg was a Gray Ogre.
It was the Gray Ogre that had killed the Explosive Hippo in the first place.
Even a powerful B-rank magical beast was merely food to the Gray Ogre.
The Gray Ogre’s eyes were bloodshot red as it devoured the Explosive Hippo’s leg.
It consumed the limb in moments, strength overflowing through its entire body afterward.
Grrrr!
The Gray Ogre looked around.
It wasn’t the only magical beast that had entered Moby Dick’s territory.
Among them were many creatures possessing power and authority comparable to its own.
Even the Crimson Drake circling high in the air was a tyrant no less fearsome than the Gray Ogre.
All of those magical beasts had been drawn here by the mysterious aura emitted by Moby Dick.
Under normal circumstances, even the Gray Ogre would never have dared enter Moby Dick’s territory.
Moby Dick was not simply a giant whale.
It was a magical beast of a far higher rank than the Gray Ogre.
Its authority was incomparably stronger.
It was powerful enough to swallow a Gray Ogre whole in a single bite.
Because of that, whenever the Gray Ogre saw Moby Dick, it would tuck away its nonexistent tail and flee.
The other magical beasts were no different.
Even the Crimson Drake, proudly ruling the skies like a sovereign of heaven, was no match for Moby Dick.
No matter how fiercely the Crimson Drake bit and clawed, it couldn’t even scratch Moby Dick’s hide.
Nor could it compare in terms of authority.
To Moby Dick, the Crimson Drake was little more than an annoying mosquito.
That was why even the Crimson Drake normally fled whenever Moby Dick appeared.
The only fortunate thing was that Moby Dick possessed almost no aggression.
If it had been as violent as other S-rank magical beasts, nearly every magical beast in existence would already have vanished into its stomach.
Escaping from Moby Dick, which freely traversed both sky and sand, was impossible.
The only reason the ecosystem of magical beasts still remained intact was because Moby Dick lacked hostility.
Otherwise, it would already have collapsed completely.
Sniff! Sniff!
The Gray Ogre inhaled deeply.
Moby Dick’s scent was strong in the air.
And the moment it smelled it, the Gray Ogre became certain.
For some unknown reason, Moby Dick had weakened.
When Moby Dick had once been strong, merely catching its scent caused fear to surge from the depths of one’s soul.
But now, there was no fear at all.
It was proof that Moby Dick had weakened.
Though it had gathered its remaining strength to spread its territory, it was incomparably weaker than before.
Grrrr!
A grotesque smile spread across the Gray Ogre’s face.
This was the perfect opportunity to devour a higher-ranked magical beast and achieve an elevation in rank.
Moby Dick was a mysterious magical beast.
Its enormous body itself was like a mass of priceless elixirs capable of elevating the rank of magical beasts.
No one had taught them this.
Magical beasts instinctively knew it.
That was why the moment they realized Moby Dick had weakened, they all flocked here.
From high-ranking beasts like the Gray Ogre and Crimson Drake to low-level creatures like vampire bats.
And as time passed, even more magical beasts would gather.
Among them would undoubtedly be creatures too powerful even for the Gray Ogre to handle.
Before they arrived, it needed to devour Moby Dick and elevate its rank first.
Thud! Thud!
The born hunter moved forward toward the greatest hunt of its life.
Puuuuh! Puuuuh!
Arkelon exhaled rough, ragged breaths.
Its stamina had already reached its limit.
And yet Arkelon continued walking without rest.
The place Arkelon desperately sought was the center of Moby Dick’s territory.
The closer they drew to the center, the more the surroundings resembled the deep sea.
Endless darkness where not even a single ray of light entered.
Floating grains of sand and tiny stones.
And microscopic lifeforms drifting through the air while glowing like plankton.
Though they had never seen it with their own eyes before, the scenery before them perfectly resembled the deep ocean they had only heard described in stories.
“Ah!”
For a moment, Kaylie forgot even Arkelon’s desperate condition as she stared at the scenery before her.
It was the most fantastical sight she had ever witnessed.
She had wandered the desert for years and prided herself on seeing many beautiful landscapes, yet none of them could compare to what now unfolded before her eyes.
That was how extraordinary the center of Moby Dick’s territory was.
“What in the world……?”
Kaylie shook her head in disbelief.
No magical beast she knew possessed anything remotely like this authority.
Just what kind of creature was Moby Dick to wield such power?
That was when it happened.
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, Lee Jeongho groaned.
“Why are y—”
Kaylie’s expression twisted before she could finish speaking.
An overwhelming pressure suddenly crushed down upon her.
Lee Jeongho was clearly reacting to the same pressure.
When she turned her head, she saw Pabilsa and Claire trembling violently as well.
They too were desperately resisting the immense force pressing down on them.
Blood vessels bulged in Kaylie’s eyes.
For now, it felt like she could somehow endure it.
But she couldn’t say with confidence how much longer she would last.
Normally, she would have turned back by now.
Risking danger head-on was not her style.
But things were different now.
Arkelon’s life was at stake.
There was no turning back anymore.
“Arkelon! Let’s hang in there together. We only need to endure a little longer.”
Puuuuh!
As though understanding her words, Arkelon let out another rough breath.
That was when they saw it.
A faint light shining in the far distance.
A pure white radiance was emanating from the center of the territory.
The moment Kaylie saw the light, she felt an inexplicable sense of peace wash over her.
It was a feeling she had never experienced before.
Forgetting even the immense pressure crushing down on her, she stared blankly at the white radiance.
Then Lee Jeongho’s voice snapped her back to her senses.
“It’s Moby Dick.”
“Huh?”
Only then did Kaylie come to herself and look carefully at the white light.
Within it floated a gigantic whale.
A body so enormous its size could not even be measured.
Fins extending from both sides like wings.
Large, gentle-looking eyes.
It resembled a blue whale, but the creature was several times larger.
It was unmistakably Moby Dick.
“How is that thing floating in the sky?”
Lee Jeongho bit down hard on his lip.
The enormous whale, whose body alone exceeded a hundred meters in length, floated effortlessly in the air as though gravity did not exist.
It was a sight completely beyond his understanding.
Though many laws of the world had collapsed due to terraforming, the law of gravity had remained intact.
Yet Moby Dick existed outside even that law.
Lee Jeongho’s expression turned grim.
Only now did he truly realize that the magical beast he was meant to hunt was a monster beyond common sense.
The giant whale, over a hundred and twenty meters long and radiating pure white light while floating in the sky, appeared almost divine.
He couldn’t tell how effective his sword would be against such a creature.
Compared to that colossal whale, he himself was no more than a speck of dust drifting in the air.
Even so, he did not feel fear.
Jin Geumho never gave meaningless missions.
He only issued orders that could be accomplished.
Because with his Heavenly Eye, Jin Geumho could see the flow of the future.
If Jin Geumho had ordered him to do this, then it meant he had judged Lee Jeongho capable of succeeding.
In that case, there was no reason for him to fear.
Kwaaaah!
At that moment, enormous magical beasts burst through the darkness with deafening roars.
The Crimson Drake.
The Gray Ogre.
And a Giant Spider so massive it looked as though a wolf spider had been enlarged hundreds of times over.
All three were A-rank magical beasts.
None of them paid Arkelon any attention as they passed by.
Their sole target was Moby Dick.
The sight of the three beasts charging forward without regard for anything else was terrifying.
Kwaaaah!
The Crimson Drake attacked first.
Flames erupted from its mouth.
It was such an intense heat that the sand beneath the flames melted instantly.
It was the Crimson Drake’s skill, Fire Breath.
Though incomparable to the breath of a true dragon, it still possessed enough destructive power to devastate an entire region.
The inferno, strong enough to vaporize ordinary magical beasts in an instant, slammed directly into Moby Dick’s massive body.
But astonishingly, Moby Dick suffered no damage whatsoever.
The pure white light radiating from its body blocked the Fire Breath entirely.
The next to attack was the Gray Ogre.
The Gray Ogre swung its gigantic club.
A crimson aura enveloped the weapon.
Like a high-level martial awakened, it was using aura.
Kwaang!
The aura-infused club smashed into the white light.
But just like the Crimson Drake’s Fire Breath, it failed to break through.
Then the Giant Spider fired webs coated in venom.
Chiiiiik!
The green web emitted acrid smoke the moment it touched the white light.
Yet despite enduring the attacks of the magical beasts, Moby Dick did not retaliate.
Even though it could have crushed the Giant Spider with a single swing of its massive tail, it remained motionless.
It seemed unable to move for some unknown reason.
As if they already knew that fact, the three magical beasts attacked without bothering to defend themselves.
Kwaang!
Boom!
Under the assault of the three beasts’ skills, the pure white shield surrounding Moby Dick shook violently.
That was when it happened.
Medium-sized and smaller magical beasts began appearing from every direction.
Like ships spotting a lighthouse in the darkness, the magical beasts rushed toward Moby Dick in a frenzy.
Kuuwooo!
Kwaaaang!
The magical beasts roared as they attacked Moby Dick.
But even then, they could not break through its shield.
Instead, countless magical beasts lost their lives after being caught in the attacks of the Crimson Drake, Gray Ogre, and Giant Spider.
Even so, they continued charging toward Moby Dick without hesitation.
The sight of magical beasts disregarding even their own lives was enough to horrify Lee Jeongho and Pabilsa.
Pabilsa finally forced out a few words.
“We need to save Moby Dick quickly. If it gets killed by those beasts, we won’t be able to heal Arkelon.”
“No. We wait here.”
“What do you mean?”
“This works out better for us. Once Moby Dick exhausts itself fighting those magical beasts, I’ll step in and kill it myself.”
“Then we may not be able to save Arkelon.”
“It’s already an old turtle. Frankly, it would be better for the creature to die like this.”
“So that’s it? You never intended to save Arkelon from the start. Then we’ll move separately. Get off Arkelon immediately.”
Srrng!
At that moment, a cold blade touched Pabilsa’s throat.
It was Lee Jeongho’s sword.
Pointing the blade at Pabilsa’s neck, Lee Jeongho spoke.
“I’ll say it again. Until their battle ends, we are not moving.”
A chilling smile spread across Lee Jeongho’s lips.
Only now did he understand why Jin Geumho had sent only him and Claire to hunt a giant magical beast like Moby Dick.
Because he had anticipated a situation exactly like this.
A chance to reap the rewards without lifting a finger……।