The Villain's Apocalypse-Chapter 42: Return I
Chapter 42: Return I
AAAAHHHHH–!
A deafening scream resounded within the forest as Cassian pierced through the air, his body struggling to keep up with the immense speed of the sword beneath him. His hands and feet were latched tightly onto the sword while he desperately channeled his mana around them, to keep them attached.
Despite the sudden pressure from the wind and the gravity, his body surprisingly held itself quite well, resisting the powerful force of the wind.
’I should have worn a proper outfit before agreeing.’ His voice was tinged with regret and dissatisfaction over himself. He should have covered his body with tight-fitting clothes and worn some glasses and a helmet, to protect his face from the wind’s wrath. Alas, his mind was entirely consumed with the thought of escaping the mountains as quickly as possible, preventing him from thinking about other stuff.
’No use crying over spilled milk.’ Consoling himself, he focused back on his current route. ’The good thing is, the speed of my descent is breakneck, surpassing my expectations. At this rate, I might just escape the entire Silver Mountain range in a single flight.’
His mind wandered down, gazing at the massive forest spanning across the entire mountain range. The forest was eerie and dark as usual with countless predators roaming all over the area. Its thick towering trees loomed over his vision, rustling silently with the passing breeze.
Curiosity scratched through his mind so, he cautiously coated his eyes with his mana and zoomed down, immediately noticing a lot of beast-rank and terror-rank monsters. ’Shadow wolves, Spider monkeys, Thunder rabbits... Thank god I followed Zayn’s idea.’
His mind shuddered at the mere thought of encountering these monsters in the forest brimming with countless predators. The roles assigned to anyone entering the forest were quite absolute–One was a hunter and the other was a prey, such was the law of nature.
As the sword traveled through the sky with immense speed, he continued observing the forest with renewed interest. After all, there was nothing to do here, other than staring at the boundless sky or beneath the vast forest.
His observations led to quite a lot of interesting and peculiar sightings, some of which reminded him of Earth. For example, there was a giant stormfang mantis lurking near a beautiful silver-winged cicada, with the obvious intent of hunting it down.
The mantis’s claws gleaned sharply with menacing light as it slowly approached the cicada, its dark green body blending perfectly with nature. The cicada was oblivious to the mantis as it lazily rested its body near the bushes.
Slowly, the mantis decreased the space between them, its nimble and silent movements thoroughly fooling the poor cicada. Finally, when the mantis felt that it’d arrived near enough, it lunged forward, aiming its blades straight at the cicada’s wings.
But, what the mantis failed to realize was the presence of another predator, observing its movements from start to finish, carefully waiting for its chance.
swish–!
With a startling sound, a stunning-looking oriole with bright golden wings scooped down and grabbed the mantis, flying away immediately.
’haha...Truly, a mantis stalking a cicada unaware of the oriole behind...’ He chuckled inwardly, recalling a certain phrase from his homeland.
’Who would have thought I would see something like this in a place like this...truly, Life is unpredictable.’ He shook his head, feeling quite refreshed by that simple scene.
After a while of traveling, he sighted his first titan-rank creature, of course, excluding the Crimson Abyssal Drake.
The creature had the appearance of a woolly mammoth, with massive tusks protruding out of its jaws, and was towering over the forest like an ancient colossus. Its body was covered in a thick coat of moss-laden fur, giving it a blend of green and brown that camouflaged well within the dense foliage. Despite its enormous size, it moved with an uncanny grace, its heavy footsteps barely disturbing the earth beneath it.
Cassian’s breath hitched as he observed the beast. ’A Titan-Rank Verdant Mammoth...’ He recalled the mentions of this legendary creature in the royal archives he had read. Known as the Guardian of the Deepwood, it was one of the oldest creatures dwelling within the heart of the Silver Mountain Range.
Unlike most Titan-Rank beasts, the Verdant Mammoth was not aggressive unless provoked. However, when enraged, it could summon towering roots and wield nature’s wrath with terrifying force. Even high-rank adventurers avoided its territory, as its strength alone was enough to turn an entire hunting party into nothing but scattered remains.
’Good thing I’m flying above it...’ Cassian let out a sigh of relief. Though he doubted the mammoth had any interest in a single human soaring above its domain, he didn’t want to test his luck.
Just as he was about to avert his gaze, something odd caught his attention. The mammoth’s trunk was raised slightly, sniffing the air, and its emerald eyes locked onto the sky—onto him.
A sudden shiver ran down his spine. ’There’s no way... It noticed me?’
Almost as if answering his thoughts, the mammoth let out a deep, rumbling snort before slamming one of its massive feet against the earth. A tremor rippled outward, causing the trees in the vicinity to sway violently.
Before Cassian could process what was happening, the very air around him grew dense with mana, and the treetops below began to shift unnaturally. The next moment, dozens of massive thorned vines burst forth from the forest canopy, launching toward him with terrifying speed.
’Shit—!’
Cassian immediately tightened his grip on the sword and nudged it slightly on the left, narrowly dodging the first vine that attempted to snatch him from the sky. More came at him from different angles, moving with an eerie intelligence as if they had locked onto him like predators eyeing their prey.
’The hell is this?! I didn’t even provoke it!’
With gritted teeth, he twisted his body midair, barely avoiding another thick vine that nearly grazed his leg. The pressure from their movement was immense, creating powerful gusts that threatened to knock him off his precarious flight.
[Host is entering a Titan’s Territory.]
The system’s notification rang in his mind, but he had no time to curse it.
’I figured that much already!’
