Chapter 463: 429 The Largest Monster in the World
Reiger did not know about Revin’s complex emotions.
He was just looking at the blood-soaked Revin, studying his battered armor and then the ferocious giant slash wound at his chest, speaking faintly.
"It seems, without the protection of this armor, you’re completely done for."
Reiger criticized him without any courtesy.
He knew the reason Revin was in such a sorry state probably had to do with himself.
His last move, "Fire Thunder God" at the Bessarrel combat arena, had destroyed Revin’s Monis Armor and inflicted severe damage on him, causing the famed Border Guardian Sword Saint to barely handle a few beetle demons and almost lose his life here.
But who was to blame for that?
"... Inferior in skills, I have nothing to say."
Revin said solemnly, his face stern.
Although, strictly speaking, the battle between him and Reiger at the Bessarrel combat arena hadn’t completely concluded since both were transported here in the midst of their final clash, interrupting the duel, yet Revin had seen the outcome of that last clash.
Just as Reiger had clearly seen Revin engulfed by the golden thunder light of "Fire Thunder God" in the final moment, Revin too had seen his all-out strike blocked completely by Reiger in the last second.
Thinking this, Revin glanced subtly at the green gem pendant hanging around Reiger’s neck, falling into silence.
"You are quite straightforward,"
Reiger said, looking somewhat surprised at this previously dominant Sword Saint.
He had thought that the man, who had spoken so unacceptably of losing, would stand up and challenge him again under such a provocative and ironic situation.
Unexpectedly, this fellow admitted his defeat so readily.
"I am not so unsportsmanlike as to misrecognize reality," Revin spoke coldly: "Although I cannot accept it, a loss is a loss. In reality, I was inferior, so I must acknowledge it."
"It’s rather you, why did you save me?"
"Do you feel that taking my defeated self’s head should be done by your own hands?"
"If that’s the case, you can strike now."
When saying this, Revin’s tone was cold, yet his face lacked much resentment.
The victor is king, the vanquished the foe, as a Sword Saint guarding the borders, Revin was very clear about such worldly principles, so when he was outright defeated by Reiger, he didn’t really feel reluctant.
"Come on, you can take off my head whenever you want."
Revin said expressionlessly.
And naturally, this elicited a detached reply from Reiger.
"I intended to teach you a lesson, not take your life. Your life is not as valuable to me as you might think, so you don’t need to provoke me like this."
With that, Reiger extended a hand towards Revin.
The healing magic Reiger now had access to was not limited as before to just one like "Diya Flatel."
Among tier-based magic, there were many capable of healing and recovery effects, but because these magics generally worked by bestowing life force, few in the Nasalik Underground Tomb possessed such spells.
For someone undead like Ainz, using life-giving healing magic would not only fail to heal but would cause harm instead, thus Ainz himself had hardly learned any healing magic. The Nasalik Underground Tomb, filled with various beings, was similar in that very few NPCs mastered healing magic, leading them to often rely on scrolls and other magical items for recovery instead of using spells themselves.
Thanks to this, the healing magics Reiger learned from the NPCs in the Nasalik Underground Tomb were similarly limited.
Yet he still mastered a few.
The first-tier magic capable of restoring a small amount of vitality and slightly healing wounds — "Light Wound Healing."
The second-tier magic capable of restoring a moderate amount of vitality and moderately healing wounds — "Moderate Wound Healing."
The third-tier magic capable of restoring considerable vitality and largely healing wounds — "Serious Wound Healing."
Reiger still grasped these low-tier magics.
Beyond these, Reiger also mastered a magic whose sole purpose in healing wounds was potentially even stronger than "Diya Flatel."
That was the sixth-tier magic capable of significantly restoring vitality, healing most severe injuries, and even curing diseases and other negative states — "Great Healing."
The effects of this magic were so powerful that even amputated limbs could be regenerated.
Regenerating limbs, something not even "Diya Flatel" could manage, indicated just how powerful this sixth-tier healing magic was.
Of course, this magic only surpassed "Diya Flatel" in terms of its healing impact. Unlike "Diya Flatel," it was not as versatile and omnipotent, lacking the continuous healing, group healing, and curse removal effects, thus "Diya Flatel" still stood among the top in Reiger’s arsenal of healing magic.
However, Revin’s condition did not require Reiger to use "Diya Flatel."
"’Serious Wound Healing.’"
Thereupon, Reiger employed the third-tier healing magic on Revin, causing a glow representative of vitality to arise on him.
"What is this...?"
Revin looked at his body with some surprise.
His wounds were healing, his strength was returning, and the sensation of life force flowing throughout his body was erasing the pain that had tormented him for a while, gradually restoring his condition.
"Huff!"
Before long, Revin stood up, and although his appearance was still ragged and pitiful, his complexion had improved significantly, and his injuries had mostly healed, once again giving off a powerful aura.
Seeing Revin like this, Reiger spoke up.
"Do you know where this is?"
Reiger asked that question.
"...I don’t know," Revin was silent for a moment, and after deeply looking at Reiger, he then said, "At first, I thought this was under the training ground, but there definitely aren’t any magic beasts underground in the training ground, so this place must not be anywhere in Bersare."
"Magic beast bugs?" Reiger sharply caught the term and said, "You mean these disgusting beetle monsters?"
"Exactly," Revin said lightly, "They are magic beast bugs, the parasitic bugs of the legendary underground magic beast Yarakulon."
"Yarakulon?"
Reiger was initially startled, then a flash of insight crossed his mind.
He had heard this name before.
No, to be precise, the original owner of this body had heard this name before.
It was a name of a monster well-known throughout the continent of Akasha, so famous that it could even be found in history books and other literature.
It was said that a long time ago, such a magic beast appeared on the continent of Akasha.
It had a terrifyingly huge size, considered to be the largest magic creature in the world.
It had no fixed habitat, not occupying any territories in the wilderness like other monsters, but constantly wandering around the world, and its whereabouts were mysterious.
Logically, an extremely large magic beast would attract significant attention wherever it went and would be instantly discovered and either driven away or subdued.
However, this monster could move around freely in the world without being discovered by anyone, because it could move underground without causing any severe phenomena.
To it, the earth was like the ocean, and hidden underground, it was like a fish in the sea, able to move around easily and comfortably.
According to a professor of monster studies, its skin seemed to be constantly covered with a very special magic power, which could soften the ground it touched like water and even block magical detection.
Thus, it could move freely underground without being discovered, even if it came right under a major city, no one would notice its presence.
Therefore, it was called an underground magic beast, and it acquired a name exclusive to itself, still appearing around the world to this day. Occasionally, people would witness it emerging from the ground, becoming a hot topic of discussion locally for some time.
That is to say...
"Are we inside Yarakulon?"
Reiger muttered.
"What?"
This time, it was Revin’s turn to be stunned.
"Inside?"
The Border Guardian Sword Saint had not yet realized that this place was not a typical cave but inside a living creature.
"Yarakulon’s parasitic bugs, huh?" Reiger did not explain further, glanced around at the dead beetle monsters, his eyes flickering as he said, "Putting it that way, these bugs really do resemble the infamous pests from the rumors."
About the underground magic beast Yarakulon, there were two well-known incidents.
First, this largest monster in the world would occasionally rise to the surface, swallow a village or town in one gulp, and leave behind weird, colorful, muddy filth on the ground.
Second, sometimes a swarm of insect monsters would appear in the areas it passed through. These insect monsters were highly aggressive, not only damaging buildings and plants but also attacking living creatures. If left unchecked, even a small country would end up devastated like it had been hit by a plague of locusts, turning into a barren wasteland.
Historically, there have been instances where smaller, weaker countries were destroyed by these insect monsters, leading people to globally regard these insect monsters as vile pests.
After some research by experts, they unanimously believed that these insect monsters were likely parasitic bugs that had fallen off the body of Yarakulon, because the magic power flowing within them was very similar to the special magic power on the surface of Yarakulon’s body, both having the effect of evading magical detection.
These stories have been passed down from ancient times to the present, very famous throughout the continent; even children have seen them in books or heard adults talk about them. Sometimes people even use Yarakulon’s name to scare children, allowing even a sheltered country person like the original owner to have a deep impression of the infamous name of the underground magic beast Yarakulon.
If these beetle monsters truly were those infamous pests from the rumors, then Reiger could be sure that they were indeed inside Yarakulon.
This also explained why this creature’s body was so large and why there were so many beetle monsters here.
Because this was inside Yarakulon, the largest monster in the world, capable of swallowing an entire village or even a city in one gulp.
Because these beetle monsters were Yarakulon’s parasitic bugs, creatures that naturally inhabited the body of this underground magic beast.
Reiger and Revin had been swallowed by this underground magic beast.
This underground magic beast had come under Bersare while the two were dueling, bringing them both here.