Chapter 84: Huge pig

The carriage continued along the dirt road.

The wheels creaked every time they rolled over loose stones and small bumps, while the constant sound of the horses’ hooves filled the air.

As they traveled farther, the landscape slowly changed.

The last cultivated fields were left behind, replaced by vast meadows covered in tall grass. In the distance, small forests appeared as dark patches on the horizon.

Noir stood on the roof of the carriage.

His black wings lay flat against his body as he watched the landscape slowly pass before his eyes. The breeze gently ruffled his scales.

And he sighed with boredom:

"We’ve been searching for several hours now without finding anything. It was much more interesting in the Magic Valley."

The golden sphere began to spin slowly.

"Well, even though this isn’t so bad in this nearly lifeless place... it was much more interesting."

From inside the carriage, Arlene’s voice came immediately.

"Magic Valley? What kind of place is that? I’ve never heard of it."

Without taking his eyes off the countryside, Noir explained:

"It’s one of the marked areas... What do you mean? Well, anyway, it’s a place where mana is so dense that you can see streams of it, and there are lots of unique monsters and plants."

"What? Mana currents? I’ve never heard or read anything like that before."

The young dragon swished his tail calmly and said:

"It’s even marked on that map; I know because that’s where I came from... but it’s strange..."

He rested a claw on his chin, lost in thought about how he’d managed to enter that place so easily; it seemed the path indicated by the golden sphere had led him through some barrier. Noir felt that every time he explored this world, he uncovered more mysteries.

However, the one thing he couldn’t get out of his mind was when he devoured his crystal duplicate; he’d seen that system information many times and still didn’t fully understand it. But that was a problem for the Noir of the future; right now, he was going to enjoy his peaceful journey to the demon realm.

***

A few moments later, as chaos reigned, the carriage moved at full speed; the horses galloped across the ground, trying to cover as much ground as possible.

Arlene skillfully maneuvered the reins, preventing the carriage from overturning completely and leaving them at the mercy of the elements. At the same time, the demon princess laughed with amusement at the chaos.

...And on the other hand, Noir, who was watching Uki—who was wagging his tail excitedly—couldn’t help but let out a long sigh: "It was supposed to be a peaceful trip. How could I have said something that raises so many red flags?"

The sound of the ground splitting open grew closer and closer, and nearby animals fled for their lives in the face of the monstrosity advancing like a raging bull.

Noir let out a long yawn, lazily stretching his body, like a house cat that had spent the whole day sleeping and had woken up to eat. For a few seconds, he watched him.

It was a pig following them—well... to be more precise, a gigantic pig. The creature stood approximately four meters tall. Its body was covered in thick, dark fur, and natural stone plates protruded from various parts of its body.

Its enormous, curved tusks were longer than Noir. And its small black eyes... were completely fixed on the carriage.

Noir looked at Arlene, who was struggling with the wheels and therefore couldn’t use her flower magic:

"What are we going to do about that pig? At this rate, it’s going to catch up to us."

"Huh!? Can’t you see I’m busy? Do something!"

"Is that a pig?"

The Cerdor let out a growl. The sound was so deep that the horses began to pull even more desperately on the reins.

Noir leaned forward slightly.

"It looks like it’s going to catch up to us."

The answer came immediately.

The Cerdor charged. The ground exploded beneath its hooves, and its enormous body surged toward them with a speed that didn’t seem possible for a creature of that size.

Noir’s eyes widened, and he leaped; he propelled himself off the ceiling just as the monster passed where he had been a second earlier.

BOOOOM!

The Cerdor slammed into the ground, sending dirt flying in all directions.

Noir landed several meters away and watched as the creature slowly came to a stop.

The monster, having recovered, charged again with renewed strength and bloodshot eyes, tearing up the ground with every step.

The young black dragon, who remained where he was and activated his [Dragon Claws] ability, took on a dark, metallic sheen as he lunged forward with a broad grin.

For a split second, both creatures moved directly toward each other.

The Cerdor bared its fangs and charged, while Noir extended his claws, which struck the monster squarely on the forehead.

The young dragon expected to feel flesh and blood splatter across his body, but... what echoed was a loud metallic clang.

Noir opened his eyes in surprise; his claws had left a mark—a very small mark.

The Cerdor didn’t even pause, continuing to charge as if the young dragon were nothing more than a road bug stuck to the windows of cargo trucks.

Noir hadn’t expected it to have such absurdly high endurance, which brought a broad smile to his lips. It was a perfect monster to devour—and one with equally high endurance.

The Cerdor continued to advance. Its enormous paws tore up the ground with every step, while its body resembled a living mountain, covered in stone and dark fur.

Noir barely had time to step aside before one of its massive fangs swept through the spot where he had been standing.

The wind generated by the charge fluttered his wings.

Noir remained in the air, lost in thought.

The monster came to a stop several meters ahead, kicking up a huge cloud of dirt. Its small black eyes fixed once more on the young dragon.

’Well... if the claws don’t work, we’ll have to try something else.’

The Cerdor charged again.

This time, Noir didn’t move right away.

His red pupils followed every movement of the enormous body as the monster closed in.

The young dragon spread its wings. Just as the enormous fangs were a few meters away from reaching it, it soared upward.

The Cerdor flew through the spot where it had been.

Noir flapped his wings and hovered a few meters above the monster. From there, he could clearly see its enormous back covered in those natural stone plates.

’The outside is too tough...’

His eyes slowly drifted down to the neck. A smile spread across the young dragon’s face.

’Then I’ll have to attack something that isn’t covered in stone.’

The Cerdor turned its enormous body.

It opened its mouth and roared at Noir once more.

The young dragon closed his eyes for a moment. A strange sensation began to spread through his body, as the mana around him began to obey his will, as if he were a supreme emperor.

His mouth opened slowly, and he said:

"Ice Spear."

The temperature dropped rapidly. Steam began to pour from the monster’s snout as an enormous amount of energy condensed in front of the young black dragon.

An ice spear appeared.

It was much larger than he had expected. The ice spun slowly in the air, enveloped by small currents of mana. Its tip glistened in the sunlight.

Noir remained silent for a second.

’Well... now I just have to throw it.’

The Cerdor roared again.

The young dragon moved a claw, and the spear vanished.

SHOOOOOM!

The sound cut through the air.

The monster opened its eyes just as the ice spear came hurtling straight at it. It tried to dodge... but its enormous body was too slow.

CRAAAAASH!

The spear pierced its eye.

The Cerdor’s roar shook the entire meadow.

The monster lost its balance and began to thrash violently from side to side. Its enormous body slammed into the ground, destroying trees and sending up clouds of dust.

BOOOOM!

Its gigantic body fell onto the meadow.

Noir descended slowly. He landed in front of the corpse as he looked at the enormous creature. His claws brushed against one of the stone slabs.

He still couldn’t believe it had been so resilient. Then he looked up at the enormous hole pierced through the monster’s head.

A smile slowly spread across his face.

’Next time, I’m going to try to learn a word that doesn’t create something this big.’

The golden sphere descended slowly and began to spin around his head.

Noir looked toward the carriage.

Arlene had stopped the horses a few meters ahead. For a few seconds, she watched him. Then she pointed at the corpse.

"Did you kill him?"

"Yes. Why are you asking the obvious?"

Arlene looked at the enormous ice spears.

"That was magic."

"Yes," he said, without giving too much away.

Noir slowly approached the enormous corpse of the Cerdor. His red pupils glowed as he placed a claw on its body. His smile grew even wider.

"Well..."

The young dragon opened his mouth slightly.

"I think it’s time to find out what abilities this pig has."

[The unique Skill Devourer has been activated.]