Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Boom!

The chief struck the embankment with his tail once more.

But despite the threat, the Lizardmen didn’t take a single step away from the water’s edge.

‘So you’re not coming up?’

Pantelun looked down at the swamp.

“They’re not coming up. It seems they know that climbing the hill puts them at a disadvantage.”

Grrrr!

Valkas slammed his great spear into the ground.

[Interpretation]

“The scaled ones are afraid. If the Ruler permits it, this body will go and drag them up.”

[Remaining Descent Time: 37 minutes]

‘If we just wait for the sun to set, we’ll run out of time.’

I had to make them come up.

The only way was to provoke the chief’s pride.

I raised the spear over my shoulder.

I could feel Enhanced Spear Throwing settling into my arm.

Pantelun’s eyes widened.

“Ruler. Can it reach all the way from here to there?”

“I’ll make it reach. Watch carefully.”

I stared at the chief across the swamp.

“You call yourself a chief, yet all you do is wag your tail at the water’s edge? Take this!”

Whoosh!

I swung my arm with my entire body behind it.

Whooooosh!

The spear flew across the swamp.

Thud!

Kshaaaak!

The spear sank deep into the chief’s left shoulder.

‘Got it.’

I deliberately avoided a vital point. He was someone I had to subjugate.

The embankment fell silent.

Uoooooh!

Cheers erupted from the tribe members behind me.

Pantelun shouted with a trembling voice.

“It reached. The Ruler’s spear truly reached all the way over there!”

Valkas raised his great spear and roared as well.

[Interpretation]

“The Ruler’s spear pierced the scaled one! From that far away!”

Hissing spread from across the swamp.

[Interpretation]

“The chief was struck by the hairless one’s spear. If we retreat now, it will be a disgrace to the scaled tribe!”

The chief slowly raised his head and glared at me.

“Sshak Karrsh Taa!”

[Interpretation]

“Tear that hairless one apart! Everything on the hill is prey for the scaled tribe!”

Splashhhh!

All 240 of them burst out of the water at once.

‘Got them.’

As I took a new spear from the warrior beside me, Pantelun shouted excitedly.

“Just as you said, Ruler, they’re coming up!”

“Archers, fire! Front line, hold! Don’t let a single one reach the top of the hill!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows rained down the slope, and the Lizardmen climbing at the front fell one after another.

Even so, they stepped over their fallen kin and kept climbing.

Boom!

The front rank crashed into the orcs’ great spears.

Three more slipped through beside them at the same time.

A Lizardman forced its way between the orcs and thrust a bone spear at me.

I twisted aside and activated Vital Point Detection.

A red point appeared in the gap between the scales beneath its chin.

‘There.’

Thrust!

The spearpoint drove into the gap in its scales, and it fell backward.

Right beside me, a young human spearman slipped and fell. A Lizardman raised its bone spear over him.

‘No!’

I threw myself forward and struck the creature’s side with the spear shaft.

Thud!

I drove the spearpoint under the fallen creature’s chin, then grabbed the spearman and pulled him to his feet.

“Get up. If you fall here, you die.”

The spearman gripped his weapon again with trembling hands.

[Interpretation]

“You saved me, Ruler. I will never fall again!”

Something grew hot in my chest at the trembling voice.

A bone spearhead grazed my left arm, but the pain soon subsided.

The longer the fight dragged on, the hotter my limbs became.

Kiaaak!

A scream erupted from the left.

[Interpretation]

“We can’t hold them! Everyone, fall back!”

I turned my head and saw frightened human spearmen retreating from the broken left side of the front line.

‘Damn it.’

I pulled out my spear and shouted.

“Pantelun! Hold the left!”

Pantelun charged forward and pierced two advancing Lizardmen in succession with rotational thrusts.

“Do not retreat! The Ruler is watching! Raise your spears and stand beside Pantelun!”

The retreating spearmen raised their weapons again.

On the front line, one elite orc took a bone spear in the side and dropped to one knee.

Grrrrrr!

Valkas swung his great spear and looked back at me.

[Interpretation]

“Ruler. Is it still not time? One of my kin has fallen. How long must this body endure!”

“Not yet. Once the sun goes down, it’s your turn, so hold on a little longer!”

If he activated it now, Valkas would tire out before the sun even set.

Grinding his teeth, Valkas swung his great spear again without activating Berserk.

I looked toward the western forest. The sun was sinking beyond the trees.

Whoooosh!

A cold wind swept across the hill.

The arms thrusting spears visibly slowed, and the scales of the Lizardmen that had spent too long on the dry slope were turning pale and flaky.

[Interpretation]

“My body is stiffening. My scales are drying out, and I can’t thrust my spear!”

Pantelun, who had been holding the gap, looked back at me in surprise.

“Just as you said, Ruler. They’re stiffening!”

This was the moment I had been waiting for.

“Valkas! Activate it now!”

Graaaaaah!

Dark red energy exploded from Valkas’s body.

[Interpretation]

“Scaled ones! From now on, it is this body’s turn!”

With Berserk active, Valkas swung his great spear horizontally, sending the Lizardmen in the front rank tumbling down the slope.

“Everyone, push forward!”

Uoooooh!

The human spearmen roared as they thrust their spears down the slope.

Ding!

[Battle Status]

Lizardman Small Tribe: 240 → 138

Allied Injured: 11 / Severely Injured: 2

Then the chief’s shout rang out from the water’s edge.

[Interpretation]

“Everyone, retreat to the water! Wet your scales and climb again!”

The chief began retreating toward the water with around ten guards.

If he entered the swamp, I wouldn’t be able to finish the battle within the Descent time.

[Remaining Descent Time: 14 minutes]

“Ruler. The chief is retreating into the water. Pantelun will open the way!”

“We’re going together. You handle the guards!”

I kicked off the slope and sprinted forward, with Pantelun moving on my right.

When there were twenty meters left to the water, the chief’s guards turned around and blocked us.

Pantelun charged between the guards, and I threw myself through the opening he created.

The moment my feet hit the mud at the water’s edge, I cut off the chief’s path.

The chief, the spear still embedded in his shoulder, stopped and glared at me.

Ding-a-ling!

[Race Information Unlocked]

You have gained the upper hand in the war against the Lizardmen.

▸ Lizardman Language: Basic Pronunciation Acquired

▸ Lizardman Customs: Scale Oath

― By planting a weapon in the ground and speaking the words of the oath, you may challenge the chief to a one-on-one duel.

― A chief who receives the challenge cannot refuse in front of the tribe.

― The victor takes the defeated party’s group.

▸ Combat Habit: Just before swinging the tail, they drag the opposite leg through the mud

‘I’ve been waiting for this.’

In the game, once you gained the upper hand in a war, information about the opposing race was unlocked. I had been aiming for this system window from the very beginning.

The name Scale Oath was new to me, but its contents were exactly the same as the chief duel among Lizardmen in the game.

‘The problem was the language.’

The moment I read the system window, pronunciations I had never heard before were engraved into my mind.

When I repeated them once in my head, they flowed naturally from my mouth.

I planted my spear in the mud.

Then I shouted the words exactly as they had been given to me.

“Skar Visha Krsh Kasar!”

[Interpretation]

“In the name of the Scale Oath, I challenge the chief to a duel!”

The swamp shore fell silent in an instant.

The fighting Lizardmen stopped their spears and began turning toward me one by one.

The chief’s yellow pupils trembled violently.

[Interpretation]

“The hairless one... speaks the language of the scaled tribe?”

Hissing spread throughout the entire group.

[Interpretation]

“A human spoke the words of the oath. How do the hairless ones know the Scale Oath?”

The chief remained silent for a long time.

A young Lizardman raised his spear and shouted.

[Interpretation]

“Chief! There is no need to heed the oath of a hairless one!”

An old Lizardman stepped forward from the back of the group.

[Interpretation]

“Chief. If you refuse the Scale Oath, this group will no longer follow you. Do not forget that it was the same when we were driven from the great tribe.”

The tip of the chief’s tail trembled.

‘He can’t avoid it.’

The chief grabbed the spear embedded in his shoulder.

Crack!

He ripped it out and threw it at my feet. Blood streamed down his shoulder.

[Interpretation]

“You are the first hairless one I have seen who knows the Scale Oath. I will accept that oath. But the moment you lose, your entire group will raise food for the scaled tribe.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The chief struck the mud three times with his tail, and the Lizardmen all lowered their spears and backed away.

Ding!

[Scale Oath Established]

Chief One-on-One Duel

▸ Victory: Lizardman Small Tribe Subjugated

▸ Defeat: The Ruler’s forces are subjugated by the Lizardman Small Tribe

Even after reading the defeat condition, I laughed.

‘If this were a fight I could lose, I wouldn’t have challenged him in the first place.’

Pantelun came running over, his face pale.

“Ruler. Pantelun will fight this battle in your place.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve fought one-on-one against Lizardman chiefs hundreds of times, and I’ve even raised a tribe while playing as Lizardmen. This is the fight I was aiming for from the start.”

Pantelun studied my face for a moment, then relaxed his stiff expression.

“Whenever you smile like that, Ruler, you have always won. Pantelun will watch from here.”

Pantelun bowed deeply and stepped back.

Grrrr!

Valkas, having released Berserk, grinned and bared his fangs.

[Interpretation]

“If you tear off the scaled one’s tail and bring it back, this body will make you a necklace from it.”

The Lizardmen and tribe members formed a circle around the mud at the water’s edge.

I faced the chief in the center.

Even the sensation of mud rising to my ankles was exactly like the swamp map in the game.

The chief pointed the tip of his bone spear at me.

[Interpretation]

“The Scale Oath is fought in the name of one’s honor. This body is Kshar, chief of the small tribe. Speak the name of the hairless one.”

“Lee Junhyeok. Remember it well, because it’s the name you’ll be following from now on.”

Kshar hissed and raised his bone spear.

[Interpretation]

“Lee Junhyeok. I will carve that name into your scaleless hide and hang it from a stake at the swamp entrance.”

[Remaining Descent Time: 11 minutes]

I pulled my spear from the mud and activated Vital Point Detection.

Red points appeared beneath his chin between the scales and on the left shoulder struck by my spear.

Kshar moved first.

His right leg dragged a long line through the mud.

‘Tail.’

I ducked, and his tail cut through the air above my head.

Kshar’s eyes widened.

[Interpretation]

“The hairless one read the tail of the scaled tribe?”

I adjusted my grip on the spear.

‘Now it’s my turn.’

There Is Primitive Humanity Inside My Body

Author |

Webjung

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