Chapter 199: The Butcher, Samu’dra (3)

But then Jake hesitated.

His gaze slowly shifted toward the second sword in Samu’dra’s other hand.

Aria had already told him that this sword was also an Enchanted Artifact.

Jake’s expression became slightly more cautious.

He had already figured out the ability of one sword.

But the other one... he had no idea what it could do.

Its ability was still completely unknown.

For all he knew, it could possess an ability even more troublesome than the earth manipulation.

’I can’t assume that sword is just another weapon.’

Jake tightened his grip around the sword of light.

Samu’dra had already shown that it was intelligent enough to hide its abilities and use them at the perfect moment.

If that second sword had another hidden ability...

’Then one mistake could be enough to turn the entire battle around.’

Jake’s gaze became sharp.

’I need to find out what that sword can do before I try anything reckless...’

But then, a confident grin slowly spread across his face.

’...Or maybe I should just be reckless enough that it doesn’t get the chance to use it.’

’Why bother figuring out what it can do if I can overwhelm it before it has the chance to show me?’

Jake’s eyes locked onto Samu’dra as his grip tightened around the sword of light.

’I just need to be faster.’

With that—

Jake’s entire demeanor suddenly changed.

The relaxed expression disappeared from his face.

CRACKLE...

Crimson Aura began to crackle around his body.

Thin arcs of red aura crawled across his arms and shoulders, while a heavy pressure slowly spread through the cavern.

And at that moment, Samu’dra’s grin faded slightly.

Its single eye narrowed as it stared at Jake.

Something had changed.

The two-legged creature standing before it no longer felt the same as before.

That feeling...

Samu’dra knew it well.

It was the feeling of facing something that could actually threaten its life.

...And that feeling brought back memories from long ago.

Ever since Samu’dra had first opened its eyes in this dark cave world, it had known only one thing.

Survival.

It had fought countless creatures throughout its life in this dark and cruel place.

There had never been enough food for everyone.

The stronger creatures took the best hunting grounds, while the weaker ones were driven into the darker parts of the caves.

Samu’dra had been born among the weak, so weak that even its own kind bullied it.

It had been smaller than the others, slower, and constantly hunted by creatures that saw it as easy prey.

Because of that, it quickly learned that hesitation meant death, so it fought whenever it had to.

It fought for food, territory, and simply because something stronger had decided it had no right to exist.

With every battle, its strength continued to grow, and over time, its body became covered in scars.

Eventually, the creatures that had once hunted it became the ones running from it.

Samu’dra had become one of the strongest creatures in this dark world.

But there was a problem...

...There was nothing left to hunt.

The creatures that once filled these caves had either been killed by Samu’dra or eaten by it.

Yet the Naga population continued to grow, making the shortage of food even worse.

Samu’dra didn’t realize it, but the Naga were supposed to be among the weakest creatures in this small world.

They were meant to be prey for the stronger creatures living here.

But because of Samu’dra’s existence, that natural order had been disrupted.

It had killed or driven away so many predators that the Naga population continued to grow unchecked.

Without realizing it, Samu’dra had thrown the entire food chain of this dark world into chaos.

Eventually, Samu’dra found itself wandering through the endless darkness with nothing left to fight.

And nothing left to eat.

For the first time in its life, its greatest strength had become its greatest problem.

Until one day...

A group of two-legged creatures arrived.

They were similar to the strange creature standing before Samu’dra now.

They seemed to have come because of the situation in this dark world.

After seeing the enormous Naga population, they appeared to be furious and intended to exterminate the Naga population.

But they had made one mistake.

They underestimated Samu’dra.

The battle that followed was brutal.

Samu’dra was forced to sacrifice one of its eyes just to survive.

It also sacrificed nearly ninety percent of the Naga population, using them as meat shields to withstand the attacks of the two-legged creatures.

Countless Naga were slaughtered.

But in the end...

Samu’dra won once again.

The two-legged creatures lay dead, and among the spoils of war were two strange, powerful weapons unlike anything Samu’dra had ever encountered.

And more importantly, they had been used by the two-legged creatures to fight.

Samu’dra became interested in them.

From that day onward, it began practicing with the two swords.

It slowly learned how to swing them, how to block with them, and how to use its massive body together with the weapons.

It wasn’t trying to perfectly imitate the way the two-legged creatures had fought.

Instead, it took what it had seen and gradually made it its own.

Over time, the two strange weapons became a natural part of Samu’dra’s fighting style.

Eventually, they became the weapons it relied on the most.

And as Samu’dra continued practicing with the two swords, something slowly began to change.

At first, it had only seen them as weapons, nothing more than tools for killing its enemies.

But the more it practiced, the more it began to realize that there was something far more fascinating about them.

A sword was not simply swung.

The slightest movement of the wrist could change the direction of the blade, while a turn of the body could carry the momentum of one strike into the next.

A step forward could add more force to an attack, while a step backward could turn the same movement into a counterattack.

Everything was connected.

The sword moved with the body, and the body moved with the sword, creating a continuous flow of motion that seemed almost effortless.

Samu’dra slowly became captivated by it.

It began to notice how beautiful a sword could appear as it moved through the air.

How a single slash could transition smoothly into the next.

How the blade could unexpectedly alter its trajectory mid-movement.

How countless different techniques could be created from something as simple as swinging a piece of metal.

The more it practiced, the more it wanted to understand.

And somewhere along the way, Samu’dra realized that it was no longer practicing simply because it wanted to become stronger.

It was practicing because it enjoyed it.

For the first time in its life, Samu’dra felt an emotion that had nothing to do with hunger, fear, or survival.

It was watching the movement of the sword...

And it thought it was...

...Beautiful.