Chapter 116

Teodoras, carrying Ariel, suddenly stopped in its tracks as it approached the river and muttered.

“I, I really don’t want to cross the river…”

Ariel tilted her head.

“Why?”

“Because I’m scared…”

“Pfft.”

Roo snorted.

“You’re the guardian of this river, right? How can you be scared of the river? Are you lying again?”

“No, really, I’m scared of the river… There’s something terrifying in the center…”

At that moment, Ariel slid down Teodoras’s shell and gently patted its face.

“The river isn’t scary, Teodoras. You can do it.”

“No… It’s not that, there’s really something terrifying in the center…”

“You can do it.”

No matter how much Ariel encouraged it, Teodoras’s expression didn’t change.

It wasn’t just that the river was scary.

There was truly something fearsome in the center of the river.

“I, I don’t think I can cross the river…”

“Teodoras.”

Then Ariel spoke in a calm tone.

“But you already ate my cake, didn’t you?”

“……”

Teodoras froze, only blinking its eyes, and Ariel let out a small sigh.

“Then there’s no choice. I’ll just have to take my cake back.”

“……?”

For a moment, Teodoras wondered how it could return something it had already eaten, but upon seeing Ariel’s cold expression, it immediately realized.

‘She’s going to cut my stomach open…!’

Teodoras had no other choice.

The river was scary, but Ariel was scarier.

It had witnessed the disaster earlier firsthand.

Rather than having its stomach cut open and dying here, crossing the river was a much better option.

“…I’ll cross the river.”

*

Teodoras moved vigorously through the Siland River.

White foam rose around it, and the emerald-green river sparkled under the sunlight.

Teodoras stretched its neck high, and on its head stood Ariel with her arms wide open.

“I’m flying, Roo.”

Ariel whispered.

A cool breeze brushed past Ariel’s face, scattering her hair.

“Whoa, it really feels like that.”

And on top of Ariel’s head, Roo stood with her arms wide open as well.

“We’re flying, sister! We’re free!”

Ariel and Roo closed their eyes and savored the moment.

The wind brushing their faces and the warm sunlight pouring down.

It truly felt like flying through the sky, filling them with overwhelming emotion.

…Meanwhile, as Ariel and Roo enjoyed this touching moment, Teodoras was paddling furiously.

Teodoras’s expression wasn’t great.

It was still afraid of crossing the river.

This was because of the ominous phenomena that had been occurring in the center of the river recently.

A while ago, while Teodoras was crossing the river as usual, it suddenly felt something massive watching it from the depths.

It was a dark, dangerous feeling that was hard to describe, and even Teodoras, who had lived in the Siland River for a very long time, had never felt such an overwhelming presence before.

In fact, after that, it even witnessed a massive shadow passing beneath the water.

It was too startled to see clearly at the time, but it was definitely a massive, writhing creature.

Also, it heard a sound.

A deep sigh, or perhaps a low cry, like a massive beast roaring from the riverbed…

The sound came intermittently, day and night, instilling deep fear in Teodoras.

Most importantly, there was the whirlpool.

A while ago, Teodoras witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Without any rain or wind, a massive whirlpool suddenly formed in the center of the river.

The whirlpool violently sucked in everything around it, as if it would swallow the entire river.

Teodoras froze and stared blankly at the whirlpool.

The whirlpool soon subsided, but Teodoras couldn’t forget the shock.

It was certain.

There was some dangerous creature lurking deep within the Siland River.

It was likely a massive, ominous, and dangerous creature, far larger than Teodoras.

*

By the time Teodoras reached the center of the river, it gradually picked up speed.

It seemed like there was something beneath the riverbed, and it wanted to pass through as quickly as possible before it could cause any harm.

But as if mocking its efforts, dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky, and a heavy downpour began.

Swoosh!

This kind of thing happened often.

The jungle was a place where the climate changed rapidly, and sudden heavy rains weren’t uncommon.

However, this rain felt particularly intense.

Teodoras exerted itself to cross the river faster.

“It’s raining a lot.”

Ariel, sitting on Teodoras’s head, spoke.

Even though it was raining heavily in the center of the river, Ariel’s voice was calm.

“Teodoras, are you okay?”

Ariel wiped Teodoras’s wet forehead and asked.

Teodoras blinked slowly and kept moving its legs.

It was tough.

It had been swimming at full speed ever since entering the river.

But now, it only wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.

The rain grew heavier.

The swollen river water swayed violently, shaking Teodoras back and forth, and it struggled to maintain balance.

If it were any other creature, it would have been swept away by now, but Teodoras was a divine beast.

It could handle this much…

Then, that ominous sound reached Teodoras’s ears.

A deep, low resonance rising from the riverbed.

It was as if a primordial monster was awakening from a long slumber.

The sound grew louder, vibrating the entire river.

Teodoras was gripped by a fear that made it feel like it couldn’t breathe, but it moved its legs even more desperately.

However, Teodoras soon realized.

That the water around it was rapidly rotating, forming a massive circle.

It was definitely that whirlpool from before.

Suddenly, Teodoras felt the riverbed beneath it give way.

As if a massive mouth was opening, the center of the river began to sink deeply.

Terrified, Teodoras moved its legs even more desperately, but it was no use.

The massive whirlpool was sucking it in too easily.

“Ahhh!”

Teodoras screamed, and then something began to rise slowly from beneath the water.

It was a massive darkness.

At first, it was just a faint silhouette, but its form gradually became clearer.

It resembled an octopus.

Its size was beyond imagination.

“!!”

Teodoras stared at the creature in horror, and the creature also gazed at Teodoras with its large eyes.

“W-what is this…”

Its heart began to pound violently.

That terrifying presence was incomparable to any fear Teodoras had ever experienced.

Massive tentacles writhed and rose above the water.

The tentacles wrapped around Teodoras’s body, and it thrashed violently.

“Ahhh, no!”

Teodoras bit the tentacles furiously.

Teodoras’s jaw strength was incredibly strong, and its teeth were like steel, easily tearing the tentacles apart.

But more tentacles rose from the water faster than Teodoras could bite.

The surroundings had turned into a field of tentacles, spreading in all directions.

Eventually, Teodoras ran out of strength and began to be dragged away by the tentacles.

Beneath the water, the creature waited with its mouth open.

Inside its mouth were rows of sharp, needle-like teeth.

‘I’m going to be eaten…’

Teodoras was certain of it.

Until now, there had been no creature in the Siland River that could eat Teodoras.

Teodoras was massive, and its shell was tough.

But this creature was so large, as if it could engulf the entire river, that it seemed like it could swallow Teodoras in one bite.

Teodoras stretched its short arms and felt around its head.

There, it touched Ariel, who was sitting on it.

“Run away, elf child.”

Teodoras grabbed Ariel and threw her with all its might.

Even though Teodoras had already exhausted its strength, Ariel was so light that she was flung far away.

Ariel flew through the air, and Teodoras was sucked deep into the river.

“…….”

A faint smile formed on Teodoras’s mouth.

Perhaps because it was facing death, the memories of its life in the Siland River began to surface one by one.

One memory that stood out was from when Teodoras was still young.

Teodoras, being a herbivore, usually grazed on the grass by the riverbank.

But one day, it wanted to eat the sweet fruit on a tree and recklessly climbed it, only to fall and end up on its back.

It was a time when it was still weak.

Teodoras struggled but couldn’t flip itself back over.

What saved Teodoras was a giant who happened to be passing by.

The giant flipped Teodoras back over, picked the fruit for it, and even taught it a fun game.

The game the giant taught was the riddle game, which felt incredibly stimulating and interesting to Teodoras, who had been living a monotonous life grazing by the river.

Teodoras spent several happy days playing riddles with the giant.

But that happiness couldn’t last forever.

Because the giant had to leave.

He didn’t say where he was going or why.

It was a riddle too.

Anyway, the giant crossed the river and disappeared, and Teodoras never saw him again.

‘It would be nice to meet him again…’

Now that Teodoras had grown quite a bit, it knew many riddle questions it could ask the giant.

It had been practicing all this time.

If they could meet, the giant would surely be amazed by Teodoras’s wisdom.

Teodoras quietly lifted its gaze.

By now, the massive creature’s mouth was right in front of it.

“By the way, I probably don’t taste very good.”

Teodoras said to the creature.

The creature didn’t seem to be listening, but Teodoras still posed a riddle.

“Do you know what the most delicious food in the world is?”

This would probably be Teodoras’s last riddle game.

“Want a hint?”

Teodoras smiled brightly as it recalled the taste.

“It has a very sweet cream inside. It’s so soft that it melts in your mouth.”

It was truly the sweetest food in the world.

How wonderful it would be to eat it again.

If possible, it wanted the giant to taste it too.

“Do you know the answer?”

As Teodoras asked, a voice came from behind.

“I know.”

“……?”

Teodoras turned its head in surprise, and there stood Ariel.

Even in the river, she had drawn her sword without hesitation.

Ariel swung her sword and said.

“The answer is chocolate cake.”

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