Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 17: A Celestial Presence.
"Negro! Negro!! Gree noo entire orangoo!!"
(RUN! RUN!! Don’t you ever stop!!!)
An elder Magnari shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran for dear life, panic evident in every step he took.
Behind him, the forest shook violently.
Trees snapped and branches shattered as a massive predator barreled through the woodland in relentless pursuit. The beast towered over the Magnari, its powerful body covered in dark-green scales that blended almost perfectly with the surrounding forest. A long tail swept behind it, knocking aside shrubs and smaller trees, while rows of razor-sharp teeth flashed whenever it opened its jaws.
Despite its enormous size, the creature moved with terrifying speed.
As part of their usual routine, the Magnari had ventured into this section of the forest in groups of five, following the suggestions left behind by Gree Ka Go. The area was known for its abundance of smaller prey and the occasional mid-sized predator that could be brought down through teamwork and the proper use of the weapons he had introduced.
Everything had been proceeding normally.
Until this monster appeared.
"Impoggilgo! Impoggilgo!! A Ptetango? Onettero okaigo mas irekteee!"
(Impossible! Impossible!! A Predator? There shouldn’t be any here!)
The elder’s thoughts spiraled into panic as the creature suddenly lunged forward.
A massive claw tore through the air.
The distance between them vanished in an instant.
His body offered almost no resistance.
The sharpened scales lining the predator’s forelimb sliced through flesh and bone as though he were made of paper, sending hot blood spraying across the forest floor. Agonizing pain exploded throughout his body as a shrill cry escaped his throat.
"NEGROOOO!! NEGROOOO!!"
(RUN! RUN!!)
Terror gripped the remaining Magnari.
Watching one of their elders fall so effortlessly shattered what little composure they had left. They ran even faster, stumbling over roots, crashing through bushes, and scrambling back to their feet whenever they fell. Any sense of coordination or teamwork disappeared as panic took hold.
The hunting formation Gree Ka Go had taught them collapsed instantly.
Some fled left.
Some fled right.
Others simply ran wherever their trembling legs carried them.
Anything was preferable to remaining near the monster.
And the predator, as though amused by their desperation, continued its pursuit.
Suddenly, it leapt high into the air.
For a brief moment, its enormous body blotted out the sunlight overhead before crashing back down upon a fleeing Magnari.
The impact flattened him instantly.
A deafening roar followed, shaking the surrounding forest and driving even greater terror into the hearts of the survivors.
Panic consumed the hunting party.
One by one, the predator preyed upon them.
One was crushed beneath its feet.
One disappeared between its jaws.
Another was torn apart before he could even scream.
What unfolded was less a hunt and more a grotesque performance, as though the monster delighted in every act of slaughter it committed.
"Jatroro koro momento!"
(Just a little bit more!)
The lone surviving Magnari huffed desperately as he sprinted through the forest.
A broad smile had somehow spread across his face despite the tears streaming from his eyes.
He couldn’t name the feeling driving him forward.
There wasn’t a word for it yet.
But he knew that if he reached the others—if he reached the settlement—everything would somehow be alright.
Step after step, he forced his exhausted body onward.
The familiar landmarks of home began to appear.
The settlement was close. So very close.
Unable to resist, he glanced over his shoulder.
There was nothing.
The monster was nowhere to be seen.
No crashing trees.
No thunderous footsteps. Not even a roar.
Relief flooded through him.
"Gretaroo Orenosabe."
(I am safe.)
With profound happiness, he looked forward.
His steps faltered.
Why was it so dark?
The sun still shone brightly above Volcano’s domain, yet a massive shadow had fallen across the path before him.
Slowly, the Magnari raised his head.
And saw the predator standing directly in front of him.
The creature had somehow circled around.
It was waiting patiently for its prey.
—CRUNNCHHH!
The beast bit down casually, tearing away half of his body in a single motion.
Agonizing pain exploded through him.
"Gree Noooo! Gree Noooooo!"
The desperate cry echoed through the forest before abruptly fading away, replaced only by the sickening sounds of crunching bones and tearing flesh.
The predator chewed slowly.
Patiently.
Almost appreciatively.
As though savoring every bite.
When the last traces of movement disappeared from its prey, the beast released a satisfied growl.
Then its gaze shifted.
Past the forest.
Past the corpse beneath its feet.
Toward something far larger.
Far more numerous.
Far more delicious.
To the Magnari settlement.
---
The unease reached Roman before any survivor’s cry did.
He stood atop the basalt rock overlooking the settlement, his six closed eyes doing nothing to dull the feeling crawling up through his chest. Around him, the rest of the settlement had begun to stir on instinct alone — elders lifting their heads from work, younger Magnari pausing mid-stride, every body within a mile tuning itself toward the same direction at once. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Their instinct screamed at them to be afraid.
Something was wrong in the forest.
Roman didn’t need a notification to tell him that. He had already grasped the shape of it — the first true Misfortune of Volcan, and by the feel of it alone, a predator. Something dangerous enough that the whole settlement had gone still before a single survivor stumbled out of the treeline to confirm it.
—GRRRRRROOOAAARRRRR!!
The roar tore across the clearing, raw and bloodthirsty, and the fear it dropped into every Magnari within earshot was instant and total. Children broke into desperate crying, clinging to their mothers. Elders froze mid-motion, fear written plainly across bodies that had no words built yet to describe it. Some searched the ground for anywhere to hide. A few — more than a few — turned instead toward the back of a nine-year-old Magnari they had spent years keeping their distance from.
Whatever else they thought of Gree Ka Go, they could not deny what he had already given them. Tools. Language. Order, where there had only ever been instinct.
It was the first time hope had ever needed a face, and without quite deciding to, several of them had already chosen his.
As the moments stretched on and the fear only deepened, the sky tore open.
Light spilled down from somewhere that wasn’t the sun — celestial, vast, pulling every frightened, searching gaze upward at once. The sound of great wings filled the air over the settlement, and beneath it, something else: a steadiness, a comfort, settling over the clearing like a hand pressed flat against a wound.
For the first time in their lives, the Magnari were witnessing a miracle.
A creature from a myth none of them had a word for yet, the kind of impossible thing every frightened species quietly wishes were real, descended onto Volcan with its wings stretched wide enough to dim the settlement beneath their shadow.
A Celestial Unicorn had come down to them.
Its aura rolled outward — wordless, warm, almost unbearably gentle — and one by one, the Magnari surrendered to it. Fear loosened its grip. Children stopped crying. Elders who had been searching for somewhere to hide simply stopped, faces lifted, as though something larger than the world itself had just promised to carry the weight of it for them.
The Unicorn’s gaze moved across the gathered crowd, searching.
Then it stopped.
Not on the crowd.
On the one Magnari who hadn’t surrendered to anything.
On Gree Ka Go.
Their eyes held each other for a long moment — something passing silently between them that neither species had language for, the unicorn searching for understanding, Roman offering none. Then Roman looked away first, unmoved, still standing on the basalt rock while the rest of the world knelt.
---
Volcano had never felt more ridiculous in his entire existence, and also, somehow, more at peace.
He had spent forty minutes inside the Transaction Space deciding on this exact form, scrolling through every cosmetic shell his meager faith reserves could afford, and had landed on "Sacred Equine — Tier 1" purely because the description promised an "innate aura of trust" at a price he could actually pay. He had no divine voice allowance. No telepathic link. No combat ability worth mentioning. What he had was presence, and presence alone that the system assured him. And it was sometimes enough.
He had not expected the one Magnari he most wanted to reach to be the one his aura couldn’t touch.
He lowered his head toward the gathered crowd anyway.
The aura rolled outward from him in slow, wordless waves — not command, not language, just the feel of Safety and Warmth. The particular stillness of being held by something larger than yourself that meant you no harm yet offered reassurance.
It worked exactly as advertised, on everyone but the one it mattered to most.
One by one, the rest of the Magnari stopped trembling. Ears that had been flattened in fear slowly lifted. Several younger ones pressed close to his legs, nuzzling against a being twenty times their size with the unthinking trust of creatures who had simply stopped being afraid because something had told them, without words, that they were allowed to.
[Buff Granted: Sacred Haste]
[All affected lifeforms: Movement Speed +300% for the duration]
[Effect radius: Settlement and outlying territory]
Volcano dropped his gaze toward Gree Ka Go once again, the aura still pulsing — reassuring the Magnari of his trustworthiness, reassuring him of safety and comfort.
However, the Magnari, still unimpressed, only sighed at the Celestial Unicorn.
He turned around, shoved his spear onto the basalt rock, gazing at the eastern ridge where the predator was slowly approaching as if the Celestial presence meant nothing to him.
