I Stepped on Their Shadows and Skills Started Copying Like Crazy - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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66
Rainwater trickled down the stone steps into a vast, darkened chamber.
Along both sides stood a dozen Lizardmen in perfect formation, not a single figure out of place.
In the center of the chamber, one of them lay prostrate, as though awaiting judgment.
None of them dared speak first, and none had the courage to lift their head.
They bowed only toward the elevated dais at the far end of the chamber, where one of exalted standing looked down upon them.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
As the sound cut through the silence and drew steadily, unmistakably nearer, the shoulders of the Lizardmen trembled with barely perceptible tension.
At last the sound ceased at arm’s length, replaced by a voice.
“Raise your head.”
The prostrate Lizardman looked up in panic, and his two eyes—which pointed in different directions—gradually fixed upon the defeated soldier before him.
There was only one being in all of the Great Forest with eyes such as these.
“Y-Your Holiness Basil!”
Basil, the Priest of Rain.
He was the sovereign who ruled the Lizardmen of the Great Forest.
Though he could be called king at any moment, he refused the title and insisted instead upon being known as a priest who served the divine.
This Basil now addressed the defeated soldier who knelt before him, his voice deliberate and slow.
“What was your task?”
“…To recover the escaped slaves and prevent the Goblin tribes from uniting, Your Holiness.”
“How many slaves did you recover?”
“…None.”
“By the look of you, the second objective also failed. How many soldiers remain?”
“Only myself, Your Holiness….”
“…I see. So that is how it stands.”
Then Basil fell silent.
The soldier’s lips moved soundlessly several times in the suffocating quiet, but he dared not offer excuses.
Only the patter of falling water filled the space between them.
After a long moment, Basil spoke again, his throat now flushed a reddish hue instead of its usual teal.
“Then… why are you still alive?”
The question, asked in such a calm tone, chilled the blood.
“P-Priest! Please, grant me one more chance—!”
“I do not wish to hear it.”
Basil slowly unfurled his coiled tail.
Click-clack.
As the tail’s tip brushed the rainwater pooled beneath his feet, the liquid writhed as though alive.
“No—please—!”
In the instant the soldier’s face drained of all color, the water snaked up his legs like a living serpent, burrowing into his eyes, nostrils, and ears.
“Ughh! Uuuugh—!”
As the torrent of water wormed its way through the flesh beneath his skin, the soldier’s face contorted grotesquely, bulging and collapsing in grotesque waves.
His fingernails tore at his face in desperate attempt to expel the water, but it was useless—leaving only long, bleeding gashes across his own skin.
“Grrk…!”
After several violent convulsions, the soldier collapsed.
The water he had so desperately tried to expel now trickled from every opening in his face. It was no longer clear, but murky with blood.
“Tsk. The split tongue is meant to praise the Mother, not to offer excuses.”
Basil turned his gaze away as though he had witnessed something filthy, then gestured with a tilt of his head.
“Remove it.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
The two priests who knelt on either side of Basil seized the corpse’s arms with practiced efficiency and dragged it toward the edge of the dais.
Beyond that edge lay a chasm so dark its depth could not be fathomed.
Whish!
With a practiced motion, the two priests hurled the body into the abyss.
Yet no sound followed, as surely should have.
Five seconds. Ten? Perhaps more.
A deep boom—!
At last, after a long interval, a tremendous sound echoed through the chamber and faded. Only then did Basil speak again, slowly.
“What news from the north?”
One of the Lizardmen standing in formation answered urgently.
“The leader of the Nol tribe is dead and the main force has retreated in total defeat. Only scattered remnants remain, fleeing in all directions.”
“Leave pursuit teams behind. Send the main force south immediately. We cannot leave the Goblins as they are. Individual creatures are nothing, but they are cunning and quick-witted—when unified, they become troublesome enough to warrant serious attention.”
“Yes, Your Holiness. It shall be done as you command.”
“The troop numbers are what they are, but it seems someone will need to lead them….”
Basil’s two eyes then scanned in opposite directions.
One eye swept leftward, the other to the right.
Both gazes, sweeping simultaneously across both sides, soon converged at a single point and halted.
Among the countless scales, one patch of bare green skin stood out alone. It was Garak.
“Garak.”
“Yes, Your Eminence, great representative of the Rainmaker.”
At the call, Garak stepped forward from the ranks and immediately dropped to one knee.
“I treasure the capable, and you’ve done quite well these past days.”
“I merely did my utmost to repay the chance you granted me. I am honored by your words.”
An unexpected shower of praise. Yet at Basil’s next words, the bowed face of Garak went rigid and cold.
“But I hear you’ve made a grave error recently? This forces me to reassess you….”
“I beg your forgiveness. The fault lies entirely with my negligence.”
“One cannot always succeed. Unless one is a perfect god, one cannot hide every mistake that is made. Yet we cannot simply overlook what has been done.”
“Your words are just. Should you grant me a chance to make amends, I shall receive it as an honor and repay your grace without fail.”
It was precisely the answer Basil had anticipated.
“Indeed, how could I deny you a second chance? Tell me—would you be worthy of the glorious duty of gathering your foolish brethren into Mother’s embrace? Can I trust you with this?”
In truth, a poisoned cup dressed up as opportunity. Yet even this was a luxury for Garak.
“I shall never disappoint you again.”
“Good, it must be so. After all, those born outside Mother’s bosom carry much sin—there is no helping it. It is only fitting that you, who has awakened to grace, should gather them.”
A goblin who betrayed his own kind and threw in his lot with Basil.
Base by birth, corrupt enough to sell even his own kinfolk—Basil had thought to use him a while and then discard him. Yet he had managed to climb this far.
‘That ability of his, at least, is worth acknowledging.’
With a firm grip on the handle, few blades were as useful. One could always throw it away and get a new one when it grew dull.
In the midst of such thoughts, something suddenly occurred to Basil, and he spoke again.
“Ah, and one more thing.”
“…?”
“I hear your younger brother’s name whispered about. Quite loudly, in fact.”
“I beg your pardon! That wretch of a brother, I shall surely put him back in line with my own—!”
“Hush.”
Basil cut off Garak’s words.
“Can the younger brother be better than the elder? I understand.”
His voice was gentle beyond measure. Yet his throat had already flushed red, just as it had moments before.
“See that his name never reaches my ears again. I trust you’ll manage this.”
“I shall ensure it without fail.”
Thud!
Garak struck his forehead hard against the ground, his hands braced flat.
Only then, satisfied, did Basil’s lips curve upward faintly.
At that moment, from beyond the cliff’s edge came a sound and tremor as if something immense were shifting in the depths.
Kuuuung—! Kuguguguuu!
The Stone Chamber shook violently, as though seized by an earthquake.
Standing water sprayed outward in all directions, dust rained from the ceiling, and the arrayed Lizardmen scrambled frantically to keep their footing.
In the midst of this unexpected commotion, only Basil remained serene, smiling.
“After all, still useful at the end. It seems the great Mother’s son has at last developed an appetite.”
* * *
Inside the tent where the leadership of the Goblin Coalition had gathered.
The heated debate that had paused at Si Hyeon’s entrance resumed in full fervor at his words to continue.
“The enemy’s Main Force is currently concentrated to the north. Since the war with the Knoll has ended in their victory, we must swiftly seize key chokepoints as the serpent-men advance southward.”
“Agreed. Controlling the passages alone would slow their advance considerably.”
Several Tribal Leaders in accord with this view nodded in unison. Of course, those opposed to the opinion did not remain silent either.
“We, who have yet to properly organize our forces—do we truly need to march out to meet the enemy? Would it not be better to consolidate our foundations here and study how to meet them in this region? The forests nearby are terrain more familiar to us than to them, after all.”
This time, the remaining Tribal Leaders voiced their agreement.
“Mm-hmm, that’s right. That makes sense.”
“If we venture too far and become scattered, we’re finished.”
Before long, the tent had split between those advocating a preemptive strike and those urging they strengthen their defenses at their current position.
“That will not do! To claim the ‘forest’ as our advantage and fight them head-on? The army that won against the Knoll will have soaring morale, and each soldier will be far more seasoned than before. We must sever their spine at least once while they’re on the move.”
“Rather than sever anything, we’ll be picked off piecemeal! We don’t even have a clear reckoning of our forces—what are you proposing to strike?”
“Then you’re saying we should simply hide here and wait in silence for their Main Force to arrive?”
“Who said anything about waiting! I meant we should prepare!”
“And will they wait around while you finish your preparations?”
The voices of the two goblins who had been most vocally advocating for their respective sides grew louder and louder, until suddenly they both leaped to their feet at once.
Those who could bear it no longer stepped between them.
“Now, now, you both should stop! How can you behave this way when Ashukatal himself is present?”
Since neither side’s argument held a perfect answer nor a complete falsehood, no conclusion could be reached.
It was at this point that Si Hyeon, who had until now kept his silence and received translations from Snig, stepped forward into the fray.
“Good gods, what a racket. You lot keep on bickering like I asked you to show me how far you’d go, but it never ends. Listen, I get roughly why you’re fighting, so stop it already and gather around here.”
Spread before them lay a large Leather Map.
Centered on the Stone Where Stars Dwell, where the last great gathering had taken place, it bore the markings of major waterways and ridgelines, with each tribe’s territory marked by its own flag emblem.
For a map made by goblins, it was remarkably well-executed—though the further one moved from the center, the more haphazard the details became.
No single tribe knew intimately the forests beyond their own territories.
Indeed, many tribes didn’t even possess maps at all.
“Each of you point out where your own tribe makes its home. Whether it’s a waterway, a hill, a shelter—anything will do.”
With that, Si Hyeon picked up a Charcoal Pencil.
While everyone else hesitated to speak and merely stared down at the map, it was Gru’uk who offered the first account.
“Here, beyond an ancient dead tree split in two by lightning, there is an old waterway. Though it appears blocked, it continues south to the Gorge if you follow the gaps between stones.”
At this, a tribal leader from across the gathering interjected immediately.
“A lightning-struck tree? That’s where our tribe hunts. Look, just past that point the path splits in two. The right fork is a dead end, but going left leads you to the Thorny Thicket Forest.”
“If it’s a thorny thicket, wouldn’t that mean it’s also blocked off?”
“No, if you look closely, there’s a small gap just wide enough for one or two of us to squeeze through. By lowering your body and moving single-file through that passage, you can slip past the great beasts and travel safely. Our tribe uses it all the time after hunts.”
“Ah, that’s good. Keep going.”
Si Hyeon began filling in the empty spaces of the map at once.
“So there’s a narrow path just below the thorny thicket, is that right?”
“Yes, my lord! That passage is certain!”
Scratch, scratch.
Once the ice was broken, voices poured forth from all corners.
“This path here is nothing but soft mud. Our feet sink a bit, but creatures as large as the Lizardmen would find it difficult to walk at all.”
“Here, there’s a narrow gap between three massive boulders lined up. The long-bodied ones can’t pass, but we can.”
“Once you emerge from that gap, there should be a path running alongside a stream.”
“That’s right. That path leads here.”
The fingers of the tribal leaders, which had initially pointed to different locations, converged on the map multiple times.
One knew the entrance of a path; another knew where it led.
Snig, who had been single-handedly translating the torrent of information, burst out in frustration.
“Stop! Stop! Raise your hand and speak one at a time, you fools! Don’t I have to relay your words to my lord?”
“He’s right, Snig. From now on, anyone who has something to say raises their hand first. Don’t hold back on the words, though—I’ll judge whether the information’s useful or not.”
Each tribe knew little more than the terrain surrounding their own territories.
At first, only a few crooked lines were added to the empty spaces of the map.
But as all that noise gradually subsided, the charcoal markings filled in the gaps until the map had been completely transformed, reborn into something entirely new.
Now the entire Great Forest lay laid bare before their eyes.
“Hmm… this is quite useful, isn’t it? Yes, this is the kind of cooperation that bears fruit.”
The strategy session that followed, with the completed map before them, proceeded far more swiftly and in a far more orderly fashion than before.
Vague assertions about charging out to fight or standing their ground here were now anchored by concrete paths and terrain.
“If we are to choose the battlefield, this location is ideal. There are scarcely any swamps nearby, and the forest stretches unbroken for a great distance.”
“What about the east and west routes?”
“The east is rough and mountainous, and the west requires a long detour following the waterway. If their Main Force heads straight south, this forest is the fastest route.”
“I understand it’s a good battlefield. But will they actually come this way?”
To the question posed, Si Hyeon answered casually.
“They don’t have to. If they avoid this place and circle around, it’ll only cost them time. We’ll spend that time preparing.”
Si Hyeon’s finger traced the newly drawn paths on the map.
“Since you can move first using these shortcuts, with luck you might even catch them by the flank.”
“If they enter, we fight them here; if they turn back, we buy time.”
“Either way, there’s no loss for us.”
Heads nodded throughout the war room.
This was more than sufficient for a battlefield.
Nearly perfect, even.
Si Hyeon was thinking precisely that when he reached out to make the final mark on the map.
Flap.
A thin beam of sunlight streamed through the gap in the tent flap, and the hand holding the Charcoal Pencil came to an abrupt stop.
“Wait… now that I think about it. There’s no rain today?”
“Pardon? Yes, that is correct, my lord.”
“…Why isn’t there?”
Swamp and rain—the Lizardmen’s most formidable weapons.
If those creatures meant to march down on the Goblin Coalition, it made perfect sense they’d begin with the rain.
They could even conjure rain clouds and summon downpours. Yet the sky was not merely clear—it was pristine.
‘Something must have gone wrong with the rain-summoning… No, that’s unlikely. The rain continued even after we spirited away the Sun Bird. In fact, it came down harder. As though they’d lost all sense of proper measure.’
And yet that rain had stopped now?
There was something deeply wrong about it.
“Hmm… something’s off about this….”
They could summon rain but weren’t?
Then there had to be a reason—one that made rain undesirable right now.
‘But what could it be….’
“Ah.”
He understood. Why the sky had cleared.
It wasn’t that they could no longer summon rain.
They’d stopped it themselves. Waiting for the forest to dry out.
“Ha—these bastards… they mean to burn the whole forest down as they march in?”
I Copied a Skill Just by Stepping on a Shadow
Author |
Killing Part
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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Editorial Department
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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