I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 120: The Dungeon King That Speaks

What?!

Everyone is stunned in horror.

"It– it speaks?!" Julian is flabbergasted.

Whistling. Impact.

Arthur swallows hard.

This isn’t right. How can it speak? A haelion? Speaking human language? Absurd!

"How— how can it get through that thick skull of yours that you’ll never hit me or any of us?" Arthur continues to taunt the King. The discovery is mind-blowing to him, but it doesn’t change the fact that this haelion is dangerous and must be killed.

"Yoouuu... umansss... arrogan... muss... dieee..."

The King’s hissing voice is eerie. It sounds like a snake trying to speak, the words broken, the language fractured.

"Stop talking in our language. You’re butchering it," Arthur snaps. "You can’t even say ’humans’ properly, and yet you want to kill ’umanss’?!"

The mockery is blatant. A clear challenge.

As expected, the King screeches loudly. Swishing sounds follow. A strong breeze tears through the area, and it sounds like something is taking off into the air.

"Did you just fly away in shame?!" Arthur yells.

He looks up but sees nothing. The dungeon sky is pitch black. No glowing stars. No moon.

The other three seem to understand immediately. Arthur is trying to draw the King out into the open so they can kill it.

Slowly, they step out of hiding and stand beside Arthur. Even though they can’t see each other clearly, simply feeling the others’ presence boosts everyone’s confidence tremendously.

"Come on, King!" Liam says, deliberately emphasizing the word. He clearly understands what Arthur is doing.

"We’re out here! Are you blind or stupid?!"

"Stupid. It is stupid. I called it. It is stupid!" Arthur replies.

"No," Liam adds loudly, "I don’t think it’s just stupid. It’s also blind!"

The two men burst into hysterical laughter.

Julian and Maeve hesitate at first, then soon join in, mocking the King nonstop.

Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind slams into them.

Arthur and the others shield their eyes as dirt and debris fly everywhere.

Then the ground shakes.

Something heavy lands.

From the silhouette, it’s not as large as its minions.

And the shape is wrong.

Liam blinks, forcing his eyes to adjust.

"I see... four arms?" he wonders aloud.

"Four hooves? So, like the others?" Julian adds.

"And it’s got four arms? How is that...?" Liam mutters again.

"Its shape... it looks like..." Julian is tilting his head, thinking.

"Minotaur?!" Maeve suddenly blurts out.

The three men repeat it like idiots. "Minotaur?!"

"Yeah. Torso up, human. Torso down, horse. But minotaur only have two arms, like us. This thing has four." Maeve adds.

"You’re talking like minotaur exist, Maeve. They don’t," Julian argues.

"Yeah, but you’ve seen them in movies or read about them in stories, right?" Maeve snaps, confused at how they don’tknow.

"Well, you’re forgetting the wings," Liam points out.

"So what is it? One-third human, one-third horse, one-third... Pegasus?" Julian can’t pin it down.

The four of them keep talking as if this is tea time gossip.

For a creature extremely sensitive to sound and light, their nonstop chatter is infuriating.

"Ssssiilleeeensss!"

The King slams two hooves into the ground and spreads its wings wide.

The humans finally focus on it.

Slowly, the glowing trees and bushes brighten, illuminating the battlefield until the King’s form is fully visible.

They were right.

It resembles a minotaur, half human and half horse, but with four arms and a massive pair of wings.

But what comes shocking the most to Julian, is the face.

"It– it– it has two eyes, one nose, one mouth. Like us!" His jaw drops.

Arthur studies the creature carefully, etching its appearance into his mind, especially the human-like face. It’s hard not to associate it with humanity when it looks so similar.

"Even the brows," Maeve whispers.

"The skin looks similar to ours too," Liam observes, "but much thicker."

The King looks furious now. It doesn’t like being ignored and talked about like it’s not there. It is completely disrespectful.

It stomps again, shaking the ground, then swings its wings forward in a wide arc, trying to cut all of them down in one motion.

"Look out!"

Arthur and Liam react instantly. Each grabs Julian and Maeve, diving clear of the attack.

They barely land before the King attacks again, spinning and striking with its hind legs.

Arthur instinctively unleashes fire at the legs to stop the momentum.

He miscalculates.

The fire has no effect.

The kick still comes.

Julian activates the Aegis just in time. It absorbs the blow and shatters.

"Damn it! How many Aegis do I need to bring into a dungeon?!" Julian curses.

"Maybe learn how to protect yourself with magic instead of relying on gadgets," Arthur says in passing while his eyes never leaving the King.

The King gives Julian no time to respond, continuing to attack and drive them back.

Arthur can fast, even while shielding someone, but exhaustion catches up quickly.

His earlier fatigue crashes back hard.

He’s breathing heavily, keeping Julian behind him.

"Art, I can help," Julian insists.

"Not with this one," Arthur pants. "It’s too fast. Even at my best, I can’t last long."

Liam and Maeve are no better.

The King fights with terrifying coordination. Its four arms strike relentlessly, its legs kick with crushing force, and its razor-sharp feathered wings leave deep, vicious cuts.

Maeve isn’t a combatant. She can only stay behind Liam.

And that makes Liam more anxious.

His attention splits.

He can’t fight at full capacity.

They’re exhausted.

And dangerously close to collapsing.

The King seems to have sensed it.

It stops attacking, almost deliberately, as if giving them time to catch their breath before playing with them again.

It turns slowly on the spot, massive hooves grinding against stone, watching its prey struggle for air.

"Paleeeee... an... no... breasss... dieeee... ooonn..."

"What?" Liam pants between breaths. "What are you saying?"

"It’s got a short tongue," Arthur scoffs weakly, still gasping. "That’s probably why it can’t really speak."

"DIEEEEEEE...!!!"

The King screeches, the sound tearing through the air, and then it charges forward.