Chapter 24 – The Sleeping Juggernaut
“Housekeeper Nelly! Did he hurt you?!”
Tyler blinked. “Wait, what?”
A Royal Guard charged toward them, sword half-drawn.
Nelly waved frantically. “No, no! It was my fault! I wasn’t looking! I ran into him!”
The guard paused, then helped her up. “Are you hurt, Lady Nel— I an, Housekeeper Nelly?”
Nelly rubbed her knees. “Just sore legs. Thank you.”
Tyler dusted himself off. “What were you doing out here?”
“Chasing rebels,” Nelly said matter-of-factly. “Royal Guard was tasked with clearing them out. I tagged along.”
Tyler frowned. “You tagged along?”
“King Wing told to be useful. I dropped his sword the other day. So, I figured… well… how hard could rebel hunting be?”
The guard cleared his throat. “We’ve already searched the entire area. Their base was here. It’s gone now.”
“But we saw soone—”
“Gone,” the guard repeated, more firmly. “No need to search again.”
Milo stepped forward. “You’re being a little… defensive.”
The guard stepped closer, hand still on his sword. “You’d do well to stay out of Shindo affairs. Stray too far, and you might not find your way back.”
Tyler raised both hands. “Okay, ssage received. We’re going.”
Nelly looked at Tyler curiously. “Why are you helping the King so much? Loyalty?”
Tyler laughed. “Hah! He’s just my cash cow. I’m here for the gold.”
“Is that so? Then, if the rebels offered more, would you join them instead?”
Tyler scratched his head. “I an… probably not? They’d bring war… Hurt people… I don’t want that.”
Nelly nodded slowly. “So, you’re not loyal to the King. But maybe loyal to the people. That’s sothing.”
Tyler looked away. “Whatever. As long as we get paid.”
Milo whispered, “Smooth.”
Tyler glared. “Oh! By the way… that storm wizard hat. Where’d you get it?”
Nelly blinked. “Oh! That? One of the storm wizards dropped it when we were chasing him.”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “Wait. Storm wizards are part of this rebellion?”
“I an… yes? Maybe?”
Milo leaned in. “That complicates things.”
Tyler nodded. “We need to check with Yandeon. I thought there was just one storm wizard camp. There might be more.”
Milo smirked. “So now you have a sense of duty?”
“Earning money is one thing. Getting ho is another.”
Milo’s smile softened. “Alright then. Let’s move.”
Tyler looked back toward the forest. There was no sign of Bongo Banana. Not even [Eagle Eye] could pull him out of the landscape.
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“Let him go,” Tyler muttered. “If he’s with them, we’ll see him again.”
And with that, they turned back toward the teleport beacon, snow crunching softly underfoot, and the storm growing darker on the horizon.
---
Just as Tyler reached out to activate the teleportation button to Yandi, a familiar voice called out.
“Wait! Stop! Don’t go yet!”
The sa castle guard Tyler had bribed earlier ca jogging toward them, panting.
“What now?” Tyler asked.
The guard straightened and saluted half-heartedly. “King Wing has learned of your arrival. He… demands your presence. Imdiately!”
Tyler’s face lit up. “Oh, so he did miss us. Guess it’s ti to make so gold.”
Milo gave him a flat look. “Weren’t we going to Yandeon? So, this is your resolve, huh?”
“Shut up, we both know we need money and we need to do this.”
---
Inside the throne room, Tyler bowed low, approaching King Wing cautiously.
The King sat stiffly on his golden throne, feathers slightly ruffled, his piercing eyes narrowed. “Have you heard about the situation, [Player]?”
Tyler nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“This ti, your task is not bandit extermination. But it is no less important. Can you handle it?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I ordered a battalion of rcenaries from Dustville to aid in Shindo’s defence. But they haven’t arrived. I want you to visit their guild and either ensure their imdiate arrival or… retrieve twice the gold I paid them. Use any ans you must.”
[Quest Assigned! Mission rcenary Mandate]
[Primary Objective: Secure reinforcents from Dustville rcenary guild.
Alternative: Retrieve double the commission fee paid.]
Tyler blinked. That was… a strange job. Threaten or refund?
Still, it was sothing.
They accepted the quest, and Tyler left the palace with mixed feelings. He didn’t know the rules about rcenary contracts or whether refund policies existed in the ga. All he knew was Dustville was uncharted territory — and they had to reach it on foot first.
---
Their journey began at the icy gates of Shindo, where frost ruled the world like an iron tyrant. Tyler and Milo trudged south-eastward, following an ancient, winding trail etched faintly into the white tundra. The trail twisted through frostbitten forests, across brittle bridges, and beneath skies so pale they blended with the snow below.
But as days passed, the icy world around them began to lt.
Bit by bit, the snow thinned. The air grew drier. The white gave way to pale brown. Dead grass appeared. Then ca rocky soil, coarse and sun-ward. The chill in the wind softened, replaced by gusts that carried the grit of distant dunes.
By the fourth day, their breaths no longer fogged in front of their mouths.
“We’re getting close,” Milo murmured, wiping sweat from his brow. “Feels like we walked into a different bio.”
“A long, hot, miserable one,” Tyler said, scanning the horizon.
Ahead, jagged cliffs lood, forming a ring around a vast basin. From their elevated perch, the world seed to drop into an enormous bowl of sun-baked desert. And nestled in the centre, barely visible, was the dusty silhouette of a town: Dustville.
They began their descent.
---
The path down was steep and treacherous. Crumbling rocks slid underfoot. Sharp winds howled through narrow canyons. Tyler and Milo leaned into the slope, feet skidding against gravel as they made their way downward.
But halfway through, Tyler paused.
Sothing was off.
The trail beneath them looked… strange. The rock surface here was a deep, ash-coloured slate, oddly smooth, subtly rounded. A different colour and texture than the jagged cliffs they had been navigating.
Tyler crouched, tapping the stone. It echoed faintly, like knocking on a thick drum.
“Weird…” he muttered.
Milo caught up, panting. “Tyler, did you feel it?”
“Feel what?”
“The boulder. I think it… moved.”
Tyler laughed. “Co on. It’s a rock.”
Then he felt it too.
A faint pulse.
A rhythmic, almost imperceptible rise and fall. A slow inhale. A deeper exhale. The ground… was breathing.
And then the vibrations started.
Like tremors from deep within the earth.
“Milo… RUN!”
Tyler hurried and dashed downhill, activating [Sprint]. The wind lashed against his face as he darted over pebbles and dips, leaving behind a trail of dust.
Milo followed as fast as he could, stumbling, tripping — and then ca the roar.
A deep, ancient sound. Not like thunder. Not like a beast. It was sothing more. It rumbled through their bones, shook the stones, and cracked the silence of the canyon.
The ‘boulder’ behind them trembled.
Then split.
Two massive slabs of what they thought were stone shifted — revealing legs. A tail of pebbled, armour-thick hide unravelled behind it. Crags lifted from the ‘boulder’s’ surface, revealing scales the size of wagon wheels. Dust and dry moss flew into the air as the thing rose from its ancient slumber.
It had four gargantuan legs. A mountainous torso. And from its head rose a massive trunk, thicker than a tree, swinging lazily in the air as it awoke fully.
Its eyes opened — red, ancient, knowing.
Then ca the trumpet.
An ear-splitting blast that shook the very ravine. Birds exploded from trees. Dust fell from cliffs. The wind was thrown back by the sheer force of sound.
[Enemy Identified: Gorrum the Juggernaut]
[Level 100] [HP: 2000/2000]
Milo scread from atop its back. “TYLER! IT’S AN ELEPHANT! A GIANT, ROCK-SKINNED ELEPHANT!”
Tyler skidded to a halt, looking back.
“That… was a boulder!”
“Well now it’s a subboss!”
The monster’s foot ca down where they had stood minutes ago, flattening stone like paper. Its massive form lood over them like a living mountain, skin of granite, eyes of fury.
Tyler gulped.
“Yeah… this is going to be a problem.”
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