Dark Civilization Volume 1 Chapter 20

Book 1 Chapter 20: Tyrant of the Canine Race!

Beside a remote and vacant edifice.

Ye Zhu and the rest were huffing exhaustedly as they stopped to rest. Dark clouds loomed over the streets behind them. The air howled as two thunderous booms resounded from within the rumbling dark clouds.

Shrouded in gloom, the skysc.r.a.pers beneath the reverberating dark clouds seemed sinister and imposing.

"Brother…."

Standing by the wall, Ye Zhu strained her eyes to look into the distance. Yet she failed to glimpse anything that could be happening far out into the streets. Her gaze filled with worry as she continued to search with her eyes.

"C'mon, relax!" Bai Long who was beside her gave a smile while saying: "Knowing how capable he is, I reckon it's the zombies whom will be struck with misfortune."

*Crackle----

A streak of lightning suddenly pierced through the clouds and lit up the entire sky for an instant. The raging winds carried a frigid chill, signaling the coming of a storm.

Ye Chen glared at the foreboding creature before him. It was a seven foot tall monster in the shape of a dog. Its limbs were rippling with musculature, far more impressive than that of a lion. The beast was covered in pitch black fur. Its abyssal dark eyes glared with a frigid intensity as it looked down upon Ye Chen. Adorned on its forelimbs was pair of machete like barbed claws, frightfully sharp in appearance.

"Demongale Hound!" Ye Chen's eyes were serious, without a hint of carelessness.

This was a variant of mutant dog, yet it was far from similar to that ordinary mutant dog he encountered from before. This was a tyrant among the mutant canine race, a rare breed indeed. Only one among ten thousand dogs undergoing mutation would transform into such a monster.

"Demongale hounds. During phase 1D1, their strength reached that of forty men. They were outstanding experts in speed. Even human warriors possessing the strength of fifty men were unable to defeat them."

Information regarding demongale hounds began to surface within Ye Chen's mind.

Phase 1D1!

The period after the apocalypse struck which was eventually regarded as the "Dark" era, naturally had a change of how each month and year was to be recorded. 1D1 of course, referred to year 1 month 1!

Following that order, 1D2 meant the second month of year 1.

Every single zombie and mutant freak that survives another month will undergo another mutation, greatly enhancing their prowess. Creatures from phase 1D2 far surpa.s.sed the creatures in phase 1D1.

The demongale hound roared as it exposed its two elongated canines, bearing the appearance of a saber-toothed tiger. As a drop of its saliva slid off its fang, it fell onto a dried leaf on the ground. The leaf instantly began to erode; a sizzling hole resulted from its contact with the saliva.

After arching its back, the creature shot forward like a loosed arrow.

A bead of sweat slid down Ye Chen's forehead as he tensed his nerves. With an unwavering glare, he attempted to grasp the trajectory of the creature's movements. Yet to no avail. The instant that demongale hound broke into full sprint, its form blurred and disappeared from his field of vision.

Immediately after, a violent wind came rushing towards Ye Chen's left flank. The sudden gust which buffeted against his hair and clothes caused an immense wave of astonishment to surge within him. His hand instinctively struck out with the fireman's axe.

*Clang!

The axe instantly broke at the handle. Like a scythe from h.e.l.l, a claw was slashed directly towards Ye Chen's heart.

Although overwhelmed, Ye Chen did not panic. The axe in his other hand was immediately used to protect his body. As the claw struck the axe head, a terrifying surge of kinetic energy a.s.sailed Ye Chen's entire body, sending him hurtling backwards.

This was also an instance which separated the novices from the veterans. A novice would scramble to steady his feet, causing him to trip several steps and land sitting on the ground.

As Ye Chen's body was forced backwards, his gaze hardened as he used the tips of his feet to divert the force into a backflip. As he spun through the air, Ye Chen directed a kick towards the demongale hound's lower jaw. Immediately after impacting its jaw, he sent another kick directly towards its snout. After connecting both of his kicks, he flipped his body like a graceful swallow and landed back on his feet.

The instant his feet hit the ground; he gripped his fireman's axe tight while stamping one foot upon the ground. Like a flash of lightning, he streaked towards the demongale hound choosing to attack instead of fleeing. When a battle breaks out, offense was the only option!

An unrelenting offense!

*Roar!

The demongale hound was infuriated by Ye Chen's two kicks. After directing a furious roar towards the heavens, its entire figure blurred as it set its four limbs into motion. As the creature bolted towards Ye Chen, the leaves on the ground scattered under the force of its raging charge.

As a pungent stench a.s.sailed his face, Ye Chen's eyes gleamed with killing intent knowing that a confrontation was inevitable.

"Bloodwind arts!"

"Mirage----ten blades!"

Ye Chen began a.s.suming a horse stance. After taking a step forward with his left foot, green veins began surfacing all over of his right arm as he lifted the fireman's axe. With an explosive bellow, he cleaved forth with the forceful intent and power to split apart everything before him.

In that instant between life and death….

The world became silent….

The fireman's axe appeared to flow slowly, yet in reality, it was...o...b..ting at a blinding speed. As the axe slashed towards the demongale hound, it was followed by ten afterimages. With one afterimage stacking upon the other, all ten afterimages converged into one as they slammed into the demongale hound.

*Rumble----

As thunder reverberated through the sky, large beads of rain began pouring upon the ground below. The land was rapidly soaked in moisture as everything blurred within the torrential downpour.

*Clang!

The axe broke. Yet at the same time, the demongale hound's claw snapped.

A figure was sent hurtling back, plummeting forcefully into a puddle of thick mud. With mud staining his entire body, Ye Chen struggled to lift himself. Even though he had already exhausted most of his strength, he had to stand!

"I can't afford to die!"

"Absolutely NOT!"

This single thought flooded Ye Chen's entire mind. Carrying an indescribable strength of will, he forced his body into a standing position.

Desperately holding himself against the torrential downpour!

*ROAR!

In this moment, the demongale hound once again charged forward. One of its prized claws had been severed and was bleeding profusely, staining the rainwater crimson. The pain only served to fuel its madness and savagery.

Ye Chen dragged his exhausted body backwards, intending to search for a suitable weapon. However, only zombie corpses littered the ground. There wasn't anything he could use in sight.

*Sphhhlt!

With a vicious lunge, the demongale hound landed a savage swipe against Ye Chen's belly. Simultaneously, Ye Chen mustered a desperate punch towards the creature's head. A crack resounded. Yet it wasn't the fracturing of the creature's skull, but the shattering of the bones in Ye Chen's arm.

The demongale hound's razor sharp claw effortlessly lacerated Ye Chen belly, sc.r.a.ping off a substantial amount of skin and muscle. With his belly ruptured, his intestines and various internal organs began spewing out onto the ground.

With bloodshot eyes, Ye Chen swiped a rock off the ground and viciously hurled it towards the demongale hound's eye. Perhaps it was the unrelenting downpour that hindered its sight. Adding the fact that Ye Chen's brutish strength which allowed him to pitch a stone so frightfully fast that it could puncture a concrete wall, the demongale hound failed to evade the critical blow.

The rock was deeply embedded into the demongale hound's eye.

*ARUuuu….!

The demongale hound yelped in agony, howling furiously in a mad struggle as it tumbled across the ground.

With a haggard breath, Ye Chen bended down to scoop up his dangling intestines and began stuffing them back into his ruptured abdomen. His nerves had already begun to numb from the intense agony he felt. After sparing the struggling demongale hound a single glance, he abandoned any thoughts of tussling with it further and fled hastily into the distance.

As far as demongale hounds went, even a party of humans with the strength of forty men couldn't defeat it without a proper bladed weapon. It was a well-known fact that animals were naturally stronger than humans when it came to raw fighting ability.

Furthermore, that demongale hound had a set of claws and fangs which it could easily use to tear its prey apart. Right now, Ye Chen didn't even have a spare fireman's axe on him. The idea of him taking down that forty man strong monster in his current condition simply couldn't be more than a fool's pipedream.

Run! Run! RUN!

Through the torrential rain, Ye Chen scrambled forth like a well-built primate. As he ran, his intestines would slide out of his lacerated abdomen under the force of his sprint. With little choice in the matter, he creased his brows as he wrapped the hide vest tightly around his wound.

As rainwater soaked every inch of his body, drops of water fell from the tips of his black hair as the rain continued to pour.

Translator's Notes:

The author wrote H in the raws which I a.s.sume means 'hei' (black/dark in Chinese). Therefore, I have chosen to translate each phase as 1D1/2 instead of 1H1/2.

It's pretty rare to see a main protagonist reduced to scooping up his own intestines after a battle and running. Most of the time they're just puking out gallons of blood w.i.l.l.y-nilly.