I Built a Divine Zoo in Another World

Chapter 132: Mana Beam

The ground trembled once again. There were no longer thousands of rats flooding through the forest in an endless gray tide.

The deafening sound of countless paws pounding against the earth, frantic squeals, and bodies crashing into one another had vanished completely. The silence that followed was oppressive.

Now, there was only one.

The Rat King advanced slowly.

Each step drove the ground downward beneath its monstrous weight. The earth gave way beneath its paws as though it were wet clay, leaving shallow craters with every movement. Countless deformed legs supported its grotesque body, born from the fusion of thousands of creatures, an amorphous mass of flesh, bone, and plates that moved with a fluidity completely at odds with its misshapen appearance.

Hundreds of eyes swept across the clearing at once, watching every warrior, every tree, every movement. There was not a single blind spot in the creature’s perception. Each eye moved independently, some focusing on Clavor, others on Hark, and still others on the soldiers cautiously advancing.

Some eyes remained fixed on the mage preparing his spell, while others stared at the fallen mage in the distance. No matter where anyone stood, the Rat King knew their exact position.

Its mere presence made the air feel heavy. The corrupted mana radiating from its body created an invisible pressure that compressed the lungs of everyone who drew near. Every breath required conscious effort, as though the very oxygen were being drained from the atmosphere.

Clavor took the first step.

Beside him, Hark rested his spear on his shoulder and smiled. It was not the smile of blind confidence or arrogance. It was the smile of someone who had finally found the challenge he had been seeking, the opponent who would test every one of his limits.

"Finally..."

The word was spoken in a whisper as the two charged forward together.

There was no hesitation in their movements. Neither looked back to see whether the soldiers were following. The trust between them was absolute, forged through countless battles where one man’s life depended on the other’s skill.

Right behind them, the remaining twenty soldiers reformed their ranks, protecting the wind and ice mage as they marched toward the monster. Their shields were raised, their spears pointed forward, their eyes locked on the approaching enemy. The blessing still pulsed through their bodies, keeping their strength renewed even in the face of such a monstrosity.

No one spoke a word.

The silence was absolute, broken only by the creaking of armor with every movement and the sound of boots striking the dry, cracked earth.

The distance closed rapidly.

Three hundred meters. The King’s figure still seemed distant, but the pressure of its mana could already be felt against their skin.

Two hundred meters. The details of its grotesque body began to emerge, the plates shifting as though they possessed lives of their own, the tails writhing like serpents in a nest, the eyes opening and closing in chaotic patterns.

One hundred and fifty meters. The stench of corrupted mana filled everyone’s nostrils, a metallic, sickening odor that seemed to cling to the throat.

Then...

The Rat King stopped.

It was not a gradual halt. It was abrupt, as though an invisible force had frozen the creature in the middle of its stride. All of its hundreds of eyes turned toward the humans at the exact same moment, a synchronized movement that made the air itself seem to shudder.

Its enormous body slowly leaned forward. The plates covering its chest began to separate, revealing something none of the warriors had ever seen before. Flesh tore apart, split open, and expanded like a grotesque flower blooming.

A portion of its chest began to open.

No... That was a mouth. Or something resembling one. The flesh split apart into a massive black cavity that seemed to stretch endlessly into the creature’s body.

The edges of the opening were jagged, as though they had been ripped apart by brute force, and a thick, black liquid seeped from them, steaming the moment it touched the ground.

But there were no teeth.

Instead...

Hundreds of eyes.

Eyes as red as coagulated blood. Eyes as black as the darkness between the stars. Eyes as yellow as the flames of a dying campfire.

All of them slowly rotating within that endless cavity like the gears of an infernal machine. The eyes moved in hypnotic patterns, some clockwise, others counterclockwise, creating a sight that made the stomach churn.

An overwhelming amount of corrupted mana began to gather within that void.

The energy condensed slowly, like water accumulating behind a dam on the verge of bursting. Tiny black sparks leaped between the eyes, and the air surrounding the mouth began to warp.

The air vibrated.

The nearby trees began to come apart. Ancient trunks disintegrated into dust, their fibers pulled toward the King’s mouth as though drawn by an invisible force. The leaves dissolved into particles of light before they could even reach the ground.

The earth cracked.

Fissures spread outward from beneath the monster’s feet, forming a web of fractures that stretched for dozens of meters. The ground groaned beneath the pressure, as though it were about to collapse entirely.

Hark’s eyes widened. His battle instincts, honed through years of combat, sounded an alarm so intense that he felt a tingling sensation race down his spine.

"DODGE!"

His shout echoed throughout the entire forest, shattering the silence like thunder. His voice carried such urgency that the nearest soldiers reacted before their minds could even process the command.

Clavor had already leaped to the side. His body moved with a speed that defied gravity, propelled by a burst of mana that hurled him several meters away.

Hark did the same, using his spear as a pivot to launch himself through the air. The two warriors split apart, creating distance between themselves and the target of the imminent attack.

The very next instant...

’BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!’

A black beam erupted from the King’s mouth, shooting toward them.