[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-knight-from-apprentice-to-the-almighty":3,"chapter-knight-from-apprentice-to-the-almighty-knight-from-apprentice-to-the-almighty-chapter-195":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Knight: from Apprentice to the Almighty",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1847909,2453,"Chapter 195 - 183: Brain-Eating Monster","knight-from-apprentice-to-the-almighty-chapter-195",195,"\u003Cp>Although Roland had gained an incredibly detailed understanding of Wailing Gorge’s interior through Teresa’s ability, he didn’t act rashly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After dealing with the captured Pirates, he instructed Hobbit to first send his best crewmen to scout the inside of Wailing Gorge in small boats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once he confirmed that the Pirates holed up inside had made no unusual moves, he arranged for his crew to get some much-needed rest while he once again used Observing the Sea to check the weather.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A day later, when the sun finally pierced through the dense fog, the Sea Sparrow set sail once more, heading for Wailing Gorge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In just a few moments, the treacherous landscape came into view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Roland, who was already well-aware of the situation, wasted no time on idle admiration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His detailed information and meticulous planning rendered the reefs and rock pillars at the entrance—which had capsized countless inexperienced ships—practically nonexistent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under Roland’s calm command, the Sea Sparrow deftly avoided these deadly obstacles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, as the current calmed, the ship sailed into the interior of Wailing Gorge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Towering, jagged cliffs rose on both sides, nearly blocking out the sun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sea breeze whistled through cracks and holes in the cliffs, producing eerie shrieks that mingled with the crashing waves below, enough to send a shiver down one’s spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Cliffs, caves, and...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roland’s gaze fell upon the surface of the sea nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several solid landmasses rose abruptly from the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were an earthy yellow color, looking utterly out of place against the surrounding cliffs, which had been washed black by the sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hobbit...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing they were still some distance from the cave Teresa had identified as the Pirates’ hideout, Roland quietly asked the Half-Elf beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The last time you and your older brother passed through Wailing Gorge, were these landmasses here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t... think so.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But my older brother did say that for some reason, the geography everywhere has been changing a bit in recent years, so...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Half-Elf said, looking at the young man beside him, whose brow was tightly furrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Hobbit greatly respected Roland’s cautious and meticulous style—a lesson drilled into him by Trevor—sometimes...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...even he felt Roland’s caution was a bit excessive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mr. Roland, you needn’t worry so much.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I see.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roland’s eyes narrowed slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Is the resurgence of Magic Elements causing the geography to change?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He scrutinized the out-of-place landmasses again, and only after confirming there was nothing amiss did he slowly look away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sea Sparrow sailed onward, and the silhouettes of three Pirate Ships gradually came into view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crew gripped their weapons, ready for a fight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the battle was surprisingly easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For some unknown reason, the Pirates stationed in Wailing Gorge were not only extremely weak, but also pitifully few in number.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Pirates on all three ships combined numbered just over fifty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, in a matter of moments, the Pirates were driven from their ships and forced onto the solid, earthy-yellow ground nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing only a dozen or so Pirates still putting up a futile resistance, Roland’s tense nerves finally began to ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Pirate leader, a captain named Harlem, had yet to appear, Roland didn’t believe he could still pose a threat after losing all his men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the intelligence they had, this captain, while powerful, had not yet stepped into the Extraordinary Realm. He was, at best, a remarkable fighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, standing on the deck, Roland kept his hand resting steadily on the hilt of his sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would not let his guard down until the battle was completely over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, the sound of soft footsteps came from behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roland glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Galvis shuffling wearily to his side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Minstrel looked as if all the strength had been drained from him. His hands rested limply on the ship’s rail, his back was slightly hunched, and he let out a long, weary sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is it, Galvis? Did something happen?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roland asked, his gaze still firmly locked on the battlefield below, not wavering for an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s... it’s nothing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Minstrel waved a listless hand, his fingers unconsciously plucking the strings of the instrument in his lap, producing a series of plaintive, low notes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I just feel... it’s all gone too smoothly. No fierce struggle, no thrilling twists, not even a chance for you to display your prowess. It’s just... so terribly dull.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grumbled as he scratched his messy brown hair, then pulled out a pen and paper from his coat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Biting the tip of his quill, he frowned in deep, troubled thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How am I supposed to embellish this... hmm... adventure, which has been as dull as dishwater, to make it sound exciting and captivating?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Listening to the Minstrel’s absurd complaints, Roland had to fight the urge to roll his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was about to offer a few dismissive words to send the nuisance back to his cabin when his pupils suddenly constricted, his gaze locking onto the cliffs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the entrance to a cave connected to those out-of-place patches of land, several figures were staggering out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the Pirates!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But their appearance made everyone on deck gasp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their movements were as stiff as marionettes, their joints emitting a grating \"CREAK,\" and every step was marked by an unnatural twitch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most horrifying part was their eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were hollow and vacant, as if covered by a thick, gray film, devoid of any sign of life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only a faint, unsettling violet glimmer flickered in their depths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By the gods... what in the hell are those things?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hobbit’s voice held a barely perceptible tremor as he subconsciously reached for the Short Knife at his waist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The walking corpses’ gray-white eyes, glinting with purple light, swiveled in unison toward the open ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, the crew of the Sea Sparrow, fresh from their victory, stood on alert.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Look out!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The piercing warning shook the crew from their horrified stupor, and they roared as they swung their weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blades hacked into the stiff bodies, making dull thuds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the fight was unnervingly bizarre.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Pirates’ movements were clumsy, yet they possessed shocking strength and seemed to feel no pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A crewman hacked into one of the Pirate’s shoulders with all his might, cutting deep enough to reveal bone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Pirate only swayed. Its mangled arm continued to choke the crewman, while its other, uninjured hand stubbornly clawed for his face, its fingertips mere inches from his eyeball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crewman’s eyes bulged from suffocation and fear as he watched in despair, the filthy fingernails drawing ever closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the nick of time!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flash of cold steel, like lightning tearing through the air, sliced in with unerring precision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CLANG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sharp clang of metal was piercing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roland’s figure had somehow appeared in the center of the chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His Secret Silver Longsword steadily blocked the desiccated arm that was about to gouge out the crewman’s eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An immense Power came through the blade, causing his arm to dip slightly, but his stance remained as solid as a rock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bizarre Pirate seemed to \"sense\" the obstruction. Its grayish-white eyes swiveled with excruciating slowness, \"staring\" blankly at Roland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An inhuman, wet gurgling came from its throat, as if something were squirming inside it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the wind whistling through the holes in the cliffs, its shrieks growing ever more shrill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with several hollow gazes locked onto him, all glinting with an ominous purple light, Roland’s eyes showed no hesitation, only ice-cold resolve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew all too well that hesitation meant death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Back!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He barked the order. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable authority that instantly stopped the crewmen who were trying to move forward to help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, he moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No flashy moves, only pure speed and precision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Secret Silver Longsword became a band of light in his hand, tearing through the gloom as it aimed straight for the bizarre Pirate’s neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seemingly sensing the mortal threat, the Pirate stiffly tried to raise a hand to block.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was too slow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roland’s sword was faster than the signals traveling through its decaying nerves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blade flashed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no loud clash, only a sickening thud, like an axe splitting rotten wood, that made the scalp tingle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The discolored head flew high into the air, tracing a short arc through the murky atmosphere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The headless body swayed, its hand finally releasing the crewman’s throat, and collapsed onto the earthy-yellow ground with the heavy thud of a sack of rotten meat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rescued crewman coughed violently, scrambling away in a panicked crawl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The severed head rolled several times on the ground before coming to a stop, the stump of its neck facing upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time seemed to freeze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the deck, Hobbit let out a choked, strangled gasp. His face turned white as a sheet, and his small body began to tremble uncontrollably. He subconsciously gripped a nearby rope, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But right next to Hobbit, the Minstrel Galvis’s reaction was the complete opposite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His hands, which had been resting on the rail, clenched into tight fists. His eyes, bloodshot from weariness and long nights, were now wide, burning with an incredible, manic light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared intently at the severed head, a strange, guttural sound rattling in his throat. It wasn’t fear, but the kind of ecstasy that comes from discovering a priceless treasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the Pirate’s skull, visible from the severed neck stump...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...where the brain and skull should have been, a nauseating, writhing mass was coiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had slick, grayish-purple skin, like that of a flayed frog, and was covered in a viscous slime that shimmered with a faint violet light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several thick tentacles covered in nerve-like bumps, like malignant roots, were plunged deep into the base of the skull, anchoring the creature firmly in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tentacles still twitched and writhed unconsciously, as if still trying to absorb any remaining nutrients.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the center of this slimy mass, one could faintly discern a circular, beak-like structure similar to an octopus’s mouth. Lined with tiny, sharp teeth, it opened and closed, greedily sucking at the air, perhaps at the lingering traces of life essence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No eyes, no nose—just a purely primitive, parasitic form that exuded a soul-shaking malevolence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A Brain-Eating Monster! By the gods, it’s really a Brain-Eating Monster!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Galvis’s voice was sharp with excitement, even trembling with a rapturous joy that completely drowned out Hobbit’s suppressed, fearful whimpers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suddenly straightened his previously stooped back as if instantly infused with boundless energy, his finger pointing excitedly at the writhing mass of flesh below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Roland! Look at that thing! They burrow into living hosts, devour their brains, and turn their victims into soulless puppets!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ve heard of them in the ancient ballads of the Northern Tundra and seen them in the forbidden murals of the Southern Jungle Tribe! Heavens, I thought they were only legends, just bedtime stories third-rate minstrels tell to scare children!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And from deep within the cave, as if in answer to the Minstrel’s words, came a denser, more horrifying skittering sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next moment, more Pirates controlled by Brain-Eating Monsters appeared before them.\u003C\u002Fp>",1874,"2026-06-09T07:01:39.615Z",1,"novelbin.me","e9133b5dcd2294a300202d95128692f463c5d0c785bdf00bac6c7991b0a6ce32","knight-from-apprentice-to-the-almighty-chapter-196","knight-from-apprentice-to-the-almighty-chapter-194",216,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fknight-from-apprentice-to-the-almighty-cover.jpg"]