Mercenary Black Mamba

Ulumbo's wish wasn't realized. The Bodun was kneeling before the Mahaduraka with his head bowed. Even the strong Bodun who had gotten rid of the ancient monster was nothing but a child waiting to be scolded before the great spirit. It wasn't his place to interfere.

"Great Mahaduraka, please forgive my sins! I'm not doing this because I love chickens and donkeys. What else was I meant to do talentless and penniless? I'd like to have a woman at least before I die. Please, just return me safely from this Devil's Forest!" Ulumbo prayed for the great spirit's protection in a solemn position. 34-year-old middle-aged Ulumbo's only wish was to have sex before he died, like any other human. Whether his wish would be realized was something to be seen.

Samedi had acted cool before the Pygmies but was ultimately injured in pride. He'd ruined his image, unable to successfully pull off the task his master entrusted. If his master hadn't used his whip that once, he could have become the monster's snack. While he felt it unjust that he hadn't been able to use a weapon, he found himself pathetic for struggling to fight the crocodile.

"Wakil, I'm sorry for being embarrassing." Samedi carefully lowered his head.

"No, you were cool." Black Mamba smiled widely. Who else but Samedi would be able to beat down a 5,000kg ancient crocodile with bare hands? He had the kind of physical body which could beat Ocelot ten times over by making his five combined movements better.

"I could have taken care of it with one blow had I had my Squeaker," Samedi complained, his confidence restored.

He was the one who fought to the death, but his master was the one who managed to look cool making one move at the end of his fight. While he wasn't complaining, he felt a little unjustified.

"Gullible brat!" Black Mamba laughed inwardly.

He liked Bonipas. Bonipas was more confident when dealing with him than the other leaders. Was Bonipas really confident? No. Bonipas praised him because he was scared of him. Bonipas sounded as though he was roasting most of the time, but his comments were praises in essence. Bonipas covered his praises with overconfidence, making others mistake his intentions. Black Mamba pretended as though he was fooled and reaped of more of him. Doubting whether Bonipas' words were lies or truth was something only amateurs did. There wasn't a reason to start a fight when both were satisfied. Samedi, although older than Black Mamba, wasn't sly in nature. And that was Samedi's charm.

"There's no need to swing Squeaker and waste energy, is there? Just moving a finger would have solved the problem with a bullet."

"Wakil's mean." Samedi, who had his words returned to his face, scratched the back of his head. He really was a simple guy. Samedi was the kind of worker who'd never get promoted in a big company no matter how well he worked.

"What did you learn while fighting the large monster?"

"I lost my rationality, was overconfident with my strength and lost my temper."

"And?"

"I was unable to use my strength properly."

"And?"

"I was unable to use my speed correctly."

"And?"

Samedi, who thought to the best of his abilities but came up with none, raised his hands in surrender. "I don't know."

"The Sarcosuchus and your strength were similar. The real reason you failed was that you weren't determined to throw everything you had at it. You must first give up on your life to take the life of others. That is the first code of warriors. You felt fear from the monster's teeth and tail. Fear made your muscles harden and decreased your speed. Like so you'll never be able to chance at an opportunity. You lost all five chances to land a fatal blow. A fight is all about suppressing the opponent first and overwhelming them second. Bloodlust only appears when you've set your life on the line. If you lose your bloodlust, even the strongest person gets eaten by the weak."

"Putting my life on the line…," Samedi's expression grew serious. To be frank, he'd been slightly scared by the creature's teeth and tail. In the end, he was beaten up and weakened by the bastard.

"Wakil, how do you abandon fear?"

"You don't abandon fear, you overcome it. You acknowledge that your opponent is strong, and your determination to overcome your opponent increases the amount of testosterone and adrenaline which strengthens your body. Strength is very parallel. The more you overcome fear, the stronger your mentality grows. The Masai tribe's bravery that chases away a lion from its food is something that was nurtured forcibly. Why do you think the lion runs away from its food when even dogs growl when their meal is interrupted? It's because it was overwhelmed by their aura. By avoiding fear, you avoid smaller fears too. In the end, your mentality becomes small like a seed, and you become an opportunist filled with cowardice," Black Mamba continued a long lecture, unlike himself.

"Thank you, Wakil. I used to just like you. Now I respect you."

Samedi understood Black Mamba's explanation completely. Herbivores frequently ran at predators to protect their children. Zebras attacked lions and charged at cheetahs as though they were determined to die. While they were all ridiculous scenes, lions and cheetahs ran as though fire was on their heels. There wasn't anyone scarier than someone willing to die. He'd hesitated thinking his newly gained life was more precious and was defeated.

"Damn brat, your sucking up skills have increased instead of your mentality," Black Mamba smiled.

"Hehe, servants take after their masters," Samedi laughed.

While there was too much work to do, being around Wakil made fun things happen. His mind was at peace when with Big Master, but it was boring. Of course, he enjoyed hard but fun work.

"Let's return after treating your leg."

"It's not a problem." Samedi hid his bloodied leg. While most of his muscles and tendons were harmed, it was nothing compared to the torment he had after getting beaten up by Big Master.

"You idiot! Tsk tsk." Black Mamba clicked his tongue.

This was a problem. Sarcosuchus wasn't some gavial or kaiman. His entire leg that had been chewed by that big jaw was flimsy, as though it had been beaten with an electric hammer. Any normal human would have lost their leg, the limb melting in the beast's liver. Although there wouldn't be any human willing to fight a Sarcosuchus anyway.

White foam bubbled up from his wound. The place where the foam wasn't bubbling had already begun to scab. While he wasn't as fast as the chimera in Ounianga, his recovery speed was near miraculous.

Black Mamba cleaned the wound with the alcohol in his backpack and wrapped it with bandages. There wasn't a need to use blood clotters or ointments or feed him painkillers. Zombies were undefeatable against bacteria.

"I feel embarrassed for not defeating a monster properly. I'll train really hard."

"Of course you should. You're strong, but not absolutely strong. There are plenty of people who can split apart the jaws of a Sarcosuchus. There are three that I know of, and there could be more."

"Big Master, Wakil, and me?" Samedi asked back jokingly.

"No, master wouldn't even harm an ant. I don't dogfight like you. The world is large. I've confirmed three other people aside from you."

"Three others?" Samedi's eyes grew wide. Wakil didn't lie, and there wasn't a point in lying, but it was hard to believe. Sarcosuchus wasn't just any normal creature!

"Two aren't human, and one is. There's one called Ocelot amongst those who're not human. He is Caucasian, has gold hair, and is as strong as you. He's a human mutant and is better off dead in this world. If you ever meet him, kill him. You'll have to train the Five Combined Movements really hard if you want to beat him."

"Ok. Who is the other non-human person?"

"He's not a person, but a friend I respect. He's a large black leopard larger than a Siberian tiger, and his name is Blacky. That's all you should know. The human is a Korean, just like me, and his name is Chui Do Shik. He is around his 60's, doesn't have a left arm, and should have a large scar on his neck. His forehead is as large as a tuna, and his eyes are white. Chui Do Shik is the greatest assassin, swordsman, and spell caster. You won't be able to beat Chui Do Shik. You should avoid him at all costs."

"Ugh, I can't believe it. How can there be another human like Big Master and Wakil?"

Samedi was very surprised. Humans were weak. They were the kind of people that died from a touch by him. Big Master and Wakil were special people. Big Master didn't care about the world, and Wakil was his master. Blacky and Ocelot weren't humans. He thought he was the strongest person in this world, but there was an old man he can't handle? He couldn't believe it.

"If you go against Chui Do Shik now, you'll have your chest shattered into pieces or your head sliced off within ten exchanges."

"No way!"

Samedi's face grew dark. No matter how fast his body regenerates, he wouldn't be able to live in his heart bursts or his head falls off. Two to three seconds determined ten blows among peak martial artists. This meant he would die the moment he went against this old man. His pride grew injured.

"That isn't all. Although it's not confirmed, there may be more appearances of beings stronger than you."

Black Mamba's face turned into one of contemplation. The chimera he met at Ounianga was stuck in his throat like a thorn, warning him something.

"Huh, there's more weird beings?"

"I'll explain it to you properly later. While close-range combat is important, knowing how to use your weapon is also as important. This is the kind of age where even the most trained martial artists of decades die by a weak bullet shot by a child soldier. Don't stop your Five Combined Movements and Squeaker training, and practice using the machine gun until it's a part of your body."

"Wakil is always right," Samedi nodded.

He just had to do as his master told him to. All the complicated thoughts were his master's job. This was why being a servant was easy.

Black Mamba turned his head to the lake. The Pygmies were chattering like monkeys.

"Let's get ready to leave. It seems like our small friends are having problems."

Black Mamba stood and walked to the Sarcosuchus' corpse. Samedi swallowed his questions and followed him.

The Pygmy hunters were having trouble over the Sarcosuchus' body. Pygmies were sweating over its large body, but the Sarcosuchus looked fine. One was hitting down with a rock with a raised koso, another was hitting down with a topa while sweating buckets, and another was putting poison on its skin from a bamboo container. There were many more.

"Ulumbo, there's not enough time. What were they all doing until now? The hide's not even off," Samedi glared.

"Oh, sir, the hide is too thick. Their knives won't slice it," Ulumbo said with a poor expression, rubbing his hands.

"Well, it was quite hard." Samedi acknowledged.

The mutated crocodile's hide was strong enough that bullets didn't pierce it. If it hadn't been that strong, he wouldn't have suffered either.

"There's not enough time. I'll do it."

Black Mamba kicked the corpse. Its large body was flipped onto its back. Whoosh! Rakshasa rushed forward in a direct line like a spear. Bang! The popper pierced its lower jaw and went through its upper skull. He tied the fall, hooked the large whip over a mahogany branch, and dragged it up. The branch, which was wider than his waist, creaked. Samedi rushed to aid him.

Black Mamba managed to hang the large reptile on a mahogany tree with some inhumane actions. Ulumbo and the Pygmy hunters were unable to breathe. The great ones always did things beyond their imaginations.

Black Mamba took out his Kukri. Hisss! Light blue waves vibrated as though it was whining. There wasn't a reason to use his Vajra when the monster wasn't on the level of Boss-saurus. While he could tear it apart with his hands, as he was wearing the Billion's Water Armor, too grand a performance would instill fear instead. Now that he thought about it, the Kukri hadn't been used as much in favor of Rakshasa and Vajra. Whether it was an object or a person, a better one always caused another to be forgotten.

Rumble. When he activated his resonance, the blade vibrated too. Black Mamba gently leaped into the air and stabbed the kukri underneath the monster's chin. The kukri dug in like candles digging into a cake. Things without wings fall. He trusted his weight to gravity and fell. Rip! The monster's thick hide was sliced from its chin to its tail. It was the method he used to clean off animals he caught in Bridge Village.

Black Mamba moved back immediately once he landed on the ground. Splat! Large intestines poured out of its stomach alongside blood which spilled out like a waterfall. The eerie lake was soon filled with the smell and stench of blood.

"Amazing!" Samedi exclaimed at his master's amazing performance.

The process of stabbing the Sarcosuchus' chin, pulling it up onto a tree, and slicing its belly open ultimately pulling out its intestines were smooth like water. His master truly was his master.

"Oooo!" The Pygmy hunters exclaimed with their mouths open. It was the kind of performance they would never see again, something only the great spirits could do. Black Mamba jumped again and made some marks on the head's hide.

"Samedi, take it off."

Samedi, who witnessed Black Mamba's example, grabbed its hide and jumped down. Riiip! The Sarcosuchus' entire hide was peeled off. The kukri flashed. The Sarcosuchus' body landed on the floor with a bang, its nose sliced off. The pygmies rushed at it with their knives raised like hyenas.

The Sarcosuchus' comfortable life which had continued in Ituri Forest for hundreds of years ended like so. It was getting its karma. For the highest-ranking predator of ancient times to be hung like a chicken in a street market's weight, who would have known!

"Kehehe!"

Olonge burst into tears while holding on to the evil spirit's heart. As long as he burned the evil spirit's heart, his sons' souls could flow up with its smoke and enter God's realm.

A God had appeared when he wanted, but couldn't get revenge for his two sons. The God who even saved his last two sons from a mad elephant had given him the evil spirit's heart. God had saved his two sons and avenged his two older sons. A great God was before his eyes.

"Samedi Umar! (Samedi, God of Protection!)" Olonge cried with his two arms in the air.