Actus
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Return of the Runebound Professor - Chapter 809
🕑 Added 2025-09-16 16:00:21 +0000 UTC“Spare me, great Star Serpent!” There was a loud thump to Noah’s side as the haggard man threw himself to the ground and fell prostate before the enormous yellow eye peering down at the two of them. “Never has my faith wavered. I have offered up my sacrifices. I have kept to the pact. This newcomer is not of my doing. Please, spare me!”
“Weren’t you just praying to Renewal?” Noah asked, scratching at his chin. “Don’t you think you should stick to one person? You can’t go asking the Star Serpent thing for favors after you were just praying to someone else. That feels rude at best.”
The man didn’t respond. He was too busy banging his head against the ground as if giving himself a concussion would somehow magic the enormous beast peering down at them away.
Noah wasn’t too optimistic about the chances of that working, but he wasn’t exactly in the best position to judge someone banging their head against a veritable wall until something worked. That tended to be his favorite strategy.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t one he could use today.
“Look,” Noah said, meeting the huge eye’s gaze. “Sorry for interrupting your — uh, whatever this is. But I can’t afford to die right now. Made myself a promise I’d abstain for a little. Joined a support group and everything. The only member is a centipede, but he counts. I don’t suppose you’d like to give me some directions toward the nearest large town? I’ve gotten a little lost.”
“You fool,” the prostate man hissed. “Bow down before the great Star Serpent and beg for your life. It will not speak to one so lowly as—”
The eye pulled back.
Even in spite of everything Noah had seen in recent times, he couldn’t help but feel a flicker of awe as the massive beast came into view. The Star Serpent certainly lived up to its name.
If anything, calling it a serpent should have been an insult. This was no snake.
It was a dragon.
The Star Serpent’s head was the size of a large barn. It had a mouth full of glistening obsidian fangs and a thick neck that ran off beyond the field of view that the torn-open ceiling of the stone house afforded Noah. The whole monster was covered with glossy purple-black scales that shimmered like the starry night itself.
It was beautiful.
And more than that. As Noah stared up at the massive creature, something glinted behind its hungry yellow eyes. Then it released its domain.
Pressure slammed into Noah with a roar. The haggard man beside him was smashed flat against the floor with a pained wheeze as the dragon’s domain bore down on them both. He wasn’t outright flattened like he would have been if someone like Garina had released her powers, but it certainly didn’t look comfortable.
Noah paused.
He waited for a second. Noah could feel the inky power of the Star Serpent pressing against his body, where he’d tightly bound his domain within himself to keep it from seeping out. The monster’s energy buzzed and prickled against his skin.
And that was just about it.
The Star Serpent was strong. It was definitely around the upper realms of Rank 6. Maybe not with the best possible runes possible, but certainly with good ones. That was quite respectable. It would have placed this creature at the upper realms of the Arbalest Empire. Maybe not at the top, but still towards it.
“Huh,” Noah said. He glanced down at the man at his side. “Not bad. Say, grandpa, what rank are you?”
The haggard man didn’t respond. He was a little busy gasping and wheezing for air that the Star Serpent’s domain drove from his lungs.
“Oh, right. You can’t breathe.” Noah slapped himself in the forehead.
Then he released his domain.
The Star Serpent’s influence shattered like sugar glass. Noah’s influence tore out across the house, shoving the other domain out without even a little difficulty. Surprise passed through the massive monster’s eye. It definitely hadn’t been expecting that.
Beside Noah, the fallen man drew in a desperate gasp for air. He curled into a ball, wheezing as he fought to fill his lungs once more.
“Can you answer now?” Noah asked after a few moments. “Not to rush you. I know how it feels to get crushed by a domain. Not fun. But it would be nice to know what the average level is around here. Don’t want to kill anyone on accident.”
“I’m a Rank 3,” the man whispered. “Who… are you?”
Rank 3, huh? Okay. I’m starting to get a better grasp of things, then. This guy doesn’t seem too important. Rank 3 would have put you solidly average as a mage in Arbalest. It was where most professors were.
Since this dude lives in such a scuffed area without much that appears to be worth anything, I’d imagine Rank 3 is probably relatively low for Obsidia. They must be more open with their combinations here — or maybe there’s just been more time to figure things out without a Great War wiping a bunch of knowledge away.
“Great,” Noah said, ignoring the man’s second question. “Thanks.”
A rumbling growl split the air above Noah. He looked back up at the Star Serpent. It matched his gaze with a single eye, anger burning deep within its massive yellow depths as it bared its teeth at him.
Something in Noah shifted. It had been a while since he’d released his domain like this, after his soul had been so severely warped by the Beyond. He could feel the strange white magic twisting within him.
Hmm. Don’t know if I like that.
“I don’t suppose this is the part where you reveal you’re actually lonely and hoping for some good conversation?” Noah asked. “I’d be happy to accommodate you in exchange for some directions. I really do need those. But something tells me you’re not the talkative type. Prove me wrong, would you? I’d be very—”
The Star Serpent’s jaw slammed shut.
There was a thunderous crack, like the air itself had shattered under the monster’s bite. White cracks sliced through the air around its massive head. A wave of pressure tore down toward Noah, shaking the ground beneath his feet with its mere approach.
Vibration magic?
Noah unleashed Unraveling Disruption.
Destroying magic was a hell of a lot easier than creating it. That was doubly true for magic that he’d spent a fair amount of time learning… and vibration was absolutely nothing new to him.
Gossamer patches of oily magic splashed through the air around him. They rose to meet the wave of shattering air racing toward him. The two magics collided with a brilliant crash. Flaring white energy cut through the sky, blasting the night away like a miniature sun had ignited overhead.
And then the white magic evaporated.
Noah’s power consumed it entirely, leaving behind nothing but a fading shimmer of energy in the air. Faint motes of energy rained down around him like gentle snow.
“Impossible,” the fallen man whispered, his eyes as wide as saucers as he stared up at Noah. “Such power… the Great Goddess has listened to my prayers. She has sent a warrior to save us. Praise Renewal!”
“Man, you were basically just praying to the serpent thing,” Noah said. “Pick a team.”
Despite his words, he kept his attention completely focused on the massive monster. That attack hadn’t been weak. If he hadn’t had Unraveling Disruption, it probably would have torn him and the house completely apart.
This was a Rank 6. It could do a hell of a lot more damage than that previous attack if it wanted to, but he was still shaping his domain, it had thought he was weak enough to die to a smaller attack.
Rank 6s can’t be underestimated. It only takes one small slip-up for me to get killed. I have to deal with this thing quickly, and before it realizes what I’m fully capable of. Better to use a little overkill here.
“You sure about this?” Noah called up as he reached for his runes and started to draw on their power. “Jumping right to a pointless fight is a bit stupid, don’t you think? It would be easier if we both just went our own ways. I don’t want to build a reputation for murdering everything I come across.”
The Star Serpent’s huge maw opened. Churning white power let out a growing howl as it twisted between the beast’s fangs. Power prickled against Noah’s skin, and the ground started to tremble beneath his feet.
This attack wasn’t going to be like the last one. It was intense enough to literally shake the earth before it had even gone off.
Noah’s veins turned jet black.
His runes trembled, all drawn to their max as they pushed back against Sunder.
The serpent’s maw slammed closed. At the same instant, Noah raised his hand to the sky. A black spear twisted to life above the looming dragon. It was so dark that it made the night look like a sunny day.
But the Star Serpent didn’t even bother looking up at the magic. Its attention was focused entirely on the little pest that had dared stop its previous attack.
A brilliant crack tore through the air with a boom like a thousand cannons firing in unison. White cracks exploded out in a wave from the Star Serpent’s maw to crash toward Noah like a tsunami.
The magic only made it an instant before a streak of black sliced through the air above the Star Serpent.
If the monster had bothered to pay even a flicker of attention to the spear, it would have been able to see it coming. Perhaps it had been convinced that the strength of its domain would be more than enough to block the attack.
There was a good chance the beast’s domain had been more than enough to stop every other attack that had ever been sent in its direction.
But Sunder was not the same as every other attack.
True strength did not need to announce itself. The black spear cut through the sky like a bolt of falling lightning. It slammed down into Noah’s outstretched hand, completely silent in the face of the thunderous power far above.
The Star Serpent froze. Its magic shattered, breaking apart well before it could reach Noah. The great beast stood perfectly still for a long second.
He held its gaze silently. The cool surface of the spear burned his palm. He was nowhere near strong enough to wield the weapon the same way he had once seen Decras using it in a vision… but he didn’t need to.
Not for an arrogant Rank 6 like this.
A flicker of surprise passed through the great dragon’s eyes, but it was too late. The fight had been over the moment the serpent had allowed Sunder to strike it uncontested.
It was already dead.
The great Star Serpent split down the center. Its massive body pitched to the ground in two halves, crashing down on either side of the house in a unified, thunderous boom that shook the earth for one final time. Blood rained from above, pelting Noah and the terrified man at his side in a sudden downpour.
Three Rank 6 runes rose from the monster’s severed soul. Two were monster Runes and not anything Noah wanted to draw into his soul, but the third caught his attention.
Cracked Horizon Ender
Noah tilted his head to the side. Perhaps the little side-trip he’d gone on wasn’t a complete waste after all. He called the rune to himself, wrapping it with his domain, then drew on Sunder once more as he extended a finger toward it.
A black line carved down through the rune, shattering it instantly to pull its seven components free.
The vast majority of them were rather uninteresting. This combination had been well beyond the Star Serpent’s abilities. That explained a fair bit of why it had been easy to kill… but the concept behind the runes wasn’t bad at all.
He studied the seven Rank 5 runes for a moment.
Horizon Collapse
Horizon Collapse
Crumbling World Shaker
Crumbling World Shaker
Broken Sky
Broken Sky
Great Earthquake
If Grim were here, Noah would have taken all of them. But, if he was honest, the Broken Sky runes were pathetic. The combinations were so bad that they almost weren’t worth salvaging. Great Earthquake wasn’t much better.
But The Horizon Collapse and Crumbling World Shaker runes… those weren’t bad.
Noah smiled. With little more than a few seconds of thought, he drew the four runes into his soul. None of them were flawless. They weren’t much at all in the face of the three runes he already had… but with a little work, he was pretty sure he could make something worthwhile from them.
He let the other runes dissipate as he drew his domain back in, sealing it within his body. Only then did Noah turn to look back down at the terror-stricken man at his feet.
“I’m starting to feel like a broken record,” Noah said as he crouched before the man. He pulled the map that Far-sed had given him out and unfurled it on the ground between them before prodding it with a finger. “But, about those directions…”
Comments
Flamboyant Flower
So he’s openly using sunder to break runes in front of other people now?
guy nakache
he is rank 5 so has space for 7 rank 5 runes he had 3 and just got 4
JC Silver
If you consider the fact that we have no idea the scale of this world, this feels like Actus emphasizing just how massive the scale is at now, where moving at top speed for 3 days isn't even enough to leave the very edge of the empire where no one lives. We'll need to wait and see for the world building but this reminds me of the impossibly expansive worlds described in a lot of xianxia.
Max Lopo
Mmmmmh, I am not feeling it. This obsidian place just doesn't click. Being way, waaaaaay bigger means way more competent people. Even in the boonies a rank 5 would not be a daily thing, but FAR from unheard of. Being all shaken to the point of stupidity is WEIRD. It would be like for most people to see a soldier in full camo. If he asks you politely for directions, a NORMAL person gives them. It doesn't go into a stupidity fueled paranoia spiral about the meaning behind its presence and the possible implications of a fascist violent takeover. Unless they are a blue haired, nose ringed fatty with dumbly rimmed glasses. But I said normal PERSON, so that doesn't count.
jj
Wait, wouldn't Noah's soul have space for some Rank 5 runes, especially poor ones? If nothing else, he can sell those to fund himself, right? Or did I miss something?
Arnon Parenti
Legend of The Wanderer, no one knows where he is, especially not him.
Ben Bass
TYFTC! I had a feeling that Noah was going to get something from the Dragon, I was hoping for something really interesting, and something that he could grab for Grimm on general principal, as I have a feeling he is going to be reunited with Moxie and the others in the not too distant future. Now I think Noah's permanent detriment is directions in general, as in he will get where he needs to be exactly when he needs to, not when he intends to. :)
Andrew K
The runic energy doesn't matter because he has no way to store it. As for evaluating the runes, he doesn't necessarily need to understand them in depth to make those assessments - just being able to roughly measure their raw power level would be enough to conclude how good they are, and a bad concept/intent can be inferred from poor strength.
Firel Dakuraito
I am very surprised that Noah did not salvaged the bad runes as well, purely for the runic energy he could have gotten from them. After all, once he would rework the new runes he got to his liking, there would be some filling up to be done. On top of this. Since when is he capable of reading the intend and concept behind runes THIS easily? Like, there is NO EXPLANATION for this level of knowledge jump. The closest one is the training in the citadel but there was no mention of Noah learning how to fast scan runes to decipher what their concept and intend is.
Firel Dakuraito
Its probably going to cast some ripples through attention of everyone in the range. Even though Decras mentioned Sunder is now more Noahs than his, Garina was still shielding him. It would be probably addressed as one disciple believing it is a work of other, and the second disciple believing it was the first. Noone bothered to check until its too late and Noah far gone
Maksim Shuhman
When Noag Last called on so mush Sunder, Garina feeled that. I understand, that nobody would come for him after this because of plot, but i can consider some solutions: - Sunder is so different from Decras that is no more feels like him for Apostols - Obsidia is so huge, that they doesn't feel it
Nyroe
Murderhobo: The Quest for the Gourd Carrier
Ty
?
Ty
well, the dragon shouldn't have picked a fight then. he was given a chance to settle things peacefully. it made a choice. it chose wrong.
jobe matula
give the man the directions already !lol
Eliseo Torres
About those directions. Our boy getting a bit tired eh.
Levi
Peak fiction
Arnon Parenti
My little star serpent, if you fly at night in the forbidden mountains, and something calls your name, no they didn't. Ok mama
Andrew K
Side plot escalation risk: What if the dragon was legally considered part of the local government? (E.g. baron, mayor, tax collector, etc.)
Arnon Parenti
Noah unraveled their mystery when he made his rune of Self
Tom C
I do enjoy fights that are just the MC dominating their foe. Prog fiction often leans hard into the “battle for 5 chapters!”. Which is ok, when used sparingly. But the real deal is seeing our guy absolutely wreck his enemies One Punch Man style! TFTC!
Justin Lucier
Noah's gotta stop navigating with apple maps.
MysticallMist
awesome sauce!
Ruskin
We see mention of Monster Runes again! If I remember correctly, Monster Runes are unreadable to Noah, but not to Lee. I wonder what their origin is, considering that Demon Runes (which were also unreadable before) were Miniscule Fragments of Decras? @actus any thoughts? Or would this be a spoiler? In any case TFTC! 🙏
Archer
That was hilarious and awesome!
Ruskin
Ah... Fresh Runes baby!
Derek Duhon
TYFC / Noah is on a MapQuest. Looking forward to next decras/renewal watch party
Eternal Reader
pahaha
Prospector of Sagas
TYFTC! Love Noah going back to doing noah things by killing monsters and taking their runes.
realitiesincrease
I'm enjoying this. But Grim's absence is annoying indeed!
Demi
someone give the man some directions. he's going to be a legend by the time he gets to the tournament.
Zachary Blevins
Yep He’s not gonna leave a trail of bodies all the way to the event no no not him like the big bad wolf. I just wanted a cup of sugar or flour. Maybe a few eggs I swear that was it.
Phasmatic7
Thanks
Kentucky Fried Children
Chapter 850 I think you accidentally posted your surplus supposed to be chapter 809
Ryan
The Adventure of Murder Hobo continues!
Andrew Denton
This is why you don't fight a stranger in the Alps.
KooZnack
Thanks for the chapter!
