WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 113: What Falls Has No Wings
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They say the Mountain Range is the continent's spine or something.
To make that easier to understand, imagine discovering a dinosaur fossil underground.
Think of the continent as a dinosaur that died with its back slightly hunched. The flesh that once covered the dinosaur melted away, leaving only traces behind.
That was the land, and the boundary between the continent and the sea.
Its skull faced right, roughly eastward.
Then that massive skull would be the Great Forest in the east of the continent. The Kingdom encompassed the skull and the flesh around its neck.
The delicious rib meat on its torso was the Empire.
Ribs had always been the tastiest cut, and the Empire's territory was especially fertile.
That was probably why some guy long ago successfully proclaimed himself emperor and gave his country the name Empire.
The Empire was certainly the strongest nation, but that didn't make it the master of the continent.
The northern barbarians lived in the snowfields up above.
Terrifying sultans, assassins, and necromancers lived in the desert near the tail.
Countless islands lay in the southern waters.
Even the Empire's greatest scholars had no idea what kind of civilization might have taken root in that archipelago.
Now that we'd taken a lap around it, let's return to the skull and neck bones.
The spine extending from the skull.
That was where the Mountain Range began.
It couldn't compare to the Great Forest in width, but it far surpassed it in length.
Everything north of the Kingdom belonged to the Mountain Range, and part of it even stretched into the Empire.
In other words, the eastern and western Mountain Ranges were completely different regions.
Delphram was in the eastern Mountain Range.
-Once, it was the sacred land of the Oboe Civilization.
That was how Pelerian explained it.
The Oboe Civilization was apparently an ancient civilization from a very long time ago.
Humans from that era had supposedly been friendly with wyverns.
-There are many ruins left by them. That was where I built the Dungeon.
‘How did you build a Dungeon in such a dangerous place?’
-Obviously, I made the dwarves do it.
‘...Gray Hammer Village?’
-That's right.
The dwarves of Gray Hammer Village had vanished.
Surely it wasn't related to Pelerian?
If it was, I didn't know anything about it.
‘What kind of Dungeon is this? Every Dungeon had its own concept, didn't it?’
-Tsk. Concept?
Pelerian seemed displeased with my wording.
Still, it was true.
The first Dungeon I'd visited had been a laboratory for raising Chimeras.
The second had been a Magic Stone storage facility.
The third had been an armory.
Even excluding the first, there had been plenty to take away.
Would this Dungeon have something like that too?
-It probably has... something.
For some reason, Pelerian didn't sound confident.
Pelerian usually reacted like this for one of two reasons.
Either Pelerian didn't know, or Pelerian was hiding something shady.
Maybe both.
‘But you said that if you were about to die, you'd come here to die. How would that work?’
-What do you mean?
‘Well, death is death. If you croak and die, you can't exactly come here afterward. Did you mean you'd come here beforehand if you knew you were going to die?’
-Both apply. I completed preparations to teleport here upon death.
‘Is teleportation really something you can use whenever you want?’
-It is possible with sacrifice and limitations.
A vow and restriction? That sounded familiar.
Still, deciding where you'd die in advance had a certain romantic quality to it.
When I said so, Pelerian wore an unexpectedly wistful expression.
-On a blue night, the snake that bit Princess Cabala's ankle and killed her was eventually killed with its head pierced. Do you understand the sentiment of that tragedy...?
‘Wow, that's really...’
It sounded like Pelerian was talking about some play, but Pelerian's eyes were so moist that I lost the desire to ask further.
Just then, Wyvern Mom returned with a huge bundle of dry silver grass in her mouth.
She spread the fluffy grass all over the floor.
It was necessary for building a new nest.
Unlike birds, wyverns had no feathers, so their young needed something like this.
“Pipi pipi pipi.”
“Kkeeeeh!”
“Chweee!”
The hatchlings immediately ran over and rubbed their heads against their mother.
They looked cute, but it was practically an ultimatum demanding nutrient porridge right now.
I quietly slithered closer too.
It absolutely, absolutely wasn't because I wanted nutrient porridge.
If I crouched beside them, Wyvern Mom would rush over with a worried expression and force-feed me nutrient porridge.
Then I'd have to eat nutrient porridge until my stomach was about to burst.
Wyvern Mom had been worrying about me more and more.
It was probably because my body had stopped growing.
Before I knew it, the three wyvern hatchlings had grown three times bigger than me.
They were even starting to look like they might dare rebel against their youngest big brother.
‘I’m already fully grown.’
I couldn't tell her that, so it was frustrating.
Still, was it fortunate?
Wyvern Mom didn't hand out any nutrient porridge.
Instead, she sternly shoved away the approaching hatchlings. Then she suddenly began rumbling at the empty air.
A Black Wyvern from the flock flew over as though he had been waiting.
He was one of Wyvern Mom's subordinates, one that had moved near Delphram with her a few days ago.
“Kkuk!”
He tossed something from his mouth into the nest.
Then he immediately flew away.
‘What's that?’
-He caught a dreadful monster.
The wyvern had dropped off a living monster.
Its familiar appearance made it unmistakably a Mosquito Rat.
But it wasn't an ordinary Mosquito Rat.
It was about five times larger, and its compound eyes gleamed strangely.
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【Gigant Mosquito Rat Lv. 32】
【Traits】
[Bloodsucking], [Stench]
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A Mosquito Rat was about the size of a baby's fist, so even one five times larger was only about as big as an opossum.
Still, it was far more than five times as dreadful as a normal Mosquito Rat.
No exaggeration, it looked a hundred times more horrifying.
Its compound eyes resembled those of a dung fly.
The long snout it used for bloodsucking hung limply like a leech.
It clasped its rat-like forelegs together and looked around as if dissatisfied with its situation.
The moment it tried to run away.
“Tak tak, tak.”
Wyvern Mom snapped her jaws and unleashed Wyvern Fear.
It didn't affect the wyvern hatchlings, and naturally, it didn't work on me because I was immune to mental attacks.
But the Gigant Mosquito Rat, or Gimo Rat for short, froze like ice.
Wyvern Mom repeatedly thrust forward her snout and swiped through the air with her talons.
Only then did I realize what she was trying to do.
-She seems to be teaching them how to hunt.
She really was a proper mother.
It was a little burdensome that she kept trying to act like my mother too, even though she wasn't actually my mom.
“Kkugak!”
Wyvern Mom stopped using Wyvern Fear and pushed the Mosquito Rat toward the three siblings.
As for how they reacted.
“Chweeeek!”
“Keeeeh!”
Chui and Kei both rolled backward on their own.
The Mosquito Rat was only sniffing with its snout, but they screamed as if they'd already been bitten.
Sigh. How were they supposed to survive in this harsh Demonic Realm when they were so scared?
They reminded me of the centipede siblings, who had been much smaller but fearlessly brave.
Still, perhaps I'd been disappointed in the three wyvern siblings too soon.
There was one brave one among them.
The eldest, the headstrong Pipi, stood proudly in place.
Pipi stopped in front of the Gigant Mosquito Rat.
Then their staring contest began.
Pipi was bigger, but I couldn't read any emotion in the Gigant Mosquito Rat's eyes.
Pipi broke the long silence.
Pipi opened her mouth wide and roared.
“Piiiiii!”
I thought it would be a war cry announcing the start of battle.
But the fierce battle I expected never happened.
“Piiii!”
“Squeak.”
“Piiiiii!”
“Squeak, squeak.”
Pipi simply kept her mouth wide open, while the Mosquito Rat only squeaked in confusion.
-Ah, that.
‘Do you know what that means?’
-She thinks that if she opens her mouth, prey will enter it.
‘Ah...!’
How could something that wasn't even a bird have such a bird-brained idea?
Maybe I should just remember that babies could be like that...
“Kkuoo...”
The one who let out a sigh deep enough to sink the ground was none other than Wyvern Mom.
She looked worried about how her children would survive in this harsh world.
Wyvern Mom looked at me.
Was she hoping I'd do something?
-Are you just going to sit there?
‘Yep.’
I'd planned to keep quiet and leave without drawing attention to myself.
Then I saw something shocking.
Tears welled up in Wyvern Mom's eyes.
‘Why, why is she doing that...?’
Thinking about it, I could understand.
Even hedgehogs thought their own children were beautiful.
Even a terrifying Wyvern Queen cherished her children.
And she'd recently lost her original nest when another flock attacked.
She didn't know when she might die. Of course she wanted her hatchlings to be able to survive as monsters on their own.
But the child she considered her youngest was small and had no wings...
‘Ah, whatever.’
At least I should put her mind at ease.
Ah, should I get a little serious?
*「You use Heart-Eating Leap Lv. 4.」
Bang!
I struck the ground with my tail to gain rebound force.
Using that force, I adjusted my direction precisely, bit and tore at the enemy as I passed by.
That was the principle behind Heart-Eating Leap.
A bright-red lump of flesh was already in my mouth.
“Screee!”
The Gigant Mosquito Rat screamed and collapsed.
“Pipi pipi pipi!”
“Chweee!”
The three siblings cried out together when they saw it.
As if trying to imitate me, they tore into the fallen Gigant Mosquito Rat and ate it.
Gulp.
I swallowed the chunk of meat in my mouth.
Had I paid back at least part of what I owed for all that nutrient porridge?
When I turned to Wyvern Mom, she had spread her wings wide and was crying toward the sky.
“Kkurarararak!”
Then she swayed toward me as if dancing.
She vigorously stroked me with the soft membrane of her wings.
It had to be Wyvern Mom's way of praising me.
“Saaak!”
Wiggle wiggle!
Isil seemed a little happy too.
I felt a little better myself.
-You're that happy just because a wyvern praised you?
I guess I was the type who was weak to praise.
Maybe living like this wouldn't be so bad...
Perhaps because the hunting lesson had been something of a success, the happy Wyvern Mom began a bold new challenge.
“Caw caw, kkugak caw!”
She spoke at length about something.
As she flapped her wings and cawed away, I somehow felt like I was starting to understand what Wyvern Mom was saying.
I can't bring food to you forever.
One day, you'll have to hunt for yourselves. And perhaps there isn't much time left.
A gentle but still young mother's voice would suit the dubbing.
Chugota would suit the voice of a terrifying old witch.
The problem was that Wyvern Mom didn't stop there. She lightly pointed beneath the nest with her tail.
“Kkuak.” (Jump.)
She was definitely telling us to jump.
Even for me, that was difficult.
The three wyvern siblings were just as frightened.
“Pipi, pii...”
“Kkuaaaak!”
Her attitude said that she would push them if they didn't jump.
Then, bravely, the hesitant Pipi leaped off the nest.
“Saaaaak!”
I looked down in shock.
Pipi was spinning through the air as she fell.
It was terrifying. If she hit the ground, she looked like she might burst like an overripe persimmon.
“Pyeek!”
Thankfully, Pipi managed to roar bravely and flap her wings.
Her falling speed sharply slowed, and she even caught the wind to glide.
Wyvern Mom suddenly shoved the dazed second child, Kei.
“Keiiiii!”
What a fiery teaching method!
After Kei would come Chui.
Then it would definitely be my turn.
I tried to find a way to escape before my turn arrived.
I never expected Chui, the most timid one, to jump down on their own.
“Chuu!”
Maybe Chui wanted to save the second child, Kei.
Or maybe Chui had grown jealous of the eldest, Pipi, who had already become a fairly good flier.
Chui was already falling far below.
Which meant Wyvern Mom pushed me sooner than I expected.
Thump!
No, you know I don't have wings!
Could it be that she didn't care if a wingless child died?
Feeling betrayed, I plummeted.
Even if I fell off a cliff, I should survive as long as I kept my wits about me.
‘Isil!’
Help me, Isilaemon.
I thought Isil would stretch out their vines and grab onto the cliff.
But they seemed to have misunderstood something after watching the three wyvern siblings.
Flap flap.
They thought their leaves were wings and flapped them as hard as they could.
Naturally, leaves the size of a baby's palm couldn't make them fly.
I plunged sharply downward.
Footnotes:
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