WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 125: The Dungeon's Ballerina
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‘To get out of here, I need to become friends with that snake.’
How many people in the world could come up with such an idea?
And the snake was no ordinary snake. The snake was a monster with a crown on their head and crystal scales.
A terrifying creature that carved up Chimeras and cooked them into steaks.
Yet Jannil Feje was certain.
Not just anyone could consider cooperating with a monster.
That alone showed how far Jannil's way of thinking diverged from ordinary people's.
Those who truly knew monsters.
Someone who had seen a Named Monster with intelligence, one they could communicate with, might have reached the same conclusion as Jannil.
‘That thing may not be a Named Monster... but they are definitely intelligent.’
Jannil had not thought so when they first met.
The snake merely roared, “Sssaaak!” They did not speak.
But the snake's behavior made it clear. They certainly possessed reason and intelligence.
Just look at what the snake was doing now.
Why had Jannil not noticed the ring before?
It was clearly a ring imbued with Spatial Storage Magic. When the snake flicked their ringed tail, a dagger sprang from thin air.
Jannil had seen plenty of bags and pouches enchanted with Spatial Storage Magic, but a ring? How could such a tiny object contain magic of that caliber?
How could a snake wear an item valuable enough to belong in the Emperor's treasury?
The dagger, that dagger was the problem.
What the snake was doing with it was clearly butchering.
First, they rummaged through the bodies to check for Magic Stones.
Monsters did that as well, but the snake looked more like a hunter than a monster.
After finding a Magic Stone the size of an acorn, they began to dance.
Yes, dance.
A monster that danced with joy.
Definitely not normal.
And instead of eating the Magic Stone right away, they opened their Subspace and stored the Magic Stone.
They quickly gathered any edible-looking meat, then began heading back.
Jannil hid and held their breath.
The ampoule they had sprayed over their body to survive while avoiding wyverns only lasted a few hours. Its scent must have faded by now.
The snake passed by quietly as Jannil concealed even their presence.
Jannil slowly followed them.
Having memorized this Dungeon's layout as well, they could keep a suitable distance.
The snake had made the control room their home.
Jannil had once risked their life to approach the control room.
They had seen what the snake did there.
‘The snake was definitely operating that control device.’
A complex machine that even the great scholar Dr. Robert Vanton had been unable to operate.
A mere snake manipulated those devices.
The snake even seemed to use the map to check the locations of other Chimeras and Jannil.
After realizing that, Jannil could no longer get close to the control room.
A dangerous, intelligent monster.
Jannil might be killed in an instant if they were careless.
‘The Emperor, who collects white monsters, would drool if he saw the snake.’
Everyone who needed to know was aware that the current Emperor collected white monsters.
A monster that precious would literally sell for a fortune.
Jannil shook their head, driving away the foolish thought.
This was no time to think about that.
The most important thing was returning alive, and to do that, they would need to cooperate with the snake.
‘No matter how intelligent they are, there is a sure way to become friends with a monster.’
Jannil knew it.
With a determined expression, they melted into the darkness.
* * *
“Sssaaak!”
Roll!
「You use Roll Lv. 10.」
Whiiiirl...
I spun through the air.
I rolled in midair, not on the ground.
You could not leap while spinning.
You had to spin after leaping.
Try jumping up and rotating right now.
You would quickly realize how difficult it was.
It was all because of the conservation of angular momentum.
Naturally, I had learned that from XTube too. If you tried to turn your upper body to the left in midair, your lower body would turn to the right.
You could feel it clearly if you tried it while sitting in a spinning chair.
-You know the strangest things.
‘But cats can do it.’
-What?
‘Did you know that if you drop a cat upside down, it will always land on its feet?’
-Falling from the sky is dangerous.
‘Ah.’
Right. It was dangerous.
Pelerian's perfectly reasonable response caught me off guard.
Anyway, there were definitely ways to turn your body in midair.
You could adjust your moment of inertia like a cat or a figure skater.
Or you could use a skill like Roll, as I did.
Whiiirl!
I spun fiercely through the air.
I could definitely feel the difference.
The Roll I had seized had remained at Level 10 from the start.
But the number of rotations I could make in a single leap kept increasing.
Now, I could spin a full nineteen times with one jump.
I could feel Roll's proficiency rising in real time. At first, I could only make five rotations.
‘Hup!’
Whiiirl!
As I spun nearby, Isil spun along with me.
Of course, Isil could not jump. They simply spun on the floor with a flop, flop.
Until their stamina ran out.
Until Isil got bored and returned to their pot.
I did not stop.
I was not doing this because I was bored.
First, I saw potential in the skill called Roll.
Heart-Eating Leap, which had become one of my main skills, had originally been nothing more than the ordinary skills Tear Apart and Leap.
Could Roll also become one of those components?
And second, I needed to make Roll mine as soon as possible...
「You have fully mastered Roll Lv. 10.」
Like that!
That was the only way I could use the Crown of Seizure again.
But something was strange.
Roll should have become Level 11, but it would not go beyond Level 10.
When I checked my status window just in case...
──────────────
【Skills】
......
※Can Evolve
[Roll Lv. 10]......
──────────────
It said Roll could evolve.
Tear Apart and Leap had also been able to evolve once they reached Level 10.
But after raising them to their limit, my Magical Essence had needed to reach saturation...
──────────────
【Crystal Crown Python Lv. 49】
──────────────
The snake I was now was almost there.
After killing the Dullahan and One-Leg yesterday, I was close to max level.
The evolution level was clearly 50.
I could feel my Magical Essence nearing saturation.
There were three Chimeras left.
No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9.
All three were powerful Chimeras, so they would provide more than enough experience for evolution.
I might reach Level 50 after killing just one of them.
And if I killed the other two as well, that should be enough to evolve a skill.
I was making those plans when I sensed a presence.
Survival Instinct had not activated, but...
I reflexively turned on the map function of the crystal panel.
Though perhaps I did not need to.
The other party had no intention of concealing their presence.
“Knock, knock.”
They knocked.
But that knock made me freeze.
Anyone would be startled to see someone knocking with both their mouth and hand at once.
“I am Jannil Feje.”
It was the human who had run away like a rat.
We certainly had not been on good terms.
Yet the human introduced themself with a broad smile.
“Calm yourself. I have come to make peace...”
Did they think I could understand them?
In contrast to their smile, the human was covered in blood.
They looked as though they had just survived a difficult fight.
The gap between their appearance and expression was bizarre enough to make me uncomfortable.
They looked almost like a madman.
The madman did not approach immediately. They stopped where they were and stared at me.
I wondered if they wanted a staring contest.
Then the human slowly blinked.
Blink. Blink.
For a moment, I blankly wondered what that meant.
Then a thought flashed through my mind.
A cat kiss.
The thing where you make eye contact with an unfamiliar cat and slowly blink to become friends.
Why were they doing that to me?
I was so flustered that I froze in place even as they slowly approached.
They seemed to take that as a good sign.
Then I noticed they were dragging something.
They had taken off their cloak and wrapped something inside it like a bundle.
It looked heavy.
An uneasy premonition brushed over my scales.
Surely not...
“Great snake. As a gesture of peace, I have brought you an offering.”
They slowly placed the bundle before me and stepped back.
“Will you accept this prey and receive me as your friend?”
I cut off their carefully spoken words.
I raised Dawn.
Then slashed the bundle.
Plop.
Inside was a lump of meat.
Meat that had once been a Chimera.
“Ha ha, it seemed you were hunting Chimeras... I nearly died catching it.”
And it had been my precious bundle of experience points.
“Please enjoy it, and the way out of here...”
“Sssaaak!”
You experience-stealing bastard!
Even if I killed this human, it would probably be a far greater loss than killing a Chimera.
I was so angry that I felt like crying.
I hurriedly operated the crystal panel.
I searched for life signs.
There were none.
Nothing showed up.
Except for this area, only two were visible.
The thing in the bundle had been Chimera No. 6, Pigman.
That stupid human had killed and dragged over the pig-like Chimera.
“Sssaaak!”
“Uh, why? Do you not like the gift?”
The human panicked.
I swear, I was moments away from shooting a Beam into their stupid face.
Or taking their head with Telekinetic Swordsmanship.
“I don't know what it is, but sorry. I'm sorry!”
“Sssaaak!”
“I'll give you anything! Should I catch another Chimera?”
No. Die!
-Wait.
Pelerian stopped my anger.
Was he going to tell me to show mercy?
-Kill that human later. Look at this.
‘What is it?!’
The blinking white dots on the map were life signs.
One of them was approaching the control room.
‘Uh...’
But its speed was strange.
So strange that I wondered whether the map was broken.
It leaped over the stairs on the third floor in a single bound, then crossed the fourth-floor plaza in an instant.
Its continued sprint was like an arrow being fired.
It was heading for the control room.
Bang.
At first, I heard a sound from far away.
Bang. Bang.
Before I could even figure out what it was, it drew noticeably closer.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
Once it got close, I understood.
It was the sound of kicking off the ground.
It planted four feet, straightened its knees, and leaped.
Then it clung to a wall and jumped again, then another wall, and sometimes even the ceiling.
It was Chimera No. 8, Dancer.
If what it was doing as it ran toward us could be called a dance, what would that dance be called?
The Jumping Spider Dance?
That seemed like the right name.
The four-legged Chimera pounced at me.
Clang!
My sword sprang out instinctively.
Perhaps I could call myself a proper swordsman now.
But instead of Thunk or Slice, it was Clang!
That was a sound you could not make when cutting flesh.
Because Dancer had caught my blade with its shin.
Its outer skin had been cut, but not the bone.
How was its body that hard?
For an instant, I felt as though our eyes met.
Funny, considering it had no eyes.
That crimson mouth, stretched wide as though smiling, somehow seemed to be looking at me.
Then the human charged at it.
Scrape!
“I'll help!”
The human was quite capable.
They had already drawn daggers in both hands and swung them wildly.
The Chimera did not seem that hard anywhere other than its shins. The blades sank into it.
It darted back, then bent its knees.
And then...
Bang!
With a sound like a gunshot, it launched itself upward.
Dancer clung to the ceiling in an instant.
‘It's strong...’
It was probably the strongest Chimera I had encountered so far.
There was an overwhelming difference between it and Dullahan No. 7.
Bang!
It launched itself again.
I did not respond. Or rather, I could not.
The human took the hit in my place.
“Guh!”
The human seemed to have been struck in the stomach and rolled away several times.
Still, they seemed to have kept their life.
That Chimera's movements were incredible.
‘It seems to have a special skill.’
I narrowed my eyes and examined it.
──────────────
【Test Subject No. 8 Dancer Lv. 90】
【Traits】
[High Speed], [Spider]
【Skills】
......
──────────────
Ah, that skill.
I almost started drooling.
It had been a good choice not to neglect Roll practice.
Thanks to that, I could use the Crown of Seizure.
Bang!
The moment it rushed at me...
「You seize Elastic Rampage Lv. 3.」
Was the same moment I took its skill.
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