WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 129: Hideout and Diary
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A brilliant blue sky.
Sharp mountain peaks.
Perpetual snow lay on the ridgelines, dividing sky and earth as clearly as if someone had carved them with a blade.
Kwooo...
A wyvern’s cry thundered through the sky.
Two women walked through that harsh Demonic Realm.
They appeared to be around the same age, judging by their looks.
Yet they did not seem like companions at all.
One was an elf, and the other was human.
The elf had silver hair and wore traditional white robes.
The human let her flame-red hair flow down her back and wore black leather pants and a jacket.
They did not suit each other in the slightest, and they rarely even spoke while traveling together.
Still, they had one thing in common.
They moved lightly despite the rough terrain.
Whether climbing dreadful slopes,
or descending dizzying inclines where they could slip at any moment,
they did not stop even once.
They bounced along as lightly as mountain goats.
“...There are fewer monsters than I expected.”
Hailit Langrey was the one who spoke.
“Compared to the Great Forest, this place is utterly barren,” Iris replied.
The Great Forest had the densest vegetation of any Demonic Realm, no, anywhere on the continent.
Grass and trees grew thick in every direction.
Bugs crawled over any tree one grabbed, snakes lived among the branches, and leopards sprang from the underbrush to snatch up mice.
“I wouldn’t call it barren.”
Hailit gave a short laugh.
“Wouldn’t you?”
“If the Mountain Range is barren, what would you call deserts or snowy plains?”
In truth, quite a few creatures lived in the Mountain Range.
Even setting monsters aside.
“But it’s quiet as a grave.”
“That’s why it’s strange. I think...”
Hailit thought it over.
The area was strangely quiet.
Until yesterday, they had encountered quite a few monsters, including termites, but there was not one in sight today.
That was strange, considering how quickly Hailit and Iris were heading toward the heart of the Demonic Realm.
“Nearby...”
That was when Iris, who had been leading the way, abruptly stopped.
Hailit did not do something foolish like ask, “What is it?”
Iris’s pointed ears had perked up like a cat’s.
Something was nearby.
Now that Hailit knew that much, she had to show what she could do.
She reached into her enormous backpack, practically her trademark.
The inside of the bag, enchanted with Spatial Storage Magic, was large enough to hold an entire warehouse.
What sprang out of it was a net.
Rune Language inscriptions covered the weights hanging from its edges.
As soon as Hailit pulled it out, she flung it.
She gave it a spin, and centrifugal force spread the net open.
The net weights glowed blue, and the net pounced on something as if alive.
It was an ordinary rock.
But the moment the net wrapped around it, the rock crumpled.
“Ah, ah!”
It was not a rock, but someone draped in a cloak.
The strange gray cloak had served as camouflage.
It was not magic, merely a trick using filthy cloth and sand.
“P-please spare me!”
The net moved on its own and wrapped around its prey.
It did not look especially powerful, but it was terrifying for the one caught in it.
“What, it’s a human?”
Hailit sighed, disappointed.
“Please untie the net. I’m really not suspicious.”
A person disguised as a rock claiming not to be suspicious could not possibly look more suspicious.
Still, Hailit retrieved the net.
“I thought you were some unusual monster that disguised itself as a rock. What a letdown.”
“Sorry I’m not, but... My name is Pandang...”
Pandang, or Pandan.
The adventurer had been the one hiding there.
“Why were you hiding like that?”
“I thought you two weren’t human either.”
“Huh? Why would you think that?”
“Ah...”
They had been running down the harsh Mountain Range without resting, so he had wondered if they were the legendary Mountain Goblins said to hide there.
He did not have the courage to say that.
“G-go... I thought you were elves.”
“We’re both people. She’s an elf, though. Not me, just that grandma over there.”
Iris, who had been called grandma, did not even frown.
Only then did Pandang notice Iris’s pointed ears.
To encounter a rare elf, and in the Mountain Range so far from the Great Forest...
“Why are you hiding here?”
Pandang, who had been wearing a foolish expression, flinched.
Just as he tried to make an excuse,
his eyes met Hailit’s.
“I’m an adventurer. I came here for a mission...”
Her eyes were strangely difficult to read.
“...My companions are all dead. Ah, and I’m an Imperial citizen.”
It was unclear why he felt the need to add that last part.
Hailit finally smiled.
“I could tell from your accent.”
“Yes.”
Just then, Pandang had used an accent that did not sound Imperial at all.
He wondered about that, but did not press the matter.
“If your mission failed and everyone died, why didn’t you leave? Why were you loitering around here alone?”
“Ah...”
He needed to choose his words carefully here.
That woman had eyes that seemed to see straight through people. He could not let anything show.
“There are two Wyvern Queens gathered nearby...”
That was when it happened.
Boom!
An explosion sounded in the northwest.
When they turned, a pillar of flame was rising into the sky.
Two enormous wyverns, one black and one white,
flew frantically around that pillar of fire.
“That, that’s it.”
Iris and Langrey looked at each other.
The Dungeon Pelerian had made.
Could it be there?
“Let’s go!”
Langrey and Iris started to run.
Just as Pandang tried to quietly slip away,
“You’re coming too!”
“Me?”
For some reason, Pandang could not bring himself to run away.
“Ah, all right.”
The three ran together.
Toward the stone tower spewing a pillar of flame.
* * *
「You have defeated Test Subject No. 9 Failure Lv. 120.」
「You absorb Magical Essence.」
「Your Magical Essence is already at full capacity.」
It was an enormous amount of Magical Essence.
Chimera No. 9 had been completely reduced to charcoal.
The A-rank quest, “Defeat Pelerian’s Chimeras,” had been splendidly completed.
The chimeras, proof of Pelerian’s ugly past left behind in this world, had all been defeated and turned into my experience points.
Since the Incineration Procedure had begun and the entire Dungeon was engulfed in flames, even that evidence had likely burned away without a trace.
For some reason, though, my mouth tasted bitter.
‘Ptooey, ptooey!’
Ah, it must have been because part of the charred chimera had gotten into my mouth.
Once I spat it out, the bitterness was gone.
Crackle.
Chimera No. 9’s body crumbled apart like the ash of a burnt charcoal briquette.
It did not even contain a Magic Stone.
Then again, perhaps the Magic Stone had burned in the intense flames.
Using Giantification increased my strength and weight, but it had side effects.
My body became less durable, and I became slower.
I shrank back down.
My Mana was already starting to run low.
Flames still raged throughout the Dungeon.
If I lost the Flame Immunity shared by Isil, I would become a nicely grilled snake.
Fortunately, the rain of fire soon stopped.
-The incineration... procedure... is being halted.
Was it because of the terrible heat?
Even the Magical Spirit’s voice was distorted.
‘All right, now we need to see if there’s a passage somewhere around here.’
-That’s right. You’d better find it quickly.
Pelerian said that.
I gave him an annoyed look, thinking he was rushing me, but Pelerian shook his head.
-No, I mean it literally. You should find it quickly. Isn’t it hot?
‘Oh?’
I understood what he meant.
The flames had gone out, but the inside was still hot. The stone had been heated until this place was no different from the inside of an oven.
The moment I lost Flame Immunity, I would start roasting.
My Heat Resistance was not low, so I could endure it for a while, but only for a while.
But things went from bad to worse.
-Entering the demolition... procedure.
After burning the interior clean, it would collapse the Dungeon itself.
Pelerian truly was a vicious and thorough elf.
We needed to find the underground space quickly.
-Use Mana Detection. If someone secretly made a space underground, they must have used magic to build it.
Once I used Mana Detection, I saw something.
Blue and red lines were tangled together everywhere, making it difficult to tell what I was looking at.
‘There’s something square, with blue lines drawn in a grid!’
-There seems to be a circuit board beneath it.
Ash was piled thickly over the floor.
In my hurry, I used wind magic, then immediately regretted it.
Achoo!
The flying ash made me sneeze and stung my eyes.
-What the hell are you doing?!
I hurriedly sprayed water.
Sssizzle!
The ash settled, but the water instantly evaporated into steam.
It was a dangerous situation where I could barely see in front of me.
But when the ash was washed away from the floor, something was revealed.
It was Elven writing.
I slowly sounded it out.
‘My... coffin?’
The Dungeon’s name was Tombstone.
Naturally, a coffin would be buried beneath a tombstone.
-That’s the door!
A square lump of metal lay on the floor.
It seemed to be a door, given the ring one could pull, but the gap was packed tight with ash and would not open.
I wedged the dagger Dawn into the door ring.
Then I clamped my jaws tightly around Dawn’s hilt and began to pull.
Creak, creeeak...
It seemed as if it might open.
Then my Mana ran out.
Actually, I was fine, but Isil was exhausted first.
「Communion Lv. 2 is interrupted.」
「Sharing of Flame Immunity Lv. - is interrupted.」
Heat made the scales all over my body curl.
It felt as though someone had suddenly shoved me into a boiling hot spring.
I held my breath.
If I took too long, I would definitely die.
I pulled the door ring with all my strength.
Isil extended their vines and helped.
Honestly, it was no help at all.
But Isil was cute, so that was fine.
Creeeeak...
The door finally opened.
-Demo...lition.
Boom!
This time, there was no considerate countdown.
The moment I heard the explosion, I leapt through the open door in the floor.
I did not forget to close it.
There seemed to have once been a ladder leading down, but I simply fell.
I caught on something, slid down with a clatter, and landed at the bottom.
Rumble...
A tremendous vibration and explosive roar echoed from above.
That tall stone tower was surely collapsing.
The shaking ground made me feel like I was going to throw up.
Honestly, I worried that this underground space would collapse with it.
Fortunately, it did not.
This underground space must have been made to withstand the Dungeon’s collapse.
The collapse only stopped after quite some time.
If the stone tower had completely caved in, how would I get out of here?
That concern crossed my mind, but it was a problem for later.
First, I had to look around.
I slowly moved farther inside.
Creak.
I flinched at the feeling beneath me.
Wood.
The floor must have been made of wooden boards.
It was a rare choice for one of Pelerian’s Dungeons.
‘I can’t see very well ahead.’
I did have Dark Vision, but I had just come from a place filled with flashing flames.
A little light would be nice.
So I rummaged through my Subspace and took out a candle.
Who had given it to me? Amaen, maybe? Or Dunkel?
「You use Elementary Elemental Magic: Fire Lv. 8.」
I made a tiny flame and lit it.
With no Mana left, this was my limit.
If this place was safe, I wanted to evolve quickly.
Then I would have more Mana as well.
This time, I would evolve into a Serpent.
Just imagining it made my chest swell.
-Haa.
Who was sighing so heavily?
Obviously, it was Pelerian.
-They copied the house I lived in exactly.
He was evaluating the interior.
‘Your house?’
-Yes, the house I had in the Great Forest.
Pelerian must have lived in the Great Forest long ago.
Though he had been driven out and could never set foot in his homeland again.
This seemed to be a space made in memory of his old home in the Great Forest.
In other words, it was an extremely private space.
The signal transmitted from the Dungeon’s control room had continued into this underground place.
Then could Pelerian have been hiding here...?
“Sssaaak!”
I almost dropped the candle in shock.
There was a chair ahead.
And it seemed someone was sitting there with an arm draped over it.
‘A corpse!’
It was a corpse with nothing but bones remaining.
Pelerian. It had to be Pelerian!
-Huh, h-huh?!
“Sssaaak!”
Pelerian must have been startled too, because he froze in a strange pose.
Honestly, seeing bones in the darkness was frightening.
I could not bring myself to get closer.
-What are you doing?! Get closer and look.
‘Ugh...’
Pelerian urged me on, so I had no choice but to approach.
Once I got closer, I realized something.
‘Only an arm. There’s only an arm left?’
From where I stood, all I could see were arm bones.
Upon closer inspection, it was not a corpse. A single arm bone had been placed on the chair.
And in its hand was a filthy crystal ball.
-It’s a receiver!
Was that what received the transmitted experiment information?
Then the owner of this arm was...
-Those are my bracelets and accessories. It, it’s my arm.
It was Pelerian’s own arm.
But why was only his arm here, with no other part of him?
I checked the table.
A few odds and ends lay beneath the thick layer of dust.
A uniquely shaped golden key.
And a diary bound in black leather.
I carefully opened the diary first.
It was filled with complex Elven writing.
Pelerian and I slowly read it.
-Huh...
Right.
No wonder we were shocked.
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