WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 20: Who Is the Sinner~

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A scroll was a document imbued with magic.

It came in the form of a rolled sheet, and simply tearing it allowed the user to cast its spell. Even a seven-year-old child who had never seen magic in their life could hurl a fireball if they had a scroll.

The method of making such mysterious magical tools was kept highly secret. The Magic Tower held an effective monopoly over their production, making scrolls quite expensive. Even Zain, the attendant knight of a hero, could not afford to carry many.

Still, the Chimera's appearance was reason enough to use one.

With his trained arm strength, Zain tore the papyrus sheet apart.

Riiip!

The effect was remarkable.

A cluster of pure white light burst from the torn paper and flew straight toward the Chimera.

Something astonishing happened.

The light surrounding the Chimera soon faded, but the Chimera itself began to glow. Was it somewhere between yellow and orange? Different parts of its body shone in different colors.

Its sharp, hard legs glowed orange, while its body glowed yellow.

Startled by its own brilliant glow, the Chimera flailed about.

That glow was the Magic Tower's Insight Magic, an intuitive and even beautiful spell developed by a genius mage.

"It's yellow overall!"

"Stage four... I think we can handle it!"

Zain and the Guard Captain both sounded relieved.

The color emitted by a glowing monster served as an indicator of its strength.

Harmless creatures were white. Then came blue, green, yellow, orange, red, purple, and finally black.

There was one attendant knight, one Guard Captain, and four elite soldiers. They even had traps prepared for the Chimera's arrival.

They judged that they could deal with it.

"Fire!"

At the Guard Captain's shout, the soldiers released their drawn bowstrings.

Four arrows sliced through the air toward Pafnacha.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

The arrows struck its carapace and bounced away.

Every bow in Greylim was a horn bow made from monster horns. Their draw weight was immense, enough to pierce most wooden shields, yet they only threw sparks and left scratches.

Its carapace was incredibly tough.

The Guard Captain's expression turned grim as he drew and fired his own horn bow.

Thud!

"Kweeeek!"

The Chimera roared.

The arrow lodged precisely between the Chimera's joints. It was a shot worthy of a master archer.

The problem was that the Chimera had eight legs.

And it had begun rampaging in fury.

The Guard Captain leaped back and called Zain's name.

"Sir Zain!"

When it came to personal combat strength, knights were still the strongest. Zain was unquestionably a properly appointed knight.

Zain had even learned the halberd directly from Gunter.

His weapon was smaller than Gunter's enormous halberd, but it was still plenty long.

"Haaap!"

An honest battle cry.

Then Zain's halberd began to shine.

The light gathering along its blade was unmistakably vivid Aura.

The halberd swept toward the Chimera.

Crash!

The halberd pierced the Chimera's carapace and sank in.

Zain was startled by the fierce resistance running through his grip.

"This thing is incredibly hard!"

"Inflict as many wounds as you can! Cutting off its legs would be best!"

Zain did exactly that.

The Chimera seemed shocked by pain it had never experienced in its life. But it was not afraid.

It was simply enraged at the strange monkey breaking its carapace.

Its legs were certainly different from a spider's. A spider's legs probably were not meant to be swung around and used to strike enemies.

Clang!

Zain barely blocked it.

The Chimera truly was a terrifying monster.

If Gunter had been here, the hero would have subjugated it easily, but it was a difficult enemy for Zain to face alone.

That was all right. He was not alone.

"Fall back!"

As soon as the signal came, Zain ran backward.

The Chimera flinched in surprise, then tried to pursue him.

That was when the soldiers threw bottles of oil.

Ever since humans had made fire their friend, it had been the most effective means of frightening beasts.

"Set it alight!"

The Guard Captain used fire again.

Torches flew through the air.

* * *

Wow, would you look at that lunatic. The Guard Captain was the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang.

My tiresome nemesis had used fire against the Chimera too.

The Battle of Red Cliffs? No, it would be more fitting to call it the Battle of Cliff.

The Chimera, which had been flashing yellow, was now engulfed in flames.

"Kwieeek!"

Hidden in a tree, I watched the fight while crunching on a cricket.

The scroll the knight had torn had activated a remarkable spell I had never imagined. It seemed to be an item that let him intuitively gauge an opponent's combat power through color.

Can't they see status windows?

I didn't know. Before eating the centipede's Inner Core, there had been limits to what I could see too.

Still, Insight Magic seemed fairly effective.

I had to assess an opponent's combat power by checking their status window. If I couldn't see it at all, it meant they were absurdly strong, so I had to evacuate immediately.

If their level was high and their skills were unusual, they were probably strong too, so I either had to run or investigate carefully.

It wasn't intuitive.

An opponent could look weak, only for me to fight them and find out they were ridiculously strong.

Maybe judging by color was more convenient.

"Keep your distance! Fire more arrows!"

The Guard Captain directed the soldiers.

The knight was better at fighting, but the Guard Captain seemed stronger in every other way.

Seeing the odd tension between them, I found myself liking the Guard Captain more.

That young knight seemed kind of arrogant.

He kept talking back to the older Guard Captain.

I guess some spirit from the Eastern nation of manners still remained in my heart.

"This thing is persistent! Hup!"

Even while on fire, the Chimera thrashed around like mad.

Panic spread across the humans' faces.

From my perspective, though, that was only natural.

It had high Heat Resistance, after all.

"I think it has high Heat Resistance!"

"Isn't it a mix of a spider and a mole? Why would it be fine even while burning..."

Their flustered cries reached me.

Hmm, so they really couldn't see the status window.

It seemed my Reincarnator trait had more than just a translation function.

After all, this was the Chimera's status window as I saw it.

──────────────

【Chimera Pafnacha Lv. 20+++】

【Traits】

[Chimera], [Underground Monster], [Dragon Bloodline], [Molting]

【Skills】

[Molting: Emergency Lv. 2]

[Carapace Lv. 10], [Burrowing Lv. 9], [Heat Resistance Lv. 6], [Self-Healing Lv. 3], [Mana Detection Lv. 4], [Sense of Smell Lv. 7], [Frenzy Lv. 20], [Cut Lv. 10], [Doppelganger Lv. 3], [Two Hearts Lv. 1]

※Skill Evolution Available

[Carapace Lv. 10], [Frenzy Lv. 20], [Cut Lv. 10]

【Status】

[Can Molt], [Burned], [Frenzy]

──────────────

It was clearly no ordinary creature.

What stood out was that even though its level had reached the limit at 20, its status did not display "Evolution Available."

It seemed Pafnacha had failed to meet the conditions for evolution.

Pelerian would be sad if Pelerian knew that.

Instead, the status "Frenzy" had appeared.

The level 20 Frenzy skill was also radiating a dazzling presence in its skill list.

That was when the Chimera's movements quickened.

One of its burning legs lashed out viciously.

It was a fantastic attack, like a spinning firebrand.

Clang!

The knight raised his halberd and saved a soldier who had nearly died.

But the impact sent him staggering back as though he had been knocked away.

"What strength..."

They had probably thought that once it caught fire, it would shrivel up and burn to death in no time.

Then again, no matter how high its Heat Resistance was, it should not have been fine with its body on fire.

The skill called Frenzy could not be used forever, so it would probably die soon.

Unless...

──────────────

[Molting: Emergency Lv. 2]

──────────────

That skill caught my eye.

It had Molting as a trait, and it also had a skill related to Molting.

If that skill was on the same level as my Billy's Horn, then the outcome would probably be...

"Die!"

The knight seemed determined to end the fight.

He wrung out every last bit of mana he had and strengthened his Aura.

The Aura around his halberd swelled, then struck the Chimera's body.

Crash!

The carapace shattered, and the halberd buried itself in its torso.

Sparks flew, and blood spurted out.

The blood seared in the flames, billowing out acrid smoke.

A solid hit.

Relief returned to Zain and the soldiers' faces.

But it was too soon to celebrate.

Molting: Emergency happened with incredible speed.

I watched the creature's status change rapidly.

──────────────

【Status】

[Frenzy], [Burned], [Emergency Molting], [Recovery], [Skill Evolution]

──────────────

Huh?

Molting normally took a long time.

It required preparation before it began, and the process itself took time. Naturally, the creature became extremely vulnerable during that period.

But Pafnacha's molting was different.

It was as though it had split off a clone.

Its burning shell remained where it was.

Wrapped in slime, it escaped from its carapace.

"No."

Those were the last words of the soldier named Hanson.

The Chimera's legs stretched out.

Unlike when they had been covered in hard carapace, its legs were now flexible like tentacles.

Thud!

One shot past the knight's side and pierced the chest of the soldier behind him.

The Chimera leaped into the air.

Its body was still wounded, but the flames that had tormented it most were gone.

Pafnacha charged in among the soldiers and swung its legs in every direction.

Like a creature gone berserk.

──────────────

【Chimera Pafnacha Lv. 20】

【Skills】

...[Berserker Lv. 1], [Slash Lv. 1], [Iron Carapace Lv. 1 (Inactive)]

──────────────

Frenzy had become Berserker, Cut had become Slash, and Carapace had become Iron Carapace.

It had even completed skill evolution through the process of molting.

As expected, Emergency Molting was as broken a skill as Billy's Horn.

The knight and the Guard Captain still did not know how much stronger the Chimera had become.

The Insight Scroll's effect had ended.

"Aaaah!"

The knight swung his halberd like a madman.

His momentum was no joke.

But the Chimera was cunning.

It went after the relatively weaker soldiers first.

Perhaps because it had just molted, the halberd now left wounds on its body much more easily.

Slice!

Still, Slash, the Chimera's new skill, cut the soldiers' bodies in two.

The knight had gone wild and was about to charge the Chimera without regard for his life.

Then the Guard Captain shoved him away.

"Run..."

I saw the entire thing.

The Guard Captain pushed the knight away and saved his life.

Stab!

In exchange, the Chimera's leg pierced through the Guard Captain's chest and emerged from his back.

Blood gushed from his mouth like a fountain.

"Cough!"

"N-No!"

The knight could not seize the opportunity the Guard Captain had made for him.

A Chimera tentacle struck him in the chest.

Bang!

Thanks to the Full Plate Mail he wore, he was knocked away instead of being cut in half.

He rolled several times across the ground and did not move.

Was he dead?

No, I didn't care.

'Guard Captain...!'

I felt deeply moved by the Guard Captain's actions.

The captain had seemed like someone without blood or tears.

Yet the captain had sacrificed his own life to save the knight.

The wounded Chimera quickly swallowed the corpses of several dead soldiers, then began digging into the ground.

Scrape, scrape, scrape!

It was incredibly fast.

Perhaps the fight had not been easy for it either, because it fled in a hurry.

Only the smell of blood and silence remained.

I was the only one still awake.

Quietly, I broke the stillness.

"Hiss."

I climbed down from the tree.

Huh.

They fought pretty well.

Their struggle was impressive enough to deserve applause.

The problem was that their opponent happened to be max level and had been saving its strength.

If it had not had Emergency Molting and skill evolution, they would have won.

Well, thanks to that, I had found a clue for catching the Chimera.

Hiss, hiss. I flicked my tongue out slyly.

I stopped in front of the Guard Captain.

Yeah.

The Guard Captain was a great man.

I might have the heart of a snake, but the captain had shown me something so cool that even my cold blood was boiling.

Still, his sacrifice would go unknown.

That bravery, saving a comrade and being pierced in his place, deserved nothing less than a medal of honor.

But I had seen it.

I would remember that sacrifice.

RIP, Guard Captain.

May you find peace wherever you go.

For some reason, my chest felt hot.

The Guard Captain lay dead with his eyes open, his chest pierced through.

Hmm, should I at least close his eyes?

As I considered it, I cautiously raised my tail.

That was when the Guard Captain's eyes suddenly rolled toward me.

"Ugh, urgh, s-snake. Cough!"

Man of fighting spirit.

The Guard Captain must have moved on instinct.

He swung the dagger in his hand, trying to cut me.

And I moved on instinct too.

I was not going to get cut by the feeble swing of a dying soldier.

Tap!

I dodged aside, then bit his wrist instead.

...Huh?

"Cough, hack."

The Guard Captain's eyes rolled back, showing only the whites.

Uh, uh.

Uhhhh!

No, it wasn't me!

*「You have defeated Guard Captain Lv. 24.」

*「You have achieved the accomplishment 'Guard Captain Murder.'」

Aaaaaagh!

Footnotes:

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