WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 21: The Goddess
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Aaaaagh, fuck!
Guard Captain!
You can't die!
Sure, the Guard Captain had once been my sworn enemy.
The sight of my siblings, roasted to a golden brown, was still vivid in my mind.
I should have hated this human called the Guard Captain.
Was that really true?
Honestly, I didn't have even an ounce of affection for my siblings.
I had just been moved by the Guard Captain's sacrifice.
Still, this was too much.
He had swung his sword the instant he saw me.
My reflexes were just too good.
The moment I dodged, I grazed past and bit his arm.
Had he really died that quickly?
Did I really kill him?
Ah, come to think of it, something similar had happened before.
It was when my brother, who had been fighting me, 【Little Green Snake Lv. 3】, died together with the Sword-Clawed Bat.
I hadn't personally finished him off, but it still counted as me having defeated him.
Could this be the same thing?
The Chimera killed the Guard Captain.
Not me.
He probably would have died even if I had done nothing...
There was no way I had killed a Guard Captain with such an impressive mustache.
*「You have achieved the accomplishment 'Guard Captain Murder.'」
...But that message rang far too clearly.
There were traits, skills, statuses, and even accomplishments.
It was practically confirming that I had killed the Guard Captain.
What? I was the one who made sure of the kill?
Um...
──────────────
【Accomplishment】
[Guard Captain Murder]
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Was it okay for this to stay on my record?
Wasn't this a violation of my rights?
What if someone saw it?
──────────────
【Guard Captain Murder】
You have murdered the Guard Captain of a territory.
You will not tire easily when fighting guards, and strength will surge through you.
You will incur strange hostility from the guards.
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It wasn't as if human guards were going to like me anyway.
It didn't seem immediately useful, but it wasn't bad either.
I should be grateful.
This was the Guard Captain's legacy.
I decided to think of it that way.
No, actually, that wasn't his only legacy.
Excuse me for a moment.
I searched through the Guard Captain's clothes.
I was indeed trying to loot his belongings.
I couldn't just leave them behind.
The Guard Captain would probably be happier if I put them to good use instead of letting wild beasts tear them apart and scatter them everywhere.
Definitely.
Whoa!
This guy was seriously obsessed with fire attacks.
The Guard Captain had several more bottles of oil tucked inside his clothes.
They all looked useful, so I took them.
Wait, this one wasn't filled with oil?
A red liquid sloshed inside a corked bottle.
I barely managed to pull out the cork with my tail.
Pop!
A refreshing sound rang out, followed by a sweet scent.
When I flicked out my tongue and tasted it, warmth spread through my body.
The scratches on my body really did begin to heal.
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【Consecrated Water】
Water blessed by a priest of the Goddess Church. It heals wounds and invigorates mana.
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This was a potion.
It was both a health potion and a mana potion. Pretty valuable. So this really was a fantasy world.
And did that mean a goddess existed? I had been an atheist in my old life.
I searched the other soldiers too.
It took some effort because some had been cut in half, their upper and lower bodies separated.
Ugh, guts.
I was careful not to get that brown fluid on myself.
...Huh.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I had properly seen so many people dead.
Human bodies had been severed apart, yet instead of being scared, I was worried about getting filth on myself.
Wasn't this supposed to be the moment for something like this?
'Urgh! Human corpses...!'
'The shock of killing people, ngh.'
Maybe I should have been reacting like that.
The fact that I was so calm seemed strange.
But I liked it.
This was much better than whining.
I even felt like a proud snake.
Mental Strength 20, hooray.
The loot I collected was varied.
First, one extremely valuable potion. There were also quite a few dried rations.
I took all of them.
Then I gathered up every arrow and blade I could find.
You might ask how a snake without hands planned to use them, but I was sure they would all come in handy somehow.
I swept everything into the pocket space inside my ring.
The Chimera had taken about one and a half soldiers with it, leaving four and a half people behind, including the Guard Captain.
I decided to hold a small funeral for them.
It wasn't just because I was feeling sentimental. I also didn't want the Chimera to come back and eat the rest.
It needed to get hungry before I could lure it out and hunt it.
It wasn't easy for my tiny body to gather the corpses.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the Chimera had torn them into pieces, so I could drag them one at a time.
I couldn't move the knight because the armor made him too heavy.
I gathered everyone else near the Guard Captain, whose limbs were still intact.
I opened one of the oil bottles and scattered the oil around.
Elementary Elemental Magic: Fire.
Whoosh!
The dead were cremated as black smoke rose into the air.
It probably wasn't a proper cremation, but this should be enough.
Namu Amitabha.
You died meaninglessly in this life, but may you be reborn somewhere good in the next and live happily.
Being reincarnated as a snake like me might not be so bad either.
The only one left was Zain, the person the Guard Captain had saved.
The captain's sacrifice seemed to have been in vain, since Zain already appeared dead.
As I poured oil over him, I flinched.
This one seemed alive.
The breathing was slow, but it was definitely there.
A line of blood ran from the corner of Zain's mouth, so there seemed to be internal bleeding.
The chest of the armor had been caved in, so that made sense.
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【Knight Zain Lv. 16】
【Traits】
[Knight], [Greenhorn]
...
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Wow, this guy's trait was literally Greenhorn.
Did Zain know that? That would be incredibly embarrassing.
Maybe because I had heard the name before, Zain's real name was displayed, unlike the Guard Captain's.
There were several skills I had never seen before, as expected of a knight.
The ones that stood out were Aura Lv. 2 and Intermediate Swordsmanship Lv. 5.
Just hearing the name Aura made my manly heart race.
Wasn't that the thing where people used sword aura and all that?
If I could coat my fangs in aura, there would be nothing to fear.
I tried borrowing Aura with Billy's Horn.
*「You failed to borrow Aura Lv. 2.」
I tried a few times, but only wasted mana and failed.
Billy's Horn probably lacked the proficiency.
It was disappointing, but there was nothing I could do.
Besides, I already had a skill borrowed from Pafnacha.
I had nearly burned the knight alive by accident.
Hmm...
Honestly, I considered it for a moment.
Wasn't this the perfect chance to finish off a knight?
All I had to do was bite a little.
Neurotoxin would cleanly kill an injured knight.
But.
I made a slightly different choice.
The Guard Captain, someone I had acknowledged, had died saving this knight.
I didn't know whether saving this greenhorn had truly been worth dying for, but I decided to respect the Guard Captain's wishes.
I also felt bad about accidentally finishing off the Guard Captain, and the fact that I was at max level and wouldn't gain experience from killing this knight had influenced me too.
It was a little disappointing, but...
Huh.
Something sparkled around Zain's neck.
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【Consecrated Necklace】
A small amount of luck follows you. Perhaps that luck will save your life.
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Hmm, was this why Zain was alive?
Probably not.
Still, taking this much as payment for sparing Zain's life should be fine.
As the victor, I decided to confidently take the loot.
Why was this thing so tough?
I couldn't undo the necklace with my tail, so it wasn't easy to take.
Then I flinched. Zain's eyes had opened to narrow slits.
I was so startled that I nearly sank my fangs into Zain's neck.
The knight lay still, apparently unaware that death had almost claimed him.
It didn't seem like Zain had regained consciousness. Zain still looked unconscious.
That scared me.
Click.
The necklace came off.
I'll make good use of it.
That was when it happened.
Smooch.
The knight kissed my ring.
"...Ugh. Ah. ...dess..."
This crazy bastard.
Without thinking, I smacked Zain across the nose with my tail.
Zain grinned even as blood began flowing from the nose.
Ah, Guard Captain.
You gave your life for someone this crazy.
After offering my condolences to the Guard Captain once more, I left the area.
The next time I met the Chimera, I would hunt it and evolve.
* * *
Zain's armor had been commissioned in the kingdom's capital.
It was Full Plate Mail that Gunter had personally ordered from a workshop on the day he took Zain on as an attendant knight.
Not every knight could wear armor like this.
Properly made Full Plate Mail cost several bags of gold coins.
It had been a favor from Zain's lord.
That favor had saved Zain's life.
Had it been ordinary chain mail, the Chimera's Slash would have cut Zain in two.
The plate armor had only been dented.
Zain had been flung back and lost consciousness.
The pain had been enough to kill.
Enough to make death come to mind.
The knight, whose training was not yet complete, dreamed within that sunken consciousness.
It was clearly a nightmare.
It was the dream that had sometimes come ever since becoming a knight.
A dream of dying.
Sometimes Zain joined a battle that could not be won.
Other times Zain fought a monster that could not be challenged, then died.
In the end, Zain always collapsed with blood pouring from the mouth.
It was the same in the dream.
Perhaps there was a hole in the stomach, because all strength drained from the body.
Blood flowed endlessly from the mouth.
Zain could not tell whether this was a dream or reality.
It truly felt like dying.
With bloodied hands trembling, Zain reached for the neck.
The necklace was there.
Zain was a believer in the Goddess of the Hearth and Fire.
The priest had said that when believers died, they would return to the goddess's embrace.
Would Zain go there too?
Zain forced back the tears that threatened to fall.
Whoosh.
A cold wind could be heard from somewhere.
Had the messenger of death arrived to take Zain away?
Whoosh!
Then something gently brushed across Zain's face.
That was when Zain opened unfocused eyes.
'Goddess?'
Flames rose everywhere.
The dead were burning.
Whenever Zain visited a temple of the Goddess of the Hearth and Fire, fires like those were always burning.
That acrid smell was the scent of the temple.
Had Zain died?
That was what Zain thought.
The body would not move.
"Goddess..."
In a haze of consciousness, Zain called for the goddess.
Then something cold and slender brushed over Zain's forehead.
It was a finger wearing a ring.
Zain realized it was the goddess's hand.
"O Goddess..."
It was as if an ember had rekindled in the faith that had been fading within.
Zain gladly kissed the goddess's ring.
Whoosh!
The wind blew.
Something slapped Zain across the face.
Consciousness sank once more.
After a long while, Zain opened his eyes.
"Gasp. Ngh!"
Unlike in the dream, the body was unbearably heavy.
The corner of the mouth was covered in blood.
The chest throbbed. Looking at how deeply dented the armor was, it was fortunate that Zain had survived.
"...Ah, Guard Captain!"
Only then did Zain remember what had happened before losing consciousness.
But after looking around, Zain's face turned pale.
"Everyone... Ngh!"
Everyone was dead.
What was more, the corpses had been gathered in one place and burned to ashes.
"Who in the world did this?"
Zain vaguely remembered dreaming of the goddess.
But why had everyone truly been cremated?
Zain had no clue that could explain it.
Zain clenched a fist tightly.
It was a defeat.
An undeniable failure of the mission.
There was no choice but to return to Greylim Territory now.
And there was the disgrace of being the only survivor.
Zain's heart felt heavy.
* * *
"So when you woke up, everything around you was on fire?"
"...Yes, that is correct."
At the lord's question, Zain answered with a haggard face.
"The Guard Captain and all the soldiers were dead?"
"Yes. I saw them before losing consciousness and confirmed it."
"Could they not have survived?"
"Their heads were severed, their waists cut in two, and their chests pierced through."
"Hmm. Was that Chimera truly so powerful? Even with an Insight Scroll, you did not know?"
"It was not that strong at first. Then it suddenly molted, and its speed became incredibly fast."
The lord let out several troubled sighs.
"This is troubling, very troubling."
"Shamefully, I returned alive alone. If you give me another chance, I will certainly kill that Chimera."
Zain dropped to one knee.
The sight was utterly solemn.
"Rise, Zain."
It was not the lord who gave Zain that command.
It was the huge man standing beside the lord.
The true owner of the halberd.
One of the Eight Heroes.
The one known by the epithet Steel.
Gunter Frihansen had returned to this place.
"Interesting. Both the story of the Chimera and the story of the goddess."
Gunter had only just returned to Greylim Territory, yet seemed ready to leave again.
"You will depart for that place with me. Do you need time to rest?"
"I'm fine!"
"Then prepare yourself."
"Yes!"
Zain answered loudly as well.
Footnotes:
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