I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse - Chapter 28

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 28: Real Magic Python

──────

'Shut up.'

I put on my most terrifying expression.

I flicked out my purple tongue and bared my fangs.

Hissss.

Come to think of it, hissing like that seemed more like something a cat would do than a snake.

Still, most monsters cowered when I threatened them like this.

-Th-That's impossible.

It seemed to work on Pelerian too.

He looked utterly devastated.

-It could fail, or the effect could be short-lived. But for it not to work at all...

Wait, he wasn't scared of me?

I sternly rebuked him.

'You should apologize first, Pelerian.'

-What's wrong with it? What kind of mutation is this?!

We weren't getting anywhere.

I breathed fire at the ring.

Whoosh!

I wondered whether he'd cry out that it was hot.

-You're using magic too?! This is unbelievable!

Nope.

If anything, he looked ready to fall over backward with excitement that I could use magic.

Apparently, I seemed incredibly rare to him.

I tapped the ring, then shoved it into a puddle.

None of it had any effect.

All the while, Pelerian just kept marveling at how special I was.

I had no choice.

I'd have to try the idea I'd come up with.

'I'll make my second wish. From now on, answer all my questions honestly.'

-Hm, fine. ...All right.

Pelerian nodded reluctantly.

That was it? He'd still grant my wish in this situation?

He did say a mage's oath couldn't be broken, but only a complete idiot would take that at face value.

I wasn't such a foolish snake.

So I asked him.

'Is there a way for me to harm you?'

-You could... destroy the soul bound within the ring.

'How can I cause you pain?'

-Tch. You could pour mana into the ring and cause me pain. I couldn't easily teach you how, since it requires delicate mana control.

Really?

I'd find out whether he was lying by trying it.

I placed my tail on the ring.

Then, just as I did when using magic, I poured mana into it.

Scream in pain, Pelerian.

-Ughhick!

Pelerian twisted with a strange noise.

He didn't seem to be in pain.

He was obviously ticklish. Despite not even having a body, he apparently still had senses.

But even tickling became painful if it went on long enough.

Gradually, he began making strangled noises.

-Stop, aaah!

As I adjusted the speed and amount of mana I poured in, Pelerian finally screamed.

-Stop it! Damn it, you learn fast.

If that was an act, he should've become an actor instead of a mage.

It seemed he had been telling the truth.

'What are you most afraid of?'

-...

Pelerian hesitated.

'Answer me.'

-Death. Being abandoned in the darkness. And more than anything...

The old man had seemed almost frivolous until then, but he was different now.

His face was dry, like an old dead tree that had lived far too long.

-Before death eventually comes, remaining behind and rotting away without accomplishing anything.

A chill filled his dry voice.

It didn't sound like a lie.

Then that was good.

I picked up the ring with my tail.

'Then I've got just the thing.'

-What are you... doing?

I caught a frog hopping around in front of a puddle.

After some effort, I managed to put the ring around its body.

I wrapped my tail around the limp frog and lifted it up.

I pushed through bushes and trees.

Pelerian kept nervously asking what I was doing.

I ignored him.

As I moved through the forest, I found a wild boar.

It was digging through the ground, picking things out to eat.

It didn't seem to be a monster, just an ordinary wild boar.

When it noticed me, it squealed, probably because it was scared.

-Won't you answer me?! I'm asking what you're doing!

'You should've just quietly granted my wish. Wouldn't traveling with me have been better than being trapped in a ring and abandoned?'

-...

Yeah, he had nothing to say. Because I was right.

Goodbye!

'Turn into pig crap!'

-Waiiit!

I threw the frog wearing the ring into the wild boar's squealing mouth.

Startled by the food entering its mouth, it instinctively swallowed it.

Then it just stood there blankly.

When I backed away without showing any sign of attacking, it went back to sniffing around the ground.

What a stupid animal.

And Pelerian had been swallowed by that stupid animal.

Someday, he'd come out as crap, then be abandoned just like that.

He would meet the ending he feared most.

What were the odds that someone who understood Elven would appear in the middle of this rainforest and save him?

Pelerian had clearly said, "with the last handful of mana I have left," after using the Taming skill on me.

I watched in case he tried to escape, but there was no sign of it.

It seemed he couldn't even project that illusion from inside the boar's belly. Or perhaps he'd been prevented from doing even that.

Be good in your next life, Pelerian.

Don't be born into an evil race like the elves.

Be reborn as a kind animal, like a snake.

Goodbye.

* * *

Pelerian, the Heaven-Defier Mage.

He hadn't possessed that grand epithet from the beginning.

Ever since Pelerian was young, another description had followed him.

"Hideous" Pelerian.

Ah, hideous Pelerian.

Though he had been born into the beautiful elven race, Pelerian himself was ugly.

He had none of the smooth skin that seemed blessed by heaven, the wrinkle-free face, or the long, graceful limbs.

Even as a child, he had looked like an old human.

He was short, his legs were stubby, and his waist was strangely bent.

It was, in a sense, a curse from heaven.

The heavens had made Pelerian ugly.

His parents had been splendid elves without the slightest flaw.

Still, his ugly appearance wasn't what mattered.

In exchange for his ugly looks, Pelerian possessed greater magical talent and a more brilliant mind than any other elf.

What was truly hideous was something else.

-Damn it, damn it all!

It was his heart, his soul.

Pelerian himself knew better than anyone the ugliness he kept deep within.

Jealousy, rage, resentment, hatred, twistedness.

With such ugliness inside, he should at least conceal it with his outward appearance.

But what could he do when his appearance was ugly too?

Pelerian immersed himself in his race.

In a way, it was only natural that he became obsessed with monster evolution.

Blood stained that path.

He had no regrets.

Those sacrifices had been necessary for the evolution of his entire race.

Yet now, inside the wild boar's belly, he couldn't hold his head high.

Was it because he had tried to deceive the snake? Because he felt guilty for trying to tame the snake instead of granting the snake's wish?

No. That couldn't be it.

He hadn't been able to answer the snake's question.

Because he had no memory of it.

When asked whether he was Pelerian, he had answered yes, but he hadn't been certain.

He remembered tearing apart his soul and sealing it in the ring.

But he had no idea how or why it had happened.

According to his last memories, he had clearly been approaching the secret of evolution.

He had obtained a clue that would evolve his entire race into High Elves.

He had been on the verge of fulfilling his lifelong ambition, so why had his soul been torn apart?

The self bound within the ring was clearly insurance for the main body.

Like a Lich hiding its phylactery, it was insurance left behind so the main body could escape death.

What had happened to his main body?

He knew nothing.

He no longer even had mana.

He wasn't overflowing with mana as he had in the past. He was merely a being bound to a ring.

There was absolutely no way to escape.

He would become crap like this.

No one would find him, and he would be buried in the ground to meet eternal silence.

He would suffer without end until eons passed and his consciousness finally collapsed.

Fear suddenly gripped him.

In pitch-black darkness, Pelerian trembled.

A great mage was about to meet the worst death imaginable.

-I should've just granted his wish...!

A regret that came too late.

-Is anyone there?! Pelerian is trapped in here!

But Pelerian only sloshed around in digestive fluid.

He couldn't feel pain, but he could see, hear, and smell.

Inside the wild boar's belly, it reeked horribly.

It would be even worse once he reached the large intestine.

Three hours in the stomach.

-Please...

Then four hours in the small intestine.

-Uuugh...

Pelerian had never lost his fighting spirit even when knights captured and tortured him, yet he finally burst into tears.

Perhaps sorrow was more frightening than pain.

Pelerian was so miserable he could die.

Then he reached the large intestine, just before becoming completely buried in crap.

"Squeeeal!"

He heard a scream.

It was the wild boar, owner of all this crap.

Then the world rolled as though heaven and earth had been overturned.

Pelerian was thrown up and down within the wild boar's intestines.

He was utterly disoriented.

Then light shone down.

Someone had clearly cut open the wild boar's belly.

And that someone was...

'Hey.'

A snake.

The snake seemed to think they looked scary, but they didn't.

Pythons were naturally like that. Unlike vipers or cobras, they looked harmless, with black, round eyes.

The snake stared at him with that expression.

For the first time in his life, Pelerian was glad to see a snake's face.

The snake didn't take Pelerian out. They only stared directly at him.

Pelerian realized he had to say something.

There was no need to think. The words came out at once.

-I'm sorry!

'Hm.'

-I apologize. I'm sorry for trying to deceive you. I'll grant your wish too. I don't know if there's anything I can do for you now that I have no mana, but if there's anything I can do...!

The snake had made the Heaven-Defier Archmage apologize.

Considering that Pelerian hadn't apologized to anyone even once since childhood, it was an astonishing achievement.

But the snake itself likely didn't know that.

'I wasn't trying to save you. I was planning to ask a few questions, then feed you to another animal again.'

-Don't do that. I'll be good, really. I'll do better...

He had lowered himself this much.

Once he had bent his pride once, the rest wasn't difficult.

'Really? Hm, then promise me one thing as your third wish.'

-What is it? Anything!

'Never try to harm me by any means. You can't steer things in a direction that harms me indirectly either.'

-I swear it. On the soul of Pelerian, the Heaven-Defier Mage.

'And obey what I say from now on. Do what you're told quietly.'

-That doesn't sound like just one wish...

'Don't want to?'

-Fine, I swear!

Pelerian made an oath he could never break.

The snake smiled.

At least, the snake certainly looked like they were smiling.

'Hm, good. Since you say so. Oh, and can you teach me some magic? Right now, I only know Elementary Elemental Magic: Earth and Fire.'

How shameless. The snake had already used all three wishes.

-Standing before you is the Heaven-Defier Archmage. It couldn't be easier.

Yet the words slipped naturally from Pelerian's mouth.

Only then did a thought occur to him.

Ah, he had sworn never to take another disciple.

Would this count as one?

'Thanks, but don't expect me to treat you like Master. It's not like that.'

-Fine.

That was something to be grateful for instead.

Pelerian felt relieved.

* * *

My talent is exceptional.

I'm not boasting.

This world, the great power that reincarnated me, acknowledged it.

I had Potential 20, after all.

There shouldn't be any problem learning magic either.

Pelerian became much more obedient after nearly becoming crap once.

Cleaning the ring thoroughly was quite a struggle too.

Honestly, I threatened to turn him into a lump of crap immediately if he tried anything funny again, but I didn't want to do that unless I had to.

After all, it was a ring I had to wear. It still seemed to smell a little bad.

As long as Pelerian didn't betray me, this ring was practically essential.

I needed a bag until I learned Spatial Storage Magic.

There were valuable potions left in it too.

-Billy's Horn... I've never heard of such a skill.

'Don't horned monsters have it?'

-Are you joking? Even Horn lineage monsters mostly use their horns only to stab enemies. Being able to steal the skills of a powerful human is absurd.

'It's not stealing. It's borrowing.'

I corrected Pelerian.

-And this Surpassing Horn or whatever is equally absurd. At that level, it's practically an innate skill of a higher monster.

I straightened up.

I couldn't hide how pleased I felt.

Whether he noticed or not, Pelerian continued explaining.

-So you borrowed a golem's magic. That's why you learned two types of Elementary Elemental Magic. The mystery has finally been solved.

'That's right.'

-But learning magic through such a shortcut doesn't mean you've truly entered the path of magic.

As Pelerian taught me magic, he became increasingly full of himself.

-I, the progenitor of magic!

His eyes seemed to flash brightly.