WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 37: Flash

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At this point, couldn't I proudly call myself a proper mage?

*「You use Beginner Elemental Magic: Water Lv. 2.」

*「You use Beginner Elemental Magic: Fire Lv. 3.」

*「You use Beginner Elemental Magic: Earth Lv. 4.」

*「You use Beginner Elemental Magic: Wind Lv. 2.」

I used all four types of magic I could wield.

Fire spewed from my mouth, sprays of water swirled through the air, and the ground wriggled and trembled.

None of those phenomena were particularly impressive on their own.

But when I used all four at once, it made for quite a spectacle.

Of course, I couldn't keep this up for long.

3.

2.

1.

Done!

*「Mana has been depleted.」

My mana pool wasn't big to begin with.

After blasting out four spells at maximum output, I ran dry in no time.

Running out of mana made me horribly sleepy. My body was exhausted too.

On top of that, I'd sprinted back at full speed the moment I spotted the Krok Tribe warriors. I felt like I could collapse at any second.

Still, I forced myself upright.

Whitey could fall over, but Ululullulu couldn't.

All that effort had been worth it.

Silence settled over the area.

Even the Goblins who'd been chanting my name, Ululullulu, shut their mouths.

They all had their heads bowed.

Those who believed I was the legendary snake had their hands pressed together in prayer.

Only one person had her head raised.

Nanaruk.

She was looking at me with a bright smile.

It was a relief that Nanaruk had come. Explaining this situation to the other Goblins would've been difficult.

"Ululullulu, you've returned."

Nanaruk, who had never called me that before, said it now.

There was a teasing note in her voice.

But I was completely serious right now.

Snakes didn't have vocal cords.

That meant I had no choice but to explain the situation using magic, my tail, and a few objects.

Beyond the hill some distance from here, there are over a hundred Krok Tribe warriors.

They'll attack this place at night. Everyone has to prepare!

Explaining all that without speaking was incredibly difficult.

First, I pulled the Krok Tribe necklace I'd obtained as loot before out of my Subspace.

Then I wrote 100 on the ground in Goblin numerals, pointed toward the hill, and mimed Goblins thrusting spears with my tail.

They came this way, then that way, urururu, ululullu.

The cries of a hundred Goblins filled the valley, and Skullcrusher's great army surged forward like a tide.

Huff, huff.

It felt like I'd just performed the entire Song of the Red Cliffs by myself.

When I looked around, the other Goblins were staring at me as though they'd lost their wits.

Maybe conveying lofty intentions to fools really was impossible.

Then Nanaruk cried out in shock.

"Krok Tribe Goblin warriors are coming!"

"What?"

"R-Really?!"

They said one friend who understood you was enough.

I felt grateful all over again that Nanaruk understood me as soon as I made a gesture.

No, it was strange how well she understood me.

Either way, from this point on, all I had to do was nod.

Gasps and cries of alarm broke out everywhere.

"Lord Ululullulu, is this true?!"

The tattoo-covered old woman, the Great Shaman, shoved her face close.

Mm-hm, yes. It's surprising, but true.

I nodded once more to confirm it.

Borrowing Ululullulu's authority had definitely been the right choice.

-You haven't gained a new Epithet.

I'd wondered if I might gain one, but that hadn't happened.

Considering plenty of Goblins already called me Ululullulu, perhaps I needed deeds worthy of that name.

-The more impressive the Epithet, the harder it is to obtain.

That's what Pelerian said.

Well, that made sense.

Nanaruk's expression turned cold.

"Jadiram, ride an ostrich over there and confirm it immediately. Take a flag."

As expected, she was a Goblin who strictly separated business from personal matters.

The Hobgoblin named Jadiram mounted an ostrich and raced away.

"All warriors, arm yourselves. If there are thirty Hobgoblins, they must be Krok Tribe elites."

At her command, the Goblins scattered to prepare their weapons.

"Was Chief Krok there too? He's a Goblin with a skull necklace, at least two heads taller than me."

I shook my head.

Their leader was a Goblin named Ayutar, Skullcrusher.

"That's a relief, at least."

Nanaruk let out a breath of relief.

Was Chief Krok really that strong? I wanted to see him at least once.

The Goblins didn't seem to doubt my claim.

I couldn't tell whether that was because they believed I was Ululullulu or because they were simply an innocent race.

The Runga Tribe began preparing for battle.

Everyone was busy when a potbellied Goblin appeared and began shouting at the top of his lungs.

"What do you think you're all doing?!"

It was none other than the chieftain.

"That's not Ululullulu, it's just a snake covered in black mud!"

Huh, guess it runs in the family.

Nanaruk had been the same, but the chieftain didn't seem to believe I was Ululullulu either.

"What are you saying, Chieftain?!"

The Great Shaman grandmother shouted sternly.

The chieftain didn't even pretend to listen.

"Chief Krok wouldn't suddenly send warriors here. The negotiations are going well!"

"Father, Krok is a savage!"

"You, are you disregarding me, your chieftain?!"

I'd felt this since yesterday, but Nanaruk's father turned me into a bad snake.

He kept making me want to bite his ankle.

"Stop! Listen to the chieftain, not the War Chief!"

Was a chieftain still a chieftain, even if they were rotten?

The warriors who had been about to arm themselves hesitated, not knowing what to do.

Nanaruk gave the order again.

"Arm yourselves! Prepare the ostriches."

"Are you defying me? Everyone, stop!"

The confrontation between Nanaruk and the chieftain became clear.

Nanaruk bit her lip. Her clenched fist had gone white.

Yeah, hit the chieftain with that.

Or I'll take care of him.

"Over there!"

Just then, a young Goblin raised their hand.

Everyone turned toward the direction they pointed.

Jadiram, who had left earlier, was racing back over the hill on an ostrich.

Jadiram looked as small as a dot, but the flag in their hand was unmistakable.

A red flag.

It was the signal that enemies had been found.

Cries of alarm erupted everywhere.

Then everyone looked between Nanaruk and the chieftain.

I thought the chieftain would finally come to his senses, but...

"They might not have come to invade us... They could be envoys."

Sometimes, there were people who couldn't objectively accept a worsening situation.

People who kept avoiding reality until they were driven to the edge of a cliff, right before they fell.

I'd once been the same kind of person, so I understood how the chieftain felt.

-Are you going to leave them like that?

'No.'

I decided to bite the chieftain.

As I quietly slithered forward, Nanaruk passed beside me.

She swung her fist.

Pow!

The chieftain took the blow to the jaw and went sprawling.

"Urk, r-rebellion..."

Nanaruk didn't let the chieftain say anything else.

She twisted the chieftain's arm behind his back.

Then she pulled a rope from her waist and tied his hands together.

The chieftain thrashed, but Nanaruk even gagged him.

Everyone was at a loss over this sudden rebellion.

"...The chieftain is not in his right mind."

Nanaruk gave a cold command.

"Escort them home. Warriors, prepare to depart. Gather and advance."

The Hobgoblin warriors were the first to react.

They dragged the writhing chieftain away.

Then the Great Shaman grandmother stepped forward.

"War Chief Nanaruk."

She stopped the warriors who were taking the chieftain away.

Then she removed the jade necklace the chieftain had been wearing and placed it around Nanaruk's neck.

"You have won in a duel witnessed by the Great Shaman."

A duel, huh.

What a fiery grandmother.

"From this moment on, you are the chieftain of the Runga."

Nanaruk smiled faintly.

The warriors who followed her broke into broad smiles as well.

The girl who had been beaten by her father and secretly wiped away tears was gone.

Only a warrior who led a tribe remained.

At Nanaruk's command, the warriors gathered.

Excluding the minimum number left behind as guards, there were roughly eighty warriors.

Twenty of them were Hobgoblins.

There were thirty Red Claw Ostriches, tamed so they could be ridden like horses.

They were clearly outnumbered by the Krok Tribe elites.

"We'll go out and drive them back."

That was Nanaruk's decision.

They couldn't let the enemy approach the village.

There were no walls here, and fighting in a village full of noncombatants was out of the question.

At her command, the Runga warriors began to march out.

"Ululullulu."

Nanaruk held out her hand.

I climbed onto her shoulder.

Black mud smeared her clothes.

"Ugh, mud."

Put up with it, new chieftain.

"You've definitely gotten heavier."

She thanked me.

"Thank you for coming back. For telling us."

I needed you guys too, after all.

Nanaruk was a bold person.

She wasn't just planning to defend against the attack.

She intended to crush the enemy elites, then use that momentum to advance on the now-empty Krok Tribe village.

While that happened, I would find the Dungeon entrance and go inside.

"Move out!"

Nanaruk shouted.

* * *

Night fell.

The night in the city couldn't compare to the night in the Great Forest.

The sky was packed with starlight, but a curtain of darkness hung over the ground.

The trees grew so tall that even walking with torches wouldn't make you visible from far away.

On top of that, to reach the Runga Tribe, they had to cross the hill ahead.

In other words, the Krok Tribe warriors were currently in low ground.

Their raid proceeded quietly.

"Captain, the troops are getting excited."

A one-eyed Goblin warrior approached Ayutar.

"Please allow them to loot."

Ayutar looked back at the subordinate.

A cruel smile hung on Ayutar's lips.

"Fine."

There was no reason to refuse.

This many troops were more than enough to crush the Runga Tribe.

"Loot and smash everything you want."

"Thank you, uahahaha!"

Their restrained laughter spread through the darkness.

Unlike the Runga Tribe, which used ostrich units, the Krok Tribe used wolves as mounts.

Wolves were savage and difficult to tame, but they were stronger than ostriches.

The wolf riders quietly walked on, soothing their wolves.

Then the trees thinned out, revealing an exposed open area.

They had to cross it and go over the hill to see the Runga Tribe village.

That was when Ayutar suddenly stopped the warriors.

"What's wrong?"

Ayutar didn't answer, only stared silently at the hill.

"...Send wolf riders ahead as scouts."

They hadn't sent out any scouts until now, so why suddenly?

But questioning Ayutar's orders was forbidden.

The subordinate sent two wolf riders forward.

The wolf riders went beyond the hill to scout.

A short while later, they came back down.

They had left without torches.

It was hard to make out their figures as they descended.

"Why are they swaying like that?"

Something was off.

They were experienced riders, but their posture on the wolves was unstable.

They were also dripping something.

Once they came close enough for the torchlight to reach them, everyone saw what had happened.

"T-Their necks...!"

One rider returned with their neck cut off.

They finally tumbled from the wolf's back.

Excited by the scent of blood, the wolf tore into the dead rider.

The other rider still had their head attached.

Ayutar strode over to them in fury.

"What is this, you useless bastard?!"

Ayutar was about to demand what had happened.

"Keck, kehek."

But the rider couldn't answer properly.

Their face had turned purple, and they could only make choking sounds.

"S-Save me, kehek!"

They fearlessly clung to Ayutar as if collapsing.

They were definitely poisoned.

Ayutar recognized that from experience and shoved the subordinate away.

The rider fell to the ground with a thud and never moved again.

Both wolf riders were Hobgoblins.

Two elite warriors had died in an instant.

Ayutar growled low.

"Put out every torch."

When all the torches were extinguished, the warriors were swallowed by darkness.

Wheeeet!

Ayutar whistled, and Krok's warriors began to advance slowly.

They entered the open area.

On either side, the forest gaped like a black maw.

Watch both sides.

That order passed from the front to the back.

Ayutar, walking at the head of the formation, suddenly stopped.

Several Hobgoblins riding ostriches appeared on the hill.

"...It seems they noticed our approach somehow."

"Runga Chieftain Nanaruk."

The young female Hobgoblin stepped forward and introduced herself.

"Skullcrusher Ayutar. Nanaruk? Aren't you just a female warrior?"

"I'm the chieftain now."

"Looks like the idiot who used to be chieftain finally died."

Nanaruk didn't offer a detailed explanation.

"So you knew we were coming, yet there are only a few of you?"

Were they trying to face a hundred warriors with just a handful of Hobgoblins?

Krok's Goblins laughed at such absurd bravado.

"Of course not."

Then carts began to appear from beyond the hill.

Five carts were packed full of rocks, with sharp spears tied to them as well.

"Thanks for climbing all the way up."

"Y-You crazy...!"

Ayutar immediately saw through Nanaruk's plan.

The Goblins who had pushed the carts up the hill let go.

They weren't moving very quickly.

No, they only looked slow.

As the heavily loaded carts rolled down the slope, they gradually gained speed.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The spears weren't the real problem.

It was the sheer weight.

Anyone caught by one would be crushed.

Ayutar gritted their teeth.

There would be no problem as long as they avoided them.

"Scatter to both sides!"

Their voice boomed through the dark hill.

The subordinates immediately obeyed.

No, they tried to.

Who could have expected arrows to fly from the darkness of the forests on both sides?

Pipipiping!

At Nanaruk's command, Goblins who had secretly circled around fired their arrows.

From the torchless darkness, their arrows easily pierced Krok's warriors.

"Forward! Avoid the carts and go forward!"

Ayutar changed tactics.

The nimble Hobgoblins would lead the breakthrough.

And the Runga warriors ran down after the carts.

* * *

War!

I, Snake Zhuge Liang, had joined forces with the virtuous commander Nanaruk Hyeondeok!

Nanaruk had come up with the archer units on either side, but the carts had been my plan.

With vicious crunches, Krok's Goblins were turned into bloody pulp.

It was an excellent strategy that made good use of the terrain.

It had been nerve-racking when the two wolf riders appeared as scouts, but we'd dealt with them well.

So where was I now?

At Nanaruk's side.

More precisely, on the wing of the ostrich she was riding.

Snake Zhuge Liang was dead now.

All that remained was a pair of Poison Fangs hidden in the darkness.

A dragon among men, no, a snake among Goblins.

Nanaruk swung her axe at Skullcrusher.

Clang!

The club and axe collided, sending sparks flying.

Ayutar's pupils widened.

In that instant of flashing light, Ayutar saw me lunging out.

The Heart-Eating Snake had returned.

Footnotes:

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