WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 40: (Tense Background Music ON)

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Just as heroes renowned across the entire continent have their titles.

Or villains infamous throughout the land do.

Pelerian, the mage known as the Heaven-Defier, possessed more epithets than just Heaven-Defier.

One of his many famous epithets was Dungeon Master.

It was common knowledge that mages loved building dungeons.

But Pelerian took that obsession to another level.

The number of dungeons he had built easily exceeded a hundred. Some even estimated that he had created more than five hundred.

It was hard to believe, even considering that he was an elf of the Long-Lived Race.

Wouldn't it take two hundred and fifty years even if he built two every year?

Considering that many of Pelerian's dungeons were classified as large-scale or greater, it seemed physically impossible.

Yet it was widely known that his dungeons were scattered across the continent, with many still undiscovered.

How had the ancient Heaven-Defier built dungeons so quickly?

The first secret was likely his overwhelming command of elemental magic.

When it came to elemental magic, Pelerian was considered to possess the most fearsome talent in history.

Remembering the tale of how he collapsed an entire mountain in three days, he must have completed even time-consuming groundwork in an instant.

With the help of earth spirits, that time would have been reduced even further.

The second possibility was that he had close ties with dwarves and gnomes.

No matter how terrifying an Archmage he was, a dungeon could not be built through excavation alone.

The internal structures, intricate traps, and all sorts of mechanical devices.

Those clearly required a substantial workforce.

Some might question whether an elf could cooperate with dwarves and gnomes.

Still, considering that Pelerian himself was an outsider even within elven society, it was entirely possible.

There were also numerous records of him visiting dwarven mines and Shadow Elf nests despite being an elf himself.

Pelerian was, however, a man fascinated by trapcraft.

He must have personally designed the traps in his dungeons.

「From On the Ferocious Reputation of the Heaven-Defier, published by the Magic Tower」

* * *

Click, click.

'Damn it, damn it!'

Krok, the Hop Goblin King.

He kept fiddling with his bracelet.

It had an unusual design, with a Magic Stone the size of a bean set into it.

Right beside the Magic Stone was something like a clasp that sank in when pressed.

Krok pressed it over and over.

Click, click, click.

The Magic Stone flashed.

It was a signal for the one who had given him the bracelet.

He had never thought he would need to use it, but the enemy had chased him right to his doorstep.

The bracelet was a transmitter.

One day, an elf had come to see him.

Not an ordinary elf, but a Shadow Elf. Dashnan, was it?

His skin was ash-gray, and a dark, sinister aura seeped from him.

He had helped Krok evolve into a Hop Goblin King.

Then he had shared a secret.

There was a mage's Dungeon beneath Elephant Rock.

If Krok used the legacy inside, he too could evolve beyond a Hop Goblin King.

Evolution was a monster's instinct.

And after successfully evolving once, Krok had developed ambition.

He wanted to become the ruler of all Goblins.

The elf had told him to summon him with the bracelet once he reached the Dungeon's entrance.

He said the Dungeon's interior was no different from a hellscape and that Krok would need him.

Krok had promised he would, but he had never intended to call him.

He wanted to keep everything for himself.

'Why isn't he coming...?!'

Yet now, Krok frantically worked the bracelet.

That snake.

That insane snake was breaking through the traps.

“Shh!”

When the snake flicked their tongue, the Runga Tribe Goblins following behind stopped.

Those mad Goblins were following the snake without any fear.

Amazingly, the snake was disarming the traps.

The snake tapped the floor several times with their tail, then something slid inside with a swish.

Thududud!

Arrows dropped weakly from holes in the ceiling.

The snake raised their head proudly and slithered forward.

Crazy snake, crazy snake.

A snake that disarmed traps.

Was that the Heart-Eating Snake those idiot subordinates had talked about?

Following the snake's instructions, the Runga Tribe Goblins reached the halfway point of the hollow.

Krok had sacrificed all his subordinates to cross this place.

Even then, he had only made it through thanks to incredible luck, yet not one of them was injured.

Then the snake abruptly stopped.

The snake began touching something attached to the wall.

Tiles fell from the wall.

Something like a handle appeared beneath them.

The snake pulled it with their tail.

Clank!

An ominous sound rang out.

No, it only felt ominous to Krok.

Then a voice rang out.

-The interception system has been deactivated.

-Welcome.

Krok was not shocked.

The voice was speaking Elvish, so there was no way he could understand it.

Still, it did not seem to mean anything good.

The snake turned to look at the Runga Tribe Goblins.

The snake seemed to explain something through gestures with their tail and body.

“The traps have been disabled!”

Nanaruk understood at once.

Krok could not even guess how she understood the snake's words.

Without hesitation, she charged at him.

The traps truly did not activate.

She rushed in with two axes in hand.

“Good! You arrogant brat!”

Krok drew his weapon as well.

He wielded a heavy saber.

Nanaruk leaped high with her axes raised.

“Dieee!”

“Come at me! Let's see which of us is male and which is female!”

“You mean which of us is stronger, you ignorant bastard!”

Nanaruk stretched her body wide, then brought down her axes as though curling into herself.

Krok answered by swinging his saber upward from below.

Clang!

Amazingly, Nanaruk was the one thrown back.

The difference in size, and the difference in muscle.

The gap of one additional evolution stood between them.

Krok realized that he held the advantage.

He was not such a foolish warrior that he would let a chance at victory slip away.

He immediately lunged at Nanaruk as she rolled across the floor and tried to rise.

His saber fell, intending to split her in two.

The Hop Goblins latched onto Krok.

Jadiram thrust a spear, while Kadiram, Nanaruk's younger brother, swung an axe.

Kagagagak!

Yet even their combined attack could not hurt Krok.

He wore proper scale armor.

It looked like a one-piece dress, so it was not particularly impressive, but it offered enough protection.

Thud!

Krok kicked Kadiram in the stomach.

The blow was so powerful that Kadiram flew back and rolled across the ground.

“Kadiram!”

Nanaruk sprang to her feet as though she had bounced off the floor.

Then she swung her axes at incredible speed.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Y-you lunatic!”

Even Krok was shocked.

Nanaruk was accelerating.

A mere Hop Goblin was displaying physical abilities on par with his own!

His eyes widened.

Krok realized it too.

“You, you're evolving!”

“What the hell are you talking about!”

Nanaruk angrily swung her axes.

But Krok was certain.

The Runga Tribe's new chief was undergoing evolution.

She was advancing beyond a Hop Goblin, to the same level as Krok.

That realization filled Krok with a greater sense of crisis than he had ever felt.

“How!”

“Shut up!”

The axes and saber clashed almost evenly.

But to Krok's disadvantage, Nanaruk was not alone.

Jadiram, who was still unharmed, rushed in with his spear.

Wounds began to accumulate on Krok's body.

At this rate, he would lose.

Just as Krok sensed his own death.

“N-N-Nanaruk!”

A trembling voice.

Could the voice of that pathetic son ever have sounded so welcome?

“Chandal!”

Chandal, who had once promised to marry Nanaruk, stood behind Kadiram with a blade to his throat.

“Stop! I said stop!”

Nanaruk and Krok had no choice but to pull back.

“Chandal, what are you doing?!”

Nanaruk raged.

But Chandal shouted that he would stab Kadiram in the throat at any moment.

“Drop your axes! Or your brother dies!”

The Dungeon entrance should have been securely guarded, so how had Chandal entered?

The reason was surprisingly simple.

Chandal had entered the Dungeon alongside Krok, but gave up because he was too scared to go any farther.

Left behind on his own, he had lain facedown and pretended to be a corpse when Nanaruk and the Runga warriors entered.

Then he struck from behind like this.

“Sis, ignore this bastard! Just kill Krok already!”

“Shut up!”

Chandal's dagger pressed slightly into Kadiram's throat.

Nanaruk did not know what to do.

Krok rejoiced.

What a pair of idiots.

It would have been perfect if they had gotten married.

Chandal had his own thoughts, in his own way.

“Drop your axes, Nanaruk! And Father!”

His demand was this.

“If you surrender, you'll spare Nanaruk and her brother too!”

Krok had ordered his son to kill Nanaruk's brother, promising to spare him if he did.

Chandal was shouting for him to take back that order.

How could someone have such a foolish child?

“Of course, my son, of course I will!”

Those words came out of Krok's mouth.

Naturally, he would kill every last one of them after this was over.

But then.

Once more, a voice rang out from somewhere in the ceiling.

-The interception system is being reactivated.

-You may manually operate the interception mechanisms.

No one knew what that meant.

No one understood Elvish.

Except for one snake who understood Elvish.

One snake who had separated from this absurd hostage situation and was adjusting the exposed machinery in the wall.

-Hey, you bastard! Not there, lower down.

'Here?'

-Yeah, pull that one. If you pull the one beside it, everyone dies.

No one could hear the conversation between the snake and the elf's spirit.

No one could have guessed that the snake fiddling with the machinery would bring about such a result.

Thunk.

It was a light sound.

But the traps installed here were incomparably stronger than those where the Cockatrice had nested.

Pelerian's preference for spears remained unchanged.

An iron spear spun as it fired from a hole in one wall.

Kwadududuk!

The spear pierced Krok's scale armor.

It punched through his flesh, shattered his ribs, and tore through his organs.

It still had enough force to pierce the armor on his other side.

Caught up in the spear along with his armor and ribs, Krok flew through the air with it.

Crash!

Then he slammed straight into the wall beside him.

The snake thought.

'What a striking visual for a goblin skewer.'

The Goblins were horrified at the sight.

Even Chandal, who had been holding Kadiram hostage.

Kadiram did not miss the opportunity and ducked.

“Sis!”

Chandal's chest was left completely exposed.

Nanaruk threw an axe at her ex-boyfriend.

* * *

Thwack!

Nice shot.

A hostage-taker deserved proper punishment.

Nanaruk really was a deadly woman.

That fool Chandal would experience the most heartbreaking breakup in the world.

“Guek!”

Chandal fell with a thud.

Was he not dead?

Judging by the way he screamed and thrashed around, it seemed the axe had hit his shoulder instead of his heart.

I had no idea whether Nanaruk had intended that or not.

Kadiram hurriedly got up, climbed onto Chandal's stomach, and began raining punches down on him.

“You bastard! I looked up to you as my older brother!”

I did not know whether Chandal would live or die, but he would not live comfortably from now on.

Hm, that wrapped up nicely.

-That was close.

Pelerian grumbled.

-If we had been a little later and that Krok fellow forced the door open, everything would have collapsed for sure.

This Dungeon had a self-destruct mechanism, like some villain's secret base.

If someone forced open the door farther inside, Elephant Rock and the entire Dungeon would collapse.

When I asked why he had used such an extreme method, he said he could not hand over precious Magic Stones to grave robbers.

That was certainly reasonable.

-Good grief. To make me work like some Magic Spirit that only finds paths.

Pelerian grumbled.

I would allow it this time.

I was planning to eat all those precious Magic Stones.

And thanks to that, I had caught the Goblin named Krok easily.

Even impaled by the spear, Krok was still alive.

“Y-you, urk.”

Blood poured from his mouth.

His bloodshot eyes were terrifying.

“To lose to a mere snake... Cough, my grand...”

“Sssaaak!”

“Guek.”

When I answered him, his head dropped limply.

Did I get him?

「Your level has increased.」

I got him.

And the feast of level-ups did not end there.

「Your level has increased.」

「Your level has increased.」

「Your level has increased.」

「Your level has increased.」

「Your level has increased.」

Crazy.

Ah, this was another moment that made me think of that person.

My body trembled with joy.

Considering Krok was about as strong as Nanaruk, I wondered if it was all right to give me this much experience.

Then again, without Pelerian's traps, I would not have caught him so easily.

Maybe because he was a Hop Goblin King, the experience he gave was far greater than I had expected.

Higher-species monsters really were different.

「Your level has reached its limit.」

「Some evolution conditions have been fulfilled.」

'White Double-Horn Serpent Lv. 20.'

The White Double-Horn Serpent has arrived.

The timing was perfect.

I still needed to fulfill more evolution conditions, but I could probably handle the rest inside the Dungeon.

Then it was time to say goodbye.

I would enter the Dungeon alone.

I returned to Nanaruk.

“Ahh...”

Nanaruk collapsed onto the ground.

Startled, I hurried over.

The other Goblins rushed over too.

“What is it, Sis?!”

“I'm fine. I'm just dizzy... and a little sleepy.”

At first, I thought she had been injured.

That was not it.

Nanaruk spoke with trembling hands.

“I...”

She seemed to instinctively sense what was happening to her body.

“I think I can evolve soon.”

“Evolve...?”

Ah, no way.

Pelerian suddenly shouted.

-Aaaah!

'You startled me, what is it?!'

-So that's it. That was the Hop Goblin King's evolution condition!

Hop Goblin King.

The Goblins' higher evolution species.

Krok, the one who had just died, had been a Hop Goblin King.

-It was a species that could only have one individual from the start. The previous Hop Goblin King just died, so she has fulfilled her evolution conditions too! The mystery is finally solved. I'm a genius!

'Uh, sure.'

-There were records. Maybe this Goblin can go even one step further.

I did not know what it meant, but Pelerian muttered excitedly to himself.

From what I could tell, Nanaruk would likely evolve into a Hop Goblin King.

He even said that she might become the Goblin King who would unite Goblin tribes across the entire continent.

'You're getting a little carried away.'

-She seemed to have Potential from the beginning.

Potential?

He was saying that to me, who had 20 Potential?

I approached Nanaruk to praise her for all her hard work.

'Nanaruk, you did well.'

I had not expected an answer.

“Yeah... No, you did well too.”

'No, you worked harder... Huh?'

Nanaruk and I met each other's eyes.

“Huh?”

'You can hear me?'

“I think I can understand you.”

She had gone beyond communicating by intuition and could now understand my words.

It was utterly shocking.

──────────────

【Hop Goblin Nanaruk Lv. 30 (Evolving)】

【Traits】

[Warrior], [Chief], [Communication (new)] ······.

──────────────

Wow!

I thought evolution only happened while sleeping.

Nanaruk had gained a trait called Communication.

-The Goblin King must have all Goblins on the continent follow them. They need to be able to communicate for that.

I could communicate just fine without that trait.

-A snake that cannot even speak, saying that...

'...And I do not think Krok could understand me.'

-Maybe he was not properly evolved.

Nanaruk and I could definitely understand each other.

We were both astonished by the fact that we could hold a conversation.

“Thank you... I will never forget your help.”

Tears welled in Nanaruk's eyes.

“I swear it. You will be the Goblins' eternal friend.”

'That's embarrassing... Thank you.'

「You have achieved the accomplishment, ‘Goblins' True Friend.’」

Well, it was not like I had done it to earn an accomplishment.

I would have to check that later.

I wanted to enter the Dungeon already.

“Want me to come with you?”

'No, it's okay.'

I planned to enter the Dungeon alone.

'Nanaruk, just in case. If I go into the Dungeon and light starts pouring out from the top of Elephant Rock...'

I explained the important part.

If blue light rose from the Dungeon and I still did not come out, they should retreat as far as possible. They should return to the Runga Tribe and leave for somewhere even farther away if they could.

There was no telling when the elven investigators would come.

“Stop by before you go. We'll be up above.”

'All right.'

Nanaruk held out her hand.

I extended my tail and clasped it.

She grinned, and so did I.

Though I did not know if it looked like I was smiling.

All right then, shall I enter the Dungeon?

Come on, time to make my entrance.

Footnotes:

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