I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse - Chapter 44

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 44: What Kind of Snake Is Dad?

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A journal written in Elvish.

‘A beautiful, splendid specimen. Her body was healthy, and her scales gleamed. Her ferocity is only natural, as it is a trait of Medusa Serpents. The spot-like pattern on the nape of her neck was especially beautiful.’

A spot-like pattern. She definitely had one.

What a pervert.

Calling someone else’s mother beautiful and all that...

‘The child headed south, passed through the Akam Basin, and left for the outskirts of the Great Forest. It is common for pregnant monsters to move to safer outskirts, but this case is excessive. She has gone too far.’

I was growing more certain that she really was my mother.

I’d heard that it was extremely rare for a monster like a Medusa Serpent to appear in that region.

‘It was likely due to a conflict with her husband. She was a soft-hearted specimen.’

So I did have a dad.

Did she leave home because they fought?

The fact that Medusa Mom was soft-hearted was the most shocking part.

‘It has been about a month, so if she gave birth safely, the hatchlings should have been born by now. Then I will bring her back...’

The record about Mother ended there.

Perhaps because of the lightning strike, part of the journal had burned away.

Ahem.

For some reason, my eyes stung. Ah, there must have been sand in them...

Medusa Mom would never be able to go back. She would never see her husband again, either.

What kind of fight could they have had for a pregnant mother to leave her husband behind and set out on a journey alone?

-What a strange bastard. This Shadow Fairy.

I agreed.

Dashnan, this Shadow Fairy, was definitely a complete lunatic.

Looking through the journal, it seemed he raised monsters.

He had built his own “zoo” inside the Great Forest.

'You said you knew him. And what’s a Shadow Fairy?'

Were they like Dark Elves? His skin was ash-colored, and from the look of the evil magic he used, that seemed likely.

-Shadow Fairies are, quite literally, a race like the dark shadow of Elves. Just as Elves came from the World Tree, Shadow Fairies came from the World Tree’s roots.

'The roots?'

Pelerian gave me a simple explanation of Elves and the World Tree.

The enormous tree deep within the Great Forest was the World Tree.

The World Tree scattered positive mana, and Elves were born by receiving its mana.

Apparently, the World Tree was an unbelievably powerful and massive tree. I didn’t know how a tree could be powerful, but I did know that it was huge.

Whenever I climbed high enough, I could see the hazy shape of that distant tree.

Yet its roots spread much farther and wider than its trunk and branches.

-They stretch throughout the entire Great Forest. Some of those roots occasionally grow exposed above the ground.

Those were the Great Forest’s roots.

-Those roots release negative mana instead. Shadow Fairies are Elves born from receiving that negative mana. In other words...

Pelerian solemnly declared,

-They are lowborn. Twisted and evil from birth.

I was impressed.

Pelerian wasn’t just racist.

Pelerian was a classist too.

-Why are you looking at me like that? Can’t you tell just by looking at him? He’s lost his mind, so he built a monster zoo and spent centuries enjoying himself in that creepy place.

That was true, but coming from an Elf who made Chimeras, it was a bit much.

-Comparing me to someone who sold his soul to a demon is an insult. He is also a wanted criminal. Take that earring.

The earring lay where Dashnan’s head had vanished.

──────────────

【Dashnan’s Earring】

Proof that he sold his soul to a demon.

──────────────

It didn’t seem like an ordinary earring.

Maybe it was because I had read the description, but it seemed to give off a sinister aura.

Why should I take this?

-There is an enormous bounty on him. That earring will serve as proof of the kill. It was an earring he could never remove.

'Ah, you said he was wanted. How much is it?'

-Three thousand Radak Gold Coins.

Wow!

What even was a Radak Gold Coin?

Still, they were gold coins, so three thousand of them had to be worth a fortune.

But could I even collect the bounty?

Wouldn’t a snake that entered a bounty office get hunted on sight?

-Don’t worry. There is a place where you can collect it too.

Then there was no problem.

Still, why had this Shadow Fairy become a wanted criminal? He was a creepy, perverted Shadow Fairy, but there had to be another reason.

-He stole countless things and killed many people for his own purposes. No one could catch him, so the bounty kept rising.

Pelerian trembled with rage.

-He stole one of my precious magical catalysts too. It was a Dragon Scale that cannot be obtained anymore...

'A Dragon Scale?'

My ears perked up.

Why had Dashnan stolen it?

-He was obsessed with monster breeding. He believed that given enough time, he could crossbreed and train monsters however he wanted to create the ultimate monster. I do not know what he did with the Dragon Scale, though.

Couldn’t you gain a dragon’s power by eating a Dragon Scale?

-Would it be that simple... In any case, even this Heaven-Defier Archmage failed to capture him.

'He was that strong?'

I had killed an opponent even Pelerian failed to capture.

Didn’t that mean I was now Pelerian’s equal?

It had to mean that.

-Of course not. He possessed an ancient Magic Tool. It was something like a cloak that could hide his body perfectly anywhere. That was likely why he was never caught, and how he managed dangerous monsters as well... It does not appear to be here now.

Hearing that, I frantically searched Dashnan’s corpse.

Unfortunately, there was no cloak-like item.

With something like that, I could go anywhere.

I could even become an assassin who stalked through the darkness.

Wait. A thought suddenly struck me.

'Now that he’s dead... those items have lost their owner, right?'

-What?

Pelerian and I muttered at the same time.

'An Invisible Cloak!'

-The Dragon Scale!

Wasn’t his base nearby?

-Search through the journal more.

At times like this, Pelerian and I were perfectly in sync. I had already been flipping through the journal.

I had hoped for a clue, and there really was one.

‘I moved to the Shadow Forest in the northeast and built a new home. It seemed that the “Festival” would soon be held here. Seeing the bright red World Tree roots emerging in great numbers confirms it. The cliff makes it safe, and watching the sunset descend directly over the World Tree fills my heart with grandeur. There are two types of monster colonies. Insects and primates...’

My heart swelled with grandeur.

There were several other clues as well.

-This should be enough to find it.

Good. Time to get my Invisible Cloak right awa...!

“She’s awake!”

That was when the Goblins let out joyful cries.

When I turned around, Nanaruk was slowly pushing herself upright.

She looked around in alarm. Her final memory was probably being attacked by Dashnan.

The Goblins around her explained the situation.

Seeing them point at me, she seemed to understand that I had defeated him.

Nanaruk ran toward me.

I puffed out my chest.

That’s right, it was me. I defeated that Shadow Fairy.

Nanaruk hugged me and spun me around.

“You saved me again!”

She kept spinning me, then showered me with kisses.

She seemed incredibly happy.

Goodness, this was the first time anyone had kissed me since I was five.

And the person responsible for my first kiss was a Goblin.

What incredible luck.

Nanaruk had been a cat-like beauty from the beginning. She seemed even prettier after evolving.

She lifted me high into the air.

Then she started tossing me up and down.

I was getting dizzy.

How could she toss me by herself? Tossing someone in the air was supposed to take several people, Nanaruk.

When I looked around, the Goblins were waving their hands and cheering too.

Ah, Centipede Mom was still there in the distance. She had waited instead of leaving.

Someone called out my name.

“Ululullulu!”

“Lord Urooros!”

Wait, someone seemed to have said Ululullulu wrong.

Looking closer, it was the Great Shaman Granny.

Once Granny started calling me Urooros, the other Goblins began chanting Urooros too.

Had she gone senile? Why was she getting my name wrong?

To be honest, Ululullulu was hard to pronounce.

“Urooros! Urooros!”

Then something strange happened.

No matter how many things I killed, I had never gained an Epithet before.

*「You have gained the Epithet, ‘Urooros.’」

Oh?

Urooros.

That was a cool Epithet.

I liked Heart-Eating Snake too, but I had to check this one out.

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【Urooros】

Also known as Ululullulu.

The snake that calls lightning, the snake that devours evil, or such a snake god.

Currently worshipped by a very small number of Goblins.

As that faith spreads, the owner of this Epithet will gain a fitting stature.

──────────────

Cool.

So cool. It called me a snake god.

This was definitely a different kind of Epithet from Heart-Eating Snake.

I didn’t know if it had any clear benefits, but the part about gaining stature stirred the Dark Flame Dragon in my heart.

Pelerian was astonished when I explained.

-That is certainly an Epithet for a monster rather than a person... It is the kind of Epithet disasters that have transcended the stature of monsters might possess.

There seemed to be monsters whose stature stood above all others.

-This is especially an Epithet that grows. As your fame spreads, its power will grow stronger too.

Urooros.

For some reason, I liked the name.

I was in a great mood.

* * *

Pelerian’s Dungeon had been discovered once again.

The news reached Iris Selena, who still held the position of Golden Leaf Investigator.

Naturally, she returned to the World Tree.

The Elder’s residence.

Iris’s expression was utterly resolute as she climbed to it.

One defeat.

And one retreat.

Not only had she failed to find Pelerian, she had even failed to recover a specimen of the Chimera because of the hero Gunter.

It was shameful.

And unbearably frustrating.

It made no difference even if she had not used all her strength.

Besides, even if she had, she probably could not have defeated that human hero.

Since returning, Iris had worked tirelessly.

She repeated the training she had never skipped to the point of cruelty.

Her body and mind had both been honed to a razor’s edge.

At that moment, Iris Selena’s bearing was no different from a drawn sword.

“Elder, I have arr...”

Iris’s expression rotted away in an instant.

Could a person’s expression change that drastically?

It was especially rare for the composed Iris to show such a sudden shift in emotion.

Still, it was unavoidable.

A human woman was sprawled across the sofa in a lax posture, crunching on Elven snacks.

She was the human Iris hated most.

“Oh, the loser’s here!”

It was quite the greeting.

The woman casually waved her butter-smeared fingers.

Her fiery orange hair was tied into two pigtails, and she wore a tight jacket over her top.

Black leather pants wrapped around her long legs.

A backpack as large as her body had been carelessly dropped at her feet.

“Elder, why is this woman here?”

“I do not know.”

The Elder pretended not to notice and sipped their tea.

Something caught Iris’s sharp gaze.

An ornate tea tin sat on the table.

It was a luxurious item decorated with metal. The tea leaves came from humans, not Elves.

Iris understood the situation.

This woman had finally bought off the Elder with bribes.

“Langrey. Why did you come all the way here?”

“Is there a problem with a hunter entering the Great Forest? And I told you to call me by my name instead of my surname.”

Hunter.

This human woman’s profession was clearly hunting monsters.

Yet Hailit Langrey was better known as one of the Eight Heroes than as a hunter.

In battles against great monsters, she competed for the top position among the Eight Heroes.

Strength that was unbelievable for someone still in her twenties.

Iris tried to ignore this rude, barbaric human.

“Elder, the reason you summoned me...”

“I heard Gunter beat you up and made you run away. Going waaah and all.”

“...”

Iris was not skilled enough to hide her emotions completely.

A sharp crack ran through the mask she had forced herself to wear.

“...I did not cry. Did the Elder tell you that?”

“Who knows.”

When Iris glared at the Elder, they looked away.

“I asked why you came to the Great Forest, Langrey!”

“Is this the Elder’s house or yours? Well... fine, if you ask, I’ll tell you.”

Langrey twisted her own hair around her butter-smeared fingers.

“The Magic Tower gave me some information. I heard the ‘Festival’ is about to happen in the Great Forest.”

“Hmm.”

Was it already that time?

Iris frowned.

The “Festival” was not, of course, an annual event held by Elves.

More precisely, it was a natural phenomenon that occurred once every few decades for monsters.

The World Tree’s mana became saturated and bloomed, its roots bore fruit, and the fruit lured monsters in.

The gathered monsters devoured one another, repeated their evolutions in the process, and Named Monsters were born.

“I hear this one will be quite large. There might even be a Monster Wave.”

“Do you believe those foolish doomsayers?”

A Monster Wave did not occur in the Great Forest.

That was common sense.

Still, some scholars claimed that someday the Great Forest’s monsters would pour into the inland regions.

They said the fears and disasters long forgotten by the continent’s civilizations would sweep across the kingdoms.

Of course, nothing like that had ever happened during Iris’s lifetime.

“Whatever happens, I don’t care. I came to hunt some monsters again, and hunt that wanted Shadow Fairy too.”

“Dashnan?”

“Yeah, I’ll take that bastard in and collect the bounty too.”

“You must be short on money.”

“If you’ve got a problem with it, why don’t you give me an allowance, Granny?”

“...!”

Iris clenched her fists and trembled.

She might still be in her youth by Elven standards, but Langrey often mocked her by calling her Granny like this.

“Pretty pants, right?”

Langrey stood and showed off her pants.

The pitch-black leather was clearly unusual.

“I hunted a Black Shadow Ring, skinned it, and made these.”

“Barbaric.”

“You should change your clothes too. You always dress so unfashionably. I’m thinking of making a jacket this time. If possible, hmm...”

Hailit Langrey made and wore clothes herself from the monsters she hunted.

“From snakeskin. I like snakes.”

“...”

“I heard some snake was wearing Pelerian’s ring. And you failed to catch that too.”

The Elder quietly got up and slipped away.

How much had this woman heard?

“But seriously, why did you fight Gunter? I told you he was dangerous. You can’t beat him with your half-baked swordsmanship. You should have used the magic you learned from Pelerian instead.”

“...”

“Oh my, don’t tell me you’re still sealing your memories? That is just so pathetic.”

Iris could not say anything. She only stood there with trembling fists.

She was bad at arguing.

She was the type to always think, “Ah, I should have said that,” after a fight was over.

“Anyway, I’ll be going first, so... What, what is it?”

Langrey, who had been grinning, froze.

She looked deeply flustered.

The moisture gathering at Iris’s eyes could not possibly be...

“Get out.”

“R-right. I’ll be going, then.”

At Iris’s cold order to leave, Langrey quickly nodded.