WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 45: Even Pelerian Is Appalled

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A small, peaceful village.

An unassuming territory with no grandeur.

That was how Greylim had always been described.

But that had become a thing of the past long ago.

Knights clad in dark gray armor now walked through Greylim. Even on rainy days, they never removed their armor. The heavy knights crushed and shattered the flagstones that paved the roads beneath their feet.

That was not all.

Gunter possessed private soldiers beyond the Iron Lion Knights. Those soldiers now patrolled within the outer walls in place of the territory's original guards.

The lord had been escorted to the capital under arrest.

His most loyal retainers had been imprisoned on various charges, and some had even died while resisting.

Ordinary residents might have seemed unrelated to such matters, but reality was not so kind. A chilling wind blew from the top down.

The children who had once run joyfully through the streets were nowhere to be seen.

Rumble.

Rain poured heavily that day.

A small child in a robe hurried along the road. The man accompanying the child stopped them from anxiously looking around.

They arrived at a mill attached to the nearby castle wall. On a day with rain this heavy, the mill would normally be closed.

The child and the man entered together.

Only a few candles were lit, leaving the interior dim. Several people had already gathered inside.

The man and child removed their robes.

The man was Oliver, Greylim's finest hunter, while the child was Rania, the lord's daughter.

"Mother!"

The lord's wife was also inside the mill.

Rania tightly embraced her. It had been a long time since the mother and daughter had seen each other.

"You've worked hard, Oliver."

Oliver dipped his head to the lord's wife.

Everyone gathered here was loyal to the lord. The Viscount of Greylim had not been an exceptional man, but he had at least been blessed with good people around him.

"Thank you all for coming."

They had secretly gathered their strength at the lord's wife's summons.

"Much time has passed since that man Gunter took the lord away. We've sent letters to the royal capital and the Noble Council, but there has still been no proper response."

The lord's wife looked exhausted.

"Something terrible may happen to the lord if this continues. We cannot allow that."

The lord's wife and retainers had used every means available to save him.

Yet the royal capital stubbornly insisted that proper procedures were being followed. The Noble Council only said it would do its best.

This could not continue. It absolutely could not.

At last, the lord's wife made a difficult decision.

"We must seek the Marquis's help."

"Ah..."

Someone let out a sigh.

The Marquis, Gerard the Tiger Marquis.

The lord's wife's father. One of the Eight Heroes.

There was a reason the retainer had sighed. The lord's wife's father was a terrifying man. Perhaps even more frightening than Gunter.

It might have been like calling a tiger to catch a wolf.

Still, what else could they do when the raccoon who had originally ruled this territory might die?

No one objected.

They had already expected this.

The steward of the lord's castle quietly spoke.

"I have arranged a carriage."

"A letter alone won't move Father. That is the sort of person he is."

Marquis Gerard must have already heard the news through the Noble Council, yet he had remained still until now.

Perhaps he was preparing his justification, or calculating his gains and losses.

"Rania or I will have to go in person."

The lord's wife was under Gunter's watch.

Even coming here today had been a risk.

In the end, she had no choice but to send her young daughter.

The lord's wife handed Rania a letter she had written herself. Rania tucked it into her clothes with a timid posture.

"Oliver will help you."

"I owe the lord a debt."

Oliver placed a hand over his chest.

The lord's wife gave him a small nod of thanks.

The gathered people discussed the broad outline of their plan afterward.

A carriage would leave Greylim soon.

It would carry Rania and the letter she held.

"Then, may fortune be with you all."

At the lord's wife's declaration, people dispersed one by one.

Rania and Oliver did the same.

This time, though, Rania went out alone first.

She was disguised as a maid working at the lord's castle.

Holding a basket of flour against her chest, she hurried down the road.

Rania walked without properly looking ahead.

"Hey."

Soldiers stopped her.

Rania carefully raised her head.

They were not Greylim's soldiers. They were men Gunter had brought with him.

"What are you carrying?"

"F-flour..."

"In rain like this?"

The soldier brusquely checked inside the basket.

After confirming it contained flour, he stared hard at Rania.

"Why are you shaking so much? Hiding something?"

"N-no."

"You're a pretty little thing for a maid."

She had deliberately covered herself in dirt and dressed shabbily.

Even so, the soldiers grinned and took an interest in her.

Rania had been confined inside the castle for so long. At least these newly arrived common soldiers did not recognize her face.

"Let's search you. You're shaking so much, you look suspicious as hell."

Rania trembled in fear.

If they found the letter, it would be over.

Just as the soldier reached for her...

Smack!

Someone struck the back of his head.

"What bastard..."

"Loyalty!" the same soldier blurted, snapping to attention.

Knight Zain had appeared.

Rania quickly lowered her head.

"You idiots, of course the maid's scared when you've all got faces like thugs."

"...Hehe."

"Let her through."

"Yes, sir!"

The soldier let Rania pass.

Rania struggled to restrain herself from running.

Zain quietly watched her walk away.

Zain's expression was complicated.

Zain also disappeared to continue his patrol.

And behind a tree some distance away, Oliver was hiding in the rain.

Click.

He returned the drawn dagger to its holster.

"Hmm..."

He watched Zain patrol alone in the rain.

* * *

Festival, Blooming Season, Fruit Week, Violet Banquet.

All these expressions referred to a natural phenomenon in the Great Forest.

Of the countless hidden realms across the world, it was a dramatic phenomenon found only in the Great Forest, where the World Tree stood.

It had already been clearly established that the World Tree was no ordinary tree.

The World Tree was a plant, but it also possessed the nature of a carnivore.

It devoured monsters for nourishment.

The World Tree's roots spread throughout the Great Forest.

Some roots occasionally emerged aboveground, and there were times when those roots, each as immense as a giant tree, bore fruit.

This occurred when the World Tree's mana rose beyond a critical threshold.

The roots bore incredibly fragrant fruit.

Those fruits lured in monsters.

The fruit, saturated with the World Tree's negative mana, strengthened a monster's Magical Essence.

The monsters grew stronger, then the many monsters gathered there fought one another and grew stronger still.

The monsters that died in the process decayed, broke down, and were absorbed by the World Tree's roots.

This entire process of using bait to gather nourishment was a hunting method so flawless it sent chills down one's spine.

Such events occurred in many regions of the Great Forest.

Yet each time, one area in particular saw the expression "Festival" used in a narrower sense.

A root that bore fruit with an especially vivid crimson color would appear.

It was where the most dangerous Named Monsters gathered.

That was how a hellscape of chaos and survival of the fittest was born.

「From Sage Parvian's Mysterious and Fascinating Monster Encyclopedia: Great Forest Edition」

* * *

I told Nanaruk how to make the potion.

Pelerian said it was a waste since I should at least charge money for it, but Goblins didn't have money.

I had not even asked, yet Nanaruk promised she would repay me someday. She was a kind kid.

I did set one condition.

She could not leak the recipe.

She was to tell no other race, and even within the Runga Tribe, only the shamans could know it.

Nanaruk swore to it.

She was a reliable friend, so she'd handle it well. Besides, the ingredients for this potion were hard to find outside the Great Forest.

There was another reason I had given her the recipe.

The name I had recently gained, Urooros.

Its Epithet description included this line.

‘A very small number of Goblins currently worship you. As that faith spreads, the bearer of this Epithet will gain the status they deserve.’

Nanaruk and the Runga Tribe did not intend to remain in the Palamu Rainforest forever.

"First, we're going to unite the Goblin tribes of the Great Forest. Then we'll head to the continent."

Who knew Nanaruk was such an ambitious Goblin?

Her plans and the Runga Tribe's plans were grand.

And the more the Runga Tribe expanded its influence, the more widely my Epithet would spread.

Maybe someday I'd hear a message like, ‘Ding, your faith is spreading far and wide.’

With potions, they would not lose to other Goblin tribes.

Nanaruk and the Goblins packed me a huge amount of food.

The problem was that my Subspace was full, so there was nowhere to put it.

I packed it in a large bundle, but there was no way I, a snake, could drag that around.

But it did not matter.

I had a new companion now.

"Kkeeeek!"

Centipede Mom raced along at an astonishing speed.

Three centipede larvae rode on her back.

The children, freed at last, roared happily in the cool wind.

"Kke kke kke!"

"Kkeee~"

"Kke!"

"Saaak!"

That last one was me.

I sat neatly atop Centipede Mom's carapace. The bundle was strapped to her back like a backpack.

It was when we were saying our final goodbyes before parting with the Goblins.

I gave Nanaruk some advice.

‘Never trust long-eared races! And if you travel west, there's a human territory called Greylim Territory. Be sure to avoid it. There's a monster there.’

I warned her about Gunter too.

Nanaruk nodded and listened closely.

"Let's meet again."

‘Yeah.’

Nanaruk said that and hugged me tightly.

I was about to leave in search of Dashnan's dwelling when Centipede Mom approached me.

She lowered her body.

I thought she was greeting me, but that was not it.

It meant, I'll give you a ride, so climb on my back.

Could Centipede Mom read my thoughts too?

"Kkeeeet!"

Judging by how that was the only sound she made, I had no idea.

Either way, Centipede Mom gave an incredible ride.

Because she had so many pairs of legs, the up-and-down motion was minimal.

She was strong, too. Most monsters did not even dare to attack us.

We headed deeper and deeper into the forest.

When the sun was high in the sky, Centipede Mom stopped.

It meant lunchtime.

Ugh, I'm stiff.

Just sitting there was boring too.

There was still plenty of food left, but I decided to go hunting.

After all, I had to pay Centipede Mom for the ride.

Pelerian was asleep.

Enjoying the rare silence, I slipped into the undergrowth.

We had only just parted from the Goblins, yet I already felt a little lonely.

Still, this was nice too.

I was a snake crawling through the forest's darkness. Silence was my friend.

Grrr.

Then there was a foolish beast making noise in that silence.

I smeared dirt over my scales.

My new scales were dazzling in the light, but in the darkness, they were actually less noticeable than before.

It would be even better if I dyed them black with Black Scales, but that was not easy.

The new skill had a fatal condition. It only activated when I was extremely angry.

Crunch, crunch.

I found the source of the noise.

It was clearly a carnivore.

A creature smaller than a leopard but larger than a cat.

──────────────

【Checkered Wildcat Lv. 21】

【Trait】

[Ferocity]

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It did not look like an easy opponent.

It was noisily tearing apart and eating a monkey larger than itself.

I leaped in without hesitation.

I bit down on the back of its neck and coiled around its body.

The wildcat was strong enough to leap into the air even with me hanging from it.

"Kweeeeng!"

So wildcats cried kweeeeng.

I constricted its body.

The centipede babies would eat too, so I did not use Poison Fang just in case.

You had to be especially careful when constricting monsters with Talons.

I had gotten skilled at it by now, so the poor wildcat could neither bite nor claw me.

Crack.

Whew. It was more tenacious than I expected.

I killed it splendidly.

Then I waited for the sweet experience points...

But there were none.

I could only feel the slightest amount of Magical Essence.

Could it be that my level had grown so high that the efficiency had dropped?

That seemed to be the case.

It was a carnivore, and it was already level 21.

This was not an easy situation.

Did I need to go deeper into the forest and hunt stronger prey after all?

Either way, it was a success from the perspective of hunting.

I dragged the wildcat back to where Centipede Mom and the children were.

When they saw me bring it over, drool dripped from their mouths.

‘Wait a moment, kids.’

I was not planning to just toss them some meat.

I had started cooking now too.

The method was very simple.

First, I dragged the wildcat to an open clearing where I could see the sky.

I took a potion out of Subspace and set it beside me in advance.

After climbing on top of the wildcat, I focused my mind.

*「You use the skill Surpassing Horn.」

*「‘Heavenly Thunder Decree Lv. 0’ temporarily becomes ‘Heavenly Thunder Decree Lv. 1.’」

The air went still.

The dead wildcat's fur stood on end.

*「You use Heavenly Thunder Decree Lv. 1.」

Then lightning struck me.

Crack-crack-crack!

This time, I had tucked my head into my coils and covered my eyes beforehand.

But the electrifying pain was still there.

*「The proficiency of Heat Resistance increases sharply.」

*「Heat Resistance Lv. 8 has become Heat Resistance Lv. 9.」

*「The proficiency of Lightning Resistance increases sharply.」

*「Lightning Resistance Lv. 3 has become Lightning Resistance Lv. 4.」

Aaaah! It hurts!

My whole body burned.

Incredibly, using Heavenly Thunder Decree did not mean I was completely protected from electrocution!

I practically rolled toward the potion.

I smashed the bamboo container open with my mouth and gulped it down.

That was still not enough, so I rolled around in the potion I had spilled on the ground.

Whew, I almost died.

I had already repeated this insanity several times.

*「You have completely acquired the skill, Heavenly Thunder Decree Lv. 0.」

There had been a reward for it.

Ugh.

-You're doing this nonsense again. Ha ha.

Pelerian popped out of the ring.

I raised myself up.

I had not done it solely to acquire the skill.

Steam rose from the wildcat meat.

That meant it was thoroughly cooked.

Grilled wildcat with lightning, complete.

You've been waiting, right, kids?

The three centipede larvae's eyes sparkled.

"Kke kke kke!"

"Kkeee."

"Kke!"

Look how happy they were. So cute.

You should clap too, kids.

I thumped my tail against the ground to let them know.

The centipede larvae clacked their venomous claws together.

That was how centipedes applauded.

They were smart.

‘All right, line up and eat.’

Centipede Mom stayed still.

It was as if she were fondly watching her children and me.

I personally tore the meat apart and shared it with the centipedes.

The children eagerly accepted every piece.

-They follow you well now.

They seemed a little afraid of me before.

Now they even clung to my back. We had become very close.

Right, so it was just pure goodwill.

I never imagined a message like that would ring out.

*「You have succeeded in taming Centipede Larva Lv. 3.」

*「You have acquired the skill, ‘Taming Lv. 1.’」

Huh?

Startled, I looked at Pelerian.

-What is it?

‘It says I succeeded at Taming.’

I blurted it out without thinking.

I should not have.

-Huh?

Pelerian narrowed their eyes and glared at me.

-So that was your goal. Even I never imagined it.

‘No.’

-You were planning to use centipede slaves.

‘I'm telling you, no.’

This was unfair.

Footnotes:

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