I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse - Chapter 55

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 55: Or Should I Call Dad?

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Sharing absorbed Magical Essence.

Put simply, it was shared party experience.

After eating the Crown Fruit, I obtained the temporary Epithet, ‘Leader.’

I had already been the leader of the crew, but now it was official.

‘Gorilla Advisor.’

“Yeah, Leader……”

‘Execute them!’

Like Caesar sentencing a gladiator to death.

I raised my tail and made a throat-slitting gesture.

The gorilla raised her prosthetic arm.

Amazingly, the moment she put it on, she gained a new skill.

‘Iron Fist Lv. 5.’

Her steel fist flew at the Giant Long-Legged Monkey.

“Goodbye…… old family.”

Boom!

The impact sounded far too violent for a fist striking flesh.

The Long-Legged Monkey’s torso exploded entirely.

Tears glistened at the corners of the Gorilla Advisor’s eyes.

Still, she was a professional monster.

“Uoooh!”

Abandoned by her former family, she did not hesitate to attack the monkey monsters.

The moment she blew apart one enemy, she sprang up as if she were flying.

Then she landed among the monkeys and began rampaging.

We were fighting a troop of monkeys.

It was our first battle since I had gained the Epithet of Leader.

Roots had sprouted not far from the cliff, and fruit had grown on them.

The monkeys had come after that fruit as well.

*「You receive shared Magical Essence.」

A message rang out.

The Magical Essence absorbed by the gorilla was being shared with me.

That was the effect of the temporary Epithet I had gained from eating the fruit.

──────────────

【Leader (Temporary)】

······

You share in the Magical Essence absorbed by your group.

──────────────

The words ‘absorb Magical Essence’ got me excited, so I carefully checked how it worked.

What I discovered was that when my subordinates killed monsters, about one-fifth of the Magical Essence they gained was absorbed by me.

I did not know if that was the exact number, but it seemed to be around that much.

I had figured it out after several experiments.

The gorilla was not the only one fighting here.

Many of the monsters who had been imprisoned in Dashnan’s house were unleashing their ferocity without restraint against the monkeys.

The Magical Essence they absorbed as they killed their enemies.

Part of it was being shared with me.

*「You receive shared Magical Essence.」

Taxes. Pay your taxes, my subordinates.

Just then, I spotted an Owlbear beating up my subordinates as it advanced.

A Rapid Skunk resisted by spewing poisonous gas, but it was struck by a huge fist and sent flying.

The thing clasped both hands together and raised them, as though it was about to finish the job.

*「You use Heart-Eating Leap Lv. 2.」

A bright red hole opened in the Owlbear’s chest.

A one-hit kill.

If a monster let its guard down, I could take it down in one shot like this.

*「You have defeated Owlbear Lv. 21.」

*「You absorb Magical Essence.」

There was something to consider here.

Just as I received shared Magical Essence from my subordinates.

*「You share Magical Essence with your group.」

The Magical Essence I absorbed through hunting was also shared with my subordinates.

The sharing ratio here was stronger than I expected.

More than half of the Magical Essence was evenly distributed among the subordinates in my group.

Considering the amount of Magical Essence needed to level up had been rising lately, that was quite a substantial share.

In other words, it was a structure where everyone grew evenly together.

The more members the group I led had, the more Magical Essence I could receive as well.

The problem was that our Beasts of the Zoo crew was not very large.

The Insect Legion seemed to have thousands, maybe tens of thousands of insects under it. The monkeys had also recruited monsters like Owlbears and formed a troop of at least several hundred.

The amount of Magical Essence their leaders absorbed had to be enormous.

Still, the leaders of both groups seemed to be monsters on the level of Named Monsters, so their levels probably would not rise easily.

The more they expanded their groups, the more advantageous it was for the leaders.

The stronger the leader became, the more the monsters under them benefited.

It was like a well-designed game.

I could feel the will of the World Tree.

A will that wanted to draw in powerful monsters and make them fight.

Thinking about it that way, maybe the World Tree was a monster itself.

Anyway.

Structurally, I should have been at the greatest disadvantage among the three groups, but reality was different.

Because the strongest member of our Beasts of the Zoo crew was not me, the leader.

Our slightly tired-looking Polaris Serpent was actually the strongest.

‘Please use Tail Strike!’

Father slightly raised his tail.

Then he struck the monkeys climbing the huge World Tree roots that had risen from the ground.

Craaaash!

Thunder roared.

The monsters directly hit by his tail were reduced to red smears, like crushed cherries.

The enormous World Tree root snapped, and the monsters flung away by the impact were dealt with by my other subordinates.

*「You receive shared Magical Essence.」

*「Your level has increased.」

This was it.

Having Dad on our side was such a rush.

-If things go well, you may evolve anew during this Violet Banquet.

Could I become a Serpent in my next evolution?

Or perhaps I would grow more horns or evolve in an entirely different direction.

Either way, I was really looking forward to it.

“Get the fruittt……!”

The gorilla relayed my orders.

There were no fewer than five roots here.

Several small fruits had grown on each one.

They had effects similar to the unripe fruit I had eaten before, improving inefficient structures in the body.

But the fruit I was after was different.

-At the top of the farthest root on the right.

There was a fruit growing at the very top of a tall root.

It was the only fruit with an unusual blue color.

──────────────

【Emergency Maneuver Root Fruit】

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I would have to eat it to know its exact effect, but its name alone was unusual.

The monkeys were more skilled than us at climbing roots.

Tarsiers with little combat power swiftly climbed the root on the right.

It looked like their goal was to steal that fruit too.

But the tarsiers never got the chance to take the blue fruit.

That was because the fruit itself made an emergency maneuver.

-It moved to another root again!

It vanished in a blink, as though blinking through space, then appeared on the root to the left.

In other words, it was a teleporting fruit.

I could not let it go.

And I had been waiting for this exact moment.

Owl!

“Saaak!”

Surprisingly, there was a flying monster in the Indoor Zoo.

I hated flying more than anything, but I could not use that as an excuse to run away even now.

──────────────

【Lion Owl Lv. 12】

【Traits】

[Cowardly]

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A cowardly owl that had been useless aside from its magnificent lion’s mane.

An owl so timid that it had quickly submitted, which was why it had survived.

At last, the time had come for it to shine.

It seized me and took to the sky.

Whoosh, we shot upward in an instant.

‘If you drop me wrong, I’ll die.’

“Korororok, kororororok!”

For some reason, its cries sounded excited.

When I suddenly took flight, the monkeys did not stay still either.

A monster’s strength was not comparable to that of ordinary animals.

When they hurled stones, the rocks whizzed past me.

‘Go higher!’

When I raised my tail and pointed upward, the owl raised its altitude as if it understood.

In an instant, we rose higher than the tree roots.

‘Now!’

The owl loosened its talons.

Gravity seized me again, and I fell.

Snakes did not have wings, so there was no way I could glide properly.

All I could do was rely on the owl’s instincts.

Fortunately, despite it being the owl’s first attempt, it roughly matched the trajectory.

But it was just a little.

A little short.

‘Won’t I die if I just fall from here?’

-That would be quite a spectacle.

I could not die from a fall, if only because Pelerian was being irritating.

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

I drew out every bit of power I could and summoned a gale.

It pushed my body forward.

The missing inch was filled.

That left only my own ability.

I stretched my body straight in midair.

The blue fruit did not move from its spot.

Just as I thought, it seemed unable to teleport repeatedly.

Snap.

I snatched the fruit in my jaws.

At the same time, there was no avoiding the fall.

Thump, thud!

The thin roots that had sprouted like branches served as cushioning.

I landed on the ground in a roll.

Monkeys filled the area around me.

They had gathered to obtain the blue fruit that had moved to this tree.

I quickly placed the fruit I held in my mouth into Subspace.

All right, come at me.

“Saaak!”

“Ukkiiik!”

But none of the monkeys were brave.

They immediately turned and began running away.

The moment they realized they could not steal the fruit, they retreated at once.

They were quick to judge the situation.

As expected, their leader must have ordered them to steal the fruit.

“Leeeader!”

“Woof! Woof!”

The gorilla and Spot rushed over, standing at my side as though they were guarding me.

How reassuring.

Once the monkeys withdrew, they relaxed as well.

Phew, that was an excellent battle.

-My scheme has worked once again.

Pelerian sounded pleased.

Ever since I became a leader by eating the Crown Fruit yesterday, Pelerian had been acting like a strategist.

Seeing how absurd the effects of the fruits that appeared during the Festival were had made Pelerian greedy.

-The World Tree’s power truly is omnipotent.

‘The monkeys weren’t much, though.’

-These are not their main force.

I nodded.

The Insect Legion was relatively far away, while the monkeys were close enough to see from the top of their cliff.

This morning, I had seen silver monkeys and powerful-looking ones leave the monkey forest for the swamp.

As soon as we confirmed that, we headed for the roots that had sprouted elsewhere.

‘Advisor.’

“Yeah, Leader……”

‘Do you think that Silver Monkey will start targeting us soon?’

The king of the monkey troop.

The Silver Monkey was bound to get annoyed with us sooner or later.

“Maybe…… if the king comes, we should run away……”

Fear filled the gorilla’s expression.

She was this scared even though Dad was on our side.

I wanted to see just how strong the thing was.

-The balance of power is important.

Pelerian cut in.

-That monkey’s rival is likely the insect monster in the swamp. We, no, you must therefore maintain the balance of power appropriately.

Amazingly, what Pelerian explained was similar to one of the most famous strategies in the world.

-You must not rampage too much. Now that the two groups are fighting each other, it would be best to let them bite and wear each other down.

It could be described as reaping the benefits while others fought.

-Nor should you appear too weak. If you do, they may come with the thought of wiping you out all at once.

Pelerian raised a finger and divided an invisible map into three.

-The three of you divide hegemony between yourselves.

Pelerian was clearly talking about Zhuge Liang’s plan to divide the realm into three.

Could it be? Was I not the Zhuge Liang of this place?

I looked at Pelerian nodding their large head and was impressed.

‘Big-Headed Zhuge Liang.’

-Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and find out what the fruit does!

I had been planning to do that anyway.

I entered Dashnan’s house and took the fruit out of Subspace.

I wondered what that vivid blue thing would taste like.

Crunch.

I chewed and swallowed it in one bite.

*「You have consumed the ‘Emergency Maneuver Root Fruit.’」

Its effect revealed itself along with a sweet taste.

*「You gain the temporary skill ‘Emergency Return Lv. 20’ from the fruit.」

A skill?

Its name looked ordinary at first glance, but it was a level 20 skill.

I checked the effect of the first level 20 skill I had ever obtained.

──────────────

【Emergency Return Lv. 20 (Temporary)】

Once per day, you can teleport to where your group is the instant you use this skill.

──────────────

Oh!

I explained the skill to Pelerian.

-Emergency Return at level 20? Unbelievable.

‘Is that an existing skill?’

-It is originally a type of magic. A spatial movement spell. Do you remember me explaining how high-level teleportation magic is?

Pelerian had said that.

According to Pelerian, magic that instantly moved someone a long distance was extremely difficult.

-Emergency Return is a spell developed by mages who had fallen into Demonic Realms so they could return safely. The preparation process alone normally takes a full day…… Yet you can return instantly.

‘Definitely……’

-It is no different from gaining an extra life.

That was true.

I could not use it if I was in danger alongside my group, but if I was alone, I could get away anytime.

Unless my neck was cut off before I even realized it, I could survive even if I ran into Gunter.

An idea flashed through my mind.

I opened the door and stepped outside.

‘Gorilla!’

The gorilla, who had been resting, jolted upright.

“Whaaat……”

‘Is the swamp where your leader went far from here?’

From what I heard, we could reach it quickly if we rode Spot at full speed.

“Are you really going……?”

The gorilla trembled in fear after hearing my plan.

I told her to guard this place.

“Be careful…… the old leader too…… and the bugs.”

I wanted to see with my own eyes how strong those Named Monsters were.

And how delicious they might be if I ate them.

Now that the two might clash, it was my chance.

‘Spot!’

“Woof!”

I climbed onto Spot’s back.

Master Sun Wu, a strategist even greater than Zhuge Liang, said in The Art of War, know the enemy and know yourself, and you will remain undefeated in a hundred battles.

To learn about my enemies, I ran with Spot.

* * *

‘You go back first.’

Spot kept licking me as though my face were candy.

I lightly tapped Spot’s nose, and Spot turned around and left.

I had not entered the swamp yet, but I had stopped long ago.

I needed to camouflage myself and infiltrate from here onward.

Boom! Boom!

The tremendous noise that shook heaven and earth was clearly the sound of battle.

The monkey leader and the insect leader were fighting.

I instinctively knew it.

After all.