WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 62: Tears

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062.

Growing stronger was a monster's instinct.

It was probably the instinct that took priority after survival.

That was what set beasts and monsters apart.

Stronger, tougher, faster.

And bigger.

To become that way, monsters evolved over and over without end.

Silverback Chimpanzee Akims must have given up size during their evolution.

The larger you were, the harder it was to climb trees or speak. Your throat and vocal cords would grow huge as well, making speech less practical.

A massive body was powerful, but it also consumed far more food.

The forest's resources were limited.

So instead, they must have wished to be fast and strong.

Insect King Riokk was different.

Was it because insects were naturally small?

Because theirs was a race where size clearly meant strength?

Or because they ate anything and had grown up in a swamp rich with vegetation?

More than anything else, they must have evolved with an obsession for size.

Their terrible hunger might have been partly to maintain that body.

Then what about Father?

How had Father evolved into such a gigantic monster?

I had thought about that before.

Most likely, it was to survive.

There was almost nothing a small snake could do in the Great Forest.

He must have grown larger so he could hunt enemies bigger than himself.

Or perhaps it had been for courtship.

Unlike me, Father probably had the instinct to be attracted to snakes like himself.

Maybe Mother, the Medusa Serpent, had been older than him.

It was common for large, powerful males to be popular, so perhaps Father had evolved to be huge because he had fallen for Mother...

I had let my imagination run wild like that.

‘Giantification.’

Why hadn't I imagined it?

There had been plenty of clues.

Even setting aside his chronic lack of Mana.

Father sometimes vanished without warning.

It couldn't have been teleportation, so perhaps he had actually canceled his Giantification skill whenever he suddenly disappeared from the spot without a trace.

It had been the same when I first met him.

He had been sleeping between rocks.

How could he have done that? It would have been impossible for that enormous body to squeeze between them.

But if he had originally been small, if he had gone into that gap to sleep before using Giantification, it was possible.

Was that why he had been so startled when I tried to peek at his status window?

‘Why did you do that?’

He could have used Giantification only when he fought.

Still, I couldn't blame Father as he lay collapsed after saving me.

He probably hadn't kept Giantification active while it consumed his own body because of a rational decision.

Well, he must have had his own reasons.

My body stopped growing.

Now even Insect King Riokk was beneath me.

I was smaller than Father, but I had become enormous.

The lack of Mana made me nauseous.

More than anything, my body was horribly heavy.

‘So this is Father's weight!’

Now I understand.

He always carried such heavy burdens and responsibility...

-That isn't the weight of being a father, it's your body weight. Of course you're struggling when you lack strength.

Pelerian ruined the mood.

The ring Pelerian inhabited had grown as large as a hula hoop because of the size-adjustment magic, but Pelerian remained the same size.

-Your essence hasn't changed just because your body got bigger.

‘The person talking is so tiny I can't hear them.’

-What?

Yeah, I could understand Father in one respect.

Now that I had grown huge, Insect King Riokk didn't scare me anymore.

I needed to save Father, but somehow, it also felt possible.

I charged at them.

Grrrraaaah-

Monster corpses that would have obstructed me before crumpled beneath my weight.

Moving felt as difficult as moving underwater, but I drew out every bit of strength in my body and ran.

“Queeeik!”

Insect King Riokk roared back.

You filthy insect!

For some reason, now that I was gigantic, it felt like I had to shout it.

‘Look at me-!’

With a thunderous roar, I leaped.

Secret technique.

Giantification Leap.

*「You use Heart-Eating Leap Lv. 2.」

‘Aaaah!’

-He's airborne!

I was airborne.

About ten centimeters off the ground.

At my original size, I would have flown like an arrow, but this was my limit now.

I couldn't reach Insect King Riokk.

Instead, I landed right in front of them with a deafening crash.

Boom!

Dust surged into the air.

The result wasn't bad.

Because my horribly increased mass had given me tremendous momentum as well.

I crashed into them along with the cloud of dust.

Thud!

Then the hellish brawl began.

I wrapped around their body.

Avoiding the gap between their two remaining legs, I coiled around that swollen abdomen and squeezed.

Then I drove my Poison Fang into their head.

Aagh!

Something strange and wriggling entered my mouth.

A chill ran down my spine, and I immediately spat it out before sterilizing my mouth with flames.

I gave up on biting them to death.

Instead, I tensed my body.

Craaack!

At least my muscles had grown strong enough to move this body.

Insect King Riokk spread their wings and flailed their two remaining legs, but it was useless.

They had also been seriously injured while fighting Father.

“Queeeik!”

That cry sounded even more awful right next to my ears.

Die!

Crack, snap-

Cracks began spreading through their Carapace.

Vicious spikes covered their body, but my Scales had become just as thick. They had also been reinforced by Black Scales.

It felt like Giantification would end soon.

How much Mana had Father possessed to maintain Giantification for so long?

‘Aaaah!’

Crack!

Their thin neck snapped, and their head rolled away with a clunk.

Even then, the body moved on its own, but that was only a matter of time.

It was like squeezing an overripe black banana as hard as I could.

Crunch!

Their body burst open magnificently, spilling its contents as it was crushed.

I got them.

Even if they had been exhausted and injured, I had definitely killed a Named Monster.

*「Your level has increased.」

*「Your level has increased.」

*「Your level has increased.」

...

A feast of level-ups unfolded.

‘Huff, huff.’

I was exhausted, but I couldn't stay still.

-You idiot, roll!

‘Aaaah!’

I followed Pelerian's advice.

Parasites as thick as human forearms wriggled out of Insect King Riokk's corpse.

I quickly rolled to keep them from latching onto my body.

Thump, thump, thump!

Don't listen to the sound. It'll make me throw up.

Luckily, they seemed unable to survive once exposed to the air.

The parasites soon stiffened and died.

I quickly raised myself.

There was something I needed to handle while I was still gigantic.

It was dirty and unpleasant, but still.

*「You use Slash Lv. 3.」

I somehow split open their body with my tail. It was already half crushed, so it wasn't too difficult.

The heart, there had to be one.

Sure enough.

As befitted a Named Monster, they possessed a Magic Stone.

I should sterilize it too, just in case.

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

Fwoosh!

Flames wrapped around the Magic Stone.

Disgusting remnants burned, giving off black smoke.

I hurriedly put it into Subspace.

Let's get back and check on Father.

*「Giantification is canceled.」

And Giantification finally ended.

My body had taken some time to grow, but the skill ended in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, my body returned to its original size.

Ugh, so light.

If I was light, I could run even harder.

*「You use Acceleration Lv. 6.」

Squeezing out what little Mana I had left, I returned to where Father was.

Ah, Gorilla was there.

Advisor really was incredibly smart.

She had led the monsters on a wide detour and secured the place where Father lay ahead of time.

Gorilla waved at me.

“Boss-!”

Then she shouted.

“Hurry- up!”

A sense of dread rushed over me.

I'm already going as fast as I can.

Faster, faster.

*「Acceleration Lv. 6 becomes Acceleration Lv. 7.」

*「Black Scales Lv. 1 becomes Black Scales Lv. 2.」

I didn't even hear the notifications that my skills had leveled up.

At last, I reached the place where my subordinates had gathered.

What I heard from beyond them was...

“Sniff, sniff.”

Crying.

Which bastard was crying and making such a racket?

I forced my way madly through the crowd of subordinates.

Father was still lying there.

He was alive. What a relief.

It even seemed like he had regained consciousness.

And beside him, crouching down and crying, was...

‘...Who is that?’

-You're asking me? How should I know?

It was a human woman I had never seen before.

A red-haired woman in leather pants was shedding tears nonstop.

“Waaah!”

No, she wasn't just sniffling. She was bawling her eyes out.

It gave me chills.

The situation was so absurd that Black Scales deactivated.

Because that human woman was crying and saying:

“Dad... Waaah, Dad...”

My spine went cold.

Unless that human woman was really Father's illegitimate child, or my real older sister who had committed the monster taboo of becoming human, the answer was obvious.

‘She's crazy...!’

No human who called an injured snake Dad could be normal.

Still, I had no idea how she had suddenly appeared in the middle of the Great Forest.

Gorilla came over and whispered cautiously.

“That woman suddenly appeared and... knocked our kids down.”

Looking closely, several monsters were lying around near the woman and Father.

Apparently, they had tried to attack the human woman and been beaten instead.

“They're all alive... And that human gave the handsome snake... a potion.”

That woman?

Hearing that, my opinion of her rose a little.

I boldly moved forward.

The woman shouted as if she had known me from the start.

“Little- snake! Sob!”

I'm not a little snake. I'm just a snake.

I even have Giantification now.

My opinion of her dropped again.

“That was so, moving. Sob.”

Fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared up soon.

Thankfully, the Dad she had been calling for seemed to be her human father.

“Your dad was so cool too. Just like my dead dad. Sob. I watched the whole thing...”

Humans...

Were they creatures capable of empathizing with a snake, not even one of their own kind?

More importantly, when had she been watching us?

‘Did you know?’

-Not at all.

‘That's creepy.’

She had been watching Father and me the entire time, and neither of us had noticed.

I didn't know why she had been stalking us, but had watching Father and me struggle filled her with emotion?

“Sniff... Urp.”

She was even nauseated from crying so hard.

It was creepy, so I wished she would stop crying.

“I should've... done what you did... Sob.”

‘...’

“Then Dad... wouldn't have died...”

She seemed to have her own story.

She mumbled incoherently about something from her past, but honestly, I wasn't interested.

I ignored her and approached Father.

‘Are you feeling a little better?’

「I'm fine.」

“The s-snake talked!”

The woman stopped crying and jumped in surprise.

Had she never seen a talking snake before?

Fortunately, she stopped crying.

‘Then why are you still lying down?’

「I'm tired.」

It was fortunate that he had survived.

Still, it seemed his body hadn't fully recovered.

-He suffered wounds like that. A little potion won't make him completely fine.

‘Should I give you a Magic Stone? Or an Inner Core...’

-An Inner Core! Feed him an Inner Core.

Right. They said digesting a Magic Stone required stamina too.

I was a little worried it might be poisonous, but I took out the Human-Faced Spider's Inner Core and gave it to him.

Father refused for a moment before eventually chewing and swallowing it.

His expression seemed to improve a little.

“Keek!”

I sharply turned my head at the crying sound behind me.

The Giant Centipede was approaching.

Big Eyes was in her arms.

“Keek, keek.”

She placed the motionless Big Eyes before me.

But I had no potions left.

I looked toward the human woman.

I wouldn't call her a crazy woman anymore, so please...

“You want a potion? Hmph, fine...”

I didn't know whether she had recovered her senses a little, but the woman took out a potion and poured it over Big Eyes's body.

“Never thought I'd live to see the day I gave a monster a potion.”

“Keek, keek...”

Big Eyes cried weakly.

You worked hard. You really did.

Father, Big Eyes, the Giant Centipede.

And me too, we had all survived.

It had been a truly horrific battle.

Still, there was a bitter taste in my mouth.

It seemed things didn't always go according to plan.

That enormous root.

The Silver Monkey had already climbed halfway up it.

That bastard would end up claiming the Radiant Fruit.

Then Father spoke heavily.

「If the monkey eats it, they will surely seek revenge...」

We had driven Akims away with a joint attack not long ago.

They had a rotten personality.

It was a reasonable assumption that they would hold a grudge.

「We must obtain that fruit.」

Father lifted his tail and pulled my body closer.

「We must.」

Today was the day my normally taciturn Father had spoken the most.

I couldn't readily agree to his words.

What was I supposed to do?

Even if I broke through the primates still gathered before the root, could I catch up to Silverback Akims?

And even if I did, I wasn't confident I could win.

Even if I chewed and swallowed a Magic Stone now, it would take quite a while to digest into Mana.

“Excuse me.”

The human woman interrupted while I was thinking.

“My name is Hailit Langrey.”

I see. I hadn't asked.

“My job is hunting monsters, and my hobby is making clothes from monster hides and wearing them.”

I jumped back in surprise.

What a terrifying human.

Was she suddenly trying to threaten us?

“So I was watching you because I planned to hunt you too. But I've changed my mind.”

She was definitely dangerous.

I didn't know how strong she was, but she seemed quite skilled.

“Instead, I've decided to go after that monkey...”

She lowered her head a little in embarrassment and scratched the ground with her toe.

“If you want, I'll take you to where that monkey is. For a small price.”

‘...’

“I really can take you there. I'm fast too.”

As if showing off her running ability, she bounced in place.

Honestly, I was startled.

She sprang upward almost as quickly as my Heart-Eating Leap.

“Don't you want to...?”

It wasn't that I didn't want to. I just had something to worry about.

I pulled over the lady Gorilla, who had been hiding behind me.

Then I had her interpret my question.

“What... is the price?”

“Ah, it's really nothing much!”

Hailit Langrey's face brightened.

I swallowed nervously instead.

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