WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 66: Twin-Head Snake Appears

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Several days after Gunter, his knights, and the soldiers set out on their expedition, the Iron Lion Knights who remained in Greylim sealed off the entire territory.

Aside from the Grasslands, the Great Forest held one of the continent's largest plains, but its western frontier was a harsh landscape of rocks and mountain ranges.

Where that treacherous terrain narrowed like a funnel, with fertile farmland spread above it, was Greylim.

In other words, if a massive horde of monsters came pouring out, it would inevitably have to pass through Greylim territory.

There was only one reason a domain had been built in such a dangerous place.

From the beginning, when it was first developed, it had been planned as a fortress city.

Like a spire that was meant to be the first to fall when a Monster Wave began in the Great Forest.

That was why Greylim had been a strategically vital place.

That might have been how it began, but a Monster Wave had never actually occurred.

Though it had walls, Greylim had gradually remained an ordinary territory.

A slightly poor place, inhabited by slightly innocent people.

But not now.

Only old people, a few knights, and a few soldiers remained, making it feel as empty as a ghost town.

It had always carried an eerie atmosphere, but today was different.

Before dawn had even broken, the city gates opened for a carriage, which then departed.

The problem was that Lania Greylim, the lord's daughter, had been inside it.

The one guarding the gates at dawn was not one of Gunter's knights or soldiers.

It was a local resident who had always lived in Greylim, an old man bent with age.

After his family left the territory, he had volunteered to serve as a territorial guard.

The old man, who would sometimes roast potatoes for the knights and share them around, quietly opened the gate and let Lania leave.

Knight Zain had the old man by the collar.

"You were prepared to die, weren't you?"

Zain drew their sword.

Zain looked ready to execute the old man on the spot, yet there was not a trace of fear in the old man's eyes.

"What glory could there be in extending this old life by a few more days······?"

"We'll see if you can still say that while a sword cuts into you."

Zain pointed their sword at the old man's throat.

When the blade lightly pierced his skin, a drop of blood ran down.

The old man tried to say something, then tightly shut his mouth.

The experienced old man saw Zain's eyes tremble.

Zain's lips moved ever so slightly.

‘Get on your knees and beg quickly.’

It was advice conveyed through the shape of Zain's mouth.

Zain's senior knights stood behind the young knight.

If Zain had not stepped forward, they would have cut off the old man's head without hesitation for neglecting his duty.

The old man did not beg for forgiveness, and Zain could not bring themself to swing the sword. Zain simply stood there.

"Zain, put that down for a moment. Hey, old man."

A senior knight lazily cut in.

"The carriage headed northwest, right?"

"······."

"I'm only asking to confirm it. We've already taken all the statements."

Then the knight whispered with another knight.

"Then Akinzrow Gorge?"

"Yeah. Looks like she's heading to Marquis Gerard."

"This is troublesome······."

Zain watched their seniors carefully.

They seemed somewhat surprised, but they were neither angry nor flustered.

"······Those fools have no luck. Did the commander expect even this?"

They muttered something like that, though Zain could not understand what it meant.

Zain stepped in at the right moment.

"I'll throw this old man in prison and interrogate him further."

"Huh? Sure, do that."

The old man's death would be postponed for now.

Whether that action had any meaning, Zain did not know.

"We should track her, right?"

‘Are they asking me?’

For a moment, Zain thought so.

"······Should I form a tracking party? To Akinzrow Gorge."

"Yes, we should. We can't just leave her alone."

"Will you be coming as well, Senior?"

"No, you go. We need to guard this place."

In Zain's judgment, Lania's escape was a serious matter.

Especially because she had headed southwest, toward territory ruled by Marquis Gerard, Lania's maternal grandfather.

Yet for some reason, Zain's seniors remained calm.

They even appeared indifferent, as if they had known all along.

"Take a few soldiers. It shouldn't take long to catch up with a carriage. They won't even be able to ride quickly through the gorge."

Still, the order given was clear.

"If capturing her proves difficult, you may kill her."

The senior knight patted Zain's shoulder.

"If it seems dangerous, make sure you survive at least. Get out of there fast. Once you get there, you'll understand what I mean."

"······Yes, understood."

Zain saluted.

Zain tried their best to hide their unease.

* * *

Whoosh!

A massive blaze spread through the heart of the Great Forest.

Fortunately, it had not rained for the past few days.

Thanks to oil and the help of mages, the wildfire was kept under control.

It was as though the heavens themselves were helping the kingdom.

"It burns well."

The soldiers watched the fire with axes in hand.

They knew how to use swords and bows, but the tool they had used most was the axe.

They were cutting and stacking trees to control the fire.

Because of that, the flames did not spread in every direction. Instead, they formed a straight line.

A wall of fire had been completed.

Even the shortest section of the fiery wall stretched over a kilometer.

"Mages really are something······. Do they love flames that much?"

"Shh."

One soldier raised a finger to his lips.

An old man stood close enough to the flames for his beard to singe.

He was Ischen, a Flame Mage. Even within the Magic Tower, he was considered one of the foremost masters of flame magic.

He controlled the fire, summoned wind, and created the greatest wildfire in history.

On top of that, the flames did not spread left and right, only stretching long like a wall.

"Fall back! If you're done, fall back unless you want to die!"

The squad leaders drove the soldiers back.

They had to obey.

No matter how brave the soldiers here were, if the Monster Wave swept over them once, it would be over.

All they could do was pray that the wall of fire would change the Wave's direction.

All of this was being directed by one man.

The Hero, Gunter Frihansen.

Two mages stood beside him, and the knights defended the areas without fire.

"Master Alcandura, can you see it?"

The toothless mage was still making a tube with his hand and peering into it.

"It's coming, it's coming. Hehe, to think I'd live to receive the chance to control a Monster Wave right before my eyes."

"The distance?"

"About two kilometers. It's incredibly fast. The formation has become narrow and long. Ischen did well."

Gunter's first goal was to shape the Monster Wave.

It could not remain a round formation scattered in every direction.

If it did, any barrier they built would be crushed as the monsters pushed against each other and trampled over it.

The madness spread by the Monster Wave drew in nearby monsters, causing it to grow larger and larger.

To control its direction, it had to be formed into a narrow, elongated line.

Like a snake crawling forward.

"Master Dezaka. Is the grand spell ready?"

"I don't know much about politics, you see."

The handsome old mage asked Gunter.

"I understand why we can't leave the Monster Wave alone. If it heads straight for the capital, the country might fall."

The Magic Tower had been the first to notice signs of the Monster Wave.

Naturally, the king had been horrified when he received the report.

He gave a secret order to the Hero Gunter, who was aligned with the royal faction rather than the noble faction because of his commoner birth.

It was a secret order that could never be revealed outside.

Even the soldiers believed this was only an operation to subjugate monsters.

But the Magic Tower mages who were deeply involved in this plan could not remain ignorant of its true purpose.

"If we turn the Wave and send it into the Empire, won't that start a war? The territories along its path will be destroyed too."

Gunter's expression did not change in the slightest.

"You have no reason to concern yourselves with dealing with the aftermath."

"How cold. Hehe."

In any case, stopping a Monster Wave with this number of troops was impossible.

Especially because this Wave would be enormous.

"I have good news."

Master Alcandura spoke.

"The leader doesn't look all that strong. Compared to the size of the Wave, it looks unbelievably ordinary. I don't know whether it's a snake or a Trent."

"Then······."

"It looks like we may have another option. Hehe."

The mage laughed.

"Should we try killing the leader here?"

The Wave that had already begun would not stop, of course, but its momentum would surely weaken.

It was worth trying.

Rumbleeeee!

The ground shook violently.

According to the plan, the Monster Wave would pass in front of Gunter and the mages.

"I can see the monsters, Commander!"

"I know without you telling me. Fire the signal arrow."

The knight beside Gunter fired an arrow into the sky.

Screeeee!

A sharp sound rang out from the hole drilled into the arrowhead.

Perhaps because it had been magically treated, a bright red trail streaked across the early evening sky.

Then the signal arrows sounded one after another.

Screee!

Scree!

Like beacons being lit, red lines shot across the sky in sequence.

"Dezaka! Let's begin!"

Alcandura ran toward his fellow mage.

His behavior was utterly undignified, but the magic they were about to cast was no laughing matter.

"Ischen is here too!"

The Flame Mage came running over as well.

The grass around them had been pulled out beforehand, and the ground had been packed down until it was clean.

A huge magic circle had been drawn over it with white pebbles.

At the center of the circle was the severed head of a white ox, with a single Magic Stone resting on its forehead.

It was a tenth-grade Magic Stone.

The mages naturally used wordless magic, but grand spells required an incantation.

"I, Alcandura, de Magica."

"I am Ischen, de Magica."

"Dezaka de Magica!"

The ground shook more fiercely, and the rushing monsters drew close enough to fill their vision.

Even so, the mages remained calm.

As they continued murmuring in the rune language, the white ox's head caught fire on its own.

Whoosh!

Even the fireproof Magic Stone began to burn.

Immense Mana erupted from it.

The magic circle amplified it.

The amplified Mana flowed into the mages, then was released again, swelling as though it resonated.

It was magic that discarded stability against outside interference and focused solely on maximizing its power.

The Flame Mage Ischen put the finishing touch on the grand spell.

"Draco Flamme. Ignite!"

A dragon made of flame rose from the magic circle.

Its heat was so overwhelming that it almost looked like a mass of light.

"Go!"

The Flame Dragon grand spell shot toward the approaching monsters.

Gunter swallowed hard and widened his eyes.

The dragon, and the monsters beyond it.

A giant snake made of wood, and growing from that snake's neck······ a small white snake.

* * *

‘First, I'll stay still. Then I'll watch for a chance to escape from this Tree Chimera.’

That had been my original plan.

But in the end, I could not even try it.

This fake snake that cried "Gwooor" instead of "Sss" had no intention of letting me go.

Not only that, but the tree vine that had been gripping me gradually drew closer to its body.

That was how I became one with it.

Not in some figurative sense. Literally.

Half my body got buried in its wooden body.

Was this what it meant for Taming to partially succeed?!

After that, I tried to escape several times.

I struggled desperately to flee into the mass of monsters.

Every time I thought, ‘Did I do it?!’ a vine shot out and dragged me back in.

After that, only my head was left sticking out like this.

I looked exactly like a Twin-Head Snake.

The problem was that one of the heads was abnormally small, and that head was me.

Maybe the Chimera was angry, because it vented its rage on the nearby monsters.

The other monsters were swallowed without much resistance, and the Chimera grew even bigger.

It was a terrifying Chimera.

-This is the worst Chimera. Its construction is atrocious.

But apparently it did not please Pelerian, the self-proclaimed and universally acknowledged Chimera expert.

Pelerian had been incredibly excited by the fact that the World Tree had created a Chimera, but the Chimera itself was badly made.

It looked like a snake because it had been modeled after me, but that was only its appearance.

It did not seem to have properly formed vital organs, including an anus.

-A hastily made Chimera without even a butthole······. The World Tree······.

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【Status】

[Madness], [Hunger], [Short-Lived]

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On top of that, the status Short-Lived was written right there.

‘I'll just think of it as taking a taxi.’

-I don't know what that is, but we do need to head toward the Central Continent someday.

Pelerian seemed a little pleased with the current situation.

Pelerian wanted me to find their other Dungeons.

In particular, they wanted to visit the Dungeon where their corpse should still remain.

It was not in the Great Forest, so Pelerian suggested that we let the Monster Wave carry us toward the continent like this.

It was not a bad idea.

The course of events had become more sudden than expected, though.

Was Nanaruk safe?

Was she still in the Great Forest?

If so, I hoped she had not been swept up in this Monster Wave.

-There are flames again.

The monsters changed direction once more.

Fires were breaking out everywhere.

It all seemed suspicious beyond belief.

Screeeee!

At that moment, a signal arrow shot into the sky.

Something ominous was radiating light up ahead.

At first, I thought there was another fire over there.

‘Huh, huh?!’

A dragon made of flame was flying toward us.

More precisely, it was flying toward me, no, the Chimera snake.

‘I'm going to burn to death!’

The Chimera snake might survive, but I would definitely die.

I tried to escape again, but then.

-That's Draco Flamme, a grand spell.

Pelerian spoke calmly.

Was Pelerian really going to show off their knowledge at a time like this?

-Why did they conjure it so badly? Those idiots have lost their minds. Hey, Snake, soak yourself in water.

‘Water?’

-Yes, water magic!

Teacher Pelerian shouted at me.

This time, I decided to trust the Heaven-Defier mage.

*「You use Elementary Elemental Magic: Water Lv. 2.」

After evolving, my Mana had increased quite a bit.

I could spray enough water to soak not just me, but the Chimera snake too.

"Gwooor!"

The Chimera snake roared as if it felt good. Did it like water because it was made of wood?

‘C-Can this block that spell?’

-Are you insane? Of course not.

‘Then why?!’

-Make a fireball up there. Not too far away, not too close. Yes, around the height of that tree's fruit.

There was no time to argue.

*「You use Elementary Elemental Magic: Fire Lv. 4.」

I created a flame the size of a human head in the air.

In the meantime, the Flame Dragon came closer.

The Chimera snake continued to run, as though it knew no fear.

Like a real living dragon, the Flame Dragon opened its mouth wide.

Then, instead of swooping down on me and turning me into roasted snake, it sharply twisted its head.

Whoosh!

It swallowed the flame I had created in the air.

Then it fell into the middle of the monsters pursuing us.

Boom!

A scorching blast swept over us from behind.

It felt like the back of my head had been lightly cooked.

Considering my Heat Resistance was already level 10 and I had not been hit directly, it was enough to make my Scales stand on end.

The water coating my body evaporated in an instant.

-You may thank me.

I showered the smug Pelerian with praise.

Dozens of monsters had become roasted meat, but the advance did not stop.

Instead, I spotted the old men who appeared to have cast the spell.

The three old men did not look very impressive.

Even now, they were squabbling with each other.

"You incompetent bastard, Ischen! You couldn't even hit that one thing?"

"Goddamn it, why don't you try it!"

They seemed to be fighting because they had missed with their magic.

I had thought they were impressive because they cast a grand spell, but maybe they were just worthless mages after all.

Then I saw the knight standing beside them.

Shrrrk!

My Scales stood on end.

*「You use Black Scales Lv. 2.」

In an instant, their color turned pitch-black.

‘It's Gunter!’

Gunter.

The human Hero who killed Medusa Mom.

The one who threw a spear at me.

He was waiting for us.

Looking at it, he was probably the one who had brought the mages too.

I thought of my father.

That heartless father who had simply left like that.

Yet as I watched the crazed monsters run wild, I thought it was fortunate that Father had left.

If he had been here, he would not have stayed still with the enemy of his wife right in front of him.

Gunter stared blankly at me.

Then, in that moment, I realized an opportunity had come.

Get pierced and die, Gunter.

Destruction Beam, fire.

*「You use ‘Beam’ Lv. 1.」

A beam shot from my mouth.

Ting!

Astonishingly, Gunter raised an arm and blocked it.

The beam struck the armor around his arm and scattered uselessly.

Gunter drew his infamous axe-spear.

‘I'm fucked!’

The moment regret surged through me.

"Gwoooor!"

Perhaps it sensed the hostility directed at me.

The Chimera snake did not stay still.

A vine shot from its body and struck Gunter.

‘Good job!’

Footnotes:

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