WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 93: Fire-Attribute Plant

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"You're spouting bullshit after pulling something like that. It's like your head is full of flames instead of a brain. Want me to poke a hole in it and let out some pressure?"

Rosena spun the wooden pillow in her hand with a flourish.

Any dwarf who knew how strong she was couldn't possibly take those words as a joke.

"Step aside, Rosena. This is an order from me as the mine lord."

Bluebeard Zenzero spoke coldly.

"You think you're a king?"

"But I am the owner of this mine."

A dwarf mine lord was not a king.

By nature, dwarves did not swear absolute obedience and loyalty to their mine lord. They were different from humans.

Still, the mine's residents were obligated to follow the mine lord's orders.

Rosena knew that well.

"Sorry, but this is my workshop. A Meister has the right to throw out anyone who barges into their workshop."

She tapped the wooden pillow against itself.

"Are you saying you're working right now?"

"That's right. I was finishing my final collection."

There was indeed an unfinished necklace on her workbench.

Her thousandth collection, the Sun Necklace.

"Then you'll never finish that collection."

Bluebeard refused to back down as well.

For a moment, their gazes collided in the air.

Rosena looked into Bluebeard's eyes.

They were sunken and pitch-black. The clear eyes he used to have were nowhere to be seen.

It had been a very long time since she had faced Bluebeard directly.

More than five years, probably.

Yet he had changed far too much in that time.

So what the snake said was true. He had been completely bewitched by fire.

A sticky, damp feeling swept through Rosena's heart despite herself.

Lingering attachment. Infatuation.

Had they not once loved each other? They had both grown old and changed so much, but...

"Draw your weapons. Meister Rosena has defied the mine lord's command."

At that moment, Bluebeard gave the order to his subordinates.

They were dwarves who followed him closely as the mine lord's most trusted attendants, but they hesitated and looked at their lord.

"Didn't you hear me? Draw your weapons and subdue Meister Rosena."

Maces, warhammers, battle axes.

Unlike other dwarves, Bluebeard's attendants carried such weapons.

"Kill her if you must."

Bluebeard gave the order.

"Ha."

Rosena laughed.

Then her face twisted into that of a ferocious demon.

They were drawing weapons.

Dwarves from the same mine doing that to one another was unthinkable.

The dwarves holding warhammers and axes crept toward Rosena.

Their eyes were unusual as well.

Rosena realized that Bluebeard was not the only dwarf bewitched by the flames.

"Hup!"

An axe came flying at her.

It was a blow filled with enough killing intent.

Then there was no helping it.

Rosena moved like lightning.

She brought the wooden pillow in her hand down on the dwarf's crown.

Crack!

The wooden pillow shattered, and the axe-wielding dwarf collapsed with blood pouring from their nose.

The dwarves about to rush her froze for an instant.

Rosena's fighting spirit was terrifying enough to make them stop.

"Zenzero."

Rosena was smiling, but a tear rolled down from the corner of her eye.

"This is the last tear I'll shed for you."

"......"

Without a word, Bluebeard drew his own axe.

"Attack her all at once. Don't let your guard down!"

And the battle began.

Rosena truly was the strongest dwarf in Red Anvil Mine.

It had been a long time since she had fought on a battlefield, but her prowess remained unchanged.

Even barehanded after her wooden pillow broke, she subdued two dwarves in an instant.

But she did not use lethal strikes.

The other dwarves came at Rosena with every intention of killing her.

Bluebeard in particular was strong enough to face Rosena head-on.

More and more wounds gradually appeared on her body.

The mace that struck her leg was a critical blow.

Smack!

Rosena staggered with a chilling sound.

That decided the fight.

The dwarves' powerful hands seized Rosena.

She was restrained in an instant.

"Hoo..."

Bluebeard let out a sigh.

He ordered one of his subordinates.

"Gamin, bring the essence of flame."

"Yes!"

Then Bluebeard silently stood beside Rosena.

Even as Rosena hurled vicious curses at him, he remained perfectly still.

The dwarf who had gone back into the depths returned.

Rosena suddenly felt the air in the room grow hot.

Orange flames flickered, casting shadows.

"Rosena, you said I was talking nonsense. You laughed at me for searching for the Heart of the Mountain."

"Idiot."

"See it for yourself. The essence of flame I found."

Bluebeard pressed Rosena's back down with his knee and forcibly lifted her head.

There was a torch before her face.

A beautiful flame glowed an unnatural orange.

It writhed like a living creature.

"Look."

Bluebeard's voice hissed like a snake's whisper.

Rosena's pupils dilated.

It was truly a flame that carried Magical Essence.

As though it could melt anything, like a demon licking its lips...

Crunch.

Rosena bit the inside of her cheek.

The taste of blood and pain jolted her awake.

"Ptoo!"

She spat out blood and flesh, then squeezed her eyes shut.

"Tch."

Bluebeard roughly let go of her head.

As her face struck the ground, Rosena thought that she should have taken up a weapon.

She should have fought back with a weapon.

'Pure flame, the Heart of the Mountain?'

It was nothing like that.

Instinctively, she recognized the flame's wickedness.

Where would Red Anvil Mine's fate lead now...?

Bluebeard had unearthed something evil from underground.

* * *

-I think it's connected to a demon.

That was Pelerian's analysis.

-There is something called a Fire Demon. It is one kind of demon.

'Aren't demons usually monsters with horns and black or red skin?'

-Not necessarily. There are countless kinds of demons, and they have no fixed form. There are also formless demons closer to natural phenomena.

It seemed demons truly existed in this world.

I had met something called a Devil's Minion before.

When I entered Dashnan's house, it suddenly slipped into my head, then came out with my snot.

-If a demon has already taken their soul, the contract magic that held their soul as collateral may not work.

Pelerian had grounds for that judgment.

Normally, I should have been able to turn Bluebeard into a puppet and make him work after he broke the contract.

But Bluebeard had escaped the magic's influence far too easily.

'Then what is that demon trying to do by bewitching the dwarves?'

-Once demons are involved, only destruction remains.

Pelerian spoke in a serious tone.

It seemed demons were bad guys in this world too.

I had considered the possibility that demons might be unexpectedly nice.

Why not? Even among the monsters humans feared, some were kind.

There were kind-hearted monsters like Gorilla, so maybe there could be kind demons too.

-What a foolish thought.

Pelerian said firmly.

-Demons come in many kinds, but every one of them craves blood and souls. In the end, its goal is likely to bewitch the other dwarves and burn every dwarf in this mine to death.

I remembered Bluebeard shoving that old, sick dwarf into the lava lake.

That was a big problem.

'Then who'll make my meteoric iron sword!'

I still had not recovered about half of the Celestium.

On top of that, only dwarves could refine Celestium, and only Meisters who had reached a certain level could do it.

If I missed this chance, I had no idea when I would get my meteoric iron sword.

-Exactly.

Bluebeard, no, that curly-bearded one was seriously getting on my nerves.

Following Rosena's advice, I immediately went to find Dunkel.

Dunkel was startled that I had returned so quickly after saying goodbye.

He had grown quite close to Manjin.

Thanks to that, he was staying with the Trawl Clan Manjin belonged to.

The Trawl Clan seemed to be something like a gang led by a big-nosed dwarf named Trawl.

"What...?"

I told Dunkel and Manjin everything that had happened to me.

The Trawl Gang gathered around us as well.

I had shared drinks and friendship with them.

I had no doubt that once they heard what I had been through, they would all be outraged with me.

"Bluebeard..."

"No, you're saying he pushed Meister Jeremiah into a fire pit!"

They were incredibly shocked.

Well, even I found it hard to believe.

There, I told you everything, so hurry up and go turn the place upside down.

Let the red wind of revolution sweep through Red Anvil Mine!

Yet, unexpectedly, the flames of revolution did not immediately flare up.

"I can't believe it. This isn't a joke..."

Most of the dwarves frowned.

Trawl, the clan's leader, reacted the worst of all.

"Meister Jeremiah taught me how to handle a pickaxe. There's no way he would jump into a fire pit on his own."

'No, that's not it. Bluebeard pushed him when he fell!'

"Bluebeard is the mine lord! Why would he do something like that!"

Trawl barked at me.

"This joke has gone too far. If you were a dwarf instead of a snake, I wouldn't let this slide."

Trawl slammed a fist into the wall as though he didn't like this at all.

I was deeply hurt.

I felt like the boy who cried wolf.

And hey, do you want to fight me?

If Trawl threw a punch at me, I could just dodge it and bite the back of his neck.

Or I could physically steal his heart.

Of course, I had no intention of doing that because we were friends.

I had a few things that could make them believe me.

I was about to show them the hammer Rosena had given me, but Trawl had already stormed out with his lackeys.

That bastard! He humiliated a snake.

"Oh no..."

Dunkel looked troubled as well.

Fortunately, Dunkel and Manjin's group remained here.

'You guys believe me?'

Dunkel nodded gravely.

Then Manjin stepped in to defend Trawl.

"Don't hate Trawl too much. Bluebeard and Meister Jeremiah raised him."

'Really?'

"Trawl doesn't have parents. Those two never had children, so they raised him like a son."

It seemed they had that sort of relationship.

That only made it more tragic.

"There were rumors that Trawl might become the next mine lord. He hasn't seen Bluebeard or Meister Jeremiah even once since they went into the depths... So Trawl has been really troubled about it."

This was probably what happened after those two were bewitched by the demon's fire.

'Trawl and the others will find out soon enough. Bluebeard must have come after me.'

I hoped Rosena had held him off well.

"This is truly the worst situation. Is being bewitched by fire really this terrifying?"

I told Dunkel, who muttered that, about Pelerian's guess.

"A demon..."

"What?"

Dunkel turned pale, while Manjin seemed to think it was too absurd a story.

Fine, they would understand if they saw it themselves.

Inside my Subspace was the flame that had bewitched the dwarves.

I was immune to mental attacks, so I would be fine... I just had to show it to them briefly, then close the lid again.

I took out the Celestium bucket and chain I had placed in my Subspace.

'Come on, everyone, squint your eyes.'

"Squint? Like this?"

'Yeah. I brought that strange flame. Just take a quick look. Otherwise, you might get bewitched by the fire too.'

They looked doubtful, but both Manjin and Dunkel squinted.

Then I was about to open the bucket's lid.

'Huh.'

-Oh?

Both Pelerian and I froze.

A green tendril was attached to the bucket.

'Kibaema, what are you doing...?'

Kibaemi, who I had put in a flowerpot, had come out with it.

They innocently fluttered their leaves.

But one tendril was threaded through a gap in the bucket.

This was ominous. Extremely ominous.

'Kibaema, hand.'

Wiggle, wiggle.

'Give me your hand!'

Kibaemi gently extended a tendril, and I grasped it with my tail.

*「Seedling Chimera Lv. 8 uses ‘Communion Lv. 1.’」

Hold on.

You were Level 7.

Why did you level up while inside my Subspace?

Once I began Communion with Seedling Kibaemi, messages rang out one after another.

*「You absorb the Fire Demon's flame.」

*「You absorb the Fire Demon's flame.」

*「You absorb the Fire Demon's flame.」

......

Hey, you!

I hurriedly opened the bucket's lid.

Inside, I saw the Fire Demon's flame had shrunk to the size of a candle flame.

A yellow-scorched tendril seemed to be absorbing the fire.

'No! No! You can't eat something like that!'

When the lid opened, Manjin and Dunkel's mouths fell open.

Their pupils dilated. It definitely was a flame that bewitched dwarves.

But there was no need to worry.

*「You absorb the Fire Demon's flame.」

*「Your level has increased.」

Kibaemi had cleanly devoured that filthy fire.

Why was a plant eating fire?

No, how were they eating it?

Talk about being a Chimera.

Babies eating well was cute and all, but this...

*「You have acquired the trait ‘Fire.’」

*「You have acquired Heat Resistance Lv. 20.」

What a gifted plant.

I had barely raised Heat Resistance to Level 12, and they got Level 20 in one go.

It seemed to be because they had acquired the trait Fire.

But how exactly did a plant acquire the Fire attribute?

The Bone trait was the same.

-Oh, as expected of the World Tree!

Pelerian clapped in admiration.

"What is this...?"

"It really was a strange fire."

Dunkel and Manjin still looked dazed.

I slapped their cheeks, telling them to wake up.

That was when Trawl and the gang that had stormed out came back.

'Why now of all times!'

If they had returned a little earlier, I could have shown them the demon's fire.

Still, there was no need to regret that.

Trawl's face had turned white as a sheet.

"Th-the mine lord..."

What had he seen outside?

"The mine lord burned a sick patient alive."

Madness was already unfolding outside.

Footnotes:

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