WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: WeTried Translations

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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 16: Second Partner

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Four monkey Demon Beasts were rushing toward them, but none had a particularly strong Aura.

The two monkey Demon Beasts with the strongest Auras combined were only about on par with the Wood Demon.

Of course, that was the Wood Demon before it fought Jegyeong.

As for the Wood Demon now... judging by its Aura alone, it looked as though it would struggle against even one of them.

'Did those bastards plan this?'

Judging by the Wood Demon's reaction, it seemed to know the monkey Demon Beasts.

Woooooo!

Hmm. They seemed to know each other in a bad way.

Its drawn-out cry was thick with fury, and it looked even angrier than it had while fighting Jegyeong moments ago.

That alone suggested that the Wood Demon and the monkey Demon Beasts had clashed before.

"Kyaaaah!"

The monkeys drew closer.

They resembled monkeys or apes, but each had a large horn on its forehead. Their arms were as thick as their torsos, and they were larger than most cows.

Despite their brutish appearance, their eyes gleamed brightly even from a distance, full of the savagery unique to Demon Beasts, along with an even greater cunning.

The moment Jegyeong saw those smug gazes, he became certain they had been waiting for this moment.

'They're after the fruit too, aren't they?'

The Wood Demon's fruit drove beasts mad, even drawing Demon Beasts close with drool spilling from their mouths.

These monkey Demon Beasts must have been drawn here by the fruit just as he had.

The difference was that they had hidden and waited for an opportunity, while he had not.

Had he made a mistake? Had he been careless? Certainly.

But this was no time to shrink back and reflect. It was time to let his fighting spirit heat his head and show them his resolve.

Boom!

Jegyeong slammed his tail against the ground, splitting the muddy earth and sending ripples through it.

The charging monkey Demon Beasts' momentum faltered, and they briefly stopped short.

Only then did they realize that the snake they had thought would be badly injured after fighting the Wood Demon was in far better shape than expected.

"Cheongo!"

"Hm?"

"Tell them to get lost right now. Otherwise, I'll eat every last one of them without leaving a single hair behind."

Cheongo chirped at the top of their lungs from high in the sky.

Jegyeong had spent quite a long time with Cheongo, but he still could not understand the mysterious power contained in that noisy chirping.

Still, that all-purpose language worked again.

The monkey Demon Beasts, who had briefly lost heart, grew angry and began letting out even fiercer cries.

"No, Jegyeong! They said they'll eat the fruit and eat you too!"

"Hmph!"

Demon Beasts were much smarter than ordinary beasts, but the degree of improvement varied greatly depending on their base species.

It was not absolute, but in most cases, the smarter the base species, the greater the increase in intelligence after becoming a Demon Beast.

Those monkeys, having become Demon Beasts, might be as intelligent as ordinary people.

Even now, it was clear they were smart enough to see through a bluff.

'There's no helping it now.'

Jegyeong let out a great roar and released his presence.

Even so, he did not move forward.

His head was hot with fighting spirit, but he had not lost his mind completely.

Why give up his advantage and willingly put himself at a disadvantage?

Woooooo!

The Wood Demon's ability, its colorless, odorless poison, was still working.

Once the monkeys entered its effective range, they would immediately begin to feel its effects. The deeper they went and the longer they fought, the stronger those effects would become.

'The problem is that they know that too.'

The monkey Demon Beasts stopped just outside the range of the Wood Demon's poison.

As expected, they understood the Wood Demon's ability perfectly.

Jegyeong frowned irritably as he glared at the noisy monkeys beyond the poison's range.

"Fine. Stay there and watch."

Jegyeong raised his head and called to Cheongo.

"Tell the tree I'll collect part of my payment in advance!"

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Just tell it that!"

Jegyeong waited while Cheongo interpreted for the Wood Demon, then slowly approached it.

The Wood Demon flinched slightly in alarm, but Jegyeong ignored it and raised his body high.

Though he had grown to just over twenty meters long, beside the Wood Demon, he was like a toddler beside an adult.

No matter how high he lifted himself, he could not reach even the nearest fruit. In the end, he had no choice but to strike the ground with his tail and leap.

Snap!

His wide-open jaws clamped around a fruit and tore it free.

The Wood Demon squirmed, but showed no other reaction.

Thanks to Cheongo's interpretation, it finally understood what it meant for Jegyeong to collect payment in advance.

'It's a smart one.'

A clever mind was useless if one did not know how to use it.

On the other hand, even if one was not naturally intelligent, knowing how to use one's head properly was enough to be called wise.

In Jegyeong's eyes, the Wood Demon was the latter, while those monkey bastards were the former.

Crunch!

That was why he thought this provocation would work.

And it did.

"Kyaaaah!"

When Jegyeong slowly chewed and swallowed the fruit in full view of them, the monkeys' eyes turned red.

One of the four, one with an unusually scarred face, shrieked and sprang forward.

It did not hesitate to enter the Wood Demon's territory or charge ahead alone.

Starting was always the hardest part.

The monkey Demon Beasts had hesitated after seeing that Jegyeong seemed much healthier than expected. But the instant they watched the fruit they coveted disappear into his mouth, their eyes had already gone wild.

Then one hot-tempered bastard rushed ahead first.

They could no longer hold themselves back.

The moment reminded Jegyeong of when he had fought the frog over the Lotus.

That frog had also fallen for a simple provocation, unable to contain its impatience before leaping into the water.

Yet these monkey Demon Beasts, despite being Demon Beasts, were even more foolish than that frog had been.

Greed had blinded both sides, but the monkey Demon Beasts had also become drunk on the excessive confidence born from their numbers.

The result was the scene before him.

"Kyaaaah!"

The monkey dodged the Wood Demon's root attack with ease and met Jegyeong's charge.

Perhaps it was still a monkey after all. Though it was already airborne, it twisted its body like an acrobat and avoided Jegyeong's teeth.

Then it stretched out both hands, hooked them into Jegyeong's nostrils, and held on.

'You little monkey bastard!'

Flames of rage rose in Jegyeong's eyes as the monkey's fingers forced their way halfway into his nostrils.

This monkey was certainly quick. If it seriously began playing hide-and-seek, it would not be easy to deal with.

Fortunately, he was not alone.

Wooooo!

The Wood Demon began swinging its roots in earnest like tentacles.

Some of its roots had been shredded by Jegyeong, and some had even been severed, but attacks that relied on sheer size were still powerful.

The monkey Demon Beasts could dodge the roots with their quick movements, but they could not ignore them completely.

'This is better than I expected.'

The Wood Demon performed much better against the monkey Demon Beasts than Jegyeong had anticipated.

He had not expected much from it because, after fighting it once, he had judged its direct combat ability to be weak.

Thinking about it again, though, that assessment had been unfair.

'Its root attacks do little to me, but they're more than effective enough against those monkeys.'

Jegyeong snapped several times at the insolent monkey, which had shoved one hand into his nostril and was wildly clawing at his face with the other.

Then he slammed his head into the muddy ground as though headbutting it.

To anyone watching, it would have looked as though he had gone mad with anger at the nimble monkey Demon Beast.

It was almost self-harm, but it worked.

The monkey Demon Beast, which had stubbornly clung to him, pulled its hand from Jegyeong's nostril just before impact and quickly leaped away.

"Stop!"

Jegyeong, whose face was practically washed in mud, chased after the fleeing monkey Demon Beast.

If this had been the middle of a mountain forest full of trees, then no matter how much strength filled Jegyeong's body, he would not have been able to catch the monkey Demon Beast.

But this area was different.

After settling here, the Wood Demon had absorbed all the vitality nearby. The surroundings were filled only with shriveled, leaning, and fallen trees.

The ground was muddy like a swamp, so even a nimble monkey had limits to its speed.

"Kyaaaah!"

The monkey Demon Beast still dodged Jegyeong's teeth with agile movements, but its cries gradually became more frantic.

Jegyeong pursued it closely, but he did not use all his strength.

He knew that even a rat cornered in a dead end could bite a cat.

It would be different if the Wood Demon were in danger, but it still seemed to be holding on well enough. There was no need to force an early conclusion by taking risks.

If time continued to pass like this, his side would gain the advantage.

Snap!

He bit at empty air again.

Jegyeong's murderous eyes followed the panting monkey Demon Beast.

Its movements had clearly grown slower than before. It seemed to be realizing that something was wrong, and none of its initial ferocity remained.

The occasional glances it cast toward its kin fighting the Wood Demon revealed exactly what it was thinking.

'Over there...'

Just as the monkey Demon Beast had done, Jegyeong secretly glanced toward the Wood Demon.

'Is it reaching its limit?'

The Wood Demon had pushed the monkeys back by squeezing out its remaining strength at the start of the battle. Now it seemed completely exhausted, struggling just to hold on.

Even that was only possible because the monkeys were distracted by the fruit even while fighting and had not focused on finishing off the Wood Demon.

If this went on any longer, the Wood Demon might not fall, but several precious fruits could be stolen.

Jegyeong slowed his movements as though he were exhausted, then seized the moment the monkey Demon Beast caught its breath and launched himself forward.

Startled by the sudden rush, the monkey Demon Beast tried to dodge, but Jegyeong charged with his jaws wide open at a speed far greater than before.

Snap!

The monkey Demon Beast could not evade completely, and one of its long arms was caught in Jegyeong's teeth.

The monkey tried to pull its arm free in horror, but Jegyeong's jaws tightened first.

Crunch!

His teeth, hard as steel and sharp as saw blades, tore through the Demon Beast's flesh, muscles, and bones in an instant.

The monkey Demon Beast screamed as its arm was ripped off and retreated, but Jegyeong was not satisfied with just one arm.

Bang!

His tail, swung with all his strength, smashed into the monkey Demon Beast's back.

Unfortunately, it did not break any bones, but it was enough to break the will of the monkey that had been acting so cocky.

After fighting one directly, he thought he understood.

They might be Demon Beasts, but they were only half-baked creatures that had just shed their beastly nature.

Most Demon Beasts were probably like this.

Whether they awakened a Bloodline or obtained a fortuitous opportunity, they had become Demon Beasts by chance but had not yet built up proper cultivation.

At this stage, it was hard to even call them members of the Demon Race in the true sense.

'I'm not much different.'

Jegyeong launched himself forward again and bit the fallen monkey Demon Beast.

The monkey, caught around the waist, clawed and struck at Jegyeong's mouth and nose in terror.

That struggle only fueled Jegyeong's anger further.

Bang! Bang!

As the saying went, even a rat trapped in a dead end could bite a cat.

Sensing death, the monkey Demon Beast dragged out every last bit of strength it had and struggled desperately.

Jegyeong held it in his jaws and rammed it into the ground.

His teeth, held back by its resistance, gradually dug deeper into its flesh and muscle.

Then, at some point, there was a sharp crunch, and the monkey Demon Beast's body tore in half.

* * *

Once Jegyeong dealt with one of them and began using his strength in earnest, the tide of battle turned in an instant.

The Wood Demon had been on the losing end for most of the fight apart from the beginning, but its fierce resistance had clearly put a considerable burden on the monkey Demon Beasts.

Its poison was also steadily wearing down their strength, so Jegyeong entering their battle was little different from arriving after the hard work was already done.

Jegyeong did not rush.

Rather than ending the fight quickly, he focused on keeping the monkey Demon Beasts from escaping.

This was no longer a fight for him. It was a hunt.

When he swallowed the monkey Demon Beast's arm earlier, a hot, pleasant warmth had spread through his body.

That fullness was clearly greater than anything he had felt after eating the Wood Demon's fruit.

And that had only been one arm.

Everything except that arm was growing cold over there, while three fresh, unharmed ones stood right before him.

'I can't let them get away.'

Jegyeong rushed in greedily with his jaws wide open.

The Wood Demon also swung its roots as though squeezing out every last bit of strength.

Cheongo fluttered above and kept cheering in a slightly hoarse voice.

A short while later...

Jegyeong held one living monkey Demon Beast in his mouth, chewed it thoroughly, and swallowed it down.

The battle was over.

Of the remaining two, one hung limply from the Wood Demon's roots, while the other was buried in a muddy pit with both legs gone.

"Jegyeong, you're amazing!"

Jegyeong savored his victory for a moment as Cheongo flattered him. After confirming once more that the wounds scattered over his body were not deep, he approached the Wood Demon.

"Cheongo!"

"Yeah!"

They understood each other without needing many words now.

Cheongo descended to the back of Jegyeong's head and prepared to interpret.

"I'll take the fruit as promised."

The Wood Demon trembled once, and the fruit began falling one by one.

It moved a branch to catch them all, then handed them to Jegyeong.

There were eleven in total.

Jegyeong flicked out his tongue in satisfaction.

'It can be reasoned with.'

It might have recognized its own situation, but from the moment the monkey Demon Beasts arrived, the tree's attitude had been quite to Jegyeong's liking.

"Does it take long to grow those fruits?"

"It says it depends on how well it eats. It takes a long time with ordinary beasts, but it doesn't take long if it eats good ones."

Those "good ones" naturally meant Demon Beasts.

Just as he had expected.

Jegyeong considered it for a moment.

He could kill the exhausted Wood Demon now and claim the monkey Demon Beast it had captured as well.

He did not know whether a tree demon fiend was edible, but he would surely gain something.

On the other hand, he could keep the Wood Demon alive and try forming a long-term partnership with it.

This was not his first time doing something like this, so Jegyeong felt positively about this new partnership.

Thinking of his partnership with Cheongo, which was more than merely successful, it was worth trying a partnership with the Wood Demon that could bring steady benefits.

"Hey. I think we might be able to help each other."

Cheongo's voice changed subtly as they interpreted.

With a little exaggeration, it was as though he were watching a stage actor from his previous life.

Footnotes:

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