WeTried Translations
Translator: Nemui
Editor: Nemui
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Reincarnated as the Villain's Heir
Chapter 37: The Underground King, Emperor Worm
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The cave did not contain only Earth Worms.
It was packed with all kinds of worms, including Gigant Worms and Hell Worms.
They had made this place their nest and sometimes fed on the monsters in the exercise field aboveground.
Honestly, monsters of this level could be settled with one swing.
In particular, Hell Worms were monsters even third-years would struggle with, so Gareo could not accept that I was calmly slaughtering them.
"F-first-year! Where did you get that sword?"
"It does not matter. I will say this, though. Its power changes depending on the wielder's ability."
"Impossible... Is this the power of House Balfont...?"
Gareo's face was pale, and he was on the verge of losing all confidence.
I felt bad for him, but this was Royal Sailrand Academy, and this was the world.
Even inside this academy, commoners and nobles gathered together and were forced to see the differences in ability.
And once they left the academy, even stronger people waited above them.
For example, it was common for someone considered talented at the academy to become ordinary or worse the moment they entered the mage corps or the knight order.
If I remembered right, Gareo was the son of a baron house, so he probably had a fair amount of pride.
"Hah... hah..."
"Lilisha, you can walk a little now."
"Ugh..."
Speaking of pride, Lilisha's was probably even greater.
For the young lady of one of the two great noble houses to be bad with darkness, her pride would never allow that.
That was exactly why she was trying to overcome it like this.
Good. I would be troubled if she could not overcome a little darkness.
She had to become stronger too, or there would be no meaning in clearing her.
If there were someone in an RPG who became the most vicious final boss under certain conditions, I was the type to deliberately make them stronger.
"Damn it! How far does this cave go?!"
"Looks like we have arrived."
Just as Gareo cursed, we reached an especially large cavern.
There, a gigantic worm was coiled up.
The moment we encountered it, I felt as if my entire body were being crushed.
There was no doubt that thing was the master that had expanded the cave this far, and all the worms bowed before it.
Normally, worms did not form packs like a Killer Wolf.
Worms, which had no concept of a pack boss, each acted alone.
The one reigning at the summit after crossing that wall of instinct was that Emperor Worm.
The king of worms, which had once eaten even an upper species dragon to death and destroyed a mid-sized city.
If something like that approached the academy, it could annihilate it.
"Wh-what... is that..."
"Senior Gareo, call the student council and teachers. That is not a level we can handle alone."
"Do not be stupid! Are you saying you will stay behind?!"
"We do not have time for pointless debate. Lilisha, run too."
Even as my hand trembled, my mouth was smiling.
Since reincarnating, had I ever encountered prey this big?
Other than members of House Balfont, this was probably the first.
Maybe because pulse was flooding through my whole body, I completely overwhelmed Gareo and Lilisha.
If this much was enough to scare them senseless, they should hurry up and run.
That was what I said without words.
"Aaah... ah..."
"Lilisha, run with Senior Gareo. With how you are now, you should be able to move through darkness to some extent."
"I-I will too..."
"Do not make me say it twice."
To be honest, I had not expected prey of this scale to be here.
I gripped the magic sword and approached the Emperor Worm.
The Emperor Worm had no eyes, but I felt as if it clearly recognized me.
"Hyururururu...!"
"Hey. Aren't you bored with nothing but dull weaklings? Be my opponent."
It was like the underground king.
If this thing started rampaging in earnest, the country would have no choice but to deploy national military power.
Of course, the king would probably never choose that.
Most likely, Big Brother Vaid or Big Sister Mirei would head out to subjugate it.
Yes, not me.
Even for House Balfont, I would be the first to face a monster of this level while still enrolled.
In other words, if I killed it here, the seat of strongest in House Balfont history would come into view.
"First, let us begin the tournament to decide the strongest underground! If I beat you, then House Balfont... no, the seat of strongest in humanity comes into view!"
The moment I jumped, the worm charged.
The Emperor Worm slammed into the ground and created a circular hole just like that.
For this thing, underground walls were no obstacle at all.
"Too fast... Where will it come from?"
"Hyururururu!"
"Guaah!"
Just as the left wall seemed to explode, I took the full force of a charge from the side.
I narrowly avoided being eaten, but the damn painful impact sent me flying.
Then the Emperor Worm ate forward through the ground and disappeared again.
"Senior Gareo, we should...!"
"Lilisha! I hate it, but we are pulling back!"
Gareo finally took Lilisha and fled. Good.
If the opponent had been lower level, I would not have minded fighting alongside them.
But this one was on a different level.
Even Big Brother Vaid and Big Sister Mirei had only defeated monsters of this level after graduating from the academy.
As for Gillium, he had only played king of the hill inside the academy, so he was not worth discussing.
This was an opponent impossible for people satisfied with something on the level of the Deniro faction to imagine.
"Hyururu!"
"Tch!"
I dodged the Emperor Worm's charge and took position above it.
I cut deeply with the magic sword, but for this huge body, it was not a fatal wound.
On top of that, because it was a higher-ranked opponent, I could not cut it and bury it in darkness.
"Hyururururu! Hyuru!"
This thing could bend its body and change direction sharply with ease.
Just when I thought I had dodged, it turned its head toward me and charged without slowing.
I guarded with the magic sword, but I was slammed into the ground.
"Gah! Size really is a weapon...! Shadow Servant!"
Against the Emperor Worm's follow-up attack, I created a clone and used it as a shield.
At the same moment the Emperor Worm collided with it, the clone vanished instantly.
Shadow Servant was hard to maintain for long periods, and it was difficult to keep it up under an assault this fierce.
"Good grief. Clones are not free, you know."
The Emperor Worm burrowed underground again.
Against an opponent moving underground at high speed without caring about terrain, hitting it precisely was difficult.
I was fighting by making full use of magic, but this thing was just rampaging around with its massive body.
In other words, there was that much difference in our specs as living beings.
Originally, this was not an opponent a human should challenge.
Being trampled, eaten, and scattered was the natural order.
"...But if I win here, the emperor's face will be completely crushed! All right! Let us kill each other to the end!"
I would risk my life and clear this thing.
This was the battle I had been waiting for, an opponent worth clearing.
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