Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Yor Divided into N Parts #3
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“Hammer! A whole herd of drakes is charging in!”
I herded in nearly thirty drakes.
Thud thud thud—the pounding of their feet shook the ground.
“Hermit! Get the magic ready!”
“[Wall of Fire]!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—.
A wall of flames erupted in the direction Hermit swung her staff.
It towered about two meters high, its heat indescribable.
—Drraaak!
—Grrraaaah!
The drakes I'd driven in slammed into the fiery wall and were charred black.
Felix would then surge forward and behead the ones writhing in agony amid the flames?
Clang—!
+5,500 Ether
Shoe Durability Scroll: Imbues shoes with magic. Slightly increases durability.
“Woo! That's what I'm talking about!”
5,500 Ether per drake.
And they dropped plenty of valuable items to boot?
It was possible only because the drakes stupidly headbutted the flame wall.
“Hehe, they're like dedicated headbutting dinosaurs!”
“Puhuhu, drake brains are about the size of potatoes! That's why they're so incredibly dumb.”
Hermit sinisterly chuckled while prodding the corpses' heads with her staff, tap tap—.
About half a day passed like that?
Hammer set down his heavy load with a thud—.
“Alright, time to settle up!”
“Yessir!”
I held out my hand to Waluwalu.
To recover the Ether he'd stuffed into his belly.
—Grr, garrr…!
Of course, Waluwalu growled furiously like he was pissed off, but I grabbed his head and shook it up and down like threshing grain.
Shake shake shake—!
Clang—countless Ether rained out from Waluwalu's belly.
Clang, clang—!
Hammer marveled at the pile of Ether forming in an instant.
“Whoa, so Waluwalu's belly is like your Black Satchel?”
“Yessir! That's what Hermit says!”
“Our Waluwalu is such a good boy!”
Hermit stroked Waluwalu's forehead.
—Arrr, garrr…!!!!!
“See? He makes the cutest sounds!”
Half a day of hunting netted about ten million Ether.
My eyes nearly popped out at the number.
But even creepier was that we hadn't even tallied the rare items like the 'Black Greaves' or 'Shoe Durability Scroll' yet!
Knowing a honey pot like this existed made my heart race like mad.
However, Hermit's condition was fluctuating from the nonstop barrage of high-powered spells.
“Whew, gotta conserve some strength now. Who knows what'll happen next.”
Oh, right.
We'd come to this jungle for the 'Night Flower'.
I'd forgotten amid the thrill of drake hunting.
“Can't we squeeze out just a bit more?”
Felix pressed Hermit, greed for coin gleaming in his eyes.
Hermit shook her head.
“Nope.”
“Tch, if we'd brought Nimble, we could've hunted longer.”
“Then why didn't you swap out for Nimble, Felix!”
Hermit and Felix bickered again.
Hammer warned them since the noise could attract drakes.
“Shh, quiet! We're heading to that big bone pile now. Steel yourselves—anything could happen!”
Rustle—. Hammer took the lead with the map.
The problem was this being a jungle.
“Argh, Hammer! My legs are sinking in deep!”
“Yor! Grab this vine and pull yourself out!”
Sudden sinkholes were par for the course, and with snakes, scorpions, and venomous bees swarming around, even walking was a chore.
A regular person would've died the moment they set foot here.
“Kuhuhu, still, your blood's perfect for repelling bugs!”
The silver lining: my 'Serpent's Blood' had an amazing insect-repellent effect, just as Hammer said.
Smear it on a weapon and swing whoosh whoosh—and the bugs scattered in terror.
We finally reached the massive bone mountain.
Up close, its overwhelming scale hit home.
'This thing rivals the Great Wall in height?'
Layers of coiled bones stretched hundreds of meters high at least.
Add the length, and it might span kilometers.
Hermit, who loved chattering and showing off, couldn't hold back.
“This bone graveyard seems to form its own ecosystem!”
“His Imperial Majesty fought and triumphed over monsters like this to found the Empire!”
Hammer trembled, fist clenched dramatically over his heart in awe.
That's when I called out to Sabrannik in my mind.
'Sabrannik!'
To ask where to go for the Night Flower.
But Sabrannik still didn't answer.
Instead, some deeply unpleasant presences approached us.
“Who are you?”
“This is our turf.”
“Rendo bastards—should we just kill 'em?”
'Fuck, Erdari!'
Why were these fuckers everywhere?
Their vitality and tenacity rivaled cockroaches.
The odd part: they all wore bizarre canister masks like gas masks over their mouths.
Of course, Hammer didn't give a damn and gripped his weapon tighter.
“Fuck, no one said anything about Erdari here!”
“Fight?”
The psycho killer Felix was one second from drawing his sword.
Then one Erdari spotted me and scowled.
“Heh, a Blessed One? What, so you're not just Rendos—you're slaves.”
“Slaves what?”
Felix scowled.
Seizing the moment, I stepped forward.
“Yeah, I'm the 777th Blessed One, Yordari. These guys are Rendo slaves under me.”
“Yordari?”
“777th Blessed One?”
“Why do you look like a Rendo?”
“The scent's definitely like us Shando though….”
Doubt crept into the Erdari stares fixed on me.
Throb throb—.
That's when I felt the 'Bloodwood Root' inside me react.
Bulging veins pulsing.
Soon, text appeared above them.
Dorsha Lv.14
Narashil Lv.15
Selrwen Lv.17
Level 17—!?
Tension crackled as the Erdari reacted.
“Hoh, that aura's the real deal—Blessed One for sure. Greetings to Mother Bloodwood—.”
“I'm the 457th Blessed One, Narashil.”
“102nd, Selrwen here. Perfect timing. Our commander's at the hideout—let's go in together.”
A tent stood before the massive bone graveyard.
Inside, a man in thick armor wrestled with stacks of documents. Pointed ears marked him Erdari.
Probably the 'commander' they mentioned.
I spoke so softly even sharp-eared Erdari couldn't hear.
“Hammer, we made it this far pretending to be Erdari Blessed Ones. What's our play now?”
“Play along for now! Might squeeze some useful info outta them if we're lucky.”
Guess we had to keep up this bizarre act.
Act like Erdari! Like Erdari!
“You insolent Rendo slave shit! How dare you tread in your master's shadow!”
I bonked Felix on the head with my fist.
Felix glared but gritted his teeth and bowed.
“…Sorry, Master.”
“Hoh, looks like a skilled knight to make a slave. You've got some knack.”
“Knight slaves ain't cheap.”
My act worked—the Erdari trust in me rose.
Thus, I entered the tent with the loathsome Erdari Blessed Ones.
“Dragon gone?”
The armored Erdari, seemingly the tent's owner, asked without looking up.
The woman who'd named herself the 102nd Blessed One, Selrwen, snapped a salute.
“Yes. It circled the snake graveyard but didn't land—flew off far away.”
“Stone Dragon Isidore, huh. A beast like that showing up out of nowhere. Ever since Mother Bloodwood screamed those days ago, shit keeps piling up. Anyway—.”
The armored Erdari's gaze turned to me.
“Who're you? Why the Rendo look.”
He wore an eyepatch over one eye and looked old for an Erdari.
Deep laugh lines around his mouth, forehead and eyes creased with wrinkles.
Nueldar the Grand Duke Lv.20
Level 20 Erdari!?
One slip here and we're all dead!
“I'm the 777th Blessed One, Yordari. I take Rendo form by Mother Bloodwood's will—to infiltrate the wicked Rendos and sow chaos among them!”
I acted as boldly as possible.
Hated demon spawn—that's me!
“You mad bastard!? What insolence to Grand Duke Nueldar! I'll rip out your tongue and guts and scatter 'em across this jungle floor!”
“Insolent fuck!”
But the Erdari scolded me.
Confused what I'd done wrong, the armored Erdari waved it off.
“Enough. Young ones these days are rude—nothing new. More importantly, breathing okay? Place reeks of poison; can't survive without these respirators.”
Poison?
Ah, I see.
That's why they all wore gas masks.
Our party hadn't realized, but the area was thick with toxins.
The Erdari Grand Duke eyed me with narrowed gaze.
“Seems you've got resistance to this foul poison. Mother Bloodwood's foresight? Perfect. Help me!”
“…Help?”
“That hated temple holds the treasure we seek. But the wicked poison and snake guardians make it no easy task.”
“…Treasure—you mean the 'Night Flower'?”
“You know it.”
Fuck, these bastards are after the 'Night Flower' too?
Must be one hell of a treasure.
Now I was getting curious myself.
'Should I just snatch it?'
Truth is, I wasn't in a position to care about others.
I was mid-Erdari transformation in real time.
The Erdari Grand Duke said,
“Bring me the treasure. In return, Yordari, I'll promise a reward you'll like. I swear on the honor of the sixth Blessed One and House Nueldar.”
A reward I'd like?
What could it be.
But the Erdari Grand Duke wasn't done.
“But only if you bring it intact. Try to steal it or double-cross me, and you die. Like these fools.”
Erdari corpses littered at the Erdari Grand Duke's feet.
Blood stench thick.
This was no mere warning.
Fail to hand over the 'Night Flower' to this man, and I'd die.
'From what I sense, this guy's on par with Yona or Narakje...'
'Snatch the Night Flower, and I'm marked by this bastard?'
That's when I thought we were truly fucked.
Ding ding ding—alarm bells rang.
“Enemy raid!”
“Raid!”
“How the hell did these monster shits find our hideout!”
Erdari grabbed weapons and bolted out.
I followed them out of the tent.
Monsters appeared from all sides.
Drake skulls flipped like helmets on their heads, bony spears and swords gripped menacingly in clawed hands.
Scales covered their bodies.
Like a botched human-snake hybrid?
Small Scale Warrior - Sha Lv.17
Small Scale Shaman - Shis Lv.18
Small Scale Prophet - Shyakan Lv.18
Problem: their levels were insanely high.
17, 18?
These fuckers were nuts too!
Then a snake-man looked at me.
And spoke.
Sss, shiek—.
Shieeeek—.
—Shies.
Strange words, but somehow I understood perfectly.
【Scaleless one, Serpent's Blood flows in you.】
【Aid us—drive out the intruders!】
【Interfere, and you die too!】
Fuck, what the hell's going on?
Soon the Erdari shouted at me too.
“777th Blessed One Yordari! What're you doing!”
“Kill these cursed monsters now!”
“You suspicious fuck! Did you call these bastards!?”
Erdari versus bizarre snake monsters.
Suddenly, our party had to side with one.
Ally to one, enemy to the other.
My call in this mess—.
'Flip a coin!'