Chapter 118
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Night
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Command Roar.
The star that ushers in the morning after the night passes.
The star that illuminates the pre-dawn sky.
Or the rooster's crow heard when morning arrives.
That was its ability, and I'd heard it definitely couldn't use it.
But what in the world was happening now?
"Cock-a-doodle-doooooo!"
The cockatrice let out another throat-shredding cry, as if to confirm we hadn't misheard.
A tremendous power coursed through it, impossible to dismiss as mere rooster crowing.
My entire body tingled.
"...Dangerous!"
The moment I heard the shikra's words, I leaped away with all speed.
Our hiding spot was a jumble of massive boulders.
No—it was where the cockatrice's victims had gathered.
We had to hide our bodies first and foremost, since meeting its gaze would turn us to stone.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
Another Command Roar pierced the air.
It had come straight for us, drawn by its own body.
"Cock-a-doodle-doooooo!"
Even after using Command Roar, the thing was still basically a bird.
Which meant its night vision couldn't be great.
I activated Twilight Feather.
Then I immediately hurled feathers as hard as steel toward the opposite rock pile.
Pababak!
My goal wasn't to attack.
It was to divert its attention for a moment, exploiting its instincts.
"Cock-a-doodle-doook!"
Screeching monstrously, it charged toward where I'd thrown the feathers.
Kung, thung.
But it wasn't all that fast.
A creature smart enough to set traps was bound to be cautious about potential threats.
Still, I'd definitely pulled its focus.
With its gaze elsewhere, I could finally observe it a little more safely.
I poked my head out from between the rocks to look.
Even if our eyes met, it wouldn't turn my body to stone right away.
It had to register me first and channel some kind of power to trigger the effect.
Otherwise, it'd wear itself out in no time.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
There it was—a colossal monster bird with a rooster's comb atop a bird's body.
It also bore reptilian traits, and a snake's head sprouted from its tail.
Even without prior intel or Crow's Eye, its appearance screamed what it was.
A special magic beast combining traits of chicken and snake.
It amplifies its own abilities with a cry called Command Roar and hunts foes using the deadly poison and petrification powers housed in its left and right eyes.
Beyond its unique abilities, it is a powerful apex predator in its own right.
A level 40 magic beast, no less.
And its size was even bigger than I'd imagined.
Larger than me by far—even bigger than an ostrich.
Was that the scale of the terror birds from ancient legends?
As the status description implied, it was a formidable foe even without poison or petrification.
I had no confidence I'd win in a straight melee.
"Uh... how..."
The shikra's tiny body trembled violently.
"Surely... it's still night...?"
Roosters crow at dawn.
A cockatrice should be no different.
And since the queen had used the shikra as a guide, it stood to reason that cockatrices couldn't use Command Roar at night—that much was common knowledge.
Moona had agreed to the plan on that basis.
Normal cockatrices couldn't use Command Roar at night.
Which meant this specimen was a special case.
I strongly activated Crow's Eye to check its skills and traits.
Every single one was terrifying.
The names alone hinted at their devastating power.
I skipped the skills and focused on the traits.
It had four in total.
Hundred Poisons Immunity was probably a trait boosting resistance to the poisons it wielded.
A watered-down version of the "immune to myriad poisons" tropes from wuxia tales.
Petrifying Evil Eye and Deadly Poison Evil Eye were its signature eye powers.
But what was that one at the bottom?
Seeker of Wisdom?
At a glance, it resembled Moona's trait, but it had to be far inferior.
Sage was confirmed to be on par with talents like Sword Master or Archmage.
This was likely a degraded knockoff of Sage.
...And that didn't make sense.
Why did it have such a trait?
Tremble tremble.
The shikra kept shivering uncontrollably.
"I confirmed it... It shouldn't work at night..."
How could it use Command Roar right now?
That one ability alone had wrecked our entire plan.
We were supposed to ambush it at its weakest and end things in a flash for any chance of victory.
But if it started at full power like this, plans meant nothing.
We were practically trapped in its trap.
"Hmm... To encounter one like this here."
Moona peered at the cockatrice through the rock crevice.
Despite its overwhelming advantage, it wasn't letting its guard down.
It approached the source of the noise slowly, ready to neutralize any threats.
And at this level, it surely knew the sounds were bait to draw its interest.
"Kikikigik..."
With an unsettling noise, its head swiveled.
Then it stared straight in our direction.
"Not sure if this helps, but I think I know why it overcame the night."
Moona said in a quiet voice.
"Caw."
Moona, bearer of the true Sage trait—incomparable to something like Seeker of Wisdom.
Its advice in a pinch like this could be the key to turning things around.
"A faint aura, but wisdom truly dwells within it."
...Wisdom?
He meant its trait, no doubt.
I couldn't help but marvel at Moona's insight.
It had identified what the thing possessed without even using Crow's Eye.
"Don't be shocked. Or maybe a young creature like you won't be."
"Cackle."
"The sun sets, and the moon rises. Pitch-black darkness envelops the world, with only seeping moonlight and starlight to illuminate us."
Moona's voice was calm and solemn.
Moona had a distinctly masculine timbre.
Who would ever mistake that deep tone for a woman's?
Right now was no different.
Yet strangely, it sounded like a woman's lullaby.
"That is night. But does the sun vanish simply because it's night?"
"Wh-what do you mean? Of course the sun's gone at night... That's why Command Roar..."
"No, the sun does not disappear."
I understood what Moona meant.
I couldn't say for sure how this world's creatures viewed the sun and moon.
But the odds of them grasping modern human knowledge were vanishingly low.
What Clara had said was likely the widespread belief.
Moona was different.
With the Sage trait, it knew the truth:
The sun doesn't vanish when it sets and the moon rises.
I couldn't help but be stunned.
Even a Sage—how did it know that fact?
And apparently, the cockatrice with its Seeker of Wisdom trait had realized it too.
"It stays right there. No—it moves, slowly but surely. But not in a way the naked eye can perceive. Hmm. For such a lowly beast to know that... There are a few inconsistencies."
Lowly beast?
Could you even call that lowly?
"Little wind. It's night now, yet the sun exists plainly. At the same time, the star of Command Roar hangs in the sky. Yes—it grasped that truth and overcame its own limitations."
It was astonishing.
It supposedly couldn't use Command Roar after sunset.
After all, the power's source could be said to stem from the sun.
But even when night fell, the sun didn't cease to exist.
And so the cockatrice facing us now had transcended its limits.
It had conquered the night.
"Cock-a-doodle-doooooo!"
...Such a thing was possible?
"That is why the Eternal Night is a dangerous phenomenon. It enables what ordinary night cannot."
I felt like I'd heard something crucial.
Ordinary night versus Eternal Night.
I wanted to ask about the difference, but there was no time.
The cockatrice flapped its flightless wings and charged straight at us.
It had pinpointed our position exactly.
I'd kept tossing stones and feathers to make noise, but it had found us anyway.
This was bad.
If it had overcome its night weakness, didn't that leave it without any weaknesses at all?
I'd assumed poor night vision, but over time it seemed to have adapted.
No night vision trait in sight—how had it managed?
None of that mattered now.
We had to fight the cockatrice at its strongest.
We couldn't just keep hiding.
"Caaaack!"
I let out a bold crow call.
With a heavy coating of the queen's powder, I shouldn't succumb to its poison right away.
First priority: gauge how its poison and petrification worked.
Shadow Form at the ready, I darted out from beside the rock.
"Cock-a-doodle-doooooo!"
It glared right at me.
But it didn't petrify.
There were several of us.
It must have sensed our presences.
It couldn't spam petrification recklessly, so it'd test my level first.
If it could overpower me in melee, it could conserve its resources.
I held back my feathers and concealed my power.
Hoping it would misjudge me.
Provoking it to charge right in—
"Kiik... kikikigik!"
But it didn't charge.
Unlike its earlier roar, its voice lacked confidence.
Thud.
It even took a step back.
A hesitant expression.
No—that was unmistakably a look of fear.