Chapter 148
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Flying Snail
“Groooaaar!”
A roar utterly unlike any snail's, from a beast whose size alone defied belief—yet its form was unmistakably that of a snail.
“Cawww!”
I spread my wings wide, trying to intimidate it.
I figured that even something like this had to be a snail at heart, so showing it its natural predator—a bird—might make it flinch.
“Groooaa?”
The snail pulled a face like it had no idea what I was playing at.
“Caw...”
Yeah, no way my size could scare it.
That thing was dozens of times bigger than me!
Would a whale even notice a seagull squawking and swooping around it?
It'd just see me as some fly buzzing by.
This was pretty much the same situation, except I was getting the short end of the stick.
“Groooaaar!”
Because this one was out for blood.
It bellowed a dragon's roar at me—a puny snack it could devour without a second thought.
When it was massacring the others in the mist, it never even glanced my way. But now that I'd entered this space, it clearly hated my guts.
Or maybe...
It retained all the traits of a snail.
What’s a snail’s weakness?
Salt, plain and simple.
A sprinkle, and osmosis wreaks havoc, dealing fatal damage.
And wouldn't you know it—I had some salt chunks on me right now.
Handy for cooking or trading as makeshift currency, so I'd picked up every lump I spotted.
Picked up, meaning I'd rifled through adventurers' pouches at Gretel's cabin and the Tin Ruins.
Of course, salt alone wouldn't take this thing down.
What good is a pinch against a whale-sized snail?
It'd be like dabbing antiseptic on a wound—stings, but that's it.
...Or maybe total annihilation?
“Groooargh!”
I glared at the snail.
It looked just like one, but with a key difference.
Those ten tentacles sprouting from its slimy body—that was the big one.
Unlike a handless, footless snail, this had full-on limbs, ten of them.
Krunch!
And clutched in those tentacles: a rabbit and card soldiers, one apiece.
Well, former rabbit and cards, more like.
Just like my memories of Cheshire had faded, so too had theirs grown dim.
I barely had any shared history with them anyway, but the fleeting impressions and feelings were slipping away.
Crunch.
And the fainter they got, the stronger the snail's presence swelled.
It devoured others' memories, turning them into its own power.
“Craaaaaaw!”
It bellowed in a voice thick with fury.
I hadn't done a thing, but this thing had missed out on Cheshire Cat—a prime cut of prey.
A level 40 foe; absorbing her would’ve made it way stronger than it was now.
Losing that, plus wasting the power of her leftover slime? No wonder it was pissed.
Or maybe it just wanted to gobble me up instead—something stronger than Cheshire.
Visual scouting was enough.
[Command Roar LV1] activated.
“Cooockleooo!”
I let out a chicken's cry as I unleashed Command Roar.
Rumble!
Command Roar boosted all my abilities across the board.
That included my size, of course—so I ballooned into a house-sized crow in no time.
Still a huge gap, but this played to my strengths while patching my weaknesses.
“Caw!”
I used one of the gems Swungswung gave me.
[Night Summoning LV1] activated.
I marked my territory and called forth twilight.
[Twilight descends.]
In an instant, my feathers took on twilight hues.
Couldn't let it touch me, so long-range assault it was.
That's why I'd bulked up with Command Roar.
Normal feather size wouldn't dent it.
But scaled up like this, my feathers became real weapons.
Like upgrading from a dagger to a shortsword.
Whiiiiiish!
I unleashed a barrage of feathers.
Crackaboom!
Splinter!
Its shell shrugged off my steel-hard feathers like nothing.
But that soft flesh underneath?
Sploosh!
“Graaarar!”
...Yeah, that too.
The slime coating its body soaked up most of the damage.
The snail stared at me.
“Grooo, groooargh!”
Come on, do it again.
Clear as day—that taunt.
I wasn't some gullible crow to fall for it.
“Chrr... chrrrrr?”
The snail's cry shifted.
Its face almost looked like it was smirking.
“Chrrrrr! Chull?”
“Cawww!”
You're no snail.
I fired another volley of feathers.
Thudthudthud!
It smirked triumphantly again.
Thinking its taunt had burned my stamina for nothing.
I smirked back.
Its game was obvious, and it thought I'd actually taken the bait? Hilarious.
Its shell and body could tank my feathers.
Thousands wouldn't make a dent.
Yet it taunted anyway.
Why? Because it wasn't tanking perfectly.
Actual damage? Near zero.
But that was the slime's doing—so strip it away, and my feathers would shred it.
No other reason to bait out my ammo.
It wanted my dangerous resource gone first.
Half my smile was for that insight.
The other half? The black flames hurtling amid the feathers.
Fwoosh!
Hundreds of feathers.
And three shadow flames nestled between.
No way it'd expect this trick.
Especially not with feathers blinding its view.
Crackaboom!
Shell deflected again.
Sploosh!
Slime body too.
Feathers' power nerfed, damage negligible.
Fwoosh.
Until the black flames ignited.
Fwwoooosh!
“Graaaaaaargh!”
The shadow flames devoured the slime, bulking up as they went.
This wasn't normal snail slime.
It was a predatory organ, devouring memories on contact.
Flames that burned the impure and magical—plus my beak.
Great matchup against this thing.
Fwwoooosh!
Shadow Flame grew, torching the slime nonstop.
It screamed in agony, swinging tentacles to smash me.
Slaaash!
One hit, and I'd be combat ineffective.
But I wasn't standing still.
Pumpkin-orange and yellow feathers lit up together.
Glow.
And flash.
Glow blinded it as flash teleported me away in a blink.
Thoom!
Its tentacle barrage smashed a massive tree instead—big whiff.
Not just evasion.
I'd repositioned and blinded it.
Meaning? It had no clue where I was.
Perfect for a blindside strike.
Boom!
Boooom!
As it flailed wildly to find me, I triggered Twilight Feather.
Whiiiiiish!
Barrage after barrage had left no mark before.
Now? Different story.
Shadow Flame had slimed the slime away.
All that remained: soft, slick flesh.
Spluuuurt!
Blue blood sprayed everywhere.
Each feather now packed a knight's full strike.
Taking that barrage nonstop? No way it walked away fine.
“Graaaaaaw!”
Yet it clung to life.
Or was it more than that?
Its ferocious aura surged higher.
Too damn huge for fatal wounds.
Fwoosh...
Shadow Flame fizzled out too.
“Caw... graaaaaaw!”
Its defenses too tough?
No.
Nothing left to burn.
Slosh.
No suspicious slime coated its body anymore.
My flames had torched most, but it'd ejected the rest itself.
Quick on the uptake—figured out what Shadow Flame targeted.
No ordinary foe.
If I weren't me, most would've suffered hard against its cunning brain.
That bulk, raw power, and smarts? Total bullshit enemy.
To me, though? Just a big snail.
“Caw!”
I’d scratched its ironclad body.
Forced it to shed its slime—its ace defense was gone.
Flying meant its melee swings were no threat, and I was way faster.
Straight win from here.
Wondering what loot this giant would drop, I lined up a follow-up.
“Graaaaaaw!”
The snail bellowed again.
And then—the unbelievable happened.
Whiiiiiish!
Only its massive shell remained on the ground.
A shredded wreck from endless feather strikes.
Had it ditched the shell to flee?
No.
That speed was too much even for my eyes—but I caught what it did.
Hummmm.
A colossal shadow blotted the sky.
A white-bearded whale-sized slug.
It planned to crush me under its mass.
Wait—snails can fly?!