Chapter 119: The Bigger, The Better
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 119: The Bigger, The Better
I dug my feet into the ground and resisted like a child being dragged to the dentist, but it was futile.
The moment the Snake Queen gave a firm tug, I was plucked right out, left dangling from her hand.
Wait, I’m pretty sure I weigh well over a ton.
How in the world was she lifting me?
I struggled, trying to escape, but then came the question of whether I was curious about what my own tongue looked like.
In other words, if I didn’t listen, she’d shove me into the Basilisk’s mouth.
“Gek…”
I had no choice but to walk quietly.
…On another note, I think it’s about time I changed my cry.
I can’t just keep “gekking” forever.
Didn’t I briefly escape the “gek” when I was a Crocodile Monitor?
Let’s try to recall that memory.
“Keong!”
“Stick to what you were doing.”
“Gekgek…”
Wearing the expression of a sad lizard, I walked to the Snake Queen’s temple.
The path to the temple was completely unobstructed.
There was no revenge from Gaechalgoatal, nor were there any attacks from wild animals.
Then again, what kind of wild animal would dare attack when the Snake Queen and her companion were walking together?
I bowed my head in greeting to the Sword Dragons who were gallantly guarding the temple and went inside.
“Huhu. That Gaechalgoatal fellow. I can just imagine the look on his face.”
I unloaded my baggage—the items I received from Argentavis and the Jian Bird’s inner core—and lay down in the nest.
Today’s incident wasn’t something we had planned, but the outcome was good.
My Gomodo-Lania form had defeated a Jian Bird.
In terms of actual combat power, I was a step below it. No, probably two steps below.
In fact, its speed was so great that my eyes could barely follow it.
Gaechalgoatal must feel wronged.
Seeing as he deployed all three of his subordinates, it must have been his trump card.
Though its effect seemed to have vanished when I escaped, he even used a gourd bottle with an ability worthy of being called a divine artifact.
He vaguely grasped my level-up and tried to block it.
He cornered me with a spirit beast stronger than me and countless other creatures.
It would have been stranger if I hadn't been caught.
“Gekgek.”
Thanks to that, the bird king’s side suffered a tremendous loss.
“The Jian Bird is dead, and the Rakshasa Bird has lost a wing. It’s a shame we couldn’t finish it off, but this should be enough to put significant pressure on them.”
So that stone chunk I saw lying near the lake was the Rakshasa Bird’s wing.
For a bird to lose a wing is a massive injury.
It can’t fly with just one.
A creature like a bird only shows its true worth when flying in the sky.
…Though there are a few that can’t fly.
Moreover, the Rakshasa Bird was fond of using attacks where it launched its feathers.
Its combat power had been definitively weakened.
The bird king, Bifang, and the injured Rakshasa Bird were all they had left.
They might have subordinates like the Terror Birds, but the Snake Queen had plenty of grunts on her side as well.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this raid had tipped the scales of the war.
We had successfully capitalized on Gaechalgoatal’s mistake.
…But why didn’t Gaechalgoatal join the raid himself?
If he knew our location, wouldn’t it have been more efficient for all four spirit beasts to attack together?
It feels like watching a Demon King send his four heavenly kings one by one to help the hero level up.
“Just like before, Gaechalgoatal won’t be able to move recklessly now.”
The Snake Queen probably knew Gaechalgoatal better than anyone.
So, it was highly likely that, as she said, he wouldn’t make a move.
Still, I couldn’t just believe that and let my guard down.
“He, too, will have things to prepare for an all-out war. At the very least, he’ll need to reattach the Rakshasa Bird’s wing and gather his subordinates.”
As expected of the Snake Queen.
Could it be that she let the Rakshasa Bird go on purpose?
In war, the wounded cause a greater loss of combat power than the dead.
A dead soldier is just one person gone, but an injured one requires additional personnel to care for them.
The situation now was the same.
With the Rakshasa Bird needing to recover, the bird king’s side couldn’t move carelessly.
We had to use that time to reinforce our own forces.
Until when?
Until Argentavis had fully recovered.
Since we used the unicorn’s horn, he would recover far faster than the Rakshasa Bird.
Although both the bird king and the Snake Queen had postponed an all-out war to treat their wounded, our forces would assemble first.
A partially recovered Rakshasa Bird versus a fully healed Argentavis.
It was obvious which of the two would be more beneficial to our side.
“Gegegek!”
Our discussion about strategy and plans didn’t last long.
The Snake Queen’s thinking was that it wouldn’t be too late to talk after purifying the Jian Bird’s inner core and absorbing it.
The reason she cut the conversation short was that there was another topic to discuss.
“Enough of that. Now, let us speak of the gift I mentioned earlier.”
She wasn’t holding a knife, but she was a complete robber.
Did I leave a gift in her keeping?
“What is with that triangular face?”
“Gekgek.”
I made my eyes look kind.
“Do you know what I will ask for?”
“Gek?”
I sent her a look of pure innocence.
“…It might hurt a little.”
Huh?
What does that mean?
Why would I be in pain?
“Now, close your eyes.”
Why do I have to close my eyes?
Absolutely not.
I strongly expressed my refusal, but the outcome was already decided.
“Gek…”
I went limp and closed my eyes.
“Uhuhut. What a good boy.”
Gulp.
What on earth is she planning to do?
Although I’m in a lizard’s body, I have a human mind.
Which means I have some sense of what’s going on.
Let’s spin my brilliant brain.
A gift, close your eyes, it will hurt a little.
What could it be?
Just as I was “gekking” and pondering,
“Stay still.”
The Snake Queen’s hand caressed my head.
A gift, close your eyes, it will hurt a little, stay still.
And she’s stroking my head.
Anyone who isn’t an idiot would be able to figure it out.
The Snake Queen’s objective.
Besides, hadn’t that snake’s body been slowly coiling around mine at some point?
“Gegegek!”
She’s dead set on it today.
On finishing me.
“Huhu. How I have waited for this day.”
No.
I can’t lose my precious thing like this.
“It will be over in a moment. Relax.”
The Snake Queen applied pressure.
“Ge-eeeeeek!”
And at the same time, my precious thing was gone.
“Did you think it would end with just one? There are still many more to go.”
“Geek! Gegegegek!”
I resisted with all my might, but the Snake Queen paid me no mind and continued to pluck out my precious things.
“Your scales are truly beautiful.”
Pluck!
No, my Dragon Scales!
And why are you only plucking them from the crown of my head!
*
“Hwaaam…”
The Second-Rate martial artist, Tang Soyeong, yawned.
She stretched once and glanced at the table.
The spiders were there.
“Kioong…”
“Kieeek…”
She thought they were just making their usual “kioong” sounds, but something was different today.
Two spiders were staring blankly into the air.
Tang Soyeong had no idea what they were looking at, but she joined them.
Strangely, the face of that lizard had suddenly popped into her mind.
Gomodo.
Old Death with a Tail.
He was the spirit beast, the Divine Beast, she had met in the 100,000 Great Mountains, and the benefactor who had saved her life.
Moreover, thanks to Gomodo, people from the Five Great Families were now staying at the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
…Though she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
“Hwaaam.”
Tang Soyeong, who had been randomly waving her arms like the spiders, yawned once more.
“…Did I not get enough sleep? I’m suddenly feeling tired.”
Tang Soyeong yawned again and again.
She didn’t know why, but she felt the strength draining from her body.
“Doesn’t Hero Go suddenly come to mind?”
“Kieeeng…”
“What on earth are you looking at? Let me see, too.”
It was clear these spiders were seeing something.
Even on normal days, they would sometimes stare into space and cry “kieeeng.”
But Tang Soyeong could never figure out what they were looking at.
No matter how many times she asked, they only answered with “kieeek.”
Maybe if she acted like the spiders, she would see something too.
Wiggle, wiggle.
For a good while, Tang Soyeong waved her hands limply like the spiders.
After moving her hands like that for several minutes,
Tang Soyeong’s head began to droop.
“Keong…”
She was dozing off, nodding while sitting in her chair.
“Kioong!”
“Kieeeng!”
The two spiders hugged each other and cheered.
“Hyeok? W-what is it?”
Startled, Tang Soyeong joined them without knowing why.
“Kieeeeng!”
“Kioooong!”
“Waaaaah!”
Tus and Pus glanced at Tang Soyeong.
“…W-what? Isn’t this what I’m supposed to be doing?”
“Kiek.”
“Ahem, hem. Actually, this is one of the Tang family’s training methods for sudden noises…”
“Kie-sigh.”
Did it just sigh?
Tang Soyeong decided she must have misheard.
There was no way a spider would sigh.
Especially not while looking at her.
“Hwaaam. Anyway, I’m so tired. Is someone siphoning my internal energy?”
Tang Soyeong had made a rather accurate deduction, but she dismissed her own reasoning as a mere joke.
“I’m not the Priestess of the Demonic Cult, how could something like that be possible? …Still, I am sleepy.”
Nod.
Her head drooped lower and lower.
Just as she was about to fall into a pleasant sleep, drooling from her mouth,
“Kieeeeeek!”
“Kyaak!”
Tang Soyeong shot up in surprise once again.
“W-what’s wrong?”
The Spider Lady.
That is, Nephila Jurassica had woken up from her sleep.
As the one in charge of her physical condition, Tang Soyeong couldn’t help but be anxious about every little reaction.
Nephila Jurassica stood next to Tus and Pus and waved her hands along with them.
“Kioong.”
“Kieeeng.”
“Ing-ing-ya-ing.”
“…What was that cry just now?”
The spiders lightly ignored Tang Soyeong’s words and all stared into the air together.
Tang Soyeong couldn’t see anything, but she just joined in and copied the spiders.
More time passed.
The spiders, who had been hugging each other, were now grinding their teeth.
Tus and Pus slammed their short legs on the desk.
Then, they shifted their gaze from the empty space they had all been staring at.
Pus popped into the house made of her own spider silk.
“…You’re sleeping already? Today’s training isn’t over yet.”
“Kieeek!”
Pus’s short leg slammed what appeared to be the door of the web house shut.
Tang Soyeong was surprised yet again.
Their goal was to match Gomodo’s size.
For that single purpose, these spiders trained relentlessly every day.
But now, as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have, or as if they were angry, they refused to train and went into their house.
“…What in the world did you see? Tell me, too.”
She whined, but Tus and Pus never answered.
“You scared me!”
When Tang Soyeong turned her head, her eyes met Nephila Jurassica’s.
Having grown up seeing all sorts of strange creatures since childhood, she was quite brave.
But Nephila Jurassica’s face was on a level that could startle even her at times.
It wasn’t grotesque, just frighteningly shaped.
Somehow, she looked like she would wrap you up in webs the moment you let your guard down.
“Kiek.”
Seeing her approach so closely, it seemed she had something to say.
Is she here to ask about Metamorphosis?
That’s what Tang Soyeong thought.
“Is there something you wish to say?”
“Kieeeek!”
The communication between Tang Soyeong and Nephila Jurassica began.
It took a little time, but she succeeded in understanding the spider’s meaning to some extent.
She had her own unique ability and was good at communicating with other species to begin with, so it wasn’t a very difficult problem.
As long as they didn’t deliberately refuse to answer like those little spiders, she could communicate with most creatures.
“So, you’re asking if it’s possible to enlarge a specific part during Metamorphosis?”
“Kiek!”
Metamorphosis.
It was a distant concept for Tang Soyeong, who was merely Second-Rate, but a spirit beast’s Metamorphosis was different.
A spirit beast’s Metamorphosis was an evolution of the species itself.
Having been born and raised in the Tang Clan, Tang Soyeong had seen the process countless times and could even induce it herself.
That was why she was training these spiders and treating Nephila Jurassica.
“Hmm… I’m not sure. I’ve never seen a case like yours, Miss Spider, where someone undergoes Metamorphosis and then reverts to their original form.”
Even for her, the current case was extremely rare.
Her upper body had transformed into a human form, but she was forcibly reverted to save her life.
If she were to undergo Metamorphosis again from this state, would she return to the form she had shown before, or could she change into a different one?
It was an interesting topic.
“Still, I think it should be theoretically possible.”
Tang Soyeong smiled warmly.
She must be asking this because she wants to become stronger for Hero Go.
“Kiek!”
Of course, that was just her own thought.
“…What? Your chest? You want to make that bigger?”
What was she talking about?
The being in front of her was, by all accounts, a spider.
It was already a bit strange for a spider to gain a human chest through Metamorphosis, but now she wanted to increase the size of that lump of fat.
“Well. I am an expert, but when it comes to the chest area, I’m not so sure…”
Nephila Jurassica lowered her head.
Then she raised it again and stared intently at Tang Soyeong’s chest.
“…What is it?”
Then Nephila lowered her head again.
“Kek.”
You win.
Was it just Tang Soyeong’s imagination, or did she hear those words?
Nephila had been intimidated by the Snake Queen’s overwhelming internal energy pouches, but thanks to Tang Soyeong’s sacrifice, her mood had improved somewhat.
“A-are you laughing right now?”
“Kikekek.”
Nephila Jurassica mimicked the annoying lizard’s cry.
“…I mean, sure, Hero Go sometimes looks at me with a displeased expression, but that has nothing to do with this, you know?”
It was what happened in the Utahraptor’s cave.
When Gomodo was in Baek Yeon-yeong’s arms, he would purr with satisfaction, but for some reason, when he was next to Tang Soyeong, he would send her disappointed glances.
Tang Soyeong was lost in thought.
Her expression gradually changed.
From Tang Soyeong, the girl of the Tang Clan wistfully recalling her memories with Gomodo, to Tang Soyeong, the martial artist of the Tang Clan who had realized his true nature.
“…No way, was that really the reason?”
And that was why this spider also wanted a large chest.
“I-is he really a Divine Beast?”
A layer of Tang Soyeong’s fantasy about Gomodo had been peeled away.
And on that day, the phrase “The Bigger, The Better” was added to the doctrines of the Gaegaek faith.