Chapter 120: Head-butting Lizard, Deploy!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 120: Head-butting Lizard, Deploy!
My heart is empty.
Something I'd taken for granted is gone.
The void it left behind is immense.
It feels as if a gaping hole has been bored right through my head.
When was the last time I felt such a profound sense of loss?
“Geek…”
I let out the cry of a sad lizard.
So smooth.
“Geeeek…”
So shiny.
It was time to discard the name Gomodo.
From now on, I am not Gomodo, but Mumodo (無毛屠).
The Hairless Death.
Of course, it's not like a lizard has hair to begin with.
What I’d lost were my precious black scales.
And not just a few—every single one on my head had been plucked out.
“Kkyek…”
Perhaps this was the backlash for learning the Shaolin’s Dragon’s Claws.
I’d become a head-butting lizard.
Whether she knew how I felt or not, the Snake Queen gazed at the plucked scales with a satisfied smile.
“Ufufut. This should be more than enough.”
Strangely enough, not a single drop of blood had been shed, despite her pulling out so many scales.
If there had been blood, I would've rolled around pathetically to try and earn some pity.
…No, that’s not right.
Pity from the evil Snake Queen who did this to my head and is now smiling about it?
As if that would ever work.
“Gegegek!”
I let out a furious cry.
Seriously, if you needed scales, couldn't you have taken them from somewhere else?
My tail grows back, so you could have just asked me to cut it off.
Granted, the scales on my tail are weaker than the ones on the rest of my body.
That's because I need to be able to sever it, and it's naturally thinner toward the tip.
Even so, plucking only the scales from the top of my head is just too cruel.
You could have at least taken a few from my chest!
“A gift from my companion. I shall cherish it for a lifetime.”
There was no wind inside the temple, but the top of my head felt chilly.
“Gek…”
Pouting, I turned my back to the Snake Queen.
I went to a corner of the nest and curled up into a ball, using my tail to cover the top of my head.
“Swish-Swish.”
Swish-Swish came wiggling toward me, hissing softly.
Usually, she would have screeched and given the Snake Queen a piece of her mind for tormenting me. Why was she so quiet this time?
“Swish…”
As Swish-Swish crept closer, I spotted a familiar black scale wedged between hers.
It was one of the small scales from the top of my head.
“…Swish.”
I see.
She’d taken a bribe from the Snake Queen to keep her mouth shut.
“Gegek.”
How could you?
Swish-Swish seemed to know she was in the wrong, cautiously glancing at me.
But I didn't have the energy to scold her.
Swish-Swish sidled up to me.
She then climbed up my leg and settled onto my neck.
“Piiik?”
Swish-Swish suddenly let out a questioning cry.
I couldn't see her well since she was on the back of my neck, but I could feel her plump body stretching out long and thin.
Just like a cobra flaring its hood.
“Hieeek!”
Swish-Swish shrieked.
She had finally seen it.
The disastrous truth.
That’s right, Swish-Swish.
The Gomodo you once knew is gone.
From now on, call me the head-butting lizard.
After a long, stunned silence, Swish-Swish wriggled her way onto the top of my head.
“Hieeek…”
She let out another disbelieving cry.
Now you see your mistake, don't you?
This is your punishment for being blinded by a single Dragon Scale and failing to stop the Snake Queen.
The cool Gomodo you admired is gone.
There is only Mumo now.
…Of course, they’ll grow back with time.
I'm sure they'll even fill in if I level up.
But in the meantime, I have to live as a bald lizard.
“Hiek…”
Swish-Swish coiled up on my smooth, bare head.
Was she trying to be my hair? No, my scales?
How thoughtful of her.
I suppose I can forgive you.
Lick.
I felt something wet.
Lick.
What are you doing?
Sliiurp.
She was licking my bare, bald head with her long tongue.
I was used to Swish-Swish licking me.
But this was the first time her tongue had made contact with my smooth, bare head.
Sluuurp.
To make matters worse, the pace of her licking was awkwardly slow, making it incredibly unnerving.
What do you expect to get out of licking my head?
“Ppyaek…”
Swish-Swish glanced at me, checking my reaction.
…Come to think of it, didn't her saliva have healing properties?
That's why she bit me when we first met, restoring a bit of my HP.
So, she must be licking my head furiously to try and make the scales grow back.
Lick.
Right, you just keep doing that.
“My companion. You look displeased.”
The Snake Queen had appeared beside me at some point.
Of course I'm displeased.
You're the one who ripped out all my scales.
“Do you know why I took your scales?”
That's what I'd like to know.
I'm curious myself.
My scales are tough, but they're nothing compared to the Snake Queen's.
The Rakshasa Bird's feather attack, for instance.
It was sharp and powerful enough to pierce my scales.
Yet the Snake Queen blocked it without a scratch.
Her immense size was a factor, of course, but it also meant the fundamental durability of her scales was far superior to mine.
To her, my scales should be little more than ornaments.
I wondered what her real reason was for taking so many.
Was she planning to make a suit of armor for Swish-Swish?
They'd be useless to the Snake Queen, but they would be a huge help to Swish-Swish.
They could be considered Dragon Scales, after all. Possessing them might have a positive effect on her.
Like a seahorse that evolves into a dragon when traded while holding a Dragon Scale.
I'd welcome giving my scales to Swish-Swish.
But the Snake Queen clearly said it was a gift for herself.
One of the Jian Bird's inner cores was for Swish-Swish.
And my scales were for the Snake Queen.
I could tell she wasn't planning to give them to Swish-Swish and had another purpose in mind.
“To be honest, I was planning to ask for one of your tails as a parting gift.”
“Gegek!”
“I needed your scales. But since you said you wouldn't be leaving, I opted for other scales instead of your tail.”
No, seriously, you can just take the tail!
I wonder if it's too late to stick those scales back on.
“The reason I wanted your scales was to catch the Gaechalgoatal.”
Catch the King of Birds... with my scales?
Does Gomodo-Lania, the slayer of countless birds, possess a power so great that even the King of Birds would fear it?
I'm starting to scare myself.
“Hmm… I'm not sure what you're imagining, but I suppose it's better to just show you.”
The Snake Queen took out the item she had received from Argentavis.
It was the object that had been wrapped in cloth, which I hadn't been able to see clearly before.
Inside was a single, enormous feather.
It had been rolled up, so I'd assumed it was just a feather from Argentavis, but once she unfurled it completely, I realized it was no ordinary size.
It was so long that one or two Swish-Swishes wouldn't be enough to measure it.
“Do you know what this is?”
How would I know?
With a little exaggeration, that single feather was as long as my entire body.
“This is the feather of the Golden Winged Great Peng.”
The Golden Winged Great Peng.
I'd heard the name before.
“I have never seen one myself. It is a creature of legend, even among the spiritual beasts.”
The Golden Winged Great Peng is also known as the Garuda.
In some legends, it's even treated as a deity.
“It's not even certain that they exist. This feather might not actually be from one.”
But I suppose it wouldn't matter if it wasn't.
Any creature with a feather this large would have to be immensely powerful, Golden Winged Great Peng or not.
Still, even if it is... what can be done with a single feather?
“I am going to forge this into a weapon.”
That was an answer I never expected.
She's making a weapon out of this giant feather.
If the main ingredient is the feather of a Golden Winged Great Peng, then the secondary ingredients are my scales.
…Is that really okay?
Am I worthy of being included?
Well, I am a Divine Beast, so I guess that puts me on the same level as a Divine Bird.
“Gekgek.”
I had no idea.
The Snake Queen must have had her reasons for choosing my scales.
She couldn't have plucked them just for the sake of making me bald... right?
But a weapon?
Perhaps it's symbolic.
There's no way the Snake Queen would wield a weapon personally.
“The weapon I will make is a sword. A greatsword, one large enough for me to wield.”
“Gek?”
What in the world was she saying?
She was going to make a sword that she would use herself?
“Ah, did I not mention it?”
The Snake Queen picked up the Golden Winged Great Peng's feather from the ground.
“I was originally a swordsman.”
A swordsman?
She wielded a sword with that body?
Wait, so she shoots a destruction beam from her mouth, inflicts poison and petrification with her eyes, and swings a sword?
That's absurd.
Besides, that feather was far too large to be used as a sword.
The Snake Queen lifted it without much trouble, but swinging it would be another matter entirely.
No, maybe she plans to shrink it during the forging process?
That would make sense.
“Hmm… The size is a bit lacking, but I suppose this is the best I can do for now.”
What was that supposed to mean?
That she could handle something even bigger?
In her human form, she wouldn't be able to wield a weapon of that size.
She has more than enough strength, but her structure is wrong.
Even if she could swing it, it would be extremely inefficient.
Unless it's the Snake Queen's true form, that size…
…Wait a minute.
Could it be?
The Snake Queen levitated the feather slightly, then grasped the hilt-end with the tip of her tail.
“Well, if I think of it as a dagger, it's not entirely unusable.”
The 'swordsman' the Snake Queen had called herself.
I finally understood what she meant.
She wasn't a swordsman. She was a sword-snake.
So, our dear Snake Queen intended to tear across the battlefield, firing destruction beams from her mouth, spraying poison and petrification from her eyes, crushing enemies with her massive body, and swinging a sword with her tail.
…
I was so glad she was on my side. If she were my enemy, I would've rolled over and exposed my belly in surrender on the spot.
“Kkyekkkyek.”
“What is it now? That cute little sound.”
I widened my eyes as much as I could.
“Why the sudden innocent look?”
I obediently plucked out the few remaining Dragon Scales on my head.
“Hiek…”
That sound just now didn't come from Swish-Swish. It came from the Snake Queen's new sword: Gomodo-Lania.