Chapter 141: Clang!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 141: Clang!
Twenty-four legs ravaged my body without mercy.
“Gekek… Gekek!”
I was tightly bound in spiderwebs.
Only then did I understand the meaning of that sculpture.
It had been a rehearsal.
A tactic designed for Gomodo, for the day I would eventually return.
“Gekekek!”
I’m a divine beast, and you’re my followers!
I let out the dignified cry of a divine beast, but they didn’t even pretend to listen.
I pushed them away with all my might, but they each took what they wanted.
Tus took my tail.
Pus placed my hand on her rear.
And Nephila…
“Gekekekek!”
It tickles!
As if she never tired, Nephila Jurassica broke through my defenses and kept pushing forward.
“Kieeeek!”
The dignity of a divine beast was long gone.
The priestess herself was leading this shameless act.
Who would think of me as a divine beast now?
I was just a tiny lizard.
Nothing more than a small lizard being mercilessly ravaged by spiders.
“Gekekekek!”
I cried out, trying to lower the spiders' attack power by one rank, but the effect was minimal.
Was there truly no one to save me?
At this rate, I would be… by the spiders…
“That is enough.”
“Gek!”
I felt my faith in the Yeon-yeong Cult soaring.
At Baek Yeon-yeong's single command, the spiders began to politely withdraw.
Tus cut the webs with her fangs, and Pus helped me up.
“Kiieng.”
Nephila bowed respectfully to Baek Yeon-yeong.
…Was it just my imagination, or did she look like a daughter-in-law seeing her mother-in-law?
You guys aren't this well-behaved.
And why did Baek Yeon-yeong only stop them now?
If she’d been a moment later, I feel like I would have been eaten alive, in more ways than one.
“He must have come to his senses by now.”
What’s that supposed to mean?
What did I do wrong?
“Geeek…”
I let out a displeased "geek."
“It seems you haven't come to your senses yet. In that case…”
“Gekekek! Gekek!”
Cancel, cancel!
I’ve come to my senses!
Baek Yeon-yeong gave a slight nod, and the spiders retreated, maintaining their polite demeanor.
“Gekekek…”
How humiliating.
If only my body were its normal size, I wouldn't have suffered such an indignity.
I have to return to my original body as soon as possible.
And to do that, the help of the skilled physician, Tang Soyeong, was essential.
“Wake up.”
And Tang Soyeong was currently on that bed…
“Uungh…”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Because I saw what Tang Soyeong had done.
If I were to venture a prophecy, I'd say Tang Soyeong won't be able to return to the Tang Clan even after she finishes treating Nephila.
She'll either work here for the rest of her life or be buried in the 100,000 Great Mountains without a trace.
…You should have kept your hands to yourself.
“Uungh… Hero Go… The poison pouch…”
Tang Soyeong tossed and turned on the bed, talking in her sleep.
The spiders had been chattering noisily through the night, so she had only just fallen asleep.
Though, it was also partly because Tang Soyeong had joined in on their chatter.
Their words were different, but their meaning got across.
Besides, the spiders, who grew cleverer by the day, would sometimes communicate by drawing pictures with their webs.
As she slept, Tang Soyeong caught a familiar scent.
It was a scent she missed.
The smell of the swamp.
A heavy, thick scent.
She was about to get up to find the source of the smell, but decided to go back to sleep.
After all, the Sleep Demon isn't so easily shaken off.
This was especially true for Tang Soyeong, who could eat her fill of delicious food and lie down with a warm back here.
“…Wake up.”
“Uungh…”
Someone was waking her.
Thinking it was the spiders waking her up to bother her, Tang Soyeong swatted her hands around.
“What are you doing?”
“Just a little longer…”
I’ll get up, I’ll get up, but I just want to sleep a little longer.
With that thought, she continued to wave her hands about until something soft was caught in her grasp.
Squish.
Squeeze.
It was a pleasant sensation.
It somehow felt like something she herself lacked.
“I wondered who Hui was taking after.”
Hui.
It was a name she missed.
It was the name of the black lizard Tang Soyeong called Hero Go.
At the same time, a question arose in her mind.
Even she couldn't understand the spiders' voices.
Then what was that sound she had just heard?
Moreover, the texture of what she was touching was something that could never come from a spider.
Tang Soyeong slowly opened her eyes.
What she saw was the Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“Kyaaaaak!”
Tang Soyeong leaped up in shock.
“I-It's not what it looks like…”
Baek Yeon-yeong stood still, but Tang Soyeong began to ramble, making excuses.
“I-I have committed a crime worthy of death…!”
“It's fine. It's natural to be sleepy when you're tired.”
Tang Soyeong was moved by her generosity, which was as vast as an internal energy pouch.
Having spent a long time here, she had realized the Cult Leader wasn't as scary as she had thought.
But still, she couldn't shake off the fear ingrained in her.
Besides, even if Baek Yeon-yeong wasn't part of the Demonic Cult, touching someone's chest—especially a master's—was a grave discourtesy. It was a situation where any punishment would have been understandable.
Tang Soyeong replied, trembling.
“Th-Thank…”
Just when she thought it was over, the lizard that had climbed onto Baek Yeon-yeong's shoulder glared at her with its triangular face.
Smack!
As if to say that while Baek Yeon-yeong might forgive her, he would not, he smacked Tang Soyeong's wrist with his tail.
“Ngh? Wh-What is it? This tiny little…”
Baek Yeon-yeong smiled faintly at the lizard.
“Examine his condition.”
Only then did Tang Soyeong realize why Baek Yeon-yeong had come to see her.
That lizard was no ordinary lizard.
It probably had some kind of problem with its body.
And she had been instructed to take care of it, as she was a guest who could also act as a physician.
“Y-Yes, ma'am!”
Tang Soyeong bustled about.
Baek Yeon-yeong watched her for a moment, then placed the lizard from her shoulder onto the floor.
“I have matters to attend to, so I will be leaving.”
“Yes, ma'am! Please take care!”
Tang Soyeong replied in a voice tight with discipline, bowing so low her head nearly touched her knees.
Baek Yeon-yeong didn't quite understand the meaning of the gesture, but she assumed it was just a way of showing respect.
And with that, Baek Yeon-yeong left the building.
Tang Soyeong's bustling movements came to a halt.
“Uungh… Was it a dream…?”
The moment the Cult Leader was gone, Tang Soyeong dove right back into bed.
To have done such a thing to the Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and still be alive—it must have been a dream.
Therefore, she stretched out on the bed to catch up on her much-needed sleep.
However, there was one who was there to tell her it was all real.
“Gekgek.”
It was the black lizard, crying "gekgek."
“…That's right.”
Tang Soyeong finally remembered her duty.
Incredibly, what she had done was real, and Baek Yeon-yeong had let it slide with her immense generosity.
So, what was there to do?
The only thing Tang Soyeong could do was her best on the task she had been given.
Tang Soyeong reached out her hand to the black lizard.
She had never seen this lizard before, but something about it felt familiar.
“Hello there. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
Sensing an aura that suggested it was a spirit beast, she chose to slowly befriend the lizard.
“Gekek.”
As if understanding her intentions, the lizard obediently climbed onto her hand.
“Hehe. You're so cute.”
Examining a spirit beast was always a joyful task.
And looking at such a cute spirit beast was something she could do forever without getting bored.
She examined the black lizard from all angles.
Its scales were hard, but its belly was soft and tender, which was quite addictive to touch.
Plus, fiddling with its tiny feet was another source of fun.
Seeing that it didn't try to bite no matter how much she touched it, she could tell it had a very gentle personality.
“If only the lizard I know was this well-behaved…”
Gomodo, who somehow seemed to dislike her embrace.
One of Tang Soyeong's wishes was to be able to touch Gomodo's body all over.
“Gekgek.”
The lizard's face grew longer and longer.
“…Huh?”
Tang Soyeong observed the black lizard once more.
Something was familiar.
The melancholic blue eyes.
A face that, for a lizard, could only be described as handsome.
Scales like a dragon's.
It was a face she knew.
“…H-Hero Go?”
“Gekek!”
“Kyak!”
Tang Soyeong dropped the lizard she was holding.
Gomodo landed naturally on the floor.
“Is that really you, Hero Go?”
“Gekekek!”
It was certain.
As far as Tang Soyeong knew, the only lizard that made that kind of cry was Gomodo.
“Why have you gotten so small?”
The Gomodo she remembered was large enough to carry her on his back.
But what about now?
Wasn't he about the same size as the shed skin on the spiders' altar?
“Oh my god, so that shed skin really was yours, Hero Go…”
“Gekgek.”
The black lizard seemed to be urging her to get on with her work.
His shrunken size was probably a temporary phenomenon.
That must be why she was asked to examine him.
In other words, this was her only chance to see such a tiny Gomodo.
Tang Soyeong's brilliant mind began to spin rapidly.
“…Gek?”
Gomodo spread his arms and became wary.
Tang Soyeong's expression was unusual.
It was the kind of look a cat gets right before it pounces to play.
Moreover, her hands were wriggling with impure intent.
Gomodo figured out her intentions.
She planned to touch his shrunken body all over.
“Illuwat!”
It was exactly as he'd expected.
Tang Soyeong thought that in his current state, she could handle Gomodo however she pleased.
She could satisfy her desires and, while she was at it, collect any loose scales.
Ambition colored her face.
But there was one thing Tang Soyeong had misunderstood.
Paaat!
“Huh? Where did he…”
The black lizard was the successor to Little Dragon.
Pabat!
“Kya, kyaak!”
Even with his small body, he possessed the strength to take down most beasts.
“H-Hero Go!”
Gomodo-Lania Style.
“That was just a joke!”
Soaring Little Dragon Strike.
“Kyaaaak! You've gotten smaller, so why…!”
Swaaak!
“I-It feels like there's emotion in your tail…”
The resentment from his ordeal with the spiders gathered in Gomodo's long tail.
And Gomodo's tail shot toward the crown of Tang Soyeong's ambition-filled head.
Clang!
And so, Tang Soyeong's small, ambition-fueled rebellion came to an end.