Chapter 32: A Difference in Perspective
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 32: A Difference in Perspective
After returning to the nest, I gave Tus and Pus a stern lecture.
"You two, don't you dare cross over there recklessly."
"If they invade, there's nothing I can do."
“Kieeng!”
"Good. You understand, right? Let's be good."
It felt ridiculous, me giving a sermon like this.
Unless they were complete idiots, they wouldn't go over there anyway.
Seeing the Deinonychus and Baryonyx was like running into a wall for the first time in a long while.
Should I call it a chance to reflect on how arrogant I'd become after defeating the caiman?
I just need to get stronger from now on.
First, let's calm my startled heart.
Some sashimi should do the trick.
I headed for the area where the piranhas lived.
Piranhas.
One of my preferred foods. They were plentiful and tasted pretty good.
Back when I was a Green Basilisk, they used to underestimate me and attack in swarms.
But now that I'm bigger, they scurry away the moment I appear.
It's a disgrace to the name 'piranha'.
Piranhas are supposed to be the type to charge recklessly even if they know they'll lose.
But that's fine.
It just makes hunting a bit more of a hassle.
Splash!
I threw my body into the water.
Since they hide underwater, diving like this was a better option than using my Little Dragon's Sky-Soaring Steps.
I swam like a crocodile, my long tail swaying languidly.
Silently, without making a sound.
I spotted a piranha.
A nice, plump one.
No need to be quiet anymore.
Chwaaaak!
Using a burst of acceleration, I rapidly closed in on it.
It tried to react, but it was too late.
The speed generated by the explosive, instantaneous power unique to monitor lizards is nearly impossible to counter.
Fwump!
After catching the piranha, I immediately tossed it onto the shore.
I bit it with just enough force that it wouldn't die, but it wouldn't be able to move either.
This way, it'll still be breathing when I get it back to the nest, so we can eat it fresh.
And if Tus and Pus finish it off, they might even level up.
I wonder if they have any idea how much I think about them.
Raising kids is so hard.
Splash!
I caught three more piranhas just like that.
This should be enough.
After getting out of the water, I shook the water off my body.
Tudadat!
As expected, a waterspout formed in a corner of the swamp again.
Kuguuuuu.
A giant piranha glaring at me from a distance. No, a single koi carp.
Every time I caught piranhas, it would appear from somewhere and protest like that.
I'm not sure if it's a warning or what.
It was an eyesore, so I tried to catch it a few times, but it wasn't easy.
It didn't seem that strong, but its ability to escape was on a whole different level from a normal piranha.
To exaggerate a little, for a fish, it flew through the sky.
I wonder if this is how other bugs felt watching my Little Dragon's Sky-Soaring Steps.
It wasn't directly harming me, and I had no good way to catch it, so I decided to just ignore it.
Kuguuuuu.
Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving. I'm going.
After returning to the nest and finishing the meal with the spiders, night had fallen before I knew it.
Pus crept up beside me and shyly showed me the web she had spun today.
Is she asking for praise?
“Gek gek.”
I raised a hand and gently scratched her back.
The size difference between us is so great now that controlling my strength has become very difficult.
“Kieeng!”
Aren't you guys scared of me?
…And stop sticking your butt out. I don't know what you're expecting, but I'm definitely not doing it.
“Kieng….”
Pus crawled to a corner of the nest, looking disappointed.
She lay down next to Tus, who was already fast asleep, and began to doze off, breathing softly.
Another day ends without any major incidents.
Seeing the upper part of the swamp was an event, I guess, but it was still a peaceful day like any other.
Time to get some shut-eye.
I can't tell you how convenient it is to be able to close my eyes now.
I let out a big yawn and curled up to sleep.
And at that moment, I heard a loud noise.
“Grrrr….”
The kids are sleeping, who's making all that noise?
Abolish noisy neighbors.
That was the first thing I did after becoming the master of this swamp.
The noisy turtles and toads have already been turned into jerky.
Only the golden-hued leader and its subordinates survived, in exchange for keeping their mouths shut.
Even the flying carp is quiet at night. What fearless bastard is being so loud?
It's been a while since I've had to show my bad side.
Thump.
I walked toward the swamp.
To identify the one making all the noise.
“…How is it?”
Wait, that sound?
It's a person. A human voice.
It wasn't the first time I'd met people here, but it was still surprising.
What business brings them all the way out here?
Whatever it is, getting involved doesn't seem like a good idea.
An eccentric like Baek Yeon-yeong might be different, but ordinary humans would be hostile to me.
I should slip away quietly. Stealthily.
Just as I was about to back away.
“…H-Heok!”
I made eye contact with someone.
Thud.
On top of that, a small person bumped into me.
Those people were now fully aware of my existence.
Can't be helped. Time for Plan B.
First, I'll smile as harmlessly as possible.
Hello, humans.
Looks like you're a little hurt.
I don't have any way to treat you….
Should I lick your wounds or something?
I looked at them with a worried expression.
*
The eight Third-Rate martial artists had been reduced to five.
They had been hunted by the Deinonychus.
Still, they were martial artists, so they had somehow managed to avoid being completely wiped out.
“A Divine Beast using a formation. How bizarre…!”
The Bloody Lion shook his head in disbelief.
Each one of them was powerful on its own, yet they mimicked and used a battle formation.
Their roles reversed, they were mercilessly hunted.
Still, five of them. Including the young lady of the Tang Clan, six had survived.
“Still, we should be glad we're alive. Don't you agree, Bloody Lion?”
“Hmph, whatever.”
They hadn't survived by defeating the Divine Beasts.
They had barely escaped by abandoning three of their own.
And Tang Soyeong had played a large part in their survival.
Even if she had no combat power, she was still a member of the Tang Clan.
She had set off a smoke bomb she carried, allowing them to escape.
Even so, the deaths of three martial artists had been unavoidable.
“We're doomed… We lost Hero Dal, too… Sob...”
Tang Soyeong started crying again.
Honestly, the sound was annoying, but they owed her their lives.
Her personality was a bit strange, but they figured it would be beneficial in many ways to treat her well.
“Young lady. Do not worry too much. The Bloody Lion and I are martial artists on the verge of the Second-Rate realm. You could call us mature Third-rates.”
Tang Soyeong turned her head to look at Jang Bong. Then she turned it back.
“Hic... Th-There are so many s-strange people... They don't even seem embarrassed....”
Jang Bong, looking awkward, cleared his throat a couple of times.
The Bloody Lion interjected.
“Agh, enough! Whatever the case, we have to survive here, don't we? We need to find a safe place and get some food.”
“You're right. But I don't know what we can find in a swamp like this.”
A swamp.
It was an unfamiliar and treacherous terrain for Third-Rate martial artists.
“We'll find something. Fish, or maybe even some crawling square snakes.”
“First, let's find shelter and food.”
“It would be even better if we could find some medicinal herbs to treat the wounds we got from those Divine Beasts.”
And so, they began to explore the swampland.
“…It's quiet.”
“It's night, of course it's quiet.”
The swamp was too quiet.
As if someone was controlling all the creatures.
Just then, a strange creature caught Jang Bong's eye.
“…Wait. Th-That is?”
It was a giant turtle with a strange golden sheen on its shell.
“Heok! The, the Golden Turtle?”
It was the Golden Turtle, said to be a legendary Divine Beast.
The Bloody Lion didn't believe Jang Bong.
“Golden Turtle? What nonsense. You must have seen wrong in the dark.”
Just as he was about to tell him not to make a fuss, something golden entered his vision as well.
It was a giant toad.
“H-Heok! The, the Golden Frog!”
Screams erupted at almost the same time.
The other Third-Rate martial artists also ran to where the Bloody Lion and Jang Bong were.
What they saw was a giant Divine Beast emitting a golden glow.
“Th-Th-That's!”
Guoooo.
A giant koi carp, creating a small waterspout, stared at them.
“The, the, the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari!”
The swamp descended into chaos.
“Catch it!”
The martial artists' eyes were colored with greed.
“Let go! I saw it first!”
“Y-You're just Th-Third-Rate martial artists, even if you eat it, i-it won't have any effect! I-I should study it instead....”
Even Tang Soyeong, who had been crying, got excited at the sight of the Golden Frog and jumped in.
It wasn't as valuable as a Jinjo, but the Golden Frog was still one of the Divine Beasts highly prized by the Tang Clan.
The martial artists scrambled over each other to capture the Divine Beasts.
But there was no way mere Third-Rate martial artists could catch a Divine Beast.
“Kuaaak! How is a turtle so fast!”
“M-My hand! Something's wrong with my hand!”
“Even for a Divine Beast, how can a carp fly through the sky!”
The moon hung high in the sky.
They were, quite literally, performing gymnastics under the moonlight.
“Gasp... Pant...”
The Divine Beasts did not fall into their hands.
The exhausted martial artists gasped for breath and took a short rest.
“Pant... They're... damn fast.”
“Still, with so many Divine Beasts here, I think we can catch them if we take our time.”
“How about we set up camp right here? If we corner them one by one, even a Divine Beast will eventually be caught.”
They hadn't found any food, but the existence of the Divine Beasts became a strong motivation for them.
The 100,000 Great Mountains were like a land of opportunity to them.
“If... if I can just catch the Golden Frog... I might be forgiven for losing Hero Dal....”
Huhehe.
Tang Soyeong let out a strange laugh.
Even while everyone else was resting, she was squatting down, searching for the Golden Frog.
“Young lady. Stop that and come here. It's getting....”
It was the moment Jang Bong approached her.
His steps halted.
Clang.
“H-Heok!”
He dropped the sword he was holding.
Tang Soyeong, ignoring Jang Bong's reaction, kept moving forward.
Thud.
And in that moment, she bumped into something.
Tang Soyeong looked up.
The full moon, hanging forlornly in the sky.
A teal beast obscuring the moon.
Virulently poisonous saliva dripping from its mouth.
“Grrrr….”
A low growl, as if it were displeased.
Tang Soyeong froze on the spot.
“H-Hieeeek!”
The Bloody Lion and Jang Bong thought they had to save Tang Soyeong, but their bodies wouldn't move.
That hard armor and those sharp claws.
The blue eyes.
The long tail.
The ferocious cry.
“Hwaaaaaak!”
A powerful internal energy that even a Third-Rate martial artist could feel.
“I-It's a dragon! A dragon has appeared!”
It was a monster that lacked nothing to be called a dragon.