Chapter 60: This one wwwww gives body and soul for a single tail wwwwwww
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 60: This one wwwww gives body and soul for a single tail wwwwwww
Snake-shaped stone statues, clearly man-made, stared at me with their mouths agape.
It was so obvious. Even a fool would know something was about to shoot out of those mouths.
Thwip!
Iron arrows shot out all at once.
Painfully obvious.
Fwoom.
At the same time, flames passed over my head.
Now this was a pretty decent trap.
Dodge the arrows by jumping, and you'd get burned. Avoid the flames, and you'd be skewered.
They'd put some thought into it. An intruder with no prior knowledge would probably be driven off by this trap alone.
But it wouldn't work on me.
I knew the perfect counter.
Do nothing.
Clink! Clank!
The iron arrows failed to pierce my scales and bounced right off.
They weren't called Dragon Scales for nothing.
“Hieeek!”
[【Ball Python LV14】's faith has increased.]
Of course, if those arrows had been in perfect condition, I might have taken some damage.
But the arrows were in poor condition. It was obvious they hadn't been maintained in a long time, as they were covered in rust.
Had they been wooden, they would have rotted away completely. Being iron was likely the only reason they still held their shape.
Regardless, they couldn't pierce my body.
Even the firing mechanism itself was barely functional. I gave one of the statues a light push, and it teetered before toppling over.
Crash!
“Hiek!”
The startled Swish-Swish jumped.
And just like that, I was past the entrance trap.
A little farther in, the path split in two.
A fork in the road.
This wasn't a problem my physical abilities could solve.
Python.
I'm counting on you.
“Swish!”
The python raised its head stiffly and pointed to the left.
That way?
The python nodded.
Then, it tilted its head straight up.
Swish-Swish struck a strange pose.
It had to be trying to tell me something. I didn't even need the status window for this one.
It had to mean 'watch out above'.
I activated Sprint again.
I needed to get through this section quickly.
Just as I was speeding up with the Little Dragon's Sky-Ascending Steps...
Clunk!
I heard the sound of machinery whirring to life.
Something was about to drop from the ceiling.
A familiar scent filled the air—savory, yet with a fishy undertone.
...Oil!
I had to dodge this, no matter what.
Using Gecko Wall-Walking Art, I ran along the wall to accelerate.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
No matter how tough I was, getting doused in boiling oil would turn me into a fried lizard, plain and simple.
Fwump!
At the last second, I pushed off with my legs, leaping through the air and barely clearing the trap's range.
Phew...
The moment I was out, the oil came pouring down.
Thud!
...Thud?
Why was there a thud?
I turned to look back at the path. Oil had fallen, all right.
But it wasn't boiling oil. It was oil so cold it had solidified into a solid block.
...Seriously, how long had it been since anyone maintained this place?
Various other traps awaited me.
Most of them didn't even activate, and the few that did were far from lethal.
One trap that looked like it was supposed to launch a log only managed to fling the frayed rope that had once held it.
“Ssssk!”
Finally, a somewhat threatening trap activated.
A swarm of venomous insects—millipedes, centipedes, scorpions, and more—scurried toward me.
There must have been something to eat in here, because they had somehow managed to stay alive.
Skritch!
The bugs mercilessly attacked my body.
“Hieeek!”
The startled python tried desperately to pull off the insects crawling on my underside.
How admirable.
As expected of my number three.
She's much more useful than Tang Soyeong.
But she really didn't have to.
There was no way they could pierce my Dragon Scales.
And even if they bit an unprotected spot, my All-Poison Immunity meant their venom was useless against me.
I slowly took stock of the insects.
Centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, bees.
No spiders.
That meant I could wipe them all out without a second thought.
The bugs were crawling up my body.
If I took my time, the python might get bitten.
Time to deal with this.
Flying Dragon's Lightning Flash.
Cra-crack!
I whipped my hind leg around at blinding speed. The insects clinging to it were sent flying, and those crawling toward me were smashed to bits.
Now that I'd shaken them off, it was time to deal with the rest.
I gathered immense power in my leg.
A slow, yet unavoidable strike.
Descending Dragon Tremor.
KRA-KOOM!
The shockwave engulfed the insect army, wiping them all out.
“Hieeek!”
[【Ball Python LV14】 respects you.]
It was nothing.
...Still, isn't this a little too easy?
The dangerous traps didn't even work, and the ones that did couldn't hurt me at all.
It was so easy, it felt like a training ground set up just for me.
Is this why Baek Yeon-yeong sent me here? So I could claim this fortuitous encounter easily and safely?
If a 'Yeon-yeong Cult' exists, I should join right away.
I worship you, Yeon-yeong.
...That's what I felt, but I couldn't actually do it.
After all, I was the object of worship for four creatures of my own.
Then again, getting here wasn't exactly easy.
Finding this temple in the first place had been the real challenge.
If I hadn't managed to sweet-talk this chubby snake, I never would have found it.
I probably would've seen the Sword Dragon wandering about, gotten scared, and fled.
Even if someone else had found this place, an ordinary lizard would have died from the rusty arrows at the entrance.
I continued past the traps and eventually entered a new area, completely different from the narrow corridors.
It was an open space, like a courtyard.
Light filtered in through a crack in the ceiling, and nameless weeds grew tall on the ground.
And here, too, a snake statue was waiting for me. The only difference was that this one's mouth was closed.
It was a vast, open space.
This was probably the heart of the temple.
Something had to be hidden here.
“Swish-Swish!”
The python stiffened its neck, gesturing for me to go to the center.
I did as the python suggested and headed for the center.
There, I found a stone structure covered in unreadable Chinese characters. The only one I could recognize was, once again, the character for 'heaven.'
But what I was looking for wasn't here.
There had to be some complex mechanism that my lizard brain couldn't figure out.
I glanced at the python.
Swish-Swish tilted its head.
It slithered forward and climbed onto the center of the structure.
It knew something!
Alright.
My little cutie, I'm counting on you.
The python opened its mouth wide.
Maybe because it was a snake, its jaw unhinged far wider than I expected.
Creeak.
...That's... really wide.
Creeeeak.
“Chirp!”
With a sound like a baby chick, a white beam shot from the little one's mouth.
BOOM!
...You can do that?
Isn't that the same thing the Human-faced Bird shot?
A Destruction Ray?
Of course, the scale was different from the Human-faced Bird's, but the similarity was undeniable.
The Human-faced Bird was a creature of myth, so anything it did was believable. Shooting a destruction ray from its mouth? Sure, why not.
But the cute little thing in front of me was a snake.
A Ball Python, a species that actually exists in the real world.
And a beam of light just shot out of its mouth?
While I was pondering the identity of this cute-faced snake, thud... thump.
Something fell in front of me.
【Mid-Low Grade Inner Core】
【Low Grade Inner Core】
【Mid Grade Inner Core】
They were inner cores.
The grades were a bit low, but there were several of them.
Besides, Mid Grade wasn't that bad, even if it was a little disappointing.
Who cared what this snake's true identity was?
She was a lucky charm, a genuine bundle of luck.
[【Ball Python LV14】 is proud.]
I gently stroked the python's head.
The little lucky charm wriggled its body, clearly pleased.
I felt like my own tail was about to start wagging.
Three inner cores in one go!
I was about to swallow the inner cores I'd gotten thanks to my lucky charm, but I hesitated.
I'd gotten three of them; was it really okay for me to eat them all?
“Gegegek.”
Want a bite?
“Swish!”
The lucky charm shook its head and snuggled against me.
Her chubby little body seemed especially lovely today.
It definitely wasn't because I was seeing things through inner-core-tinted glasses.
Gulp.
I swallowed the three inner cores in one go.
Internal energy began to churn within me.
Rumble...
Normally, one should avoid consuming multiple inner cores at once, as their energies could clash.
But I was no ordinary lizard.
I was an elixir-thieving lizard who had even devoured Gongcheongseokyu.
Three cores of Mid Grade or lower were nothing.
I'd just store them in my stomach for now and absorb the energy later.
“Swish!”
The python rubbed its head against my leg, wagging its tail like a puppy.
“Gegegek.”
By the way, Lucky Charm.
Is there anything else?
A certain shameless lizard, having already received three inner cores, still felt it wasn't enough.
“Hiek...”
The python's eyes darted around nervously as it sized me up.
So there was more.
[【Ball Python LV14】 hesitates.]
Come on. There's no need for that between us.
[【Ball Python LV14】 is restless.]
The lucky charm glanced at my face before quickly lowering its head.
Three inner cores were great, but I couldn't believe this was all there was.
This was the place Baek Yeon-yeong had said held a great opportunity for me.
There had to be something on par with the Gongcheongseokyu, at the very least.
“Hieeek...”
[【Ball Python LV14】 says that this, at least, is not okay.]
Should I give its butt a little pat?
The spiders liked that...
...but would it work on a snake?
I wasn't even sure where a snake's butt was.
Tsk, what to do...
She was so close to giving in...
The Ball Python kept its head lowered, desperately avoiding my gaze.
It was probably weighing its options, wondering if it was really a good idea to hand over the family jewels to some wicked lizard it had just met.
I had no choice but to play my trump card.
‘Tail Sever.’
Shlick!
It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but the females around me loved my tail.
Not just the spiders, but even Tang Soyeong and Baek Yeon-yeong. This plump tail of mine had to possess some kind of unseen magical charm.
Now that I was a spirit beast, my tail must have gained some mystical properties.
How else could I explain why both spiders and humans were so fond of it?
There was a good chance this snake would like it, too.
The thought of selling my body for an elixir was a bit concerning, but did the process really matter?
I offered the severed tail to the python, who was still staring at the floor.
“Hieeek!”
The python jumped in surprise.
It glanced back and forth between me and the tail, then abruptly fainted.
“Hiek!”
It shot right back up and gently coiled its body around the tail I'd offered.
Its round eyes stared at me for a long moment.
“Hieeek...”
The python lowered its head, as if embarrassed.
A message appeared in the status window.
[【Ball Python LV14】 declares it will give you the elixir, as well as its body and soul.]
Yes!
...Huh?
[The Snake Queen is enraged by your despicable act.]
Not yes.
No, that's not what I meant.
I wasn't asking for its body and soul.
[The Snake Queen is extremely curious to see your face.]