Chapter 69: Gogadurisu
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 69: Gogadurisu
I roamed the jungle with a pounding heart.
The weather was hot and humid.
But for a reptile, it could be considered quite pleasant.
Moving on four feet felt a little awkward.
That was because I had insisted on walking on two feet due to my martial arts, starting with the Soaring Dragon Ascension Steps.
But walking on all fours has its clear advantages.
Now that I've become a Gomodo, it would be a good idea to make use of the advantages of four feet.
It wasn't as if I couldn't use martial arts at all just because I was walking on four legs.
Right now, I am a lizard.
You might ask if I wasn't always one, but I mean I intend to maximize my lizard-like abilities.
The Komodo dragon's sense of smell is known to be incredible.
It's said they can track the scent of blood from a target they've bitten, even if it flees to the other side of the island.
I am a being called Gomodo, a creature that has transcended the Komodo.
Gomodo Style, Third Form.
Flicking the Tongue.
Shweek.
Swaaaaaa.
I sensed smells from all over, all at once.
So having a good sense of smell didn't mean I could distinguish between everything.
Various scents mixed together in a jumble.
But it wasn't entirely fruitless.
Even if I wasn't used to smelling such a wide range of scents, there was one that was impossible to miss.
A coppery scent.
The smell of blood.
The smell of blood didn't guarantee a Cockatrice was nearby, but the chances were higher here than in an area without it.
Sasasasak.
Stealthily, and quickly.
I ran toward the source of the blood scent.
Of course, the smell of blood was coming from more than one or two places.
There was blood shed by dinosaurs fighting over territory, and the carcasses of poor dinosaurs that had become someone's meal. There was even a Utahraptor that had just hunted its prey and was about to fill its stomach.
I don't know what spooked it, but it saw me and scurried away, so I had no choice but to pick up the meat it left behind.
Leaving food behind is a grave sin, after all.
It couldn't be helped.
As I continued to track the scent of blood, I came across a somewhat unusual trace.
Feathers scattered everywhere.
And a cleanly sliced Terror Bird.
It looked as if it had been cut by a sharp sword.
Was it cut by a human with a sword?
I couldn't be sure.
After all, Sword Dragons roamed this place.
It could have been struck by a Stegosaurus's tail.
But it was still strange.
Looking at the pile of branches, it seemed like someone had tried to start a fire.
Hmm.
Very suspicious.
My lizard instincts were telling me.
There's something nearby.
“Cock-a-doodle-dooooooo!”
The cry of a rooster from the distance.
Unless a chicken was insane, there's no way it would announce its presence like this in a jungle teeming with dinosaurs.
This was no ordinary chicken.
No matter how I looked at it, that was a Cockatrice.
Should I go back to the Snake Queen now?
No, this wasn't enough.
It could really be a crazy chicken, or the creature could be on the move.
I had to at least find its nest.
“Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!”
Fortunately, the creature kept on shouting.
Alright.
Let's get a little closer.
Susasasak.
It was then, as I moved toward the source of the sound.
“Hk... Sob...”
I heard the sound of someone sobbing.
“Primordial Heavenly Venerable, Primordial Heavenly Venerable...”
A human voice.
A man's, at that.
I didn't think I needed to pay him any mind.
He didn't seem to be the child of some noble house.
If I had time later, I'd just send him on his way.
“O, O Gomodo... Hahh...”
The man muttered the name Gomodo.
Was it a coincidence?
He hadn't seen me yet.
It didn't seem like he said it after seeing me, so how did he know about Gomodo?
And why was he looking for a Gomodo in this situation?
Considering he was muttering about the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, he might just be praying to all the spiritual beings he knew as a last resort.
And he was praying to the very spiritual Divine Beast, Gomodo, as well.
I wasn't particularly interested, but should I check on his condition?
I could hear the Cockatrice's cry, but it still seemed pretty far away, so I should have some time.
“Gekgegek.”
As I made that sound and walked slowly forward, my eyes met the man's.
“H-Huuup!”
He seemed frightened.
Still, the way he was covering his mouth with his hands to muffle the sound meant he could still assess the situation.
“Gasp... N-No way...”
Do not be afraid.
...Wait a minute.
This guy looked somewhat familiar.
A face with no distinct features.
An ordinary body.
I felt like I'd seen him somewhere before.
“Grrrr...”
That's right, the swamp.
I saw him once back when I was still a Crocodile Monitor.
He was the guy who dropped a pretty nice-looking sword and ran away.
I put the sword to good use.
Used it as a grill plate and to catch a Dilophosaurus.
...Just don't ask me where it is now.
“G-G-Gomodo?”
To think he recognized me as a Gomodo just by looking at me.
Was the Gomodo a famous Divine Beast?
No matter how I looked at him, this guy didn't seem to be from the Tang Clan.
“P-Please save me...”
What's with this guy?
I may look like this, but the Gomodo is a kind animal that has never harmed a human.
He didn't seem injured on the outside, so he should be able to walk just fine after a little rest.
“Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!”
If it weren't for that sound in the distance, that is.
“Grrrrk...”
I gestured to the man with my eyes.
Telling him to run away quickly.
If he stayed here and got spotted by the Cockatrice, it would be a pain in many ways.
My plan to sneak in would be ruined.
The man quickly got to his feet.
“H-Hey!”
The man called out to me.
Wondering what it was, I turned my head.
“I know this is a shameless request... B-But there's someone else over there who's been turned to stone... P-Please, help them...”
Turned to stone.
So the source of that cry really was a Cockatrice.
Thanks for the information, but you want me to help?
Are you asking me to fight a Cockatrice?
To be honest, I didn't have a very good impression of the humans I met in the swamp.
‘I'm not sure either. Why did they push me?’
They had pushed Tang Soyeong aside and fled.
Of course, the man in front of me wasn't the one who did the pushing.
But a group of burly men kicked a slender woman and used that chance to escape? It was impossible to think well of them.
“Grrrr...”
If it had been any other dinosaur and not a kind lizard like me, Tang Soyeong would have died right there.
‘Well, who can understand the minds of the Bio-Great Noble Clansmen?’
Of course, Tang Soyeong had said it so cheerfully, it seemed like she didn't hold any grudges.
If not, she was probably planning to get her revenge quietly, the Tang Clan way.
In my opinion, it wasn't just the person who pushed Tang Soyeong who was at fault, but everyone else who was there.
At least one of them should have helped her up.
Or offered up the person who pushed her as a sacrifice instead.
...Of course, it's not like I'm the kind of lizard who covets sacrifices.
For that reason, I didn't like the man in front of me.
I was only showing him a little favor because I'd made good use of the sword he dropped, and because I didn't want to see someone die right in front of me.
“Please... Please... Not again because of me...”
The man fell to his knees, crying.
“O, great Gomodo... I will atone for the rest of my life... Please...”
It seemed this man truly thought of me as a mythical creature.
The kind of being that grants wishes without any effort.
What was it my master said?
She said that no one in their right mind would talk to a lizard.
Delirium brought on by fear.
That must be his state.
If I wasted any more time, the Cockatrice would find this place.
Biting him by the scruff of his neck and tossing him far away would be my final act of consideration.
“...I've lived my whole life as a coward.”
Words spoken in such a situation.
“This time, too, I heard there was a chance to make it big, and I just thought I'd tag along for the ride.”
It was a cliché story.
A retrospective on his life.
“Failing to save Lady Tang... Being nothing but a hindrance to Hero Baek... I regret it all so much.”
A last-minute repentance.
But it was a meaningless act.
His apology now could never reach Tang Soyeong, nor the person called Hero Baek.
“Please... Please... Save Hero Baek... O, great Gomodo...”
I could understand him making such a request, mistaking me for a Divine Beast.
He must have thought I was a spiritual being that appeared in a dramatic moment.
But there are requests one can grant and requests one cannot.
Asking me to save someone I've never even met?
And risk my life to do it?
Where in the world is there such a foolish act?
Even if I defeated the Cockatrice, there was no proof the petrification would be undone.
There was no benefit, and no reason to do it.
I haven't read many martial arts novels.
I like their unique sensibility, but there were many parts I couldn't understand.
I couldn't understand why a protagonist with martial prowess would try to practice chivalry.
Why on earth would they do something like that?
Wouldn't it be better to just ignore it and take what's profitable?
I couldn't understand the protagonist's actions, raiding a bandit fortress over a single bowl of bland porridge.
It was so inefficient.
But.
What would Baek Yeon-yeong have done?
A member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
A religious group called by the derogatory name 'Demonic Cult', one that might even be evil.
Would she have just pretended not to see, simply because she didn't like that man?
No.
The master I know would never do that.
Just as she reached out her hand to me, she would do something terribly inefficient, with a nonchalant air.
“Grrrrrrrrr...”
Chwarararak.
The form of my Dragon Scales changed.
Into a dragon's form, optimized for combat.
It's not like I had some grand sense of duty.
Nor did I think well of that man.
This was an inefficient thing to do.
I might regret this.
Why did I do this?
I should have just ignored him and gone back to the Snake Queen.
I might end up thinking that.
And yet, I didn't stop.
Because the chivalry I knew was an extremely inefficient thing.
“Kraaaaaa!”
I roared at the Cockatrice.
Susasasak.
Pabababat!
I charged straight ahead, and so did it.
Chwaaaak!
I burst through the undergrowth and rushed toward the creature.
【Cockatrice LV45】
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【Cockatrice】
A monster that is a combination of a bird and a snake.
It is an imaginary animal said to be born when an egg laid by a rooster is incubated by a venomous creature.
A monster often identified with the Basilisk, it wields the power of petrification, which turns its opponents to stone.
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