Chapter 95: Preparing for a Counterattack
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: Preparing for a Counterattack
Swish-Swish is cute.
It’s not that my aesthetic sense has gone weird after turning into a lizard; I’m sure anyone would find her objectively cute.
Just look at that round snout, unthinkable for a snake, and those eyes reminiscent of a puppy.
Her cries were closer to a puppy’s or a chick’s than a snake’s.
Her tail was plump, and even the way she’d flip onto her back to play dead looked endearing.
That’s what Swish-Swish was to me.
Like a puppy waiting for you at the end of a long, hard day.
So what was this situation?
That cute puppy had turned into a wolf.
“Ppiyak!”
Swish-Swish chirped, flicking her tongue.
“Gekgek!”
Let go, you brat.
I know I’m small right now, but still.
I’m a Divine Beast, and you’re my follower.
“Gek!”
But Swish-Swish didn’t even pretend to listen.
She just kept flicking her tongue, licking the top of my head.
“Geeeek!”
Why are you licking my head?
It feels weird.
It seemed less like she was trying to eat me and more like she was trying to tickle me.
What does she gain from tickling me?
Whatever it was, nothing good would come from letting this continue.
I’d figured out Swish-Swish’s strength a long time ago.
If I used just enough force not to hurt her, I should be able to escape.
Crrrack.
…Huh?
I couldn’t escape.
That little rascal, Swish-Swish.
Her constriction was much stronger than I thought.
Her uniquely cool and smooth snake body pressed down on me.
As her sleek, moist body rubbed all over me, my strength drained away.
Wait, was Swish-Swish always this strong?
Thinking it over, I found the answer.
It was because of the faith.
Followers of the Gaegaek Faith share a portion of my power.
In other words, as I reached the Peak Realm, Swish-Swish had also grown stronger.
And since I was currently miniaturized, my own strength was naturally reduced.
So, an absurd situation had occurred where, despite me being the one who got stronger, Swish-Swish was now stronger than me.
Hey, I’m the one who leveled up. Is this even fair?
“Gekgek!”
I let out a cry of injustice.
If this was going to happen, I would’ve joined another faith. Something like the Baek Yeon-yeong Faith, and lived a life of luxury.
…No.
Let’s think positively.
The stronger Swish-Swish became, the greater the returns for me.
Considering I get the experience points and divinity she earns, it might be a decent trade-off.
And I was only feeling this relative sense of deprivation because I was miniaturized. If I had made myself just a little bigger, there’s no way Swish-Swish could have caught me.
I would have celebrated her growth with a happy heart.
But positive thinking is one thing.
Now, can you please let me go!
“Gekgek!”
Swish-Swish rubbed her face all over mine.
In her own way, she was probably showing affection, but it was a bit much for me.
It might be different if I deactivated my miniaturization, but at this size, it was a bit…
It reminded me of when I was running from Nephila Jurassica.
After being assaulted by Swish-Swish for a while and letting out a stream of “gekgeks,” the Snake Queen came over and lifted her up.
“Ppiyak!”
Swish-Swish bit furiously at the Snake Queen’s hand, as if telling her to back off.
Thanks to that, I was finally able to escape.
Making myself too small isn’t always a good thing.
Fwoosh.
I adjusted the degree of miniaturization, returning to the size of a Gomodo.
This was probably the best size.
Even this was a miniaturized state, so the strategy of using the backlash was still valid. Plus, I could move comfortably, and my basic physical specs weren’t bad.
Gomodo is the best.
“Hieeek…”
Swish-Swish, who had been busy biting the Snake Queen’s finger, let out a shriek when she saw my size change.
Too late, Swish-Swish.
See if I ever make myself smaller than you again.
Leaving behind a lip-smacking Swish-Swish, who looked disappointed, I let out a gekgek toward the Snake Queen.
“Gekgek!”
“You’re not dancing on your way back, I see.”
“Ge-ek!”
“A jest, it was a jest.”
The Snake Queen approached me, one hand engaged in a fierce battle with Swish-Swish.
“Hmm. You’ve certainly changed a great deal. It’s not just the miniaturization. The way you handle internal energy has changed dramatically. I thought you would have learned that fellow’s mental cultivation method, but you’ve created one of your own.”
The Snake Queen noticed my changes immediately.
Judging by how she referred to Compy as “that fellow,” it seemed she really didn’t think of him as her father.
Or maybe she was just saying it that way on purpose.
Whatever the case, there had to be a reason they lived apart.
I held the stone slate Compy had given me in my mouth.
“Hoh. What is that?”
A letter for you.
“Gekgek.”
“…That old man, he never changes. Did he really write this for me to read?”
I didn’t know what those characters were, but it looked like terrible handwriting.
Even as the Snake Queen said this, she didn’t seem displeased.
She took the slate from me with both hands and slowly read its contents.
“How sentimental. Look who’s worrying about whom.”
She pretended to be disgusted, but she didn’t look upset.
Then, as she continued to read the slate, her expression hardened in an instant.
“Gaechalgoatal. He continues to cross the line.”
It seemed old man Compy had also recorded what had happened to me.
Waaah.
Snake Queen.
The Megatherium hit me.
I wanted to whine like that, but I had already finished off the Megatherium myself.
The problem was solved.
But the Snake Queen seemed to think differently.
“I must pull it out by the roots.”
Pull it out by the roots.
Didn’t that mean she was going to take down the King of Birds?
“Gekgek…?”
Hey, you don’t have to make a decision like that because of me.
I already took care of the Megatherium, anyway.
“To ignore my warning and covet what is mine.”
The Snake Queen’s black hair shot up toward the sky.
Rumble…
The entire temple shook.
“Hieeek…!”
Swish-Swish, who had been diligently biting her finger, fled for her life.
It was as if she had just witnessed her mother’s ultimate wrath.
The place Swish-Swish fled to was my front leg.
“Hiek…”
She wrapped her body around my leg once and hissed, as if she finally felt safe.
It seems you trust me.
But I want to run away too.
I don’t have what it takes to stop your mother when she’s this angry.
“I will make him pay dearly for touching what is mine.”
So cool.
I think I’m falling for you, Snake Queen.
“Hiek…”
Swish-Swish subtly nibbled on my scales.
Snap out of it!
That’s probably what she was trying to say.
“Gekgek!”
I stood in front of the Snake Queen and waved my hands limply.
I was grateful that she was angry on my behalf, but this didn’t seem like a matter to be decided so impulsively.
“…Are you worried about me?”
The Snake Queen stared at me.
She was strong.
Very strong.
But there had to be a reason she and the King of Birds had been in a stalemate for so long.
Facing the King of Birds was a dangerous affair, even for the Snake Queen.
“He touched a being I have declared as mine. How can I possibly stand still?”
“Gek…”
She had a point.
Even if it was just on paper, I was the Snake Queen’s companion.
The King of Birds knew that and still tried to kill me.
If she didn’t respond, the Snake Queen would be in a difficult position.
“I wish to wring his neck this instant. …But that would be difficult to achieve in reality.”
The Snake Queen was not the type to act on momentary emotions.
She was a cold reptile.
Just like this tail wrapped around my body.
…Huh?
When did she wrap it around me!
“He and I are in a position where we keep each other in check. Therefore, we cannot move carelessly. I cannot strike him directly.”
I understood.
There was a reason they had been forced to share this jungle for so long.
“Thus, steadily reducing his forces would be the best method for now.”
Wear down the enemy’s forces, and when she judged that she had an overwhelming advantage, she would eliminate the King of Birds herself.
It was a very wise strategy.
“Are you ready?”
Of course.
…Huh?
Did she just ask if I was ready?
The Snake Queen and the King of Birds kept each other in check.
That meant the Snake Queen couldn’t move directly.
In that situation, for the Human-faced Bird’s forces to be reduced, someone other than the Snake Queen had to make a move.
…Me again?
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be the kind of wicked wife who would work her one and only companion to the bone.
She told me she wouldn’t ask anything unreasonable of me.
She said she would recruit a third party and use them to wage war against the King of Birds.
It would be nice if I helped out along the way.
As long as the reward was reasonable, it wouldn’t be bad for me to jump in myself.
But I was the Snake Queen’s companion.
If I were to get captured, the tide of the war would turn strange.
The best I could do was probably avoid overly dangerous missions and just focus on reducing the number of Terror Birds.
“Still, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn about his forces.”
This I welcomed.
The more information, the better.
“Gaechalgoatal has a total of three spirit beasts with him.”
Three spirit beasts?
“It was four when Gogadurisu betrayed me, but now it’s back down to three.”
That meant there were three enemies at least on par with a Cockatrice, and possibly even stronger.
“Bifang, the Rakshasa Bird, and the Jian Bird. Those three. In a way, you could also say there are four.”
I almost let out a gek of surprise.
Weren’t those all famous names?
“Bifang is a creature that looks like a large crane. It has only one leg, but it wields flames that all beasts fear, so if you encounter it, do not think of fighting. Flee.”
If the Cockatrice’s weapon was petrification, Bifang’s was flame.
…In that case, it might be manageable.
I could wield the cold energy of the Snow Ginseng, and my dragon scales had a resistance to fire.
If I ran into it later, it might not be a bad idea to assess the situation before attacking, rather than just retreating blindly.
“The Rakshasa Bird is also a formidable foe. Its basic combat power is high, but it is a master of transformation. It can not only change its appearance but also copy some of its target’s abilities.”
The Rakshasa Bird.
A monstrous bird said to transform into a human to hunt people.
A transformation technique that could even copy abilities was an incredible skill.
If it transformed into one of the long-necked dinosaurs roaming in the distance and simply stomped its feet, it could cause devastating damage.
Let’s just avoid this one.
It would be dangerous if it ambushed me while disguised as a weaker creature, but I had my Wild Eye.
I might even be able to turn the tables on it.
“The last is the Jian Bird. This one is difficult to evaluate. I have only seen it a few times myself. It is a peculiar being that is one, yet two, and two, yet one. …It seems to resemble you more than a bird.”
The Jian Bird.
It refers to a bird with only one wing, one eye, and one leg.
It didn’t seem to have any special abilities.
Other than the fact that two Jian Birds stick together, it wasn’t much different from a normal bird.
Should I consider it the least dangerous one?
Still, the fact that it was grouped with the other two told me it was an opponent I couldn’t afford to underestimate.
The fact that she said it resembled me must mean it has some incredible hidden potential.
She couldn’t have meant our faces looked alike.
“Looking at it this way, you might think the enemy has the advantage.”
“Gekgek.”
That was certainly true.
They had three more spirit beasts on their side.
In contrast, our side had only the Snake Queen.
There were a few Sword Dragons roaming around the temple, but there was no denying they were in a different league compared to spirit beasts.
“There’s a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“Gek?”
“Gaechalgoatal’s conduct is not very good. He has committed numerous atrocities in this jungle to seize control of the sky.”
The minions of the Human-faced Bird had something in common.
With the exception of the parrots, they were all flightless birds.
The Terror Birds were like that, and so was the Cockatrice.
It’s not that he had no flying minions at all.
“The Aryong with wings. They and the King of Birds are on very bad terms.”
When I first encountered the Human-faced Bird, a Pteranodon had attacked it.
The pterosaurs of the jungle hated the King of Birds who had usurped their power.
This was likely the reason why the Human-faced Bird had no visible flying minions.
The moment they took to the sky, they would be attacked by the pterosaurs.
“I will make them my allies.”
“Gekgek!”
Recruiting them would certainly be a great help.
They were a precious force capable of aerial combat.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that one crucial piece was missing.
“Of course, they alone will not be enough to guarantee victory.”
The gap between a Pteranodon and the Human-faced Bird was overwhelming.
It would be difficult for an ordinary pterosaur to defeat a spirit beast.
“To face a spirit beast, our side needs to match its class.”
The Snake Queen briefly looked up at the sky.
There was nothing above the open ceiling.
“Before Gaechalgoatal seized hegemony of the sky, there was another being called the King of Birds.”
The Human-faced Bird wasn’t born a king.
He either inherited the title or usurped the throne.
From what the Snake Queen was saying, it sounded more like the latter.
“Arugantabisu.”
Arugantabisu!
The name itself sounded extraordinary.
….
Wait a minute.
Don’t tell me… it’s an Argentavis?
That monstrous bird with a wingspan of over seven meters?
“The former King of Birds. That one would be more than enough to handle a spirit beast.”