15
Chapter 15
The screams of the Slow Stone stopped.
Did I get it?
I focused my senses.
I could feel its Mana signature calming down.
I got it.
The Slow Stone had definitely breathed its last.
There was no frantic struggle or violent shaking of the rock during the process.
It merely screamed until it died.
I slowly crawled my way to the highest point of the Slow Stone.
After reaching the summit.
I stood up and raised one arm high into the sky in a victory pose.
I won!
I hunted a level 21 monster all by myself!
I defeated a Superior rank monster!
Heck yeah! I am the strongest Teddy Bear!
A Superior is nothing special!
The surrounding breeze felt even more refreshing.
A thrilling sensation washed over my entire body.
The taste of victory is truly electrifying.
[[Flame Manipulation] skill level has increased.]
Right as I achieved this glorious victory.
A notification popped up saying my Flame Manipulation skill level had increased.
It was probably because I used the skill to defeat such a powerful monster.
[Flame Manipulation lv.2]
What changed with the skill leveling up?
There was no specific explanation, but I could immediately grasp the differences.
The firepower had noticeably intensified.
The Mana required to use the skill had decreased.
I could control the flames a bit more freely than before.
I still was not at the level where I could make heart shapes like Jjokkomi, though.
But is there no achievement unlocked?
Aside from the skill Level Up, no other notifications appeared.
It seemed the He Who Annihilated a Higher Species achievement could not be earned multiple times.
They could have at least given me a different achievement.
Especially since I took down such a strong monster.
Swallowing my disappointment, I poked and prodded the cold, dead body of the Slow Stone.
It is hard.
Even in death, it had not lost its rock-like properties.
If anything, it felt even harder than before.
Was it because the corpse had stiffened?
I do not think I can dismantle it like this.
I wriggled around to change my position.
I returned to where its hole was located.
I pressed around the hole with my hands as well.
Squish squish.
Oh, this part became very soft.
This area used to be hard before it died.
I opened my mouth wide.
Chomp- I immediately bit into the hole.
Even this fake inanimate object must have blood.
Since the hole has a pinkish tint to it.
Slurp slurp slurp.
I started sucking its blood.
[[Bloodsucking lv.1] skill is activated.]
Hmm.
Fortunately, it was not completely devoid of blood.
Bloodsucking was happening through my fangs.
However, there was one problem.
Is it not coming out way too slowly?
The amount of blood being drawn was far too little.
Was it because of its unique internal body structure?
Pop-!
I pulled my fangs out of the hole.
It seemed like I could not do Bloodsucking properly from this area.
It can not be helped.
I have no choice but to go inside its body.
I need to find the Mana Stone anyway.
First, I should expand the hole.
Since it is impossible to squeeze through such a small hole.
Heave!
I used all my strength to open the hole.
Then the hole began to widen, little by little.
It seemed possible because it was a particularly soft spot, plus the fact that it was dead.
Grrrgh! Haaaah!
The hole expansion work continued for a while.
***
The hole was expanded to a suitable size.
It was big enough for someone my size to somehow squeeze through.
Now, shall I go in?
Swoosh-!
I shoved my head into the hole first.
Next.
I pulled my body with my front paws,
and pushed my body with my hind paws.
Repeating that motion, I crammed myself into the Slow Stone's body.
After some time had passed like that.
Plop-!
After struggling, I slid out of the hole on the opposite side.
I successfully entered the inside of the Slow Stone.
Safe infiltration successful!
Having fallen flat on my face from the hole, I quickly got up.
First, I looked behind me.
I could see the hole I had just come out of.
The hole, which had been quite wide, was slowly shrinking.
The only passage had narrowed again.
Well, I can just expand it again when I leave.
I turned my head back.
And slowly looked around the inside of the Slow Stone's body.
Wow. What a rare sight.
Organs with shapes I had never seen before filled my vision.
They were all in different shapes, resembling alien creatures from a movie.
The inside was not completely burned black.
The organs were just roasted to a golden brown.
There are even some that look like grilled intestines.
I decided to pack that up and eat it later.
I like intestines, you see.
I did not feel any particular repulsion at this sight.
Probably because I was born as a monster.
Anyway.
First, shall I slurp up some blood?
I lay flat on the floor.
I pierced the floor with my fangs.
[[Bloodsucking lv.1] skill is activated.]
Hmm.......
It does not draw well here either.
I stood up.
I moved to another spot and bit into a different area.
[[Bloodsucking lv.1] skill is activated.]
It is the same here.
The blood was being absorbed little by little.
I changed locations again.
[[Bloodsucking lv.1] skill is activated.]
It is the same here too.
I moved again.
[[Bloodsucking lv.1] skill is activated.]
[[Bloodsucking lv.1] skill is activated.]
[[Bloodsucking lv.1] skill is activated.]
.
.
.
.
.
.
[[Bloodsucking lv.1] skill is activated.]
I moved around dozens of times.
No matter which part I sucked on, it was all the same.
Even when I used the Bloodsucking skill, only a tiny amount of blood was absorbed.
I realized it too late.
This Slow Stone... was a monster with very little blood flowing through its body, huh?
The amount of blood is just way too little.
Because of this, the Bloodsucking skill could not function properly.
The function that converts ordinary blood into Mana worked fine, but the function that concentrates the evenly spread Mana into the blood was not working right.
Well, it does not matter much.
It will take a little time, but I just need to eat all the organs.
Then I can completely absorb the evenly spread Mana.
Let's not use the cooking skill.
Because turning it into food makes the Mana almost disappear.
I cannot waste precious Mana.
Unless prey is abundant, it is usually better to cook and eat only prey that the Bloodsucking skill works properly on.
So, shall we begin the real feast?
When I finish eating and go out, I should make it a Boxwood grave.
I took a bite of a small organ closest to me.
Trickle.
A black liquid flowed out.
It was not blood.
Because I could not use the Bloodsucking skill on it.
It was probably a special liquid that made up the Slow Stone's organs.
I did not bother swallowing this liquid.
Because it contained no Mana.
I only chewed and ate the solid parts that contained Mana.
Munch munch.
Smack smack.
Nom nom.
Gulp.
Wait a minute.
But hey, since it is cooked with fire, shouldn't it taste okay?
You never know.
I temporarily activated my sense of taste.
...Blegh! Pfft pfft pfft!
It tastes awful!
My tongue was violated because of useless curiosity.
I deactivated my sense of taste.
After that, I silently chewed on the organs again.
If I eat all the organs like this, I will naturally find the Mana Stone too.
As I was swallowing an organ while thinking that.
Rumble-!
Suddenly, the floor shook.
What the? Did it just move?
The Slow Stone should definitely be dead?
Ruuuumble-
It shook again.
I felt a subtle vibration.
Soon, the world tilted slightly.
Uh?
Why is my body leaning forward?
Along with the world, my body also leaned to one side.
Thud!
Eventually, I lost my balance and slid.
No, what is happening!
Before my doubts could fade.
Uuuuuh!?
The direction of gravity changed.
The floor I was lying on became a wall, and the wall became the ceiling.
I could not control my body as I wanted.
Could this be......
Is the rock rolling?
I grasped the situation, but it was already too late.
The rotation speed inside was getting faster and faster.
Due to the accelerating rotation, my body was pressed flat against the inner wall by centrifugal force.
It was like being trapped in a hamster wheel... no, a rapidly spinning drum.
Please stop!!!
***
Slow Stone.
A monster with an outer shell made of solid rock.
The shape of the Slow Stone was close to a sphere.
Not a perfect sphere, but round enough to roll if placed on a slope.
And the place the Teddy Bear had made its home.
At first glance, this place looked flat, but in reality, there was a slight slope.
Which made sense, considering this was a mountain range.
This slope was steep enough for the Slow Stone to roll.
However, the Slow Stone did not roll.
Because it was using Mana to anchor its body to the ground.
Of course, things were different now.
The Slow Stone was dead.
As a result, the Mana anchoring its body to the ground gradually dissipated, and eventually, the Slow Stone began to roll forward.
Roll, roll.
And just like that, the Teddy Bear disappeared along with the rock.
A short while later.
"Ooh?"
"Kku-oh?"
Tosuni and Jjokkomi came to play.
The two were flustered when they could not see the Teddy Bear.
Then they discovered the crushed Boxwood.
"Kku-ohhh?!"
"Ooohhh!?"
On this day.
Jjokkomi and Tosuni spent the whole day frantically searching for the Teddy Bear.
***
The corpse of the Slow Stone kept rolling.
No obstacle could halt the charge of this destructive juggernaut.
Roll, roll.
The Slow Stone reached the bottom of the mountain.
Yet it still did not stop.
It continued to roll into the forest connected to the mountain range.
In the direction the Slow Stone was rolling.
Not far away, a being was sprouting new life on its own.
[Chaos Dragon lv.1]
└Pw.50
└Rnk.Mythical (Limit Breakthrough available upon reaching lv.90)
[Skills]
[Chaos lv.1], [Decomposition lv.1], [Level Up lv.1], [Distortion lv.1], [Destruction lv.1], [Annihilation lv.1], [Synthesis lv.1], [Dimensional Travel lv.1]......
......
A small monster was born.
If it grew up without any issues, it was a being that could one day bring chaos and ruin to this continent.
And this being...
Squish!
As soon as it was born, it was crushed to death by the rolling Slow Stone's corpse.
The one that defeated the Chaos Dragon was the Slow Stone.
But the Slow Stone was already dead, leaving only an empty shell.
Therefore, the credit went to the highest-level entity inside the Slow Stone's body.
The one deemed to have defeated the Chaos Dragon was the Teddy Bear.
['He Who Trampled the Great Sprout' achievement has been unlocked.]
['He Who Prevented the Calamity of the End' achievement has been unlocked.]
['Rank Destroyer' achievement has been unlocked.]