Chapter 106

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

Earth Dragon

Slowly but surely, the sound drew nearer . Hikaru sensed the enormous creature advancing — even though it was out of range of his Detection — mowing down trees on its path .

That was a lot faster than expected .

Hikaru felt his body to check his condition and did some light stretches . He didn’t have enough sleep, but he could move just fine . After a quick sip from his flask, he moved out .

First I need to check it from a distance .

From the gaps between trees, he could see clouds of dust rising in the air . Birds flew away . A deer ran past Hikaru at an incredible speed .

Is that… it? For real?

A head poked above the trees . He wasn’t certain he could call it a head . Dark red in color, it had a strange luster to it and was as big as a bus . The surface was translucent and covered in scales, revealing the veins within .

Its head was shaped like a snake . While its eyes looked cloudy, Hikaru could tell they were moving . He couldn’t see its pupil, however, so he had no idea where it was looking .

The creature opened its mouth, and from it emerged its tongue, split into three . Then all of a sudden they lunged in different directions, snatching a bird, a boar, and a monkey . The creature swallowed the animals in no time at all .

『Oportet manducare…』

The dragon spoke in a language not presently used in any part of the continent . They were words that could only be found in ancient texts — Ancient Spirit language . Roland encountered a bit of it while he studied the art of crossing worlds . So Hikaru just happened to understand what the creature was saying .

“I must eat?” What does that mean? Wait, it can talk?

As the dragon got closer, Hikaru could see more of the creature . It had a long neck with a body shaped like a potato . Four legs protruded out of each side, and it moved while dragging its belly on the ground . Its tail was incredibly long, extending all the way out of his field of view . Measuring over fifty meters from head to its trunk, it was a monster in the truest sense of the word .

What’s that?

The lower part of its belly was whitish in color and looked to be elastic, as something seemed to be poking it from inside . Hikaru didn’t know what it was at first, but after seeing it a different angle, he finally realized… Its stomach . It expanded into the shape of a human . Its stomach was bulging from the creatures it swallowed .

「………」

Hikaru had tolerance with the grotesque since he dissected animals, but this was a bit too much . He grimaced and swallowed hard .

『Oportet manducare…』

Something was off . Its body bulged out too much that it had trouble moving . Yet it still continued to eat .

Is someone controlling it? No, it’s afraid of something .

The dragon turned its head around at times, watching for its surroundings .

『…Non tamen…』the creature muttered .

Something is out there… and it’s enough to scare off this gigantic creature? Hikaru put his brain to work . Living things eat to get energy . But this dragon is eating too much . What happens then?

Then the dragon’s body trembled and its back split . Hundreds — no, thousands of tentacles emerged from within . While they were only thick enough for both hands to grab, they were long, ranging from five to ten meters .

「I see . To grow…」Hikaru muttered .

The dragon preyed on living things to grow . It all made sense . The monster wanted to develop further, to transcend whatever it was scared of .

「Unfortunately, I can’t have you do this . 」

Hikaru grabbed the revolver hanging on his waist .

「I don’t know what you’re so scared about, but I’m stopping you here . 」

The Borderzard Adventurers Guild was bursting with joy . They had repelled most of the monsters and only a few were left . The subjugation team took turns to finish off the rest of them .

Everyone thought they had won, including the chief of the subjugation efforts . The chief and Borderzard’s guildmaster were having a friendly chat, as though all the criticism and blaming from yesterday never happened .

「Hahaha! The subjugation team did great! (I recall you not cooperating with us . )」

「The adventurers were vital to the defense of Borderzard . (I’ll include the fact that you didn’t take command in the front lines in my report . )」

「We can cancel the request for backup we sent to other countries . We’ll tell them that thanks to the subjugation team’s efforts, we managed to drive the enemy back . 」

「Yes . With this the Foundation Ceremony will proceed as planned . I’m sure the people in the government will be happy to hear the news . Let’s tell the residents we managed to drive the monsters away and get them back to town right away . 」

「Thanks to the efforts of the subjugation team . 」

「Or Borderzard’s walls . 」

「………」

「………」

「Hahahaha!」

「Bwahahaha!」

The guild staff shivered as they listened to the conversation of the two men who didn’t know what the other was thinking deep inside .

Out of the blue, one staff who was part of the recon team, barged in .

「W-Word arrived from the survey squad that went to check the situation in the forest . A huge dragon is headed this way . “Evacuate immediately” were his last words before he fainted from exhaustion and shock . 」

Silenced descended on the room . Everyone realized that the real threat was coming .

As soon as the recon team spotted the dragon, they immediately turned back . It was the right decision . The dragon’s tongues were quick, scooping up animals on the ground with ease . If they got even closer, they’d get eaten before they could even send word of the monster’s approach .

「Good . Go back . You made the right choice . 」

Hood covered and hid her purple hair . Her arms and legs were wrapped in stretchable cloth . On top of that, she wore clothes made of light but sturdy monster materials . Sarah of the Four Stars of the East .

She wasn’t part of the recon team . Instead she entered the forest to gather information for her party . Experienced in scouting missions and moving through forests, she was fast — quite unlike Hikaru even though they had similar stealth abilities . She only left Borderzard at dawn .

「Judging by the color and its overall form, it’s definitely an Earth Dragon…」

She climbed up a tree swiftly to check the monster . Right now the dragon was two hundred meters away . Since she possessed Stealth abilities too, she could get close without being in danger .

She could see the creature’s head sticking out of the trees from her vantage point . Its body was partially visible through the trunks of trees too .

「But I thought Earth Dragons were more slim… They don’t have that many legs either and definitely no tentacles . 」

Sarah had seen an Earth Dragon once . Deep inside a dungeon, she only regarded it from a distance, but she could never forget its small but wide appearance, its slimy surface, and the huge body . It looked exactly like how one would expect a “walking dragon” to look like . Her party was exhausted from exploring the dungeon, so they couldn’t engage it .

「I guess it’s a subspecies of Earth Dragons? In the first place, they’re called Earth Dragons because they lurk underground . I think it can be stopped with a barrage of spells since it moves so slow . Maybe with the help of that girl from yesterday, we can pull it off . Ah, but Selica mentioned she couldn’t find the girl anywhere . 」

As she muttered to herself, something unexpected occurred .

「What?! Who’s that?!」

She couldn’t sense anyone nearby . But she knew…

Someone’s there and they’re trying to fight the dragon!

That was what her Instinct told her . She had five points on it in her Soul Board . For someone who developed their skills on their own, it was quite a high number . Her Instinct saved her life countless times before .

「This is madness! You can’t win! We have to form a defensive line and fire spells from there!」

A battle was about to break out of which she would be a witness . Later on she would tell the story, but everyone only took her words with a grain of salt .