284 – Abyss Lair

With Aro on my back, I kick off the edge of the cliff to jump down. I quickly spread my wings, slowing my fall as I cautiously face the bottom. I feel around with [Presence Perception], and as I draw closer to the bottom, I start recognising abyss presences. A cold chill runs down my spine. It feels like I’m getting goosebumps on my scales.

“Ve…” “Ve, ve… ve…”
“VeEe…”

Abysses cry out quietly from the bottom, their cries echoing off the chasm walls. The further down I go, the damper and darker it becomes. Before long, I’m able to see abysses crowding around the bottom.

I thought I’d gotten used to them, but with so many jostling about, it’s wearing away at my spirit. Perhaps to threaten me, they’re glaring at me while gnashing their teeth and drooling. I reflexively look away. More abysses come crawling out of holes in the cliff face and bare their hostility towards me.

…This distance should be enough. Get them good, Aro.

Aro was leaning forwards, her hand on my back to suck up magic power. I signal her with my eyes, and she responds with a slight nod, getting to her feet.

“…[Clay].”

She raises a hand to an area where they’re packed particularly tightly. A pillar of earth erupts, thrusting through the crowd. They fly through the air, leaking body fluids. It doesn’t look like any of them died in that attack, but a fair few have taken serious wounds.

“…[Gale].”

The panicked abysses are scattered by the tornado. Distracted by the change in the terrain, they fail to brace themselves in time and are slammed into the cliff wall.

At this rate, this should go well… is what I thought, but then something terrible appears in an area they were swarming. It’s a yellowed, huge dragon skeleton.

The eye sockets and rib cage are covered with a mysterious fat yellow thread, and a number of small, disgustingly vivid green, slightly transparent abysses cling to the inside. They must be the larval form. Though their bodies are green, the tips of their heads and rears are bright orange. With all their orange legs tangled up, it looks a bit like ramen. Those long legs and the mysterious thick yellow threads are tangled together… It’s all too sickening, and I don’t want to look too closely.

“Oooo…”

With her head tilted to the side, my partner cries out mournfully. It’s probably the remains of a dragon that got brought down by abysses and had eggs laid in it. If I died here, I’d end up the same way. So I definitely don’t want to die here.

For the time being, that’s fine. That much is fine. No, it’s not fine, but I can put it aside for now. The problem is that the dragon skeleton has two heads.

“…Dragon, god, sama?”

Aro mumbles quietly.

I-it got eaten. I’d heard that it had suddenly gone off somewhere, but it went and got eaten by abysses! What were you doing, eh, seriously?

I raise my altitude, creating some distance from the remains of what could well be the deceased dragon-god-sama. Abysses dive down towards me, but I flick them away with my wings. Aro’s also dazed from shock. For that matter, how do I explain this to Aro?

For that matter, is that really dragon-god-sama? Could it maybe be two corpses stacked up on top of each other… Should I check with [Status Inspection]?

【[Amphis]:^[1] C+ rank monster.】
【A mild-natured, two-headed dragon.】
【As it prefers to eat abysses which cause harm to people, it has a tendency to be worshipped by the people living in the forest.】
【As the [Amphis] is not very intelligent, without knowing the meaning, it is innocently pleased.】

Dragon-god-samaaaaa!? What should I do…? Dragon-god-sama was weaker than I thought. I was sure it was B- at the lowest, but like this it’s just food for the abysses. It had wings, so maybe with the right skills it was able to manage… No, it ended up like this because it was unable to manage.

That explains why it wouldn’t fight the manticore. It would be completely impossible. From the start, dragon-god-sama only wanted to help the humans by eating abysses.

I finally know why Hibi wasn’t suspicious of me at all, even though I spoke with her so much with [Telepathy]. Originally, dragon-god-sama didn’t speak at all. If anything, she probably felt something was off when I asked so many questions.

I wonder if the change in generations is normal. It’s not a single person (dragon), but rather a characteristic of all amphises. That explains the time gap when they’re waiting for a different amphis to arrive. If anything, isn’t it strange that there’s never been two of them?

Ah? But then the manticore’s sacrifices… Well, I’ll think about it later. For now, I have to focus on the abysses in front of me.

I shift my attention to Aro on my back. She’s comparing me to the dragon-god in confusion, but when she meets my eyes she shakes her head slightly and stands up.

“[Gale]!”

She raises both arms. Two large tornadoes appear and trample over the abysses that can only crawl on the ground. I continue to knock away abysses that come diving from above with my wings and arms.

This is going well, we’ve got plenty of leeway. I was overthinking this. The abysses crawling on the ground don’t have any attack that can reach us up here. It’s a one-sided hunting ground for Aro.

【44 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 44 experience points have been acquired.】

Finally, strength fades from one of the abysses, and I receive an experience points notification. From then on, the abysses collapse one after the other from the accumulated damage, and message windows repeatedly pop in and out of my brain. The abyss larvae that were crawling inside the dragon-god burst into body fluids as a result of Aro’s [Gale] and are also converted into experience points. Perhaps realising that they can’t win, the abysses hasten to retreat to the holes in the wall.

…I can’t go in those, after all. Numerically, I reckon there’s a lot more of them still hiding in those nesting holes… Until the overflowing abyss population is thinned out, the Lithovars and I won’t be able to have peace. Should I try destroying the wall? Or could I stick something long in there, or lure them out with some bait…

For now, I want to show my respects and bury the former dragon-god-sama. The mysterious fat yellow thread is wrapped around its bones, and the corpses of the abyss larvae are inside it. As it is now, it’s a bit too pitiful.

At that time, Aro pokes my back. Turning around, I see her flapping her arms… C-could this be.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Name: Aro
Species: Revaana Mage
Condition: Cursed, Magic Correction (major)
Lv: 30/30 (MAX)
HP: 116/116
MP: 98/132
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Oh, ooh… Uoooh! Finally, finally, her level has reached the maximum.

^{[1]: The name amphis probably comes from Amphisbaena, a legendary two-headed, ant-eating serpent.}

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