Comment and thanks to those who provided comments and coupons. 140th Episode
46. The Magical Beast and Osiris’s Underground Palace
We devoured a whopping forty-four black salt desert crabs overnight.
They were a good source of experience, and they didn’t bite at all, so even if there were a hundred, we could’ve eaten them all in one night.
━ Desert life isn’t so shabby. There are plenty of delicious beasts around called the Ancient Nest.
While I was picking my teeth with spines, Azidahaka, who was sitting next to me, was smacking her lips and complaining.
“The salty smell from my whole body is overwhelming. Even after a wash, it’ll probably linger for a day. Strong beasts will be attracted by this smell. I was too careless. This means we’ll leave traces fighting them, and we’ll end up being tracked down by pursuers.”
━ And here you are munching on the shells as well. Why the grumbling?
“That’s to avoid leaving traces. The desert terrain changes quickly due to the wind, but one can never be too sure.”
━ For someone who’s been munching away, you sure are picky about that! I heard you’re fond of hard stuff, sharp teeth and all?
“My tail’s scales and shed skin regenerate, and nothing beats the shell of a desert crab.”
Azidahaka showcased her thick tail adorned with red scales. The only body parts she could freely move, as her limbs were bound, were her tail and mouth.
━ Sure, sure.
I huffed, threw some sand to extinguish our campfire, and the scorching sun peeked over the dunes as the chilly night retreated.
━ Just as you said, the pursuers might catch up. No matter what, today I have to reach your nest.
“We’re almost there. With all these desert crabs around, it means we’ve arrived at my nest. We just need to find the entrance.”
━ Did you say your nest is a gigantic tower? If we’re already here, shouldn’t it be visible?
According to Fire Dragon Azidahaka, her nest was a tower so gigantic it reached the sky. Its size was supposedly comparable to the World Tree Yggdrasil.
However, a tower that size in this desert should naturally be visible from anywhere.
But all I could see was the desolate golden sand and wilderness. Not even a pebble-sized tower was in sight.
“If I could see properly, I would’ve found the entrance. But at this point, there’s nothing to do but look for the rice-sized court ants.”
━ Rice-sized court ants? What are those?
“They’re tiny, white ants that look like little grains. They build their nests near mine and come in and out, so if we track their movement, we can find the nest entrance.”
With Azidahaka’s confident explanation, I found myself lost in thought while scratching my chin with my paw. Finding tiny, grain-like ants?
It’s not like finding Mr. Kim in Seoul or searching for a needle in a haystack in the desert—how on earth am I supposed to do that?
━ How do we find those ants?
To my question, Azidahaka brushed the sand with her palm and replied, “Rice ants love sweet food. If we sprinkle something sweet on the ground, they’ll sense it and swarm over. We can just follow the ants carrying the food back.”
━ Something sweet, huh.
I muttered to myself while looking around.
It’s common for ants to swarm over melting chocolate or ice cream, but the real issue is, what will I use to entice the ants?
‘What I have that might please the ants…’
━ Kyuying.
As I scanned the surroundings, I spotted a fluffy, cloud-shaped Yingyi. If I licked it, it would taste like frozen grape-flavored cotton candy—surely that would be a hit with the ants.
━ Yingyi, I think I need your help.
I approached Yingyi and gently plucked some of its cotton-like body with my paw. Its bluish cotton fur was pulled apart like cotton candy, instantly shrinking Yingyi in size.
━ Ying…
━ Don’t worry, it’ll grow back soon.
“This place smells heavily of salt, so they might not be able to smell the sweetness. We should move to another spot. That way, we can lure in the ants.”
Taking Azidahaka’s suggestion, I stood up and started moving aimlessly to change locations.
*
━ Hey, not a single living creature in sight.
In response to my complaint, Azidahaka calmly said, “Just wait a little longer.”
━ The sun is already high in the sky.
I looked at the sun, hanging mid-air. I had been waiting for ants since morning, and now it was noon, yet not even a single ant was in sight.
━ Did something go wrong with the bait?
I squinted at the fluffy cotton of Yingyi lying on the ground.
Maybe it would’ve been better to find a more delicious, sticky bait and sprinkle that on the ground.
‘Since Azidahaka is a mythical creature, her body and fluids are generally delicious. Maybe I could ask her for some saliva…’
Just as I was juggling those bizarre thoughts, Yingyi, sitting still on Azidahaka’s lap, suddenly cried out, “Kyuying!”
I snapped out of my daze and promptly turned my head to look at the ground.
‘There, something is there…!’
There was something tiny squirming on the ground, roughly the size of a child’s pinky nail.
If you didn’t look closely, you might mistake it for a grain of sand blowing in the wind.
━ Oh, oh! It’s here. Finally…!
With joy, I chirped and cheered loudly, leaning in close to examine the tiny creature and its little legs.
━ Zu zu.
Though weak, it was speaking in a language similar to the soldier ants, spiders, and scorpions I had encountered in the Ancient Nest.
‘If only Leaf were here, I could ask it what it was saying and where its home was.’
While I was missing the raccoon, a white rice-sized ant boldly approached Yingyi’s torn fur, took it in its mouth, and began to move.
It was quite the sight to see the ant, which was no bigger than a grain of rice, carrying a cotton candy the size of my palm.
Perhaps it was camouflaged by the cotton candy, making it seem like it was moving freely or that another tiny Yingyi had appeared.
‘This cotton is nicely visible, making it easy to follow.’
I smiled contentedly and decided to follow the little ant.
━ Alright, keep leading us to the entrance or whatever!
Having waited half a day from morning to noon for this ant, I felt like my patience had finally paid off.
It was admirable to see such a tiny creature doing the impossible, transporting a cotton candy many times heavier than its own body.
━ Your name is… Jingjing. Since you’re making those sounds. Put in a bit more effort and lead us to the entrance of your home.
Kyuying, the chirpy Cloudring, and Zu zu, the small ant called Jingjing, became the names I happily assigned in that moment.
━ Prrrrrrr!
Suddenly, a deafening sound burst from somewhere, and something zipped through the air, brushing past my cheek.
━ What the heck?
A white figure soared up high, clutching a tuft of cotton candy in its front paws.
━ What the hell, a cotton thief! Jingjing…!
I shouted skywards at the disappearing Jingjing and my stolen cotton candy.
━ You little b*stard!
I expressed my anger at the mighty creature flying away. Normally, I try not to curse and live kindly, but the world just wouldn’t let me be.
In that moment, my efforts of the entire day were washed away with the sight of the white bird’s tail disappearing into the distance.
Just as I was about to give up, slapping my tail on the sandy ground in frustration.
Gugugugugung.
The ground trembled violently, and a massive pillar shot up from below.
━ Juuiiiing!
The sudden appearance resembled a giant worm, its body half-buried in the ground. It opened its mouth full of razor-like teeth, engulfing the bird in an instant.
━ What the…?
The elongated body reminded me of the massive basilisk El-Gasa I had first killed, sending my fur bristling in alarm.
‘It’s obvious. This one’s strong.’
With a length of at least several meters, its massive build and thick girth suggested it was indeed a powerful creature.
“Juuiing… Based on its cry, it’s a Giant Desert Worm. It looks like it’s an adult too. Considered a colossal creature between gold and platinum grade. How fortunate to meet such a rare specimen.”
Azidahaka felt the energy of the massive desert bug and smiled beneath her blindfold. Meanwhile, I trembled from a mix of loss for the guide ant I had just lost and confusion and anger at the sudden appearance of this colossal creature.
━ Juuiing.
The giant worm quickly devoured the white bird and then started twisting its body while looking around.
Its face was grotesquely shaped, with no eyes, nose, or ears—just a massive mouth resembling a drum filled with teeth.
For such an alien-looking creature, its sound was nothing more than a “Juuiing.”
━ Do we have to fight it?
“Don’t move. Desert Worms hunt using vibrations and touch.”
━ So it’s a ghost-like creature dwelling in the desert, huh?
“Ah, yes. Desert Worms love rice-sized ants. They don’t discriminate, but ants are their favorite.”
━ So this giant fella loves eating tiny ants, huh?
I began to find the giant desert worm rather amusing. It looked like it was built to chomp on bulls or elephants yet here it was, feasting on ants—it almost felt like a waste for those sharp teeth and gigantic mouth.
‘Well, whales also eat tiny plankton. They munch on those small shrimp in droves despite their size.’
Plankton or shrimp may be small individually, but the amounts whales consume while sucking in water are unimaginable. Perhaps this guy also gulps down a lot of ants in one go.
━ If it likes ants… following it might lead us to the ants!
“That could be possible.”
━ Awesome! This is way better than waiting half a day for ants with Yingyi’s cotton fluff.
I devised a sequential plan: find the rice-sized ants through this Desert Worm, and through the ants, find the entrance to the nest.
━ Juuiing.
Seeing that neither I, Yingyi, nor Azidahaka was moving, the Desert Worm began retreating, heading deep into the ground.
Suwaaa.
A massive vacuum-like space opened up beneath us as the sand started to pour in. It seemed that a thick hole had formed in the ground and the sand was slipping through it.
━ A tunnel? If we go in here, we should be able to follow the Desert Worm!
I took careful steps towards the hole that the sand was disappearing into. Possibly sensing my intent, Azidahaka, who had been sitting still, also stood up.
“A tunnel, now that’s a brilliant idea! I’ve heard that the Desert Worms carve tunnels in the deep desert. Perhaps we might find a passage connected to my nest without even needing to find the ants.”
━ Then let’s get going! The underground tunnel should be better than the scorching desert! I’ll go first… whoa!
The moment I stepped into the thick hole, it felt like I was on a slippery water slide, and I started falling endlessly into a deep pit.
━ Whoa, it’s deeper than I thought!
My voice echoed loudly in the tunnel as I fell.
━ Ugh, cough, spit.
After plummeting for what felt like forever, I landed in an odd position on the ground.
It was dark, so I couldn’t see well, but it seemed there was a pile of sand cushioning beneath me, absorbing the shock from my steep descent.
━ Phew. How deep did I fall?
I coughed out the sand that filled my mouth and looked around in the complete darkness.
At that moment, a faint glimmer appeared in front of me, revealing letters.
【The Ancient Nest: Osiris’s Underground Palace.】
This tunnel wasn’t just some giant worm’s burrow—it seemed to be a bizarre and enigmatic Ancient Nest.
‘Who the heck is Osiris?’
