Thank you to everyone who left comments and coupons! Episode 171.
54. The Magical Beast and the Rock Mountains’ Devotees and the Dragon
Episode 170 – The Magical Beast and the Rock Mountains’ Devotees and the Dragon #3
━Gweee, Gweeet!
Desertling resisted like there was no tomorrow.
It wasn’t just any Wildling but a Desertling, evolved for the extreme conditions of the desert, and to top it off, this one had somehow become near-mythical thanks to Satan’s curse or something—so it was understandably shocked at the idea of being someone’s lunch.
━Let go of me! Who do you think you are, treating me like a snack?!
Slurp, Slurp.
━Gweeet! Eet!
Every time my tongue licked the little fella, it would visibly squirm in a way that was oddly amusing. Before I knew it, I was tormenting it mercilessly.
This Desertling, unlike its humanoid counterpart Eve who was rocking a stylish blue dress, wore absolutely nothing, so I may as well have been licking a n*ked critter.
━Hmph, anyway, you’re regenerating well, right? So why are you shrinking?
As I continued to lick, I noticed Desertling was getting smaller, much to my furrowed brow.
In my experience from the days of Guki, even the best regenerators have their limits. While Guki, the mythical creature, could regenerate impressively, there was still an end to its capabilities. Maybe the same went for this guy.
With a clean lick of my saliva-drenched lips, I quipped,
━Seems your regeneration ability isn’t infallible. What a shame. You’re not the endless snack I’d hoped for. The taste’s too strong—makes me want to gag after just a few licks.
━You’ve been licking me this whole time and now you’re talking nonsense? You lunatic! Get lost!
Desertling’s body started melting away, oozing into the floor like syrup. It morphed into a puddle-like form, hanging upside down on the cave ceiling like a half-melted icicle.
━You’ll regret messing with us! None of you will survive… Aaaahh!
━Gweeeng!
Out of nowhere, Yingyi, cloaked in dark storm clouds and crackling with electricity, lunged at Desertling dangling from the ceiling.
Crackle. Crack.
The sight alone was enough to make your hair stand on end as electricity pulsed from Yingyi’s body.
━Aaaaarrrrrgh!
Unable to withstand the electric charge, Desertling splatted back onto the floor.
━Gweeng!
━Good job, Yingyi! Hit ’em with that Volt Tackle!
As per my command, Yingyi smashed into Desertling with another body slam.
Zap. Zap. Bzzt.
━Graaaarrrr.
With each zap from Yingyi’s body, Desertling started turning a ghostly white, and its size was visibly diminishing, as though it were evaporating.
━Graaaah, Kiit, Gweeet…
Desertling could no longer form coherent words. Now reduced to the size of a small, white Wildling I’d seen in the Ancient Nest, it wriggled under Yingyi, like a worm stuck under a rock.
Tears of some transparent, white liquid dripped from Desertling.
━Gweeet….
━Gweeng!
As Desertling tried to squirm away beneath Yingyi, the feline-like critter gave a mighty cry and pinned it down with its soft, fluffy body.
‘Feeling like I’m watching cats fight. Is this what Pokémon trainers feel like?’
Cats have an incredibly strong sense of territory. Even house cats, lounging about in a big yard, will fiercely chase away any stray cats they perceive as invaders.
Perhaps Yingyi simply felt threatened by this new liquid monster encroaching on its pack’s territory. That could explain its sudden aggression despite us technically being the intruders here.
‘Still, interesting thoughts on the ecology of Cloudring and Desertling.’
While contemplating this, I scooped up the now tiny white Desertling with my front paw.
━Gweet….
━Wow, you used to be as big as me, but now you’re smaller than my palm. Looks like you’re weak against electrical attacks like this, huh?
A Wildling species the size of a fist was certainly new to me. Considering the average one was about the size of my head, swallowing this one whole wouldn’t even make me burp.
Grumble.
While Yingyi and I were busy with Desertling, Azidahaka, observing everything carefully, swept its tail along the floor, making a dull thud.
“Rather than eating it, how about we heal them first? I’ve heard Desertlings’ venom can also be neutralized by the same bodily fluids they secrete. They’re a top-tier ingredient for yellow antidote potions, after all.”
━Ah, that’s right.
Azidahka pointed at the black jackals writhing in discomfort on the floor.
Approaching them, I squeezed Desertling like a sponge with my front paw.
━Gweeet…!
A few droplets of bodily fluid spilled from the critter, who cried out sharply at the discomfort, and soaked into the black fur and skin of the jackals.
━Will this work?
“It should. Wildling fluids are rare to obtain, but just a few drops go a long way.”
True to Azidahaka’s word, the jackals, who were previously in distress, sighed deeply, looking much more at ease.
‘Guess this stuff really works.’
While I could leisurely munch on Yingyi like cotton candy or lick it any time I was bored, Wildlings like these are actually endangered high-ranked creatures.
From my time eavesdropping among the hunters in the human world, I learned that even a fist-sized Wildling is considered rare—golden-grade, to be exact. The fluids they exude contain components that easily heal wounds or neutralize poison, often used to make healing potions fit for fantasy games.
Of course, the process of forcibly extracting these fluids is intensely painful for the Wildlings.
“Ugh…”
Pulling out of my thoughts, I noticed Isaac clenching his brow, his skinny white arm covered in an angry rash.
‘Got hit with some poison.’
Desertlings’ venomous spray is akin to whipping a water-soaked towel in all directions, so it’s no surprise Isaac got hit despite our best efforts to protect him.
Approaching Isaac, I squeezed the last remaining drops from Desertling onto his arm.
Drip. Drip.
With just a few drops left, I could feel the liquid slide through my palm onto Isaac’s arm, which had swollen red as if attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes. Almost immediately, it started to heal.
━Wow, this really works. How much is left in here?
Upon unfolding my clenched paw to check Desertling’s condition, the little critter seized its moment like clockwork, splashing upward and leaping out of sight.
“Eek!?”
Startled, Isaac staggered backward. Turns out the now thumb-sized Desertling had snuck into the leather water pouch strapped to Isaac’s waist, its lid left ajar.
━Gwee, Eeet…
A trembling, scared voice echoed from inside Isaac’s water pouch.
Looks like Wildlings instinctively seek out moisture when they’ve exhausted their strength. So this Desertling must have jumped into the nearest water source upon opportunity.
Azidahaka retrieved the pouch hanging on Isaac’s waist and gave it a jingle.
“The little fella has expended all its poison and power through your relentless squeezing. Even as a mythical creature, it’ll probably take a decade to fully recover. If left in this water pouch, we’ll have a handy antidote potion whenever needed. Hunters and humans alike would pay a handsome price for this prize.”
━So it’s become an endless antidote generator inside a leather water pouch. Nice.
To me, all poisons are irrelevant, and antidotes are basically just flavorless water. Thus, Desertling’s escape into the water pouch lost any significance to me rather quickly.
━Still, sour tangerines don’t hold a candle to sweet grapes, do they?
━Gweeeng.
Yingyi chirped in agreement.
*
The jackals and Isaac, who’d been poisoned earlier, were back to normal within a short while.
━No more itching! Not at all!
━Incredible. To use such a rare treasure like Desertling’s fluids on us… I dread to know what impossible favor you plan to ask next. Are you planning to saddle us with a debt we’ll never repay?
━Terrified and trembling.
Confused by the jackals’ praise or warning, I called over Mung, the one-eyed jackal following quietly by my side.
━Mung, would you quiet them down a bit?
━Understood.
Mung growled ferociously at the others, quickly silencing them.
‘Still, having a middle manager does come in handy sometimes.’
Grinning contently, Mung approached me with subtle curiosity.
━They’ve never known kindness, so they’re just expressing their gratitude to Master White One in their own way. Please don’t take it personally.
━If only you continue managing your group like this, there’s no reason to dislike you. Keep it up.
━Yes, Sir.
The one-eyed jackal, Mung, bowed deeply like a polite young man.
Interacting with these guys for a while, I realized how innocent and dimwitted they really were, far from deserving their title of Satan worshippers. Their clear eyes reminded me of large dogs kept at home by families in their human days.
Though I’m more of a cat person, having a trustworthy large dog like Mung to guard the yard would be quite appealing.
‘But from a distance, it’d look like this guy’s my master.’
The relationship between me, a creature who prefers quadrupedal walking, and Mung’s pack, who walk on two legs like humanoid beasts akin to Anubis, is certainly comical from an outsider’s perspective.
Smirking quietly to myself, just then, two red figures appeared down the tunnel, blocking our path.
━That’s… Twin sisters.
━Indeed, they were here. A platinum-ranked duo!
The jackals murmured nervously at the sight. Having already learned they were cowards, I was unsurprised.
With a squint, I studied the red creatures closely. Their fully scaled, crimson bodies reminded me of the snake witch Kaah I met in the Ancient Nest.
Unlike Kaah, who had a snake-human hybrid vibe, these creatures were more of a mix between a lizard and a human.
Slurp, Slurp.
The twins flicked out their bright red tongues through thin lips, smiling coyly.
━Sis, we’ve got intruders.
━I see them too, sis. That must mean all the ones guarding before us failed, right?
━Sis, I get that anything up to bronze, silver, and gold grade might be weak, but did they really lose to a Desertling? That’s kinda funny, isn’t it?
━Eh, that critter was just a fresh platinum ranker. All soft and squishy, like watery goo. We’re aiming for diamond grade ascension—completely different leagues, darling.
━Yeah, right. If we catch these guys, we might actually make it to diamond rank!
Heeheehee.
These seductive, red-scaled twins.
Chuckling at their stubby tails, sharp scales, and small horns sprouting from their foreheads, I smirked.
━Are these the red-scaled lizards you were talking about?
At my inquiry, Mung barked out a quick response.
━Yes, sir. Those are the Salmon Salamanders. Dangerous handlers of fire, feared even in their quadrupedal days.
Whether they heard or not, the twins chuckled mockingly.
━Oh my, sis. Looks like those black dogs know who we are! Guess we’re kinda famous!
━So, you know just how terrifying and powerful we are? We’re the daughters of the Fire Dragon!
Startled.
At the mention of “Fire Dragon,” Azidahaka’s shoulders trembled in silence.
“Daughters of the Fire Dragon…?”
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