Comment and coupon givers, thank you all. 183rd episode
58. The Magical Beasts and the Ruins of the Desert
182 – The Magical Beasts and the Ruins of the Desert #2
“Ow, my shoulders feel like I’ve been carrying a boulder! Somebody squeeze it already!”
I mumbled to myself while rolling my neck around unnecessarily. Next to me, Azidahaka, who was fanning me, let out a soft groan.
“Um, is this how you do it?”
With ten fingers perched on my shoulder, she began pressing down.
“Ow, ow! That’s way too hard! Are you trying to make me suffer on purpose? Is this how you squeeze a shoulder?”
“I’ve received massages, but I’ve never actually given one….”
“Oh, you’re such a special snowflake. Try harder! Yes, like that, just gently spin your thumbs around my shoulder muscles. Uh-huh, feels great!”
Her technique was a bit rusty, but she quickly picked up what I wanted. I shivered as I felt my muscles relaxing under Azidahaka’s ministrations.
“Yeah, that’s it! You’re a natural! You learn fast!”
“This is easy once you know how to do it.”
When teaching someone or handling them, it’s essential to offer some encouragement instead of just criticism. Carrots and whips, that’s the secret sauce. This simple principle seemed to work wonders on Azidahaka.
Praising her pride as a dragon made her eager to learn, and she quickly grasped everything thrown her way. Of course, this was only possible because, due to her mistakes, I had unilaterally assumed the ‘dominant’ role in our relationship.
“Yes, just like that! Uhhh….”
But saying she was doing well was no empty flattery. As my shoulders were kneaded, it felt like all my energy was being sucked out of me, and the tension in my entire body began to melt away.
Could it be that Eve and Ilgast share some universal talent for massage among mythical creatures?
As I melted like a soggy wildling on the floor, Azidahaka climbed onto my waist and skillfully dug her thumbs into my scapula, lats, and erector spinae.
“Ohhh, yes. You’re better at this than I thought!”
“Your lower back and pelvis are a bit misaligned. Is it from an injury? If I press here….”
“Wait a second—what are you planning to do?”
Her palms gently settled on my pelvis and lower back. It was a light touch, but it felt like a ton of bricks. It was like being compressed by a hydraulic press.
“Argh! Stop! I didn’t ask you to do that!”
“It’s just if I press here….”
Crunch!
A horrifying cracking sound echoed as my joints protested. I couldn’t even scream in pain, just blinked in disbelief.
“Ugh…!”
A gasp escaped my throat, sounding more like a starving bird than a human. Was my spine about to give out? That thought crossed my mind for a moment.
“Oooh?”
I was suddenly aware of bl**d flowing throughout my body in a pleasant warmth. It felt like the intense pain in my back was being washed away, replaced by a rejuvenating flood.
“What did you do? I feel… great!”
“I realigned your dislocated joints and bones. Here on your back… Oof!”
Azidahaka leaned in closer, putting her palm on my back and pushing down again. Crack, crack! My vertebrae exploded with noise. I was left convulsing under the overwhelming pain, unable to catch my breath. As I lay immobilized, Azidahaka slipped further down to my calves and feet.
“You must take care of your hind legs, or in my case, the soles of your feet. Your feet are like a miniature version of your body, you know. If I push here…”
Crack!
My foot joints screamed in protest. Then, Azidahaka ruthlessly began to knead my feet with what felt like a vice grip.
“Argh, it hurts! What are you pressing so hard for?!”
I propped myself up and turned to look at her, holding my foot captive. But it seemed like Azidahaka had no intention of letting go, as she continued to press on the soft parts of my foot.
“Are you feeling unwell? I don’t see just the past or the future, you know. I can see the pressure points where magical power flows. If I press here…”
Crack!
“It’s going to be quite painful. The magical energy is congested in this part of your foot. It’s connected to your stomach.”
“Oh, now that you mention it, my bloated belly does feel a bit better… burp!”
I belched, surprised at how relieving it felt. I had dismissed pressure points and the like as mere superstitions, but after witnessing Azidahaka’s seemingly magical abilities, I couldn’t help but believe.
“This one’s going to hurt immensely. The magical energy here is completely blocked.”
“Gack! Arghhh!”
After enduring a massage that felt like being reconstructed from the ground up, I was utterly exhausted, sprawled out on the floor.
As I gazed up, I could see the high stone ceiling spinning above.
“Are you satisfied? This massage thing isn’t half bad, huh? You’re so relaxed you can’t even move, huh?”
“Don’t get too cocky. I’m just tired and lying down.”
“Well, considering what you said, it seems your body is being honest and shaking. Is your back and legs relaxed now?”
“I-It’s just cold! I’m shaking because it’s chilly down here. We might be in a desert, but underground, it’s freezing! So, what is this place anyway?”
Attempting to redirect the conversation, I decided to ask about the location where I was currently lying. Before I lost my memory under the rocks, I had been traversing a sand-filled desert. So where did this underground ruin come from?
With no light entering, I had no idea where this place was.
“Huh.”
Azidahaka gathered the shell of a salt scorpion to stoke the fire. Then she sat beside me, clutching Yingyi like a cushion, and quietly explained.
“There are many underground ruins like this at the western end. The Stone Dwarfs love digging tunnels and building structures, after all. This seems to be an ancient underground construction from a long time ago.”
“Why on earth would they build something underground?”
“It’s not for a purpose; they build because they enjoy it.”
So they’re like Lego builders or model makers, huh?
As I pondered on that thought, Azidahaka continued.
“Although that’s what people say, once they get to that age, they can hear truths even in boasts.”
“Hearing truths in boasts? That sounds ridiculous!”
I chuckled at her words, finding them amusing given that even the Fire Dragon had been easily fooled by my lies once. Azidahaka continued calmly.
“A very long time ago. This was even before I crossed over to the west. It’s a tale from an era when various gods, including Adonai, lived in this region. The Divine Beings created highly mystical tools and bestowed them upon the heroes of this land. The Stone Dwarf King, having received such gifts, constructed a timeless kingdom where the sun never set.”
“That actually sounds interesting. Like something you’d hear while lounging in bed!”
Mystical tools—had I been in my human days, I might have laughed off such tall tales as mere myth. But given this world, I couldn’t afford to be dismissive.
“But even an empire that seemed eternal eventually fell for many reasons. Mostly due to issues with its leaders…”
“Like you and Osiris causing the fall of Sumer?”
“Well, it was Nialli’s doing, but I won’t deny that Osiris and I didn’t catch on. Anyway, the hero with the divine tool, the Stone Dwarf King Ojimandias, hid his divine tool deep underground in the desert just before his kingdom’s collapse. To prevent treasure hunters from finding it, he constructed many similar underground buildings. That’s when Stone Dwarfs developed a fondness for building underground structures.”
“So what you’re saying is, this place we’re in now was created to hide the divine tool?”
Hiding a tree in a forest, I’d heard something along those lines somewhere. This Stone Dwarf King not only hid a divine tool in underground ruins but also made several fake ones to conceal it.
“I’m not sure. Maybe this underground ruin we’re in is the real deal. If we go deeper, we might find the divine tool breathing down there.”
“But what’s this divine tool? Is it like the Wizard King’s magic lamp?”
“I only have rumors swirling around, but they say it grants three wishes to its owner.”
Three wishes, huh?
“Is it a magical lamp?”
Azidahaka’s description conjured images of an elemental spirit wielding desert sandstorms, a heavily eye-shadowed beautiful princess, and a bumbling man with a turban.
“A magical lamp… I don’t know what that is, but it must be something incredible. I thought it was just a rumor, but seeing the mountain where the Divine Being Adonai once was, I’m starting to believe there’s truth to this divine tool story.”
“So we’re tracking down this Satan guy because he’s after the hidden treasure of an ancient king in the west, huh? You think he might also be eyeing that divine tool?”
“That’s highly likely. Considering he produces half-mythical creatures, he might have already gotten his hands on the precious gem I possessed. Perhaps he’s aiming for the divine tool to consume it…”
Azidahaka trailed off, seemingly deep in thought. The crackling fire and the rhythmic breathing of Yingyi, nestled beside her, tickled my ears.
“If that divine tool really exists and falls into Satan’s hands, unimaginable horrors are bound to happen. I think I finally understand what he’s plotting; I can sense the darkness lurking in that empty mind of his now!”
Azidahaka suddenly leaped to her feet as if struck by a major revelation.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He intends to use the Divine Beings to become a god himself! That’s why he tried to manipulate Adonai, and when that didn’t pan out, he came to the west!”
“Hmm…”
I struggled to grasp her words. As I frowned, Azidahaka began to pace restlessly around the area as if waiting for something.
“If the precious gem is in Satan’s possession, we’ve already fallen a step behind. Oh, that scoundrel… that scoundrel…”
“Explain a bit more. What’s the connection between the gem and the divine tool?”
Thunk!
Azidahaka’s pacing suddenly halted.
“The Fruit of the World Tree, those who consume it become mythical creatures. Mythical creatures are indeed like ancient Divine Beings. But if that mythical creature eats the Fruit of the World Tree again, do you know what will happen?”
“How am I supposed to know? What will happen?”
“They d*e. Their vessel cannot accept the power, contorting and painfully transforming until they perish. Even as mythical creatures, our bodies are incomplete and merely beasts. We have forced the power into animal forms. A single vessel cannot hold multiple powers.”
“Got it.”
I recalled the stories Eve told me about mythical creatures. She didn’t hesitate to denigrate those creatures as fools mimicking gods.
It seemed that her words were not just a metaphor but a literal truth.
“The reason I couldn’t eat the precious gem—the Amber Stone of the Behemoth—and instead came to the west is exactly that. Though I am the dragon blessed with the flesh of the World Tree, accepting more than one power is a challenge. Hence I sought a way here in the land where gods still dwell.”
“To eat the Behemoth trapped in the amber? So you were trying to become a god too?”
“Isn’t it better if I eat it instead of letting it fall into the hands of someone like Nialli or Satan?”
“Everyone thinks they’re special in their own way.”
“At the very least, that’s what I thought. So, I was hoping to meet the Divine Beings and find a way to shed this beastly form and become an entity of pure magical power. But I haven’t encountered any of the gods known to reside in this land.”
“Even if you did, they wouldn’t be much help.”
I recalled the little fairy I met on Mount Sinai, Adonai. Sure, I had received two powers from her, but was it really worth all this fuss and drama?
“Listen,”
Azidahaka placed her hands against my side and lifted me high into the air.
“It’s not just a trivial matter. Your magical power is clearly different now than when you entered and left the cave. It’s not just a few drops of power given to some animal; your magic itself has taken a new form, born into the body of a beast! You’ve become a truly vast vessel! You could easily hold multiple powers without issue!”
“Of course. Do you know what kind of struggle I went through? But what does that mean?”
“You could genuinely become the god of this land! The powers of beasts and gods could merge perfectly into something extraordinary and unprecedented in this world!”
Beyond Azidahaka’s tiara, I could see the glimmer in her red eyes. Her attitude reminded me of both Eve back when we first met and Batus. The tone of her speech and her posture were strikingly similar.
I clicked my tongue, feeling a bit fatigued.
“Is that what your eyes are saying?”
—
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