206th Episode
64. The Magical Beasts and Rebirth 205 – The Magical Beasts and Rebirth #2
“Most things that come without sacrifice are worthless. I will bury your sacrifice deep in my heart.”
At Azidahaka’s aloof reply, my lips twisted into a grimace.
━ What?
It seemed that the rascal was planning to sacrifice me as an offering to the sacred artifact.
As I stood in considerable shock, Azidahaka chuckled.
“Just joking. Rumors are just rumors, after all. The accuracy of ancient tales is pretty low, tends to be exaggerated and blown out of proportion. For instance, there’s a rumor that I enjoy snacking on sand cats!”
━ So, you’re saying those rumors about the sacred artifact aren’t true either?
“Of course, every story has its roots. It would be strange for tales to pop up out of nowhere. But from what I can see, you have nothing to worry about.”
━ Worry about what?
“Aren’t you worried that you might lose me? You pretend not to know me, yet it’s kind of cute, hehehe.”
━ Hmm.
I pretended to clear my throat and chugged down the stew in my bowl in one go.
Maybe due to the salty dried jerky they threw in, the stew was saltier than I expected, with a strong aroma of herbs and spices.
“However, I am still worried about Satan’s plans. What does he intend to do with my precious gem and the divine artifact here…? Surely it’s not anything good.”
Nialli might not directly get involved, but they said that Satan also enjoys scheming and plotting all sorts of tricks.
I recalled my very first meeting with Satan, which left a deep impression in my mind.
Though obscured by shadows, he emanated an unsettling vibe.
‘I don’t know what kind of tricks he used, but he shattered these walls like they were nothing.’
I pressed my front paw against the stone floor of the resting area. Even after thousands of years, the sturdy floor felt like it would be hard to break with mere strength.
‘Is he like the Demon King, specialized in pure strength? But he looked too small for that.’
Of course, it’d be foolish to judge a mythical creature’s abilities solely based on appearance.
His youthful look, like a young nobleman or a boy, certainly didn’t scream “power type”.
━ Didn’t you say you don’t know what powers Satan has?
Nod.
“Frankly, I still don’t know.”
━ Hmm.
In that brief encounter, all I could gauge was his appearance and that vague, unknown power. As I pondered, Azidahaka spoke with an air of determination.
“Still, I definitely confirmed that he possesses my precious gem.”
━ Ah, right.
Before Satan vanished, Azidahaka had been muttering about her precious gem. If my memory serves me right, there was a small glowing object on Satan’s finger, right?
━ The gem’s smaller than I expected. Only as big as a ring gemstone.
Since the precious gem was described as the Fruit of the World Tree and hardened sap from Behemoth, I imagined it would be at least my size, but I never thought it would be just a small cubic crystal.
━ You’re not mistaken or anything, are you?
Shaking her head.
“No, that energy was definitely my gem. I don’t know how its size shrunk, but the magical power… didn’t it feel similar to yours?”
━ Magical power? I didn’t really feel anything. So, what you’re saying is the original gem was super huge, and somehow he reduced it to the size of a ring gemstone?
“It seems that the increase in incomplete mythical creatures, along with the decrease in the power of my gem, is related. It wouldn’t be easy to simply reduce that amber… and to wield it like a ring is no task just anyone could manage.”
━ The more I hear, the less I understand what kind of creature he is.
I shook my head vigorously to sort through my increasingly complicated thoughts. Actually, the important thing isn’t his abilities or intentions.
━ So, do you think we can win against him? In the end, we need to take his precious gem away.
The main question is if I, or we, can defeat that rascal, Satan.
Upon my words, Azidahaka fell into deep thought, as if contemplating, and then mumbled, “Hmm.”
“To be honest, it’s fifty-fifty. I’m unsure.”
━ Don’t tell me you lack confidence?
“If you don’t hold me back, we should be able to win if we attack together.”
━ Ha, who are you calling “hold back”? You have no idea how much stronger I’ve become lately!
After a hundred years in military service, having acquired divine abilities like Bounce Back and Roll, I’d say I’ve become practically invincible! I felt confident I wouldn’t lose even to the Demon King now, without using any special tricks.
“While you’ve grown stronger, you still can’t be stronger than me, the tip of the dragons’ spear and one of the twelve mythical creatures.”
Azidahaka laughed as if finding it amusing. Her sharp teeth peeked out from beneath her tiara.
━ Ha, you thought that of me all this time?
“What did you think of me?”
━ I thought you were just a pretty face with shiny red scales.
“Hah, a pretty face… No matter what, I can’t tolerate someone insulting my scales!”
Suddenly, Azidahaka, who was sitting beside me, shot up as if she had made up her mind.
━ What’s going on?
“Order is needed in a group. I won’t tolerate being looked down upon by a beast that’s less than one year old! Let’s have a match!”
━ No need to go that far. We should save our strength; who knows what’s coming next.
I absentmindedly scratched my ear with my small front claw. At that moment, a huff of laughter came from Azidahaka.
“Looks like I’ve scared you.”
━ Scared? Me? You’ve just seen me less often lately, that’s all.
I also stood up on my two legs.
━ Has the experience in bed not shaken your soul enough?
“You forgot how you got all your fur ripped out, didn’t you? Hehe. Let me remind you.”
The image of my fur being ripped out made a shiver of fear rise in my mind.
Even though fast regeneration filled in the gaps, thinking about going through that again was utterly horrifying.
━ Ugh, well, that…
But as a male, I couldn’t accept being subdued and living in misery under a female. The only female I would obey was my mother, who suffered to give birth to me.
━ Alright then, let’s have at it.
As I growled, our companions around the fireplace turned their heads, curious about what was happening.
━ What’s up, buddy? Out of nowhere, you two are going to fight?
━ Scary, nya…
“Super fun.”
━ Gyu-ing.
Everyone commented as they tried to intervene.
To be fair, thinking about it rationally, fighting each other in this cramped space—even two beasts that spew terrifying fire—would definitely be dangerous.
━ Then how about we settle it with an arm wrestling match? That should be enough.
“Arm wrestling? It shouldn’t end with something so trivial.”
Azidahaka flashed her red eyes from beneath her tiara.
“We shall settle it by determining ranks through the struggle of dragons.”
━ What’s that?
“It’s simple. Using only our front paws or hands, we try to knock over the opponent on their back or push them outside a designated area. That way, we can gracefully end the fight.”
━ Ah, you mean like what you did with Rivino back then?
“We settle most disputes this way and reach a consensus.”
I recalled the sight of dragons butting heads in a melee, apparently their version of a sports event.
━ Alright then, that sounds acceptable.
Though it felt like I fell into Azidahaka’s easy provocation, I also wanted to objectively gauge how far my newfound strength could reach.
Since becoming an adult. After gaining numerous skills, I wanted to see if I could rival mythical creatures with my platinum-grade beast ranking. Perhaps this opportunity was a chance to test myself against Azidahaka.
‘If my skills can’t penetrate her, I might end up being the one holding her back in the fight against Satan.’
For that reason, I decided to firmly discern whether my strength could affect mythical beings this time.
━ Alright everyone, watch closely. Let’s see who touches the ground first, be it with a hand or paw.
“I’ll draw the arena.”
Totuga pulled out something resembling a stone pencil and sketched a tight circle on the stone floor. It resembled a small wrestling ring.
Azidahaka swept her tail across the circle she drew.
“If you step outside this line, fall over, or touch the ground with your bottom or belly, or kneel, you lose.”
━ Sounds just like hand wrestling. No excuses if you lose later.
“Understood. Let’s start at the signal.”
━ Then Yingyi, you be the signal!
I faced off against Azidahaka. Standing on our two legs, her height towered over me by at least two heads.
━ Wait, isn’t this super unfair to me? I’m in a four-legged stance!
“The rules are set already.”
━ Gyu-ing!
With the rough sound emitted from Yingyi cradled in the sand’s embrace, Azidahaka’s palm shot toward me.
Though it seemed like a simple slap, the focused attack from a mythical being was lethal enough.
Whoosh.
Caught off guard by her unexpected timing, I couldn’t think of bouncing back; instead, I quickly bent my head to dodge.
“I have one more hand!”
However, just as I ducked my chin down, Azidahaka’s fist swiftly shot upwards. That uppercut, if hit, would definitely knock me out cold.
‘Gotta dodge somehow!’
I applied my rolling skill, executing a backflip to dodge her uppercut, creating distance between us.
━ Wow, that was incredibly agile. Like a cat, nya!
Sand clapped at my dodge.
With a somersault, I had created space between me and Azidahaka. Below my paws was the thin line I sketched.
━ Their attacks are relentless. Most would have been done in by that last one.
“Unexpected attacks. That’s how you avoid your opponent’s counter, right?”
Azidahaka cracked her knuckles and took a fighting stance like a seasoned fighter.
Though she was essentially a dragon, having lived long as a mythical being in human form, it seemed she was quite skilled in handling her body.
━ But you missed that chance, so you won’t be able to hit me now.
“That’s something we’ll only know once we try.”
Azidahaka lunged toward me at high speed, and while the sudden shortening of distance made me slightly tense, her descending palm came down as if moving in slow motion.
‘This is doable.’
Her palm crashing down towards my head, I was ready to swat it away with my right front paw.
The key to bouncing back is angle, rhythm, and a bit of power.
Just as her palm was about to touch my head, I swiftly readied myself and struck out with my paw.
Smack!
━ Ugh!
But the only one who let out a surprised yelp wasn’t Azidahaka, but me. Instead of hitting her palm, it seemed to slap my head.
━ W-What the…?
Caught off guard, I noticed a flash of red light in Azidahaka’s eyes peeking from under her tiara.
“You’re probably thinking, ‘Did she really predict my move?’”
━ Did you predict my move?
Her words lined up perfectly with mine. Just as I wielded divine powers, Azidahaka also had sharp perception.
━ Hey, you said you couldn’t use those eyes inside this pyramid.
“Exactly. That’s why I can only see a short time into the future. But that’s enough to disrupt your plans. That technique you just learned, Bounce Back, is truly remarkable. Quite delicate. But if I slightly miscalculate…”
━ So, I’ve learned something valuable. Indeed, mythical beings are no ordinary creatures. But your eyes can’t be perfect either. They must consume a lot of magical power and only show you brief glimpses when it matters.
Both our abilities are imperfect, which brings us to the question of who has the most revealing cards to play.
I smiled faintly, raising my tightly clenched front paw high into the air.
“What… what’s that?!”
Azidahaka looked greatly alarmed. It seemed she had figured out what I was trying to do.
━ But it’s already too late!
With my front paw raised high, I slammed it down on the ground.
‘According to Batus, shouting the name when imagining a technique apparently helps!’
I shouted out the name that flashed across my mind in an instant.
━ Gravity Reflection!
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