Chapter 259

259 – The End of Human Eating

“Ge, geba…”

The manticore steps back . But we’ve already confirmed that way is a dead end that way . If it wants to get out, then it’ll have to get past me .

“I-it’s the dragon-god! Th-this is an absurdity! Why? Why is the dragon-god here!?”

I check behind to see Yarg pointing his spear at me . He’s wielding the spear Tatark had . But both his arm and his voice are trembling, so it doesn’t look like he’ll charge at me any time soon .

“Gaaaa…”

My partner glares at him and he drops the spear and sinks to the floor .

“A-aah…aah . What, how did it come to this…?”

…Sorry for scaring you so much . Rather than sit down, I’d rather you ran away though .

Like Yarg, Tatark is staring at me with his eyes wide open .

Oops, I can’t just focus on what’s behind me .

I turn my attention to the manticore . It has stopped moving and is stomping its feet on the ground .

“Gebaah!”

A sandstorm stirs up inside the cave . The already poor visibility from Yarg’s lantern grows worse . The wind also is drowning out sound .

That’ll be the [Sandstorm] skill . Monsters in the desert used the same skill, but this is stronger . There’s the effect of the higher skill level, but the confined area will also be boosting its power .

It seems it’s still deciding between making a break for it or trying to bring me down . I feel for the manticore with [Presence Perception] . Its presence moves in front of me to the left and right, then stops .

That’s unfortunate for you, manticore . If you could see my skills, there’s no way you would try this strategy .

The manticore suddenly jumps at me from diagonal left . The leg strength it was so proud of was shredded by my partner earlier . With its current level of speed combined with my ability to know its position, there’s no way it could slip that attack by me .

I twist, knocking the manticore out of the air with my tail .

“Gebaah!?”

At the moment it impacts the ground, my partner bites into it and slams it against the wall to her right . To the manticore that appears in front of my eyes, I follow it with a head-butt .

“Geoh!?”

The manticore falls to its back, tumbling with the impact of my head-butt .

I move to chase after it, until I notice the manticore is looking behind me . Yarg and Tattark are behind me . Sensing something’s wrong, I stop .

“Gebagebagebaah!”

The manticore regains its footing as it braces its legs, pointing its tail forward . At the end of its tail is its round stinger .

There’s no way, is it using the [Needle Body] skill? From where it’s looking, it’s clear that it’s aiming for the humans behind me . That it’s bringing out its stinger now that it’s got some distance means that it has to be a long-range skill . If that’s the case, there’s only one thing I can think of for an attack magic named [Needle Body] . It’s going shoot out needles .

I spread out my wings . Dozens of needles suddenly shoot from the tip of its tail . I flap my wings to stir the air, pouring magic into the wind as I do . My [Wind Blade] diverts the trajectory of the needles . All of them fall to the ground limply between myself and the manticore .

“Ge…ge, geba…”

I could tell it was going to aim for the humans behind me to distract me, but… That’s unfortunate for it .

Even the manticore can see this is as far as it can go . My status values are a rank higher . Its problematic speed was sealed from the start . I have [Status Inspection], so I know all its skills . It’s also clear that it’s got no more cards to play .

The manticore slowly gets to its feet, glaring at me with ragged breaths . It searches around with its black eyes . It’s probably looking for something to use .

“Geba… Geba…”

It’s fortunate we were able to settle this in a dead-end .

The manticore starts ramming into the wall with its body . The entire cave shakes with each impact . Could it be trying to open a hole to escape? If so there’s no way it could succeed this late on .

I charge toward the it, raising my forefoot high . This is the end .

“Ge, gege…”

The moment I swing my claw with the intention of sending its head flying, its body shrinks . A split-second later, it has transformed into a brown-haired woman . I immediately divert my swing . My claw sticks into the ground .

Th-this, it its final moments, it’s using [Humanisation Technique] . Flustered, I raise my other forefoot into the air, but hold it steady too .

『Oi, what are you doing!?』

Receiving my partner’s thought, I regain my composure . As I’m putting force into my foreleg, at that time:

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Covering its face with its arm, the manticore repeats words of apology . Its appearance is all too fragile .

This thing is a monster that has been preying on the Lithovar tribe for a long time now . Not only has it harmed them directly, but it has also instigated doubt in the dragon-god causing the village in two, and forced them to bring it live food . It’s been tormenting them as it pleases . Even Aro was killed by it .

And yet after all that… To do this is just cowardice . Even though my head is convinced, my foreleg doesn’t move .

The manticore’s human form is tall for a female-type, and it gives an impression of delicateness . Perhaps because it looks so weak, it’s such a far cry from the human-eating monster I know it too be .

I can’t finish my swing . My arm feels heavy, as though it’s made of lead .

『Oi, pull yourself together!』

Against my best judgement, I lower my arm . As though it was waiting for that moment, the manticore raises its face .

Despite it being in form, its facial expression is anything but human . A sneer packed with malice is plastered on its face . Bloodlust seeps through the narrow gaps between its eyelids . The way its huge mouth splits open is proof that it has already begun to undo its humanisation . Its tongue hangs loosely from its mouth .

Its fangs grow larger and larger . Bracing itself with its uninjured leg, it leaps out towards my throat . It’s fast . It’s probably putting all its remaining strength into this one attack .

“Gebagebagebagebaaah!”

I fell for it . By the time I realise that, the manticore’s fangs are already in my neck . Just below my chin, its fangs are stabbed in deeply .

“Guu…”

My head goes numb . That reminds me, it had the [Paralysis Bite] skill… Damn it! I should have known it would try a sneak attack from its status and how it’s acted so far .

The manticore steadily returns to its monster form… At the time it finishes, it separates from my throat . My partner has bitten into its own throat and is pulling it off me . The paralysis mustn’t have reached her yet .

The manticore flies through the air, blood spewing from its neck . It impacts the ground, belly-up .

My partner spits out its blood .

『As always, you’re too naive . 』

…I am aware of that . I really am glad you’re here .

Applying pressure to the bite wound, I use [Autoregeneration] to heal the punctures . The wounds quickly close and the numbness fades .

【Characteristic Skill[1] [Paralysis Resistance] has risen from level 5 to 6 . 】

I look towards the manticore . The sound of its chattering teeth rings out, then it stops moving completely .

【2044 experience points have been acquired . 】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 2044 experience points have been acquired . 】

【The level of [Ouroboros] has risen from 61 to 65 . 】

For the first time in a while, I gain a large amount of experience points .

【Title Skill [Brave Hero] has risen from level 2 to 4 . 】

Ohh, it’s skipped a level . In terms of status, the manticore was the biggest threat I’ve yet faced, surpassing even the giant centipede .

【Normal Skills [Star Drop: Lv 2], [Nutcracker: Lv 3] have transformed into [Heaven’s Drop: Lv 3]】

【Normal Skill [Return to Ground: Lv 1] has been acquired . 】

Eh? Th-this, isn’t it the skill the hero had? Is this okay? It won’t infect me with his bad personality, will it?

Suddenly, I remember something from when I was fighting the hero . Towards the second half of our fight, when he summoned that insect swarm, I’m sure he said this:[2]

『Fu… Fuhu… Fuhuhu… You’ve really, truly, pissed me off . You know that? I’ve had enough… I’m going to curse this whole country to death . Apart from me, who has [Holy], no one will be spared . Not you, not Adofu, not the damned priest, not that beastman, not a single one of them! All of them will suffer and die!… You shouldn’t have chased me around so persistently . You can regret that in hell . 』

…Guessing from what he said, [Holy] is a skill that can cancel out curses . If I could learn it from the [Brave Hero] title skill, then wouldn’t I be able to control the [Dragon Scales] curse that I scatter around?

[1] This is probably a mistake and is meant to say Resistance Skill

[2] Chapter 213