Chapter 284

284 – Abyss Lair

With Aro on my back, I kick off the edge of the cliff to jump down . I quickly spread my wings, slowing my fall as I cautiously face the bottom . I feel around with [Presence Perception], and as I draw closer to the bottom, I start recognising abyss presences . A cold chill runs down my spine . It feels like I’m getting goosebumps on my scales .

“Ve…” “Ve, ve… ve…”

“VeEe…”

Abysses cry out quietly from the bottom, their cries echoing off the chasm walls . The further down I go, the damper and darker it becomes . Before long, I’m able to see abysses crowding around the bottom .

I thought I’d gotten used to them, but with so many jostling about, it’s wearing away at my spirit . Perhaps to threaten me, they’re glaring at me while gnashing their teeth and drooling . I reflexively look away . More abysses come crawling out of holes in the cliff face and bare their hostility towards me .

…This distance should be enough . Get them good, Aro .

Aro was leaning forwards, her hand on my back to suck up magic power . I signal her with my eyes, and she responds with a slight nod, getting to her feet .

“…[Clay] . ”

She raises a hand to an area where they’re particularly tightly packed . A pillar of earth erupts, pushing through the crowd . They fly through the air, leaking body fluids . It doesn’t look like any of them died in that attack, but a fair few of them have taken serious wounds .

“…[Gale] . ”

The panicked abysses are scattered by the tornado . Distracted by the change in the terrain, they fail to brace themselves in time and are slammed into the cliff wall .

At this rate, this should go well… is what I thought, but then something terrible appears in an area they were swarming . It’s a yellowed, huge dragon skeleton .

The eye sockets and rib cage are covered with a mysterious fat yellow thread, and a number of small disgustingly vivid green, slightly transparent abysses cling to the inside . They must be their larval form . Though their bodies are green, the tips of their heads and rears are completely orange . With all their orange legs tangled up, it looks a bit like ramen . Those long legs and the mysterious thick yellow threads are tangled together… It’s all too sickening, and I don’t want to look too closely .

“Oooo…”

With her head tilted to the side, my partner cries out mournfully . It’s probably the remains of a dragon that got brought down by abysses and had eggs laid in it . If I died here, I’d end up the same way . So I particularly I don’t want to die here .

For the time being, that’s fine . That much is fine . No, it’s not fine, but I can put it to the side for now . The problem is that that dragon skeleton has two heads .

“…Dragon, god, sama?”

Aro mumbles quietly .

I-it got eaten . I’d heard that it had suddenly gone off somewhere, but it went and got eaten by abysses! What were you doing, eh, seriously?

I raise my altitude, creating some distance from the remains of what could well be the deceased dragon-god-sama . Abysses dive down towards me, but I flick them away with my wings . Aro’s also dazed from shock . For that matter, how do I explain this to Aro?

For that matter, is that really dragon-god-sama? Could it maybe be two corpses stacked up on top of each other… Should I check with [Status Inspection]?

【[Amphis]:[1] C+ rank monster . 】

【A mild-natured, two-headed dragon . 】

【As it prefers to eat abysses which cause harm to people, it has a tendency to be worshipped by the people living in the forest . 】

【As the [Amphis] is not very intelligent, without knowing the meaning, it is innocently pleased . 】

Dragon-god-samaaaaa!? What should I do…? Dragon-god-sama was weaker than I thought . I was sure it was B- at the lowest, but like this it’s just food for the abysses . It had wings, so maybe with the right skills it was able to manage… No, it ended up like this because it was unable to manage .

That explains why it wouldn’t fight the manticore . It would be completely impossible . From the start, dragon-god-sama only wanted to help the humans by eating abysses .

I finally know why Hibi wasn’t suspicious of me at all, even though I spoke with her so much with [Telepathy] . Originally, dragon-god-sama didn’t speak at all . If anything, she probably felt something was off when I asked so many questions .

I wonder if the change in generations is normal . It’s not a single person (dragon), but rather a characteristic of all amphises . That explains the time gap they’re waiting for a different amphis to arrive . If anything, isn’t it strange that there’s never been two of them?

Ah? But then the manticore’s sacrifices… Well, I’ll think about it later . For now, I have to focus on the abysses in front of me .

I shift my attention to Aro on my back . She’s comparing me to the dragon-god in confusion, but when she meets my eyes she shakes her head slightly and stands up .

“[Gale]!”

She raises both arms . Two large tornadoes appear and trample over the abysses that can only crawl on the ground . I continue to knock away abysses that come diving from above with my wings and arms .

This is going well, we’ve got plenty of leeway . I was overthinking this . The abysses crawling on the ground don’t have any attack that can reach us up here . It’s a one-sided hunting ground for Aro .

【44 experience points have been acquired . 】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 44 experience points have been acquired . 】

Finally, strength fades from one of the abysses, and I receive an experience points notification . From then on, the abysses collapse one after the other from their accumulated damage, and message windows repeatedly appears and disappears in my brain . The abyss larvae that were crawling inside the dragon-god burst into body fluids as a result of Aro’s [Gale] converting them into experience points . Perhaps realising that they can’t win, the abysses rapidly retreat to the holes in the wall .

…I can’t go in those, after all . Numerically, I reckon there’s a lot more of them hiding in those nesting holes… Until the overflowing abyss population is thinned out, the Lithovars and I won’t be able to have peace . Should I try destroying the wall? Or could I stick something long in there, or lure them out with some bait…

For now, I want to show my respects and bury the former dragon-god-sama . The mysterious fat yellow thread is wrapped around its bones, and the corpses of the abyss larvae are inside it . As it is now, it’s a bit too pitiful .

At that time, Aro pokes my back . Turning around, I see her flapping her arms… C-could this be .

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Name: Aro

Species: Revaana Mage

Condition: Cursed, Magic Correction (major)

Lv: 30/30 (MAX)

HP: 116/116

MP: 98/132

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Oh, ooh… Uoooh! Finally, finally, her level has reached the maximum .