Chapter 285: Aro, Third Evolution

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285 – Aro, Third Evolution

I land in front of the dragon-god. I trample on a number of abyss corpses, but don’t pay them any attention for now. When I first saw one, just getting closer to it felt like insanity, so it really is scary how much I’ve gotten used to them.

Aro jumps down from my back while being careful about the ground. I glance at the large number of holes in the walls. They vary in size, but most of them are just barely big enough for an abyss to squeeze in. Even a human wouldn’t be able to enter without crouching down.

Perhaps because of the heavy abysses, a few of the holes are slightly larger. If I used [Humanisation Technique], I could just about enter those. Though it’d be too small to properly fight, and besides, there wouldn’t be any light.

“…”

Restless, Aro is unable to settle down.

I wonder if she intends to return to the village after this? Thinking that, I feel a bit gloomy.

『Shouldn’t I let her evolve?』

…Aah, please do the same as usual, partner. I reply to my partner with my true feelings and she nods back before facing Aro.

“Gaah!”

She cries out, and Aro is enveloped in a black light. It’s the [Soul AppendmentFake Life] skill.

I hear a sizzling sound coming from inside the black light, as though something is burning. Worried by the sound, I take a step forward. The black light surges outwards, and I reflexively close my eyes.

When I open my eyes, the light has dispersed, becoming thin. A pale white arm stretches out from inside. It’s not made of earth. Atleast, I don’t get that impression from its appearance. There’s no sense blood inside it, but it’s a smooth, young girl’s arm.

Before long, the black light completely clears away. Feeling as though they’re boiling with overflowing magic power, wide open crimson eyes stare back at me. Her skin and hair quality, as well as her eye colour have changed, but the shape of her face, her height, and the length of her hair are a perfect match for the Aro I know. A lot of her features remain from her previous evolution. She’s unmistakably Aro.

Noticing my surprise, she blinks, then nervously looks at her arm. The moment she touches the skin of her arm, her body trembles and she collapses on the spot. She hugs her body, so happy she looks as though on the verge of tears.

Finally, we’re finally here. With her pallid white skin and her crimson eyes that are slightly larger than normal, she’s a little bit diverged from a normal human appearance, but this is a massive improvement from her undead appearance up to now. For the time being, let’s check her species information.

【[Revaana Lowlich]: C+ rank monster】

【Freely wielding earth, it creates a temporary body. 】

【Harbouring a strong attachment to the living, it often lures in foolish humans. 】

【Before they know it, those humans find themselves in the midst of the [Revaana Lowlich’s] insane feast. 】

C+, is it? Her rank’s gone up a fair bit. Based her species name, next in line is a revaana lich? …It somehow sounds a little ominous, but it’s fine, right? Aro is still Aro, right?

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Name: Aro

Species: Revaana Lich

Condition: Cursed

Lv: 1/65

HP: 138/138

MP: 38/154

Attack: 88Defence: 76

Magic: 151

Speed: 65

Rank: C+

Characteristic Skills:

[Grisha Language: Lv4] [Undead: Lv-] [Dark Attribute: Lv-] [Flesh Transformation: Lv5] [Privilege of the Deceased: Lv-] [Ruler of Earth: Lv-] [Evil Demon Eye: Lv1]

Resistance Skills:

[Status Condition Nullification: Lv-] [Physical Resistance: Lv3] [Magic Resistance: Lv4]

Normal Skills:

[Gale: Lv6] [Poor Curse: Lv4] [Life Drain: Lv3] [Clay: Lv6] [Self-regeneration: Lv3] [Clay Doll: Lv5] [Mana Drain: Lv5] [Rope of Regret: Lv 1] [Fog of the Dead: Lv1]

Title Skills:

[Servant of the Evil Dragon: Lv-] [Hollow Sorcerer: Lv6] [Undecaying Body: Lv-]

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L-level 1 is just this much… Eh? She isn’t very strong? Is C+ only this much? Once her level’s raised a bit, she should able to chip away at the abyss population even without me. Whether or not she’s able to make good use of [Mana Drain] is the key though.

While I’m at my wits end looking at her status, Aro gets to her feet. She stares into my eyes. I wonder what she’s doing, but then I realise she’s checking her reflection in my eyes.

Upon seeing her reflection, her expression brightens and she hugs my chin. Th-that tickles. When I raise my head on reflex, she stretches out her arms towards me, a pout on her face.

I touch my chin with my foreleg and remember the feel of her touch. It felt like completely normal, supple human skin. I didn’t feel any body heat, but her skin is unmistakably human in quality. It doesn’t feel at all like it’s made from earth.

Aro suddenly looks at the dragon-god’s corpse opposite me. It’s covered in those fat yellow threads, as well as dead abyss larvae and body fluids.

…Now that I look at it more closely, this soft and flabby stuff looks a bit like a foam nest. Like one of those translucent things that some fish or frogs make to protect their eggs. Since the larvae were nearby, this yellow soft stuff probably had eggs in it. It might also serve as food for them while they grow up. Though I don’t want to think about too much.

When I turn to face the dragon-god’s corpse, Aro moves in front of it. After observing the corpse, she looks back up at me. I was sure she was about to be start being suspicious of me, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case.

“…Poor thing. ”

Aro lets out a mutter. Having seen it be trampled over by abysses, I agree with a nod.

Taking a big breath, I accumulate magic power in the back of my throat before releasing a [Scorching Breath] towards the dragon-god’s skeleton. The raging flames wrap around the bones, burning the soft thread and abyss corpses to nothing. The thunderous sound continues, until soon, even the dirt that can’t be identified as earth or dead flesh is burnt away. All that remains is a clean skeleton with a few scorch marks.

Aro approaches the clean dragon-god’s corpse and softly strokes its head.

“…Thank you for all you’ve done, dragon-god-sama. Please rest in peace. ”

She speaks smoothly, the rattle in her voice gone. She must have guessed it’s the old dragon-god-sama from seeing its two heads.

I watch over her in silence… I-it’s not like I’m jealous.

“…Umm, dragon-god, sama?”

Saying that in a way that leaves a question mark, Aro looks at me. For some reason, I’m close to withdrawing from awkwardness.

Though it’s not like her eyes are showing any distrust or hostility towards me. From the start, it’s possible a majority of the Lithovars are able to guess that the dragon-god changes between generations. It’s a bit late for it now, but I don’t get the feeling that the dragon-god’s miko, Hibi, was trying to press me with questions very much. Though some doubts remain, and there were a few times she looked at me with suspicion in her eyes.

I turn my face away in awkwardness, and it’s at that time. All of a sudden, there’s unpleasant noise.

“Guo…”

The moment I cry out, abysses spill out of their nesting holes. I swivel my head around to check my surroundings, and a moment later, a large number of abysses squeeze out of one of the holes in a jumbled mess. A few of them are overturned, wriggling with their bellies in the air.

W-what is it… What’s happening?

From where the abysses are being pushed out, a mysterious bluish black tentacle stretches out and flicks Aro’s body. It happens in an instant. It’s speed is tremendous. My attention was diverted, but even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to react in time. I hurriedly kick off the ground and leap after Aro, catching her with my tail before she can slam against the wall. She’d be crushed by the impact if I stopped her as-is, so I swing my tail in a circle to kill her momentum.

“Oww…”

Aro moans. The clothes on her side where she received the blow is torn, and a large chunk of her flesh is gouged out. There’s no blood, but the splatters of her pale flesh are grotesque. It wasn’t even a direct hit, yet it had enough force behind it to kill her. I might not have much leeway in this fight.

A mysterious tentacle slithers out of a nesting hole. It’s much bigger than an abyss. What exactly is hiding in this nesting hole…?

“UveeeeEeeEEh!”

An explosive shrill scream resounds. At the same time, the wall that the tentacles are emerging from starts breaking down.