Chapter 58: Heilige...what the hell is that thing?!
LEFT! LEFT! LEFT! DODGE LEFT!
Although none of my skills besides [Parallel Thoughts] could speak with me, the combined warning from my [Prediction] and [Danger Perception] was so audible that it sounded like a voice was telling me to dodge left to protect my life.
At this stage of my life, I have learned to trust my skills when my life depended on it. Without a single other thought, I tensed up my legs and jumped to the side, at the same time the snake launched its mouth at me, destroying the tree that I was just standing on.
[Heilige Scheie, how fast was that?!] I shouted out, unable to keep my surprise to myself.
The snake head of that [Vellestra Leviathan], the first A rank monster Ive seen in my life, not only did it splinter the tree into little pieces like it was nothing, but it honestly felt like had I hesitated for a single millisecond, my body would have been caught.
That was after I immediately acted on the warning that my skill was telling me. I was hopelessly outclassed by this thing, and even in my dragon form, I dont know if I could handle it. Should I transform back for my maximum Agility or stay small?
As I let my parallel minds figure out an answer to this question, I made no mistake to stay shocked for long, choosing to act and defend myself from this fearsome beast.
My instincts told me that this was not a fight that I could win, it was unwinnable at my current state and only fleeing would be the correct choice to do.
Sacred Field!
Draining my mana like a sink tap, I invested a huge amount of mana into my [Sacred Field] to increases its effective area to the size of a baseball field, however, at the same time I did that, the snake launched another attack.
Aaaaah!
While I managed to avoid being mauled by that attack, I didnt expect that once it hit the ground, it had enough power behind it that it sent me flying from the sheer wind pressure and impact shockwave.
Flying backwards, Rajahs shadow snakes helped me regain my bearing, preventing me from crashing on the ground. At the same time, my parallel minds finished casting my spells, materializing magic circles around me and in front of the snake.
Activating them, [Bedrock Blades] burst from the ground and pounded its sharp edges on the snakes scales; [Inferno Beam] and [Banishment Beam] pushed the head away with continuous rays of magic; lastly, [Spiral Hellfire], my highest levelled fire spell, sent out a huge screw-like fire at the snake, drilling and forcing it to back away from me.
As a last measure, a thick stone wall as high as the trees grew up from the ground, separating me from that thing.
My spells did barely any damage
Due to the wall, I had to stop my beam spell, however, I could still hear my [Spiral Hellfire] and [Bedrock Blades] doing work from over here, so this should give everybody around me enough time to get out of sight. Looking around, I let out a silent sigh of relief that every single lizardman was on my side of the wall. I could also see their wounds recover due to [Sacred Field]s continuous effect. They should be healthy enough to run now.
[Caszcur, I know youre still hurt, but I have to ask you for a favor,] I said as I turned my head towards the actual leader of this rescue party.
Spare your breath, little lady, Ive lost an arm, not my mind. Ill get these krill eaters away from here, so you just concentrate on your own survival, Caszcur, ever the quick thinker despite his brutish appearance, quickly understood the meaning of my words. Shouting at others is literally my job, so leave this to meEVERYONE, FOLLOW ME!
His loud voice and immediate action showed results as he quickly roused the scared lizardmen and the guards to run deeper into the forest. With Tasianna re-joining me and Rajah, I was about to follow the rest, when my [Prediction] warned me of another attack.
Knowing that it would hit the lizardmen group, I cast [Sanctuary] to protect the group behind me, while Tasianna wordlessly cast [Frozen Shield]. In the middle of its materialization, the white snake effortlessly busted through my [Terra Wall] and shattered my light barrier, even pulverizing Tasiannas shield.
Kyaaaaaah! terrified by the sudden attack, my body instinctively stepped to the side to dodge it while letting out a shriek.
Anticipating the powerful impact this time, the shockwave wasn't enough to blow me away. Now standing beside its head, my tiny eyes met the large beast's, huge enough that I was able to see my whole body being reflected by it.
Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Identity Blocker Lv. 3] evolved into [Identity Blocker Lv. 4]
Wha-? Did it just use [Identify] on me?! Crap, how much information did it manage to get from my Status Board?! Did my [Identity Blocker] even block his skill?!
That was when something stirred inside me, a desire to know if I could do it; letting my curiosity control me, I ignited a flame around my claws by grinding them against each other, poured in more mana to empower it even further and then crashed it into the beasts eye.
As if I was trying to punch a wooden door like a normal human being, my claws managed to dent the eye, shooting out a dark red fluid out of it, but the hardiness of the organ was too much for my arm, as cracking and snapping sounds coming from my arm could be heard.
Hiiiiiieeeee!
Ssssssssssssschiellaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Overwhelmed by our respective pain, we flailed around as we tried to separate ourselves from each other. The large snake, being the massive beast that it was, swung its huge body into the air, trying to remove my claws from its eye, while I tried to push myself out of it.
It all ended when the shadow snakes reappeared from Rajahs legs, attached themselves to another tree and pulled me towards it, freeing me from the rampaging snake. Dazed from all that shaking and swinging around, I clenched my teeth and grabbed my broken arm. With a loud crack, I re-adjusted it back to its correct position before pushing some bones back into my body.
Once everything was back inside me, I held onto my arm which had its entire bones either broken, sticking outside my body, or splintered into pieces.
[Oh, my goodness, Lady Hestia] Tasianna said with a gasp.
Mreow! Rajah was equally shocked by the state of my arm.
However, I simply ignored them. There was no time to feel sorry for myself when Im still not outside of the danger zone.Ñøv€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.
Using the same method that I used to repair Rajahs leg, I cast [Major Heal] on it, making sure that my arm would come out even healthier than before.
Once my arm was back to normal, I let out a sigh of relief that the pain disappeared, but I couldnt relax long as my skills began warning me again.
Reflexively constructing another [Terra Wall], I ducked my body down as my skill instructed me to. As if the air was being pierced, a clear beam flashed past me, destroying my stone wall and the tree behind me like paper.
She couldn't believe it, until I told her about how using milk and sugar was a good way to sweeten it, which cleared everything up for her.
It seems like fairies don't drink much milk, so they usually enjoy tea leaves that had a pleasant taste on its own.
Happy to help, Tasianna picked them up with Rajah's help and we stayed at that location, drinking tea until it was night time.
That was when my [Detection Sensor] noticed a group approaching us. Due to the tea, Ive recovered quite a bit from my arcane corruption, so I was ready to fight, or at the very least to flee.
However, my worry was unwarranted when a familiar face appeared.
Little Lady! Thank Marsven, youre still alive, the one-armed lizardman, Caszcur said with a relieved laugh.
[Caszcury-you came back for us?] I asked, surprised that he was willing to lead all these lizardmen just to find us.
What?! Has that giant thing rocked your head so much that it turned to a slug? How many times have I said that Im indebted to you? he shouted, actually angry that I would question him for coming to help me.
After I apologized to him, we both shared what happened when we got separated. I told him about my current problem and that I needed rest, while he explained that it took a bit of convincing but he managed to persuade everybody to come, calling it a "debt worth giving up our life" and that they would dishonour themselves if they didn't come to help.
Seems like the snakes rampage made it easy to look for me, you only needed to follow the destroyed trees.
[Uhhh, so is this why they are cleaning me, now?] I asked Caszcur, confused why the female lizardmen were cleaning my body.
Ha ha, yeah, that fight must have really pushed you to your limits. You look nothing like when you narrowly saved my life; all that blood fits your appearance but not your personality, little lady, Caszcur said with a calm nod. Just accept it. Its the same thing after you healed everybody in the clinic. We lizardmen dont forget a debt this big that easily.
Tasianna, taking her role as my retainer seriously, was directing everybody on how to help me, using the water that she was creating. As I had recovered, I also took out some already dismantled meat from my storage, which caused all the lizardmen to celebrate at the fact, telling me that they will create a feast for me.
Soyou mind telling me about your suddentransformation? Caszcur asked, pointing at my wings and head.
Sighing, I realized that I was in a bit of pickle now. Whether it was cause I trusted him or due to my fatigue, I elucidate to him about my dragon origin. Of course, I wasnt about to tell him anything about being a Reincarnator. While exposing myself as a dragon was already nerve-wracking, I knew that telling him about my other secret would be a mistake.
It also seemed like the dragon stuff was already too much for him to handle.
A dragonewt was one thing, but a dragon? He assured me that Apsala would go crazy if she heard this. After the feast, I decided to transform back to my preferred form, shocking every single lizardman who didn't know about it. They told me, "Your other form was so much more attractive" and "Human skin sure is weak, you should stay in your proper form".
My proper form would shock you even more
After that, we rested for the night and began traveling on the next day. During this time, I also successfully reattached Caszcurs arm. I first tried to regrow it with my spells but that was seemingly impossible even with [Major Heal], so I was glad that I quickly thought of freezing Caszcurs stump and arm.
The frozen cells were a problem but that was still easily mended with my healing spells. Caszcur told me that he was just continuously accumulating more and more debts and was visibly depressed by that fact.
It took us about two days until we finally returned back to the camp. Arriving, a crowd was already assembling at the entrance, probably cause of certain someone
The cheers that I could hear was incredible, so full of energy of seeing their friends again. The five siblings even came up to me to thank me personally for doing it. Not only did they thank me for killing those panguanas but also for bringing all their friends back.
It was honestly awesome that I was able to see all of this, warming my heart that our party was able to help them.
Hestia a voice came behind me, tightly embracing me. I was so worriedYou are too reckless for your own good, Hestia, but I am glad that you are alright.
Hey, Miss Spy. Sorry for showing you that pitiful sight, guess you were right once again, huh? I said, holding onto her arms as I remembered our fight. Im sorry for making you worry like that, despite how much you were against it.
[Of course, I was correct! Do you think it was a good,] Saori interrupted herself, as I felt something wet drop down my head. ["No, I should not scold you about it. I-I worry, yeah, maybe too much? I should just be glad that I didnt lose you. Tasianna, I thank you so very much for keeping her safe, if you were not there then I probably would have ran, after I saw all of that."]
[Of course, Miss Saori, it was my dutyeven if wasnt enough. I promise to get stronger,] Tasianna said while bowing.
Nodding to Tasiannas show of, Saori then turned towards Rajah, [You, Rajah, are just the best. You brave little boy, you did exactly what I asked you too. Good work.]
Mreow!
It seems I was correct to assume that those snakes and that black coating around Rajah were Saori's work. Using [Shadow Armament] to coat his legs and then leaving dormant [Shadow Snakes], she was able to see through those things and help me.
I knew it was weird when I felt my mana leaving my body, but it seems they were sucking them out of me to be used. After I had the opportunity, I used [Identify] on them.
Shadow Snake
A dark element spell that conjures a semi-sentient snake made out of shadows. The user may transfer their senses into it to see what they can see. Can be used remotely only if the shadow is still connected with the user
As [Shadow Armament] was an extension of Saoris mana, the snakes were able to stay dormant into them, using my mana once Saori thought she had to. Guess that also meant that she kept an eye on us by having Rajah follow me.
She's so sneakybut she did prevent me from being eaten so all is fair.
So, did I miss anything while I was gone? I asked Saori who was wiping the tears off her face.
Yeah, Saori averted her eyes, fidgeting her hands as she kept hugging me. The mother woke up.
Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Draconic Claws Lv. 5] [Prediction Lv. 9] [Danger Perception Lv. 3] [Detection Sensor Lv. 3] [Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 3] [Fear Resistance Lv. 2] [Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 6] [Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 6] [Poison Creation Lv. 5] gained