Overlord (Light Novel)
Chapter 139.3: Volume 15: Chapter 2: Nazarick-style Traveling Experience (3)

They set off, heading towards the Dark Elf village.

Relying on what that elf had said, they raced across the ground on Fenrir’s back. If they could have discovered their target from the sky, they would have headed there without stopping, but unfortunately, it couldn’t be discovered even with Aura’s talents.

It was hard to breathe as they ran through the forest—it was as if Ainz were being smacked in the face by air that had absorbed the very greenery. That characteristic, and extremely potent on top of that, scent of a forest made his nasal cavity tremble. It may have just been Ainz’s imagination, but he could feel that it was different from the air in The Great Forest of Tob. If it weren’t just his imagination alone, then though this world may resemble YGGDRASIL, there were major differences, and it was brimming with various other changes.

As he idly mused over this, the urge of wanting to travel all over this vast world put just a little thrill in his heart.

If the average Joe was to proceed down the pathless path through The Great Sea of Trees with its dangling vines, jumble of trees, and more impeding them, it would obviously be impossible to proceed in a straight line. Before they knew it, they would find themselves heading in a completely different direction.

From what they had heard from the man, the distance to the Dark Elf village was about a week’s travel.

Although the Elves were adapted to the forests, if they could progress 15 kilometers a day within this Sea of Trees, they would be doing well. Based on that, the villages would be separated by about 100 kilometers. Ainz and company covered that distance on foot in a little over an hour. If it hadn’t been necessary for them to check their surroundings, they would have arrived even faster.

That was just how incredible Fenrir was. Fenrir’s ability, [Forestwalker], had been particularly useful because all the trees, dense thickets, and such moved as if they were avoiding Fenrir; thus, they were able to travel in an approximately straight line. No matter how great Fenrir himself was, they shouldn’t have been able to have come this far on foot in such a short amount of time had it not been for [Forestwalker].

But—

“I think it’s somewhere around here…”

Aura, who was sitting in front of Ainz, tilted her head in confusion.

Since Elven villages were constructed using trees, it was rather difficult to find one in the middle of a forest. Of course, this was the exact reason why their civilization developed to use trees to construct their villages. The Royal Capital of the Elves, with all its surrounding trees cut down, was the exception to this.

That being said, it should have been impossible for it to have been so cleverly hidden that Aura—a ranger with high-ranking abilities in her own right—couldn’t find it. Since it was difficult to imagine that they had just failed to notice it on the path they took to get here, they might not have reached their target village yet.

“As long as we weren’t mistaken about the distance to our destination, there’s no problem. If anything, it would be a problem if we got too close.”

Ainz touched the mask he had equipped with his hand. “I want us to find the village before they find us. I want information on them, so we’re going to conceal ourselves somewhere we won’t be found.”

What he was most scared of was that they had come to a completely wrong place. However, he wasn’t really worried about that being the case.

Of course, if one were to tell him to go into a place without a single point of reference (like the Sea of Trees) without any hesitation, Ainz would absolutely not be able to do that. The directions he got from the elf were: “once you’ve gone about 2500 paces there will be a huge boulder, and from there turn in the direction where three trees are standing in a row, advancing around 3000 paces,” and so on. Ainz thought his explanation was less than crystal clear.

But not to Aura.

Certainly, there had been occasions when even Aura was confused and had to search the surrounding area, but she was still mostly confident and had guided them this far.

Were rangers always this amazing, or is it just Aura who’s amazing...

He hadn’t felt it as much when they were making their way to the Dwarven Kingdom, but this trip had led Ainz to conclude mentally that this would have been impossible without a ranger accompanying them.

Even YGGDRASIL had this kind of dense forest, but in hindsight, they were still adjusted for the Players. He didn’t think a real jungle would be this formidable.

But on the flip side, it was just a fact that this experience had a certain excitement to it.

Out in these backwater regions…if anything were to happen…I can totally understand that desire for the unknown… The World Searchers, huh...

Explorers were those who pursued that excitement. The figure of a true adventurer that Ainz sought.

Throw it all away and walk around exploring this world, eh…

Finding himself idly considering such things once again, Ainz shook his head. There was no way he could do such a thing. It was an act that would never be permitted for Ainz Ooal Gown, the Supreme Ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

However—maybe it would be allowed if it was just for a little bit. Not abandoning Nazarick, but taking a paid vacation like he was this time.

Come on, I’m just thinking about the same thing over and over again. Honestly, I guess I can’t claim that it doesn’t come from the desire to drop this heavy baggage and run away... In the end, am I just going around in circles without any development? Am I incapable of growth because I’m an undead? Or is it because I am me? When I think about that, all I can do is sigh... Haaa. Well, there’s no point in thinking about unhappy things. Anyway...this time is with Aura and Mare, but how about I bring Cocytus and Demiurge along if there’s a next time?... I haven’t brought them along since that one time..

Ainz recalled when they acquired the land ship at the Katze Plains.

Okay! Let’s get rid of those pessimistic thoughts and think positively. If I were to go on the same kind of journey again, it would be pretty rough doing it without a ranger, but trying to overcome that challenge through wisdom and insight might be pretty entertaining.

It was precisely because Aura was here this time that they were able to make it this far in good shape, but it was a little disappointing that this meant Ainz hadn’t done anything at all.

Of course, he could just butt in and say he’ll handle things himself. If he did, Aura would probably be considerate and step aside for him. If Ainz were to make a mistake, she would surely think of something to help him while being careful not to offend him. However—

—Oh god, anything but that. Because I already feel like I’m getting in the way of running the Sorcerer Kingdom enough as it is!

Therefore, the best way to get what he wanted was to have an adventure without Aura. That way everyone could rack their brains together and have some fun. However, it should be noted that Ainz only thought of it this way because he had confidence that his powers could pull through during an adventure.

For example, if he was in some unknown place and lost his bearing, he could return from anywhere using [Teleport].

For example, even if some unknown magical beast came charging out of that thicket, he would be able to deal with it somehow, and even in the worst case, he could still flee back to Nazarick.

Sending adventurers out into the unknown world. That in and of itself wasn’t a mistake. Even Ainzach, the guild master himself, endorsed it. However, it’s not good to consider myself as the standard for an adventurer. Really, when I see Aura playing an active role in a place like this right before my eyes, I can feel the necessity of properly training up the adventurers.

It wasn’t as if Ainz particularly wanted the adventurers to die.

We’re conducting training in the Great Forest of Tob but…

The levels of danger in the Great Forest of Tob, which was under the complete control of Nazarick, and here were wildly different. It might not be a bad idea for the adventurers to gain experience at the Great Forest of Tob and hold the final exam here, but the circumstances surrounding that would require further discussions with Mare.

“Uh, um, Ainz-sama?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry Aura. It seems I got a little wrapped up in my own thoughts. So, what did you need?

“Ah, well, what do we do now?

Ainz looked up at the sky. He couldn’t see it through the green leaves growing in abundance on the branches. However, the red-tinged sun casting its light over the earth was more than enough for him to know what time it was.

“Hrm. The same as last time, we secure a place that is hard to find and separated from the activity area of the Dark Elves, or any other intelligent life, and that’s where we’ll stay.”

“Understood! Well then, could you grant me a little time?”

“Of course,” Ainz replied and Aura nimbly jumped off Fenrir. However, just as Aura looked like she was about to dash off, Ainz hurried to call for her to stop.

“Wait, Aura. Take Fenrir along with you. You don’t need to worry about us waiting here. I’ll summon a monster as a substitute for Fenrir. Right, Mare?”

“Y-yes, Ainz-sama.”

Mare, who was behind Ainz, answered in a fluster. In other words, starting from Fenrir’s head, Aura, Ainz, and Mare were riding on his back in that order.

Because they could sense anyone that approached them with Fenrir’s powers of perception, Ainz and Mare were extremely grateful for him being there since they lacked those abilities. However, if that was the case, it meant that Aura would have to act alone.

It would be one thing if she had spells that summoned monsters like Ainz did, but Aura didn’t have that ability. He was worried about sending her out into this unknown land without a shield. Using a magic item as a substitute was one way to deal with this, but it required one action in order to summon a monster. When he took into consideration things like time limits and such, he didn’t consider it to be a good move.

I think I’m worrying about it too much, but Aura will finish her job quicker by taking Fenrir along.

Aura displayed an attitude like she was going to say something, but she responded, “Understood.” And so, Ainz and Mare dismounted, she got back on Fenrir, and then she took off. The figures of a girl and a wolf immediately disappeared into the trees of the forest and became invisible.

“Now then, Mare. Let’s conceal ourselves in this area as inconspicuously as we can so that we won’t be found. Someone finding us here would put all of Aura’s hard work to waste.”

“Y-yes. Uh, umm, so then, we’re going to use Green Secret House?”

“That will be fine, but before that there’s one thing we have to take care of.”

If Ainz were alone, [Perfect Unknowable] would be the most effective solution, but he couldn’t cast that spell on others. On top of that, Mare couldn’t use it so it was necessary for them to take completely different measures, which was why monster summoning was mentioned earlier.

Ainz took a small statue out of his Inventory—it was a magic item.

Statue of the Magical Beast・Cerberus.

A magic item from the same creator as the Statue of the Animal・Warhorse that he had once used before. Fully engraved right down to the bulges of the muscles, brimming with the feeling of movement, it was a magnificent piece and like a work of art.

When Ainz used it, it instantly swelled up and the magical beast appeared.

What appeared was, of course, Cerberus.

It could bite with its three dog and lion-like heads, scratch with its razor-sharp claws, and bite with its poisonous snake-like tail. All its attacks could also be imbued with fire damage, and it possessed complete resistance to flame and poison. It was a large, high-ranked magical beast with considerable combat abilities.

That strength could be better understood when speaking in the terms of monsters that could be summoned through [Summon Monster 10th].

Although, if it were against an Ainz-class Player, it would not be a very difficult monster for them to deal with. That said, there wasn’t anything they could do about that.

A summoned monster’s role was to attack an enemy’s weak point, trigger traps, increase the number of available moves, or to simply serve as a shield. They were not meant to defeat other Players on their own.

Certainly, if Cerberus were continuously buffed through the use of a skill, it would be able to fight even better. For example, some of the undead that Ainz summoned were wearing Geta of Strength. And yet, if you compared them to Players with martial classes in the same level range, then no matter how unfavorable a comparison it was in terms of battle strength, so long as they were neither greatly mismatched nor some absurd build, one-on-one the Player would rarely lose.

The first reason Ainz had chosen Cerberus and not an Eyeball Corpse or other undead was because he had judged that a beast-type monster’s sensory abilities would be higher.

And one more reason was because he had concluded that a monster with exceptional senses of smell and hearing rather than vision would excel in their role as a detector in the Sea of Trees.

Cerberus might lose to Fenrir in terms of levels, but in the end, he did have three heads. There was no doubt his sense of smell was also three times greater—probably.

“Wow.”

Mare said in surprise because a magical beast he was seeing for the first time had appeared in front of him. There was no way it could have been because he thought it looked strong.

“Come now, Cerberus. When you catch the scent of someone who is not one of us approaching, you will inform us, yes?”

“Grr,” the heads of Cerberus growled. It was a way of growling that let you feel their eagerness and confidence. Ainz, delighted by that “leave it to us” feeling that was coming across to him, showed his proud expression to Mare—though he probably couldn’t tell.

“Now then, from how many hundreds of meters away can you discern a scent?”

The Cerberus trio— or rather, the number of heads—stopped moving.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, shit” “Huh?” “Hold up” was the mood that was being transmitted, and the anxiety at “hundreds of meters?” was also coming across.

Even if that was what was coming across to him, Ainz could only react to it, and it was more than plausible that the truth was entirely different.

“—That’s right. You have three heads. You can do better than Fenrir, right?”

“Kuuun,” Cerberus cutely whined and flopped over to expose his belly.

Perhaps if it had been a puppy doing it, one would appreciate its cuteness and maybe even Ainz would have rubbed that defenseless belly. However, he was dealing with Cerberus. Bluntly speaking, it wasn’t cute. It was the same with that giant body, but his looks were far too grim.

As Ainz stared at Cerberus, Mare fussed over him and rubbed his belly.

“...Hm? What are you doing?”

While being mindful of Mare, who was rubbing his belly, Cerberus slowly got up, and with a determined expression growled, “I’ll do my best,” “I’ll do it,” “This is impossible,” in response to Ainz’s question. It seemed like there were three different sentiments coming across.

What Ainz focused on was that one-third of the sentiments were negative.

“...It’s fine if it’s too much for you, okay? It’s worse if you force yourself and fail...You can at least discern the scents around us and tell when a stranger is coming, right?”

Though Ainz himself had been the one to say it, he had also thought that maybe hundreds of meters was impossible after all.

“He-heh-heh...I can do at least that much.” “That’s possible.” “I can do that.” Ainz nodded at that feeling.

“Then get to it.”

Cerberus let out a howl. He sniffed at the scents around him.

Incidentally, Ainz could also give these orders without speaking. It was possible to give orders to summoned monsters even if spells like [Silence] were used. If you wanted to interfere with the connection between the summoner and the summoned, you would need the extremely niche class-build known as the Anti-Summoner Specialist. He gave orders verbally because he thought Mare wouldn’t know what was happening if he and Cerberus were just staring at each other.

“Now then, next we will do as you said just a moment ago, Mare, let’s create a Green Secret House and hide inside. It’s best we are not seen by anyone.

“Yes!”

Mare looked pleased that his own suggestion had been accepted.

Actually, Mare’s suggestion hadn’t been off the mark.

Neither Ainz nor Mare possessed concealment techniques that could erase the traces of their passing. Therefore, if they were to carelessly wander around, they might leave behind signs, and if an expert outdoorsman saw them, he could tell where they were at a glance.

And so, it was wise for them to not move from this spot. Using magic like [Camouflage], that was available to druids and rangers, to keep quiet would have been best, but unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone in this place that could use that magic. Mare certainly was a druid, but in reality, he was an extremely niche type of specialized druid. His magic itself was geared towards mass genocide, and if he didn’t turn to items for help, he should have learned barely any of the common druidic magic, aside from a few buff-type spells.

Given all that, then bringing out the Secret Green House, and concealing their presence by hiding inside it— making a hiding place where they wouldn’t create footprints or other signs of their being there by not moving around—was the correct answer after all.

Was it okay for just him to be taking it easy, even though Aura was working so hard?

No, of course, even Ainz knew the expression “the right man for the job.” He had a memory of looking it up when he heard it as one of the lines used when he had troublesome work forced on him in the past. And then he remembered Punitto Moe said, “A hard-working person’s incompetence is the biggest pain in the ass of all.”

So this would be the right course of action.

But, if this was just him as the Sorcerer King leaving things to the Floor Guardian under his command, then there wasn’t any problem with it at all. However—for what reason had Ainz begun this trip?

And the answer was because it was a paid vacation.

Moreover, he being the adult who first suggested it wasn’t doing anything, and forcing the kids he had taken out with him to work, the guilt he felt was enormous.

Ainz became desperate and tried racking his brain, but he couldn’t assist Aura with her work, and nothing came to mind about anything he should be doing here. About the only excuse he could come up with was that he was keeping Mare company.

Fooling myself by saying I’m taking care of a child...is just running away, huh? That’s about the only...way to support Aura that I can come up with... So what do I do? Be respected for also doing the things I had to do...no, becoming an adult that carries out the bare minimum of their responsibilities?

Should he force himself to accept that what he couldn’t discover right now was a role for him to play?

However much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with the perfect answer.

A despondent Ainz said to Mare.

“...Well then, let’s wait inside the Green Secret House for Aura to get back.”

“Yes!”

Ainz felt like he had been saved just a little bit by the cheerful Mare’s response.

♦ ♦ ♦

There exists a magical beast called the Ankyloursus.

It looks like a bear from a distance, but if the difference is not quickly recognized, you can kiss your ass goodbye. It ranges from two to three meters in length. It has two pairs of, for a total of four, forelegs, and two hind legs. Sharp, pointed claws over 60 centimeters in length that are used exclusively for combat grow on two of the four forelegs, their hardness surpassing even that of steel. A long, thick tail extends from its lower back, at the end of which is a hammer-like swelling.

And finally, the majority of its body is protected by hard armor plates—that developed from scales. The power supporting that huge body is terrifying; a single attack unleashed by those hard, sharp claws and outstanding physical strength is easily able to bisect a person, armor and all.

However—that is all you should be wary of.

It is not as if it has any terrifying special abilities, nor can it employ any powerful magic. The Ankyloursus can only use the spell of [Fragrance], and that in and of itself is not something that can be used in combat. Therefore, while it is placed in the top ranks of predators in the Sea of Trees, it is by no means the strongest species.

However, there was one exception.

A being that was over four meters in length, and through just its physical abilities alone, could slaughter even monsters that had special abilities or could use magic.

It would not be strange for someone not in the know to mistake it for a different species if they saw it—it truly was an Ankyloursus that was worthy to be called a Lord.

It lifted its head from the stomach of the animal that it had been gobbling up until just now and let out a low, heavy bass growl that would fill the hearts of those who heard it with terror. Long entrails spilled out from the corner of its mouth.

Huffing and puffing it expelled breath wet with blood, and sniffed at the air. Its face was wet with blood, but it was able to sense that there were two scents it had never smelled before. Since they were intermingling with each other it was a mating pair, possibly.

Its belly was already full.

It would be fine to ignore them.

However—that was walking away from the discomfort.

This area was its territory. There was no way in hell it would allow someone to walk around like they owned the place.

It stood up on its hind legs, and after using its claws to scratch away the bark it rubbed its body against a tree. This was to clearly demonstrate that this was its territory, and then it walked off towards the source of the scent.

Along the way, it used [Fragrance]. Through this, it was able to erase its own body odor and the scent of blood that still clung to it. By doing this the huge body of the Ankyloursus approached its prey. If it didn’t do that in this forest, capturing prey would be rather difficult.

The scent grew stronger.

There were no indications that they had noticed it. If it had been noticed, they would be acting differently. For example, standing still and searching for a sound. Or otherwise trying to run away from there in a straight line. However, they weren’t doing either of those actions. Or else—were they thinking they could win if there were two of them?

It approached as quietly as it could until it was close to the scent. It couldn’t catch sight of its quarry that was still concealed by the trees.

However, that was enough. It was always like that when it brought down prey. If it could see them, then it could be seen by them. It never rushed until they could see each other, and while cautiously discerning the scent it crept closer, and all at once—closing the distance in the blink of an eye, that was hunting.

It arrived nearby. The scents weren’t moving.

Therefore—just like the usual hunts, it instantly broke into a run. Despite having a huge body, it raced through the trees like the blowing of the wind.

Since it didn’t have any handy abilities like [Forestwalker], when it made this area its territory it cut down all the trees that would interfere with it being able to easily pass through. Of course, no half-assed trees could stop its charge, but because there were times when an alert quarry had taken advantage of them to escape.

It certainly was overwhelmingly powerful, but it was not as if its hunts were successful every time. That was the reason it made preparations.

The source of the scent was ahead of it.

A little black one, and a big black one. The little one was on top of the big one.

They were not a mating pair. Most likely they were two different animals.

But, it wasn’t that strange. There were those kinds of animals. They each helped the other one out. The wisdom of the prey to protect themselves from predators like it. For example, the one on top used some special power, and the one on the bottom ran away, that kind of thing.

But if that were the case, they were both nothing more than mere food.

It smiled.

At this distance, they could no longer escape. The little one didn’t look like it would make much of a meal, but the one below it was quite the whopper. Since its belly was full right now, it should bury them in the ground to save for later.

However—something was strange.

It was violently stomping its feet while charging. They would notice no matter how unperceptive they were, and if they noticed they would take some kind of action.

So then why are the black ones not scared? Why are they not running away? Nearly all the animals that encountered it had those reactions. The only exceptions to speak of were members of its own race.

Or are they just paralyzed with fear?

It thought about it a little while it was running.

The meat of prey frozen in terror was somewhat lacking. As for its preferences, the softening flesh from when the prey was only half killed and was slowly dying—that was its favorite. The meat from prey that had given up on life after its guts had been devoured while it was still alive was the tastiest of all.

“GRRROOOOAAAAR!”

It rose up and bellowed in front of the prey.

This wasn’t mere intimidation, this was to instill fear.

—C’mon go ahead and run, you might even be able to stay alive! Do something to improve the taste of your meat, please.

It muttered that in its mind. At this distance, there was already no chance of escape. It was only because the success of this hunt was guaranteed that it could show them a little leeway.

“Oh? I’ve never seen one of you before. What a cute bear.”

The little one was yipping.

Come to think of it, it remembered. I’ve seen things up in the trees that look like the little one lately. Ankyloursi could also climb trees, but due to their huge bodies, tree-climbing was their weak point. That was why when it was taking prey that was up a tree, it could only eat them after cutting down that tree and knocking them to the ground. However, at that time its belly was bulging, and because they were far away and going after them was bothersome, it let them go.

However, right now, there was no need to hold back on eating them if they were on the ground.

The black one on the bottom was looking this way without moving.

It swung its foreleg with the large claws growing out of it.

First, the one on the bottom so they can’t escape.

At the same time as a “ching” sound rang out, its foreleg grew hot—and changed into intense pain.

It lost its balance, and starting from its tail fell backward.

In a panic, it looked at the foreleg that had the intense pain running through it.

It was still there.

It wasn’t gone. However, it was in so much pain it was as if it couldn’t move.

“GuuUU”

When it looked a long, snake-like, wriggling thing was dangling from the hand of the little one on top. Had it been attacked by that? Then it might be poison. When it was very young it had been bitten by a huge poisonous snake, and this tingling sensation was similar to that.

“O-kay. I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m not gonna hurt ya.”

When the little one swung its hand, a loud BANG came from a nearby tree. The snake-like thing extending from its hand had struck the tree. The force of the impact had burst open the bark as if it had exploded from the inside out.

I can do that much myself. And yet, chills ran through its entire body.

Was this one really little?

Step by step and little by little it began to seem frighteningly big in its eyes.

“It’s all right, it’s okay. I’m not scary. See, I’m not scary at all.”

While it was yipping, the little one on top separated from the big one below. It came down to the ground, and came closer with both its forelegs spread out wide. It really was that small after all. I wonder just how much of a difference there is between it and me?

I’m the predator and they’re the prey—is how it’s supposed to go. Then why—how can this one be approaching me without any fear?

It was as if—the quarry were a predator itself.

It moved its eyes from the little one approaching it to the big one.

It was watching them intently.

This was also something it couldn’t understand.

No matter what animals had encountered it, they had never taken this kind of attitude before.

It turned tail and fled from the unfamiliar dread.

When it was very young—around the time it parted with its mother and left the nest, it had experienced fleeing from preys that were far beyond its ability to handle many a time. So there was no shame in running away from things it didn’t understand.

However, there was something coiled around its hind leg—

“Alley-oop.”

Its field of vision spun around in circles.

It was assailed by a sudden feeling of weightlessness, as if it were being hauled up, and then a shock ran across its back.

For some reason, I’m lying on the ground half-turned over.

When it stood up, the long, snake-like thing was coiled around the hind leg that had been pulled, and that little one was holding the part beyond that.

I have no idea what is happening or how, but does this mean that little one knocked me down? Me, by that littleness—

“Geez. I told you not to run away.”

The little one growled, baring its teeth.

It was a sound that said, “Make no mistake, I’m going to eat you.” Maybe it was an ambush-type predator. Did that mean the one in the tree that time was as strong as this one?

“Hmmm. So it’s no good after all, huh. And I can’t just keep Ainz-sama waiting...maybe it would be better to just kill it and skin it instead of capturing it. But wouldn’t that be a huge waste? I could also use it for my experiments. Hmmm... Ainz-sama also said that killing should be the last resort...”

It was staring at it. Maybe this meant that it was slow-moving. That was why it used that snake-like thing extending from its hand to capture prey.

It tried tearing off the snake-like thing coiled around its leg. However, it couldn’t.

It was firmly dug in and wouldn’t budge. In that case, it used the claws that it was so proud of.

There shouldn’t be anything it couldn’t cut with them.

Gu?

It was baffled. It couldn’t cut it. Even though these were the claws that had cut through everything until now, they couldn’t cut.

“Yeah, whatever. I’m not gonna fight it.”

There was the sound of crunching dirt and sliding grass as its body moved. The coiled snake was being hauled in. It was steadily being dragged while leaving tracks in the ground.

There was no longer any doubt. That little one possessed absurd strength.

“I guess it can’t be helped. I don’t really like doing this, but I’ll try it once...I guess I’ll kill ya if it doesn’t work.”

The snake-like thing was removed from its leg. wuh-PSSSH. Before it could even think, “I should run,” a jolt of pain raced through its body.

“GwoOOOO!”

The jolts of pain came in rapid succession. Arms, legs, face, belly, tail—didn’t really hurt that much—if it were going to try to cover some part of its body it would be its back. If it twisted its body around its muzzle, it would be showered in agony.

When it tried to endure the pain and flee, its body was pinned down by tremendous strength. When it looked, the big one had placed one of its legs on its back, immobilizing it. It was so powerful that it felt like it was going to be buried deeper and deeper into the ground.

Can this really be happening? For one, let alone two, animals to appear whose power far surpasses my own.

The pain continued.

Each time that sound rang out a sharp pain raced through somewhere on its body. Never-ending, like the sound of rain.

Around the time it had already lost the will to resist, the sound finally stopped. There wasn’t any part of its body that didn’t hurt. Its whole body was on fire, and it had a feeling it had swelled up to two or even three times its normal size.

“There, now you’re nice and obedient, right?”

I’m probably going to be eaten after this. What I’ve been doing up till now is now being done to me in turn, that’s all.

“O-kay. Alright then, looking good. Do you know who the boss is now? Well, shall we get going then?”

However, although it’s bearing its teeth, will the little one be able to eat all of me? Or does it intend to share me with the one below it?

Now that I’m the one who has given up on life, there’s no doubt I will surely be tasty.