Chapter 41

Chapter 041: How to Tame a Giant Beast

[Speechcraft]

｢Antagon is a master of glib speech, able to move his tongue as smoothly as a serpent. When conversing with the residents of Velheim, the chance of drawing out your desired result slightly increases.｣

‘This is activating now…?’

Until now, the [Speechcraft] Skill had only activated once—on the pirate ship, when I led a horde of Skeletons and negotiated with Death Knight Orgilian.

Other than that, it had stayed utterly silent when I met Malton, when I coaxed Radi into joining my party, and even when I negotiated with merchants or haggled over goods.

Which meant....

‘Don’t tell me the “residents of Velheim” actually meant monsters…?!’

I forced down my shock and rapidly turned the thought over in my head.

In truth, there had been a few signs.

Every now and then, while doing quests in Velheim, there had been objectives with strange nuances.

When I was told to save the villagers and burned down a Goblin colony, the quest failed instead.

When I was told to rescue children trapped in a cave and cut down the baby Lizards I encountered on the way, I received a severe Debuff for a while.

‘If the true residents of Velheim aren’t humans, but monsters....’

What does that mean?

But there was no harm in thinking about that later.

Right now, this was the moment to make full use of the activated [Speechcraft] Skill.

As the snake brought its face right up before us, Radi gripped her Crossbow with hands trembling like a mouse before its natural predator and said,

“Wh-what do we do...? I think we’re completely doomed... If we shoot its eye and run, maybe there’s still a chance we’ll survive...!”

“No, stay still! C-can you hear me?!”

─Hiss?

｢Avos, the Wise Serpent of the Mangrove Swamp, takes an interest in your words.｣

｢Avos tilts her head and retreats.｣

｢Your [Speechcraft] Skill level is still too low to converse in the language of monsters.｣

｢Distance remaining until being devoured: 0.09m >>> 1m｣

‘Damn it... I knew nothing would ever be easy.’

Still, the fact that there was room to solve this through conversation was extremely welcome news.

Swallowing a tense breath, I stepped to the front of the raft and spread my arms wide.

After drawing the snake’s gaze, I brought both arms to my mouth and wriggled them like a flicking tongue, making Radi stare at me like she was looking at a lunatic.

“Wh-what are you doing right now...? Dancing...? Don’t tell me fear has finally made you lose your mind....”

“That’s not it, so be quiet.”

｢The Wise Serpent of the swamp feels a faint kinship with your actions!｣

｢The Wise Serpent flicks her tongue to smell the scent of her prey.｣

｢Through your scent, the Wise Serpent realizes that you bear no malice. She also detects reverence, fear, and a subtle madness.｣

｢Distance remaining until being devoured: 1m >>> 3m｣

‘Good. It’s working...!’

The first principle of communing with animals and building familiarity: imitate the other party’s behavior.

When the snake slightly drew back her head, I stopped the hand motions and slowly stomped my foot down on the raft.

Radi was horrified by the action, which looked like I was threatening this terrifying Boss Monster, but I stubbornly continued.

THUD, THUD―

As regular ripples spread across the water’s surface, the Wise Serpent dipped her head into the water and watched with interest.

｢The Wise Serpent, who had been glaring at you, sensitively detects the vibrations through her jawbone.｣

｢Some snakes communicate through vibrations. Although your gestures are clumsy as a baby’s, the Wise Serpent understands what you are trying to convey! Her wariness eases slightly.｣

｢Distance remaining until being devoured: 3m >>> 7m｣

“Ah...! The snake is wagging her tail!”

By this point, Radi also realized my intention and opened her eyes wide.

She hurriedly looked around, wondering whether there was anything she could do to help, then picked up a mangrove leaf that had drifted over with the current.

Soon, Radi began skillfully playing a leaf flute.

｢The Wise Serpent is pleased by the harmonious melody.｣

｢She withdraws [Wise Serpent’s Evil Eye]. She is narrowing her eyes and happily wagging her tail.｣

｢She has taken an interest in you and Radi! It is still unknown whether this is curiosity toward new friends or interest in prey!｣

｢Distance remaining until being devoured: 7m >>> 15m｣

“Haaah...!”

Once the snake withdrew the venom from her eyes, the heavy pressure crushing my lungs eased.

Every time her enormous tail, as large as a holy tower, swayed gently, the raft rocked dangerously, but Radi and I desperately held our balance and endured.

“Good job! Keep playing!”

After assigning Radi the role of drawing the snake’s attention, I quickly worked my mind.

‘What should I do?’

What could I possibly do to win her favor and use her as combat strength?

It was good that I had made a plan to borrow the power of a Layer Lord and break through the Merfolk Race’s horde, but I needed one decisive move to lure her out of this swamp.

The moment I thought that far, I found myself waving both arms and shouting.

“L-Lady Snake!! Look over here!”

─.......

“We have no intention of opposing you! Do you understand?! Fr-friends might be impossible, so you can think of us as your... your subordinates!!”

｢The Wise Serpent of the Mangrove Swamp watches you with interested eyes.｣

｢The Wise Serpent smacks her lips while looking at you!｣

｢She is extremely hungry after waking from a long sleep.｣

｢Distance remaining until being devoured: 15m｣

“Right, you’re hungry, aren’t you?! If you follow us, we’ll make sure you eat until your belly bursts soon! Eat! Do you understand?! So what eating means is....”

｢You have consumed multiple Kokokura Eggs!｣

｢Your Stats decrease for a certain period due to nausea and abdominal pain.｣

“Urp...!”

When I grabbed a handful of the eggs spilled across the raft floor and ate them, a fishy, revolting taste like fish guts dug down my throat.

Radi, who had been playing the flute beside me, glanced at me as if to ask what the hell I was doing, but I paid no attention and continued while swallowing tears.

“Guh... urgh... Follow us!! Then we’ll make sure you can eat, eat tons of prey just like I did...!”

―.......

When the Giant Green Anaconda blinked her enormous eyes, text appeared in the Log Window.

｢Your [Speechcraft] Skill level is insufficient to communicate with the Giant Green Anaconda!｣

｢The Wise Serpent of the Mangrove Swamp does not understand your words.｣

‘Damn it... Is this not good...?’

Just as I groaned at the somewhat ominous message, a new notification was updated.

｢However, the Wise Serpent of the swamp guesses why you came here through her innate wisdom.｣

｢She asks if humans do not find it disgusting to eat Kokokura Eggs.｣

｢She expresses pity for your small and unfortunate intelligence!｣

｢You have received the blessing of the wise snake. Intelligence Stat temporarily increases by 30!! The Stat increase will apply until you leave the swamp.｣

｢She appears to regard you as a somewhat lacking human.｣

“Uh...?”

Just with a click, she had raised my Intelligence by 30.

[Antagon’s Rune] was the exception. Normally, it was extremely difficult to raise Stats in Velheim.

‘And if she knows about humans... Does that mean she’s a monster that’s been alive since the era when the ancients traveled in and out of this Dungeon?’

Just how old is she?

The surprise did not end there.

｢The Giant Green Anaconda flicks her tongue once more and smells your scent.｣

｢She senses a familiar scent from you! She has detected a fragment of the power you possess!｣

｢The clever Wise Serpent recognizes the father of all snakes and his follower! She no longer bears hostility. Now she will take the initiative to help you.｣

The swelling tension vanished in an instant, like a snake hiding its tail.

The oppressive force crushing my whole body disappeared, and I could feel my suppressed Stats returning.

Then a gentle air filled the empty space.

The giant snake approached and gently pushed her head toward us as a sign of friendliness.

At the sudden change, Radi took her mouth off the leaf and asked in a bewildered voice,

“Wh-what in the world is going on...?”

“Wouldn’t you call this a way out even when the sky falls?”

“Th-then that weird dance and eating the eggs really worked?!”

“No, I’m sure that had something to do with it, but....”

A familiar scent and a fragment of power, the father of snakes and his follower?

This made it sound almost like....

‘Does she know Antagon?’

As I thought about the connection between this giant snake before me and Antagon, one fact suddenly flashed through my mind.

What Antagon’s origin was in Velheim’s mythology.

‘...Loki from Norse mythology.’

Loki was both a central figure of Norse mythology and the father of calamity-class monsters like Fenrir and Hel.

And one of them was none other than....

Jörmungandr.

An enormous sea serpent said to be so large that it could wrap around the world and still have length to spare.

The undisputed leader of all snake monsters.

This element was also applied unchanged in Velheim, so Antagon in the myths was often depicted as being close to monsters.

It was another reason Antagon was called an Evil God.

‘Don’t tell me... Antagon has a special affinity bonus with certain monsters?’

｢You have obtained a clue for the Hidden Achievement ‘Friend of a Boss Monster’!｣

｢It is unprecedented for a human to become friends with a Layer Lord-class Boss. She still only sees you as an interesting Outsider, but if you steadily spend time communing with her, you may be able to build a friendship with her.｣

｢She will gladly lend her strength for the sake of the somewhat lacking and clumsy human intruder!｣

“Kyaaa!”

When I turned at the scream beside me, the snake had placed Radi on top of her head.

Radi clung tightly to the snake’s head and shouted while trembling.

“P-put me down! I have acrophobia!!”

“What does it matter? Even if you fall, it’s just water underneath.”

“Don’t talk like it’s someone else’s problem and help me!!”

“Hang in there for a bit. It’ll be bad if we provoke her for no reason and offend her. ...Now then, please come this way!”

─Hiss!

When I steered the raft and gestured, the snake cut through the current and followed.

The enormous Anaconda chased after us, crushing every mangrove tree that got in her way.

‘...Good. With her, we should be able to smash that monster army too.’

Just you wait.

I’ll show you exactly how I’m going to wreck your arrangement.

I clenched my fist toward the god who was surely watching from somewhere.