Metamorphosis

Chapter 59 Metamorphosis

As you delve deeper into the cave, you see more and more broken stone shells, each one larger than the last.

"[Light Spell]?"

"No, the amber bubble is glowing faintly now, enough for us to see the way."

The two huddled together, relying on the protection of the amber bubble as they ventured deeper into the cave. Rorschach noticed that the amount of pink crystals they had penetrated and the sand contaminated by them had decreased.

Until nothing fell, it seemed to have entered a peaceful space. The amber bubble shrank and returned to the area around the beetle.

But at this moment, Rorschach and Ina became even more nervous, trying to make as little noise as possible with each step.

The two had entered the shell of something, a broken stone shell that was likely the molted body of some kind of creature. They were now inside a complete molt.

Its enormous size obscures its specific shape.

Hey, hey, hey.

At the end of the molting process, something continued to pound. There were no beastly roars, only dull, monotonous thuds.

Then it stopped, and the cave was left only with darkness and silence, with the amber bubbles emitting a faint light. This light, which had originally guided the mage, now attracted something else; the dry earth and rocks were broken, the sounds of movement like snakes rubbing against the ground, and the vibrations of hooves.

"They're here, let's get started," Ina judged.

To see who was approaching, Rorschach raised his hand to cast a spell. It wasn't a [Light] spell, but rather a direct activation that converted the ether in the environment into fire element, causing a large area of ​​fire to burn and illuminate the battlefield.

What arrived riding the fire was not the colossal beast or deer-headed god Rorschach had anticipated, but a bloated lump of earth. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a gigantic creature. Its head was enormous, hanging directly on the ground and being propelled by its body; it was its head that Rorschach and Ina first encountered.

The structure inside the molt was irregular and spacious, barely enough for the monster to move around. Disoriented by the flames, the monster didn't charge directly at the mage, but instead rammed about aimlessly inside. Turning to Rorschach, he saw the monster as utterly comical: a massive head followed by a stiff, long neck, and a relatively short, cow- or camel-like body, but only the size of an elephant.

It was like a tunnel boring machine welded in front of an excavator. The more tense things got, the more Rorschach's mind wandered.

Ina analyzed the monster's behavior: "It has no intelligence. Like this...Catoblepas?" She didn't explain the source further, but recalled the recorded weaknesses: "Legend has it that it is close to water, but it emits a deadly poison, and it cannot lift its head."

Rorschach observed the monster's body; its skin was grayish-yellow, dry, and hard, showing no signs of having been burned by the flames. As the fire gradually subsided, the monster finally pinpointed the location of the newcomer, and its hideous head plowed through the ground.

Ina and Rorschach did not linger; they shifted positions, trying to maintain a certain distance from the monster at all times.

But the distance closed, and its massive body charged with unexpected speed, the dust and tremors proclaiming that its mere movement was a terrifying and irresistible force.

Ina raised her hand, and six silver stars condensed above her head, orbiting and rotating. She guided the stars to launch them in rapid succession, aiming at the monster's eyes. Three stars from each eye pierced the monster's eyes, exploding in a burst of silver light and dust.

Dust? Their eye sockets shattered, and only after the images were magnified did Rorschach and Ina realize that what they thought were eyes were just two craters.

At a closer distance, Rorschach saw Katobrepas's skin clearly; the grayish-yellow color was less like scales and more like cracks in a dried-up riverbed, constantly disintegrating into tiny dust particles as he moved.

It was indeed a corpse, an unmistakable dead object. Not only was it dead, but as Rorschach approached, he felt his skin drying out, as if it were about to crack.

"It's not poison, it's the aura of decay and death," Rorschach concluded. He tried his best to move, but still passively shortened the distance between himself and the dead beast.

Ina suddenly leaped into the air and then cast a spell on Rorschach. The boy felt a sudden lightness all over his body, and after losing gravity, he was "thrown" into the air.

It seems taking flight isn't the same magic; Ina floated steadily in the air, while Rorschach nearly fell headfirst to the ground. "Hold on. This guy can't even lift his own head; we're more maneuverable in the air."

"With my actions, I testify to my heart; I will overcome the enemy and save the world, bringing glory to it." Ina, suspended in mid-air, had the opportunity to chant. As her recitation ended, her body emanated a soft, milky-white light. Then, this light condensed, transforming from soft to sharp, turning into silvery-white rays of light.

Rorschach hadn't expected the ray to pass right through him first, and then sweep diagonally downwards across the monster.

What kind of magic can distinguish friend from foe? Rorschach was surprised to find that the decaying aura he had previously received seemed to have been expelled, and the monster that had been pierced by the ray was obviously severely injured, with many clods of earth collapsing off. Now it was a broken terracotta figurine, with an ominous death aura emanating from the broken cavity.

A new spell appeared on the panel: [Venia's Light (Gray)]. Rorschach didn't have time to examine it closely; after all, gray ones were unusable.

"Not an evil creature."

"Just a corpse."

After making her decision, Ina chose the [Stone Claw] spell. A powerful, massive hand made of stone burst from the ground and slammed Katobelapas's slender neck into the earth.

"Rorschach, attack quickly! [Stone Claw] won't last long." The consumption of the three attack spells was considerable, and Ina, who had been in a high-concentration ether environment for a long time, felt weak.

Dust. Rorschach increasingly felt that the behemoth was composed of dry soil. He boldly experimented with a new method of attack.

【Stone Shaping】, to Ina's astonishment, Rorschach reshaped the entire ground beneath the monster, causing its head and body to partially sink and then solidify back into solid ground. Then, with "Magic Mastery," without using any specific spell, he broke down the steps of 【Stone Shaping】, first injecting as much environmental ether under his control as possible into the monster's body.

When the ether invaded, Rorschach initially felt it was similar to the [Sculpting] technique invading the earth element, but then he discovered another aura or energy resisting it.

After a brief contact, Rorschach narrowed the area, concentrating all the ether he had applied with "Magic Control" on the head of Catoblepas, gaining the upper hand in that localized area.

"Activate," and then continue injecting. Rorschach didn't want to shape it at all; suppressing the monster's unknown energy was difficult enough. He simply and directly inputted and "activated" it. The scale-like cracks began to twist, and the monster's skin began to ripple.

Just like when Rorschach failed to use the Stone Shaping Technique for the first time, Katobrepas's head began to explode, spewing out an orange-red aura that could decay even space itself.

Before it shattered, its empty eye sockets seemed to be staring at Rorschach in front of it. The behemoth never uttered a sound; it was indeed a dead creature.

The amber bubble expanded again, enveloping the two of them. The target's body continued to shatter and erupt, until everything dissipated, leaving only a broken shell.

A new transformation is born.

From the collapsed remains, a gray, decaying head emerged, barely recognizable as belonging to a sheep. Pink crystals were embedded in its skin and eye sockets, followed by a similarly decaying, crystal-studded lion's forepaw.

It roared out a sound that Katobrepas had never uttered before—a series of sounds like bubbles bursting in the mud, a hatred of filth.

Thank you all for your encouraging votes! With more and more readers voting, I won't be giving specific thanks anymore. I'll just repay you by accumulating more chapters when I have the chance. I'll probably be able to update more frequently during the holidays (anyway, the me of the future won't be the me of now).

(End of this chapter)