Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 209: Battling the Worm Boss
“That’s huge… it’s like Midgard’s Jörmungandr…!”
As he recalled the great serpent encircling the world from Norse mythology, Rest’s face stiffened with a mix of fear and curiosity.
“GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
The atmosphere trembled violently.
The roar reverberated, overlapping upon itself.
This was nothing like the enemies Rest had faced so far—it was even larger than the magic beast Sabnok.
“So, this is the parent worm… I heard they’re considered one of the weaker dragons, but… is this really supposed to be weak?”
Worms were said to be descendants of dragons who, having lost battles with their kind, burrowed into the earth.
Though considered one of the weaker species among dragons, their environment, free from predators and infused with the magic of the wilderness, had allowed this worm to grow far beyond its natural size.
Rest found himself wondering if the characters in sci-fi monster movies felt the same way as he did now.
“Hundreds of years… no, maybe even thousands. It must’ve taken an unfathomable amount of time to grow this big…”
Calling this monster just a “worm” seemed almost insulting.
If it needed a name, perhaps Elder Worm would be fitting.
“GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Could you keep it down? That’s deafening.”
Rest muttered as the Elder Worm lunged to devour him.
Its massive maw—large enough to swallow a truck whole—snapped shut, but Rest maneuvered through the air, narrowly avoiding it.
“Star Devourer!”
He hurled a dark star at the creature, tearing away part of its body.
But against this colossal foe, it felt like a mantis trying to fell a tree. The damage was negligible.
“GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Déjà vu, huh? Didn’t I go through something like this with Sabnok?”
How had a creature of this size managed to remain hidden for so long without anyone noticing?
The thought crossed Rest’s mind, though he chalked it up to a series of coincidences.
The swamp it lived in had likely gone unnoticed, Sabnok’s presence nearby had kept people away, and their differing habitats had likely prevented any conflict between the two creatures.
“Fire Cannon, Fire Cannon, Fire Cannon!”
Keeping his distance, Rest unleashed a barrage of fire magic.
He already knew from his earlier hunt that fire magic worked well against worms.
Even so, as expected, his attacks only scorched the Elder Worm’s outer surface slightly.
“It’s massive and tough… half-hearted attacks won’t cut it.”
“GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“And its attacks are massive too… good thing I came here alone.”
Narrowly dodging another attempt by the worm to swallow him, Rest let out a wry laugh.
The high he’d been riding earlier, thanks to the women’s cooking, had subsided, leaving him with a clearer head in the face of danger.
While he regretted coming here alone, he was also relieved Yuri and the others weren’t here.
“If it were just me, I could manage, but if they were here, we’d never avoid this thing… I’m glad they stayed behind. Truly.”
Manipulating the wind, Rest darted around the Elder Worm, evading its attacks.
Despite its immense size, the Elder Worm wasn’t particularly agile.
For someone like Rest, who could fly, dodging wasn’t too difficult.
“Still… just running around isn’t going to get me anywhere.”
You can’t win by just running away.
To defeat the enemy, he needed to land decisive magic blows and chip away at its life force.
He considered retreating to regroup, but if the Elder Worm were to follow him beyond the swamp, it could cause catastrophic damage.
Rest couldn’t afford to repeat the mistake Rodel once made.
Ad
(I have to finish it here… but using Star Devourer could take who knows how long. My most powerful spell is Amaterasu, but…)
“…It’s night.”
Indeed, it was nighttime.
The spell Amaterasu, which harnessed and unleashed sunlight, was unusable.
While it was theoretically possible to use the light of the moon or stars instead, the resulting power would be pitiful.
Without even trying, Rest could tell it wouldn’t be enough to defeat the Elder Worm.
“Coming here alone was the right call. But showing up at midnight? That was a mistake… Life never seems to go smoothly, does it?”
If he had attempted to come here during the day, Yuri and the others would have insisted on joining him. Such was the way of things.
“GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Which means… I’ll have to try out a new finishing move, even if it’s on the fly.”
Rest had always known that Star Devourer and Amaterasu were powerful yet cumbersome spells with their own drawbacks.
That’s why he had been working on developing new magic.
Though he had never tested it in combat, the concept was already fully formed in his mind.
“To be honest, if it fails, it could kill me too… but it’s worth a shot.”
Rest chuckled wryly.
Ad
The thought of death hung over him, yet he felt exhilarated. Was this rush of excitement due to the worm meat he had eaten earlier?
In his second life, during what felt like his umpteenth brush with death, Rest muttered to himself:
“…I’ll use it. Kagutsuchi, Flame God of Creation.”
With an uncharacteristically fierce smile, Rest resolved to unleash the new spell he had envisioned for so long.