I'm Not an Earthworm, I'm an Earth Dragon

Since I had no idea when the egg would come out, from the moment I crossed the bridge, I made a weapon in advance and carried it with me. Even that was not the usual greatsword, but the size of an ordinary sword.

Based on my experience so far, a greatsword was something I couldn’t possibly hold with my weakened body, so I made that choice. It’s not very reliable, but it’s better than nothing.

“Altera, aren’t you going too fast? I understand how you feel, but we don’t have as much stamina as you, so I wish you’d be a little more considerate…”

You guys are slow. I held back the words that were about to come out and decided to take a short break. Just because you push people doesn’t mean they’ll suddenly gain strength they didn’t have before.

In the meantime, the egg seemed to have grown even bigger, and the foreign feeling in my abdomen was already at a level comparable to pain. Fortunately, those guys didn’t seem to notice my change.

In the first place, these guys are almost always looking behind me, and above all, even if the egg grows, it presses more on the inside rather than bulging the belly outward.

So, it had the advantage of not being noticeable on the outside. A baby that torments its host. I don’t know what’s going on with my body, but it’s definitely not a normal body.

The downside? Literally, the pain of all my organs being crushed. It wasn’t enough to interfere with their functions, but I felt a pain as if my stomach had been stepped on by a beast’s forefoot.

“…Altera, you seem to be in more of a hurry lately, is there any reason why you want to cross the mountain so quickly? If there is, tell me. Maybe… do you want to take revenge on your father?”

Myungho slowly approached and asked why I was in such a hurry. I had no intention of telling him. I don’t know what he might do, taking advantage of my weakened state.

“Something like that.”

I hugged my knees, trying to make sure he didn’t notice. Myungho said, “So that’s what it was,” and that he was worried because my expression had been a bit off lately.

Thoughtful actions are usually welcome, but not now. I was resting my legs for a while, giving him appropriate responses.

“…Ugh.”

A pain so intense that I automatically lowered my head came from my lower abdomen. I managed to stop myself from clutching my lower belly, but soon that didn’t matter.

The vibrations I had felt from all directions were no longer felt. And the gravel I was sitting on felt painfully against my bare skin.

“Altera! Are you okay? Your face has turned pale!”

How noticeable would it be for someone who’s already dark to turn pale? I tried to calm myself down with a joke, but the feeling of my heart sinking didn’t go away.

24 hours to go. Maybe even sooner, it will come out. Damn it.

“…I guess I just ate something bad. I’m really… okay. We’ve rested enough, let’s move.”

Myungho looked at me with suspicion, but I didn’t have time to worry about every little thing. Anywhere, quickly to a safe place. And a place where I can be alone.

The sword that I could swing lightly felt infinitely heavy. The pain of gravel digging into my feet was even chilling.

The sun was still high in the sky. If I moved quickly, I could at least find a building. I ignored my body screaming in pain and diligently moved my feet.

It will get better soon anyway. I made this judgment because I knew that although my magic and my strength to protect myself were gone, my regenerative power was still intact.

There’s no time to hesitate. The pain that was crushing my belly was getting stronger. My party members were a little behind, but I really didn’t have any room to spare.

“Altera, just a little…”

“You guys need to keep up…!”

Ignoring their complaints like before, I moved while avoiding enemies as much as possible with my narrowed detection range, but I couldn’t see any buildings.

When the pain became even worse and I sat down and groaned, the others finally caught up with me, exhausted.

“Huff… huff. Altera, please. We’re not even going downhill yet, if you speed up, we really can’t keep up… Wait, Altera. You really don’t look well. Could it be that what you ate was poisonous… But we’re fine…”

“No, it’s not a poisonous plant. There are poisonous plants that only affect dragons, but their habitat is different. Still, she doesn’t look well. Maybe it’s a backlash from overdoing it back then…”

The mage was sprawled out, catching his breath, so he didn’t say a word.

I’m not… okay. I struggled to stand up, enduring the pain that made me wonder if my intestines would really turn into mush if I kept going like this.

“Ask… the mage. Ask if there are any buildings around.”

When I asked Myungho, and he asked the mage, the mage pointed in one direction. When Myungho asked for further explanation, the mage gave a very short answer and slumped down again.

“Akash says if we go straight that way… there’s a castle. I don’t know the distance, but let’s go. It’s probably the capital of that kingdom that used to be here.”

I’m going crazy. I stood up, using my trembling arm as a cane with my sword, took a sip of the red potion from my bag, and handed it to the mage.

“Tell him to take just one sip.”

I felt my vitality returning. At least I felt like I had enough strength to stop the thing that was trying to force its way out. The pain was still there, though.

But the feeling of improvement was short-lived, and the anxious feeling of wondering when it would come out was always with me while walking.

We walked briskly until sunset and finally reached the castle. The castle walls were covered in mold, cracked and desolate, and the air was filled with floating spores.

It was a distinctly different and alien space from the clear mountain air, and I didn’t want to go in, but when another wave of pain hit my abdomen, I didn’t care.

“…So this is the kingdom that perished overnight. Why is there so much mold? Huh, Altera? Altera? Wait a minute, guys. Altera is gone! Did anyone see her?!”

I took advantage of the fact that my companions were distracted by the scenery and slipped away. I felt confused vibrations as they searched for me in surprise, but soon they disappeared.

…When my condition improves, I’ll rejoin them then. I had no choice but to do this. To hide from untrustworthy humans and dangerous beasts, I had no choice.

One of the few things I could do was grit my teeth and endure the increasingly intense pain that seemed to indicate the thing was about to come out. The other was to find a decent building.

Fortunately, I found a house that was only slightly moldy and managed to get inside.

I covered my mouth to avoid making a sound and threw off my lower garment. My instincts were sounding the alarm, saying I couldn’t hold it any longer.

The scales that had covered the crack had already fallen off long ago.

I knelt down, spread my legs, and pushed with all my might to force what was inside out.

“Huu…uuu…!! Ugh…u…”

Something that should have been closed was forced open, and for a moment, I felt a pain so intense that my vision went black. I wondered if my lower body had already been split in half, leaving only my organs dangling.

But the pain didn’t stop. As if it wouldn’t allow me to escape into fantasy even for a moment, the pain brought me back to reality.

“Huu, ugh… huuu… ugh…aaaaah!!!”

It tore. I could instinctively feel it. My unprepared body was forced open, and something inside tore. Not a membrane… but the entrance.

“Aaaah…haa, aaaaaaah!! Hng… uuuu… huu…”

Forcing its way through the narrow passage, something like a bowling ball was slowly descending. They say childbirth is the result of love, so why do I have to give birth to something when I don’t love anything?

My pain-soaked brain was releasing pleasure hormones to somehow compensate, but you can’t cover the sun with your palm.

Blood flowed from the inside, down my legs, and onto the floor. I looked at the blood soaking the mold-covered floor like a carpet and placed my hand on my belly.

Then I pressed down hard.

With a pain that prevented me from even screaming, I felt the egg descend again. Of all places, I pressed on the torn area, and the blood flowed even more intensely than before.

“…Ah, ugh… haa… haa…”

I pathetically buried my head in the ground, unable to even close my mouth properly, drool dripping down. Maybe the stuff flowing from my mouth is blood too.

My ability to distinguish had flown away.

I just breathed according to the instinct to survive and pushed out the egg.

I don’t know how long I was like that. Maybe a year. A week? Or an hour? I don’t know.

After a time that felt like an eternity or maybe just a moment, finally, with a thud, something fell to the ground.

I forced myself up with arms that barely had any strength left and picked up what had come out of me, which was between my legs.

The metallic shell was clouded by my blood and the mold spores, reflecting nothing.

I didn’t even have the strength to hold it, so my arm couldn’t bear the weight of the egg and dropped it. I tried to move my body to catch it, but my legs gave out, and I fell face-first onto the moldy floor.

I felt like I was dying from the pain, but I squeezed out what little strength I had left and cradled the egg in my arms. I know it’s a meaningless act.

But my instincts commanded it. I held the strangely cooling egg, letting out groans that couldn’t even form words.

It’s covered in blood and dust, but it’s okay. Anyway, my legs, the floor, everything is already covered in blood.

As I was barely pulling myself together, I felt an unnatural vibration.

It was an unpleasant vibration, like something was snapping. I wondered if it was an enemy, so I forced my weak body up and saw.

The mold that covered the wall was transforming into the shape of a human.

With one hand, I held the egg, and with the other, I tried to pick up the rock sword, but it was too heavy, and I dropped it.

“Damn…it, why, now…”

I’m dizzy. I tried to stand firm by closing my legs to prevent myself from falling again. Even then, my knees slipped on the blood, making me kneel before the enemy.

I don’t even have the strength to stand up.

The human-shaped mold, as if it wanted me, staggered towards me, one step at a time.

It was as slow as a snail.

But I can’t do anything.

It’s just like that day.

“…Don’t come.”

That bastard overlapped with the mold.

“Don’t, don’t come…! Don’t come, don’t come───!!!!!!!”

“Found you! Altera!”

As I screamed out a desperate cry, Myungho burst through the door.

I stared blankly at the person I never expected to appear.

Have you been looking for me all this time?

Myungho swung his brush and drew a large stroke on the mold.

The mold was unharmed, but a ghost screamed and burst out of it. He, unfazed, drew another large diagonal stroke as if to slash it.

Then the ghost, as if it had really been cut, split and vanished.

“…I guess I wasn’t too late. Are you okay?”

Myungho, after slashing the ghost, looked at me with relief.

“…You, don’t…come either.”

I had recovered enough to pick up the sword in that short time, so I pointed the tip at him.

Even then, I was still kneeling, and the tip was trembling so badly that it couldn’t even be a proper threat.

Still, I had to do this to feel at ease.

To feel like I could do something.

Myungho looked at me and put down both his brush and sword.

“…It’s okay, Altera. I won’t hurt you just because you’re weak.”

“How… can I believe that.”

I can’t trust humans. I can’t trust those who use all sorts of tricks. Even now, he might be hiding something under his clothes.

But he took off his coat and placed it on the floor, and he took everything out of his pockets and placed them down too.

He was completely unarmed.

“Don’t come, don’t come… Don’t come near me…!”

I know in my head. But my heart whispered that he was definitely hiding something more. So, I was scared of him, who had nothing, and I flailed the sword around, then dropped it.

I crawled on all fours to pick up the dropped sword, but unfortunately, Myungho was there.

He lowered himself and hugged me.

He’s going to squeeze me to death like this. Just as I was about to give up and accept it, he said,

“It’s okay, Altera. You’re not alone anymore.”

With those words, my guard and hostility melted away like snow. This foolish guy was using the golden opportunity to obtain a dragon’s heart to comfort me.

The pain was still there.

“…Sniff. Sob, waaah…”

So, I sobbed endlessly, pretending that the tears flowing now were because I couldn’t overcome the pain.