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

‘It’s a foreign sky.’ It wasn’t the murky, yellowish sky covered by what was once human, but a clear sky with the sun shining brightly.

“It is you who… keeps meddling despite your weakness. You make people worry.”

Altera suddenly appeared in my view and grumbled at me as I woke up. What did I do? I remember going into the treasury to look for treasure. I couldn’t recall what happened after that.

“…Where is this?”

I know it might sound stupid, but I really don’t know where I am. I turned my head, but all I could see were intact buildings. At least it wasn’t a place I knew.

Above all, my head hurts. I wondered if I was experiencing magic exhaustion. When I brought my finger to my eyes, it was shaking even though I wasn’t moving it. Or maybe my hand was trembling without me realizing it.

“Stop talking nonsense and drink this. At this rate, you’re more out of your mind than those religious fanatics who lock themselves in a church and pray.”

Akash shoved a strange bottle into my mouth. I was so surprised that I almost choked, but I managed to prevent a major disaster.

After drinking the whole bottle, I could finally remember where I was and what the situation was. I was outside the castle. And I couldn’t find mold anywhere.

Then… did I succeed? I did it half in doubt, wondering if I could do it even by borrowing the name of the goddess. At least it looked fine for now.

Come to think of it, when did I get this in my hand? I remembered cutting and brushing the medium. But I had no memory of bringing this.

It was a large, shiny, bone-like… sword. It was a rather gloomy-looking sword with a crossguard made of metallic bone.

“…What is this? Why am I holding this…?”

Really, what is it? It looked like it would be cold, but it was strangely warm. Despite its hideous appearance that made me want to throw it away immediately, I also felt like keeping it close.

“What is it? It’s a reward. A reward for your stupid good deed. Keep it for now. It’s not a proper item, but it came from that lump of flesh. It’s shiny, so it’ll probably sell for a high price.”

The fact that it came from that… lump of flesh was extremely uncomfortable. I should keep it for now.

“We shouldn’t have stopped by. I thought we could get something useful… Ah, Altera’s egg was delicious, though.”

When I got up, Yuna was complaining. She had already packed everything, as if she would move as soon as I woke up.

…I made her wait. I had some thoughts that maybe I shouldn’t have released the souls, but when I thought of the clear sky and the face of the medium looking at me, it didn’t seem like that.

They were really suffering people. I had to help. Besides, I got this small reward.

“…Um, sorry for making you wait. I don’t know how long it took… but seeing the sun over there, it seems like it took a long time. Altera, are you feeling better?”

Instead of answering, Altera floated a brick in the air. Hmm. So I can really feel how long I was lying down.

“Then… let’s go. There’s nothing more to do, and we’ve given the people rest. Thank you, Akash. If it weren’t for you, these people would still be suffering.”

“I wanted them to suffer more. Well, yes. If you’re grateful, release this imprint later. Do you know how annoying it is?”

That would be difficult. Without answering, I got up, dusting off my clothes. It must be because they were good clothes, but even though I had been rolling around in such a place, there was no dust or blood on them. Even my shoes, I did well to spend a lot of money on them.

“Then… Altera is also in top condition, and I got a new sword… Let’s go!”

– – – –

There was an accident in the middle… but I think we can cross the mountain range within the two weeks we initially aimed for. The reason for trying to cross the mountain range within two weeks, the spawning, was unfortunately shown to Myungho due to an accident.

Still, I didn’t want to stay in this gloomy mountain any longer. Monsters everywhere, wild beasts, and fog so thick that it formed moisture on my horns…

Well. Thanks to the early spawning, I found someone I could truly trust. But that doesn’t mean the memory is glorified. It really hurts like hell.

If Yuna or Akash had found me, I can’t even imagine what would have happened. Anyway, I wanted to get out of here quickly. I haven’t had any good memories since coming to this mountain.

At least it’s been downhill for the past few days, so we’re making much better progress, but we were going around in circles to avoid battles.

There are beasts at every path, really. Sometimes I had to make my own way.

“Still, thanks to Altera, we got here quickly. It would have taken months otherwise.”

Myungho was still saying it was a good thing, in a carefree way. If you only look at the results, everything turned out well… right?

If I hadn’t just laid an egg in the middle, I would have really thought so. Well, that also ended well, so it’s a relief…

I was relaxing a bit and talking nonsense when I felt an unnatural vibration from beyond the fog.

The herd of beasts that we had been avoiding was approaching us. Even though we were careful not to leave any clues to our location, they were coming directly towards us.

And another thing. Among the things walking on four legs and the big ones walking on two legs, something invisible, the size of a human, was approaching us through the fog.

With a sense of foreboding, I threw a boulder at the expected path, and as expected, the rock shattered in the air, revealing the identity of the something that was hiding its appearance.

It was the woman called a demon that I had met before. She still had her nose and mouth covered with a strangely shaped object, and her outfit was like that of a prostitute.

“…I don’t know how you found out, but it’s unpleasant. The noise was perfect too. Is it the vibration? Well, it doesn’t matter. We meet again, boy.”

The demon looked at me and frowned as if she was displeased. Then she looked at Myungho and imitated an older woman’s voice, full of confidence.

I threw the sword I was carrying at her neck, and without even looking, I drew my greatsword. I didn’t see it, but it must have been blocked. I immediately took a defensive stance.

“…We are intelligent beings trying to have a conversation, but a primitive keeps interrupting. Well then, should I respond in a primitive language as well?”

The demon said this and snapped her fingers. Then, several monsters with ferocious eyes appeared from beyond the fog.

Even from the vibrations, I could tell there were easily over a hundred, a huge group moving at this woman’s command. It’s going to be annoying.

I was about to tell Myungho to prepare, when suddenly Akash started laughing his head off. He was laughing like a madman, kneeling and pounding the ground, a sight that was beyond contempt and even frightening.

I wondered how a person could change so suddenly.

“Hahahahaha!! Haaa, ahahahaha! A half-breed… imitating a pureblood, ahak… Heuk, puhahahaha! No wonder, it was so generic! You just took on a look that seemed like a demon, how pathetic! You’re so pathetic! Hahaha!”

Hearing him laugh as if he had suddenly gone manic, the demon, even with her mouth covered, was instantly filled with shock and rage.

“Half-breed? Do you mean mixed blood? I don’t know much about demons, but isn’t that a pureblood…?”

“Mixed blood? It looks like a pureblood no matter how you look at it. The horns and…”

I don’t know how the term mixed blood came up, but it seemed to be referring to that demon. I don’t know much about demons, so I don’t know the difference between mixed blood and pureblood.

“…How did you know…! The disguise was perfect, how could you see through something that person put on herself!”

“You mixed-blood, I don’t know who this person you’re talking about is… but she’s probably less skilled than me. Hey. Hero. Release the restriction for a moment. I swear on my name that my magic won’t be used against you. I just want to mess with that mixed-blood.”

Myungho hesitated but handed the grimoire to Akash. Then, Akash opened the book, chuckling ominously.

He acted as if he was going to cause a huge explosion, but the spell he cast was just a small magic arrow.

The kind that the wizards who sometimes joined the subjugation teams used to shoot at me when they were bored. I didn’t think that could penetrate that barrier.

It was a pathetic arrow with only a faint trace of magic, to the point where it wouldn’t even scratch my magic defense, which seemed less sturdy than that.

However, contrary to my expectations, the magic arrow flew and shattered the demon’s mask.

It easily penetrated the barrier.

“Huh?”

“Try to block it with only your power, mixed-blood. That person you’re crying out for won’t help you.”

Beyond the broken mask, only a dumbfounded blue lips were visible. The demon was so shocked that she didn’t even think about dodging the next arrow and was hit directly in the abdomen.

“The barrier should be fine, how…!”

The previous composure was gone, and the demon was just desperately trying to avoid the slow-flying magic arrows, moving clumsily.

It was like a one-sided mockery. Like a master enjoying toying with a novice, Akash was firing intermittently, even though he could have fired continuously.

“That suits you better, you mongrel.”

“That’s a bit harsh.”

Myungho, as if he had forgotten that he was being targeted, was showing sympathy for the demon. Even I thought it was a bit pitiful.

But wasn’t this entirely the fault of that demon for acting out of line?

The demon, who had been rolling on the ground, seemed to have gotten angry enough, as she screamed at the sky and disappeared into the void, just like last time.

Then, the monsters, which had been still, seemed to become enraged, howling at the sky and rushing towards us.

“…I don’t know what Akash did, but it’s going to be a long fight. Get ready!”