The Peerless Kobold - Chapter 200
All the warriors from the victorious neighboring country who were celebrating their victory, the few people who were still resisting, and the people who were escaping were all entangled in its strings and their souls were consumed as their bodies were crushed.
But even after all of that, the hunger it felt from several hundred years could not be satisfied, and the fear and regret that had clung to the souls it consumed caused the demon spider who had lost its sense of self to go on an unstoppable rampage.
After consuming tens of thousands of souls, the mysterious spider which ran amok across the country, stopped its activity and retired to the deep forest to molt undisturbed.
But strangely enough, when it broke through its exterior exoskeleton, its upper half was a beautiful, black-haired woman with clear eyes while its lower half continued into that of a smaller spider’s body. When the woman saw her lower half, she screamed.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA— Wh-what has happened to me!? Uegh, oeeegh!”
After ascending the silver spiral staircase and somewhat regaining her humanity to transform herself, she spat out the contents of her stomach, but the souls she had devoured did not return and she could only go on and on admonishing herself for what she had done.
To her credit, she consumed tens of thousands of souls before she regained her reason.
However, the rumors about her had grown, and she was now known as one of the Seven Plagues, “The Devourer of a Million Souls”. But… All of this had transpired hundreds of years ago, and was just a tale that nobody could know about now.
……………
………
…
“Giuh, zeno gareausu…” (Damn, I had that weird dream again…)
The goblin twin swordsman cursed as he woke up wrapped in a blanket in a neatly rebuilt cave and unconsciously stroked the large scar that ran from his abdomen to his shoulder.
“Hmm, it’s a sign that the fragment of my soul that I have given to make up for the missing part of your soul has taken root. I’m sure you’ll be in good shape soon. Also, you understand the common continental language now, don’t you?”
“Gih, noigiorusu, rizeru degludo zelnogia.” (Sigh I just can’t understand why ya have to show me that unpleasant memory every time.)
Sword didn’t really mind the scene where the humans were dying left and right, but he became extremely uncomfortable whenever he saw the female that looked exactly like Kaede being tortured to death.
(I wonder, is it because I owe her my life?)
In any case, as long as they are conversing, Sword could tell if his friend is lying, but… He didn’t need any words as it was clear from the look of envy that his partner was giving him.
“Sword, you don’t know, suffering I’m going through.”
“Brave… you actually love what you’re doing, don’t you?”
“… I don’t really hate it.”
Just like that.
It wasn’t long before he followed along that Brave was fascinated with the various illustrated books that Kaede possessed. After that, the former Goblin Hero began to read them with Kaede’s help, and he also developed an interest in languages.
He didn’t understand why the goblins are always the villains in every story he read, but… it didn’t hinder him from satisfying his hunger for knowledge, and now he was able to read books on his own.
“Is that “The Observations of the East”…?”
“Different pictures, pretty.”
The large, dark-skinned pseudo demon was holding a book written a hundred years ago by the explorer Rosa Valeria which was part of the reason the Demon Spider from Yamato was in this continent.
For Kaede who had been confined to the castle, she longed to hear the amusing tales of adventure told by the explorer who visited Yamato. So even if she had already lost her humanity, she decided to embark on a journey after her hometown was destroyed and she was chased by the Imperial Court as a fugitive.
Remembering that she had already placed that memory to the back of her mind, Kaede glanced at the disgruntled Sword and at Brave who was engrossed with reading his book.
She secretly smiled as she thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if she brought them along as travel companions if she had to leave again, and involuntarily turned her gaze outside the cave and at the white snow that had recently started to fall around the area.
