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The demon beast elgina that inhabited the Badheim Jungle.
From what Abel had said, “el” apparently meant big, so “gina” was presumably snake. Or maybe it was some unique term the Shudrak used.
Either way, I can save the contributions to cultural anthropology for later.
“I have to focus on the enemy in front of me first…!”
The snake opened its mouth wide, baring its sharp fangs as it leaped at them. It was more than thirty feet long, like a big tree had gained consciousness and was rampaging around the jungle.
Its body was like multiple logs bundled together, and the force of its tail was enough to do serious damage with even a glancing blow.
By this point it was unsurprising, but demon beasts really did seem designed from the ground up to kill humans with their sheer physicality.
“Bea—”
Subaru gritted his teeth as he cut short his instinctive call to the partner who wasn’t here.
Whenever he encountered a sudden, unexpected situation, he reflexively relied on Beatrice’s superior judgment and ability to respond.
And that showed itself now in his own inability to react…
“Not good…”
“Fool! This is not the time to be losing your focus!”
Subaru was grimacing at his mistake when a hand grabbed him by the hair at the back of his head.
Shouting in pain, he was dragged down to the ground. The snake’s fangs mercilessly snapped shut just above him, and there was a rush of air as it swallowed nothing. An eruption of dust filled the air around them.
“Whoaaa!”
“Do not make me repeat myself, you imbecile. Keep quiet.”
Subaru was pushed down against the ground by the hand gripping his head. Looking up, he saw that Abel, who was covered in the same dust, had bundled Subaru and himself into his cloak.
It was too small for both of them, so Abel was straddling Subaru.
“Wh-what are you…? Right! Concealment!”
“Right, and so long as we hold our breath, it will not immediately notice us… Still, though, this is unfortunate. If the ritual of blood had been nothing more than a test of strength, we might have had a chance.”
Looking at the snake right near them, Abel’s eyes held a mix of anger and frustration.
From what he was saying, Subaru could understand how he felt painfully well. Apparently, the ritual of blood was always different.
There were presumably other tests aside from fighting a demon beast. But they had been flung down the warrior’s path to prove themselves by fighting a giant snake.
“I can’t use either of my arms properly, and you’re a second-rate swordsman… What a shitty situation.”
“‘Second-rate’ is rich coming from you, considering you are dragging me down with those useless things you call arms.”
“I’ve still got a mouth to fire back with, though… Right—about what you said before.”
As the cloud of dust filled the air, Subaru held up his left hand, showing Abel the ring on his middle finger. It was the ring Abel had tossed him without much explanation.
He said to put it to my lips and that fire will come out or something weird like that, but…
“How do I use it?”
“I told you already. Put the jewel to your lips and have it acknowledge you as its owner. Then just use it like using magic.”
“What is this, some ring out of a light novel…?!”
Looking dubiously at the ring, Subaru grimaced at that explanation. But, ignoring how that had made Subaru feel, Abel peered at the snake’s movements through the dust cloud.
Even as composed as he’d been in the cell, Abel couldn’t hide his tension in the face of such a real and present threat. Breathing deeply, he clenched the hilt of his sword tight.
“Even at close range, it will be difficult to pierce those scales. We will have to aim for unprotected areas, like the eyes or mouth, or anywhere its scales are thinner.”
“We’ll have to make some sort of opening for us to do that. I’ll…”
“You make the opening. Why do you think we are working together?”
“I was about to volunteer, but having you tell me to go be a decoy pisses me off…!”
But in light of their tools and the conditions they were in, it was the only way to divide up the roles.
Subaru would be on support, with Abel on offense. As usual, Subaru Natsuki’s job was only ever to be support.
“It cannot currently see us. Draw its attention with the ring’s fire to create an opening.”
“Yeah, I got—”
Just as he was agreeing with Abel’s plan, Subaru sensed something amiss.
It was the elgina. The demon beast’s size brought to mind giant anacondas, but it was far more dangerous because it aggressively went after humans.
And since it was a snake-type demon beast, if it had traits similar to actual snakes…
“Ngh!”
Shuddering, Subaru instinctively put the ring to his lips, then raised it over his head and pointed it in the direction Abel was glaring into the smoke.
Before Abel could question what he was doing—
“Goa.”
Flames erupted right in the face of the snake that was tearing through the smoke toward them.
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