Part 5
Rororo ran relentlessly. It might be huge, but it had a speed matching the lizardmen since it was traversing the wetlands. Ripples splashed everywhere with loud splattering sounds.
Its amber eyes turned white from the high temperature, two of its four heads had lost its strength.
Despite that, it ran.
Another ‘fireball’ struck Rororo squarely in the body. The heat inside the ‘fireball’ exploded in an instant, penetrating Rororo’s entire being. It felt a pain equivalent to being punched all over its body, its eyes were dry as the fiery air burned its lungs.
With burns all over its body, the feedback of pain that came nonstop from its body warned Rororo: it will die if it was hit again.
Even so— it ran.
Ran.
And ran.
It didn’t stop advancing nor stop its feet. The high temperature peeled the scales away, warping the skin underneath it and blood gushed out. Despite that, it still ran.
Unintelligent beasts would have definitely escaped, but Rororo didn’t.
Rororo was a type of monster called hydra.
There were all sorts of monsters, with those that surpass humans in intelligence, and those that were no different from animals. Rororo belonged to the latter.
For Rororo who was only as smart as a normal animal to continue advancing on the verge of death— towards Iguvua who was dealing such pain to it, it was incredible and hard to fathom.
In fact, even its enemy Iguvua was baffled, and suspected Rororo was being manipulated by magic.
But that was not so.
That’s right, that was not the answer.
Iguvua would probably never understand.
Rororo who only had the intelligence of a beast— it was running for the sake of family.
Rororo didn’t know its parents, though not because of hydras being the type of monster to abandon its offspring. Before it reached a certain age, it should have had lived with one of its parents to learn the way of survival through them. But why didn’t Rororo do so?
That was because Rororo was a deformed baby. Normal hydra would be born with eight heads, and that will increase as it grows older, up to the maximum of twelve heads.
But Rororo was born with just four heads, so its parents abandoned Rororo and left with its other siblings.
Although hydras become powerful creatures in their adulthood, it was only a matter of time before Rororo would have died in nature’s harsh environment without its parent’s protection during infancy.
If it wasn’t for the male lizardmen who happened to pass by and picked it up.
— And so, Rororo got a family that was its father, mother and close friend.
Rororo’s consciousness was about to fall apart from the pain when it thought about a question it had always pondered.
Why was its body so big? Why did it have so many heads?
It thought about this when it looked at its foster parent. And Rororo held a belief from old conclusion.
Some of its heads would fall off in the future, limbs would sprout out like grass, and it would look like its foster parent.
If Rororo really morphed like that— what would it ask its parent to do?
That’s it. They hadn’t slept together for a long time, it will ask for that. They had to sleep apart because Rororo got too big, which made it feel a bit lonely.
The flames seemed to blow Rororo’s thoughts away and filled its entire field of vision as incredible pain hit its entire body. It moaned weakly as the pain pulsed through its entire body.
The pain was comparable to being hammered countless times.
It hurt so much that it couldn’t think anymore.
Rororo’s legs sent signals to stop advancing in the form of spasms.
But even so—
But even so— Rororo did not stop moving.
Rororo's advance got slower. Its muscles were burned and rigid, it couldn’t maintain its usual running speed.
Just taking a step forward was hard.
It was hard to breathe and it hurt when it inhaled, its lungs probably being damaged by the heat.
Only one of its heads could move, the others were just a burden now. The image of the undead conjuring a fireball from its hand appeared vaguely in Rororo’s murky eyes.
Its instinct as a living being told it one thing.
If it was hit again, it will definitely die. But Rororo was fearless as it relentlessly braved ahead—
That was the request of its parent and friend, that was why he would not stop.
As Rororo used all its might — although it was exhausted — to stumble forward a few steps, a red fireball flew from the hand of the undead once again, slicing through the air towards Rororo.
This hit will definitely rob Rororo of its life, that was an undeniable fact.
Death awaited it.
This was the end—
If—
That’s right— if that male lizardman wasn’t here.
Will that male lizardman allow Rororo to die before his eyes?
Watch such injustice unfold in front of him?
That was impossible.
“— 「Icy Burst」!”
Zaryusu who was running behind Rororo lept out to the side and shouted as he swung Frost Pain.
The air before his sword seemed to freeze instantly, forming a white wall of mist before Rororo. That was an extremely cold wave of air.
One of the abilities of Frost Pain.
A powerful skill that could only be used thrice a day— ‘Icy Burst’, it could freeze everything within range instantly and deal heavy damage.
The wall of cold mist blocked the incoming ‘fireball’ as if it was solid barrier. The fiery ball and chilly wall— according to magic theory, it was wise to counter one with the other.
It hit—
The ball burst into flames, struggling mightily against the white mist.
Both sides were like a white and red snake struggling and devouring each other. After pushing back each other for a moment, the two energies disappeared.
The undead was stunned and taken aback. It was the most natural reaction after seeing his spell dissipating.