【The Rise of the Ugly Monster】 The Result of Reckless Courage and the Golden Light

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"N'EEEEEEEEH!!!"

He screamed!

He screamed with every fiber of his being, with a power he couldn't even recall from his previous life!

As he did, the poisonous liquid that had been overflowing from his eyes floated into the air, coalescing above his head... forming a cone!

A spear made of poison!

Dokugegon spun the spear at high speed like a drill... and launched it straight at the Land Whale's eye!

GYIIIIIIIIIIIN!!

Launched with tremendous momentum, the spear reached the giant eye—where whale lice crawled in abundance—in an instant... and then!

The thick eyelid blocked the direct hit to the pupil.

<<<BOOAAAH!!?>>>

However!

Dokugegon was a monster who had spent his life honing his poison in exchange for a fragile body!

The potency of that poison was staggering; the Land Whale's eyelid melted into a sludge, which was more than enough to erode the surrounding tissue and spread inflammation!

Irritated by the pain, the Land Whale stomped its feet, triggering earthquakes with every zushin, zushin, and then forcibly pried open its malfunctioning eyelid to glare at Dokugegon!

The murderous intent of the sovereign of the Plateau of Behemoths, which until now had previously been directed solely at Emi, was now poured into the small, ugly monster!

"N'eh! N'eeeeeh!!"

Overwhelmed by the crushing pressure, Dokugegon flinched.

But he did not run.

He suppressed the trembling of his body with fighting spirit, generated numerous bullets of poisonous liquid around himself, and then!

"N'EEEEEEEEH!!"

He fired them like a machine gun!

<<<BOAAAAH...!>>>

The poisonous bullets hit the Land Whale's massive body without even needing to aim, and the Land Whale let out a voice of annoyance.

Sensing this, the whale lice crawling across the Land Whale's skin sprang into action!

""""""Gichigichi-gichi!!""""""

Making strange sounds as their exoskeletons creaked, the whale lice leaped from the Land Whale's body all at once.

And then, like a wave!

They swarmed toward Dokugegon!

"N, n, n...! N'EEEEEEEEH!!"

There were far too many whale lice; hitting them one by one with poisonous liquid wouldn't be enough!

Judging this, Dokugegon secreted even more poison and manipulated it... creating a wall of poison!

The whale lice, charging toward Dokugegon with a mindless ferocity, plunged into the poisonous wall without hesitation, and one after another, they flipped over and died...!

Btt, btt, btt, btt, btt!!

Meanwhile, Dokugegon leaped high into the air, continuing to fire poisonous liquid relentlessly from above!

The inflammation on the Land Whale's skin began to spread, slowly but surely...!

However!

"N'eh!?"

At that moment, Dokugegon noticed something.

The eyelid where he had first struck the poison... had already completely healed!

The other inflamed areas were also beginning to heal at a staggering speed, emitting white smoke—a pace faster than the rate at which Dokugegon could spread the inflammation!

It was an endless cycle!

"N'eeeeeh...!"

What should he do!?

While scolding his own heart, which was on the verge of breaking and falling back into cowardice, Dokugegon thought desperately.

The only thing he could do was shower the enemy in poison.

Where... what should he attack!?

<<<BOAAAAAAAAAAAH!!>>>

But Dokugegon was not given enough time to think.

The Land Whale roared once again... and moved on its own.

It had lost patience with the useless whale lice!

I go to the trouble of keeping you lot around, yet you're nothing but useless bugs!

Thinking this spitefully, the Land Whale moved its foreleg and kicked the ground, as if scooping it up with its claws.

To the Land Whale, it was a casual, trivial movement.

However, every action performed by the Land Whale's colossal body was a fatal act of destruction to everything around it!

By kicking the ground... debris consisting of boulders and fallen trees was launched toward Dokugegon with tremendous force!

"N'eeeeeh!?"

These shells of rubble could not be halted by poison!

Dokugegon flew erratically, desperately dodging the projectiles that flew toward him one after another.

However, his aerial capabilities were not particularly advanced.

He could not perform agile maneuvers.

Therefore.

"N'eh...!?"

Struck by a flying pebble, Dokugegon was shot down.

"N, eh..."

Hitting the ground with a thud, Dokugegon groaned and tried to move his body.

But it was no use.

Excruciating pain surged through his entire body, leaving him unable to budge.

A single pebble, kicked away carelessly, had fatally destroyed Dokugegon's physical form.

Almost all of his bones were shattered, his muscles were torn, and his internal organs were a mess.

It was a miracle he was even conscious.

(Ah...)

Within his hazy consciousness.

(I... don't want... to die...)

Dokugegon prayed for life.

And then, what crossed his mind?

Was it resentment over why only he had to suffer such a fate?

Was it dependence on others, praying for someone to save him?

...Strangely, the words he had repeated like a mantra throughout his life did not surface this time.

The emotion that naturally rose in his mind was...

(I'm so frustrated...)

Regret.

And.

(I want... to be strong...!)

A craving for power...!

However, cruelly, Dokugegon was on the brink of death.

For a normal living creature, a craving that surfaces at the moment of death means nothing.

Because in a few seconds, they die.

No matter how strong the feeling, it doesn't matter.

The consciousness soon dissipates.

Unheard by anyone, it vanishes.

But.

Dokugegon.

...Was not a "normal living creature"!

"N, eh."

With one last, weak cry.

Dokugegon breathed his last.

...At that exact moment!

<<<Subject's Death Confirmed>>>

Dokugegon's body began to glow in a brilliant golden light!

<<<BOAH!?>>>

The Land Whale was greatly astonished to see the light.

And for some reason, he felt... a sense of awe toward that light.

Not toward Dokugegon.

But toward the "original owner" of the power that produced that light.

That person.

The owner of that power.

Was someone who must never be defied... a master to be revered!

He didn't understand the logic or the reason.

But the Land Whale's intuition judged it so.

Therefore, while Dokugegon was enveloped in light, the Land Whale took no action.

He simply gazed, mesmerized, at the golden glow.

<<<Injecting client's divine energy and executing immediate revival process>>>

<<<Starting further mutation of soul and body to withstand divine energy>>>

<<<Confirmed mental transformation of target. Increasing magnitude of mutation based on this>>>

For a while, an intense light dyed the surroundings golden.

When it finally subsided.

The existence standing there... was.

"............N'eh!?"

A Dokugegon who had grown a size larger... and whose appearance had changed.

Until now, unlike his former siblings, he had continued to expose his eerie, bare skin.

Now, it was different.

Dokugegon's entire body was now clad in beautiful purple feathers... shimmering with a lustrous, radiant glow.