Reincarnated as a dragon’s egg ～Lets aim to be the strongest～ - Chapter 491

491 – Black Goat Born of Insanity
“There was something over there. It looks like it disappeared, but do you see it?”

Volk asks.

『It’s actually gone. It’s not an illusion. It might have flown up or hidden underground, though… My [Presence Perception] won’t detect it unless it gets rather close in this fog. Provided it’s operating until the same rules, I don’t think it should be able to surprise attack us…』

“I see. It’s also possible it’s using some peculiar skill.”

Volk puts a hand to his chin and nods.

“It’s not at all common for monsters to keep their distance. It might be fleeing, or perhaps retreating to protect some eggs or young…”

Ooh, thank you for the Dragon Hunter wisdom. As expected of a veteran adventurer.

Let’s assume it hasn’t fled for now. The idea of it going back to protect young is scary. I can only hope it’s not like the abyss nest.

“The other possibilities are that it wants time to apply enhancement to itself, it has particularly good senses and so plans a surprise attack, or it knows of some nearby terrain that will give it an advantage.”

Th-that’s quite a lot…! I don’t like imagining any of them.

“Whatever the pattern, it’s important to find out and respond accordingly. As long as you know what the opponent is trying to do, the danger of them dictating the flow of the battle is greatly reduced.”

That’s a good principle. If you don’t know what traps the opponent’s trying to set, or what their trump card is, you might end up being needlessly cautious and unable to strike decisively when the time is right. On that point, my [Status Inspection] really is a cheat skill… Though neither this time, nor the last time, was I able to get a good look at it, so I’m unfortunately still lacking in information.

Under Volk’s direction, Aro and the others take up a formation behind and around me. While watching them get into position, I begin to walk forwards.

…By the way, treant-san is sticking close by behind me. Treant-san’s speed is so poor that it’s unlikely to be able to react to any sudden attacks. You’re still as fatally slow as ever, aren’t you, treant-san?

After cautiously proceeding into the fog for a while, I spot the ball of flesh low to the ground. Above its five spindly animalian legs with their uneven numbers of joints, its tumour-like body and its countless teeth-lined mouths loom.

“U-uu-ue… OveeeE…”

It’s the same shub-niggurath that I saw before. The mouths split open all over its body in a horrible wail . I should probably check its status now to make sure it’s not a body double.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Shub-Niggurath
Condition: Normal
Lv: 125/125 (MAX)
HP: 1811/1811
MP: 1568/1568
Attack: 1224
Defence: 1534
Magic: 1584
Speed: 1375
Rank: A+

Characteristic skills:
[Grisha Language: Lv8] [Flesh Armour: Lv7] [Earth Attribute: Lv-] [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv9] [Flight: Lv2] [Tentacle: Lv7] [Presence Perception: Lv9] [Demon Eye of Terror: Lv6] [Parallel Chanting: Lv-]

Resistance Skills:
[Poison Resistance: Lv7] [Curse Resistance: Lv7] [Illusion Resistance: Lv7] [Physical Resistance: Lv7] [Magic Resistance: Lv7] [Fire Attribute Nullification: Lv-]

Normal Skills:
[Plague Breath: Lv7] [Telepathy: Lv7] [Humanisation Technique: Lv8] [Clay: Lv8] [Clay Sphere: Lv8] [Clay Wall: Lv8] [Gardener: Lv8] [High Rest: Lv7] [Tentacle Whip: Lv7] [Baleful Claw: Lv6] [Baleful Fang: Lv6] [Gravity: Lv7] [Feast of the Young Goats: Lv8] [Feast of Calamity: Lv6] [Feast of the Harvest: Lv7]

Title Skills:
[Former Demon Lord’s Subordinate: Lv-] [Final Evolution: Lv-] [Black Goat Born of Insanity: Lv-] [Goddess of the Harvest: Lv-]
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

I heighten my wariness. That’s its real body for sure. It’s a maximum level A+… In terms of stats, it surpasses Beelzebub.

【Shub-Niggurath: A+ rank monster】
【A fleshy lump of a monster, with excellent intelligence and battlefield capabilities.】
【It is said to occasionally take a human form and visit starving villages, where it spreads meat of unknown origin and revives withered crops.】
【As a result, it is revered in some countries as the [Goddess of the Harvest].】
【However, it is also said that all residents in the land of those who rouse its anger will disappear, and that they will be replaced by the same numbers of strange lumps of flesh.】

Something fleshy spews from its mouth. As the object tumbles across the ground, spindly legs sprout from it, and it lifts up.  Looking more closely, I see that there are several of these fleshy lumps scattered around. It’s hard to get a grasp on their numbers due to the fog, but… There’s at least ten. It seems like some of them might still be lurking deeper in the fog, keeping their distance.

I guess the reason the it fell back was to meet up with them. I’ll check one of their statuses.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Black Young
Condition: Kin
Lv: 44/75 (Lock)
HP: 642/666
MP: 66/66
Attack: 111
Defence: 111
Magic: 444
Speed: 444
Rank: B-

Characteristic Skills:
[Earth Attribute: Lv-] [Black Blaze: Lv-] [Automatic HP Loss: Lv-] [Fixed Skill Levels: Lv-] [Zero Experience: Lv-]

Resistance Skills:
[Curse Nullification: Lv-]

Normal Skills:
[Bite: Lv1] [Scratch: Lv1] [Clay Gun: Lv1] [Substitution: Lv1]

Title Skills:
[Shub-Niggurath’s Kin: Lv-] [Final Evolution: Lv-] [Scapegoat: Lv-]
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Wh-what is this creepy status…? Like Beelzebub’s kin, it seems there’s a lot of them, and killing them isn’t worth any experience.

I’m starting to understand how the shub-niggurath fights. It probably relies its kin as decoys, and as its attacking force.

But then… Why was it patrolling the mountain with a pair of slow clay guardians, all while keeping its weapons back? Seeing as it didn’t join the clay guardians in battle earlier, it almost feels like it’s testing us. It’s got a high [Grisha Language] skill level, and according to the species explanation, it should be fairly intelligent.

『…I wish to talk. Depending on the circumstances, we could descend this mountain…』

A lump of earth rises in front of the shub-niggurath and forms into a sphere. It shoots through the air in a straight line towards me. That must be its [Clay Gun].

I push my foreleg out. From my centre, a black dome of light expands. It’s [Gravity], but I’ve kept the range short and the force strong. Before reaching my extended foreleg, the [Clay Gun] plummets down and sinks into the ground.

『…It doesn’t seem like it’s going to respond to [Telepathy].』

It has both [Telepathy] and [Grisha Language], so it shouldn’t be impossible for us to hold a conversation, but the shub-niggurath shows no sign of responding.