I saw two figures being chased by a Snake.
The lantern in their hand was shaking violently.
If I noticed them, then they must be able to see my bear light too.
"The light is close"
"Are there really people here?"
"Everyone there, run!"
The people being chased by the Snake shouted at us.
Behind them, a giant Snake was crawling, chasing the adventurers.
We ran away, if it's okay to run away then run away. With Kumayuru and Kumakyu it's possible to run away.
However, maybe they would run out of stamina along the way and be attacked by the Snake.
And since I'd decided to help, I wouldn't run away.
Before worrying about others, we should worry about ourselves.
It must be hard to shout while running.
I didn't know, because I'd never had that experience.
It's not normal to run and scream at the same time.
As I was thinking about this, two people who appeared to be adventurers came into view of us.
"A bear?! There's a bear up ahead!"
"What are we going to do?"
The people who appeared to be adventurers suddenly noticed us and slowed down.
Looking at Kumayuru and Kumakyu, they seemed to be wondering whether they should continue running or not.
There's no time to worry now.
If they stopped, the giant Snake would catch up with them.
"Just keep running! Snake is coming!"
They shouted loudly.
Even though they managed to make it in time, it'd be a bad awakening to see Snake ate them right in front of me.
The two adventurers looked back.
"Let's run."
"But, the bears."
"Better than Snake."
Their speed that had been slackening increased.
"Yuna, what's that? Is it a Snake?" (Marne)
Marne-san asked, looking at the Snake who could be seen behind the two adventurers.
"It's big, but I think it's Snake." (Yuna)
My only judgement was based on my detection skill.
The detection skill's response showed Snake.
"I've never seen such a big Snake before. Are you going to run away after all? These kids can escape, right?" (Marne)
Where did those words of help that she had spoken earlier go?
Well, if a big Snake was approaching from the front, I could understand wanting to run away.
I only said I would help them because Marne-san thought it was a small Snake. Me too.
But personally, if I had to choose between 100 small Snake and one giant Snake, I would choose the giant Snake.
100 small Snake gathered together would be creepy, but one giant Snake was scary but easy to fight.
While we were talking, Snake was getting closer.
"Marne-san, throw the bottle at Snake!" (Yuna)
"There's no way medicine will work on such a big Snake. And even if I throw it, it won't reach it from this distance." (Marne)
Marne-san was clutching the bottle of Snake repellent potion in her hand.
"You mean, I have to get close to it before I throw it? No way. It'll get eaten before I can throw it." (Marne)
She was feeling a bit panicked.
Well, normally, it's probably the kind of reaction you would have if you saw a big Snake.
"It's fine, just throw it!" (Yuna)
"I don't know what's going to happen, okay?!" (Marne)
When I made my request, Marne-san threw the bottle at the giant Snake.
The bottle was thrown as far as possible, causing it to fly in a parabolic trajectory.
It's a better pitch than I expected.
If she failed, she would smash the bottle on the ground.
The bottle fell in an arc.
"That's why I said it wouldn't reach." (Marne)
As expected, it didn't arrive.
I fired an air bullet at the falling bottle.
The air bullet bounced off the bottle and flew towards the giant Snake.
And one more!
I fired another air bullet and adjusted the bottle's direction.
The bottle flew towards the giant Snake's head.
The bottle broke as it hit the giant Snake's head, sending liquid splashing everywhere.
The giant SUNEIKU stopped moving, opened its mouth wide, and let out a shriek-like noise, "Ssssshh."
The medicine seemed to have worked.
I jumped off Kumakyu, ran past two people who appeared to be adventurers being chased by the Snake, and I ran toward the giant Snake.
As I passed two people who seemed to be adventurers, I heard "Bear," "Bear," "Bear," and "Kuma," but I just kept running.
The distance between me and the giant Snake was shrinking.
There were many ways to defeat it, but only if I didn't care about the surroundings.
This was inside a cave.
Normally, it would be easy to defeat it by shooting the bear's flames into its body, just like when I defeated the Black Viper, but we're inside a cave.
Even if there were air holes somewhere, it's dangerous to use fire magic in a cave.
Then I could use the method used to defeat the giant snake in Land of Harmoni.
Snake's progress stopped, but its head moved from side to side.
"Don't act violently in the cave!" (Yuna)
I shot an air bullet at the bottom of Snake's head.
The recoil caused it to stop for a moment and opened its mouth.
I jumped towards the mouth of the giant Snake.
"Yuna!" (Marne)
I could hear Marne-san screaming behind me.
Mana gathered in my hand and a bear rock appeared in the Snake's mouth.
I just put mana into the bear rock.
The bear rock grew larger and the giant Snake's mouth widens.
With its mouth and head destroyed, the Snake fell to the ground with a loud thud.
I must be used to defeating giant snake-like monsters by now.
"Yuna, are you okay?!" (Marne)
Kumakyu and Marne-san while riding on KUMAYURU arrived.
"This much is fine." (Yuna)
"I was amazed when you ran towards the big Snake and even knocked it down." (Marne)
Marne-san looked at the giant Snake with its mouth forcibly split open.
I guessed it's a size smaller than the Black Viper I fought.
As someone who had fought a Black Viper and giant snakes, this wasn't a difficult opponent for me.
"Even so, the way you defeated him was pretty brutal, huh?" (Marne)
Marne-san touched her chin and mouth.
Maybe she's imagining the rock growing in her mouth.
Even I wouldn't do something like that to someone.
"Marne-san, would you like to take this Snake home?" (Yuna)
"That's right. If it grows to this size, it will be useful in many ways. Also, a Snake this big is rare, so I'm sure other places will want one too." (Marne)
There might even be a monster research lab.
Plus, even if Marne-san didn't need it, I could still make some money by selling it.
Thinking that, I approached.
"It's still alive!"
A man shouted from behind.
At the same time, Kumayuru cried "Kyuuu~~n," and Kumayuru with Marne-san on his back and Kumakyu with my bear suit in his mouth left the place.
The moment we separated, something heavy fell where we had been with a loud thud, and the earth rumbled.
"What!?" (Yuna)
Snake's tail had been slammed to the ground.
...No, that's not it.
...It's not a tail.
...The head.
It's the head that slowly lifted up, not the tail.
Its tongue was sticking out and its red eyes were looking down at us.
"Double-headed..." (Marne)
Marne-san muttered.
I told Kumakyu to leave and observed the Snake.
"Run away quickly! Its head is violent!"
"It's poisonous, stay away!"
The adventurers shouted.
A purple liquid was dripping from Snake's_ mouth, illuminated by the bear light.
Red eyes fixated on me and Marne-san.
The moment I saw its eyes moved, its mouth also moved.
The giant Snake spat liquid like a water gun.
Kumayuru carrying Marne-san, and Kumakyu and I avoided it.
"Yuna, it's poison. Be careful!" (Marne)
The liquid spat out onto the ground was purple in color.
"Kumayuru, Kumakyu. Take Marne-san and get away from here." (Yuna)
It would be troublesome if the target was Marne-san or the adventurers.
I cast wind magic at the giant Snake, making myself the target.
I wanted to use some big magic, but if I was not careful the cave would collapse.
And it's not just attacks that I needed to be concerned about. The poison that Snake spat could be dangerous if it floats in the air.
"Marne-san, is this poison just liquid or does it float in the air?" (Yuna)
If it's just liquid then there's no problem.
However, if it were to turn into a gas and release a poisonous mist into the cave, it could cause serious problems.
"There's no way you could know that. It's best to run away." (Marne)
Running away was one option.
But we couldn't move forward unless I defeat it.
What Marne-san was looking for lied ahead.
For the time being, as a precaution, I used wind magic to create an air current to prevent the poison from reaching the adventurers and Marne-san.
"The wind..." (Marne)
"This reduces the risk of poison, but be careful." (Yuna)
"Yuna!" (Marne)
"Well then, I'll go and defeat it in a bit." (Yuna)
I ran.
Snake opened its mouth and shot out poisonous liquid.
What should I do?
I said I would defeat it, but what should I do?
The longer the battle went on, the more poison there would be.
Snake shot out poison. Just when I thought I'd avoided it, its tail?
It shook one of the heads I had killed.
A large, destroyed head crawled along the ground and attacked me.
I felt ill.
I jumped to dodge the attacking head and fired an air bullet.
A shotgun-like dent appeared in Snake's torso, and it fell back.
I would not let up on my attacks.
But Snake's mouth didn't open.
Perhaps, did it understand why one of the heads was taken down?
High intelligence?
As I was thinking about what to do, I heard Marne-san shouted from behind me.
"Yuna!" (Marne)
When I turned around, Kumayuru was standing with his arms[1] raised.
Then Kumayuru got into pitching form.
What?
"Kumayuru, now!" (Marne)
"Kyuu~n" (Kumayuru)
Marne-san shouted and Kumayuru threw something.
It's a bottle!
The vial spun and flew towards the Snake.
It was not a weak ball like the one thrown by Marne-san. It's a fastball.
The vial thrown by Kumayuru hit the giant Snake's head, broke, and the liquid poured down on the Snake's head.
Snake opened its mouth, perhaps because it disliked that liquid.
Now!
I ran towards the raging Snake.
Snake cried out "Ssssshh."
It seemed to dislike the medicine made by Marne-san.
I closed the distance and jumped towards the Snake's head in one go.
This was it.
A bear rock appeared in the Snake's mouth.
Just make it huge.
It tried to spit the poison, but it couldn't because the bear's rock got in the way.
The poisonous liquid dripped from the gaps in the bear rock.
Its mouth opened wider and wider.
In the end, its mouth split open and it fell down.
This time, I defeated it.
Author's Note
It was a two-headed snake, but she defeated it quickly.
*The deadline for applications to win the Yuna and Sanya big acrylic stand present campaign with the purchase of the 10th paperback edition is August 20, 2024. We would be delighted if any readers who have purchased the book would apply.
Please see the obi for more details.
*Sorry. I will be posting on Sundays for a while.
[Book release schedule]
Book volume 20.5 was released on May 2, 2024. (The next volume, volume 21, is planned and in the works.)
The 12th volume of the comic was released on August 3, 2024. (The release date for the next volume, 13, has not yet been decided.)
The second volume of the comic spin-off was released on March 5, 2024.
The paperback version of volume 10 was released on May 2, 2024. (The deadline for the campaign to win a big acrylic stand featuring Yuna and Sanya on the cover is August 20, 2024. 20 lucky winners will receive a prize.) (The next volume, volume 11, is scheduled to be released on October 4.)
Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Some of the kanji have been corrected to match the book, so please understand that there are some parts that have not been corrected.
Translator's Note
[1] Front legs? Paws?