Day 481-490/Day 485

Day 485 / The Fifteenth Day
【The Lord of the Blue Light Lake】was a group.
　If it was an individual, I would have run away when I saw it so that I wouldn't lose my safe zone, but if it was a group, I might as well thin it out a bit.
　That's what I thought yesterday when I fought them with a red spear.
　The results of that battle were lined up as breakfast.
【The Lord of the Blue Light Lake】was a huge swarm of pale fish with eyes, mouths and caudal fins that had developed to an extraordinary size.
　Each one was the size of an adult man, and there were probably a hundred of them.
　Their pale scales were extremely hard, and their large, Demekin-like eyes were inorganic, making it hard to tell where they were looking.
　They have large, slender mouths full of sharp fangs that tear flesh like a crocodile, and their caudal fins are covered with countless telescopic tentacles that extend ten times their body length.
　The strength of each individual fish was not that great, but the highly coordinated swarm of fish I saw in the water looked like one giant monster swimming majestically in its own domain.
　Unlike an individual fish, a swarm does not have a vital point that can be broken to kill it.
　The only way to defeat them is to cut down and kill the individuals that make up the group, and when all of them are slaughtered, the defeat is finally complete.
　It's hard to take such an existence seriously, so from the moment I found out that it was a swarm, I planned to kill a few of them and run away, but the 【Lord of Blue Light Lake】was more troublesome than I expected.
　In the first place, the swimming speed of each of the individuals that make up the 【Lord of the Blue Light Lake】is faster than I had imagined, and even though it is a swarm, there is no disorder in their coordination.
　I judged that the abilities I had activated beforehand were not enough to cope with the situation, so I responded by using 【Super Cavitation】, which generates bubbles to enable high-speed movement, and by using my telekinetic abilities to move my body itself.
　As a result of the fact that we were more than evenly matched in the water, the 【Lord of Blue Light Lake】 may have recognized me as a strong enemy, and some of the individuals that made up the swarm of fish intentionally separated and began to attack from multiple directions.
　The stragglers that attack from multiple directions are all suicidal, and if you're not careful, you could get hurt.
　I managed to deal with the attacks from the swarm, but once I had defeated a few stragglers, I had achieved my goal and quickly crawled out of the underground lake.
　Tentacles extended from the surface of the lake to prevent me from escaping, but if I cut them off and kept my distance, they would not pursue me.
　Thinking that I would have a chance to settle the matter with the 【Lord of the Blue Light Lake】after my first encounter with it, I gutted it, let it rest overnight, and tried to eat it as a grilled fish.
　The large eyes popped in my mouth. It was a little sweet, but not overpowering.
　The flesh was white, with just the right amount of fat. When I put my face close to it, I could smell a faint sweet and refreshing smell.
　When I bit into the crispy skin, the taste spread on my tongue.
　It looked a little grotesque, but the taste was soft and elegant.
　The tentacles were also cooked and eaten, which was similar to eel.
　The round, fat body was filled with high quality muscle and fat, yet it had a firm texture. It may be dense because it can expand and contract freely.
　【Ability 【Group Body Combination】 learned.】
　【Ability 【Blue Light Armor Scales】learned】
　　...... Couldn't we catch more of them?　What a thought crossed my mind.
　It has a good flavor and can be enjoyed in many ways, such as grilled, boiled, or steamed, and most importantly, it is an ingredient that can be used to learn good abilities.
　However, I shook off such temptations and rode my golemkrat to the surface today.
　With a good bottle of wine, I'll eat it when I return to repay my family of five.
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PLACE TRANSLATIONS ABOVE THE BAR. THESE ARE THE RAWS, LEAVE THEM HERE. CLICK EXPAND TO VIEW THEM.
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“十五日目”　／　“四■八■五■目”
　【青光湖の主】は群体だった。
　個体だったら安全地帯が無くならないように姿を見たら逃げるつもりだったが、群体なら少しは間引いてもいいだろう。
　そう思って朱槍で格闘したのが昨日の事である。
　その戦果は朝食として並んでいた。
　【青光湖の主】は目と口、それから尾鰭が異常なまでに巨大に発達した青白い魚の群れだった。
　一体一体の大きさは成人男性ほどの大きさがあり、百匹はいただろうか。
　青白い鱗は非常に硬く、デメキンのように大きな瞳は無機質で何処を見ているか分からない。
　まるでワニのように肉を引き千切る鋭い牙が生え揃った細長く大きな口を持ち、尾鰭には体長の十倍は伸びる伸縮自在の触手が無数に生えている。
　一体一体の強さはさほどでもないが、水中で見た高度な連携によって構築される魚群の姿はまるで水中という自分の領域で堂々と泳ぐ巨大な一体のモンスターのようだった。
　群体は個体と違ってそこを壊せば死ぬ、という急所が存在しない。
　ただ群体を構成する個体を削り殺し、その全てを屠った時にようやく討伐が完了する。
　そんな存在を真面目に相手するのは大変なので、群体であると分かった時から数匹仕留めて逃げるつもりだったが、【青光湖の主】は予想以上に厄介だった。
　そもそも【青光湖の主】を構成する個々の遊泳速度は想像以上に速く、群体でありながらその連携には一部の乱れも無かった。
　事前に発動していたアビリティだけでは対応できないと判断し、バブルを発生させて高速移動を可能にする【スーパーキャビテーション】や身体自体を【念動能力】で動かす事で対応した。
　水中で互角以上に動いた事で【青光湖の主】は強敵認定でもしたのか、魚群を構成している個体の一部が意図的に分離し、多方面から攻撃を仕掛けてくるようになった。
　多方面から攻めて来るはぐれ個体はどれも捨て身の特攻で、油断していると怪我しても可笑しくない。
　群体からも攻撃を仕掛けてくるのでどうにか捌きつつ、はぐれ個体を何匹か討伐した時点で目的が達せたのでさっさと地底湖から這い出した。
　逃がさないとばかりに湖面から触手が伸びてくるが、切り払って距離をとれば追撃は来なかった。
　そうして初遭遇を終えた【青光湖の主】との決着はいずれ機会があればと思いつつ、内臓を抜き、一晩寝かせた【青光湖の主】を焼き魚にして喰ってみた。
　大きな目が口の中でプチュリと弾ける。トロトロとした中身は少し甘く、それでいてしつこくない。
　身は白く、脂も適度に乗っている。顔を近づけるとほのかに甘くて爽やかな匂いがした。
　パリッと焼けた皮ごと噛むと、舌の上で味が広がる。
　少々見た目はグロテスクだが、柔らかく上品な味だった。
　触手の部分も焼いて食べると、こちらはウナギに近いだろうか。
　丸く太った身は上質な筋肉と脂を蓄え、それでいて歯応えもしっかりとしている。伸縮自在なので、密度が高いのかもしれない。
　【能力名【群体合身】のラーニング完了】
　【能力名【青光鎧鱗】のラーニング完了】
　……もっと量を獲ってもいいのではないか？　何て考えが脳裏を過った。
　味がいいので焼いたり煮たり、蒸したり色々と楽しめるし、何より良いアビリティをラーニングできそうな食材である。
　しかしそんな誘惑を振り払い、今日もゴーレムクラートに乗って地上を目指した。
　美味い酒をもって、五人家族に恩返しする時に再び舞い戻った時に喰ってやろうと思う。
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Category:Novel
Category:Articles that needs cleaning
Category:Re:Monster ~ The Dark Continent ~ Vol. 2