NoveLight ™
【Arthropleura LV17】
【Status】
「Hunger」
【Arthropleura】
The largest millipede, growing up to 2.6 meters in length, 55 cm in width, and weighing up to 50 kg. It prefers a herbivorous diet but possesses strong venom.
It was the same creature I had seen when I first arrived at the Silver Dragon Cave.
“Gekkk!”
Why didn’t I notice it was here earlier?
Could it have some sort of stealth skill?
“Hissss!”
Give me back my kind centipede!
The millipede stared at me blankly.
Its twisted mouth—was it… smiling?
The creature opened its massive jaws wide, revealing the remains of the centipede, now just a pulp.
Is this supposed to be a message about your comrade?
Though it didn’t speak, I could almost hear its mocking tone.
“Gekkk!”
You bastard!
I will never forgive you.
That centipede was the only sane creature I’d met in this cave.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Gulp.
The millipede swallowed the gentle centipede whole.
“Hissss!”
It let out a roar.
The air trembled.
If this had been before, I would have run away without a second thought.
But now, I couldn’t back down.
“Gekgekgek!”
I puffed up my body as much as possible and faced the creature.
The size difference between us was staggering.
There was no need to compare directly. The thing was over 2 meters long—how could I possibly win against something like that?
In the past, I had no means of penetrating that iron-like armor.
Yes.
In the past.
Tadak.
I kicked off the ground and leaped into the air as if flying.
“Hissss!”
The creature hadn’t expected me to attack and was visibly startled.
If I attacked now, I could inflict damage.
No, wait. I’ll hold off for a moment.
Flash!
I aimed for the wall behind the creature.
Its massive jaws brushed past where I had just been.
If I had charged straight at it, I would have been caught in that attack.
I kicked off the wall again, charging toward it.
This time, it’s for real.
I spread my hands wide.
These were no longer the hands of a mere lizard.
Dragon Claw Hand.
A martial art so lethal that it earned the name “Dragon Claw.”
Shhhh!
My claws tore into the shell of the massive millipede.
“Kieeek!”
The creature let out a furious roar, clearly enraged by the unexpected strike.
My attack had landed.
But it wasn’t deep enough.
And I was still airborne.
For a brief moment, I was completely vulnerable.
The creature knew it, too.
Crack!
The massive body charged toward me, its iron-like armor gleaming with deadly intent.
Even grazing it would be fatal.
I had to avoid it somehow.
‘Tail Sever!’
As soon as my tail was severed, my speed drastically increased.
But no matter how fast I was, I was still in midair.
Without something to step on, I couldn’t maneuver properly.
“Gek!”
But the speed I gained wasn’t the only thing from Tail Sever.
The severed tail acted as an anchor.
I kicked off the makeshift platform and leaped again.
Crash!
The creature rammed its head into the cave wall with such force that it nearly shattered it.
If I hadn’t dodged, I would have been ground to dust.
I focused intensely.
My next landing point was right on the creature’s back.
The attack was mine now.
With my head facing the ground, I descended rapidly.
I clasped my hands together, readying my claws.
My sharp claws aimed for a single point.
Crack!
My claws collided with its armor.
Riiiip!
My claws tingled.
The creature must have felt it too.
The power of Dragon Claw Hand, the speed gained from Tail Sever, and the kinetic energy from the high-altitude drop—everything combined to form an attack it couldn’t ignore.
Crack.
Cracks began to form in its tough armor.
It’s working.
Break!
Thud!
But my focus on breaking through its armor left me open to its tail attack, which sent me flying several meters away.
Slash!
Before crashing into the wall, I managed to dig my claws into the ground and halt my momentum.
“Hissss!”
The creature roared, its fury palpable.
I hadn’t managed to split it in half.
But it was severely wounded, that much was clear.
“Gekgek.”
I stood on both legs, claws ready, waiting for the perfect moment to strike again.
“Kieeeek!”
The creature was flailing its massive body, enraged at the thought that it had almost been killed.
Boom!
Crash!
The cave wasn’t collapsing, but the tremors were threatening enough for a small lizard like me.
I needed to end this before it thrashed around too much.
As I rushed toward it, a thick fog suddenly spread through the air.
My instincts screamed at me.
Poison fog.
Of course. It was only natural.
Some millipedes were known to carry poison.
I just didn’t expect it to use it like this.
“Keek!”
My legs wobbled.
My tail hadn’t fully regenerated yet, making it hard to keep my balance.
The creature charged at me.
Its plan was simple: paralyze me with poison and crush me under its massive body.
Impressive.
But here’s the thing.
“Gekgekgek!”
I am immune to poison.
I kicked off the ground and leaped high.
The creature, thinking I had succumbed to the poison, crashed headfirst into the ground.
I didn’t miss the opening.
Crunch!
Green Basilisk’s Dragon Claw Hand, Fourth Form.
Hit the same spot again.
Crack!
Crunch!
This time, I alternated my hands, driving my Dragon Claw Hand into the same spot repeatedly.
“Kieeek!”
The giant millipede thrashed in agony.
No, by now it was nothing more than a plaything.
“Gekgek!”
This is for my one and only sane friend, the centipede!
“Gek!”
This is for Tuss and Puss!
“Gekgekgek!”
And this is for Nephila Jurassica!
“Keeeeek!”
The millipede seemed to suffer, as if it were unjustly punished, but I ignored that.
I could feel its strength weakening with every moment.
It hadn’t used its poison at first.
It had opted for a seemingly inefficient method of charging at me.
The reason?
Using poison must have been more of a strain on its body.
It had underestimated me, thinking it could crush me with its weight alone.
Its exhaustion was now visible to the naked eye.
Time to finish this.
I won’t end it simply.
Using all five fingers, I aimed to pierce its head.
I put all my strength into my right hand and drove it down.
Boom!
It shattered in a clean hit.
…My fingers!
“Gekek!”
Damn, that was tough!
Trying to show off by imitating something I hadn’t fully mastered yet—it felt like I was being punished for it.
The creature seemed to recognize this as its chance and began thrashing even harder.
Its body started to turn semi-transparent.
So it did have stealth capabilities after all.
If I had taken my time with this fight, I would’ve been in serious trouble.
“Gekgek!”
But I still had one hand left.
Crunch!
With my other hand, I tore into the spot I had already weakened.
Crack!
The millipede split in half.
Phew.
That was a tough opponent.
If I hadn’t had poison immunity, I would have definitely lost.
Its overconfidence had played a big role in my victory.
It should have expected that there would be enemies immune to poison.
If it had used its invisibility from the start, things might have gone differently.
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
It had been a hard fight, but the reward was sweet.
I had leveled up twice in one go.
[You have reached the maximum level.]
【Green Basilisk LV10(+)】
HP: 100/100
MP: 40/40
【Title】
「Beloved by Spiders」
If I hadn’t been at the maximum level, I probably could have leveled up even more.
But there’s no need to feel disappointed.
Reaching the maximum level means…
[You are enveloped by a mystical energy.]
[Evolution is possible.]
…It’s time for the next evolution.
[Would you like to evolve?]
Though I was tempted to accept right away, it wasn’t time yet.
There were still things I needed to do first.
I approached the millipede’s mouth.
Centipede friend, can you hear me?
This is my requiem for you.
“Gekgekgek.”
The centipede I had met in the cave.
I didn’t know if it was male or female, and I hadn’t known it for long, but in this dark, gloomy cave, it was the only light I had.
I’ll remember you.
After finishing my tribute, it was time to prepare for myself.
During my last evolution, if Nephila Jurassica hadn’t provided me with food, I would have starved to death.
…I've gained so much.
I hope it’s doing well.
Nephila Jurassica was no longer by my side.
I had to provide my own food now.
And right in front of me was a huge piece of meat.
Dragging its body was tough.
Given its size, moving it would’ve been impossible if I hadn’t cut it in half.
I pulled the corpse between the stones where the murals were.
For some reason, the creatures of this cave seemed to avoid that green rock.
And with the boulder covering it and the millipede’s body still emanating poison, no ordinary creature would approach this area.
If a poison-resistant creature came, they’d prefer to eat the millipede over some suspicious egg.
Everything was ready.
“Gekgekgek.”
It was time to say goodbye to this cute cry as well.
[Would you like to evolve?]
Of course.
【Green Basilisk】 can evolve into:
What are these boring options?
If this were a game, people would complain about palette swaps and recycled content.
No.
These choices are for a regular Green Basilisk.
I was aiming for a special evolution.
And right now, I had met quite a few conditions.
That should be enough to count as prerequisites.
Come on, let’s go!
[You have met the conditions for a special evolution.]
Yes.
Show me Green Dragon, Green Hydra, or Green Tyrannosaurus.
【Green Basilisk】 can evolve into:
…What?
Thylacine?
That makes even less sense than a dragon.
And what’s a Dimetrodon doing here?
Isn’t that thing smaller than the rest of these combined?
Even if it’s in the evolution tree, isn’t that something I should only see at the next stage?
I stared at the options.
This was suspicious.
Very suspicious.