Chapter 500

Chapter 500: The Unbeatable Mountain Type Falls

"This is…"

As Sotiko watched the broad footstep descend toward her "Ether Pond," the world froze in time.

"Buzz… Buzz… Buzz…"

Only the "Fanged Giant Mouth" mark on her head and stomach pulsed with rhythmic light.

"Uh…"

"Mm…"

Sotiko released a soft whimper in the stillness.

A thread of pain and a hint of itchiness slowly spread through her divine body.

Immense energy surged inward, sending a shuddering thrill up her vertebrae that struck her Soul!

Bones multiplied and muscles stretched – processes normally agonizing – yet became insignificant before this ecstasy, merging into the pleasure itself!

"Ah—!"

The whimper transformed into exultation!

Her robust divine body grew mightier, her colossal frame expanded further!

Her skull shortened slightly while thickening and broadening.

Giant fangs descended from her upper jaw, gleaming coldly!

The protruding armor plates along her back gradually shrank beneath her skin, transforming into lightweight, intricate chainmail encasing her entire form!

Conversely, her skin smoothed relatively, retaining only sparse neck Bone Fragments while curves elsewhere rounded softly.

Her limbs elongated and strengthened, tibia proportions now rivaling swift large theropod dinosaurs!

"Huff…"

"ROAR—!"

"BOOM—!"

A world-shattering roar exploded across the Chaos Swamp and void.

The massive divine body pivoted and pounced upon the arrogant Vast Dragon God of the Mountain Type – who sought to crush its foe beneath its bulk!

—-

"Well, this…

You must be…"

"Barinasaurus, an exceptionally large specimen, with minor modifications."

"This complicates things – the era discrepancy is substantial."

Creatures Trilobite encountered or modified for his spawn were primarily Paleozoic "reality-types"; his sole "fantasy-type" remained his "first spawn sister," the Trilobite Mantis.

Yet now, Trilobite would make history.

He’d developed history’s second-strongest terrestrial crocodile – potentially the strongest – the Barinasaurus, belonging to the Cybosaurus lineage.

Based on the unearthed fossils, this fellow’s skull alone was one meter long; it was larger than the “Bone Crusher” and the Ankylocephalus, known as “the fragmentation kings.”

Conservatively estimating, the length of the Barinasaurus could reach six meters, weighing over a ton; with a less conservative estimate, some large individuals of Barinasaurus might grow to eight meters and two tons!

Thus, the strongest predator of the Cenozoic Era was undoubtedly the lizard-like Barinasaurus.

Creatures like the Short-faced Bear, Bone Crusher, and Ankylocephalus had to step aside.

This formidable land crocodile lived in South America during the Miocene, coexisting with the king of crocodiles, Purussaurus, and the spiritual successors of large theropod dinosaurs in the same period on the same continent.

It felt as though the rivalry between dragon crocodiles from the Cretaceous period continued; however, this time, the roles were reversed; the crocodilian forces gained the size advantage.

“From the Paleozoic Era, I jumped to the Mesozoic Era and then to the Cenozoic Era.”

“To be honest, even if the Barinasaurus were placed in the Early or Middle Jurassic, or even the Triassic period, it wouldn’t feel out of place.”

“And I made a few modifications to it.”

What Trilobite called “modifications” meant giving the Barinasaurus a pair of saber teeth.

Though specialized teeth were a big feature of archosaurs, this wasn’t exclusive to them.

Many lizard-like creatures also had them.

Among dinosaurs, for example, the Heterodontosaurus had teeth like incisors, canines, and cheek teeth, able to handle all kinds of food; its tooth changes were more skilled than many archosaurian creatures.

This was fairly complex; simpler versions were even more common.

As said before, plesiosaurs often had one or more pairs of big fangs like saber teeth.

With those saber teeth sizes, joining the “Instant Kill Saber Tooth Style,” including Theriodonts and saber-toothed tigers, wasn’t a problem.

In the crocodilian superorder, more had specialized teeth.

The Wild Boar Crocodile had three pairs of very long fangs; though nobody knew why three pairs, it looked cool.

Also, Barinasaurus already had a few pairs of long, sharp teeth.

This could be seen in some living crocodiles too.

Trilobite just specialized a pair of front teeth to look like saber teeth.

“Great!”

“Saber-toothed Barinasaurus!”

“Eight meters long and over two tons!”

“Now, you should be the top predator, no doubt!”

The strongest predator of the Cenozoic Era, the king of land crocodiles, had arrived!

—-

Perhaps for Sotiko, the process of the divine body “upgrading” and “evolving” was accompanied by the pain of Reinvention and the joy of Soul clashes, plus the glory of new beginnings.

But for the Vast Dragon God of the Mountain Type, awkwardly propping itself up on hind legs while lifting forelimbs, that really was “light!”

“Buzz—!”

A flash of golden light burst from the “Ether Pond,” flooding its sight with a stinging gold glow.

Along with the explosion of light came a powerful shockwave.

"Roar——!"

The Vast Dragon God of the Mountain Type emitted a painful roar.

Though His massive Divine Body wasn’t thrown off by the shockwave, it was enough to push Him aside!

"Boom——!"

His thick heavy foot stomped hard on the ground but missed the target he aimed for.

Instead…

"Crack!"

A dull sound came from His ankle.

Agonizing pain shot up through the nerves of His Divine Body.

"Roar——!"

The Vast Dragon God of the Mountain Type howled in pain.

He struggled hard to straighten His body; His Mountain Type size had already reached the limit for a "Vast Dragon God."

At this size, the magic flowing within Him gave little extra strength. If He fell again in a bad position, even His sturdy "divine bones" might crack under the weight.

Though the Vast Dragon God of the Mountain Type wasn’t smart, His instincts screamed danger.

"Roar…"

Now He could only whimper, wobbling on three legs as He limped backward.

But the prey was weak, hurt, and slow.

No true predator would let this chance slip!

"Roar——!"

Giant jaws burst from the "Ether Pond," two sharp fangs gleaming cold in the bloody maw!

"Roar——!"

The Vast Dragon God bellowed.

That was all He could do.

Before, He might’ve rammed His huge frame into the attacker to knock it aside, then charged to crush its skull.

But back then, He had four legs.

Now only three worked!

"Boom——!"

A massive Divine Body slammed into the Vast Dragon God with huge force, toppling Him!

"Swoosh——!"

Saber teeth flashed out!

"Pshhh——!"

They plunged deep into the Vast Dragon God’s throat.

"Ugh…"

"Mm…"

"Ha…"

The kill was swift and clean.

The fangs tore through the soft throat, severing magic circuits, divine nerves, divine blood, and soul in one stroke.

His four thick legs twitched weakly before going limp.

His heaving belly stilled.

Divine liquid trickled from His giant beak.

"Zing——!"

Sotiko yanked out her saber teeth. Divine blood dripped off them, splattering into the Chaos Swamp like blooming crimson flowers.

She almost paused to praise the Giant God’s power.

But reality gave no time.

"Buzz…"

The mark of the Giant God glowed bright, wiping away all thoughts but ravenous hunger!

"Blood sacrifice for the Giant God!"

"Skull offering!"

Yet as she feasted…

"Whoosh…"

The wind from the void carried the blood-scent far into the distance.