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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 255
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The space was filled with cocoons.
She was used to seeing the Big One go into a cocoon to grow stronger; it wasn't the first ti.
Extending one of her tendrils, she touched the cocoon.
The warmth on the surface, the rough, wave-like pulses—all familiar sensations. The chaotic blend of senses and elents were ones she'd experienced before.
She perceived the world around her through a mystical ‘force’, sensing movents and objects with her entire being. Unlike other animals, she didn't divide her senses into slling, seeing, or hearing.
Yet, this didn't an her perception was any less keen. When she focused, she could sense an area far beyond the giant stone that emitted a foul, unpleasant sll.
But what she felt now was different.
For the first ti, she was sensing the thoughts of an entirely different creature—the one within the cocoon connected to her tendril, the Big One's thoughts.
She hadn’t always had this ability.
It was only recently that she gained the power to read other creatures' thoughts and relay them, using the innate 'force' she'd been born with.
Her friend knew how to extract thoughts from the 'bad friends' and make them its own. When the Big One saw this, it rejoiced.
If she didn't know sothing, it was always best to learn from her friend. If her friend could do it, she believed she could too.
With this simple reasoning, she learned how her friend manipulated its powers. Though she wasn’t as skilled yet, she believed she would improve as she grew.
Indeed, her abilities had greatly improved after helping the Little One and the Little One's mother share their thoughts. Now, she could sense the Big One's thoughts much more clearly.
The Big One inside the cocoon was walking through a place.
It was vast, similar to her holand, but with a very strange scent. The stinging, unpleasant odor reminded her of when she was imprisoned long ago.
Though it made her uneasy, she endured it. The Big One must have been frightened being alone in such a strange place. She wanted to stay by its side to comfort it.
Fortunately, the Big One seed to sense her intentions, gradually calming down. When it reached a dead end, it raised its long appendage and pressed it against the wall.
As the wall shifted away, revealing a space she had never seen before…
｢Little One?｣
The familiar ntal wave startled her awake.
She quickly pulled her tendril away from the cocoon, her consciousness returning to the unpleasant-slling stone’s belly.
｢What are you doing?｣
｢Nothing.｣
｢?｣
The Little One tilted its protruding sensory organs in confusion at her strange answer. She hadn’t done anything wrong, but she felt reluctant to speak about it, so she mumbled evasively.
Luckily, the Little One wasn't interested in her odd behavior. Instead, it was curious about sothing else.
｢Will the Big One change again?｣
｢Yes. It'll grow stronger.｣
In response, the Little One shook its sensory organs rapidly.
｢If it gets any bigger, it’ll be a problem.｣
｢Why? It’s good to be big and strong.｣
｢If it grows bigger, laying eggs will be difficult.｣
Suddenly, she felt incredibly displeased.
｢The Little One is not ready to lay eggs yet.｣
｢Why? You promised that I could lay eggs once I beca white and completed my growth.｣
｢You’re still not an adult!｣
｢The Big One already acknowledged as an adult.｣
The Little One’s logical argunt left her speechless.
｢Once the Big One’s growth is complete, I will ask it to lay eggs with .｣
｢The Little One and the Big One are both still children! Children can’t make babies!｣
｢I’m not certain yet. I need to confirm it.｣
The Little One seed determined this ti, showing no sign of backing down.
As it had pointed out, she had no justification to stop their mating. She had promised not to interfere once it reached maturity.
Moreover, the Little One had protected its family, fulfilling the duties of a leader. Though small in size, it was already a full-fledged adult.
Yet, she didn’t want to acknowledge this.
The thought of the Big One and the Little One mating filled her with intense displeasure—so much so that she felt she could destroy this foul-slling stone entirely.
｢The Big One is busy. It won’t have ti to make babies.｣
｢Reproduction is important. The species must prosper. Eggs are necessary.｣
｢…….｣
As she matured, she seed to have beco smarter. Each ti Adhai spoke, the Little One imdiately retorted. She tried to find sothing that could silence that impudent child, but nothing ca to mind.
In the end, she turned to the Middle One.
｢Middle One, the Big One can't have children right now, can he?｣
｢Huh? Uh, well…｣
｢Friend｣ ｢I said｣ ｢I don't know｣ ｢Friend｣ ｢Talking｣ ｢Won't help｣
｢…It's not wrong, but sothing about it feels unpleasant.｣
She thought the Middle One would take her side.
However, the Middle One's response was different from what she expected.
｢I think it's possible, though….｣
｢I｣ ｢Heard｣ ｢Friend｣ ｢Said｣ ｢That｣
｢Really? The Big One can actually have children?｣
｢Listen until the end. The Big One can't, uh, lay eggs right now.｣
｢See? I was right, the Big One can't have children.｣
｢Incorrect｣ ｢Friend｣ ｢Said｣ ｢'Right now'｣ ｢Later｣ ｢Egg｣ ｢Production｣ ｢Possible｣
｢…You two are quite sharp. Or should I say you've grown?｣
The Middle One scratched its protruding sensory organ with one of its appendages. Considering their ti together, the Middle One seed to feel troubled by the questions from both her and the Little One.
｢What do you an?｣
｢Well, it's a bit complicated to explain, but I guess you could say the Big One isn’t fully mature yet, so it can't lay eggs.｣
｢I don't understand.｣
｢For details, ask the Big One directly.｣
｢Agreed｣ ｢Will check｣ ｢Directly｣
In the end, even the Middle One couldn't stop the Little One. There was no way left to restrain the Little One.
Now, the only option left was to stop it by force.
However, punishing it without a good reason didn't seem right. If the Little One was a bad child, it might be a different story, but it wasn't fair to hit it without cause.
As she thought about this, a mory surfaced in her mind.
She rembered how, when she connected the Little One's thoughts with its mother's, she saw how the Little One's mother mated.
｢Wait.｣
｢Still｣ ｢Have more｣ ｢To say?｣
｢Yes. If you want to mate with the Big One, you'll have to compete with .｣
｢?｣
Both the Little One and the Middle One tilted their protruding sensory organs in confusion at her words.
｢Why｣ ｢Compete｣ ｢With ｣ ｢Little One｣?
｢Because I will also mate with the Big One.｣
The Little One's family had a different mating process than her own. Although both had a single head of the family and multiple partners, there was a specific order for mating in the Little One’s family. The strongest or the longest-standing partner mated first.
Upon hearing her declaration, the Little One fell silent. It understood what she ant.
｢Little One｣ ｢You like｣ ｢The Big One?｣
｢Yes.｣
｢I｣ ｢Said I'd mate first｣ ｢Little One｣ ｢Next｣
｢No, I'm stronger than you, and I've been with the Big One longer.｣
｢Incorrect｣ ｢I've grown｣
She felt a familiar force emanating from the Little One.
It was a power similar to, yet different from, the one she possessed. The Little One used that power when catching prey or disciplining bad children.
The Little One intended to fight her.
She was about to unleash her power, but the Middle One stepped in between them.
｢Wait! It’s not my place to say this, but if you're going to fight, do it outside! If you do it here, the Big One won’t like it.｣
｢Agreed｣
Hearing those words, she withdrew her power imdiately. The Little One did the sa.
Together, they headed outside, leaving the slly stone cave.
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Adhai was more tense than ever.
She never imagined she'd be in a mating competition with a mber of her own species. She had the most alluring tail, but her body was small.
She believed that only the Big One could truly cherish soone like her.
After all, finding a male as robust and wild-horned as the Big One was nearly impossible. Even though his tail was rather thick for a male, she could easily overlook that flaw.
Because she was an adult, after all.
Her kin knew her feelings, and so no one dared to vie for the Big One’s attention.
Adhai never thought she would compete with anyone else for the Big One.
Least of all, against the Little One.
She glared at the figure standing in the distance on the white snow.
It appeared to be a small, fragile creature, unlike anything else found on this planet. But Adhai knew better.
The small creature she called the Little One possessed incredible strength. It was as powerful as her own mother.
Although facing such a formidable opponent alone was daunting, Adhai was confident.
Gifted with the power of the stars, she had grown imnsely stronger than before. In her assessnt, the only ones clearly stronger than her were the Big One and Odd Grad the Liar. All others were opponents she could handle.
As her thoughts reached that point, she began to feel her excitent rising. The blood of a fierce predator that lay dormant within her began to awaken.
She knew that strong males often mated with multiple females. It was only a matter of ti before the Big One would do the sa.
But she couldn’t give up her place as the Big One's first mate. She respected the Little One but not enough to relinquish the position of being the Big One’s first partner.
｢This isn't a hunt. We'll hold back our strength.｣
｢Got it.｣
｢Understood｣
Responding to the Middle One's words, Adhai began to draw on the power of the stars. In that mont, the Little One launched the first attack.
A long tentacle erged from the Little One's body and struck her head. It was a familiar action, sothing the Little One did when disciplining her, but the force was on a whole other level.
If Adhai hadn’t enveloped her head with the power of the stars, she would have lost consciousness from that blow.
Having blocked the initial strike, Adhai retaliated. Compressed energy shot from her mouth, aid at the Little One.
However, the Little One casually waved a tentacle, nullifying Adhai's attack.
But this was within Adhai’s expectations. The mont she fired her attack, she leaped forward, just as the Big One would.
In an instant, she closed the distance between them. She intended to ram into her opponent, but the Little One blocked her.
An invisible force bound her tightly, constricting her movents. But her wings, infused with the power of the stars, were still free.
Adhai did as the Big One would—she swung her wings as a weapon with all her might. The Little One, seemingly unprepared for this, hurriedly raised its tentacles to block the attack.
The sharp mbrane of her wings sliced through the Little One's tentacle. It was the first ti she had managed to wound the Little One, having never even dared to resist before.
A mix of exhilaration and guilt surged through her, but that was her mistake.
Without flinching, the Little One swung another tentacle. Adhai quickly enveloped her head with star power to block the attack.
The mont the tentacle struck, the air trembled, and her neck bones scread in agony. The force was so intense that it overwheld the star power shielding her.
Still, she was fine. Her head remained unscathed.
As she thought this, the Little One’s wavelength touched her tentacle.
｢You've grown a lot, Little One. I won't hold back anymore.｣
｢?｣
Before Adhai could comprehend the aning, she felt herself being lifted high into the sky against her will. The Little One had taken control of the force that bound her.
And then she saw it.
All the ice around the Little One cracked and began to rise into the air.
｢Hey, hey! I told you to take it easy!｣
｢I said the Little One is grown up now, so this much is fine.｣
｢The ship will get caught up in this!｣
By then, the Little One had grown several tis larger than Adhai. Countless tentacles sprouted from its body, and a powerful force radiated from it, akin to the strength felt from the Big One.
What happened next was hazy.
An overwhelming number of ice chunks flew toward Adhai, and she was too occupied with fending them off. Her latent star power was far from insignificant, but she wasn’t capable of blocking an endless barrage of attacks without pause.
Eventually, drained of energy, Adhai was struck by one of the Little One’s tentacles and collapsed.
｢I won, so that's the end of the baby talk! No more asking the Big One for eggs!｣
That was the last thing she heard before losing consciousness. All she could do was nod in agreent.
But deep inside, Adhai made up her mind.
She was born with unfavorable odds, yet she had beco the queen of her kin.
The word "give up" wasn’t in her vocabulary.
With a firm resolve to one day mate with the Big One, she passed out.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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