Activate Normal Skill,〖Human Transformation〗.
Heat surges through my body and it shrinks in place.
I’ve already gotten quite used to the pain, so I pay it no mind.
But, I’d like to do something about that HP loss that happens every time I use the skill.

I put on the clothes that’s covered in my drool and walk inside the cave.
I can’t afford to walk around cautiously.
I’ll beat down any enemies I encounter and save the children as quick as I can. Even this handicapped human body should be capable enough of doing that.

Rushing headlong into the cave is nice and all…… but, I didn’t think about the lack of light at all.
I can’t see anything, and it doesn’t help that the cave’s interior is so long.
At least I have〖Presence Sense〗with me.
If they plan to fight me in this darkness, then bring it.

I need to keep my eyes open and focus.
Accurately pinpoint the exact location of the 12 presences.
Coordinating the skill with my eyes, my vision won’t turn completely dark. Eventually, my eyes will get used to the darkness over time.

Attack and Defense, as well as my HP is halved, plus, most of my skills are unusable…… I just hope these restrictions don’t end up weighing me down.
I jump up, landing near one of the presences, and lightly tap the person’s shoulder.

“Eek! Something’s there!”

I sense an object flying my way at great speed.
I quickly move to the side.

An arrow hits my cheek.
My cheek gets scratched. My Ouroboros scales would’ve just bounced it back it though……
This scaleless, humanized skin doesn’t help at all with my halved defense.

“Buha~a?!”

I land a punch to the person in front of me.
I could feel his bones breaking through my fist.
The man was greatly flung to the ground. Everything slightly shook around us.
This cave might be more unstable than I assumed. I’ll need to be extremely careful from here on out……

【Obtained 150 Experience Points.】
【〖The Walking Egg: Lv—〗skill gives you additional 150 Experience Points.】

…… Despite being halved, my attack still packs a punch.
I can beat them in one hit. I’m sure that was a direct hit I just did.

Looking at the man I punched, I noticed something off.
…… Was his eyes closed tight the whole time? Or, did he close his eyes when he fell?

“Everyone, just as we planned.〖Flash〗!”

A woman’s voice is heard from the front and an intense light fills the cave.
Not good. My eyes are still adjusting to the darkness, this level of brightness will blind me.

“Guh!”

I stop in place and cover my eyes.

“Over there!〖Fire Wall〗!”

Flames appear from below and surround me.
With my vision still hazy, I jump out of the fire to the back.
Three arrows are shot and stick to my shoulder.

“Brother, I leave the other side to you”
“You got it. Heh, we might just finish it ourselves”

I can hear voices coming from both sides.
They intend to attack me while I’m still disoriented.
Their teamwork is too on point.
So, they really did plan to lead me here from the start.

That means…… there’s someone among them who knew that I’d use〖Human Transformation〗and go inside this cave to save the captured children.
They got me. Do they have someone who also has the〖Status Inspection〗skill?
No…… even if they don’t have it, there’s still a possibility they found out I have this skill after knowing what my species is.
This whole time, I’ve gotten used to people not knowing anything about me, that I’ve gotten careless.

“Why you!”

I swing my arm to the side where a sword is coming at me.
It’s the man who the other person called ‘Brother’.

“It’s no use! Your bare hands won’t be enough to defend against my blade!”

I catch the tip of the sword with two of my fingers and throw both the sword and the man away.
The man loses his weapon as he gets flung to the air.

“H-, How can this be?! Didn’t they say it would be as weak an ordinary human?!”

I turn to the other side.
There’s another man who looks at me with hate.
His face looks similar to the other man.
It shows that they’re indeed brothers.

“See if you can handle this then!”

The man’s sword turns into a blur and three blades appear from the hilt.
I slightly step back, trying to regain my position.

“With the cave wall behind you, there’s nowhere for you to run!”

The man swings the triple-bladed sword at an angle from below, scooping up.
He intends to cut my head, chest and legs with one slash.

I jump up, twisting in the air and roundhouse kick at the man.
My kick, which came out later than his sword swing, reached the man first before his sword.
The tip of my toenails pierce the man’s insides.

“Guho!”

The man spits out blood as I kick him away.
He crashes on top of his brother who was just about to get up.

【Obtained 180 Experience Points.】
【〖The Walking Egg: Lv—〗skill gives you additional 180 Experience Points.】

The other brother crawls forward and gives me an angry look.
He’s coughing up blood. He must be suffering from internal bleeding.
He won’t be able to move much. I’ll finish him later.

I hear the sound of an arrow approaching.
The fire from before is lighting up the cave and they can see me clearly now.
They must’ve planned this from the start.
In case you don’t know, I can also see you too!

I grab each arrow one by one, crush them with my grip, and drop them on the ground.
With this difference in speed, I think I can even push through a dozen enemies by myself.

“E-, ee~ek!”

The brother, who was watching me crush arrows with my bare hands, starts shaking.

“Curse you, Azalea…… your hunch was wrong! ‘It’s fine if you kill it’, my ass! How can we even kill this monster!”

‘It’s fine if you kill it’?
Does that mean I’m part of their subjugation targets?

“〖Fire Wall〗!”

In the next instance, another wall of flame surrounds me.
I jump up and curl into a ball so my head wouldn’t hit the cave ceiling, while trying to locate the mage who cast the spell.
It’s a woman wearing the same uniform as the other soldiers, cloaked with a fancy robe with a cherry-blossom wavy hair.
She seems to be the one who used〖Flash〗and〖Fire Wall〗.
Both are more troublesome than mere arrows. I should deal with her first.

The last wall of flames must’ve been to draw me out into the open since it was weaker and it disappeared faster than the first one.
Since they pulled a feint at this timing…… that means another person will attack me at close range next, just like those twins earlier.
I prepare to defend myself while in mid-air.
With〖Presence Sense〗…… I can feel one person approaching me from the air.

“〖Godspeed, Flash〗!”

The presence suddenly accelerated without warning.
So fast. The speed rivals the fastest monster I ever fought, the Manticore.
I tried to turn and avoid it, but I was still hit by the side of my stomach.
The silhouette who slashed me spun in the air, gently putting their feet on the wall, while thrusting a knife to the ceiling, and sticking in place without falling.

The attacker is small…… and looking closely, he’s actually a young boy.
Probably only around 15 yrs old.
Those cat ears on his head, he’s a Ferris Huma just like Nina.
I don’t like to do this…… but, I can’t afford to be hesitant right now.

“Guh!”

He cut me good.
Blue blood leaks out of the wound.
He’s younger than everyone else here, and yet…… his stats are incredible.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
〖Irushia〗
Species: Ouroboros
Status: Humanized Lv8
Lv: 91/125
HP: 1018/2402
MP: 1492/2410
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

…… I guess it really is hard to fight with HP and Defense cut to half.
Not to mention, I don’t have 〖Dragon Scales〗, which is what usually protects me from most hits.
I knew there was going to be a trap lying in wait for me if I enter the cave, that’s why I highly prioritized the rescue, but…… grrr, if I use magic now, Partner won’t have MP enough to heal the children.
And, with how〖Human Transformation〗keeps decreasing my MP, I wasn’t planning to use magic since I still have to protect the Forest Dwellers later, and because I thought I’d be fine against these guys even without it, but…… maybe it would’ve been better if I left someone else to do that job before coming here.

None of my battles against their army gave me trouble so far, so I may have underestimated them.
I was wrong. With my stats lowered, these guys are tough.
I’m glad it was me, and not Alo nor the villagers, who came to save the children.
Part of me wonders why they’re targeting me, but…… if it were anybody else who came to the children’s rescue, they would’ve died trying to overcome this ambush.