Chapter 5: 5 – Dino Bellows

Hello viewers! Uria here! And I’m back with another entry of the ‘Horizon; Beyond the Veil!’ series where we talk about the lands of Horizon and the juicy secrets within. This time, we’re talking about the desert to the west, surrounded by mountains as if to cut off the region from the rest of the world: The Desolation.

The Desolation is an area that many in Horizon know of, it was one of the first major obstacles that the first settlers faced. Searing days and freezing nights, it's never a perfect temperature for outsiders who dare trespass and the area itself is massive, one of the biggest landmasses in Horizon. But for the inhabitants, it's fantastic. The golden sandy expanses have many treasures hidden within and ruins of civilisation, one of which is one of the mysterious guiding statues. Not only that, this is the homeland of the rather infamous Serpentus, the master goldsmiths and jewel crafters of the desert. Their cities lie underground, far from the menacing apex predator above, who we will get to in a moment. It’s also home to the ‘Arbiters Temple’ raid, a difficult dungeon with some rather nice loot, including the Arbiters Devourer mount.

This desert is home to many creatures, particularly insects and reptiles. Some examples include the voracious Centurian Ants, the silent Deathworm and the triple terror Dunerunners. All of these are well known in Horizon, the Dunerunners especially so, becoming an invasive species down south in areas such as the Dawnwood.

But the real apex predator is none other than the Desolus, translated as either ‘desert wyvern’ or ‘lonely beast’, this creature is an oddity as it's actually one of the surviving proto-drake species still alive in Mirage. Although you wouldn’t be able to tell anymore since the Desolus had never retained its original appearance. The proto-drakes mechanical heart is still intact, however, and fetches an extremely high price on the market.

Be aware there’s a reason the Desolus is the apex predator of the Desolation. They are the size of a community hall, possessing colourful feathers on their limbs, head and tail that contain patterns used to scare off trespassers. They spew brimflame, which automatically makes them extremely deadly and use their hind legs to kick sand at the enemy to blind and even suffocate them. Not only that, they have sharp spines on their tails that contain a powerful toxin, one powerful enough to down a human in seconds.

So, with that in mind, what is my review?

Overall Rating: 2/5

Literally, the only reason you would go there is if you are a Serpentus or if you’re travelling there with a party to access the raid there, or even hunting the Desolus. You can’t live there otherwise and there’s no point traversing when you can catch a flight there nowadays.

Uria, out!

---

Holy shit, a dinosaur?!

Forget my rage for a moment, that’s neat! A creamy underbelly, a grey body, a pair of horns thingies and a mouth full of large serrated teeth, just like the depictions! I can see its leg muscles rippling from underneath its scaly hide, certainly more defined than anything I’ve ever seen before. It looks so cool!

Unlike the depictions, I do spot a sphere on its chest. Like mine. A data core?

Briefly ignoring that though…OH COME ON, WHY ARE THERE DINOSAURS HERE?!

And why did one fall on my nest?!

Just as I think that the Allosaurus utters another deep, guttural bellow, shifting as it tries to get up. But it struggles, the remnants of my web holding it firmly in place. That’s when I notice a nasty gash on the side of its leg, freshly dripping blood. Did that get caught on something?

Or, rather, did something catch him? There was someone yelling, right?

“Vsk!”

Above the dinosaur, a figure makes itself known on all fours; looking down at the beast with contempt. And perhaps, for the first time since reincarnating on this planet, I am finally able to lock eyes with another intelligent being.

All I see on the man's face is surprise. And I wonder if that’s what he saw too.

A person wearing nothing but a loincloth. But instead of arms, he had the wings of a bat. With a weird mix of scaly and furry digitigrade legs tipped with claws, and a long and deadly foldable talon that could easily disembowel a person. Large bat ears that perked up at the slightest noise around us. Long hair with strange flowers growing inside that the mere sight of, for whatever reason, makes me feel incredibly on edge. I also spot a tail, tipped with an oddly pointed closed flower and a very fuzzy tuft of fluff around his lower neck and chest.

…I think this is also the first time I’ve ever seen- What was it called… Vi… Vitiligo! Yeah, this was the first time I’ve ever seen vitiligo on a person up close. Although it was somewhat hard to tell, his skin was slightly tanned and it was a bit difficult to make out from here.

What on earth was this dude's species? Chimaera?

The person(?) tilts his head, looking at the dinosaur and then at me, ears twitching.

Neither of us moved for a moment. But then the person looks back to the dinosaur, scowling. He mutters something under his breath and drags his talon against the beast's scaly hide, frowning as it bellows and almost causes him to lose his balance. That’s when he realises the remnants of my nest underneath.

…That’s probably when he notices my ire. I could feel the fuzz on my back standing on its ends despite my attempts to calm myself. But it seems my body is a lot more responsive to my emotions than I realised. Crud.

C’mon! Knock it off! He’s giving me a weird look now! God, he’s probably going to try and attack me, I’m an absolutely massive spider monster after all!

“Ass…” I couldn’t help but grumble.

“...?”

Eh, stop looking so apologetic! A giant spider is scolding you, freak out!

You’re having a fight with a monster and there’s collateral damage? How dare the collateral damage be my home. Ugh, alright. Just… Deep breaths now. It happens. You spend a lot of time on something and it gets destroyed. That’s how it is out here. Annoying, but you gotta chin up and continue in stride.

Plus, it was just a basic home. Improvements can be made elsewhere! Always look at the positives. Even if the sun is starting to rise and you’re weak to sunlight.

…Damn it.

Okay, maybe I can try and show this guy that I’m not a mindless spider and that violence isn’t the answer. How likely will that backfire? Probably likely. I mean he hasn’t attacked so far but if he’s a normal person-thing he’ll probably come to his senses. Or run. I could just speak but, how bad will that backfire? There are probably plenty of consequences I’d run into down the line if news of an English-speaking spider were to break out!

“You… Home!” I hiss. “Home… Dest…Destroyed!”

I repeatedly point to the destroyed nest, trying to enunciate my point. Is this monster your target for a guild hunt or something? I don’t think I can ask for compensation beyond a leg you are willing to spare but dammit, I’m at least going to need the extra energy to build a new base!

Feeling a bit brave, I begin to climb the dinosaur but don’t move close enough to try not to perceive myself as a threat to the chimaera person. Another rumble, but none of us seem to care, the monster seems genuinely stuck and as long as that’s the case, I will continue not to care.

“I… Mine!”

He blinks, confused as I continue pointing. I’m genuinely surprised he isn’t freaking out beyond the widening of eyes as he takes in my entire form or started attacking me. Damn, maybe this is easier than I thought-

“...Parshi ne wa yasin?”

…Excuse moi?

Repeat that again, mate?

Suddenly, he lets out a nervous laugh. As if realising how dumb this entire scenario is. And honestly, I agree.

“Neha le birie noleen. Jana la… rachchi noleen?” He pauses, confused, ears constantly twitching. “Rachchi noleen? Parshi le basha da vie rachchi noleen la Dawnwood?”

Gah! I have no clue what he’s talking about because this language barrier that just dropped kicked me in the face from nowhere! I reincarnated! Aren’t I supposed to have some automatic language translation drilled into my noggin’?!

Okay, shut up, and calm down, me. I recognised like, one word during that. Other than Dawnwood I have no clue what on earth he just said and I have a sneaking suspicion that wasn’t a language from back home. But that just brings up another question! Maybe I can understand the weird pheromone stuff from my bee mom cause my mind just translates it. But that also doesn’t explain the harpy from earlier! She spoke English, no matter how broken it was! Sure there was the spell she was casting but that's…

…

…Oh. Why do I have a new sneaking suspicion that the ‘spell’ the harpy was casting was actually just her talking normally in her native language?

But now I’m confused because the harpy also confirmed English is indeed a language here, meaning there’s that and this! Maybe I’m overreacting, maybe it's actually an Earth language but I just don’t know it? Probably.

“Z-Zel ra ne?”

“Eh?”

…I just realised I was freaking out and now this guy is looking at me like I’m mental. Damn, I probably would have prefered him attacking me now, saves me the pain of having my head overwhelmed with thoughts that just won’t leave me.

Sighing, I just point down. “E-eat?”

“E…E-eat?”

…

This time, I wiggle my teeth, making motions of eating. Takes him a moment, but he nods in realisation, stuttering briefly before he turns to leave. Just like that.

Huh. Weird, but at least it didn’t leave in preventable bloodshed. Well, besides the bloodshed that I’m gonna spill with this dino at least.

Alright, buddy. Entirely at my mercy now, ay? Let’s take a bite… On the head, can’t risk suddenly having the adrenaline rush from the acid melting your flesh causing you to break out now, can we? Plus that gash on your leg is looking rather nasty now, not too keen on biting near it no matter how strong my stomach is.

Hope you taste better than those lizards at least.

Corrosive Bite!

Chomp!

Instantly, the moment my fangs penetrate the monster's scaly hide and sizzle from the acid, I am nearly flung off. Screeches and roars echo out, the beast thrashing in vain to escape. Yet my webs held firm, allowing me to go for another bite.

Chomp!

Chomp!

Jeez, with my entire nest holding it down, it really can’t get up. It’s kicking up dirt but never seems able to find purchase. Good.

Chomp!

Chomp!

Die already! How are you still alive?!

Chomp!

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Half of your head melted off! Maybe a bit more acid on the skull should help! Lemme just pool up the excess corrosive fluids over here and-

Chomp!

There!

Instantly, the fluids do their job. They eat away at the skull in seconds and before long, the Allosaur is no more, the last noise it makes is a quiet croak as its body goes limp against the floor.

Success! Will I be getting easy level-ups now? Gimme that experience!

…?

No?

I’m poking the corpse. There’s no response. Dude is absolutely dead.

Hm.

Maybe another blast of corrosion, for good luck?

Chomp!

Nope. Nothing. Weird. Maybe there isn’t a message? I would have expected something for a level up though. Well, alright. Maybe I should kill some things later and keep an eye on that.

Hm? Oi! I thought that dude left! Why are you still here? Do you want to fight me now? …What’s with that weird look, dude?

…Wait, you’re not looking at me. Where at you… The wound on its leg?

UGH!

Yeesh, that looks really nasty. Were those claws tipped with some nasty plague or something? I can smell that thing from here and I’d rather just stab my eyeballs out than do that. Yuck.

Okay, guess I’ll get a quick bite. The moment the meat up here starts turning foul I’ll just stop and… And…

?!

What is this sensation?

There’s something really off about this Allosaur. I’m not sure what, but there’s this weird feeling crawling up my legs. It’s supposed to be dead, yet…? What’s that seeping out of its hide-

Shit!

I need to get off nooOAGH!

“Vyua?!”

Instantly, all I feel is weightlessness. Like the whole world had been flipped on its head and I was watching it in slow motion, feeling all of my thoughts tumble into a complete and utter mess. There is pain, something large, thick and sharp burying into me. A bellow that, unlike the ones before it, sent a sickenly hollow feeling in my chest.

Reeking, seeping flesh enters my vision. A horrid, ugly sight that I didn’t wish to describe beyond ‘rotting corpse.’

A rotting corpse that, upon melting the webs underneath it with its putrid fluids, bends its body at an impossible angle at fast speeds. Its jaw catches one of my legs and

It

All

HURTS

Agony tears through my shriek, the noise coming out as something raw and unnatural as its pitch increases and the jaw tightens around my leg. Static pierces my senses, briefly, there is nothing else but pain.

Horrid, infectious pain. My leg and my neck burn.

I desperately try and reach out. It’s all blurry, I feel the putrid mess slipping down my body, but I can feel the monster there. Fuck, I-I can’t reach far enough to bite…

Psionic Shift, c’mon.

Something, there must be something. I vaguely note the Allosaur's murky green aura, too busy searching for something I could use. Dude was gone, seemingly long since left. Wise. What’s that?-

Ah!

The spear, I forgot- Argh- Shit my body is burning up-

No time to think, act, ACT.

My spear reacts, I could feel it wiggling in my webbed holster. Good e-enough- Just gotta pull it out and-

“HRAGHHH!”

The man’s scream coincides with my own. I was not aware of him until my telekinesis shoves my spear into whatever was left of the Allosaur’s mostly liquified brain. His aura becomes a blur tackling into the front of the monster just as it roars, dropping me onto the group in a painful fall before tumbling backwards.

Unwittingly, I also get a face full of rotten fluids. I almost puke my guts out from it. A brief distraction from the pain before I turn to look at the damage.

…Ah.

One of my legs is gone.

Completely torn from the socket. I can see the remnants on the floor as well as hanging from the now rotten jaws of the Allosaur.

Not only that, I can now see the chimaera fighting it, swiping with his talons. His hair occasionally glows. Flowers blooming with power as it lashes out with bursts of… Pollen? Pollen and light. They all strike fast and true.

But, the Allosaur remains.

What’s left of the Allosaur anyway.

A living corpse was all that remained. Putrid and foul. Rotten and lumbering. Strong and ever-lasting.

A goddamned, undead dinosaur.

No way.

Did that wound cause that transformation? Or was there something else at work? I didn’t know, and I knew that lying about and wondering would do nothing.

Should I run?

…I can’t. Dammit, the pain really is wrecking me here. And I just lost a damned leg.

Besides, I don’t really think I should leave this goddamn menace wandering around like it owns the place. That fluid is spilling everywhere and is stinking up this entire area. I can even see some of the plants that came in contact start to brown and smoke up.

Geez.

But what can I do? That thing can easily kill me in a single bite, and I don’t think blasting its head off will help considering I either melted most of it. With the chimaera fighting, it won’t be entirely focused on me… In theory.

There’s something weird about its core now, I noticed. Pulsating, seeping with puss. It looks too fleshy, almost like an eyeball.

Think. Think.

< Beep! Beep! Beep! >

..? That sounded like my notification. But nothing popped up.

Huh?

Why is my core beeping at me?

< Beep! Beep! Beep! >

I poke at it. Instantly the beeping stops and a feminine voice echoes in my head.

< Unique Monster detected. Contribution towards killing the monster will reward the winners with PP. >

Uh-oh.

< The Blighted Knight Allosaur has appeared. Do not die. >

…Okay.

I think I can do this.

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