Reincarnated as a random race, of course I got goblin.

Chapter 132 - Cryptic Chimera

The third tremor morphs into a continuous quake, rising in intensity along with the frenetic pulsing of the algae. Just before the influx of light and sensation becomes too much, there's a pause.

For half a horrifying moment, it seems as the very glacier itself has come alive, the crimson mass of ice bulging upwards before breaking up into chunks as the force pushing from below overcomes it. 

With a thunderous roar, the source of the tremors emerges from the glacier. Along with its arrival, the flashing of the algae stop, the coating of energy they've been applying to everyone present now visible to the naked eye as a rich amber glow. 

A colossal silhouette reaches into the sky, partly obscured by the cloud of snow and flying chunks of ice its arrival threw into the air. 

'Kau-chiiiiii!'

A strange bellow, most akin to a rusty gate being forced open, issues from the looming shadow, the force of the roar scattering the still airborne ice, redirecting it violently away from itself. The sound of pebble-sized chunks of ice pelting the surroundings reminding me of machine-gun fire. 

With the icy veil cleared, the appearance of the mystery entity comes into view. By now, the other monsters have sought refuge behind me, cowering in fear of the massive monster that's unearthing itself from the shattered remains of the Crimsnow Glaciers terminus. 

Its body is strangely unbalanced, with a relatively small and short body overshadowed by the thick serpent-like neck and tail that seem to more or less balloon out of the undersized torso. How it's able to even stand with such a mismatched physique is a mystery. 

The tail flattens dramatically towards the end, widening into something resembling an Ikakalaka (~A shortsword with an axe-like tip~) more than the tail of any living creature. 

All along its long, thick neck are strange rotating rings of some metallic material with two thin bands sandwiching a much thicker one. The thicker bands have protrusions running diagonally across them, seeming to form some sort of auger-like system. 

Most of these bands seem stuck though, showers of sparks issuing from the gaps between the thicker band and the adjoining thinner ones as they strain against whatever is holding them back.

The head removes all doubt I might have had about this being a naturally occurring monster. A metallic jaw, drooping on one side where the hinge mechanism has failed, adorns its strange boomerang-shaped head, reminiscent of the diplocaulus salamander of ancient earth. 

A viscous, yellow liquid dribbles from the half agape jaw of the misshapen beast. Its eight eyes, some a vacuous blue, others swivelling madly in their mechanic sockets, suddenly refocus onto me, or perhaps, onto the glow surrounding me and the others present.

There's a heavy pause as we lock eyes. I sense the fright and confusion from the Namahage hiding behind me. Norori and Bloody Mary are also confused, but less afraid. Most likely they have complete confidence in me. 

Reflexively, I move my mind to inspect the monster, only to mentally stumble. What I see before me doesn't seem to exist? No, it most certainly does, but somehow it's unreadable. 

"What if it's a golem of some sort?" 

Shadow suggests while making us take a stance. By now, the mystery being is beginning to move again, slowly rearing up onto its haunches. Its jaw opens wide as it does, but my Predict Movement is completely unable to interpret the action. Is it preparing to launch itself at us to swallow us, or is it readying a beam attack?

It hits me then, how used I've become to the aid of my multitude of Skills.  

Shadow flaps our wings, taking us into the air and towards the colossal monster. It's smaller than the Ancient Lindorm, but then again, that monster was easily over a hundred meters long. Its mechanical eyes stay locked onto the group of monsters I left behind when I took to the air whilst its head swivels to keep its mouth aimed at me.