[Vol. 8] Chapter 204: The Absurd Creator
These things were not truly living beings. Their bodies were already twisted and unnatural. A bird with three tails flew oddly in the sky using just one broken wing. A dragon had grown several heads, but its tail and hind legs were nowhere to be seen. A beast crawled wildly with eight long legs like a spider. And even more terrifying. A huge ball of flesh floated in mid-air, its surface covered in human faces, all screaming in pain!
This was a place where minds clashed directly, a space where both sides fought using their spiritual power. They used imagination to shape their ideal forms and gave them strength.
What was seen now was clearly its desire.
—Tartanos, the monster that failed to become a [Serpent], a twisted and mutated version of the [Flying Serpent].
Back in the real world, Violet had once caught a brief glimpse of the horrifying minions it created from magic, things that could hardly even be called creatures. But now, it was clear that the [Magic-Devouring Flying Serpent] wanted far more than that.
"Your strongest desire… is actually to create a world? That surprises me. I'm curious, why would a monster like you, who can only poorly copy others, not even as well as a parrot repeating words, have such a clear will?"
The Light raised the holy spear in its hand, a symbol of judgment, pointing its tip at the shadow of a serpent hiding in the darkness, an existence that seemed forever unreachable by light. Her voice was calm, like stating a simple fact.
"Why do you want to create? Or… is this desire just a poor imitation of something else you once saw, [Flying Serpent]?"
"Hisssssss!!!"
The serpent-like shadow, always hiding in the dark and never daring to face the light directly, suddenly grew restless.
The many twisted monsters it had created, or perhaps just clumsily shaped based on some rough templates, began to move wildly under its almost insane command. They flew in strange ways, ran in ugly madness, and screamed in agony, all rushing toward the Light high in the sky, trying to pull it down from its divine throne with violence and crush it into dust.
But a holy and noble ruler is never without protectors of the faith.
"Go now. Give them peace."
The light gathered in response to Her command, forming one brave warrior after another, all clad in shining armor. They spread their metal wings and in an instant, filled the sky. These were the celestial guardians, soldiers created personally by Her, and their power was far beyond the crude black monsters, which were like a child clumsily molding clay.
"By the order of our Lord—slay them!"
"Slay!!!"
With deafening war cries, the army of light charged down like a rainstorm, led by a huge warrior wielding a golden greatsword. The twisted black creations, formed from dark magic, were torn apart like helpless sheep attacked by tigers. They had no chance of resisting.
In the valley, the battle exploded in an instant. Seeing its "children" being slaughtered by a stronger force, the frontlines falling apart visibly fast, the hidden “King” could no longer stay silent.
"Hissssssss!!!"
It overcame its past failures and a deep, unexplained fear rooted in its soul. The black serpent shadow burst forward, swelling a hundred, a thousand times in size as quickly as a balloon inflating. In the blink of an eye, it had turned into a massive serpent, with horns on its head and a body large enough to swallow stars and devour the sun!
That was the [Magic-Devouring Flying Serpent], the true form of Tartanos!
But, just as it appeared in the light—
“Whoosh!!!”
The golden holy spear, now magnified countless times, turned into a streak of light, like a falling star from the heavens, and pierced the giant serpent in an instant, nailing it firmly to the ground. It descended so swiftly and in such harmony with the laws of nature, it was as if this moment had been destined all along.
“Hisss!!! Hissss!!!”
The giant serpent thrashed about wildly, but in the face of an overwhelming power that could not be resisted, it, just like before, had no chance of escape.
There was a deep, unbridgeable gap in essence between it and the Light.
“This absurd farce... is over.”
Even though it was supposed to be a battle between two great kings, the outcome was decided in just a single moment.
That divine judgment from the sky seemed to crush all of Tartanos’s power. Its massive, mountain-like body began shrinking at a speed visible to the eye. In the end, it was reduced to a small, pitiful black serpent, just a few feet long, flailing helplessly in place.
The illusion of the chaotic valley faded like a dream, and all the grotesque creatures vanished with the fall of their King. The army of divine guardians, having fulfilled their mission, saluted in the light and disappeared one by one. As the scenery cleared again, Violet found herself back in the narrow underground stone chamber.
The campfire was still burning quietly.
The black serpent, still pinned to the ground by the golden spear, finally shattered into nothing. But from the broken light, a figure formed again, the hazy image of a one-armed young man sitting alone. He gave the girl, now returned to her normal form, a faint, bitter smile.
“…I really didn’t expect this. I thought I had been keeping Tartanos in check all this time by fusing with it, stopping it from fully awakening… But in these three hundred years, it slowly began to influence me instead. It even read my thoughts and memories, and tried to replace me by imitating me… Truly, a terrifying monster shaped by Serpent Blood.”
“But what surprised me even more... Miss Violet, is how strong you are. So strong that even a pure and mad will like that couldn’t shake you at all. Just in terms of mental strength, I think even that ‘White Dragon King’ I once met might not compare to you. I have to say, you really saved me.”
As if it were just a small favor, the priestess smiled lightly, patted her robe, and sat back down by the fire, casually tending it.
“Like I said before, as long as the information you give is truly valuable, I won’t let you walk away empty-handed.”
Although some things had gone a bit wrong, most of what Ashnard had told her earlier now seemed to be true. For Violet, who was investigating the secrets of the Serpent, this information was without a doubt extremely valuable.
And besides…
“There’s one thing I need to correct. The one affecting you wasn’t really Tartanos. That thing’s just a brainless beast, acting only on instinct. Right now, you’re actually a mix of three different things.”
“Miss Violet… what do you mean by that?”
The black-haired girl gave a calm smile.
“Since you already figured it out, why ask? What’s the real truth behind the resurrection of the World-Devouring Serpent? Why does every object that turns into a Serpent always end up with the same powers and traits? Isn’t the reason already clear?”
“The Serpent is eternal and undying. Not because it keeps coming back, but because it never truly died in the first place. The so-called chance to ascend and become the World-Devouring Serpent is just a way to keep offering it new bodies. The mind may change, but its will has never wavered, no matter who becomes the vessel.”
“Even one as crazed as Tartanos… even you… you both heard the Serpent’s voice, didn’t you?”