Chapter 11: Snake Humans?
“... On the first day of my new job, late-night visitors.”
From the tip of my fingers, a spark shot out.
Tok.
Until just a few days ago, this place had been a dead building. No electricity, no fire, no moving life forms.
But now it was different.
Faintly lit lights. The humming mechanical sound of the power panel. The interior of the power plant was enveloped in silence.
Except for one sound.
From outside, the sound of someone knocking on a metal sheet.
Tak. Tak.
“... Naturally, not a welcome guest.”
I stared at the monitor. On the external camera of the power plant’s outer wall, twelve green silhouettes were wandering around.
Long tails.
Bodies covered in scales.
Crouched postures.
“They look like snakes.”
“These guys... are mainly a race that lives in the sea or water systems, but I don’t know why they’re in this deep forest.”
A voice came from behind.
It was Heibrin.
“Those snake-like guys?”
Heibrin’s expression subtly changed.
“If they hear themselves being called snakes, it would be worth seeing.”
“What do you call them?”
“Nagas.”
“Ah.”
I nodded.
“After lizards, it’s snakes?”
“...”
“Why?”
“You seem more composed than I thought.”
“To survive, it has to be.”
It was the truth.
When I first got caught in the gate, just seeing monster faces made me scream. After overcoming near-death experiences and spewing blood multiple times, I realized.
Monster discovery, analysis, if not working, knock them down.
That was all. If you can’t accept the reality in front of you as is, you die first.
'Why are there snake humans?' Such idle thoughts, if you attack, it’s over.
“Ibrin.”
“Yes.”
Ibrin lifted her head at my call and lightly snapped her fingers.
“Go ahead, Sirne.”
The hawk-shaped spirit companion Sirne hanging on her shoulder spread its wings. Sirne slipped out through the small window frame and flew into the dark night forest.
It’s a technique to share the spirit’s vision with ancient magic, easy to say it’s a high-performance scouting drone that doesn’t need charging.
... But what’s the difference between spirits and monsters?
Ibrin briefly closed her eyes and concentrated, her eyebrows slightly moving.
“They’re not in attack stance yet. Just... seem to be looking for something.”
“How many more are there?”
“Three more near the east outer wall in the blind spot.”
Ibrin tilted her head slightly with eyes closed.
“And... holding something in hand.”
“Weapon?”
“No. Something like black crystal.”
At that moment.
Beep!
Sharp warning sound rang out from one side of the control room.
Unidentified High-Density Charge Detection
Erkion Series Energy Crystal Reaction Confirmed
In Resonance with External Energy Material
The monitor showed nothing. But the power plant sensors were clearly detecting the black crystals held by the nagas hidden in the blind spot.
“Erkion’s crystal?”
Ibrin slowly opened her eyes.
“Yes. Very weak, but... seems clear.”
I looked down at the blue spark that had flicked from my fingertips.
Crackle.
A stronger current than usual flowed between my fingers.
And strangely, saliva pooled in my mouth.
“... Looks delicious.”
“What?”
“No.”
I cleared my throat and looked back at the monitor.
“Let’s go out first.”
“Risky. Ara-nim’s body condition is still unstable.”
Heibrin immediately blocked in front of me.
“The blue cracks visible on the body surface... are wounds from forcibly trapping Erkion into the core. If the body is not healed, exposure to external shock is dangerous.”
“If I don’t go out, I’ll be uneasy not knowing what that is for the rest of my life.”
I gently stared at the electricity surging from my fingertips.
A few days ago, when I captured Erkion, who was worshipped as a god by the local creatures here, and pushed him into the power plant battery. My body couldn’t withstand his destructive lightning and had cracks.
Due to that, the system has been displaying [Body Status: Unstable] for days, and my brain recognizes high-purity electricity as ‘food’ every time I see it, sending crazy hunger.
To repair my body, I need to absorb that crystal or open the [Automatic Restoration Room] of the power plant.
“I’ll go first.”
Heibrin sighed and gripped her sword tighter.
The iron door of the power plant opened, slicing through the cold night air.
From the darkness of the forest, three naga priests revealed themselves. Their vertically slit yellow eyes hardened towards us, or rather, the spark shooting from my fingertips.
The naga priest leader in front shook his thick snake tail and extended the black crystal.
“... The one who stole the lightning.”
A low, rough voice mixed with metal sound.
“You trapped Erkion’s power in this iron cage.”
“Erkion?”
“Erkion is trapped and the forest ecosystem is twisted. The giant tree altar collapsed, and the priests on the opposite side started rampaging. If this continues, the entire forest will turn to ash!”
At that moment, with the spark from fingertips, the control room sensor’s message flashed in my brain.
Main System Message: Analyzing Existing Power Absorption Pattern of Entity ‘Erkion’
Confirmed Persistent Forced Reception History with External Biological Power Network
Ah, now the picture was clear.
He was supposed to be the guardian deity of the forest. A colossal bio-mosquito that plugged into the forest’s huge power circuit and consumed enormous power.
But since I caught him and locked him in the power plant battery, what happened?
The exit for the enormous power he was swallowing was blocked overnight, and the charges lost their way in the jungle circuit, flowing back to the main altar giant tree and rampaging.
The nagas weren’t coming for revenge, but were holding on by throwing the reverse-flowing toxic charges with crystals, fighting.
In the end, I have to clean up the poop.
“Let’s make a deal.”
I pointed at the black crystal held by the naga priest.
“That stone, hand it over to me. I’ll purify it.”
“... What?”
The priest stared blankly at me.
Kwaaang!
A huge red lightning shot up from deep in the forest far away, breaking the night sky.
“Deep in the forest, the rampaging priests dropped lightning on the altar!”
The naga priest ground his teeth and gripped the black crystal tightly. The scaled finger joints turned white.
“The altar has lost its true form, and the forest flow is polluted. Our priests died protecting the altar.”
“What did you do?”
“We made this crystal to suppress the giant tree’s rampage! To prevent the entire forest from burning!”
Resentment and desperation simultaneously formed in the naga priest’s yellow eyes.
“But now it’s the limit! This crystal has also been polluted and turned black. The accumulated polluted lightning aura on the giant tree has exceeded the limit!”
Vertically slit eyes looked inside the power plant, and towards me.
“If the giant tree explodes, the entire jungle will turn to ash. This temple you’re managing won’t be safe either!”
Impure charge that others can’t touch. But what about me?
Suddenly I realized. Somehow, when I healed the tree far from the power plant earlier, the power signal extended long into the forest interior.
The tree I’m healing is acting as a power relay connecting the main altar deep in the forest and the power plant.
“Let’s change the deal conditions.”
I pointed at the crystal held by the naga priest.
“Hand that crystal over to me. I’ll go to the altar and swallow all the polluted charges.”
“... Swallow?”
The naga’s yellow eyes shook greatly. Expression not understanding my words.
“Absurd! The accumulated polluted lightning on the giant tree is not simple lightning! It’s poison mixed with the deaths of the priests and remnants of the rampaging Erkion! If a human like you swallows it, your brain will be roasted—
“I’ll handle it myself, so hand it over.”
I approached the naga priest and snatched the black crystal he was holding.
“Tsk, stubborn.”
With the finger holding the crystal sending a coldness that felt like reaching out, a tingling vibration was transmitted. Certainly, if I just swallowed it, enormous pain would come due to the poison.
But what was behind my back.
The ultra-large battery [Mobius] rotating at the center of the power plant.
[Mobius, Remote Pairing Linked.]
Originally, the signal would be precarious outside the power plant, but thanks to the ancient tree I healed earlier acting as a relay in the middle, the circuit with Mobius was solidly connected.
My body was just a simple passage to shoot the impure charge to Mobius.
Crackle crackle!
System: External Impure High-Density Charge Detected.
Mobius Battery Processor Linked... Recognized as External Impure Charge Power Source.
After ‘Impurity Purification and Separation’, Pure Charge Extraction Mode Activated.
The black charge flowing through my fingertips connected directly to Mobius inside the power plant via the ancient tree relay signal and started purifying.
Swaa—
Toxic charge passed through Mobius’s purification filter, instantly filtered and evaporated, and only the purified clean pure high-power electricity was returned to my body, filling the cracked wounds.
[Repairing Internal Body Cracks... 12%... 25%...]
[Damaged circuits due to overload stabilized with purified charge.]
As the pitch-black impurity that was filling the crystal was completely removed, the black crystal regained its original transparent gem-like luster.
Whoom—
From the purified crystal surface, a bluish and deep energy wave connecting the entire jungle’s vitality spread.
“This, this wave...?”
Heibrin’s eyes, feeling the pulse of that energy, shook as if an earthquake.
“The World Tree...?! No way, the main tree they call the altar and the ancient tree I just healed... are connected to the root of the World Tree?”
Awe struck the elf’s eyes who realized the existence of the World Tree in legend.
“World Tree?”
I blinked and asked the stunned Heibrin.
“What is that?”
“Ah, Ara-nim...! The altar they speak of... is the center of the World Tree, the origin of the elves! The ancient tree I just purified was one of the branches of that World Tree!”
“Ah, I see? Anyway, it’s a huge circuit connected at the stem, right?”
The grand elf legend didn’t matter to me. The important thing was that the reverse-flowing impure charge became the best fuel for my Mobius.
“This, impossible... The poison is being purified...?”
The naga priest stared at me with mouth agape. I threw the crystal completely purified to the naga’s chest.
“See, it works.”
“...”
“Cleaning one crystal doesn’t even register in the liver, so let’s go directly. Guide me to the main tree that you nagas worship as the altar. There, I’ll suck up all the entangled impure charges with my Mobius and purify them.”
As we pushed through the dark forest, finally the bizarre sight filled the view, grand beyond words.
The World Tree.
Even looking up at the top of the head far away, around the giant World Tree altar, twisted red lightning like veins fiercely rushed in, as if swallowing the entire forest.
Kurrung, Bang!
The impure toxic charge exploding in all directions made breathing tight. Looking aside, the elves too, and the naga priest were about to kneel with faces pale as death.
“Kuuuk... The toxicity is too strong...!”
Heibrin murmured as if screaming, and the naga priest trembled and shrank his body.
But at the overwhelming visual and oppressive feeling, saliva started gathering in my mouth. The vibration of the Mobius core flowing through the whole body embedded sharply in the brain.
I clenched and unclenched the fingers that were cracked and just repaired, twisting the corners of my mouth up.
“Wow... Is all this electricity?”
System: Main Altar Large-Scale Impure Charge Detected
Mobius Battery – Remote Purification and 100% Absorption Mode Activated
The surrounding toxic lightning started concentrating as if recognizing me as a huge lightning rod.
“Well, Snake Uncle. The guide is up to here. Now it’s my turn to set the table?”
I patted the shoulder of the terrified snake human and stepped boldly towards the altar where the red brain clouds and toxic charges were wildly rampaging.