Chapter 193: Conquering the Snake Nest
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 193: Conquering the Snake Nest
Skin Stealing possesses a single hidden effect.
When stealing the skin of a slain target, the user fuses with the opponent, becoming an entirely new entity. This effect nullifies and breaks any existing contracts, curses, or other types of interference with the soul.
Kairan had used this to break the Soul Chain Sion had bound her with, successfully launching an attack on his party. In other words, under normal circumstances, the contracts Sion had formed with others through the Soul Chain should have been severed as well. However, Sion’s remained intact.
The reason was simple.
Because the Rank of the Three Villainesses was higher than that of Skin Stealing, the ability's hidden trait failed to trigger. Just as Medusa’s Curse of Petrification could not turn Sion to stone, the hidden characteristic of Skin Stealing could not manifest.
Sion’s Soul Chain remained as firm as ever.
Instead of a fusion, his soul had devoured the combined souls of Gorgon and Kairan in the form of absorption. He hadn't become one with them; he had preyed upon them.
It was still unclear how this would affect Sion, but one thing was certain: it would not result in a negative outcome for him.
Indeed, Sion was about to soar.
He had already set foot on the threshold of the Platinum Badge rank, and by tearing out Medusa’s throat, he had finally entered the ranks of the truly powerful.
“Kuaaaaah—!!!”
Medusa could not comprehend the current situation.
She was a monster of high intelligence, but it wasn't enough to process and respond to such rapidly shifting circumstances.
Why were the monsters of the Snake Nest attacking her?
Why was Gorgon, her loyal subordinate, currently ripping her throat out?
Why had the situation changed so abruptly, causing everything to spiral out of control?
Medusa did not understand.
However, she saw it—her chest had been pierced at some point, and the human who had stolen Gorgon’s body was now clutching her heart.
“Die.”
Sion squeezed Medusa’s heart, crushing it instantly.
The strongest monster of the Snake Nest met her end with her heart ripped out. Sion, shedding Gorgon’s skin, walked over to Medusa’s corpse and fed the blood overflowing onto the floor to the Bracelet of Growth.
Soon, the Bracelet of Growth, having gorged itself on Medusa’s blood, spat out a single small fruit.
It was a fruit that looked like a bright red bead.
“The Fruit of Medusa.”
Just as it had when he killed the Giant and fed it blood, the Bracelet of Growth produced a fruit once again. Sion didn't hesitate; he chewed and swallowed it.
It tasted like a sweet yet tart green apple. Like Adam eating the forbidden fruit, a change began to occur within Sion’s body.
“This is...”
Soon, the fruit’s effects began to etch themselves into Sion’s mind.
Unknown characters made his head spin, and after a brief moment of nausea, Sion was able to recognize all the fruit's effects. Immediately after, the utility of his eyes came to mind. It was the effect of his Identification Eye.
[Snake’s Original Sin]
“This is insane.”
Snake’s Original Sin—obtained through the fruit made from Medusa’s blood.
Much like the Giant’s Stomach he gained after eating the Giant’s Fruit, this turned Medusa’s unique traits into an Ability.
‘I can now understand the Ancient Language.’
Furthermore, his dominion over snakes was strengthened even further, and it became possible to summon Gorgons, Serpents, and Medusa using monster corpses.
‘Ultimately... I can call forth the Hydra.’
The Hydra.
One of the most vicious monsters on the 7th Floor.
Extremely difficult to kill, it was a Mid-boss Class monster of the 7th Floor. This meant it was a monster on par with a Giant—a literal strategic weapon. If summoned in the middle of a small nation lacking many adventurers, it was a beast capable of laying waste to the entire country.
What was even more terrifying was that Sion was the owner of a Subspace Pocket.
‘Since I can store an infinite number of monster corpses...’
He could summon a Hydra anytime, anywhere.
Because summoning it required sacrificing a massive number of monster corpses, it would have been incredibly difficult for an ordinary adventurer to call forth a Hydra. But for Sion, it was possible.
He habitually kept monster corpses in his Subspace Pocket. These corpses could be pulled out at any time and did not rot. Sion could now pull out fresh corpses whenever he wanted to summon a Hydra.
‘Crazy.’
He could already pull out and control Gorgons and Serpents, but now he could dominate them as well.
“It is over.”
“Helena. I think I’ve become... ridiculously strong.”
“You have become closer to a summoner than a warrior.”
“It seems so.”
Helena recognized Sion’s state at a glance. Originally, Sion was closer to a warrior. But now, he was closer to a summoner. Of course, his combat skills hadn't declined, but because the number of monsters he could call forth had increased exponentially, he fit the summoner role better.
“First, I should use Skin Stealing.”
Sion discarded Gorgon’s skin and took Medusa’s. Since Medusa’s Rank was higher than Gorgon’s, he seized the skin of the monster that had reigned as the Queen of the Snake Nest.
“Wait, this... feels a bit strange..?”
“Is it fixed to the female gender? My, I am surprised. I have never seen such an Ability before.”
The problem was that he had taken on the gender as well. Medusa was a gender-locked species that was exclusively female, and by donning that skin, Sion had no choice but to become female as well.
It was distinctly different from when he wore Gorgon’s skin. Feeling as though he had lost something precious, Sion moved forward, almost gliding across the floor, and stood before the Fiends.
“Haa...”
The Undead Imp looked up at Sion, his body battered and bloodied. He didn't want to admit defeat, but he had lost.
Sion had killed the Queen of the Nest and seized her body. Then there was the Dragon, who had leisurely slaughtered a swarm of Serpents alone and interfered with the magical power of Nihila, En, and Modic himself to cause chaos.
‘We lost.’
Modic, the Undead Imp, realized that staying like this would be the end. If caught, they would surely be reduced to experimental subjects. The only path left was self-destruction.
‘I’d rather die than be captured and suffer eternal agony!’
However, Modic could not die. To be precise, his body was under a curse that prevented death. Therefore, the method Modic chose was to blow up his own mind.
Activating the spell formula engraved by Demon King Morto to rapidly collapse his consciousness was the only way to escape the prison of his flesh.
“Kuh-haak!!!”
It happened in an instant, so no one could stop Modic’s suicide. As the spell left by Demon King Morto activated, Modic’s ego was dismantled. Only Modic’s mindless body remained, squirming and crawling on the floor.
“What in the...”
“Is he dead? How, when he’s under the Curse of Immortality?”
“Hmm.”
Helena approached the writhing Modic, poking his body here and there with her nails before quickly deducing the answer.
“His mind has collapsed. I can roughly grasp what kind of trick was used. Hmm. Only the husk remains.”
“Actually, this is better.”
Sion, having returned to his human form from Medusa, rummaged through his inventory to pull out clothes. As he dressed, he placed a hand on the Imp's chest.
“The Soul Chain is properly bound. Since there’s no will to resist, it’s the perfect state to extract the soul.”
“You’re going to extract that monster’s soul? What for?”
“A soul that is alive but has a broken mind is quite useful. You can put it into the body of someone you want to neutralize but don't want to kill.”
“My. I see.”
Seeing Ulysses shudder as if chilled, Sion spoke as if to reassure him.
“Of course, the truly important thing isn't this Fiend’s soul. It’s the body itself, which is imbued with the Curse of Immortality. Now then. Chloe, Maximus. Which of you will become the owner of this body?”
“....”
“The Curse of Immortality, huh.”
“You won't be able to properly taste food for the rest of your life, and you won't be able to sleep well. Since it’s a curse, there are definitely side effects. But it’s certainly a tremendous curse, enough to offset all those side effects and penalties.”
Both Chloe and Maximus were currently without bodies. They either had to receive new bodies or use a method to resurrect their dead ones. However, if they took the Undead Imp’s body now, they could be resurrected immediately, without cost, and gain a much stronger physical form.
“I’ll take it. Is that okay?”
“Hmm. I’ll yield.”
Chloe yielded the immortal body to Maximus. She judged that the immortal body was more suitable for Maximus, who charged into the heart of enemy lines with his Crushing Sword, than for herself, who handled a sword and shield.
“Great. Then we’ll have Mr. Maximus take this bratty Imp’s body. Now, next is the Alraune.”
Sion placed his hand on the Alraune’s head, which Rosier had brought over.
“Ulysses. Aren't you tempted?”
“Tempted?”
“Yes. Look. It’s an Alraune. It’s a body that will allow you to use your thorn vines even more powerfully.”
“B-but... isn't it female?”
“Ulysses.”
“...Yes?”
“What does gender matter? Are you going to keep living in that old body? Or will you obtain the unaging body of an Alraune and become the King of Thorn Vines?”
“....I’ll become the Alraune.”
“An excellent decision. Then we’ll hand over the remaining Insect-man’s body to the Magic Tower.”
“Cough. Thank you for fulfilling the contract.”
“Don't mention it. You went through a lot in the Tower Lord’s stead, Mr. Marle.”
“Hahaha...”
Looking at the heavily injured Marle, Sion extracted the souls from the Alraune and the Imp. He then breathed the Imp’s broken soul into the body of the Insect-man, Nihila.
With this, Nihila the Insect-man became a perfect, mindless experimental subject to be sent to the Magic Tower, while Maximus gained an immortal body and Ulysses gained the body of an Alraune.
“A boost in combat power.”
“Yes. We’ve gained an undying vanguard and the best crowd-control specialist.”
Marveling at the broken performance of the Soul Chain, Sion spoke to the remaining Chloe and Joshua.
“I will resurrect you two later.”
“I’m fine! This Golem body is better for performing.”
“I’ll take you up on that. A human body is better for me, after all.”
Joshua chose to remain in the Black Iron Golem, while Chloe wanted resurrection. Joshua, who could now use his skills without penalty, loved the Golem body, while Chloe, who found the slightly slow reactions of the Golem body frustrating, wanted to be resurrected as soon as possible.
“Well, since we’ve succeeded in conquering the Snake Nest, shall we start by cleaning up the corpses?”
With this, the conquest of the Snake Nest was complete.
Medusa had become Sion’s skin, and both the Serpents and Gorgons were dead. The surviving monsters of the Snake Nest became Sion’s laborers, used to clear away the corpses of their kin.
‘With this... I’ve gained a mobile base.’
As long as there was a door, he could enter the Snake Nest anytime, anywhere using the Snake Nest Key. This was essentially the same as obtaining a mobile hideout. If Sion carried a door in his Subspace Pocket and pulled it out when needed to move to the Snake Nest, he could have a safe place whenever he wanted.
‘The problem is that the Snake Nest is connected to the Empire.’
Furthermore, just as the Fiends of the 7th Floor had come up from the 6th Floor, it was also connected to the 6th Floor. Since the Snake Nest itself was a floor separate from the 5th Floor, it was impossible to extract or move the Transfer Stone using the Villainesses' authority.
‘If I can find the Transfer Stones connected to the Empire and the 6th Floor...’
It would be best to destroy or remove them.
It was always better to suppress variables as much as possible.