Chapter 124: My Heart Demon is Discovered
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124: My Heart Demon is Discovered
It’s been three months since I was reincarnated as a lizard in a martial arts novel.
No, is it about four months now?
In that time—short if you call it short, long if you call it long—I’ve faced so many crises.
And now, a moment more dangerous than any of those crises had arrived.
My Heart Demon.
My sin.
My shame.
The Snake Queen is going to see that?
I could let it slide when Tang Soyeong saw it.
Who would believe her?
That a beast was sweeping the yard with a broom, wearing clothes of harmoniously blended black and white that she had never seen before in her life.
But the Snake Queen is different.
She is a Spirit Beast.
Moreover, a Spirit Beast who can speak human language.
If she were to interact with other humans, this forbidden knowledge could spread.
And it might even get mislabeled as Gomodo-Lania’s preference.
No.
Let’s not overreact.
My Heart Demon doesn’t have to be the Spino in a maid outfit.
Of course, that thing shows up every time I face my Heart Demon, but a Heart Demon is literally a demon of the heart. It’s something that approaches me in ever-changing forms.
In other words, something other than the maid Spino could appear.
For now, let’s think about something else.
If I keep thinking about it, something that wouldn't have appeared will end up appearing.
“Focus your mind.”
The Snake Queen’s internal energy flowed into my body.
Just as she said, I shook off my distracting thoughts.
“Breathe in slowly, and then breathe out.”
I breathed in and then out.
A pitch-black space where I couldn’t see an inch in front of me.
A space where I could instinctively feel the presence of a large lake.
My mindscape appeared.
“A large lake. We’ll look at that later. There’s something else we must see first.”
Immediately, my world was inverted.
Before my eyes was a single, small snake.
It looked so much like Swish-Swish that I could have mistaken it for her.
Its round little head was quite cute.
“…Don’t stare so intently. That snake you see is me from the past.”
The Snake Queen looked like that?
She looked like she would make a peeping sound.
“We are not overcoming the Heart Demon, but experiencing it. Just watch my Heart Demon quietly.”
A chubby little snake wiggled and moved.
Next to it was another, slender snake.
The next thing that caught my eye was a Compy that looked quite young.
The Compy made a kekek sound as it took care of the Snake Queen.
The Snake Queen peeped as she accepted the food the Compy gave her.
Various species of lizards nearby were smiling with fond satisfaction.
No, to be precise, they probably weren’t lizards.
They were all dinosaurs using miniaturization.
Because they were so small, I couldn’t tell what species they were, but I could feel an extraordinary power from them.
“…The small snake next to me is Gaechalgoatal.”
Gaechalgoatal.
The version of him I saw was a grotesque human-faced bird that crudely mimicked a human face.
In contrast, what I was seeing now was the form of a normal snake.
Looking at it this way, it just seemed like a peaceful, ordinary day.
Two siblings taken in by the Compy.
And the uncles watching them with fond smiles.
The Compy taught them, and the Snake Queen and Gaechalgoatal grew up strong and healthy.
Time flowed quickly.
Old Compy disappeared from the mindscape.
A woman with a familiar face appeared.
Black hair like a waterfall in an ink wash painting.
Pale skin, almost the color of an apricot.
At first glance, she might seem to have a sharp impression, but even the shape of her eyes was beautiful.
The first human I met after coming here.
Baek Yeon-yeong.
…No, it wasn’t her.
The woman before my eyes now had red eyes.
Like the form the Rakshasa Bird had transformed into.
But it wasn’t identical to the Rakshasa Bird’s form, either.
I wondered if you’d get that appearance by mixing Baek Yeon-yeong’s and the Rakshasa Bird’s transformed appearances half and half.
“…I thought I had forgotten by now.”
At first, caution.
─ Oh my, what a cute little snake.
Then, curiosity.
─ What’s my name? Hmm, good question. I haven’t decided yet.
And then, admiration.
─ You want to be like me? Hey, you’re a hundred years too early for that. What? You want to know how old I am?
The Snake Queen’s emotions in the mindscape changed from moment to moment.
That’s how intense their meeting must have been.
─ You want me to teach you martial arts? I only know a few things myself.
─ You have a guardian, don’t you? He should have some decent martial arts too. Oh, and I left something for him. Learn from him, not me.
─ Aigoo. I give up, I give up. But I’ll only teach you once, okay?
The Snake Queen, whining to be taught martial arts.
And behind her, Gaechalgoatal, looking scared.
─ Martial arts is all about confidence, you get it?
─ Mental cultivation methods, verses… you don’t need any of that stuff. …Of course, if you say that outside, they’ll come at you foaming at the mouth.
─ But what’s the point of them coming at me? They’re all just losers who’ve been beaten by me anyway.
Her words could be described as arrogant.
But they didn’t feel like a bluff.
Even though it was just an image in a mindscape, I could feel her profound internal energy.
Baek Yeon-yeong.
No, an internal energy that might even surpass hers.
─ Just give a loud kiai and think.
─ ‘I am the boss, I am the best.’
The Snake Queen’s master pointed to the sky with one hand.
─ With that thought, go Pabat! …What, you think I’m a terrible explainer?
Is this a common trait among the powerful?
She was similar to Baek Yeon-yeong.
They can’t explain things.
“I still don’t understand those words.”
The explanation was, as the Snake Queen herself admitted, terrible.
“To give a loud kiai and think. To think of myself as the most superior being. …After having seen her, how could I possibly think such a thing?”
Thinking you’re the best is probably only possible because she’s that woman.
The Snake Queen has become much stronger than in the past, but she probably can’t think of herself as the strongest.
Because she has already seen her master.
…But is this the Snake Queen’s Heart Demon?
No.
This is her past.
And this must have been what the Snake Queen wanted to show me.
“…I couldn’t understand it, but I thought it might be different for you.”
The teachings she received from her master.
She wanted to pass those teachings on to me.
She probably wanted to teach me herself, but couldn't because she didn't understand them.
The mindscape passed by quickly.
The Snake Queen spending happy times in Little Dragon’s territory.
Gaechalgoatal, whom she cared for like a younger brother.
Honhwi, whom she followed like a father.
And Little Dragon’s disciples, who were like family.
Their world was stained red.
Everything turned into a sea of blood.
Countless beasts were killed.
A feathered snake gave a vile smile.
Gaechalgoatal.
He was the King of Birds.
The misfortune didn’t end there.
Countless monsters burned the jungle.
Monsters that seemed to come straight out of legends.
And a single woman stood in their way.
─ Now, you are the queen of this place.
Her master, walking into the flames.
The Snake Queen couldn’t stop her.
That was the last she ever saw of her.
Whether she lived or died.
The Snake Queen couldn’t even know that.
Because she was a woman of such unbelievable strength, it was hard to believe she could be dead.
But if she were alive, why wouldn’t she come to see her?
“…I still haven’t overcome my Heart Demon.”
The years continued to pass.
“So I tried not to face it.”
Ascending to the throne, fighting countless beasts.
The Snake Queen, staying alone in her temple, lonely.
“…I deceived myself, telling myself I had already forgotten everything.”
The Snake Queen avoided her Heart Demon.
She was called a queen, but her faction wasn’t that large.
The King of Birds’ side alone had three Spirit Beasts.
Four, if you included the Cockatrice.
There could be even more.
On the other hand, there were no Spirit Beasts under the Snake Queen’s command.
She couldn’t expand her forces because of what happened in the past.
To be precise, the memory of all of Little Dragon’s disciples dying made her reluctant to form a faction at all.
She didn’t ascend to the throne because she wanted it, either.
She did it because her master told her to.
Because those were her last words.
A faction was formed by those who hated the King of Birds, but that was all it was.
The Snake Queen didn’t involve herself much with them, and they didn’t particularly serve her either.
They just had a common enemy.
The Snake Queen said she hadn’t overcome her Heart Demon.
No, at least the Snake Queen I saw was trying her best to overcome it.
She contacted Little Dragon, whom she had been avoiding, and even formed an alliance with the former King of Birds. And though there weren’t many, she had also summoned all the Sword Dragons under her command.
She was facing her past.
If this isn’t overcoming a Heart Demon, what is?
So, I wish you wouldn’t make such a sad face.
I’ll be the one to blow Gaechalgoatal away.
A one-on-one fight would be too much, but maybe just one of his wings.
The corners of the Snake Queen’s lips turned up.
“…So this is the voice my companion has.”
Voice?
What does she mean?
I didn’t say anything, and even if I had, it would’ve just been a gekgek sound…
“It’s quite pleasant to hear. If I listen to your voice, I don’t think I’ll have to worry about not being able to sleep.”
This was the mindscape of the Snake Queen and me.
Just as I could peek into her Heart Demon, she could read my thoughts.
…I didn’t think anything weird, did I?
“How could you think I can read all your thoughts? Unless we achieve union, all I can hear now is your voice from time to time.”
What does she mean by achieving union?
…And contrary to what you say, you seem to be reading me very well.
“Well, that’s enough. My Heart Demon is over. All that’s left is yours.”
Gulp.
I swallowed hard.
If I could have my way, I’d throw a tantrum and wreck the place.
But I couldn’t do that.
The side effects of the inner core wouldn’t just apply to me.
If I hid my Heart Demon, the Snake Queen would also be harmed.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
But that didn’t hide the mindscape.
What I saw was a giant lake.
My own world.
Right, let’s not worry too much.
It’s called a Heart Demon, but something else might appear.
…Please.
Before long, a splash erupted from the water.
─ Kraaaaaa!
The one that revealed itself from the lake was… as expected, that thing.
“…W-what is this?”
The Snake Queen was horrified.
She was covering her eyes with both hands.
But her fingers were spread apart.
Should I call it a blessing in disguise? My Heart Demon made eye contact with the Snake Queen next to me and then dove back into the lake.
What was truly absurd was that, for a Heart Demon, it was blushing.
So it knows its own outfit is weird.
It got embarrassed and ran away because it showed itself to a complete stranger, not me.
“My companion. What in the world is that form…?”
I don’t know either.
Is that really a Heart Demon?
Actually, maybe I have the wrong idea of what a Heart Demon is?
It was a completely different type from the Heart Demon the Snake Queen had shown me.
It was while I was pondering the identity of that bizarre thing.
“…Should I prepare such garments?”
The Snake Queen looked as if she had awakened to something new.
The corners of my mouth went up.
It would be hard to create that, but if the Snake Queen were to go around dressed like that, I’d be all for it.
“But there probably aren’t any clothes my true form could wear…”
The corners of my mouth went down.
No, what do you take me for?
Don’t tell me you think that bizarre thing is my type?
Hmph!
I like humans.
What lizard in the world would like something like that!
─ Krara….
Miss Heart Demon peeked her head out of the lake.
Get back in there before I shoot a Gaegaek Death Beam.
…And don’t you dare make a sad face.