The Serpent's Scales
"Um... Master?"
"Huh? Aquaril, why?"
"... No."
"Why have you been acting like this since earlier? If you have something to say, just say it plainly."
"That's..."
Still, Alan and Aquaril were inside the dungeon. And during the move, Aquaril had called him several times. Looking at her expression, she seemed to have a lot to say, but strangely, she didn't speak.
Her appearance was incredibly frustrating, but I didn't say anything about it.
It was because Aquaril had played a very big role in my life-or-death plan.
What had she done?
She hadn't come out immediately when I died, and she had cut off the limbs of the Blood King.
Before throwing myself into the battlefield, I had given her the order not to come out no matter what, but considering that she was a fairy, one could see how nonsensical that order was.
Fairies live only for their masters. If they can protect their master, they are willing to give up their own lives.
No matter how much I gave orders, watching their master die while the fairy Aquaril stood by silently was an extremely difficult thing for her. It was harder than finding a needle in a desert.
From her lips and hands, one could indirectly feel how much she had struggled. Her lips were chewed so much they cracked, and her palms had nail marks. How tightly she had clenched her fists, her nails had pierced her palms.
But Aquaril endured that horrific mental pain and faithfully carried out my orders.
So, if she showed a frustrated look, how could I blame her?
"That's..."
"Huh. What's that?"
"My master's nape..."
"Nape? Why my nape... Huh?"
With her cautious words, I touched my nape. It felt smooth and angular, and I tilted my head. Why was my skin like this?
"What's this? What is this?!"
"Scales appeared on the master's nape."
"Scales? No, I'm not a fish, why are scales suddenly appearing?!"
"Please stay still for a moment, Master."
"Uh, okay."
At Aquaril's words, I calmed down. Then she went behind me to check the nape with scales.
"Something... it looks like snake scales."
"Snake... scales?"
The word "snake" immediately brought up Uroboros. Was this from using the Molt skill?
No, there was no such thing in the skill description!
Even when I opened the skill description window, there was no mention of snake scales appearing on the body when using the Molt skill. This is a scam! It's a scam!
Could it be that every time I use the Molt skill, the scales increase?
A sudden thought brought anxiety.
Dying was scary, but honestly, the benefits I could get when I died were quite appealing. If the same situation as today happened again, I would gladly give up my life.
Of course, that's only if I can get so many things like today.
After killing the Blood King and Haggis, I instantly reached level 55 from 41. The potential spent on strength and vitality stats was fully replenished.
Attributes too.
I stole the [Nature] attribute from the Blood King. And by stealing the [Fire] attribute from Haggis, the character behind the attribute changed to [Flame (炎)].
The effect of the Greed attribute is to absorb and strengthen the attributes of killed enemies. By stealing Haggis's attribute, my [Fire] attribute was strengthened.
Is that all?
I also took all the weapons used by Haggis, the Blood King, his fairies, and other dead masters and fairies. If I could, I would have stripped off the armor too, but the Blood King's axe had been swung so much that its value was completely lost. Additionally, by killing the boss of the 3rd chapter, the Blood King, I obtained the quest clear reward of 500 gems.
In any case, except for the fairies, almost all of the Blood King's things were mine.
At least this much was necessary to justify risking my life. If it was less, I wouldn't have wanted to risk my life.
The feeling of slowly dying... was truly the worst.
How can I say, in a way, my past self was a fool.
I died without feeling any pain. There was no feeling of dying.
After experiencing the feeling of dying, I realized anew how clean and easy my past death had been. Of course, hating death was unchanged.
"!"
"Why? What's happening again?"
Aquaril, who had been observing the nape with scales on my back, suddenly let out a cry. Thinking the scales had grown more, I hurriedly asked her.
"The scales are decreasing!"
"Really? Sigh, what a relief."
At Aquaril's words that the scales were decreasing, I let out a sigh of relief. If I had to live with snake scales on my body forever, it would have been truly horrific.
A person with snake scales on their body!
It's too easy to identify me!
In the future, I had to secretly build up my power, but if I had a unique physical feature that others didn't have, like snake scales, those who wanted to catch me could quickly find out my identity.
I wasn't strong enough yet to face the Ferdium Empire and Palos's Bird head-on. I was a tiny spark that could be extinguished with a single breath.
"Then let's get out. Oh, Aquaril."
"Yes, Master."
"By the way."
Before exiting the dungeon, I whispered to Aquaril.
"Ma, Master!"
Aquaril's eyes widened.
"N, No! No, I can't!"
"You have to, Aquaril. Please do it."
"No! Absolutely not! Impossible! Impossible!"
"Please!"
"Master..."
Aquaril made a sad face.
*****
Should I enter even now?
Seeing the day darkening, Kanisia was fidgeting with her feet, anxious. Alan, who had entered the dungeon instead of her to save Tigress, wasn't coming back.
If Alan is in trouble, what then?
She had started worrying about Alan more than Tigress. She hadn't realized that Alan was taking the place of Tigress in her heart.
If Alan is in trouble...
In her anxiety, she bit her lip.
I should have entered the dungeon. Not Alan.
"I can't hold it in anymore. I have to enter now."
"Calm down, Master."
Kanisia turned her body toward the dungeon with her staff in hand, and her fairy Abraham tried to stop her master.
"Entering now is too dangerous."
"But Alan is there! Tigress too! I have to go save the two of them!"
"But Master. Even if you enter the dungeon now... I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do. You won't be able to save the two of them."
"Tsk!"
Kanisia couldn't hold back her anger at Abraham's factious violence. But she didn't get angry at Abraham because of the momentary emotion. She knew he was speaking considering her.
And Abraham was right.
Currently, she was injured from fighting the Gibri family. Her mana was completely depleted, and it was hard to even swing the staff.
All she could do now was barely stand.
Even if Kanisia entered the dungeon, as Abraham said, she couldn't save Alan and Tigress.
"But I might be able to save the two with my life."
"Master!"
If she could save Alan and Tigress, she would gladly give up her life. Kanisia walked towards the dungeon entrance. Abraham tried to grab her hand to stop her, but Kanisia shook it off.
"... Then I will go with you too."
"No, stay here. You're still not able to move well."
"I can't! Rather than sending Master alone... I would rather enter together and die instead of Master."
"Abraham!"
"Master!"
Abraham shouted the same as Kanisia's shout.
"Do you still not understand? Master is my world and everything. Do you still not know how terrible and hellish a life without a master is for a fairy?"
"T, That's..."
Seeing Abraham's face distorted a lot, Kanisia flinched. Abraham was crying.
"Please don't say such horrific things as to live alone without Master. That is not saving me but abandoning me to hell. If that's the case, command me to die. Then I will die smiling."
"....."
Kanisia's heart softened at Abraham's tears, who had never shown weakness in front of her. She couldn't bear to face those desperate eyes, so she turned her head.
Alan...
She looked at the dungeon entrance. She prayed and prayed that Alan would come out safely.
Thud- Thud- Thud-
"... Huh?"
Whether by chance or not, at that moment someone was coming out of the dungeon entrance. Kanisia's face brightened when she confirmed the face.
"Alan! Safe... huh?"
But her face quickly distorted. She had found Tigress in Alan's arms.
"Tig... riss?"
It was an extremely miserable sight. All limbs were cut off, and before death, her face was distorted from how much pain she must have felt.
"... Kanisia."
"....."
Alan was full of wounds from the difficult battle. Supported by Aquaril, who was shedding tears, Alan stood in front of Kanisia. Slowly and carefully, he placed the corpse of the Blood King he was holding on the ground.
"Sorry. I couldn't save the Blood King."
"Ah, aaaaa..."
Thud-
Kanisia knelt in front of the Blood King's corpse. Tears fell in streams.
"Tig. Tig? Why are you like this? Open your eyes. Open your eyes a bit, Tig."
Unable to accept her friend's death, she called him by the affectionate nickname from childhood. But the Blood King didn't answer that familiar call.
"No, this isn't it! Aaaaaah! Tig!"
Finally accepting that the Blood King had died, Kanisia let out a scream like a wail.
"... No."
Kanisia, hugging the Blood King's corpse, muttered while crying.
"I will never forgive you. I will definitely find out who did this. And just as Tig suffered, I will do the same. I will kill them."
"... Kanisia."
"... Uh. Sorry, Alan. It was hard, right? I should have been stronger..."
"Let's do it together."
"....."
"The ones who made the Blood King like that, I know who they are."
"... What?"
At Alan's words, Kanisia looked up at him. You know who?
"Who is it? Who did this to Tig?"
"Palos's Bird."
"... Palos's Bird?"
"Yeah. Actually, I didn't tell you... but I've been chasing those guys for a long time."
"Huh?"
"They burned down the village I lived in. In front of my eyes, they killed my family, friends, and villagers."
"What does that mean..."
Kanisia couldn't recover from Alan's sudden confession.
"They are crazy murderer groups. On the surface, they claim strange ideals, but behind the scenes, they repeat horrific massacres. I have sworn revenge on those guys and have been chasing their backs."
"Then... you knew they were trying to kill Tig?"
"No. I didn't know. I chased their backs to this place, but... the trail ended and I couldn't pursue anymore. But I didn't know they were planning such horrific things... Sorry, Kanisia. If I had known their plan... Kugh! The Blood King wouldn't have died... Ugh! Sorry, Kanisia! I killed him! I killed the Blood King!"
"Alan!"
Kanisia hugged Alan tightly with tears of apology. Alan buried his face in her arms.
"Sorry, Kanisia! I killed him! I killed the Blood King!"
"No! It's not you! The ones who killed Tig are those guys! Don't cry! Don't cry, you idiot!"
"Kugh! Sorry! I killed him!"
"Alan! Ugh, hwaaa~!"
In the end, Kanisia burst into tears with Alan.
She didn't know.
That Alan in her arms was smiling, and that his confession that he killed the Blood King was true.