The Eighth Research - Basilisk (5)

The silver serpent sensed an unholy curiosity burning in Tellorian's eyes. It was the gaze of an investigator who longed to dissect divinity itself, piece by meticulous piece.

Instead—

The ancient basilisk known as the Silver Serpent was a mighty divine beast. Though it had fallen far across the ages, it could still function as a native deity that answered the prayers of mortals.

"Can you defeat the Lord of the Seven Hells or the Queen of the Endless Abyss?"

Then there was no point. Those were exactly the beings Tellorian wanted.

It was true. Unlike the deities born from mortal faith, demons and angels had sprung from mortal emotion. As a result, the rulers of demons and angels wielded authority that rivaled the high gods who presided over the Pantheon.

"Because I can," Tellorian answered.

[…]

Lore Master Tellorian spoke with clear eyes and an unwavering voice.

"I oppose them because I can kill them."

"You are no ordinary mortal."

At last, the eyes opened.

The divine beast that had slumbered within the lake.

"Your resolve alone is worthy of respect."

The Silver Serpent’s voice evoked that of a young woman. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was not speech produced by a physical tongue, but meaning transmitted directly through divine authority.

"Release me."

"Only if you agree to become my familiar."

"Release me first, then subdue me with your power."

Hiss!

The silver serpent flicked its tongue.

"If you are truly a mage who seeks to overthrow the supreme sovereigns of Hell and the Abyss, then a fallen demigod like myself should be well within your ability to defeat alone."

Very well.

I shall release you for now. We can discuss terms later.

"Hah!"

Tellorian struck the temple floor with his staff. Waves of mana surged outward and slammed into the Abyss seal. He poured every ounce of his power into it, shattering the barrier completely. No special technique was used—only raw force.

"…What manner of spell was that, Agent?"

"…He simply hammered it with sheer mana volume."

Both the demigod and the Shaman King were stunned by the firepower the Lore Master had unleashed. It had been an astonishing display.

"…I’m exhausted."

Having depleted his remaining mana, Tellorian pressed a hand to his forehead and sank to the ground. He summoned a water bottle and drank deeply from the carbonated liquid infused with magical energy.

"I’ll leave the incoming demons to the two of you."

"…"

"I need to rest and recover my mana."

Regardless of the method, the demigod of the desert had been freed.

The oldest basilisk of all.

"KyaAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"KyaaaaAAAAAAAAH!"

The colossal sand serpent swallowed the ice-encased succubus whole. With a sickening crunch, the succubus was torn apart body and soul. The dancer Diaboletta would never again perform in the pleasure harems.

"How refreshing!"

The Silver Serpent crunched through the frozen succubus’s leg bones as it slithered out of the White Temple. Outside, the air was thick with abyssal energy.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa——!"

"B-B-B-Basilisk——!"

Hundreds of demon soldiers fell into panic at the silver serpent’s appearance. Yet the moment her sacred golden eyes flashed, every last one of them turned to stone.

…

All but one.

A demon gladiator radiating overwhelming power.

"So Diaboletta has failed."

The undefeated Mardero was an incubus with chocolate abs. His appearance combined the beauty of a peerless human male with the physique of a legendary gladiator. Yet his goat hooves and black wings revealed his true nature.

"I’ll have to punish her thoroughly when I return to the harem."

The undefeated Mardero!

The one who felled a thousand succubi in a single night!

The one who felled a thousand angels on the battlefield!

The abyssal gladiator is invincible by both day and night!

"Silver Serpent! So you’re a female as well!"

"Sssssssssh!"

"I’ll defeat you and ravish you to my heart’s content!"

The undefeated Mardero soared elegantly into the noon sky while the Silver Serpent burrowed into the desert sands and vanished. After a tedious game of cat and mouse, the serpent erupted from a sand dune and attempted to swallow Mardero. Just as it seemed the battle was over, a square hole punched through the serpent’s jaw and the demon gladiator burst free.

"Ha!"

"Kyaaaaaaaah!"

The rest of the fight was entirely one-sided. It was not that the Silver Serpent was weak or inexperienced—only that the matchup was terrible.

"Kyaaah!"

Her petrification had no effect.

"Kroaaaaaaaah———!"

Her acidic breath, strong enough to melt a fortress in one strike, was nimbly dodged by the flying incubus. Whenever the serpent closed in with its massive body for physical combat, Mardero slipped away like the wind, striking only at vulnerabilities before retreating. He fought exactly like a coliseum champion slaying a ferocious beast.

"Haha! This is entertaining!"

A gladiator versus a monster.

The absolute worst possible matchup.

"Time to get serious!"

Empowered by abyssal energy, the incubus gladiator transformed into a twenty-meter giant. In that time the Silver Serpent had used her authority to heal her wounds, but the injuries inflicted by a high-ranking demon could not be mended by a demigod’s power. She had already suffered fatal damage. There was no path to victory.

"Thunder!"

"Hm——?!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

At that moment, a storm rolled in.

"What——"

In his excitement, Mardero had forgotten.

The Shaman King who had secretly planted totems across the battlefield.

"Storm! Lightning! Thunder!"

BOOOOM!

A ferocious bolt of lightning tore down from the thunderhead-filled sky. Under normal circumstances Mardero would have dodged it easily, but he was currently in his giant form.

"Gwaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Behold the fury of the spirits!"

While the desert god-king and the abyssal gladiator clashed, Shaman King Belkan had planted totems in every direction. The resulting thunderbolts, amplified several times over, fried the undefeated Mardero to a crisp.

"How dare a mere orc——"

Even so, Mardero survived and turned his blade toward Belkan. But the basilisk erupted from behind him and coiled around his upper body.

"?!"

Crack!

His torso was crushed.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Acid breath sprayed directly into his face at point-blank range, melting it away. No longer undefeated, Mardero lost his physical form and returned to the pleasure harem. He had not been annihilated, but he had lost half his essence.

"Insolent wretch! How dare a mere demon!"

The Silver Serpent roared in fury as she devoured the demon’s charred remains. Swallowing the unholy flesh healed her wounds. By absorbing an immortal’s essence, she regained a portion of her divinity.

"Had I been at full strength, he would never have been my match!"

"Are your wounds alright, God-King?"

"Thanks to your assistance, I am fine, Agent."

"I am grateful you see it that way."

Only stone statues of what had once been demons remained in the desert after the battle. Every sculpture looked as realistic as if carved by dwarven stonemasons.

"Your body has grown weak after such a long hibernation."

"…"

"With no followers left, your divine rank has also fallen."

The Silver Serpent flicked out her forked tongue and licked her wounds. Just as she said, her long dormancy had weakened her body, and her church had fallen into ruin.

"The Queen of the Abyss has set her sights on you."

"…"

"I was fortunate enough to help you this time. However, as one who leads a tribe, I cannot offer further assistance."

At those words, the desert god-king made a proposal.

What if she lived among them?

"That would not be bad, however…"

"If it is not bad, then let us do so."

"There are still problems with that arrangement."

Belkan spoke with firm resolve.

"I will be honest with you."

"…"

"Our ancestors received much help by worshiping you. But now, for our survival and prosperity, we no longer require your aid."

This was the Great Wasteland.

Extra mouths to feed were only a burden.

"I understand."

The Silver Serpent nodded.

"I am sorry, God-King of the Desert."

"With this, our long contract comes to an end."

The orcs no longer needed the basilisk’s permission to live in the Great Wasteland. Belkan was stronger than her. When his subordinates were included, the gap grew even wider. Now it was she who required permission.

"Even so, I have no desire to remain near that mage."

"What troubles you?"

"His gaze is unpleasant."

She declared it plainly.

"To be honest, it is extremely offensive."

"…"

"No matter how far this one has fallen, I was once an existence worshiped by mortals. Yet he looks at me as if I were some rare experimental specimen…"

Even the Shaman King had nothing to say on that matter.

Mages were simply that sort of creature.

"But you have no other options."

"…You want me to become an experimental pet?"

"Well…"

Belkan agonized for a moment, then answered.

"I will do my best to ensure you are spared a familiar contract."

"Then on what basis would I accompany him?"

"Well…"

That, I do not know either.

But you will not be treated as a god.

In the burning heart of the desert, the silver basilisk gazed at the setting sun. Today’s sun was sinking endlessly, just like her own past.

"…I will consider it for now."

The fallen demigod let out a sigh, feeling the gaze of the Queen of the Abyss upon her.

A month had passed since Belkan’s ascension as Shaman King. In that time Tellorian had accomplished a great deal. He had conveyed the fate awaiting Lucifeles, absorbed the legacy of the desert orcs, created a spell that turned star-reaching flames into magic through sparring with Belkan, and succeeded in combining the Roars of the four major elements to generate the Elemental Roar.

"There is nowhere left to look."

Yet the most important achievement of all was—

the fact that he had tamed the Silver Serpent.

"Please wear clothing, Silver Serpent."

"It is cumbersome. Growing legs was already annoying enough."

"…It is embarrassing for others to see."

"Why does this one need to concern herself with the opinions of mortals? I once danced among the stars in the heavens."

The Silver Serpent tilted her head. She was the ruler of the desert, a divine beast who had existed since the age of the gods. Why should mortal opinion matter?

"It is precisely that stubbornness that has thinned your divinity."

"Nonsense."

"In the end, you gods act as if you are omnipotent, yet you are merely beings who depend on the faith of us mortals. Had the desert nomads not worshiped you, you would never have gained immortality and would have died long ago."

If mortals depended on the power of gods, then gods also depended on the faith of mortals. This was forbidden knowledge known only to a tiny handful of sages.

"…You. What exactly are you?"

"A Lore Master."

"A Lore Master?"

"The great sage who offers counsel to other sages."

"How does one so young possess such wisdom?"

Well.

It was thanks to reincarnation, but there was no need to reveal that.

"There are circumstances."

"You would hide your identity from this one?"

"You have not revealed everything either."

In truth, much of the background lore for the Silver Serpent from his game days had been left hidden. Whether it was bait for future DLC or simply unfinished, he did not know.

"In any case."

Lengthy backstories were unimportant right now.

"If you follow me, I will help you regain the divinity you possessed at your peak, Silver Serpent who rules the desert."

The Silver Serpent possessed dozens of titles and names, including Desert Empress. She had been that powerful an existence in ancient times. Now those were merely memories of past glory.

"I will also give you the chance to take revenge on the Queen of the Abyss. If you dislike that idea, I can offer you the opportunity to settle here and live as the guardian deity of the desert orcs."

Hm…?

But Belkan had refused that, had he not?

"I will persuade him."

"Is that possible?"

"Belkan owes me a great deal and acknowledges it."

Belkan was different from those who forgot their debts.

"Therefore, if I request that he accept you as the guardian deity of the orc race, he will agree even if unwilling, in order to repay the favor of saving his people."

…

The Silver Serpent pondered.

"Why are you helping me?"

"It is a complicated motive."

"You are a mage, are you not?"

"Well. That is…"

The mage agonized over how to explain the desire he felt toward the Silver Serpent. It was different from lust or the thirst for knowledge. It was the desire a finite being who challenged the limits of mortality felt toward an infinite one.

"It is the desire to surpass immortals."

"Then are you praising blasphemy?"

"It is similar, yet different."

Blasphemy.

The desire to defile divinity.

"But my desire is to deny both holiness and wickedness. Because I am a mage."

The mages of the Sinear continent acknowledged neither the sacred nor the profane. To them, good and evil, secular and holy, were merely matters of subjective value judgment. All values were subjective, and objective truth had to be measurable through magical means.

"To us mages, the sun and moon are merely celestial bodies orbiting a planet. Even the powerful beings that humans worship as high gods are nothing more than mortals who once accomplished great deeds and ascended."

This was a fantasy world.

Sacred beings existed in reality.

Yet whether one offered them reverence was an entirely separate question.

"Just as divine beings intervene in the world through their authority, we mages use magic to transcend the innate limits of mortality."

"Do you know why mortals pray?"

"To solve problems they cannot handle themselves. Mortals are pitiful creatures who cannot resist their predetermined fate of birth, aging, sickness, and death…"

The Silver Serpent realized the difference.

Mages were different.

"But you were able to delay aging."

"Correct. We can even achieve eternal life."

Even after the scientific revolution spread on Earth, religion had not disappeared. Advanced science could not overcome humanity’s species-level limitations.

But advanced magic was different.

If humans could live as long as they desired and change the world as they wished, why would they kneel before gods?

"That is why, to me, you are not a sacred being to whom I must offer prayers, but merely a basilisk possessing special authority. In that case, there is no reason I cannot tame you as a familiar, is there?"

To tame divinity.

It was a tempting thought.

"It is an extremely sweet temptation."

"And an extremely blasphemous statement."

"From your perspective, it certainly must seem so."

"Your own kind would not look kindly on it either."

The golden eyes of the silver woman narrowed. The killing intent radiating from her was almost palpable.

"Divinity is something that should be worshiped."

"The masses would certainly think so."

This was a medieval land where violence ran rampant. Most people lived miserable lives, struggling merely to survive. Naturally, their longing for a happy afterlife and religions that promised justice and retribution burned hot.

"But we are mages."

"…Truly blasphemous words."

The silver woman crossed her arms, golden eyes gleaming.

"Ordinary humans grow weak with age and die when they fall ill. They starve when drought comes and die when floods arrive. The masses die far too easily."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

But mages were different.

The stronger they became, the more they were freed from the constraints of mortality.

"We despise the masses, and the masses envy us. They must pray to gods simply to survive, while we mages have the luxury of calmly observing those same gods."

Envy.

Alienation.

Fear.

The emotions humans felt toward mages.

"That is why we and the masses hate one another."

He revealed his honest feelings.

"Even I, who try to remain as neutral as possible, am not free from such conflict. My biological mother was a devout follower of the Sun God, after all."

His mother had suffered domestic violence and the atrocities of mages her entire life. For such a person, the only joys in life were the church’s mercy and the salvation of the afterlife promised in scripture. That was hardly surprising.

"So my mother abandoned me, calling her son who had awakened to magic a cursed child. The people on the streets would not associate with me either, simply because I had awakened mana."

Begging was impossible.

Odd jobs were impossible.

How was one supposed to survive?

"Perhaps it was fortunate. Thanks to that, I barely managed to survive in the back alleys of Temnigrad, where violence ran unchecked."

In Temnigrad, even the most vicious murderers hesitated to kill a mage. They feared becoming entangled and falling victim to some strange curse.

"That is why I came to hate the masses."

"…"

"That is why I want to show everyone."

That even a mortal can defy divinity!

"I understand your motive."

However—

"If this one becomes your familiar, even my last shred of pride will be shattered. To us immortals, that is no different from death."

Just as mortals had their ways of enduring finite life, we immortals have our ways of enduring eternal life.

"Pride is a luxury item for you."

"…"

"But for us, it is a necessity."

Tellorian agonized for a moment.

Forcing the contract was entirely possible.

"I will respect your will, demigod."

"If you do not wish it, then we shall stop here."

Conscience was the whip that tamed the inner beast.

"I cannot force a contract simply because I am stronger than you."

He had always told his disciples:

Overcome the beast within.

"As one who teaches, I cannot do something shameful."

He could not set a bad example.

Even if he could not be a perfect role model.

"There is the tablet you gave to the orcs."

He set it down.

The basilisk’s tablet.

"It is the token of the contract you made with the ancestors of the desert orcs. Now that your contract with them has ended, I return it to its owner."

He turned away.

"I will return to the kingdom in two days."

"…"

"If you have nowhere to go, you may join me as a free individual."

The mage left.

The demigod agonized.

Shaman King Belkan ordered the tribal chiefs to leave only warriors at the gathering point while the rest of the tribespeople returned to the oasis to resume their livelihoods. There would be no more large-scale Green Tides. They would still need to settle accounts for the deaths of the relief envoys, however.

"This is unacceptable!"

Black Tusk and the Oath Warrior Order protested.

"You would abandon our ancestral lands!"

"We have gained a future far more important than ancestral lands."

On the other hand, Shaman King Belkan answered calmly.

"Furthermore, I am no longer the Great Chieftain."

"…"

"I am your king. Kneel."

When the Shaman King released his power, a crown of thunder and a spear of lightning appeared. Most of the hardliners fell to their knees in terror. But Black Tusk alone snorted and resisted.

Hmm.

A quick and easy solution would be to make an example of him.

But that would leave resentment among the hardliners.

Therefore he prepared a pure contest of physical strength without using shamanic arts.

"Ha! Come at me, Belkan!"

The dueling ground was prepared.

Black Tusk stepped forward.

"I am the true king of the orcs!"

"Greetings, honorable War Chief."

"…What? Who are you?"

However, it was not Belkan who stepped into the duel.

If he did, the grudge would fall on Belkan.

And the situation had not been properly explained.

"This one is Olgoldugolro, vassal who serves His Excellency the Marquis of Harrington. This time, this one has come to fight in place of His Majesty the Shaman King Belkan."

?

??

???

"A mere troll dares to duel me?"

"This one is no ordinary troll."

When the stone troll took a heavy step forward, the ground shook. Yet today’s Olgoldugolro wore neither armor nor weapons. She wore only monk’s robes.

"Allow this one to greet you properly."

The troll brought her palms together in prayer.

"This one is Olgoldugolro, apprentice monk of Zshan Monastery who serves the Goddess of Harmony."

She had reclassed into a Force Monk—one of the three great overpowered classes.