“Bring fresh cold water.”
The voice of the Grand Shaman revealed her age.
“Bring more bamboo leaves.”
As she gave instructions, the other shamans bowed their heads respectfully and obeyed.
For goblins, living past 50 years is considered a remarkable feat.
The Grand Shaman’s face was covered in deep wrinkles left by time.
The tattoos etched across her entire body and face were the symbol of the Grand Shaman.
Even the ink of those tattoos had faded with the passage of time.
However, there was strength in her voice, and her movements were precise.
The Grand Shaman had stayed up all night assisting Nanaluk.
Evolution is both a blessing and a curse bestowed upon monsters.
Through evolution, monsters extend their lifespan and become stronger.
But evolution is not granted to all, and the Grand Shaman, having already completed her evolution, would soon face an inevitable death.
Yet, she felt neither fear nor futility.
Because before her lay the future of the entire species.
She slowly wiped Nanaluk’s arm with a towel soaked in cold water.
The young chieftain was enduring the extremely painful process of evolution.
The moisture on her skin evaporated instantly.
The scorching fever remained unchanged.
But there was clear improvement.
Last night, the skin peeled off like a molting snake with each wipe of the towel.
But now, how different it was.
The skin was slightly reddish, like that of a human woman.
It looked soft yet as tough as rubber. Under the sunlight, her skin sparkled as if gold dust had been sprinkled on it.
Nanaluk had always been slim and tall, but she had grown even taller.
She was now as tall as a typical elf.
Her hair had grown so long in just one day that it could now be worn in long, flowing tresses.
‘Other goblins will look like children standing next to her.’
But that was actually a good thing.
Nanaluk would become the king of the species.
And the king of the species should have an appearance that commands respect from all who see them.
“…Grand Shaman.”
Nanaluk opened her eyes.
Her long eyelashes fluttered.
“You’ve regained consciousness.”
“How long have I… Ah!”
Nanaluk tried to sit up but staggered and lay back down.
“Rest a bit more. You don’t seem to be in good condition yet.”
“No, if I’m not there now…”
“Rest. I’ll take care of any trivial matters. And from now on, please drop the honorifics when addressing me.”
“What? How could I do that?”
Even when Nanaluk was still in diapers, the Grand Shaman was a grandmother and the Grand Shaman.
“Nanaluk, you are no longer just a chieftain.”
“Then…”
“You are the Great Chieftain, or rather, the King.”
“King…”
Nanaluk gave a bitter smile.
She didn’t wave her hands in embarrassment or act flustered.
“So that’s how it turned out.”
Hob Goblin King.
She had evolved to the stage beyond Hob Goblin.
And she knew the duties that came with being a superior species.
“You’ll get used to it.”
“Where is… Ullullullu?”
“He hasn’t come out of the dungeon yet.”
Nanaluk nodded.
The Grand Shaman stood up.
“Soon, the children will come to attend to you. Please rest.”
She bowed politely and left.
The Grand Shaman’s wrinkled face was hard to read.
In her mind, the name of that snake was echoing.
‘Ullullullu.’
That snake had saved Lunga.
Croc had been a tyrannical king.
He hadn’t been proper material for a king, but the holy snake had dealt with that fake king.
Now all the goblins in Lunga believed in the snake god.
And here’s an astonishing fact.
A secret that no one would dare to guess.
‘Where did that snake come from?’
The Grand Shaman herself didn’t actually believe that snake was a god.
She never had.
Even when the disappeared snake returned.
Despite being the one who shed tears and acknowledged that snake as Ullullullu, she didn’t believe it.
It was certainly an extraordinary monster.
But it clearly wasn’t the Ullullullu from the oral traditions.
Ullullullu was black, massive enough to coil around mountains, and a true god who could command lightning.
How could that small snake be Ullullullu?
In the tribe, the strongest goblin becomes the chieftain, and the wisest becomes the Grand Shaman.
The Grand Shaman was wise.
That’s why she acknowledged that snake as Ullullullu and united the fearful tribesmen.
It was an effective method.
The Grand Shaman, lost in deep thought, turned her head.
The tribesmen were in an uproar.
It was loud enough for even her aging ears to hear.
It was coming from where the warriors had gathered.
As the Grand Shaman approached, she took a small breath.
Kadiram, the king’s younger brother, had appeared with someone.
Kadiram was also an excellent warrior, but his face was stiff with tension.
He had brought a fairy with him.
The Grand Shaman had the insight to recognize that this was no ordinary fairy, but an evil shadow fairy.
The shadow fairy scratched his head.
“This doesn’t seem to be the entrance to the dungeon.”
It’s where the warriors rest.
He placed his hand on Kadiram’s shoulder.
“…I could ask another goblin instead of you.”
“Ullullullu is in the dungeon. I can’t let you in.”
“What’s Ullullullu?”
The warriors gathered around, holding their weapons.
But the shadow fairy didn’t seem to feel any pressure at all.
“You don’t know that? It’s the holy snake god.”
“Snake god? Sounds like your local superstition.”
“He really exists!”
Kadiram, you’ve become a brave warrior.
The Grand Shaman gritted her teeth and quietly gestured.
Following her signal, the warriors aimed their weapons and bows.
“I’m not interested, just take me to the dungeon…”
“He’s an intruder! Don’t mind me, shoot!”
Kadiram had brought the fairy to where the warriors were gathered, prepared to die.
But despite his shout, the warriors couldn’t bring themselves to shoot.
Worried about hitting Kadiram, they approached with weapons drawn.
The shadow fairy sneered.
“How brave. It’s a shame your courage is wasted.”
In that moment, bright red blood spurted from Kadiram’s chest.
No, it wasn’t just blood.
The blood moved like a living snake, piercing through Kadiram’s body.
The Hob Goblin warriors charged with crazed eyes.
“Yaaah!”
“You bastard!”
One warrior dragged away the fallen Kadiram, while the others swung their weapons at the shadow fairy.
“You’re really making this troublesome.”
A unique crescent blade emerged from the fairy’s coat sleeve.
He parried the warriors’ blades with that small sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Whether it was the weapon itself that was extraordinary, or if it had been magically enhanced, was unclear.
But wherever the crescent blade passed, the warriors’ weapons broke easily.
The shadow fairy didn’t directly kill the warriors who lost their weapons.
He merely raised both arms.
The darkness in his sleeves was as black as a monster’s throat.
From that darkness, more than a dozen bright red snakes sprang forth.
Headless red snakes made of blood.
Unlike the friendly white snake, these red snakes mercilessly pierced through the warriors’ bodies.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Some tried to fend them off with broken swords, but the snakes climbed over the blades and burrowed into the warriors’ chests.
“Arghhhh!”
“Aack!”
“Gaaah!”
Agonized screams rang out in unison.
Amidst this terrifying chorus, the Grand Shaman shouted.
“Shoot arrows! Fall back and regroup!”
The warriors did as told.
Twang! Twang! Twang!
Arrows flew from various angles.
Even exceptional warriors, like Nanaluk, could at best deflect one or two.
But the shadow fairy easily blocked ten arrows.
The red snakes that sprang from his sleeves each blocked an arrow.
“You’re being annoying. I’ll keep killing until you guide me to the dungeon.”
The shadow fairy was certainly capable of doing so.
The goblin warriors who had fought and triumphed over the Croc tribe.
They were being killed one by one.
It was too great a waste of valuable lives.
The Grand Shaman had to make a decision.
Should she lead this murderous fairy to Ullullullu?
She was about to do so.
“What the hell is going on here-!”
Nanaluk appeared, wielding an axe without even wearing armor.
The Grand Shaman felt her legs weaken.
It was the worst possible situation.
Nanaluk would never forgive this fairy who had massacred her warriors.
And indeed, that was the case.
“Aaaaah!”
The enraged Nanaluk roared.
Every goblin present felt their hair stand on end and their hearts race.
That was the roar of a king, the anger of a king.
Nanaluk threw her axe.
The spinning axe flew in a straight line rather than an arc.
It tore through the air fiercely.
Whoosh!
The momentum of the axe ripping through the wind was terrifying.
Nanaluk had completed her evolution properly.
Even Croc couldn’t compare to the current Nanaluk.
The shadow fairy tensed for the first time.
All the blood snakes that sprang from his sleeves moved to block the axe.
Crash!
One snake was crushed.
Then another, and another.
When eleven out of twelve snakes had been crushed.
The axe lost its momentum and stopped.
Clang-
Ah.
Even Nanaluk’s full-strength throw had been blocked.
Moreover, the crushed blood snakes reformed and regained their shape.
Despair settled in.
“Interesting. A new king born right after Croc’s death?”
He marveled, stroking his chin.
“And a much more proper one at that. I’ve decided.”
The shadow fairy declared.
“Very well. I’ll capture you and take you with me. I’ll raise you well.”
“Shadow fairy.”
Nanaluk smiled coldly, not intimidated in the least. It was a smile of rage.
“Let’s see if you can still say that after your head is split open.”
Nanaluk charged with her axe.
But the cold sweat flowing down her sideburns.
Her body had not yet fully recovered.
The Grand Shaman closed her eyes tightly, praying for Nanaluk’s safety.
==
Ahh, I slept well!
I truly had a good night’s sleep.
And I had a nice dream too.
I dreamed of going to a buffet.
Even in the dream, I was still a snake, but I could eat human-made dishes for a change.
I was scooping up a plateful of sweet and refreshing raw meat when it suddenly occurred to me.
Come to think of it, isn’t raw meat a dish I eat every day?
I woke up just as that question crossed my mind.
What a shame, I should have eaten pumpkin porridge and kimbap too.
By the way, my favorite dishes at a buffet are raw meat, pumpkin porridge, kimbap, and rice cakes.
While raw meat is understandable, I always got scolded for piling up the other three dishes, being told I shouldn’t come to buffets.
“You’re awake!”
Pelerian’s voice brought me to my senses.
“Hehehe, you’ve finally woken up. How do you feel?”
How do I feel… Huh!
This evolution didn’t make my body bigger.
The number of my horns didn’t increase either.
I looked at my body condition and felt relieved.
‘Thank goodness! I’m still white!’
“Don’t talk nonsense about color. That’s not what’s important.”
‘Oh!’
The color of my body hadn’t changed.
But its luster had definitely changed.
Befitting the modifier ‘Crystal’, my scales had undergone a major transformation.
A snake’s scales are actually part of the skin tissue.
They are formed when the epidermis, or outer skin, hardens.
This is true for most reptiles.
Snake scales are the same.
Depending on the species, the shape and strength of the scales may differ slightly, but except for a few special species, scales aren’t that hard.
People who have touched a snake would know.
They’re generally smooth and surprisingly soft.
‘They’ve become hard!’
My scales, that is.
My current scales don’t feel like snake scales at all.
Each one is hard and smooth, and shines like a jewel.
Looking closely, they seem more translucent than white.
When light hits them, they refract into various colors softly.
They really look like crystal.
“They look just like carp scales!”
‘Not dragon scales?’
“They’re not comparable to dragons.”
Pelerian is clearly a T.
‘They look hard.’
I brushed my body with my tail.
‘Oh wow, they’re softer than I thought?’
The texture seems to have improved even more.
This time, I tried slapping the ground.
Clang!
What the?
When I applied impact, it made a metallic sound.
Does it become soft when touched gently and hard when impacted?
It’s like a dream material.
Modern material companies would drool if they saw my scales.
I shudder with pride.
Chrrr
As I do, my scales vibrate and make that sound.
Oh, it’s quite threatening.
I may not have become a rattlesnake, but I can make a unique sound.
I checked my status window.
──────────────
[Crystal Double Horn Python lv1]
[Title] Heart-eating Snake
[Traits]
[Indomitable], [Perseverance], [Horn], [Pattern], [Scales]
[Skills]
[Billy’s Horn lv4]: Heavenly Thunder Spirit lv0, [Leaping Horn lv1], [Leap of Heart-eating lv1]…
──────────────
Hehe.
The magic stone eating binge wasn’t in vain.
My magic capacity has increased enormously.
Compared to before, there’s at least three times as much magic swirling inside my body.
I think I can now use Gunter’s skill, Heavenly Thunder Spirit.
I had obtained what seemed to be a deadly skill but hadn’t been able to use it even once.
And above all.
I gained a new skill through evolution.
It was related to my scales.
‘This is amazing.’
My heart pounds just looking at the name.
I was about to try using the skill as a test.
“Let’s start the transmission now.”
Pelerian said in a serious tone.
In the previous dungeon, there was a device to transmit experimental results to Pelerian himself.
There seems to be a similar device here.
Pelerian really wanted to activate it.
It seems that would allow him to know what happened to his main body.
‘Yes, let’s do it.’
With a tense face, Pelerian explained how to operate the device.
Apparently, when we send the signal, the elves will detect it too.
The plan is to run away immediately after.
“Go!”
“Starting transmission.”
And then a noise of something operating was heard.
In the center of the mechanical device was a disc.
And the tiny metal pieces attached to that disc moved in a mysterious pattern.
“South… and east… Why not north…”
Pelerian seemed to be able to decipher its meaning.
His face became more and more serious.
“Across the kingdom… mountain range.”
He mumbled something.
Then fell silent for a while.
“…I’m dead.”
Pelerian let out a sigh.
‘What?’
“The signal is going to Delfram’s dungeon. I’m dead. Probably.”
‘I’m dead. Probably.’
That sounds like it could be the opening line of an existentialist novel.
I was about to console Pelerian.
Boom!
If we hadn’t heard an explosion in the distance, that’s what I would have thought.
We could also hear the screams of goblins.
Pelerian and I were both shocked.
‘The elves are already here!’
“How did they track us down so quickly?”
We mistakenly thought that the Golden Leaf Investigator had found us.
‘Let’s run away.’
“Gather everything!”
I swept the magic stones into my dimensional storage.
I put the most valuable ones in first, and swallowed the few I couldn’t fit.
We hurriedly opened the door and escaped the dungeon.
It seemed certain that our poor goblins were being sacrificed to the elves.
We passed through the long corridor.
Opened the iron door.
Passed through the cavern where Croc’s corpse lay.
Climbed over the bodies of many goblins and crawled up the tunnel.
Finally, we emerged into the sunlit outside.
The smell of blood hit us suddenly.
Pelerian and my worries were half right.
There was a fairy.
However, it was a single shadow fairy with ashen skin.
He was gripping Nanaluk’s neck.
The shadow fairy turned to look at me.
“Oh, there really is a snake.”
Nanaluk was dead, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
At least, that’s how it appeared to my eyes.
Ah.
The color of rage is surely black.
Because my heart had been dyed black.
And my scales too were dyed with the color of my heart.
Tsutsutsutsu-
So this is how you use it.
Even though it was the first time I used this skill, the method was easy.
This is the new skill I gained through evolution.
「Skill, Black Scales lv1 has been activated.」
Wait a moment, I’m about to become a black snake.