A Snake’s Life Ch 101

Chapter 101

Zerpell’s eyes curved gently as he smiled, and I lowered my head in guilt. Looking around, I noticed that even the building had collapsed because of me.

[Master, I’m sorry. I even destroyed the building…]

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault.”

[Still… I almost hurt you too. On your cheek…]

I didn’t know what kind of wound it was, but a small scratch on his cheek caught my eye.

“This doesn’t even count as an injury.”

Zerpell dismissed it as nothing serious, but to me, it felt like a big wound… Huh? Wait a second? I lifted my previously downcast head. Zerpell was still looking up at me. When I stared at him wide-eyed, he asked what was wrong.

Yeah. Something did feel strange…

[Master. Can you… hear me?]

Even though Zerpell could usually understand me, it was only to a certain extent. But just now, it felt like we were actually having a conversation, as if he understood exactly what I was saying.

Startled, I asked, and Zerpell smiled with his eyes and said,

“It’s nice to be able to talk.”

Zerpell nonchalantly stroked my body. Well… it felt good, sure… And if we could talk, that would certainly be a relief for me. Smiling brightly, I said,

[Now that we can communicate even with me in snake form, I guess it’s okay for me to stay like this longer.]

The only inconvenient part about being a snake had been not being able to speak. Everything else about it was fine, so I rubbed my face against him as I spoke. But Zerpell’s hand flinched.

[Master.]

“No, I prefer you in human form.”

[Why??]

“I like it when you fit perfectly in my arms, when I can hold your face and keep your gaze locked on mine. Of course, looking up at you like this is novel and enjoyable too.”

He spoke with a seductive smile at the corners of his eyes… and my face turned bright red. By the way, if he could hear me, then there’s a chance others could too, and above all, he could hear everything I said, right??

Trying to avoid Zerpell’s gaze, I glanced blankly toward the emperor’s party, who looked dumbfounded. See, look at those speechless expressions. The emperor’s face, in particular, was flushed with alternating shades of red and blue like a goblin crawling out of hell, and his expression was crumpled like a wrinkled sheet of paper. I bet he’s about to yell any second now—

“Crown Prince!”

Didn’t even get the chance to bet before he screamed. The emperor glared at Zerpell with venomous eyes, then shot a death glare at me. Could it be because I destroyed the capital…?

“Messenger, what in the world is going on here?”

[……What do you mean?]

“Are you saying you’re going to pretend you don’t know what’s happening right now? Can’t you see the people suffering because of this rain?”

I looked around. People were standing around trying to avoid the rain… but wasn’t that just because they didn’t want to get wet? What exactly was the problem with the rain? And besides, the one who brought the rain was the pope.

That ominous divine relic still hovered above.

Come to think of it, someone said earlier that I was the only one who could stop this rain, and that if I didn’t hurry, something terrible would happen. As I raised my body high, I heard Zerpell’s voice calling me from below.

The divine relic, which had been humming ominously, began to visibly tremble. It looked like it could explode at any moment. And that prediction proved true. The energy of the snakes that had entered the divine relic had condensed to the point of bursting and then scattered in all directions.

[Master!!]

Instinctively, I wrapped him in my tail. The first to notice something wrong were the knights in standoff. They had been fighting with swords, and raindrops began to fall on their exposed hands.

Like a burn from the intense heat of a carriage wheel, red blotches appeared where the rain touched. The attendants rushed to shield the emperor with the carriage, and the knights, like the commoners, scrambled to avoid the rain.

Ignoring Zerpell’s pleas, who was tapping on my body asking to be released, I wrapped my tail tightly around him to form a barrier so not a single drop would reach him. I don’t know if I had built up resistance or if it was because we shared the same source of power, but it didn’t affect me much. The damage only seemed to affect humans.

Frantically, I searched for the pope. I shouted at the pope, who was being carried away by a paladin.

[Hey, hey!! Wake up! You’re the one who did this!!]

But the pope was unconscious. The paladins were too busy escaping to hear me. I cursed internally over and over. This whole situation was baffling. The divine relic looked like it was about to shatter, and the voice earlier warned that disaster would strike if it wasn’t stopped.

Meanwhile, the emperor kept screaming, waving his finger around like a madman. No one was paying attention to him.

[Shut up!!]

When I let out a thunderous roar, his mouth finally closed. My voice echoed loudly through the air.

[Be quiet! You’re driving me crazy!!]

“Th-that…”

At my outburst, the emperor clutched his throat and staggered backward. His attendants cried out in alarm. The emperor was supported by his knights. The rain was falling harder and its nature was starting to clearly change.

“Shuiren, step aside.”

[No! You’ll get hurt!]

As Zerpell tried to step forward, I panicked and blocked him. That’s because I could clearly hear a faint hissing sound—something was melting. Even the rain shields weren’t entirely safe. Buildings looked like they were about to collapse, as if they had been dipped in acid. I didn’t tell Zerpell, but the rain was beginning to sting even me. It was as if the rain meant to destroy everything that stood in its way.

[This is something I have to do…]

It was good that I had resolved myself, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

What am I supposed to do about this?! The water god told me to shatter the divine relic, but… can I really break it?

The emperor took shelter, looking horrified, and spoke to me in a voice heavy with exhaustion.

“Are you really trying to destroy the Empire? Are you saying it’s the god’s will for the sanctuary to burn…?”

As he watched everything melting under the rain, he spoke in a hollow voice. I was startled by his words and snapped my head toward him. His desolate expression and muttered words didn’t seem like lies.

The sanctuary will burn? Then what about the water god?? I thought the water god was asleep in the sanctuary’s lake!

I had been thinking of calling the water god if it came to it, but now my face turned pale with fear. Swallowing hard, I looked around. I took Zerpell to the safest-looking building I could see nearby. Inside were Casa and the others who had evacuated earlier.

As soon as I released Zerpell, Casa rushed over.

“Are you alright?”

But Zerpell’s eyes never left me. His face was stiff. His clenched fists trembled as if he was blaming himself.

Despite the stinging pain making my eyes twitch, I smiled and said,

[I’ll be right back.]

“There’s nothing I can do to help…”

I blinked blankly.

[That’s not true. Just being here gives me strength.]

I moved further away from Zerpell. As everyone watched, I stood alone under the pouring rain. I gazed silently at the divine relic rising into the sky. Just moments ago, that power had been inside me.

Tapping the ground lightly with my tail, I leapt into the sky. Then I opened my mouth wide and bit into the divine relic. I tried with all my might to break it, but physical force wasn’t enough. The solid relic wouldn’t budge, and instead, my jaw just ached.

In the end, I couldn’t shatter the relic and fell to the ground in defeat. Clutching my aching jaw, I saw the relic crack after someone shouted a warning.

If I wasn’t mistaken, a very small dagger had flown in from afar and pierced the relic precisely. That voice just now sounded very familiar. When I looked down, I saw Zerpell in a posture that looked like he had just thrown a sword. I smiled at him.

‘You said there was nothing you could do…’

Once the relic shattered, all the power inside it burst out. I swiftly stretched my body long and wrapped the falling fragments with it, shielding those around. Like a mother hen protecting her eggs, I enclosed the shattered pieces with my body. Not long after, I heard the water god’s voice.

[…Sorry I’m late. It took time to gather strength. You held on all by yourself.]

[Water god?]

[Yes. You truly fulfilled your role well. Now, leave it to me.]

I felt the water god taking over my body, and gradually, the center of consciousness shifted from me to the water god.

When Shuiren opened his eyes again, his once pomegranate-red pupils were gone, replaced by dazzling golden ones.

And as Shuiren rose, his body lifted into the sky. Around his nose were long whiskers, antler-like horns sprouted from his head, and sharp claws formed clearly on his feet.

As he breathed deeply through his nose and stretched his coiled body, the shattered divine relic returned to its original, unbroken state and floated in the air. The relic now glowed with the clear light of the sea, as if it had never been corrupted.

And as if there had never been rain, the dark clouds vanished and sunlight poured down. People slowly began to emerge.

“Messenger…?”

Voices of confusion spread at the drastically changed appearance, and as Shuiren soared through the sky with the relic held in his mouth under the sun, the sight was divine. One by one, people began to kneel. Even the emperor stood there, mouth agape, staring at Shuiren.

[I’m glad you’re safe.]

It was not a voice spoken aloud but one that resonated in the mind. And more than anything, the tone and voice were clearly different from what they had heard earlier from Shuiren.

The first to recognize the water god was the pope. Ironically, the one seated highest in the church was the closest to the water god. Awakened by the immense stir of divine energy, the once unconscious pope rose.

“Water god…?”

At the pope’s whisper, everyone looked up, and even the high-ranking priests who had reached a certain spiritual level could feel the divine presence.

[Children.]

But the water god’s tone was deeply sorrowful. Those who noticed the disparity sensed it in themselves. The guilty priests naturally grew solemn. Perhaps because God was right before them, some were even in tears.

[The child did so well… It’s thanks to him that I was able to appear like this.]

If Shuiren hadn’t existed, this manifestation would never have been possible. His very existence was an exception in this world.

[You have suffered greatly… Come now. Let us go together.]