SML Ch 49

Chapter 49

“Everyone, get down! Grab the railing tight!”

No sooner had Reynald shouted than the surface of the water began to shake violently, and something surged upward. The impact was strong enough that it wouldn’t have been surprising if the boat capsized on the spot; everyone screamed and clung desperately to the vessel.

Even amidst the chaos, Reynald raised his head and glared at the sudden intruder. At first, it was difficult to make out through the crashing waves and spray, but once the water settled, Reynald was able to discern its identity.

‘That’s an Orthros Serpent!’

Was such a monster really dwelling in this lake? That thing wasn’t merely a top predator—it was on an entirely different level. Reynald felt his jaw drop in disbelief.

What emerged from the water was a massive white sea serpent, easily dozens of meters in length. Its body was covered in hard, snow-white scales, with bluish, mane-like fur running down its back. Its neck split into two at the top, each side bearing a separate head.

Though the two heads made it vaguely resemble a hydra, it was, in fact, an entirely different species. Of the hydra’s nine heads, eight are little more than venom-breathing vents rather than true heads, but the Orthros Serpent had no relation to poison; both of its heads were fully functional and possessed distinct consciousnesses of their own.

The Orthros Serpent was far closer to a white dragon than to a hydra—more accurately, it was “a being that had yet to fully ascend into a white dragon.”

“Sir Reynald, that monster…!”

“Prince Arun’s intuition was correct. It had been concealed because its color blended with the sands at the lakebed!”

While such words were being exchanged, the Orthros Serpent lifted its gaze to the sky and let out a piercing cry. As if responding to its call, the sky—until moments ago clear and tranquil—darkened abruptly, pitch-black storm clouds sweeping in from every direction.

Rumble… Thunder, more akin to a beast’s roar than a natural sound, boomed overhead as the clouds released a torrent of rain. The once-serene lake now churned violently, transformed into a storm-lashed sea.

“My lord, what do we do? Should we retreat for now?”

“Retreat is impossible, Alex! With this downpour, there’s no escaping the lake!”

“But at this rate, the boat will capsize and we’ll all end up in the water!”

Alex shouted, his face pale with terror, yet fortunately the boat seemed unlikely to overturn so easily. Though the storm-tossed waves rocked them precariously, the craft was surprisingly well-balanced, merely swaying side to side rather than flipping over entirely.

“There are only two ways out of this—we either defeat that thing, or calm it enough to drive it back beneath the lake!”

Reynald shouted as he seized one of the giant crossbows mounted at the boat’s edge for monsters of this size. To expect a few bolts to actually bring down something so massive might have been hopelessly optimistic, but it was better than doing nothing at all.

Even as he prepared for battle, Reynald couldn’t help but think how absurd this was. Why was the creature suddenly rampaging now, after having remained dormant for the past six days?

Then, the serpent’s right head narrowed its golden eyes and fixed its gaze on something. It took the others a moment to realize where that savage glare was directed—straight at Volant.

“Volant, look out!”

Hearing Serna’s cry, Volant instinctively tried to move, but it was already too late. A tail shot out of the water, snatching him up in an instant. He was yanked into the air like a fish hooked on a line, pulled toward the serpent’s right head.

At first glance, it looked as though the creature meant to devour him. But Reynald immediately understood what it was actually trying to do. Ordinary dragons could communicate directly with humans, but the Orthros Serpent, not yet fully evolved into a dragon, lacked that ability; it couldn’t even properly comprehend human intentions or behavior. As a result, they resorted to rather unorthodox means of “communication.”

Reynald’s eyes darted to the transparent, jelly-like orb affixed where the two necks joined—an organ reminiscent of the one he’d seen atop the demon-octopus monsters.

Its purpose was almost identical: an organ that allowed different entities to temporarily merge and share consciousness.

“Volant! My lord, Volant’s been absorbed by the monster…!”

“It’s not trying to eat him—calm yourselves!”

Volant slammed straight into the jelly’s center. He struggled frantically to break free, but soon went limp, as though unconscious. Reynald soothed a panicking Lyndon while looking up at the creature.

The left head continued to emit strange cries skyward, while the right head gazed calmly down at the boat.

It seemed the right head bore the “rational” consciousness. In Orthros Serpents, one head typically embodied aggression and emotional volatility, while the other maintained peace and relative emotional stability.

Moments later, the right head opened its mouth and spoke. The voice it used was identical to Volant’s.

[You humans.]

So that’s why it took Volant—Reynald quickly pieced it together and nodded. The serpent was reading Volant’s mind, mimicking his language and thought patterns to communicate. This was the simplest and most efficient method of cross-species conversation.

Leaving Volant trapped inside for too long might prove dangerous, but this was still better than outright hostility. If the serpent possessed reason and had a purpose for surfacing, perhaps dialogue could prevent bloodshed and send it back below the waters…

But the next words it uttered were utterly incomprehensible to them.

[Are you allies of the intruder who came last year?]

“What?”

Last year? Intruder? Reynald and the others exchanged bewildered looks at the nonsensical accusation. Yet the right head continued speaking.

[It’s clear most of you aren’t from the western village. A few of you might be, but the majority are outsiders, aren’t you? Then I’ll ask again—are you comrades of that intruder? Was stealing half my brain and ripping off all my scales not enough, that you’ve come to take even more?]

Half its brain… and its scales? Reynald had never heard anything like it. But upon closer inspection, the serpent’s heads did indeed appear far from intact compared to the others Reynald had seen.

Its pale skin beneath the scales had initially concealed the damage, but many of its scales were patchy or missing entirely, and its heads were nearly bare of fur. It looked as though it had been brutally attacked.

The wounds had healed somewhat, but unlike the hydra, Orthros Serpents lacked exceptional regenerative abilities—its scale-less patches remained like bald scars. The bitterness in the right head’s otherwise measured voice made it clear how severe the injuries had been. Still…

[I ask you again—why have you come here?]

“We don’t understand what you’re talking about! Intruders? This is the first we’ve even heard of them!”

[Don’t lie to me!]

Serna shouted frantically, but it seemed futile. The serpent showed no sign of accepting their answer; it was as if it had no interest in their explanations at all.

Worse still, the right head wasn’t their only concern. As it seethed with bitter accusations, the left head ceased its strange cries toward the sky and turned its gaze upon the humans clustered at the lake’s center.

Compared to the furious yet restrained right head, the left was unnervingly primal. Its eyes gleamed with pure hunger and curiosity.

Fresh prey—rare prey. Not the same demon-octopus it had devoured countless times before, but peculiar, fascinating creatures from the dry world above. Ten delectable morsels making strange noises.

Its thoughts were obvious in its stare: Play with them. Tear them apart. Feast.

Knowing they had to glean as much information as possible before the creature attacked, Reynald raised his voice.

“Wait! Give us time to grasp what’s happening!”

[……]

“To summarize—you’re saying someone invaded this lake last year, attacked you, and stole your scales and part of your brain? Then why assume we’re their allies? And why confront us only now, after we’ve been here for six days?”

[Because you’ve just now scattered that intruder’s trace into this lake. Did you think I wouldn’t know?]

That intruder’s trace? Reynald’s mind leapt instantly to the necklace Volant had dropped moments ago. That was the only plausible explanation.

Could it be that the necklace belonged to the intruder the serpent spoke of? Though its enchantment had long since expired, faint residual mana may have lingered—mana the serpent, attuned to magic and sovereign over these waters, would detect the moment it touched the lake.

So all of this happened because of that necklace the intruder dropped in the field?

It was the only explanation that fit. Whether the serpent would believe it was another matter entirely…

But before Reynald could respond, control seemed to shift to the other head.

[…We’ll eat them.]

The familiar voice of the young man twisted into a grotesque, drawn-out snarl, forming nightmarish words. This was the left head speaking now, its mouth curling into a manic grin.

The right head closed its eyes, tacitly permitting the left’s madness, while the left head’s crimson eyes blazed and its maw opened wide.

[Eat them. Tear them apart. Rotten bastards. Rip them to shreds—punish them until they’re on the brink of death…!]

With a deafening roar, colossal water columns erupted on all sides. There was no longer any room for dialogue. Gritting his teeth, Reynald loaded a bolt into the monster-hunting crossbow.

Footnotes

• Orthros Serpent (오르토스 서펜트): A two-headed serpent species distinct from the hydra, with each head possessing an independent consciousness. Considered an incomplete form of the mythical White Dragon (백룡). 
• Demon-Octopus (악마문어고기): A monstrous aquatic creature previously encountered by the party. Its biology includes jelly-like organs used for parasitic or symbiotic fusion. 
• Fusion Jelly Orb: A recurring magical-organic structure used by monsters like the demon-octopus and Orthros Serpent to merge with other beings temporarily, often enabling cross-species communication or control.