Chapter 73: Mate
Everyone fell silent at the Snake Queen’s unexpected words.
Well, the only ones present were the Bird King and me.
“What… what did you just say?”
The strange lips of the human-faced bird trembled.
It reacted as if it had just heard something unbelievable.
In contrast, the Snake Queen replied with an indifferent expression.
“I said he’s mine.”
Swoosh.
As she embraced me once again, she cast a subtle glance my way.
Even an idiot could understand.
The Snake Queen was pretending.
For some unknown reason, it seemed like she was provoking that Bird King.
Those eyes were telling me to follow her lead.
“Graaah…”
I put on my best performance.
I let out a pitiful whine, like a child complaining to their parents.
Mom, she hit me.
It was hard to even call it acting since my emotions were so deeply invested.
“Graaah…”
I tried to look as pitiful and annoying as possible, acting as though I was savoring the Snake Queen’s touch.
Since I was a spirit body, there was no direct contact.
If someone looked closely, they would just see me rubbing my body against thin air.
However, this was enough to achieve the Snake Queen’s goal.
“How dare you… how dare youuu!”
The Bird King couldn’t contain its anger.
It seemed like an overreaction, but I was glad the Snake Queen’s plan was working.
“You wretch! How dare you and that woman!”
Its reaction was a bit strange.
Ever since the Snake Queen claimed me as hers, the Bird King had lost the overwhelming aura it had displayed before.
Could it be that the Bird King had a crush on the Snake Queen?
And the Snake Queen kept fighting because she didn’t like him?
No way.
Though I couldn’t deny that it felt a bit like that, there must be another reason I didn’t know.
“I cannot forgive this… You dare to humiliate me?”
When I first saw its face, I was filled with indescribable fear.
It was so strange and grotesque that it couldn’t be considered human.
A mythical monster I couldn’t hope to confront.
That was my first impression of it.
But what about now?
Its face was even more grotesque than before.
With the human-faced bird’s head sticking out of the cockatrice’s corpse, this was even more repulsive.
But I wasn’t afraid anymore.
This was just a being that got angry and jealous like anyone else.
It was weaker than I had thought.
“Why are you so angry, Bird King?”
Tight.
The Snake Queen’s spiritual pouch tightened around my head.
Even though I was an incorporeal spirit, I could still feel the energy coursing through me.
“Actually, I should be holding you accountable for touching my mate.”
The Snake Queen drove in the final nail.
Mate, she said.
Right after uttering those words, her face twisted strangely, as if her physical body was being relentlessly attacked by Shikshik.
“Mate?”
The Bird King asked in shock.
“You… you… you….”
The human-faced bird stuttered so badly it was almost pathetic.
“You’ve truly gone mad… taking such a youngling as your mate….”
“What does age matter?”
“With that despicable face… that deceptive appearance….”
The Bird King mumbled.
It seemed like it was trying to convey something to me about age and polymorphs.
As if I would fall for that.
“Graaah.”
The Snake Queen is the best.
I took a posture as if I was nestling into the Snake Queen’s spiritual pouch.
“Do you enjoy it that much?”
…No, you told me to act.
This is just acting.
“…Snake Queen, you’re nothing like the being I once knew…. You’ve changed so much….”
The Bird King glared at the Snake Queen with venomous eyes.
“You haven’t changed at all.”
The Snake Queen smiled softly at me.
“Heh heh…”
The human-faced bird let out a sly laugh.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, sharp feathers shot out from the cockatrice’s corpse like spikes.
Of course, their target was my head.
I couldn’t move in my current state.
But I wasn’t worried at all.
“How pitiful.”
Thud!
The moment the Snake Queen narrowed her eyes, the feathers that were flying toward me turned to stone and fell to the ground.
“Kaechalgoatal (愾拶古鴉奪). That must be your limit.”
Kaechalgoatal?
Kaechalgo.
Kaechal….
…Quetzalcoatl?
Was the human-faced bird actually Quetzalcoatl?
Now that I think about it, it didn’t make sense for a mere human-faced bird to be on par with our Queen.
“Stop worrying about my mate and just leave already.”
“This is my territory… You’re the one who should leave… If you go back, then that lizard….”
The Snake Queen scoffed.
“If you could have moved, you would have done so already. Did you really think I wouldn’t know that?”
The Snake Queen took care of the last lingering threat.
It might seem reckless for a deity of snake worship to act this way, but I was growing more interested in the Snake Queen’s religion.
“This time, I’ve won. Now, stop talking nonsense and take that filthy body of yours back.”
Flash!
One of the Snake Queen’s eyes glowed again.
Crunch, crackle!
Before the Bird King could say anything, the human-faced bird’s head and the cockatrice’s body turned to stone.
The cockatrice was originally a monstrous bird that wielded the power of petrification. It should have had some resistance to it.
But it seemed that the Snake Queen had no trouble turning it to stone using just her spiritual energy.
It made me realize just how lenient she had been when she first met me.
Crunch.
The cockatrice’s corpse crumbled into dust.
The human-faced bird’s traces disappeared as well.
There was only one thing this meant.
[Your level has increased.]
I had finally defeated it.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
….
An enormous number of level-up messages appeared.
This was the reward for defeating the cockatrice.
I had worried that the kill would be credited to the Snake Queen, but thankfully, it seemed that the system recognized me as the one who took it down.
Crunch.
The body that had turned to stone was now completely restored, and my HP and MP were fully replenished.
Haaah.
I almost died.
So this is what it feels like to have your body in perfect condition.
My level had skyrocketed, making my body larger than before, and somehow, my mind felt clearer.
“Have you fully recovered?”
“Graaah!”
Thanks to you.
The Snake Queen looked at me.
Her expression was a bit colder than before.
“Graaah…?”
“Didn’t I tell you to go find clues?”
I instinctively knew.
She was about to scold me.
“Graaah….”
I carefully observed the Snake Queen’s mood.
“What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t intervened?”
Well, I would have died to the human-faced bird.
“Graaah.”
“And you still acted that way, knowing that?”
I tried to look as pitiful as possible.
“Do you think your body is truly yours?”
Maybe if I showed her my injuries, she might feel sympathetic.
But I had fully healed after leveling up.
I closed my eyes tightly.
The Snake Queen’s punishment awaited me.
But given my accomplishments, it wouldn’t be too harsh.
Maybe just a brief petrification.
However, what came from the Snake Queen’s mouth was quite different from what I expected.
“…Well done.”
The Snake Queen gave a small smile as she praised me.
If the Snake Queen had a status window, she would probably have received a message by now that my faith had greatly increased.
“Graaah!”
“I want to scold you, but you’ve brought results beyond my expectations, so I have nothing to say.”
The Snake Queen reached out as if to pat my head.
Although she couldn’t touch my head since I was a spirit, we could at least pretend.
“Graaah.”
“You managed to take down the Gogaduri Beast and even harmed the Bird King.”
The unstable form of the human-faced bird I had just seen.
It seemed that simply eliminating it had dealt a blow to its true body.
The Snake Queen smiled kindly.
“Did you see the expression on its face? It felt like a hundred-year-old grudge was being lifted.”
Don’t most people say ten years?
The Queen’s age….
No, let’s not have disrespectful thoughts.
I shook my head vigorously to erase any thoughts about the Snake Queen’s age.
She looked at me, as if something had just come to mind, and said,
“Ah, I had promised you a reward.”
“Graaah!”
Elixir!
“Since you’ve accomplished so much, I’ll give you an even greater reward than promised.”
Even more elixirs!
“Heheh. You can look forward to it.”
…You mean elixirs, right?
“Ah, make sure to bring me the Gogaduri Beast’s core instead of consuming it right away.”
I widened my eyes and stared at the Snake Queen’s spirit.
But that’s something I earned!
“…What’s with that grumpy face? There’s a way to absorb its core more effectively, and that’s why I’m asking.”
Smile.
I knew I could trust you.
“Hmmm…. It seems it’s time for me to return.”
The Snake Queen’s spirit began to fade.
“Even though this is its territory, it won’t be able to harm you immediately.”
The Snake Queen had even taken care of
the aftermath.
“However, staying here for too long won’t do you any good. The entire jungle has probably become aware of you after that battle. Though, I doubt many would dare to challenge someone marked by the Snake Queen.”
A lizard endorsed by the Snake Queen.
That’s who I am now.
Unless someone was foolishly brave, they wouldn’t dare attack me.
Who would, after seeing the death of the cockatrice, a subordinate of that monster?
Of course, there might be other minions, so as she said, there’s no point in lingering around.
“I’ll be going back now. I have to talk with my daughter and prepare your reward.”
How precious must the elixir be for you to prepare it?
“Oh, and the princess is also preparing a gift for you, so you can look forward to that as well.”
Shikshik is?
Is Shikshik also preparing an elixir for me?
“Heheh. I’ll head back first, so return once you’ve finished what you need to do.”
With those words, the Snake Queen’s spirit vanished.
What I need to do, huh?
First, I should deal with those humans.
“Graaah….”
With the dignified cry of a Komodo dragon, I began to walk forward.