Chapter 22 – Snake Den (4)

The two demons did not show any expression for a moment.

Their faces froze like plaster statues. Eyes raised high and lips sealed in a straight line.

They looked ready to remain still even if a fly buzzed past their eyes.

Chuckle.

Suddenly, the Serpent Lord laughed. The corners of his mouth parted slightly. No, they grew larger. The laughter also grew louder.

“Hahahahaha.”

Sam, who was standing next to him, also giggled. The sound, coupled with the pouring rain, sounded quite bizarre.

With a flash, thunder also rumbled. The silhouette of a reptile wriggled in the shadows of the Lord and Sam.

Watching the two burst into wild laughter, Veloc thought, ‘Are those bastards laughing because they feel embarrassed now that their identity is exposed?’ Had some time passed? The Serpent Lord, who had been sobbing with laughter to the point of tears, stopped laughing abruptly.

“Seriously… this is fun.”

His voice lowered, and his tone also changed. Wiping the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief pulled from his bosom, the Serpent Lord grinned widely. Tooth-like jagged teeth gleamed menacingly inside his mouth. His pupils were also vertically slit.

The creatures were gradually throwing off their human masks.

“Judging by what you say, you seem to have come knowing. Have you tasted it? It’s tender. A delicacy, I say. Especially, I like the chest area. And a female at that.”

The Serpent Lord sucked his finger while looking at Adel. Sam was also drooling, saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth.

“You dirty demon bastards!”

Clang!

Unable to endure any longer, Adel, receiving the gazes of the two monsters, drew her sword. Veloc also stood up.

The conversation was over. There was no particular information to glean. If he had known it would be like this, he would have beaten them down from the beginning.

Now, only one thing remained: level up time. As if realizing something from Adel’s words, a gleam of interest appeared in the Serpent Lord’s eyes.

“A demon? Ah, I see. I wondered why two heavily armed knights came all the way here. Did you hear rumors that I practice cannibalism? To hunt a demon and elevate your honor? Well, condemning me as a demon based on just that is a bit of a stretch.”

“No, you are a demon.”

“How can you be so sure— kegh.”

The Serpent Lord could not finish his words. It was because the crossbow in Veloc’s hand spat fire.

Veloc did not bother to speak long. The church’s disaster, the town’s rumors, and his own skills—all circumstances told him those guys were demons.

We’re going to fight anyway. Why talk so much.

As the arrow lodged in his mouth, the Lord’s head snapped back. He swayed, his arms hanging loosely.

“My Lord! Kegh.”

Sam also screamed, but an arrow lodged in his mouth. It was because Adel had fired her crossbow.

“Is it over?”

Holding the crossbow, Adel asked with a slightly nervous look. Veloc shook his head. He had already dealt with a demon. He knew their tenacious life force and immense strength.

“There’s no way they would be caught so easily.”

“Hehehe. You know well.”

Crack, crack—

With the sound of cracking bones, the Serpent Lord’s head returned like a roly-poly toy. Gaping his mouth, the creature reached out and pulled the arrow lodged in his throat all the way out. Subsequently, he snapped the arrow shaft using only his grip strength.

“Your greeting is rough.”

Sam also was chewing and eating the arrow whole while moving his mouth.

At the sight of the two monsters engaged in bizarre behavior, Adel’s eyes shook here and there.

Her body did not move as she wished. It felt like being a sheep standing before a wolf.

‘What on earth is that… Did Lord Veloc deal with something like that in Roben?’

She swallowed hard.

“…”

“Look at that. Aren’t they indeed demons.”

Unlike the frozen Adel, Veloc drew his sword with a relaxed attitude. What kind of absurd wordplay was the monster trying to pull?

The giant greatsword, Butcher, was gripped in Veloc’s hand. Simply by drawing the sword and resting it on the floor, a vibration resounded with a thud. The Serpent Lord clapped while sitting in his chair.

“Oh. Is that the sword that cut six humans into pieces at once? Indeed, it’s worthy of your confidence. It is amazingly crude.”

“It is also a friend that will send you guys to your dead subordinates’ side.”

“Haha. I look forward to that.”

Despite Veloc’s sharp, cold momentum, the Serpent Lord was still relaxed.

He did not think a mere knight, who was not a priest, paladin, or spellcaster handling miracles, could kill a demon.

‘No matter how giant his sword is, it is merely a blade.’

Moreover, he is a human. If it’s a greatsword of that size, he will tire after swinging it a few times. Not to mention the speed.

Because there is a limit to human strength.

Veloc did not like the Serpent Lord’s arrogant appearance. A monstrous fellow who thought of humans only as prey, as if he were a predator.

‘I should turn him into a handful of experience points.’

Having resolved, Veloc raised his greatsword. The Serpent Lord casually flicked his finger.

“Do not kill him, Sam. The Master says he will use him as a new vessel.”

“Understood.”

Sam, who grinned, had his belly swell like a tadpole. Soon, as he opened his mouth, snakes, easily numbering in the dozens, poured out like whips.

Swoosh—

The waves pouring out with their tongues flickering were quite threatening.

“Adel! Be careful not to get caught up in it!”

“Y-Yes!”

As Veloc shouted loudly, Adel, startled, reflexively raised her sword and shield.

An action completely opposite to her brave appearance so far.

But Veloc understood his squire’s frightened state.

Because unlike him, who received help from skills and stats, she was an ordinary human.

She could feel fear at the appearance of the demons.

Everything is hard at first. If he taught and guided her, she would do her part excellently in the future.

“Watch my battle with the fellow closely. I will teach you how to deal with a demon.”

Veloc charged forward. His armor clanked, and the stone floor rumbled. Soon, taking a giant step forward, Veloc rotated his body and swung the greatsword.

Sam’s eyes gleamed. He was faster. He intended to bury him before the guy’s sword could reach.

At that moment, Veloc clenched his teeth and added power to his grip. The monstrous strength enhanced by stats exploded even further.

Then Veloc’s speed grew faster.

Whoosh—

The greatsword, with sufficient acceleration added, flew in like lightning. Boom! Along with a roaring sound, the snakes Sam spat out were sliced away all at once.

“What?”

Sam was flustered as his tongue was cut off in an instant. He had guessed the destructive power of that heavy greatsword.

For if centrifugal force was added as much as the heavy weight, it would exert enormous power. But… the speed was the problem.

‘He swings that so fast? Just how strong is he?’

Sam was flustered, but soon gathered his wits and mutated his body. It seemed he had to do his best.

Instead of soft skin, dark scales that deflect even steel sprouted. Claws and talons that could smash stones also grew, and his neck began to stretch out long.

“Kyaaargh!”

Sam, who discarded his human mask and became a complete monster, howled. The creature stretched out both arms. Then, his arms, stretched like rubber, shot toward Veloc. Two points extending in an instant.

Sam targeted the gaps in Veloc’s armor. Places easy to penetrate, such as underarms, gaps in the helmet, or joint connections.

Sam’s claws flashed sharply. But Veloc was relaxed. Supporting the side of the greatsword with his remaining hand, he thrust it forward like a shield.

A crude charge that could only be done with a greatsword as large as a human body. Sam’s arms bounced away like broken flowers.

But far from being flustered, Sam bared his teeth and grinned.

“Got you! Kyaaargh!”

Sam’s neck also stretched out in an instant, and his sharp fangs headed toward the nape of Veloc’s neck. Seeing the dark poison overflowing, it seemed he would definitely not see a good end if bitten.

Veloc watched that with indifferent eyes. He already knew the physical characteristics of a snake creature.

If so? He also anticipated that it would bite if things went wrong.

Even though the monster’s fangs targeted him, Veloc responded calmly.

Veloc threw his head back and executed a headbutt. Clang! With a metallic ringing sound, Sam’s head bounced away.

“Kegh.”

Jagged teeth fell in showers. Receiving a massive impact, Sam shook his head. But just before he could recover,

a huge shadow cast over his head. Sam, groaning in pain, forced open his eyes that would not easily open.

Then he saw a chunk of iron falling like an arrow. Too crude to be called a sword, and quite sharp to be called a mace…

Crunch!

Sam died, turned into meat paste without even leaving a final scream. Boom! Butcher, which did not lose its force even after crushing Sam’s body, shattered the innocent stone floor. Fragments soared into the sky, and the demon’s flesh scattered in all directions.

The black-haired knight who accomplished this. Veloc panted slightly. And resting the sword on his shoulder, he tilted his head.

“This is how you hunt them, Adel.”

“Fuck… what is this.”

The response came from the Serpent Lord. So flustered was he that his reptilian eyes, which had looked only disgusting, were wide open. The posture of leaning his elbow was also slackened.

Feeling confused, the Serpent Lord blinked his glass-like pupils and organized his thoughts.

Swung the sword once. Sam mutated. Took a headbutt. The sword swung again. Sam died. Literally ended in the blink of an eye.

A conclusion was reached. That is not a human.

“…A monster?”

The Serpent Lord stammered. Veloc scoffed.

“What is a demon bastard talking about?”

“Lord Veloc…”

Adel was also looking at Veloc with a dumbfounded expression. Then, as if suddenly snapping out of it, she clenched her teeth. She clenched so hard that her gums bled. Adel bowed her head deeply.

“Please execute me.”

“What?”

“How dare I… far from assisting my master, I was shivering in fear with my tail between my legs… I have no qualification to be a squire! I am ashamed!”

Asking to have her throat cut just because she got a little scared. Veloc was rather flustered by his squire’s extreme action.

‘This Medieval Land-style way of thinking is incomprehensible at times.’

But it was much better than shivering in fear. Veloc lightly patted Adel’s shoulder.

“This doesn’t seem like the situation to discuss this. We’ll talk again after the battle is over.”

“Understood.”

Adel gripped her weapon with shining eyes. Her momentum was extremely menacing. The figure that was trembling in fear just a moment ago was gone.

At the appearance of the two knights, the Serpent Lord forgot his dignity from earlier and slightly stepped back. At that moment,

the door of the hall slammed open. Due to the commotion that occurred upstairs, the Serpent Lord’s subordinates had come up.

Their number easily exceeded twenty.

“My Lord! What on earth is— gasp.”

The subordinates were shocked that the two knights invited as guests had drawn their swords, and were surprised again at the monster corpse crushed in the corner.

Finally, they were surprised once again when the Lord, who had always gripped them with untouchable fear, welcomed them passionately.

“Oh. Welcome, my loyal swords. These fucking wanderers dared to threaten my life. Help me defeat them.”

“My Lord…?”

“Hey, is that really the boss?”

The subordinates murmured among themselves in confusion. The Lord, who randomly killed people and ate human flesh if things went wrong, was making such a dazed expression? That was like a face looking at a savior.

Did he dislike his subordinates’ reaction? Or was it anger over his compromised dignity as a demon?

The Lord distorted his face. And he pointed his finger at Veloc and Adel.

“Kill them! If you do, I will bestow pouches of gold! No, I will give you gems!”

The effect was superb. Fire instantly caught in the subordinates’ hearts, and greed dwelt in their eyes.

The creatures charged, brandishing their weapons.