Chapter 180

Amelia opened her eyes in an unfamiliar place.

It was completely dark as if it were night, with no traces of human presence whatsoever.

Old broken chairs and withered leaves rolled across the dirt-covered floor of what appeared to be a place built long ago.

She suppressed her dizziness and sat up. Right nearby, Russel was similarly collapsed.

The moment she tried to wake him, Amelia felt her leg was strangely heavy and looked down.

A white snake had coiled around her left leg once and was raising its head.

She almost screamed involuntarily but barely held back, remaining still so as not to provoke the snake as she observed the creature.

Red, round eyes, a thick and long body as wide as her forearm, white scales that stood out even in the darkness.

She couldn't tell whether it was venomous or not, but the fortunate thing was that the snake wasn't hissing aggressively.

The snake seemed to think her leg was a warm log.

Right, reptiles were basically cold-blooded animals... Amelia moved her foot slightly, and the snake swayed a few times before sliding down from her leg, apparently disliking the movement.

As the snake slowly crawled across the floor and disappeared into the darkness, Amelia let out a sigh of relief and crawled over to Russel.

"G-get up. Wake up!"

"I didn't hear correctly...?"

"This isn't th-the time to talk in your sleep! We've been dr-dragged to a strange place. Do you kn-know where this is?"

Russel mumbled incomprehensibly in a half-asleep state, then bolted upright at the word "dragged."

Looking around frantically, he muttered bewilderedly.

"Where is this?"

"That's wh-what I want to ask. I'm c-certain there was a very l-large snake before I p-passed out."

"A large snake."

Russel repeated Amelia's words, then opened his mouth wide as if suddenly remembering.

"That's right. The snake swallowed us! Snakes suddenly swarmed from all directions, and when I turned around in surprise, it was right there... It was a snake. An incredibly huge snake!"

"Did the sn-snake move us h-here?"

"That's how it appears from the circumstances. I don't know why though. This isn't where the snake stores its food, is it?"

Getting goosebumps at those words, Amelia looked around the darkness once more.

"Wh-whether this is a snake food st-storage or somewhere else. The f-fact that we need to escape d-doesn't change."

"I agree. Let's look for an exit."

The two left the room while constantly watching their surroundings.

Passing through an arched doorway with no door and entering a wide corridor, they encountered snakes crawling across the floor.

Some snakes were wary upon seeing the large feet, but most snakes just hid in the shadows and moved quietly.

Russel and Amelia watched the bizarre scene for a moment, speechless.

Amelia muttered.

"The sn-snake kingdom."

As she said, the owner of this building was not humans but snakes.

The snakes were organizing traffic smoothly as if they were intelligent humans, clustering together or climbing over each other.

There were so many that when the movements of individual small snakes combined, it looked like a massive flow writhing all at once.

Amelia and Russel moved along the edge of the corridor, careful not to step on any snakes.

"My lady, do you know this?"

"Wh-what?"

"According to creation mythology, snakes bite the heels of humans who step on and kill them."

"D-don't say such things at a m-moment like this."

After passing through the snake-filled corridor, the two looked around the area of the building they had reached.

A floor packed with small bedrooms, a huge dining hall, a broken chapel and confessional booths, as well as underground kitchens, laundry areas, and wells for maintaining daily life.

Russel closed the well cover where water snakes were leisurely swimming and said.

"This looks like a monastery."

"There sh-shouldn't be a monastery of th-this scale in the west."

"No, there's exactly one I remember. I heard that some viscount family and minor nobles built a prayer house long ago. But prayer houses are fundamentally different in purpose from monasteries, aren't they?"

"I suppose m-monks couldn't stay here."

"Right. The role of a prayer house is to allow ordinary people to live short-term, distance themselves from the secular world, and develop deeper faith through prayer. But there isn't much transient population in this western countryside, and it's not like people would deliberately seek out a mere prayer house. I heard it was eventually closed when people stopped coming."

"Th-then this is that pr-prayer house?"

"It's not a prayer house certified by the Central Temple, but yes, that's right."

A prayer house that had been empty for a long time.

It was quite a comfortable environment for suspicious beings to hide. So they must have made their nest here.

Amelia asked Russel.

"We n-need to find the exit of the pr-prayer house. Since th-this is the living space, it's pr-probably the innermost part of the prayer house."

"That seems right. It would be best to retrace our steps first. It would be ideal if we could get blueprints to understand the general structure."

"Let's l-look for them on the way back. There m-might be guide signs."

The two retraced their steps back to the corridor they had passed through.

The corridor was still dim and gloomy, with arched doorways continuing on both sides.

Were there other people captured like them in the rooms connected to the corridor?

Thinking she should take a quick look while passing by, Amelia casually stepped into the corridor.

However, Russel's arm blocked her path.

"S-sir?"

"I don't think we should go in."

Russel still spoke gently, but Amelia could sense the alertness underlying his voice.

He said.

"There are no snakes."

Russel was right.

The snakes that had been swarming in the corridor until just now had all disappeared without a trace.

The reason was unknown. However, she had a strong premonition that if they rashly entered the corridor now, something irreversible would happen.

When Amelia and Russel slowly stepped back.

An ominous wind blew from the darkness beyond the pitch-black corridor.

[Come here...]

[Before me, do not fear...]

"S-sir."

For a moment, Amelia thought she had fallen into terror and was hearing hallucinations.

But Russel also drew his sword and whispered.

"Don't answer. Absolutely not. As long as we don't know what that is, we must avoid contact as much as possible."

The moment Russel said that, the voice in the darkness responded.

[Do you not know who I am? You, little lamb standing there. You treat me as a blind person treats light, as a deaf person hears voice. Come closer, pitiful one. Greet me with your two eyes and true praise.]

"I do not know you, evil spirit. Cursed demon sitting in a snake's den."

[Do you deny me? The doubt you harbor covers the eyes that behold truth, leading you down the thorny path of falsehood and lies. Look at me. Look at me standing here.]

"I have no time to give to demons!"

[Just as the shadow beneath your feet is not wicked, so am I. Deception takes the radiance of light and appears as the most tempting red fruit. Pitiful one, I shall have mercy on you who are blind...]

Russel's jaw hardened firmly.

Amelia thought she heard the sound of teeth grinding.

"I do not know from what hellish pit you crawled out, demon. But I swear by the name of Him to whom I pray, you will not draw me out with your cunning tongue!"

[Do not be shaken by illusions. He cannot be your god. Your god is a hypocrite who succeeded in deceiving all humans from behind idols, the greatest of demons who hastens human destruction.]

A nation facing its end.

Russel's sword made a clanking sound. Amelia noticed that the tip of his sword was slowly, gradually lowering.

Things were going badly.

"S-Sir Russel!"

The following voice became even more earnest.

The voice that sounded like hissing wind gradually became more stable and regained strong persuasive power.

[To those who will not see and will not seek, truth becomes snowflakes in summer, a lamp before a typhoon. Look at me. I am your most powerful ally, an army descended from heaven. The last goodwill protecting you at the end of times. You, my child. Your sword should rightfully be wielded for your neighbor.]

"That can't be."

[Little child who fell from the apple tree, did the snake frighten you so? The snake merely stayed in the tree where it belonged. Just as you climb trees to play, the little snake only wished to do the same. Put away misunderstanding and resentment, and love your neighbor and fellow creature.]

"But then the priest said that snake was dangerous-"

[Lions have teeth, eagles have claws, and humans have weapons made of iron and steel, so snakes have poisonous fangs to protect themselves. If that is originally the snake's nature, O you who hold a sharp weapon, what do you fear?]

Russel was now definitely looking at the darkness lurking beyond the corridor with a confused face.

He hadn't lowered his sword, but it was also true that he wasn't as wary as before.

Amelia grabbed Russel's shoulder and said sharply.

"D-don't fall for it! Anyone c-can say such things! Don't sp-speak anymore and we need to f-find another way-"

[You, pitiful one. One who destroys yourself and has the will to rise yourself.]

The voice addressing Amelia became as gentle as a spring breeze.

The moment Amelia heard that voice, she strangely thought it resembled someone she had known for a long time.

The voice speaking to Russel hadn't been like that at all. Somehow, this voice was like when she first met someone when she had just arrived at the ducal residence...

[Though you did not come of your own will, did you not return to the ruins you love? Did you not kindle and nurture flames in the ashes once again? Do you still regret it? But how can the heart that cherishes and cares for your master be the same as the heart that loves and cares for your lover?]

"Be qu-quiet! Shut up when you d-don't know anything!"

[Do you seek to repay because your sins are deep? Where sin points, there is nothing. Foolish one, you live like a mayfly crushed by the shadow of a vanished existence.]

"No, no!"

[Love is patient, love is kind, love does not boast, yet you already turn away from love. That your love is shallow is not your fault, and that the karma you created binds you is your nature. Return, woman. Atone in the prison where you lived.]

Amelia's vision turned completely red with anger.

She knew that the being beyond was luring its prey.

But that tongue was the snake's tongue from mythology.

The evil tongue that seduces people and drives them to despair.

She unconsciously took a step toward the corridor.

Russel was also about to take a step in a different sense from her.

At that moment, another voice, cold as ice, flew like a dagger from another place.

"I thought I'd listen to some nonsense for a moment, but I can't stand it anymore. The one who should atone is you."

Quiet footsteps sounded.

Heavy yet never noisy, regular sounds.

Amelia turned around.

Leandros was glaring at the other side of the darkness with cold eyes.