Chapter Fifty-One
(Location: The dungeon)
The world held its breath in a silent, tense moment.
The serpent, anticipating its demise, waited for the fatal blow. But as seconds turned into minutes, it began to doubt.
Why had it not felt the piercing sting of the blade? What had just transpired?
Muichiro looked at his loyal companion, his eyes reflecting his confusion and curiosity.
'Why did Pii stand in the way...it could have been hurt, the serpent was trying to kill me and it...so why.'
He questioned why Pii had chosen to stop him at that crucial juncture.
His katana remained unsheathed, poised to deliver the final strike to ensure the serpent's demise before it could regenerate once more.
Pii, with a sigh of relief, turned toward the serpent and gently placed its head on the gem, a brilliant light radiating and then fading.
Suddenly, the serpent, initially braced for death, began to hiss and sputter, its confusion palpable.
"(?_?)... Hiss..." The serpent's confusion only deepened.
"Is Pii trying to communicate with the serpent...and it seems to be responding."
Muichiro watched the perplexing scene unfolding before him, still ready to strike should the need arise.
Pii's chirps and the serpent's hisses filled the air, an odd conversation that only they understood.
The serpent's battle-hardened eyes, once filled with animosity, transitioned to shock, then a curious kind of relief.
Muichiro, still uncertain, met its gaze with a thoughtful expression. Pii watched their interaction, curious about what would transpire next.
Pii, with its endearing, wide-eyed innocence, seemed to be waiting for Muichiro's decision.
And in that gaze, Muichiro found an unexpected sense of trust.
"..."
The snake then stared into Muichiro's eyes once again.
Though this time there was something different about the way those eyes looked...
Muichiro, after a prolonged silence, made his decision. With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the sharp rocks that had pierced the serpent's body, signalling an end to their violent confrontation.
The serpent right after had also started to quickly heal and before long its body was again attached to its head.
He sheathed his katana, and Pii, filled with excitement, buzzed around both of them.
The serpent, having survived the ordeal, watched the trio with a conflicted expression, its eyes betraying uncertainty and curiosity.
It made no further attempts to attack and instead slithered under the bridge, allowing Muichiro to pass.
"Piiiiiiiiii...pii, pi..."
With Pii leading the way, Muichiro ventured further, the massive serpent following at a distance, an unexpected new companion on this strange trip.
Before long, they stood before a colossal tree, nearly 30 meters tall, hidden in the depths of this dungeon floor.
Pii, with its small form, pointed at a hollow beside the tree and darted inside, Muichiro not far behind.
Meanwhile, the serpent lay on the soft grass outside, closing its eyes as if it hadn't just faced the precipice of its own demise.
.....
Muichiro found himself in a small, hidden room at the end of the mysterious hole.
The walls seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly light, casting an eerie glow over everything within.
The room was almost surreal in its beauty, and its centrepiece was an exquisite floating gem that hovered at its centre.
Pii, his ever-cheerful companion, darted around the gem excitedly, almost as if beckoning Muichiro toward it.
As if guided by Pii's instincts, Muichiro cautiously approached the floating gem.
It pulsed with a light, casting intricate patterns on the room's walls. Pii chirped excitedly, clearly convinced that there was something special about this gem.
Following Pii's unspoken instructions, Muichiro reached out and took hold of the gem.
The moment his fingers touched the gem's surface, a strange sensation washed over him. It was as if reality itself was shifting, and he found himself transported to a different realm.
Suddenly, Muichiro stood in a place that felt all too familiar. He was in Moon's realm, the tranquil domain of the enigmatic goddess and his caretaker.
The surroundings were bathed in the soft, silvery glow of moonlight, and he could feel the gentle caress of a cool breeze.
Moon herself stood before him, her expression serene and mysterious as ever. She didn't speak, for her words often transcended verbal communication. Instead, she conveyed her thoughts directly into his mind, a familiar presence that felt like a warm embrace.
"Muichiro," she whispered, her voice like a gentle breeze rustling through leaves. "You have come far but there is more to discover, more to learn. Remember, the path you tread is not solely yours. It is intertwined with the destinies of others...I am so proud of you...oh and please tell the children I said hi Fufufufu~"
'Children!!!...'
Her cryptic words hung in the air, and Muichiro was confused.
He wanted to ask her what she had meant by that, but before he could...as soon as the vision had begun, it also ended.
Muichiro's surroundings blurred, and he was jolted back to reality. The gem, which had been the conduit for his vision, had vanished, leaving only the room behind.
Pii, who had been flitting around the gem, didn't appear confused or concerned.
Instead, it chirped happily, almost as if it had expected this outcome. Without hesitation, Pii darted out of the room and back into the narrow hole that led to the outside.
Muichiro was about to follow when he heard a soft whisper, barely audible, right beside his ear.
"Huh...what was that sound just now, it almost sounded like a person."
He turned to look but found the room had expanded behind him, and no longer was it empty...and there was something that had now confirmed one of his theories of this mysterious dungeon floor.
....
Pii, now outside the hole, looked back with a puzzled expression, wondering why Muichiro hadn't joined it yet.
But Muichiro eventually stepped out of the room, leaving the hole behind.
He approached the serpent, who had returned to its slumber, seemingly unfazed by the recent events.
Muichiro bowed his head slightly, a gesture of respect and goodbye from where he hailed from.
"Hisssss!!"( Translation - Hmph!! What are you still doing here, I'm taking a nap so go away already.)
The serpent responded with a lazy and sassy hiss, before closing its eyes once more.
"..."
With Pii at his side, Muichiro walked toward the colossal hollow door-shaped entrance in front of the immense ice wall that seemed to stretch on for miles.
Without a second thought, he stepped through the door, finally leaving the mysterious floor behind.
But as he crossed the threshold, that familiar sensation of drowsiness enveloped him once more.
The world around him blurred and shifted, and before he could comprehend what was happening, everything went dark.
...
That Serpent won't be a one-time special monster. It will play a pivotal role in the future.
Another thing, take it as a hint, that was nowhere near the serpent's true strength.
If any other adventurer had gone against that serpent even the strongest in Orario Ottar, he would only have around a 20% chance of defeating the serpent.
I wonder if anyone will ever be able to guess why that is...
(Serpent Picture)