Chapter 46: Sixth Title / Your Friend
Medusa stood atop her apartment block, overseeing her training grounds where her people practiced skills on thick logs.
Training with her people, and surprisingly catching her eye, was Nightshade—the bastard who had hurt her tribe in more ways than one. He was an existence her ancient predecessor detested to the core.
That hatred flowed through Medusa’s blood, bones, and soul, up to the very core of her being, for reasons she couldn’t disclose to common people. Along with those feelings, however, coursed her own emotions.
Medusa grabbed her head. “Your hatred mellowed out and saved him… cease disturbing me. You too, and you as well… and me… and me!”
Clenching the rail, Medusa twisted her face and glared at Nightshade from afar. There was a considerable distance between them, and one needed good eyes to see him and the other snake people, so her troubling feelings hadn’t reached him.
Unaware of the turmoil of emotions billowing within Medusa’s heart, Nightshade kept practicing with the others, his spearmanship evolving in a way even the old spear master had never seen before.
At the same time, a sense of camaraderie genuinely sprouted within him. The snake people had been supportive and friendly, regardless of his race.
It could be because of Medusa’s approval, and Nith hadn’t lost that part of himself to think she didn’t lend him a hand. But he could also see that these people had significantly changed over the years.
In the past, the snake people had their natural enemies and went toe to toe with countless clans and tribes. One could say they were like most clans, but the tribe never closed their gates to players and were even interested in genuine trade businesses.
When their edge had been dulled, the snake people became exposed to new dangers and realities, which shaped them differently.
Nith didn’t care much about that, though.
Even if the snake people were cowards, he would have helped them regain their strength and confidence.
Now that they were friendly, he needed to sharpen their fangs and enable them to stand their ground.
His abilities had been quite limited in prison, and Medusa hadn’t seen him for four days. Lacking a lot of information, he simply succumbed to training with the others, which he liked.
He could see the direction that suited him.
He felt something swelling within him.
However, a single thing kept him at bay.
As he thrust his spear, trying to discover that element, the commotion outside compelled Nith to turn his head. He saw a group of at least twenty humans entering the territory of the snake people, weapons clenched in their hands.
The way they carried themselves spoke volumes about their personalities.
“Yo, snakes,” the man at the helm spoke, “Just because your queen whore rose to the top of the hierarchy of our alliance by selling herself doesn’t mean all of you can rest on her laurels. Get your asses to the mines.”
He licked his lips.
Xanthus held the reins of his feelings. “I don’t know what kind of quest you received from the nobles, but we won’t do your bidding.” His stoic countenance crumbled. “And for slandering and insulting Our Queen, you’re dead!”
All the snake people rushed in as soon as Xanthus shouted at the humans. Their legs morphed into snake tails, driving them straight into the group.
Expecting this outcome, the other side brandished their weapons and clashed with them.
Sounds of steel clashing echoed, blending with grunts. The metallic odor spread across the training grounds, and the first victims from both sides dropped limp. It became quite a mess, one that everyone at the scene was used to—except a single person.
Nightshade.
Within that raging tornado of conflict, Nith felt an abundance of something he hadn’t experienced much of—killing intent.
Though invisible, it weighed far more than everyone combined. Oppressive and suffocating, the ocean of killing intent drowned everyone, and only those used to it could face one another.
At its shore, Nith stood still, his face blank.
The adventurers he had killed didn’t even come close to this thick murderous desire. Those people abided by adventurer rules and humanity, which didn’t put them in many situations where they had to kill others.
They were, however, decisive when it came to sacrificing outsiders. They had sold this human part of themselves to protect their friends and each other and went so far as to call it common sense.
Until now, killing others or thinking about killing brought a complex array of emotions to Nith. Kyouka called it a part of his humanity, and he treasured it as much as he could.
But… there was that damn “but”!
‘I don’t want to revert… back to when I didn’t have any skill… when I was such an asshole that I considered getting rid of The Sanctuary’s Blessing.’ Nith closed his eyes. ‘But the adrenaline truly fills me up when I step in and spit venom. Where I do things my way… this fucking battlefield… lacks my venom!’
He held the snake people up to Kyouka’s standard of humanity. When the battle unfolded between them and others, Nith’s principles took over him.
As he opened his eyes, he stood behind Xanthus.
Across from the snake man was the leader of the opposing force, wielding a cutlass. He wore steel armor, but none of it mattered to Nith, who thrust his spear between the gap underneath Xanthus’ arm, slithering his spear into the man’s abdomen.
The spear’s head tore through the man’s liver, then parted into two blades like a snake widening its jaw. It was so wide that the liver was cut cleanly in half. From the golden blade now shaped like a snake’s jaw, Eclipse Venom poured out in a gas form, turning every cell and organ into a source of strength, weakening the man and strengthening Nith.
The spear’s unique skill, though it had only cut once, did fatal damage, further weakening the man’s immune system and speeding up the venom’s invasion.
“A… human…” the leader whispered… “fucking… bastard.”
As the connection Nith had been yearning for finally bridged him and his spear, Nith widened his lips, coming across as a grim reaper.
“Yeah… that’s it… we both should spit venom and freely reach our enemies,” Nith said as he felt his spear ushering Eclipse Venom.
[You have obtained a new title—Venom Virtuoso’s Instruments (F)]
Once Nith pulled his spear from the man’s abdomen, a fountain of blood geysered onto Xanthus. Standing confused, he looked over his shoulder as the man fell to his knees, noticing Nith.
Nith now stood beside him, glaring down. “Feel it, Xanthus?”
“I-is that…” Xanthus asked, stuttering.
Nith licked his lips before rolling a bullet onto his tongue.
He spat onto the man’s pale face and replied, “Yeah… it’s poison. An effective one. I also have one that everyone on our side can exploit. Those who fell to their weapons can still be saved. Gather them at the backline and take this.”
With a sleight of hand, Nith conjured vials of potions.
He handed them to Xanthus.
Meanwhile, he exuded Black Haze, both from himself and his spear. It took only a blink of an eye for Nith to cover most of himself in the black cloak of darkness.
“Are… you… the reincarnation of Serqet?” Xanthus asked, terrified and bewildered.
Nith glared at him over his shoulder. “Don’t sell me short… or insult me like that. I’m Nightshade…” He twisted his face, which made him seem like a herald of death within the dark mist… “your friend.”
“Oh… g-glad to hear that, really,” Xanthus blankly stared ahead, his lips and hands shaking, nearly dropping all the potions onto the floor.
As the Black Haze billowed like smoke from a nuclear bomb, the other snake people started realizing how impressive it was. It obscured their vision so much that they had to rely on their forked tongues for a change.
Which was quite a welcome change overall.
Nith’s voice resounded across his domain. “I may not have a leash on my neck yet… aka the marriage ring, but my bitch is compassionate and lovely. As much as I dislike a few of her choices because of it, this bitch is mine. So let’s do her a favor and kill only the stubborn fucks who dare challenge us in my space.”
As if the Venomous Queen herself had given the command, all the snake people nodded in agreement, their forked tongues hissing within the dark cloud, tasting its unique particles and locating enemies much better than with their eyes.
Holding his spear tightly, Nith walked toward a brave idiot who didn’t value his life, still shouting slurs at the snake people and calling them cowards.
It was Nith’s turn to test the extent of his spearmanship!
