Chapter 49: Medusa’s Sacrifices
“Come to me… now.”
This invitation stirred a quiet commotion within the hearts of the snake people. The Queen’s order compelled them to remain silent about it, but it was only a matter of time before gossip would spread through their ranks.
It was the first time Medusa had taken an interest in a human in… at least two thousand years. It had been so long that even this information couldn’t be confirmed.
Nonetheless, only a few saw this invitation romantically.
Xanthus and others, primarily those who had witnessed Nith’s skills, believed that Medusa saw hope in Nith, that he might be someone their tribe could work with.
“Our Queen has little time left.”
“Yeah, it’d be nice for her to experience unique, forbidden love.”
“Forbidden? There’s nothing forbidden between our races!”
“I meant their status! There’s a difference between a queen and a criminal human, you know?!”
The gossip and arguments (mostly about love, especially between males and females) billowed among the snake people while Nith climbed the staircase to the upper level, where prominent people lived and exploited the nobles.
This section of the land sported buildings and items one could see on the surface. Houses similar to the three-story flat Nith lived in sprawled along both sides of the thoroughfare. An artificial sun hung over everyone’s heads, far different from the dim light under which the majority dwelled.
No speck of dirt littered the paved surfaces, and everyone here wore high-quality clothes that revealed their status. Even the slaves were dressed in maid or butler-like attire.
This made Nith stand out as an oddity, someone who clearly didn’t belong.
He still wore his black rags. Paired with the sweat he’d accumulated during his battles and the dirt from the lower floor clinging to him, he repelled and disgusted everyone, including the slaves.
Sneering at those who looked down on him solely for his appearance, he followed Medusa’s scent, heading toward her one-story house.
‘I’d rather kill myself than be someone’s slave,’ Nith’s grim stare and the condescending gleam in his eyes conveyed his thoughts.
He spat onto the spotless pathway and gestured for a slave to clean it. Without waiting for a response, he entered Medusa’s house.
“You sick?” Nith asked.
Grimacing, the violet-haired woman held her head as she sat on a comfy chair. The lines on her forehead and face showed that she’d been grimacing often as of late, which didn’t look healthy at all.
Medusa narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s your responsibility to protect my people… but you still deserve my thanks.”
“No need,” Nith replied.
He’d never admit that he felt a genuine desire to befriend and protect her people. This conflict gnawed at Nith’s heart, though he mostly blamed Kyouka and Medusa for it and didn’t dwell on it more than necessary.
Aware of his cynical nature, Medusa scoffed. “You must already be thinking of ways to exploit me. Regardless, you’ve arrived at an opportune time… in ten days, there will be a war between two alliances.”
“Ten days?” Nith asked.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that the prison’s Alliance sought a war in ten days, coinciding with the banquet for the thoroughfare’s businesses. Many nobles would participate along with The Royal Crest.
“Yes,” Medusa replied.
“Does it have to be exactly in ten days?” Nith asked.
Noticing the emphasis he placed on ten days, Medusa nodded at him and asked about it. She needed all the details for her people’s sake.
As a new addition to The Alliance, she didn’t hold as much status as the top figures, who plotted the war to break free from the dungeon’s shackles.
“There’s a banquet in ten days,” Nith said.
Medusa looked away. “Those scum… they must be betting on the strongest mage attending the banquet.”
“Have you sworn an oath?” Nith asked.
Medusa shook her head. “To humans? Never. It is my strength and the effective poisons concealed within the guise of elixirs that have elevated me here… but I… I carry this… curse of the worst poison… which limits me now…”
Nith tilted his head and smirked. “You in love?”
Out of nowhere, Medusa’s tail shot forward, coiling around him like a lasso and squeezing him to the point of nearly breaking his bones.
It hurt so much that Nith bit his lips hard enough to draw blood.
“The worst… poison… to me… is love,” Nith managed to say through gritted teeth.
Medusa howled. “Since when do you understand romance, Nightshade?! A bastard like you would deceive someone with the illusion of love just to take advantage of them!”
“And what do you know about me? You’re not the Medusa I once knew!” Nith shouted back.
Hauling him up, Medusa glared at Nith before slamming him into the wall. She then stood up from her chair and walked toward him, still holding her head.
“You must have wondered how my poisons function in this accursed world,” Medusa said, tormenting Nith with her tail. “A sacrifice. Ever since the world became immune to poisons, Medusas have practiced the act of sacrifice, turning the core of their existence into venom and passing it on to their direct descendants. Upon reaching the age of thirty, Medusas must comply with this tradition. They copulate in human form, then lay an egg and venom it in snake form.
“Understand this, Nightshade? In three years, I’ll die for my descendant. I have no choice in this. What’s worse is that this cultivation has continued for two thousand years, yet I’ve only reached The Third Grade with it! I possess only a few poisons, with the most potent one still locked within me! It’s not a matter of talent, as previous Medusas have been at the same level!”
She extended her hand and gripped Nith’s throat. “You appeared and triggered something worse within me! It’s eating me alive! I can’t continue like this! I can’t fight for my people in this condition! You shall rectify this from now on!”
