Chapter 52: Expected
When Nith was about to be devoured alive, a snake tail suddenly manifested beside him and slapped away the plunging enemy, saving him in the process. At first, Nith thought Medusa had lent him a hand, but the color of the tail was green.
He looked to the side, noticing that a foreign army of snakes had mixed with the others.
It was such a bizarre sight that he stood still, observing how new allied forces cleverly coiled around the enemy snakes, turning themselves and their foes into knots.
More and more allies appeared on the battlefield. From various angles, the allied snakes sneaked up and knotted themselves with Nith’s enemies, then simply plummeted to the ground, forming a stalemate Nith would never have imagined here.
It never crossed his mind that… there could be allies!
Even Medusa opened her eyes wide at this development.
“What is the meaning of this?” Medusa, sitting on the throne close to the oldest one, asked in a high voice that reached every Medusa who had turned their backs to them.
In response, a harmonious wave of laughter, dripping with seduction, filled the scene. It came from various Medusas who sat on the thrones behind Nith and Medusa.
These were women closer to Medusa’s generation than to the oldest one. Their armies hadn’t attacked the pair, only faking their march and waiting for the older generation to make contact first.
Why? Simply because their mindset was much closer to that of the current Medusa than the old one.
They could see the flaws in their sacrifice… but lacked a certain trait and factor to put a stop to it.
“You could say that… we have never known about Nightshade until today,” one of the Medusas replied before walking closer to Nith and Medusa.
Another smiled and spoke as she closed the distance with the pair. “While you’ve been muddled by our ancestor’s hatred, we connected to the current Medusa’s heart, for we, too, have been searching for a way to stop this act of sacrifice.”
“Its burden… and weak incentive has infuriated me ever since I could think for myself,” a striking woman said as she approached Nith and wrapped herself around his arm. “But this opportunity cannot be passed up.”
Nith momentarily lost himself in her sultry smile. His view was interrupted as other women pressed against him. From the back, front, side, and even below, every queen of her generation extended her hands toward him.
The enemy Medusas stared at this shameless display in shock.
It truly was shameless to behold…
“Ah, your countenance is like venom… it captivates me so much,” said quite an old Medusa before sneaking her tongue into Nith’s mouth, savoring him.
Another one caught his face and pulled her away from him, sealing his lips and tasting him. She savored an equal amount of his saliva, which tasted better than any kind of poison she had drunk in her prime.
As Nith couldn’t move because so many of them pressed against him, he felt like he was on a silver platter.
A part of him didn’t mind it at all, as he was a man who had fought against an army of snakes, drunk on adrenaline and testosterone.
Had he not been a virgin, he would have allowed the woman clinging to his crotch to take off his pants.
That said, he owed that one to Kyouka for all she had put up with him. Besides, Medusa, the one to whom this battlefield belonged, would never allow an orgy within her heart!
“Have you all lost your minds?!” she shouted, peeling Medusas away from Nith.
“No! Cease this at once! I haven’t kissed him yet!”
“Same goes for me!”
“I’ve never felt genuine love in my life! But Nightshade, I just want him! It’s love at first sight! Allow me to live this moment!”
“You’re dead! Literally dead!” Medusa screamed, pulling horny women away with all her strength.
On the other side, all the other Medusas turned their eyes toward the oldest one. Despite the commotion, her absentminded face remained unchanged. Though nothing seemed to have shifted, her gaze carried more weight.
Nith sensed that.
He freed himself from the other women and said, “I’ve come this far to talk with her. Enough horsing around. Don’t bother me.”
“…”
He walked away from the group of women and headed straight to the oldest Medusa’s dais. No snake barred his way, including those resting on the dais. He climbed up with decisive steps and soon faced the woman he had hurt in the past.
Various words appeared in his mind, but only one left his lips.
“Sorry,” he said.
She looked up and slightly narrowed her eyes. “What hurt me the most was you running away from me. It had never been about monuments. You never returned to me and then disappeared from the world after Serqet’s defeat. I could never accept that, even when you introduced yourself to my descendant, which awakened me along with the rest.
“Through my descendant’s eyes, however, I witnessed how you’ve changed. I wouldn’t be The Queen Medusa if I also couldn’t change at the last moment, would I? Therefore, I’m comfortable telling you this much.
“But… I can’t accept your apologies. Many factors were beyond us, but you always could have returned to me and mended your misunderstanding. Or simply apologized to me. But that must never have crossed your mind, as you never looked at me the way you did at players. We, residents of this world, were too alien to you. The time with you, however, was the best of my life. I could see the hints of your true self, the one that people around you appreciated. It pains me that I was never meant to be with you, but I accepted it.
“Asking anything from you would be too much, but I hope you’ll always treasure the person or whatever changed you. Life is not only about profit or poisons, Nightshade. We, Queens, have a strong affection for our people. One that does not make any sense. What about you?”
With a faint smile, the oldest Medusa turned into violet particles that slowly disappeared from Medusa’s heart.
One by one, the rest followed suit.
Meanwhile, Nith stood in his usual way, hunched and with his hands in his pockets.
He stared at the empty throne with a long face.
One that looked grimmer than his usual one.
But one that would make anyone close to Nith embrace him.
