"What are you doing here alone then? Why the shackles? And what are the six bloodlines doing on the other side of the continent?" Noah kept on asking questions.
He could understand that the humans of that world had found their hope to fix their flaws in the Elite beasts. Yet, there were missing critical points in the snake's explanation.
It didn't tell him the purpose of making the bloodlines breed to increase the population, nor why they were hiding their history. He felt as if there was a more profound secret still hidden under that polite behavior.
"I've designed this castle. Unlike my brothers and sisters, I was the only one that predicted the rage of Heaven and Earth." The snake said. "If you are wondering how it's because I've been the last ancestor to transform. My form is the most perfect state achievable in the Mortal Lands."
"And that lets you predict the arrival of the Tribulations?" Noah asked at that point.
"I'm truly whole. There is a certain understanding of the world that you can obtain only from where I stand." The snake answered.
Noah didn't like that vague reply. It was hard to trust a huge, talking snake in the sixth rank when it wasn't giving him real answers about the advantages of its species.
After all, Noah's hybrid status didn't forsake any positive feature of the magical beasts' world. His strength was above any creature, and both his other centers of power had benefitted from the fusion.
He wanted answers on the actual benefits behind turning himself into a beast, and the simply improved understanding wasn't enough to convince him about that path.
"These shackles are also my creation." The snake continued since Noah had fallen silent. "After eating everyone inside the castle, I was afraid that I would fly outside to look for more food. Doing that would trigger the remains of the Worldwide Heaven Tribulation, and I can't let it focus me alone."
Noah began to have a bad feeling when he heard that, but the snake didn't give him time to think since it continued with its explanation. "You must understand that the Tribulation hit just when we successfully transformed the first human that wasn't an ancestor through my perfect procedure. There were just too few of us to survive."
"What are the bloodlines doing then?" Noah asked again, but his instincts were telling him that the situation was becoming dangerous.
However, he couldn't really escape, so he simply decided to see where that conversation would lead him.
"Well, the compound for the perfect transformation requires the mutagen of the Elite beasts and the ancestor's blood in my body." The snake said. "Yet, I could only transform one human at the time in that way. As the bearer of my heritage, I had to find a way that could transform everyone at the same time to defeat the Tribulation together and reclaim the land."
The rank 6 creature began to laugh at that point. Nevertheless, there was no happiness behind its voice. Noah could only sense deep and intense exhaustion accompanying those sounds.
The snake continued. "So, I've invented a method to keep the transformation dormant until a worthy existence triggered it. I've let the bloodlines spread the compound, and they even sacrificed their weaker assets to infect the fauna of this world. Then, I hibernated, waiting for a worthy existence to appear."
Noah's vertical pupils constricted at those words. He had finally understood why his instincts didn't manage to sense such a powerful existence.
"Can't you be the trigger?" Noah asked, but the snake slowly shook its head.
"The only way to create a chain reaction is through the roar of a transforming beast carrying the ancestor's bloodline." The snake said. "I was ready to wait until a spontaneous mutation appeared and gave birth to one of my kind, but the arrival of your forces made me reconsider that."
Noah felt the need to retreat, but the snake's consciousness suddenly enveloped him and forced him to remain still. Its aura carried a series of confused meanings that he wasn't able to understand, but he felt some of them seeping through his skin.
A warm sensation enveloped him. It was as if something had taken life inside him and was spreading its effect in his tissues.
"I've seen your curiosity as you explored our past domains. I was sure that you would have reached this place on your own." The snake said with a deep voice. "Don't worry. You will soon understand how perfect this form is, and so will your brothers and sisters."
Noah felt the cells of his body escaping his control and transforming. He was aware of what was happening to him, but he didn't have any power over that procedure.
He knew that he had been infected. Any of the Elite beasts that he had eaten in the last years could have carried the compound, and he had no way to notice it.
For once, Noah didn't blame his weakness for ending up in that situation. He had been careful in the exploration and thorough in his investigations. There was nothing that he could have done to avoid that outcome.
After all, even God's Left Hand didn't notice anything inside the mutagen. Those plots had always been outside of Noah's power.
That acceptance didn't mean that he wasn't angry that the snake was transforming him without his consent. Yet, he couldn't help but being curious about that perfect state now that he couldn't avoid the transformation.
Noah felt an intense surge of energy filling his body and forcing him to transform. Then, a splitting pain enveloped him as cracks appeared on his skin, muscles, and bones.
The energy inside his dantian became unstable as the compound began to affect his other centers of power, and even his mental energy started to tremble under its influence.
His skin became darker and clear lines appeared to divide it in the form of scales. His muscles and bones enlarged as his size grew. It reached a point where Noah felt more comfortable standing on four legs rather than on two.
Noah's focus was on his mental sphere during the procedure. The transformation was applying immense pressure on its wall, and its insides were a mess. He wasn't in a situation where he could keep track of the changes in his body.
His mouth enlarged, and scales began to appear even on his face. Then, Noah felt an urge impossible to contain.
Noah lifted his morphing head and released a cry toward the ceiling of the hall, which lit up and began to vibrate in tune with his roar.
The castles on the rest of the continent lit up too and trembled in the same way, creating a copy of Noah's roar in the process.
The Flawed humans didn't understand what was happening, but the echoes of Noah's cry awakened the compound inside them. Only the Elite humans knew about that plan and accepted the transformation willingly.
As more roars filled the continent though, dark clouds formed in the sky.