Allsnake and Tyrant
‘There seems to be some disturbance in the holy city today.’ Leylin looked at the sky. The sound of a piercing alarm could be heard, but he ignored it as he continued to water his garden.
‘According to my plan, those serpents contaminated by gluttony should have reached this place. It seems like the guards have discovered something,’ Leylin was unhurried, busying himself with his own matters.
In reality, with all the time that had passed gluttony had already permeated the Serpent Plains. This epidemic wouldn’t disappear unless the plains were completely destroyed. That was how certain Leylin was of his own work.
With a push on his end, the original power of gluttony on the plains had become unstoppable. The large amount of giant high-energy snakes, combined with this terrifying power that made use of food intake to break through, created a horrifying effect that exceeded even Leylin’s expectations.
‘With this speed, perhaps even those rank 5 or 6 creatures won’t be able to avoid being contaminated by the power of gluttony,’ Leylin’s lips quirked up in a smile.
Even a rank 6 snake nest on the plains had no choice but to run away or be consumed by their gluttonous desires, and ultimately consume others or become fodder. There was no other way out.
As for the Snake Dowager? She might an incredibly powerful rank 8 being, and the dignitary who ruled over the Hail Continent, but the Sovereign King of Gluttony, Beelzebub, was no pushover either. As a being who was equally at rank 8 and someone who had grasped the laws of gluttony, he ended up discovering the Purgatory World and making use of his power to take over the whole plains.
Now, it was too late even if Beelzebub decided he wanted to halt the war with the Snake Dowager. After all, as an invader, how could he give up such a huge, splendid area in the Hail Continent?
Consequently, unless the Snake Dowager were to abandon the entire holy city and hand over the Serpent Plains, the two of them would not be able to come to an agreement.
If she chose to give in and gave up the plains, it would be an invitation to share rule over the Hail Continent. This was equivalent to slowly committing suicide, which was obviously unacceptable. It was foreseeable that the conflict between them could only increase in intensity.
The earth trembled, sending pebbled jumping around on the ground. A ball of coiled snakes that was like a star rose above the skies of the holy city.
“It’s the Matriarch! The mighty Holy Mother!” In that moment, the residents of the holy city all began to pray. Leylin appeared to be doing the same, but on the inside he was raising all of his defences.
*Rumble* Like an earthquake or an erupting volcano, a conscient that was extremely terrifying began to spread in all directions, with the sculpture at the very centre of it all. Leylin could sense the Snake Dowager’s immense fury from the terrifying wave. The other free residents could only lie on the ground, trembling.
‘The laws the Snake Dowager has grasped... Are they of bloodlines, serpents, or reproduction?’
Leylin seemed to react the same way as his surrounding neighbours, even looking more devout than some of them. However, he was inwardly attempting to trace the source of the Snake Dowager’s laws through her conscient’s undulations.
‘It seems to be the mix of a few. There’s also a trace of darkness.’ His astounding knowledge, coupled with the A.I. Chip’s tremendous database, allowed Leylin to somewhat identify these laws.
‘The Snake Dowager is terrifying. Not only does she grasp multiple laws, but she has already begun to refine her comprehension of her laws and fuse it with the law of shadows to form an entirely new law...’
The realm of rank 8 was naturally superior to rank 7, where only one law had been grasped. From this wave, Leylin had pried into the path that she had probably taken.
‘Rank 7 Magi have to grasp the powers of a single law, but in order to grasp multiple laws, rank 8 beings have to attempt refining them?’ Leylin stroked his chin, ‘Then what about rank 9 Magi? The legendary most powerful realm of all? Does it mean containing all laws in one body and trying to create something more powerful?’
A murky understanding seemed to dawn on Leylin’s mind. The Snake Dowager’s path might be wrong, but her actions still gave Leylin, who was going in blind, a great enlightenment.
‘Let’s leave that aside for now. The Snake Dowager must have discovered the contamination from the power of gluttony, but I still don’t know how Beelzebub will react.’ Leylin watched the battle from the shadows.
“I am the Snake Dowager, source of all snake bloodlines.” The ball of snakes uncoiled, revealing the charming face of the mother of all snakes. Every strand of hair represented an astounding amount of power that caused the air to distort.
While she was transmitting her will, Leylin abruptly felt the Snake Dowager launch a probing force even more powerful than before.
‘Seems like she still has yet to give up on finding me. Or, has she guessed that I’m the one behind all this? But even if she has noticed it, what can she do?’ Leylin snickered.
He was now using an obvious scheme. Using the Purgatory World and the Allsnake Plains as bait, Leylin had attracted Beelzebub over. And, as long as he had the desire to take over this world, Beelzebub would never reach an agreement with the Snake Dowager.
Beelzebub had previously suffered great losses under Leylin’s hand, and nothing would change this fact even if they had a common enemy in the Snake Dowager.
In their eyes, Leylin was merely a tiny bug that could easily be pinched to death. Why would they pause their conflict to work together and attack him?
This was reality. As long as there was a victor, either side would have no problem dealing with Leylin later. This situation gave Leylin the amount of time he needed.
“Purify!” The eyes of the Snake Dowager held benevolence and compassion as she spread her arms. Holy golden rays of light rained down in every direction, with the holy city at the heart of it all.
Bits of a dark red liquid were repelled from the roots, water sources and even pores of some giant snakes, and then neutralised by the golden rays, turning into pure water droplets.
‘The Snake Dowager of the Shadow World has such knowledge on light-type purification spells? As expected of an ancient being who has lived through the ancient war. She has no weaknesses...’ Leylin’s pupils shrank as the the A.I. Chip recorded the information, trying to simulate the limits of her power.
While the A.I. Chip couldn’t really tell how much power an existence like the Snake Dowager had, just having a vague idea was still helpful for Leylin.
Under the golden holy light, the region around the holy city was completely purified. The area continued to expand all the way to the depths of the Serpentes Plains.
Watching what should be a worrisome scene, Leylin’s eyes glinted with delight, ‘It’s a pity. If I was the only one behind this, just a few purification processes by the Snake Dowager would save the Serpentes Plains. However, there is someone else who lords over the power of gluttony.’
At this very moment, a strange happening occurred with a loud crash!
Large amounts of the dark red contaminated liquid that should have disappeared began to boil. The red motes of light converged and formed a huge ball of red light that soared into the air like a bloody moon.
“Hail to master Beelzebub! You are the Sovereign King of Gluttony, the child of original power, the master of everything in this world.” A resonant praise that held traces of insanity began to echo in the holy city, striking the Snake Dowager’s holy light display.
“This feeling... you’re...” The Snake Dowager’s enraged voice was heard from within the holy light, before it was drowned out by large amounts of crimson lightning.
The crimson lightning looked like long lines that danced in the air, tearing out cracks and revealing huge terrifying spatial rifts.
Two webbed hands with seven fingers each pressed on the side of a rift, causing it to roar as it expanded. There seemed to be a terrifying existence at the other end of the spatial crack trying to squeeze in.
“Ha, Beelzebub! You can’t endure it anymore? That makes sense-- a place where the World Will is this chaotic must be heaven for you.”
Leylin laughed as if he had the upperhand. With the temptation of a huge world lacking a will, Beelzebub decided to take the risk. Even if this wasn’t his real body, it was at least a clone with 50% of the strength of the real body. For Beelzebub, the losses incurred if he were to fail would cause his main body to be severely injured and enter a deep sleep, or he could possibly die. It made obvious his intentions.
“You dare trespass on my territory? Do you attach any importance at all to the treaty of alliance, which has been in place since time immemorial?” If Beelzebub was full of determination, then the Snake Dowager was full of fury. After all, anyone would be in a foul mood if they were relaxing at home and someone else just decided to barge in.
While the Snake Dowager fired her questions, the golden holy light seemed to transform. A layer of darkness appeared like a huge web, vast and layered, dispelling the crimson lightning out of the holy city.
After being challenged by someone of the same rank, the Snake Dowager finally showed her true strength.