Second Evolution
Waaah!
That wasn't childish whining.
It was the sound effect of me fiercely biting into the chimera's body.
I felt my venom gland tighten sharply.
I had injected every last drop of neurotoxin stored inside it.
Now it was completely empty.
"Keegh!"
The chimera spewed blood wildly.
Even so, it was still moving fast.
Tough bastard.
Well, just looking at its size—it was bigger than an elephant.
If you weighed it, it'd easily be in the ton range.
And recently, I had come to a realization.
Between a rabbit with Poison Resistance lv3 and a Medusa Mom with Poison Resistance lv2—which one is more resistant?
The answer that comes instinctively is correct.
Of course, the Medusa Mom is stronger.
It would shrug off most poisons.
Skills are meaningful—but they're not everything.
Physical scale matters.
A mantis with Slash lv10 being weaker than a zealot with Slash lv1? That's only natural.
And then there's constitution—or perhaps the "rank" of a monster.
Even a weak venomous Serpent like me had been naturally resistant to poison since birth.
So that chimera couldn't be underestimated either.
Didn't they say it had dragon blood?
Pelerian wouldn't have mixed in dragon blood just for show.
There had to be some real effect.
Thud-thud!
Its intact legs danced a deadly rhythm, trying to crush me.
Those legs could slice a human body apart like butchered meat.
But I'm small.
Still only as thick as a baby's arm.
No matter how huge those legs are, they can't hit me.
Ack!
My tail got slightly caught.
I'm bleeding.
I was already focused—but now I focused even more.
Using acceleration, I dodged its legs and moved inside its body's range.
And just as expected—
Boom!
It tripped over its own legs and fell.
Well, no surprise. I had already cut off three of them.
Good—now that it's down, I just need to pour fire on it—
Huh?!
Things didn't go as planned.
That thing had evolved Frenzy lv20 into Berserker lv1.
What does Berserker mean?
Even if it gets hit by arrows,
even if its guts spill out—it doesn't stop fighting.
As it kept falling, it did something insane.
It propped itself up using its two remaining front legs.
In other words—
'It's standing…! This bastard is standing!'
The absurdity made me forget I was fighting for a moment.
Still, it wasn't that threatening.
Because in that posture, all it could do was flail its remaining legs.
It looked like some flying squirrel character running at you going, "Hug me!"
"Gweeegh!"
It vomited blood-mixed bile.
Ugh—looked dangerous, so I dodged immediately.
And sure enough—
The moment it vomited, it lunged at me.
Its gaping jaws opened wide, trying to swallow me whole.
[Beginner Elemental Magic: Earth lv4 activated.]
I used the same spell I had used on the golem.
I made the ground beneath it slippery.
In that posture, it was bound to fall more easily.
Instead of crushing me, it collapsed onto its own vomit.
Splat!
Ugh… gross.
"Kkiik, kkiik!"
It couldn't even walk properly now.
It crawled toward me.
Its fighting spirit was impressive.
Fine—
I'll end this now.
I couldn't rely on my fangs anymore.
If I created distance, it might escape.
So—
I had to finish it right here.
***
I found myself beside the Elven Broadsword that had been knocked away.
This light blade was actually easier to bite and hold in my mouth than with my tail.
I had used my tail until now to keep my fangs free—but that no longer mattered.
Hwaak.
I bit down and lifted it.
Ah… this cold, heavy sensation.
It was time to return as a swordsman.
I executed the Daoist sword technique of the Hyeonmun Orthodox Sect.
In other words—I ran like hell with a sword in my mouth.
It's not nonsense. I've seen swordsmen fight like this in comics.
Hup!
I poured all my mana into Slash.
The chimera also swung its leg to kill me.
Whooosh!
The leg grazed past my body—
And I slipped between its legs instead.
While spinning, I slashed across its torso.
Serpent Blade Style—Chimera Severing.
[Slash lv1 activated.]
Slice—
It went deep.
From the split body, bright red entrails spilled out.
I had been waiting for this moment.
Without hesitation, I used Leap.
I dove straight into the gaping wound.
***
I'd done this before.
The Horned Jaguar had fallen to this.
Back then, I was just a tiny little Serpent —but it worked perfectly.
Let's see you endure it too, chimera.
I burrowed inside its body like a fish in water.
Then I started biting everything around me.
My size and jaw strength were incomparable to before.
The creature shrieked and thrashed wildly.
Of course, I wasn't safe either.
Breathing inside a body is extremely difficult.
Luckily, I had the Breath-Holding skill.
I just needed to kill it before I suffocated.
Or find its lungs first.
With that in mind, I tore through its insides relentlessly.
Ugh—bleh, bleh. Bitter. Is this bile?
Man, my tolerance has really improved.
***
Then—
I felt myself sinking downward.
It probably wasn't jumping off a cliff like the Horned Jaguar.
Instinctively, it was trying to escape into a tunnel.
I needed to finish this fast.
And finally—
I found it.
Its heart, pulsing with heat.
Crunch.
No matter how much of a Berserker it is—
No creature can fight with its heart destroyed.
Not even you, chimera.
Its movements stopped.
Thud.
Then—
I felt a massive amount of "experience" being absorbed.
Or perhaps "demonic essence" would be a better term.
[Absorbing a large amount of demonic essence.][Level is at maximum.][Unabsorbed essence has been stored.]
Ah… what a waste.
Normally, I would've leveled up explosively—like when I killed the Horned Jaguar.
This chimera was clearly much stronger than that one.
Sure, I can use the stored essence to evolve skills—
…but it still feels like a loss.
[The accumulated demonic essence is approaching a critical point.]
What? A critical point?
I checked my status window again.
[White Horn Serpent lv1~10+++]
The number of "+" signs next to my level had increased to three.
Hmm.
First—let's collect the magic stone.
As always, the chimera also had a magic stone inside its heart.
Its level was 20.
Since the Horned Jaguar had been over level 30, it looked stronger by level alone—
but that didn't seem to be the case.
The chimera's magic stone was big… and beautiful.
[Paphnachia's Magic Stone: Grade 4]
Bon appétit.
…Or so I thought.
But the moment I ate Paphnachia's magic stone, I was shocked.
The taste was different.
The cockatrice's magic stone had a warm yet sharp flavor.
But Paphnachia's was far sweeter.
Maybe it was because of the dragon blood mixed in—but it tasted distinctly like dalgona candy.
In other words—delicious. Excellent.
[Demonic essence settles into your body.][Your rank increases slightly.][The accumulated demonic essence approaches a critical point.]
Again—that message.
What is this critical point? And what happens when I reach it?
I was curious—but there was no way to find out.
And honestly—
I didn't want to delay evolution any longer.
I can't hold back anymore!
***
I crawled out of the chimera's body and looked around.
This was a pitch-black underground tunnel.
It smelled awful, and Paphnachia's corpse was right next to me—
but there were few places safer than this.
In other words—
the perfect place to evolve.
Alright. Let's do this.
To evolve, I needed to sleep.
I settled down beside the chimera's corpse.
In my past life, it used to take me a long time to fall asleep.
Maybe it was because I had the habit of using my phone while lying down.
When I closed my eyes, all kinds of thoughts would come—
anxieties, or the feeling that it was a waste to fall asleep.
I used to suffer from insomnia.
But now, it was different.
When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep almost instantly.
Maybe insomnia really is a matter of mental strength.
And… living as a Serpent wasn't so bad after all.
Drowsiness quickly overtook me.
When I woke up, I'd be newly evolved.
Goodbye, world.
I sank into a darkness-like sleep—
No.
Wait.
My eyes snapped open.
I suddenly remembered something.
Paphnachia's status window.
I couldn't check it again now that it was dead—but something came back to me.
[Two Hearts lv1]
That skill.
At the time, I thought, What is it, Park Ji-sung or something?
Was it some stamina skill?
Or maybe…
I activated Mana Detection.
My vision changed.
The chimera's blood contained mana—everything glowed faintly red.
But one part of its body shone much brighter.
That must be where the magic stone is.
I burrowed back into its body.
And there it was—
Another heart.
The skill "Two Hearts" meant exactly what it said.
But wait—if it had two hearts, shouldn't it survive even if one was destroyed?
…Well, I guess reality isn't like a comic.
[Paphnachia's Magic Stone: Grade 4]
There was another magic stone in this heart.
Two magic stones.
I swallowed it whole.
Again, that sweet taste spread through my mouth—
And then, a voice even sweeter followed.
[The accumulated demonic essence has reached the critical point.][The demonic essence within your body accelerates evolution.][Evolve.]
Oh.
I am evolving.
Maybe something changed?
After killing Paphnachia, I had also gulped down plenty of its blood.
Maybe the evolution tree had updated.
I hurried to fall asleep.
My heart was pounding so much that it was strangely hard to sleep…
***
[You have reached Level 10. Evolution is possible.]
[Would you like to evolve?]
Haha.
I fell asleep the moment my head touched the ground.
***
Before I knew it, the status window appeared before my eyes.
And something new had been added.
[Accumulated demonic essence accelerates evolution.]
Accelerates, huh.
Then—
the evolution options appeared.
From [White Horn Serpent lv10]:
[Green Horn Serpent ] (+)[Poison White Serpent ] (+)[Swamp White Horn Serpent ] (+)[Trap Horn Serpent ] (+)[Double Horn Serpent ] (+)[White Horn Python] (+)
Every option had a "+" sign.
That must be what "acceleration" means.
And the newly added sixth option—
I couldn't help but tremble.
Because for the first time—
it wasn't "Serpent ."
Python.
A step beyond.
A massive serpent—like a boa from The Little Prince.
A creature with beautiful patterns, capable of growing large enough to swallow even humans.
In some cases, nearly as large as an anaconda.
Just like how Medusa Mom had been called a "Serpent,"
this was clearly the next stage beyond Serpent .
As expected of dragon blood.
***
[White Horn Python]
A rare white python with patterns enhanced by mana.
Though its white body is disadvantageous for survival,
its color grants it uniquely magical patterns.
Even the description was beautiful.
Green—begone!
Has the age of white finally come?
I only hesitated for form's sake.
There was no real choice.
[White Horn Python selected.][Beginning evolution.]
Special evolution.
And only now did the meaning of "acceleration" reveal itself.
[Evolution is accelerated by accumulated demonic essence.][Based on achieved conditions, the evolution process is enhanced.]
Oh.
So my efforts are finally being properly recognized?
Is that it?
[You have made the most use of horns.]
Right—the horns.
[Evolving into "White Double Horn Python."]
Oh!
My head tingled as another horn grew.
My body expanded—
and on my smooth white scales,
beautiful apricot-colored patterns began to emerge.
And just like that—
I evolved.
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