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Chapter 308

Come to think of it, the reasoning wasn’t wrong.

An elixir pill, in a certain sense, is no different from poison.

An improperly taken elixir is no better than poison, and even poison—if properly refined—can become medicine.

I held the elixir pill I had spat out like a cat’s hairball and asked.

“Serqet.”

At that, the creature didn’t even turn its head, just slapped its tail once against the ground.

The way it acted, it was no different from a real cat.

“What is this?”

Despite my question, it just stared blankly at the other two spirits.

Then, lazily scratching its belly with one hand, it pretended not to notice.

There’s a simple way to make someone who doesn’t listen start listening.

“Grivy.”

At my call, Grivy shot out a hand like lightning and grabbed Serqet by the scruff of the neck.

—Kiiiiek! Kiiiiek!!

Serqet screamed in fright and struggled.

“You. Are you not going to listen to your father?”

—Kiiiiek!!

“If you keep that up, you won’t be able to play happily with me.”

—Kiiiik……

“If you keep doing it, you’ll be punished.”

At the same time, Sur hopped its tiny body up and down, thumping the ground with majestic authority.

At last, the youngest spirit, Serqet, showed signs of surrender and looked at me.

“Father. That was just because my stomach felt heavy, so I spat it out.”

A spirit spitting out something from an upset stomach—yet it turned out to be a tremendous elixir pill.

How ridiculous.

Still, after spitting it out, there didn’t seem to be any abnormal changes to its body’s poison balance.

So, once more, I transferred the rampaging poison from within me back into it.

Then—

The otter spirit Serqet screwed up its face, gulped noisily, and soon spat out a bead no bigger than a fingernail.

“Again?”

“It seems if I give it my accumulated poison, it condenses it into an elixir pill and spits it out.”

Which meant…

Serqet and I had effectively become a living elixir farm.

Of course, my supply of poison wasn’t infinite, and even a spirit like Serqet could barely endure my venom.

At best, this would only be possible once every few months—or even years.

“I’ll take a look at this.”

Lispa accepted the elixir pill from my hand and closed her eyes quietly.

Then she let out a dry laugh.

“Wow… this is something else.”

“How strong is it?”

“It’s pure poison condensed into a lump. Any ordinary human who took this would die instantly.”

…Great.

‘Librarian. The memory transfer still isn’t done?’

[Currently fixing errors. However, due to unforeseen interference from external forces, there has been a delay.]

‘So when does the transfer happen?’

[Right now.]

Ugh!!

Just like before, a wave of nausea and a splitting headache surged through me.

When my poison gland first manifested, I had felt the same—now both sensations struck together in full force.

And then, a flood of vast memories poured into my mind.

This time, though, the situation raised a big question.

Humans aren’t creatures that naturally carry poison.

Unlike mana or aura, which can be refined from external energy and stored within the body, humans cannot naturally generate poison.

So where had this immense accumulation of venom come from?

Why was it being produced continuously?

The answer came quickly.

The Venom Saint.

The level I had reached within the Hall of Ten Thousand Poisons.

The ultimate result of that path.

I had created it after endless time in Labyrinthos, because even monsters immune to toxins had to be poisoned and killed.

A solitude of poison—the pinnacle of toxic mastery.

My body now contained a poison gland akin to the divine heart of the Machine God.

Through a special refinement of my organic matter and the natural mana, poison gathered in this gland, steadily growing in volume.

Ha.

Unbelievable.

Even though I was the one who had created it, I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

Melissa pouted.

“So it’s not an elixir after all, but a crystal of poison. If it had been, we’d be sitting on a gold mine.”

“No, it is an elixir. Isn’t that right, Leon?”

Lispa smiled brightly as she looked at me.

Until just now, I hadn’t fully understood what it was—but she acted as if she was certain I knew all along.

“Lispa Elde.”

“Just now, your mental field expanded dramatically. That kind of change is the difference between someone with experience and someone without. Am I wrong?”

I gave a wry smile at her knowing expression.

As someone once tied to powers of the mind—Remiel, or Lispa Elde—it made sense she would instantly perceive my shift.

“Leon! Can that be made into an elixir?!”

Melissa’s eyes sparkled as she asked me.

By now, she’d long since given up trying to understand where my sudden bursts of knowledge came from.

“Yeah. It could be used as deadly poison, as medicine, even as an antidote.”

Of course, when would there ever be a need to use it as an antidote, especially when normal ones already existed…

* * *

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The duke’s mansion of Cascadia wasn’t where I stayed—rather, I spent most of my time in a cabin deep in the forest.

Though most of my workroom had been moved to the duke’s estate, whenever I wanted peace and quiet, I came here.

Originally, it was for seclusion because of Thanatos, the authority of death.

In any case, for the past two days I had remained at the cabin, cutting off all variables.

Truthfully, that was just an excuse.

I was practicing control over the poison gland now embedded within me.

Though the knowledge and experience were there, I still had to adapt and harmonize it with my present body.

Naturally, Luna had tagged along.

She’d been playing games inside a paradise artifact until just recently, but then she dozed off in a rocking chair.

And then—

Under the moonlit sky, beautiful and silent, a guest came to me in secret.

The strongest being I had ever seen, save for myself.

Leader of the Moon Watchers.

“There’s a message I must deliver.”

“…Been a while, huh? I doubt you’d answer if I asked your name.”

Her icy presence made me feel no desire to grow closer to her. Check latest chapters at novelFɪre.net

“So. Why come now of all times?”

“Your territory has changed a lot.”

“It has.”

“Yes… in ways none of us expected. Whether that proves good or bad…”

“Whether I renovate my land or repaint the walls, what business is it of yours?”

“True. I don’t care about the territory’s progress. What matters is something else.”

Muttering softly, she tossed me a bundle of documents.

Inside was information about a certain creature.

“The Hydra of Ten Thousand Poisons.”

“…”

The Poison Dragon Hydra… not a pleasant memory.

A foul, wretched beast carrying venom as brutal as it was resilient.

“What about it?”

“It’s about to rampage.”

…That was unexpected.

“If it does, disaster will follow.”

“Long ago… when the Hydra rampaged, hundreds of thousands perished.”

Hundreds of thousands?

That number was strange.

In my past life’s world of seven billion people, such a toll was enormous—but still rare.

Yet here, in Lazarus, where the population was much smaller?

If such an event had happened, surely history books would record it.

A cover-up?

Ridiculous.

“What exactly do you know?”

“I no longer know for certain. That’s your fault.”

“How the hell is it my fault?”

“Everything’s tangled. Regardless, it’s your fault.”

She said it calmly, and the lack of deceit in her tone only made it more irritating.

“So, you’re saying you want no cooperation?”

“You’re not the type to watch masses of people die.”

“Sorry, but Cascadia comes first. I may pity the loss of lives, but if you’re looking for a hero, search elsewhere.”

I waved dismissively and turned away, but she approached slowly.

“If the Hydra isn’t stopped before it awakens, catastrophe is inevitable. Forget killing it—even before that, the suffering it inflicts will be unimaginable.”

“And why is a killer like you worrying about that?”

“…”

If they truly acted out of noble ideals, they shouldn’t have hidden everything from me.

“You’ve never told me who you are, what you’re after, or what you know. How am I supposed to trust you?”

“If you help this time… we’ll give you a lead on Nyala.”

“…”

From what I’d seen, these people weren’t outright villains.

If they were, then Rebecca—the small orange-haired spirit girl I’d met with the Hercules Mercenaries—wouldn’t have joined them.

But their methods were extreme, and too much remained inexplicable.

“So. What exactly do you want from me?”

“The Hydra will soon awaken. Its location is…”

She trailed off when I stared at her intently.

“Don’t play coy. If you keep pulling this kind of stunt, things will get really boring.”

“Vacation city, Belrest.”

Tch.

Grudges much?

Still—Belrest?

That meant the Empire.

It wasn’t far from the fishing village where we’d fought the Kraken.

A massive resort run by the Lavren family was there.

“There’s no time. Once it awakens, who knows how many will die. The venom it spreads will kill them all slowly, in agony.”

“I want the Hydra’s location—and the cultists’ too.”

* * *

If you didn’t know, you’d fall victim.

If you did know, you could stop it.

That was her point.

If I cooperated, they’d give me Nyala’s whereabouts.

Though Nyala was indeed a problem, the Hydra was worse.

I’d already seen firsthand what kind of disaster it could unleash.

“Hydra? Am I mistaken? Why would a mythological beast…”

“Don’t ask me. I only just learned it really exists myself.”

“This is absurd.”

Melissa muttered, dumbfounded.

“Hydra… yes, it was sealed long ago.”

“When?”

“During my active era.”

See?

That doesn’t add up.

If the Hydra’s rampages were historical fact, then for it to have already been sealed ages ago… something was wrong.

My gut said so.

“The Hydra’s power rivals the Kraken. Of course, most humans don’t know that.”

Unlike the Kraken, which had kept wreaking havoc, the Hydra had been completely forgotten.

Luna, Lispa, Melissa, and I exchanged glances.

“Hold on. Fine, but why does Leon have to go? What, are other people missing arms and legs? Don’t they have swords?”

“What else can I do? They’re offering information I need.”

So Belrest it was.

“Great. We’ve got cultists to deal with already, and now some monster wakes up for no reason? The Moon Watchers is laughable. Shouldn’t they be negotiating with the Imperial Throne?”

“Melissa. The Hydra is beyond the Empire’s ability to handle. Even if they could, the casualties would be immense.”

“What? That makes no sense. Isn’t Leon in danger too?!”

Melissa’s protest had some truth.

But it did nothing to sway Luna, Lispa, or me.

“Why not?”

“What do you mean, why not? It’s as dangerous as the Kraken…”

“Yes. It is dangerous.”

Lispa chuckled and explained.

“The Hydra’s poison is deadly—but someone here carries an even deadlier venom.”

“Who… don’t tell me.”

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