What had just happened before my eyes was beyond my ability to process.

Sure, it was shocking enough to see a top-tier martial artist half-swallowed in a single bite.

But what truly shook me—what sent chills down my spine—was the impossible scale of the creature now before me.

The scales.

They looked like snake scales, that was certain.

But each one was the size of a ping pong ball.

That’s not supposed to be possible.

Even in the largest serpents, scale size rarely exceeds a pinky nail.

Yet here it was: gleaming red and white scales, each the size of a sphere, reflecting firelight from the burning enemies struck by my Explosive Palm.

I slowly tilted my head upward.

My entire field of vision was filled with nothing but those colossal scales.

“Did I die... and go to heaven?”

It was a stupid thought, but...

What else could I call a place where snakes this magnificent existed?

Maybe I had been stabbed to death by the Black Snake Commander after all, and this was the afterlife.

Just to make sure, I gave my cheek a little slap.

—Smack.

Okay. Not heaven. Still alive. That stung.

Trying to gather my senses, I examined the giant creature more carefully.

First, those burning bodies lit up the shimmering red and white scales again.

—Rattle. Clatter.

I followed the scales upward, and saw something bizarre: pieces of stone crumbling off from the coiled serpent body that had once been wrapped around the headless statue.

Wait.

That wasn’t stone?

I looked more closely at one chunk that had landed nearby.

It wasn’t rock.

It was dried, flaking skin.

“That... that was a shed skin!?”

The realization hit me like thunder.

This thing had just molted—right from around the statue. What I thought was weathered stone was actually an old skin, tightly clinging to its massive body.

Then—

Still clutching the Black Snake Commander and one of his elite in its twin mouths, the great serpent turned both heads toward us.

And it spoke.

—Ssssshhhhh... 『What shall we do with these, O Queen?』

—Shiiiiii... 『What shall we do with these, O Queen?』

The wriggling bodies of the Commander and his man were still alive, barely—but now just dangling prey in the serpent’s jaws.

It had called her — Hu — a royal term. In ancient court language, it could mean Queen or Empress.

That meant only one thing.

This spirit beast was one of the Golden Crown Snake King’s subordinates.

It all made sense now—the tone, the reverence, the scale of the beast. Only one of her sacred protectors could fit such an image.

And then I saw it—the full image finally taking shape in my mind.

That headless statue I’d seen earlier, the one with two serpent heads on its shoulders...

Back then I thought it was a strange design choice.

Now I understood.

This wasn’t a sculpture.

It was a shell. A molted skin.

The massive body had coiled around the statue in camouflage—until now.

Now it had emerged, fangs and all.

“Th-this is crazy! It’s a... a two-headed serpent!”

That was no ordinary snake.

It was a Twin-Headed Serpent, larger than the mature Blue-Spotted Centipede I’d seen before—larger than even Bini’s mother, or Hyang in full form.

I could feel the scream in my chest—silent, primal, reverent.

‘Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!’

Because there it was.

Towering above me...

A two-headed, ancient spirit serpent...

Alive. Awake.

And on our side.

***

A two-headed serpent is a type of mutation that can occur in snakes.

It appears with a probability of about one in a million.

It’s similar in origin to twins, but due to abnormalities in embryonic separation or genetic mutation, the embryos fail to fully divide, resulting in a single body with two heads.

Usually, when this happens in nature, the creature dies young.

That’s because the two heads tend to want to go in different directions, constantly pulling the body apart.

As a result, they can't go anywhere properly and usually starve to death.

But this one—this one must be a spirit beast.

Since they can coordinate and control the body cooperatively, it must have survived until now.

In my past life, I wanted to raise one myself, but you can't buy a two-headed snake.

It’s not illegal or anything, it’s just so rare that no one wants to part with one.

They’re priceless.

If someone posts a photo of a newly hatched two-headed snake, buyers flood in—even from overseas.

And this one? This one was extra-large.

‘This... this isn’t the time to be doing this.’

Before I realized it, I had wrapped my arms around that thick, muscular body.

And then I felt it—the cold temperature of the snake’s body.

A chill shot through me.

And then came its question.

—Shuu? 『Hmm? What’s this?』

—Shii? 『Hmm? What’s this?』

Still holding the Black Snake Commander and the Five Venoms Sect warrior in its mouths, the massive twin-headed serpent tilted both heads curiously.

Cheong-yu Sojeo spoke with a flustered voice.

—Sia. 『That person, d-don’t worry about him. Just deal with those two. S-So-ryong?』

The two heads glanced at each other and grinned.

—Shuuuuu? 『Ah, understood.』

—Shiiiii? 『Ah, understood.』

Then, one of the heads slightly spat out the Five Venoms Sect warrior from its mouth, clamped onto his neck, and slammed him repeatedly into the ground.

—Crack.

—Thud! THUD!

Like a broken toy, the warrior was flung limp and twisted onto the grass beside the pond.

The head that had spat him out then grabbed the squirming leg of the Black Snake Commander.

And now the Commander was caught between the two heads—each biting down around his waist.

‘No way... this next part isn’t what I think it is, is it?’

Horrified by the image forming in my mind, I instinctively closed my eyes as the serpent’s body tensed.

And then—

The sound of tearing flesh.

And a high-pitched scream.

“Gyaaaaaaaaah!!”

When I opened my eyes, the split-in-half body of the Black Snake Commander was writhing next to the corpse of the Five Venoms Sect warrior.

‘Holy shit!’

He was sliced clean in two at the waist, writhing and screaming.

I remembered what Hwa-eun once told me.

In the Central Plains, when someone commits [N O V E L I G H T] a major crime, they’re sometimes subjected to the punishment called yocham-hyeong—where the waist is severed with a giant blade.

Apparently, people don’t die immediately. They scream and writhe for hours.

That was exactly what the Black Snake Commander looked like right now.

—Shuu? 『He’s being loud. Shall we finish up? Please step back.』

—Shii? 『He’s being loud. Shall we finish up? Please step back.』

Cheong-yu Sojeo pulled me away from the serpent’s tail.

—Sia 『So-ryong, pull yourself together.』

“I-I’m fine.”

—Siiii. 『I knew you'd like this, but I didn’t expect this kind of intense reaction.』

As we stepped back, the massive twin-headed serpent raised its heads and flared its hoods.

The coloring reminded me of a Scarlet Snake or a Milk Snake.

But structurally, it was clearly some species of cobra.

Cobras flare their ribs when threatened or excited, forming a hood.

And this hood—

That was the mark of a cobra.

Snakes with hoods are classified as cobras.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me... it’s a twin-headed cobra!?’

As the hoods fully spread, I was completely entranced.

Then the serpent turned toward the still-squirming Black Snake Commander.

‘N-no way?’

Surely it wasn’t a spitting cobra, right?

There’s no way this dreamlike creature could also do that, right? That’d make it too perfect.

But—

As if to confirm that it was exactly what I feared (or hoped), four jets of venom sprayed from its twin mouths.

The twin-headed serpent spit venom like a spitting cobra—directly at the still-living Commander.

Because of the sheer size of the beast, the amount of venom released was massive.

—Splat!

—Sssssss!

Before he could even scream, the Black Snake Commander was melting—bones and all.

‘Whoa. That... that’s insane.’

It looked like some kind of acid or bleach. The venom had incredible corrosive power.

I was still stunned by the beauty of the creature when a voice cried out from the direction of the pond entrance.

“L-Little Hero! Are you alr... H-HUUUH!?”

I turned to see Monk Jaheo frozen in place, staring in disbelief at us.

He must’ve noticed something had gone wrong with Bini’s group and rushed over. But when he saw the twin-headed serpent, he stopped dead in his tracks.

As Jaheo stood petrified, one of the serpent’s heads looked to Cheong-yu Sojeo and asked:

—Shuuuu? 『Shall I take care of that one too?』

—Sia. 『No, he’s with us.』

—Shuu. 『Understood. It seems the current generation’s Queen is rather friendly with humans.』

Then Bini, Hu-gae, Ji-ryong, and Ranghyang appeared behind Monk Jaheo.

Bini widened her eyes and asked:

—Tsrrr. 『Dad! Huh!? That unni... or should I say unnies? Anyway, who is that?』

“So-So-Little Hero, what is that?”

“A-A snake that huge...?”

Everyone was clearly stunned.

But before I could answer, the sound of wings flapping came from the cliff side.

—Frrrrrrrrrrr.

It was the flapping of Changcheon’s wings.

Everyone turned their heads in that direction.

By now, the battle had turned into a chaotic skirmish with no clear formations.

“Watch out for the spirit beasts!”

“Gyaaaaa!”

“Damn Five Venoms Sect bastards!”

“Sis, watch out!”

With spirit beasts in the fight, the Five Venoms Sect warriors tried to break through the formations to avoid poison attacks, creating a free-for-all.

Sister Seol and Hwa-eun stood back-to-back, fighting off the enemy warriors.

Cho soared from above, grabbing attackers and hurling them over the cliff one by one.

My hyung and sister-in-law were fighting together, while Yohwa clung to the cliff wall, binding Five Venoms Sect warriors in webs.

Beads made from Elder Jeokwolle’s scales were bouncing around, striking Five Venoms Sect fighters.

But because she had to avoid harming allies, she couldn’t make them too large, so the effect was limited.

“To the cliff! Everyone to the cliff!”

Now wasn’t the time to be standing here, mesmerized by a snake.

If anyone got hurt in the chaos, it’d be on me.

As I prepared to move, Cheong-yu Sojeo turned to the twin-headed serpent and made a request.

—Siiii. 『Please take us over there!』

—Shuu! 『Understood!』

—Shii! 『Understood!』

Before her words had even fully left her mouth, the serpent had lifted both of us by the scruffs into the hoods at its neck and started moving.

Despite its size, it moved at an unbelievable speed.

The snakes of Sajin parted to make way.

The cliffside was slightly elevated, requiring a climb.

But the serpent simply lifted its body—and we were there.

—Shuuuuu!

—Shiiiiii!

Without being told, the serpent emitted a low warning hiss that drew everyone's attention.

The fighting stopped.

Everyone turned, stunned, to look at the twin-headed serpent.

Terror washed over the faces of the Five Venoms Sect fighters.

They turned to each other in desperate disbelief, fear boiling up.

Sensing this, I shouted:

“Anyone who wants to live, get on the ground and bow your heads! Do that, and you’ll be spared!”

And the Five Venoms Sect warriors began surrendering, one by one.

Most of the other spirit beasts weren’t much larger than grown men—but this thing?

This thing was a monster.

And in the face of that size, fear took hold.

“I-I beg you, spare me!”

“Please don’t kill me!”

This mission that had started as a search for the locusts was now closing with an incredible reward.

***

While the Dragon Fangs were cleaning up the battlefield, Sister Seol and Hwa-eun approached.

They looked at the twin-headed serpent now lying calmly beside me and Cheong-yu Sojeo, and asked:

“So-ryong, who is this child?”

“So-ryong, seriously... where did you find this one?”

They were clearly overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of a giant two-headed snake.

“I’m not exactly sure myself. Ahaha. It kind of just showed up? I think the snake statue coiled around the large statue at the pond—turns out, it wasn’t a statue at all.”

Then the two heads opened their eyes and, a bit bashfully, spoke.

—Shuu. 『I was rubbing against the statue to shed my skin, and I fell asleep. I think I’ve been out for about two new years.』

—Shii. 『Only because you fell asleep first. I got sleepy too...』

Snakes don’t have hands, so when they shed, they rub their bodies against trees or rocks to slough off the skin.

What they meant was that they were shedding on the statue, felt good, and fell asleep—for two or three years.

That outer layer that looked like stone? It must have been the hardened outer layer of their molt.

I was about to ask how the hell a snake could sleep for years when Ji-ryong came running up from the slope below.

He handed me a book and a folded piece of paper.

“So-So-hero, look at this.”

“What is it?”

“It was found on one of the corpses. According to the prisoners, he was one of the squad leaders in the Black Snake Unit.”

A Black Snake Unit squad leader’s belongings?

Curious, I unfolded the paper.

It was a map.

A single location was marked.

A map found on a Black Snake Unit squad leader with a designated site?

Spicy Fabre’s instincts began to tingle.

“I feel it... something’s there.”