Chapter 435

They were snakes, as thin as threads of yarn.

Individually, they seemed insignificant. But when thousands, tens of thousands of such serpents gathered, the story was different.

They evoked a terror on an entirely different level.

The sight of Neria’s luxuriant hair turning into snakes and swaying in the air was so horrifying that Uron’s mind went completely blank.

“Wh-what is that…?”

If Uron, standing far away, was shaken like this, then Nokhan—right before her—was beyond words.

Nokhan still remained frozen in the stance of trying to bite into Neria’s head.

He wanted to pull back, but could not.

When he tried to chew Neria’s head, one of the snakes had bitten his tongue.

The instant it sank its fangs, paralysis spread through his body, and his insides burned as though he had fallen into fire.

The venom had entered him.

An ordinary person would have died the moment they were bitten, but Nokhan was a monster outside the limits of the ordinary. For him, it was only a brief paralysis.

Nokhan moved only his eyes downward, staring at Neria in his jaws.

Neria reached out her hand and caressed Nokhan’s face.

“You poor child! How hard your life must have been. Surely you never wished to be born like this. Yet you carry all your father’s sins.”

—Grrhh!

“Don’t be afraid. From now on, I will be your mother. Cast away your false father, and stand before me, my son!”

One of the serpents in her hair struck and bit into Nokhan’s head.

In that instant, Nokhan’s eyes grew hazy.

Like the eyes of someone drugged, they wavered—but then, slowly, they regained focus.

And in those eyes, there was no longer fear. What replaced it was infinite reverence and love for Neria.

—Grrhhuh!

“Yes, my child. From this moment, you are with me.”

Nokhan lowered his massive head to her, like a puppy, and Neria stroked it gently.

The way he whimpered to her resembled a real dog.

Seeing this, Uron’s face twisted with disbelief.

But astonishment soon turned to rage.

“What are you doing? Nokhan! You are my son. Tear her apart at once!”

—Grrhh!

At Uron’s command, Nokhan growled.

His eyes, however, glimmered not with obedience but with murderous intent.

Neria whispered softly to him:

“He is your mother’s enemy. My son, avenge your mother.”

Ssssshhh!

Her voice, entwined with the hissing of serpents, pierced Nokhan’s ears.

The killing intent in him only grew fiercer.

Uron’s face went white.

Never before had Nokhan bared such hostility toward him.

—Grrhh!

Nokhan snarled, full of murderous aura, and advanced toward Uron.

Uron retreated step by step, his voice shaking:

“Nokhan! I am your father! Don’t be deceived by her honeyed lies!”

—Grrhhuh!

“Calm yourself, Nokhan!”

He reached out, attempting to soothe Nokhan by stroking his head.

Normally, this worked. But today was different.

Instead of calming, Nokhan’s rage only swelled further.

His lips curled as if about to explode.

Uron glared at Neria.

“You wench! What have you done to my son? What are you…?”

“You already know the answer. Why do you keep asking?”

“Grrhh!”

“Then say it aloud. Speak my other name, fallen elf!”

“Th-that is…”

“Why don’t you speak? Are you too afraid to even utter it?”

“Black…”

But Uron could not say it to the end.

A primal terror stopped him, as though fully speaking it aloud would lead to his being devoured.

He could not deny what he saw—the hair of serpents.

A dark elf cursed by the gods, turned into the Queen of Serpents.

Some called her Medusa. Others called her the Black Queen.

It was said that whoever met the Black Queen’s gaze turned to stone.

Recalling the legend too late, Uron quickly lowered his eyes.

Neria sneered at him.

“What is it? Are you afraid?”

“……”

“The children must have felt the same. Just as you now feel fear toward me, so too did they feel fear toward you. What did you do to them?”

“I—I did nothing…”

“You lusted. You trampled. You ended their lives. And you defiled even their corpses.” For more chapters visit novel※fire.net

“No! I…”

“No matter how I think of it, there is not a single reason to let you live, fallen elf.”

“Lies! Lies! No one will believe a word you say!”

Uron shouted his denial.

Neria stepped toward him, quiet yet inexorable.

“Belief does not matter. The truth will not vanish.”

Her soft words pressed down on his very soul.

Uron faltered, crushed beneath her presence.

‘I—I must not stay here!’

Then it happened.

Crunch!

A sudden, searing agony burst from Uron’s arm.

Nokhan, whom he had tried to calm with a caress, had bitten down on his forearm.

With a single bite, Nokhan’s sharp teeth tore the arm clean off.

“Gyaaaagh!”

Uron realized what had happened too late, screaming as he fled.

He dispelled the barrier and burst out of his house.

Outside, countless figures stood in formation, armed and ready.

At the sight, Uron’s face lit with relief.

“Liala? Galanta?”

The forces waiting outside his home were all awakeners from the Hall of Guardians.

Liala had arrived with her subordinates.

And with them were Galanta and many others of different races.

Seeing them, Uron forgot his pain and shouted:

“You’ve come at the right time! The Black Queen is inside my house! Kill her at once!”

“The Black Queen… truly?”

“I saw her with my own eyes! It is the Black Queen! Calamity has come upon El Harun!”

At his words, Liala and Galanta’s faces stiffened.

They already knew Uslan and others had fallen under the Black Queen’s sway. But to hear another voice confirm her existence was another shock.

Liala bit her lip.

She had already reported the matter to the Council and Del Roa, asking for reinforcements. But when—or if—they would respond, she could not know.

The greatest flaw of El Harun was its sluggishness—decisions moved at a snail’s pace.

Even trivial matters required Council meetings to proceed, delaying every action.

Liala had always despised this.

Even in such a dire crisis, they clung to procedure.

Boom!

At that moment, Nokhan smashed through Uron’s wall.

Liala frowned as she saw him.

“A… beast?”

She shook her head.

The wards of El Harun prevented beasts from entering.

If one had tried, the barrier would have flared, or the alarm spell would have sounded.

Galanta, silent until now, spoke:

“No. Not a beast.”

“What?”

“A mutant. Born of elf and beastkin.”

His sharp eyes pierced the truth of Nokhan’s being.

“Then why is a mutant in Lord Uron’s home?”

“I—I know nothing of that. But that is not important! What matters is the Black Queen inside!”

“Why is the Black Queen in your home, Lord Uron?”

“How should I know? There’s no time to talk! Kill her now! If we leave her be, El Harun will perish!”

Uron shouted wildly.

At that moment, Neria stepped out the doorway.

Her serpentine hair swayed, and the moment Liala and Galanta saw it, their faces froze like stone.

That hair—the symbol of the Black Queen they had only ever seen in records.

Even Uslan and the subordinates who had come with them could not hide their shock.

They had half-doubted the talk of the Black Queen, but now, seeing her with their own eyes, there was no denying it.

Self-disappointment turned swiftly to rage.

We ourselves brought the Black Queen into El Harun.

Damn it! We summoned calamity.

El Harun was their treasured refuge.

To think they had invited the Black Queen into it—intolerable.

Even the curse bound by Perino’s necklace did not affect Neria.

The vow that harming El Harun would bring death—shattered without leaving a trace against her overwhelming power.

Liala looked at Neria.

“Are you truly the Black Queen?”

“What is your name?”

“…Liala.”

“Liala? For a human, you seem strong-willed.”

“You still haven’t answered. Are you the Black Queen?”

“Yes. Long ago, you called me that. Merely because my skin was black…”

“I don’t care about that. What matters is that you are the Black Queen.”

“I feel honored. So important, this dark elf I am.”

“What about you is a dark elf? No dark elf has hair of serpents. You are nothing but a beast.”

“Then why did El Harun’s barrier not reject me? If I were truly a beast, the wards would have barred my entry.”

“That…”

Liala faltered, unable to reply.

Her appearance was surely monstrous, yet the wards had let her through.

Confused, Liala heard Galanta’s voice:

“Do not be deceived by her words. She is a beast, without doubt. She must have used some artifact to enter. Pay no heed to her lies.”

At this, Liala steadied herself.

“So the Black Queen’s tongue beguiles as they say—like a serpent’s forked tongue.”

“My tongue? As you see, it is ordinary.”

Neria opened her mouth and showed it—an ordinary elf’s tongue, not split like a snake’s.

Galanta dismissed it without looking.

“Why have you come to El Harun, Black Queen? After all your struggle to revive, why not roam the world and find some place to settle?”

“That would have been fine. But, unfortunately, I must fulfill the wish of my supplicant.”

“Supplicant? Derod?”

“So you know. He asked me for vengeance.”

“Vengeance?”

“Yes. He lost his daughter unjustly to Uron. Uron violated Derod’s daughter, Burulla, then threw her as food to his son, Nokhan.”

Neria gestured at Nokhan. Immediately, Uron shouted in denial.

“L-lies! I don’t even know this Derod! I never met his daughter! And that monster, my son? Absurd! Surely you won’t believe the Black Queen’s words?”

“Lord Uron! Of course I do not believe her.”

At Galanta’s reply, Uron’s face brightened.

“Ohh! As expected of you, Galanta.”

“We all know what kind of man you are, Lord Uron. You cared for countless children. A man like you could never commit such vile acts. This is surely her slander.”

“Yes! Everyone in El Harun knows how cleanly I’ve lived. I am an elf with not a speck of shame before the heavens.”

“I believe in your innocence, Lord Uron.”

Trust filled Galanta’s gaze toward him.

At that moment, another voice intruded upon their exchange.

“Nokhan is Uron’s son.”

It was Zeon, who had remained silent until now.

Liala glared at him.

“And who are you, to side with the Black Queen?”

“I am on no one’s side.”

“Then reveal yourself.”

Her voice dripped with killing intent.

That murderous aura made Zeon’s skin prickle, but he only smiled faintly.

“My name is Zeon.”

“Zeon?”

“From Neo Seoul.”

“Then you are our enemy.”