The snake’s head hissed—swaeek, swaeek—as it recoiled to avoid the hail. The downpour had lasted only about three seconds, but that was enough time for everyone to move out of harm’s way.
Rita and Edward had safely regrouped on their side. Upon spotting the sword lodged in the snake’s tail, Edward’s eyes widened as he asked,
“Was that Cain?”
Strangely, he didn’t even seem to consider that it might’ve been Satin, which left Satin feeling a little sulky. Unaware of Satin’s reaction, Edward continued,
“The head’s too tough for a blade, but the tail doesn’t seem to be.”
“I was trying to chop it off, but it didn’t go as planned.”
“Let’s try again. We’ll draw its attention—Cain can go for the tail.”
Rita immediately objected to Edward’s plan.
“You could at least ask for my opinion first!”
“Rita, let’s focus on distracting it.”
“Fine!”
Apparently, her protest wasn’t serious, because she agreed right away. As Satin quietly watched them, he slowly stepped forward.
“What about me?”
“If it tries to use that again, warn us.”
Rita assigned him the task, but somehow it felt a bit underwhelming. What was he, a gas leak alarm? Was that really all they needed from him?
Still, it wasn’t the time to argue for a better role. The snake was already charging again.
Everyone except Satin moved into position to carry out their tasks—Rita and Edward went for the head, while Cain moved toward the tail.
As Cain ran, he suddenly shouted as if remembering something.
“Don’t fall off the wall! No matter what!”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you…”
Satin obediently pressed himself against the wall. It wasn’t the most glamorous role, but honestly, it made sense.
‘The Demon King is supposed to be defeated by a party of three, so technically I’m just here to watch anyway.’
While rationalizing his role, Satin noticed something on the wall.
‘Letters?’
It was the same inscription Rita had found earlier:
< The trial is not yet over >
As the rest of the group fought for their lives against the snake, Satin had little to do besides occasionally shout warnings—and think.
‘What happens when the trial ends?’
There had been the monkey trial, and now the snake’s. If more trials were coming…
‘Is there a limit on the number of participants?’
There could be multiple monkeys and snakes, but there was no way there were multiple Demon Kings. Even if several people passed the trials, they wouldn’t all be assigned a Demon King.
What if someone who entered before them had already defeated the Demon King? Probably not, since the “main characters” were all here, but…
‘Still, you never know.’
In any case, they’d find out if they kept advancing through the trials.
As Rita called down another hailstorm, the snake shrieked—SWAEEK—and turned direction. Edward ran alongside it, luring it away.
Meanwhile, Cain had climbed onto the snake’s back. Despite the swaying motion, he sprinted toward the tail, aiming for the spot where he had embedded his sword earlier. His balance was so flawless he could’ve passed for a gymnast.
Without even shouting a battle cry, Cain swung his sword. It stabbed in just beside the previous blade, embedding itself into the flesh.
Swaeaaeeek! The snake twisted its body, trying to whip around toward Cain. But Rita unleashed another hailstorm, sending it thrashing and writhing in confusion.
“Hurts, doesn’t it? You bastard! Hurts, doesn’t it?”
Any sense of danger had clearly fled Rita’s mind—she was teasing the snake like a mischievous kid. As if it understood her taunts, the snake opened its mouth wide in her direction.
In that moment, Cain yanked out his sword and slammed it down again. As he prepared for a third strike, his expression twisted in irritation and his lips began to move.
Rita and Edward didn’t notice, but Satin immediately realized what Cain was doing—magic.
Flames erupted along the chipped edges of the sword.
Swaeek! Swaeek! Swaeeeek…! The snake let out a string of ghastly cries. The fire magic hadn’t worked on its outer scales, but its insides were another story.
Its jaw bulged unnaturally, as if trying to spew smoke—but Satin didn’t even need to issue a warning. Thin wisps of smoke were already escaping between its teeth. Unlike before, when it had fired off a deadly blast, this was pathetically weak.
The snake had lost its will to fight and thrashed about in pain. Cain, still standing atop its back, swayed dangerously with every movement. Satin anxiously stomped his feet, worried Cain might be thrown off.
“Cain, that’s enough! Get out of there now!”
But of course, he didn’t listen. Cain refused to release his sword, and the flames flickering along the blade showed no sign of fading.
A foul stench filled the chamber—an acrid mix of something neither meat nor wood being burned. Whatever it was, it was definitely on fire. The snake’s tail began to swell and bulge grotesquely. Whether the inner flesh was swelling or shrinking was unclear.
Swaeek, swaeek… The serpent’s shrieks gradually died down. The smoke that had once billowed from its slack-jawed mouth thinned into wisps, and its movements slowed to a crawl.
“So damn loud.”
Once the footing beneath him had stabilized, Cain muttered under his breath and yanked his sword free. He raised it high and brought it down in a single decisive slash. The thoroughly cooked tail was sliced clean off.
At that moment, the flames in the brazier snuffed out, and the serpent’s cries ceased entirely.
***
First came the monkey, then the snake—what would be next? The group remained on high alert, but nothing descended from the ceiling. The brazier, its fire extinguished, sat still and silent.
“Is it over?”
Rita’s voice echoed faintly through the vast hall. As if that were a cue, a sound followed from somewhere—kigik, kigigik, kigik. A heavy object being dragged across the floor.
Everyone turned toward the source. A wall opposite the hallway they had come through began to open, revealing a new corridor. Unlike the dimly lit chamber, the passage ahead was bright, lined with torches inviting them forward.
After a moment of silence, Edward offered a suggestion.
“We should rest a bit. No telling what comes next.”
“Ughhh…”
Rita collapsed onto the floor the moment Edward finished speaking. All the tension had left her body stiff and sore—she began rubbing her arms and legs to loosen up. Watching her, Cain suddenly felt concerned for Satin.
‘How does someone all skin and bones expect to swing a sword?’
He silently cursed Rita for giving Satin a weapon in the first place but didn’t feel like picking a fight, so he turned away from her and walked over to Satin. The boy had ignored Cain’s warning and wandered far from the wall again.
Cain frowned unconsciously as he asked,
“You hurt?”
“What are you talking about?”
Satin tilted his head, his gentle expression clueless like a herbivore who’d wandered off course. And frankly, that wasn’t far off. The boy didn’t even like spinach.
“I’m asking if you’re injured.”
It wasn’t until Cain repeated himself that Satin caught on and clicked his tongue.
“How would I get hurt? I was glued to the wall the whole time. You should be the one we’re checking.”
Despite the curt reply, Satin’s eyes scanned Cain’s body for injuries. His words might’ve been sharp, but his actions were anything but. Something about it made Cain’s chest itch, and he responded with deliberate indifference.
“Not like it was a big deal. Just a few scratches.”
“Good.”
Satin nodded, then dropped his gaze. With an awkward little grumble, he muttered,
“Don’t do that again. Being the only one who can’t do anything… it sucks. Feels like I’m just dead weight.”
“It’s fine even if you don’t do anything. I’ll handle it for you.”
“What? No. You’ve got your job to do, and I’ve got mine.”
“I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. So if I do your part for you, it balances out.”
It was a perfectly logical argument, but Satin just frowned and stared at Cain, clearly unconvinced. In the end, he said nothing.
Cain brushed a bit of soot off Satin’s shoulder and added,
“Anyway, take a break. If anything’s bothering you, just talk to that merchant.”
“Merchant?”
“The priest.”
“Ugh, don’t—never mind.”
Satin seemed about to scold him but gave up and shook his head. Rather than sit down and rest, he wandered over toward Rita and Edward, who were both looking far more energized than he was. Maybe he was still worried about them.
Cain wasn’t thrilled, but he didn’t nag. He just followed behind Satin in silence.
Rita, who had been resting moments ago, was now up and poking at the snake’s head with the tip of her sword. Satin approached her and asked,
“What are you doing?”
“Seeing if there’s anything useful here.”
Just earlier, she’d screamed in horror at the thing, but apparently she’d gotten used to it already. She pried open its jaws with her blade and tilted her head.
“Not burning anymore.”
When the snake had been alive, its saliva had scorched everything it touched, leaving charred streaks wherever that strange smoke passed. The marks were still visible.
But now, the drool seeping from its mouth merely pooled on the ground. At a glance, it looked no different from water.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Rita spoke with determination.
“I’m going to collect a little.”
“…The saliva?”
Satin recoiled in horror, but Rita calmly rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a pair of tweezers and a small metal vial—about the size of a pinky finger. When she popped the lid open, a cotton ball was tucked neatly inside.
As Rita gripped the cotton with the tweezers and moved it toward the puddle of spit—
“Huh? What the—?!”
Startled, she fell backward onto her butt. No one needed to ask what was wrong—everyone was already watching it unfold.
The enormous snake’s corpse was vanishing—melting away in silence. Come to think of it, the monkeys’ bodies had also disappeared at some point.
Still holding the tweezers, Rita stared blankly at the floor where the snake had been. There wasn’t a single mark left behind. No damp stain, no burn trace—just spotless, untouched stone. There was nothing left to collect.
Satin let out a quiet laugh at her dazed expression. As he stepped back, he bumped right into Cain, who had been standing behind him. Cain said nothing, but Satin flinched in surprise and quickly stepped aside.
Feeling awkward, Satin offered a sheepish smile—but Cain didn’t return it. He wasn’t in the mood to smile.
‘Still doing this…’
