NoveLight ™
“Th-thank you, Queen Komodo…”
There was awe in the man’s eyes.
In his gaze, I must truly appear as a divine beast.
A gigantic monster that could turn you to stone just by looking at it.
And I had taken down that monster all by myself.
But it didn’t stop there.
The Manticore had descended using the corpse of the cockatrice. And in response, the spirit of the Queen of Serpents had appeared.
It was an event that transcended common sense.
Even if that man was a martial artist, what he had just witnessed seemed like something straight out of a legend.
The beginning of faith is a simple law.
It is born from witnessing fierce lightning striking down and volcanoes consuming the land.
Believing that these incomprehensible natural phenomena are the powers of gods is what gives rise to faith.
What I had shown was not much different from that.
Not only did I demonstrate ordinary physical power, but I also exhibited abilities that an ordinary creature would not be expected to use.
With the Kgaekdeath Beam, I had not only taken down the cockatrice but also toppled those large trees one after another.
A lizard that shoots beams from its mouth had defeated a monster.
There was no way I wouldn’t become an object of worship.
Turbuk.
Since I was going to be worshipped, I might as well do it thoroughly.
To impress upon him that I was a wondrous spirit, I looked down at the man with a solemn expression.
“Queen Komodo…”
Good.
“My name is Jang Bong. I will repay this kindness no matter what…”
He seemed to have a basic understanding.
But the idea of repayment…
Did he think that a holy and wondrous divine beast like me wanted such a thing?
The cockatrice had indeed been a strong opponent, and there had been several dangerous moments even without the Manticore’s interference. But it wasn’t something I couldn’t overcome.
In the end, merely fighting the cockatrice was beneficial for me.
How could a noble divine beast like me desire compensation in such circumstances?
Of course, if he insisted on repaying me, I wouldn’t stop him.
…Could he have an elixir or something?
Ding!
[Your divinity is stirring.]
The status window answered in its stead.
Divinity is stirring?
A lizard like me understood the meaning of this message.
Open your mouth; the reward is coming.
That’s what it meant.
[Your religion is being established.]
A religion…!
I had thought it would be created someday.
So, it’s finally happening.
I, a legendary religion that worships Queen Komodo.
[The Gaeque Religion has been established!]
Yep.
I expected it.
Since my faith was already Gaeque Faith, this was the next step.
“Geggek…”
I let out a sad sound.
[Gaeque Religion]
A religion on par with a king-sized lizard.
It is a faith that follows the Gaeque Faith as its doctrine, believed by those who worship Queen Komodo.
The types of members are very diverse, and their devotion is strong.
Members:
So, both Tus and Pus leveled up.
I’m glad to see they’re doing well.
But why is the fourth believer the end?
Shouldn’t this guy also be included?
Considering the evolution from faith to religion, this seems a bit lacking, right?
I stared at Jang Bong.
“W-was there something that displeased you?”
Could it be that he didn’t know about the Gaeque Faith?
The name Gaeque Faith was chosen by Dang So-young after hearing my cry.
There was no way this man would know the name of such a dignified faith.
…No, if that’s the case, then Volpython wouldn’t be included either.
Volpython also didn’t know about the existence of Gaeque Faith, yet he ended up as the fourth believer.
What could possibly be the difference?
Could it be because this man is human?
But then Dang So-young is a problem.
…Wasn’t Dang So-young human?
No. That couldn’t be.
Let’s think back to when I met Shik Shik.
How did he become my believer?
That’s right, the status window had sent a message suggesting I invite him.
[Would you like to invite Jang Bong to join the Gaeque Religion?]
Oh!
So that was how it worked.
Jang Bong was currently worshiping me.
Thanks to the faith he had shown, I was able to acquire the skill Kgaekdeath Beam.
Both Gaeque Faith and Gaeque Religion could be believed without my permission or invitation.
He simply had to worship me.
In contrast, it seemed that for the N-th believer as specified in the status window, I would have to appoint them separately.
Well, that makes sense.
If everyone could become believers just because they believed in me, there would be various side effects.
It would be a problem if a certain degree of my thoughts was shared.
From what I’ve seen with the spiders, it seemed there was quite a lot shared, as they seemed to have noticed the comings and goings with the snakes.
Occasionally, I could receive messages about the actions of the believers.
In the current situation, that was fine.
However, if the number of believers increased, I would be inundated with the messages they sent all day long. I wouldn’t be able to think freely.
While I would gratefully accept the faith that Jang Bong had sent, the position of believer was still premature.
“Geggegegek.”
I scratched my chin.
If I invited him into the Gaeque Religion, communication would indeed be easier, but now was not the time.
The communication I was trying to engage in could be done with gestures.
“Ah, um! Yes! Where is that guy…?”
Jang Bong hurriedly ran off.
After confirming the direction he was heading, I approached the corpse of the cockatrice.
The petrification of the Queen of Serpents was impressive.
I thought about tasting the meat, but I couldn’t eat it like this.
Still, I had to gather what I could.
Kwaang!
Swinging my dragon blood infused with my aura, the petrified cockatrice easily shattered.
I couldn’t eat the meat, but the essence remained intact.
[Supreme Essence (Yellow)]
Supreme Essence!
It was an essence similar to that of the Hydra.
Yes. It was time to eat something like this.
It was emitting a brilliant yellow light close to brown.
Carefully, I picked it up and tucked it between my scales.
Although I wanted to safely store it in my belly, the Queen had asked me to bring it, so I complied.
Good.
Having secured the essence, it was time to check on my candidate believers.
“Baek-un Gong. Get a grip. The enemy is already dead.”
Jang Bong was shaking a man called Baek-un.
It seemed that Baek-un had not yet grasped the situation since it hadn’t been long since the petrification was lifted.
Behind Baek-un lay a creature resembling a bear, shattered into pieces.
It had also been taken down by the cockatrice.
If luck had been just a bit worse, Baek-un could have ended up like that too.
“…The enemy is dead?”
As I walked closer, I examined the man named Baek-un.
This one looks pretty good.
He was on a different level compared to someone like Jang Bong.
If Jang Bong was a third-rate martial artist, then Baek-un might be considered first-rate.
In terms of pure strength, he likely wouldn’t be inferior to the cockatrice.
If he hadn’t been petrified, he might have put up a good fight.
“Yeah… Its eyes were shining, and I turned to stone…”
Kwak!
Baek-un plunged the sword he held into the ground.
Ah, I lost.
That’s what it must mean.
He expressed it like that.
Truly a martial artist.
He held himself well.
“Are you saying the one who did this to me is dead? …Jang Bong. Were you hiding your strength?”
“I hid my strength? How could you still not know me? The legendary spirit, Queen Komodo saved us!”
“Queen Komodo?”
Baek-un muttered the name Queen Komodo.
It seemed he didn’t know much about it.
Since he focused solely on martial arts, he probably lacked basic common knowledge.
How famous is Queen Komodo?
…Is it really that strange for someone not to know her?
“Ah, she’s coming over.”
Upon hearing that, Baek-un immediately turned his head.
While a dignified face would do, it was time to show a friendly smile.
It was important to instill a sense of safety in someone who had just regained their senses.
Siiik.
“Whaaa! No, it’s nothing. Baek-un Gong! Relax your grip! S-she may look a bit scary, but she’s a divine beast that saved our lives.”
No, why are you acting like that again?
“That divine beast defeated the cockatrice?”
“Is that all? Something akin to divine might happened, and we called upon the heavenly maiden to subdue the spirits.”
The Queen of Serpents must have looked like a heavenly maiden to him.
Considering her face, it could make sense.
A heavenly maiden and a divine beast. They’d make quite a picture.
Jang Bong.
Spread this story far and wide.
“…Yeah. That should settle it to have defeated that divine beast.”
“Exactly. Although it looks as fearsome as a mythical beast, it is indeed an extremely intelligent spirit.”
You’re an infinitely loving believer.
It wrapped up reasonably well.
For now, while Jang Bong wasn’t a believer, he did believe in the Gaeque Religion.
While Baek-un wasn’t a believer yet, he felt a sense of gratitude towards me to some extent.
To be honest, I worried that they might come at me thinking I was just a big lizard, but it seemed they thought of me as a spirit instead.
It was probably because I saved their lives.
Baek-un and I had even engaged in some conversation.
Though it consisted of fragmented dialogue, I wasn’t sure how well our meanings were conveyed to each other.
Jang Bong and Baek-un decided to leave this Shib Man Dae San.
Baek-un had a troubled look on his face, but no matter how much I was a divine beast, I couldn’t solve everything for him.
The maximum help I could provide was to point him in the direction of leaving this jungle.
I thought about calling for Baek Yeon-Yeong, but it turned out Baek-un belonged to Jong Nam, one of the major factions. If Baek Yeon-Yeong found out, there was a high chance they would be separated.
Unlike Dang So-young, I didn’t worry about leaving Shib Man Dae San.
Baek-un was strong.
As I tapped my sword, mimicking martial arts, he demonstrated a sword technique presumed to belong to Jong Nam.
If he fought me, I would undoubtedly win due to my dragon blood, but his skill was still considerable.
Unless he had a ridiculous goal like hunting spirits, escaping from Shib Man Dae San wouldn’t be that difficult.
“Geeeek…”
I let out a long yawn.
Now that Baek-un and Jang Bong were sent off, it was time to organize the gains from this journey.
The fact that Jang Bong and Baek-un had come to know of my existence.
That’s not a bad harvest.
Since I intentionally showcased my dignified form, it’s possible that believers in Queen Komodo may arise from various places. In that case, I would gain free divinity without responsibility.
If the scale of the religion increases, I might even acquire new skills.
Just this alone is a good harvest.
But this wasn’t the end.
The level I gained by defeating the cockatrice.
I had reached a whopping level 30.
This meant that evolution was possible right away.
This was a jackpot.
Since I had become Queen Komodo, my level hadn’t increased significantly, but reaching the level for evolution this quickly was remarkable.
Could it be that good deeds bring rewards?
The frightening part was that this wasn’t the end.
The supreme essence was something I needn’t even mention.
The promised reward from the Queen of Serpents.
That was waiting for me.
I didn’t know what it was, but if Shik Shik was preparing something, the rewards would be doubly good!
What kind of reward could it be?
I hoped it would be an elixir.
“Geggegegek!”
I let out a joyful cry and headed toward the Queen of Serpents’ temple.
I was already excited at the thought of devouring the elixir and evolving.
…
But why was I feeling such chills?
Ah, surely nothing’s wrong?