Like a child being dragged to the dentist, I dug my feet into the ground in resistance, but it was a useless effort.

With a swift pull, the Snake Queen lifted me up effortlessly, leaving me dangling from her hand.

No matter how you look at it, I must weigh well over a ton by now.

How on earth is she lifting me so easily?

I squirmed and struggled to escape, but then she asked if I wanted to see what the inside of a basilisk’s mouth looked like up close.

Which meant… if I kept resisting, she’d throw me right in there.

“Krek…”

I had no choice but to walk quietly.

…Come to think of it, it’s probably time I changed the way I sound.

I can’t keep up this incessant *krek-krek*-ing forever.

Didn’t I break away from the *krek* sounds for a while when I was the Crocodile King Lizard?

Maybe I can recall that memory.

"Rooar!"

“Stick with what you know.”

“Krek…”

I wore the expression of a sad lizard as I continued on with the Snake Queen to her temple.

The journey to the Snake Queen’s temple was without incident.

No ambush from Ketsalgahautl’s forces, and no attacks from wild animals.

But then again, who would dare attack with the Snake Queen and her partner walking side by side?

I nodded respectfully to the Black Drakes guarding the temple’s entrance and entered the temple’s interior.

“Hmm. I can only imagine Ketsalgahautl’s reaction,” she mused.

With a small smirk, I placed the items I’d received from Argentavis and the inner core of the Biyi Bird near the nest and settled down.

Today’s events hadn’t been our plan, but the outcome was favorable.

Komodo-Rania had taken down the Biyi Bird.

In terms of actual combat power, I was probably one, maybe even two levels below it.

Its speed alone had been almost impossible to follow with my eyes.

Ketsalgahautl must be livid.

Seeing as he’d gone so far as to deploy all three of his subordinates, it must have been a move he’d been waiting to make.

Though I escaped and spoiled his plans, he’d even used a gourd with mystical powers.

He had clearly anticipated my leveling up and tried to prevent it.

From stronger divine beasts to a myriad of monsters, I was surrounded.

The fact that I didn’t get caught was, honestly, surprising.

“Krek-krek.”

Thanks to that, though, the King of Birds suffered substantial losses.

“The Biyi Bird is dead, and the Nagal Tzo lost a wing. It’s a shame we didn’t finish them off completely, but this should still put them on the defensive.”

That stone by the lake… was that the Nagal Tzo’s wing?

For a bird to lose a wing is a catastrophic injury.

With only one wing, it won’t be able to fly.

After all, a bird’s worth is in its ability to soar through the sky.

…though some species do exist that can’t fly.

Besides, the Nagal Tzo often used feather-launching attacks.

Its battle capability was significantly reduced.

On their side now, they have the King of Birds, Pilbang, and an injured Nagal Tzo.

Sure, there might be minions like the terror birds, but we have plenty of lower-ranking fighters too.

It’s safe to say the tide has turned in our favor with this ambush.

We’ve taken advantage of Ketsalgahautl’s mistake.

…Though, why didn’t he personally join in this ambush?

If he knew our location, it would’ve been more efficient to attack with four divine beasts instead of three.

It’s almost like watching a Demon Lord sending generals to power up a hero.

“As before, Ketsalgahautl won’t be able to act rashly now.”

The Snake Queen knows him better than anyone.

If she says Ketsalgahautl won’t move, then it’s probably true.

But that doesn’t mean we should let our guard down.

“For an all-out war, he’ll need to make his own preparations. At the very least, he’ll have to reattach the Nagal Tzo’s wing and rally his forces.”

How strategic of her.

I wonder if she deliberately spared the Nagal Tzo.

In war, a wounded enemy is often a bigger loss than a dead one.

A dead soldier simply reduces numbers, but a wounded one needs someone to tend to them, reducing overall strength.

That’s exactly our situation now.

With the Nagal Tzo needing to heal, the King of Birds can’t make any bold moves.

In the meantime, we can strengthen our forces.

Until when?

Until Argentavis fully recovers.

Since we used a unicorn’s horn, he should heal far quicker than the Nagal Tzo.

The King of Birds and the Snake Queen both postponed the war to heal their wounded, but we’ll gather our strength first.

Between a Nagal Tzo that’s half-healed and a fully-recovered Argentavis, it’s obvious which would be more advantageous.

“Krekeek!”

We didn’t dwell long on strategies and plans.

The Snake Queen thought it would be best to purify and absorb the Biyi Bird’s core before we made any further moves.

The reason she cut the conversation short was because there was another topic to address.

“Enough of that. Now, let’s talk about the gift I mentioned earlier.”

Great. She’s like a full-on robber without a weapon.

Did I even leave a gift with her?

“What’s with that triangular look on your face?”

“Krek-krek.”

I put on my best innocent eyes.

“Do you know what I’m going to ask for?”

“Krek?”

I gave her my most naive expression.

“…This might hurt a little.”

Huh?

What’s that supposed to mean?

Why would it hurt?

“Close your eyes now.”

Why would I close my eyes?

Absolutely not.

I made my defiance clear, but the result was already decided.

“Krek…”

My eyes drooped shut.

“Good boy,” she cooed.

*Gulp.*

What in the world is she planning?

I may be in a lizard’s body, but my mind is human.

Meaning, I have a fair bit of intuition.

Time to put my sharp mind to work.

A gift, close my eyes, it might hurt a little.

What could it be?

I was still puzzling over it when…

“Stay still,” she said.

The Snake Queen’s hand stroked my head.

A gift, close my eyes, it might hurt a little, and stay still.

And she’s rubbing my head?

Even a fool could figure out what her intention was.

Plus, at some point, her serpentine body began to coil around me.

“Krekeek!”

She was fully committed today.

Determined to bring an end to me.

“Hmph. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?”

No.

I can’t lose something so precious like this.

“It’ll be over soon. Just relax.”

The Snake Queen tightened her grip.

“Kreeeeeek!”

And just like that, I felt a precious part of me slipping away.

“Do you think it’ll end with just once? We still have a long way to go.”

“Kreeek! Krekeeeek!”

I resisted as best I could, but the Snake Queen ignored me completely, gleefully plucking away at my precious things.

“Your scales are quite beautiful.”

*Shlick!*

No, my precious scales!

And why is she pulling only from the top of my head?!

---

“Haaa…”

Tang Soyoung, a Second-Class Martial Artist, yawned.

She stretched and looked at the table.

That’s where the spiders were.

“Keyooong…”

“Kiiik…”

Usually, they’d make those sounds and move about, but today was different.

The two spiders were staring blankly into space.

She couldn’t tell what they were looking at, but she joined them, feeling oddly compelled by the thought of the lizard’s face.

Komodo.

The tailed, ancient death.

A divine beast and savior she met in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Thanks to him, someone from the Five Great Families was staying at the Heavenly Demon Sect’s base.

…Not that she was sure if that was a good thing.

“Haa…”

Tang Soyoung yawned again as she waved her arms randomly like the spiders.

For some reason, she felt sleepy, as though her energy was being drained.

“Are you thinking of Senior Ko too?”

“Kiiing…”

“What are you even looking at? Let me see, too.”

The spiders were definitely staring at something.

They’d often stare into space and make those noises.

But Tang Soyoung could never figure out what they were seeing.

Every time she asked, they just replied with a *kiik*.

Maybe if she imitated them, she’d see something.

She waved her arms just like the spiders for a while.

Several minutes passed, and her head started to droop.

“Rooar…”

She was dozing off in her chair, nodding off as she slept.

“Kiiiiik!”

“Eek! What, what is it?”

Startled, Tang Soyoung joined in their excitement without knowing why.

“Kieeeek!”

“Kioooong!”

“Waaaaa!”

Tuss and Puss glanced at her.

“…Why are you looking at me? Isn’t this what we’re supposed to do?”

“Kiik.”

“Hm. Actually, this is a Tang Family training method. When faced with unexpected…”

“Kiiiigh.”

Did one of them just sigh?

Tang Soyoung brushed it off as her imagination.

There’s no way a spider would sigh.

Especially not while looking at her

.

“Why am I so tired, though? Is someone draining my inner energy?”

Her guess was almost on the mark, though she dismissed it as a joke.

“Not like I’m a Demon Sect priestess or anything… Still, I feel so sleepy.”

She started to nod off again, drooling as she fell into a deep sleep.

“KIIIIIK!”

“Whaaa!”

Tang Soyoung was startled awake once more.

“What’s going on?”

The spider maiden, Nephila Jurassica, had awakened.

As the one responsible for tending to her, Tang Soyoung had no choice but to be on edge for every little reaction.

Nephila Jurassica joined Tuss and Puss in waving her hands.

“Keyooong.”

“Kieeeng.”

“Eeeiiing.”

“What’s with the sounds you’re making?”

Ignoring her, the spiders gazed intently into the void.

Tang Soyoung couldn’t see anything, but she joined them anyway.

More time passed, and the hugging spiders started grinding their teeth.

With their short legs, Tuss and Puss banged on the table.

After exchanging a look, they climbed into Puss’s webbed home.

“…Already? Training isn’t over for the day.”

“Kiiik!”

With a short leg, Puss slammed the door shut on his webbed home.

Tang Soyoung found herself startled yet again.

Their goal was to match Komodo’s strength.

They were training daily for that purpose alone.

But now, it felt like they’d seen something disturbing, maybe something that had angered them enough to abandon training and retreat.

“…What on earth did you see? Tell me!”

She grumbled, but neither Tuss nor Puss answered her.

“What the—”

Tang Soyoung looked over at Nephila Jurassica.

Having grown up around all manner of bizarre creatures, she was usually fearless.

But there was something about Nephila Jurassica’s face that could make even her uneasy.

It wasn’t so much that she was creepy, but her appearance suggested that at any moment, she’d wrap Tang Soyoung in spider silk.

“Kieeik.”

Seeing her approach meant she must have something to say.

Tang Soyoung thought she was here to ask about metamorphosis.

“Is there something you want to ask?”

“Kiiiiik!”

It took some time, but Tang Soyoung eventually managed to understand the spider’s intent.

Thanks to her unique skills and her natural ability to communicate with other species, she managed to grasp the gist of it.

“…You’re asking if you can enhance a particular area when you undergo metamorphosis?”

“Kiiik!”

Metamorphosis.

For someone like Tang Soyoung, still at a low level, it was a distant concept, but the metamorphosis of a divine creature was different.

Their metamorphosis was an evolution of their entire being.

Growing up in the Tang Family, she’d witnessed this process countless times and could even facilitate it.

That’s why she was able to help train and heal Nephila Jurassica.

“Hmm… Well, I’ve never seen a case where a divine beast transformed and then returned to its previous state, so I’m not really sure.”

Even for her, this was an extremely rare scenario.

Nephila Jurassica’s form had partially turned human, only to revert after a forced regression to save her life.

Now, if she underwent metamorphosis again, would she return to her previous form, or could she change into something else entirely?

It was an intriguing thought.

“But theoretically, it should be possible.”

Tang Soyoung smiled warmly.

Surely, she was asking because she wanted to grow stronger for Ko Dae-hyup’s sake.

“Kiiik!”

Of course, that was just her own assumption.

“…Wait, your chest? You want to enlarge your chest?”

What in the world was she saying?

No matter how you looked at it, the creature before her was a spider.

Even if a spider could metamorphose to have a human chest, wanting to increase the size of that… fleshy part seemed… strange.

“Well, I may be an expert, but the chest area isn’t really…”

Nephila Jurassica lowered her head.

Then, she looked up at Tang Soyoung’s chest intently.

“…What’s going on?”

Then she lowered her head again.

“Keek.”

You win.

Tang Soyoung felt like she could hear those words.

Though Nephila had been cowed by the Snake Queen’s overwhelming presence, she felt her spirits lift a bit, thanks to Tang Soyoung’s sacrifice.

“Wait, was that… Did you just laugh?”

“Keekek.”

Nephila Jurassica mimicked my exasperated *krek*.

“…Sure, Ko Dae-hyup sometimes gives me a less-than-impressed look, but that’s unrelated!”

She remembered that time in the Utahraptor’s cave.

Ko Dae-hyup had purred contentedly when he was with Baek Yeonyeong, yet he’d often cast disappointed looks when he was next to her.

Lost in thought, Tang Soyoung’s expression shifted.

She moved from the nostalgic look of a Tang Family girl reminiscing about her adventures with Ko Dae-hyup to the hardened resolve of a Tang Family warrior who had finally grasped his true nature.

“…So that’s what this was all about?”

So that spider wanted a larger chest, too.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a divine creature?”

Tang Soyoung’s illusions about Komodo shattered all at once.

And from that day forward, the Tang Family added a new phrase to their teachings: *the bigger, the better.*