Novel Full Chapter 1055 A civilization that worshipped snakes
[Eon’s POV: ]
[Naga Upasaka]
A civilization that worshipped snakes.
From what the archeologists and researchers who have explored this dungeon have discovered, the civilization that is believed to have built this unique dungeon in this rather remote location from their original homelands, was used to keep something specific.
‘The Naga Upasaka or the snake worshipping people from around five thousand years ago, lived in the eastern islands of western continent, a place far from this northern end.’
Just like many of the civilizations from the past, these people were also advanced in magical and spiritual arts, however, more than magic or weapon arts, this civilization is more famous for their ethical rituals, their occult practices, and their strange bonds with the snakes and snake-like reptiles.
‘From what I’ve read, in their ancient lores, there used to be a particular supreme entity called [Shashe]… the same thousand headed snake that is depicted in the picture on both sides of this dungeon’s walls which anyone might mistake for simple lines and shapes.’
The king of all snakes, the king of all serpent creatures, and the supreme entity born from nature itself.
Possessing the divinity and having been immortalised by many of the great archeological structures built by the snake worshippers, this ‘fictional’ entity has more meaning to this one particular tribe than anyone else in this world.
[{ “This is… overwhelming, darling.” }]
The inside of the dungeon looked pretty simple.
There were magical gems embedded in the strange shapes that only a few people could figure out to be the eyes of the thousand snake heads.
Since they were situated in uneven distances, in some places, the light was brighter while in some, the light was dimmer or almost unavailable.
The passage that we were walking on was narrow.
There were traps set all around us, however, we had not yet triggered any of them thanks to Miss Nerissa and her snake friends, as well as her experience with the dungeon and the special senses that she had thanks to her unbelievable synchronisation with her familiar.
[{ “I don’t think these snake heads are positioned like this just for the decoration, darling.” }]
Experience tales at empire
In the Truth seeing eyes of rein, even this simple place was nothing normal.
Be it the light gems present on the heads of the snakes, or the simple looking structure of the path that we were walking on.
The whole of the place looked completely different in her eyes.
There were more hidden details here than the archeologists have found, but, since it had been mostly erased by the flow of time, only she could see those things.
She was showing me what she was seeing as well, however, in a dungeon, we did not have the luxury to stay with one another and hold hands all the time.
The formation that we had assumed was pretty simple.
The tankers were on the front and the back, the healers were in the centre, we mages were just around them with the weapon wielding knights standing before us.
The formation wasn’t in a diamond shape but three triangles with Miss Nerissa being in the very centre.
One of the sides that did not have a tank contained more damage dealers as well as the knight captain that led this party, so it was a fairly decent positioning.
It wasn’t perfect, obviously, but it most certainly was good for this dungeon.
[{ “There. We have another line of traps.” }]
The mages could sense some of the traps while Miss Nerissa had a deep grasp of what they were able to do and what might happen if we do not trigger them.
She could almost read those traps, which was actually surprising, but considering her decades of experience in the field, she must have dealt with traps of even greater danger.
It was obvious that her bond with her snake familiar was deep. So, the depth of their bond also heightened her senses and told her where and what kind of creatures were present behind the traps.
“We might be able to use this one.”
She was intentionally triggering some of the traps in a safe manner to collect the snakes or the poisonous fangs that were shot at us.
The traps were all poison related ultimately.
Sometimes a live snake or a bunch of snakes were thrown at us like arrows coming from both sides, while sometimes it was a large snake monster’s mouth waiting for us to take a wrong step.
‘This time particularly, it was a rather small snake.’
Covered in bright cyan scales, having deep pearl-like blue eyes, the snake that Miss Nerissa got after triggering the trap was, in fact, nothing less than a treasure.
“Isn’t that thing dangerous, my lady?”
Though it was simply a (Red) energy beast, it was a snake carrying one of the deadliest poisons in the world. A creature that produced a very small dose of poison which could kill an entire village with a single drop of it.
“It sure is dangerous. But it will be fine.” The creature was positioned inside the trap in a way that only it’s fangs would touch anyone that accidentally stepped on it.
Person would die on the spot after being affected by the strong neurotoxin and their body would explode, spreading the poison to the rest of the group, killing them in the process as well.
‘It was a very dangerous creature that most of the party members were stunned to see with their own eyes for the first time in their lives.’
However, contrary to the famous beliefs that this species was a dangerous, violent one, in the hands of Miss Nerissa that had her familiar wrapped around her neck, this dangerous snake was nothing more than a child that embraced her with warmth when she took it out.
“She’s so cool…” Rein was even more excited now.
Seeing that endangered species around her neck simply made her over excited.
She had been wanting to go and pet her familiar snake, play with it, and have fun, but now, she was carrying two snakes around her neck with several presents all over her body, and even on her magic staff.
‘Logically, she was carrying these snakes to increase her familiarity with the snakes of the dungeon that did not like outsiders and intruders, but actually, she simply loved those creatures.’
The fact that she wanted to extract their venom ‘gently’ and keep them to herself Forever until their last breaths was known by all the party members, so as long as she was helping us, no one was going to question her and her actions.
She was guiding us through the dungeon, we were avoiding traps and danger thanks to her, and with her experience, even the knight captain, objectively the strongest of the group, seemed nothing less than a side character.
‘Though, he did not seem to be bothered by her at all.’
Unlike some who were intrigued by her voluptuous body, he didn’t seem to be all that attracted to it. Unlike Rein and some who admired her, he also did not seem to admire her despite her status and some of the rare few <S> rank adventurers.
He also did not dislike her either… which was confusing since the boys that had looked up to him, the older ones, our bosses, did not seem to like her all that much.
The younger ones were obviously head over heels for her with the orator child our age showing a strong neutrality before her.
He was more interested in her abilities than her experience or skills.
Like a leader, he was observing everyone present, taking note of everything one was doing.
The older ones interested in the combat and the way others fought were pretty bored since there was no combat happening yet, while the younger ones were having fun seeing the mages use their Mana to detect the traps and disable it with precision for the team.
The raid until now was going straightforward.
The path was not narrow at all so we were moving forward steadily.
The dungeon itself was constructed in a way that it was going to have three distinct sections with the first one being the trap zone, the second one having traps and monsters, and the innermost chamber of the dungeon was the main stage.
When we get there, we may or may not have to split up depending on our luck, but before we reach there, we will have to stick together no matter what.
After we cross a few more blocks, we will enter the zone where the fighters will be needed, and the real combat starts.
There, we will fight with big snake monsters, creatures called ‘Naga’. Not the Naga species, but simple creatures of (Blue) to (Purple) ranked called Nagas.
Though they will not be humanoids like Naga-species, they will be powerful beings, some of them being large enough to be several metres tall and possessing not just poison related skills but even magical skills that will make the whole combat even more difficult for the party.
‘When we enter the final zone, the battle will be of not just strength, but also knowledge and understanding of the past of the [Naga Upasaka].
‘Till this day, this dungeon remains only eighty percent explored.’
Since the final reward one receives depends on what they do in the final zone of the dungeon, none of us know what will happen there.
However, I’m pretty sure whatever we do there will have a significant impact on the dungeon’s clearance history until now.
[{ “It’s starting, Rein. Get ready.” }]
[{ “Haaa… yes.” }]
The final hurdle we might have to fight could very well be a dangerous (Purple) creature.
Though, if we are even more unlucky… it might very well be an intelligent (Purple) rank creature.
And, I especially hope that we do not get anything like that.
‘But I won’t jinx it by saying it out loud.’