"You're trespassing."
Her voice didn't rise, didn't shout. It was low. Steady. The kind of quiet that made the bones stiffen and the air taste of metal.
Gabriel narrowed his crimson eyes. "You speak like a monarch," he said, lightning flickering along his fingertips. "But power... isn't just claimed. It's tested."
Cordelia's expression didn't change. Her long crimson hair shifted only slightly in the wind.
"And who will test it?" she asked.
Gabriel tilted his head, smirking. "If I must."
From behind, Lilith muttered under her breath, barely a whisper.
"Fuck."
Luomon didn't speak, but the veins of ice magic in his palm began to glow.
Gabriel raised a single hand, electricity dancing wildly. Not enough to blast the whole forest, but enough to strike—and he directed the bolt toward the red silhouette in front of him.
It didn't land.
She devoured it.
—[Asmodeus Meal: Devourer ]—
Gabriel's eyes flickered. "Oh?"
And then it rained.
The suspended petals in the air halted…
Then surged.
The petals struck—all at once—toward the last B-class hunter who had broken the serpent's egg.
One breath.
The next, his body had been skewered by a dozen razor petals.
Only his head remained…
Lodged in the dirt, eyes wide in frozen horror.
Cordelia stepped forward, her bare feet silent.
"You killed monsters. Fine. They attacked first. But those were just eggs."
Her voice curled with venomous calm.
"So they needed to pay."
Gabriel didn't flinch. "A flesh for a flesh. I see."
There was a flicker in his eyes—not anger.
Interest.
The gleam of someone who had finally found a chessboard worth flipping.
Someone who could level a city without breaking a sweat…
Now facing something that might break him.
Cordelia raised her hand.
Roots erupted from the ground—sharpened like spears, each one pointing at a hunter.
No word was needed. The message was clear.
"Go back," she said.
Gabriel stared at her, unmoving.
The black chains around his sword shimmered into gold, reacting to his pulse.
Lilith's voice echoed through the mental link.
"Gab, we should retreat. The hunters are breaking. I can't hold the shield much longer."
Gabriel's jaw clenched.
"We haven't inspected the cave yet."
Luomon joined, telepathy laced with urgency.
"We'll escort them out. Then we re-enter. Alone."
A breath.
Then Gabriel sheathed his sword.
"Fine," he said aloud. "Since the monarch is feeling generous… and asking so kindly…"
He stepped back.
"…we'll leave. For now."
Cordelia didn't respond. Didn't need to.
Her silence was its own kind of execution.
As Gabriel turned, the petals fluttered again.
When he glanced back—
She was gone.
No monster. No red silhouette.
Nothing but mist and crimson petals dancing in the wind.
His eyes narrowed. For a moment—just a sliver of a second—regret flickered across his face.
Lilith dropped the shield, panting. "What the fuck was that?"
Luomon looked ahead, solemn. "The forest has a rightful owner now."
Gabriel didn't speak. He just kept looking at the sky… like he was searching for her silhouette in the clouds.
"Let's go back," he finally said.
One of the injured hunters limped up, nervously.
"Sir, how about we set up camp here? It's already night—"
Gabriel turned his crimson gaze on him.
"You think you'll make it till sunrise?"
No one spoke again.
Because they all felt it.
Even if they couldn't say it aloud.
This forest was no longer wild.
It was ruled.
And the one who ruled it… had just let them live.
As they began their retreat, Gabriel paused—just before stepping past the treeline.
He looked back.
The mist parted slightly.
Like the forest itself was watching.
He smirked. "It's not over yet."
******************
Just before she entered the battlefield, a prompt appeared in front of her.
> [QUEST]
Avenge the Serpent Tribe's Hydra Eggs.
— Reward: Tribe's loyalty and faith.
— Failure: Loss of a powerful ally in your domain.
Val: "Come on, Root! Your first quest—don't fuck it up~"
Cordelia inhaled.
"Mimic."
> [Skill Activated: Yerith's Illusion]
Duration: 30 minutes per 2 hours. Will increase with level.
---
[AFTER THE CONFRONTATION]
Cordelia returned to the lake… her roots brushing across the dark water as she materialized in her origin domain once more.
Val (spinning in bat form): "Damn, Root! You NAILED it!! That was legendary!"
Cordelia blinked. Then her eyes widened. Then her smile—
"Ohhhmai. I actually just did that!!!"
" And who was that?"
"Who?"
"The man in black cape and red eyes."
Val while showing a smug face, " Don't you anything similar? Like a chain?"
"The vaelthorne chain!!! Yerith was sealed by him??"
" Not him. His ancestors."
"He is handsome though."
" Don't mess with fire, Root."
" I won't. So did I gain a body?"
[ notice- To obtain a physical body, you must kill one. Quest completed. ]
" See Val. It's just too easy."
Val: "Alright show-off. Time to open your stats."
Cordelia grinned like a gamer waiting for that one loot drop.
"Status—open."
A crisp blue screen glowed in the dark:
---
> [STATUS]
Name: Cordelia
Class: Legendary
Species: Monster
Power: Last Descendant
Level: 100
Mana: 666,666,666+
Age: ??
> Skills
— Yerith Descendant
> Illusion (Others: locked)
— Val System
Val Manager
— Ultimate Skill
Asmodeus Meal
— Unique Skill
Marked, Floral decay
— Sub Skills
Acid Twig, Forbidden Fruit
— Special Skills
Appraisal, Inventory, Link
---
Cordelia: "Wait—my level is 100?!"
Val (with smug bat-face): "Well duh. You're literally made from Yerith's 500+ years of stored Mana."
Cordelia: "So... I can just meditate and boost more levels from the lake?"
Val: "NOPE. You want power? Earn it. Tasks, baby."
Cordelia pouted. "You stingy little—"
Val: " For humans, level 100 might be their life goal. But for a monster who will rule it's not."
Cordelia: " Guess it's not that easy."
Val: " But there are some interesting cases in humans. Like that Vaelthorne heir."
Cordelia: " Red eye hunter?"
Val: " Yes. Thanks to his blood privilege. He already crossed 100."
Cordelia flinched, " You mean right now he is stronger than me?"
Val: " Yes. Well now you have an appraisal that's L class, you can just see who you should mess with."
Cordelia gave a side eye to him. Smug flying rat.
She paused.
"Wait—what's Link?"
Val: "Mental communication. Works like telepathy. And only your Marked followers can talk back through it."
Cordelia: "Soooo cool~"
"Inventory—open!"
Click.
Rows upon rows of scarlet dresses. Heels. Hair accessories. Piercings. Rings. Weapon-styled jewelry.
Cordelia blinked.
"…Val. I think we can officially declare Yerith a fashion icon. She had better style than the gods."
Val: "Should I install a glam cave under the lake?"
Cordelia: "You better start TODAY."
They were still bickering when the ground vibrated beneath them.
The Serpents had returned.
Slithering, crawling, approaching… and then—
Transforming.
Into humanoid forms—tall, lean warriors with serpentine eyes and scales that shimmered violet-black in the dim cave light.
They bowed.
Not to a monarch.
Not to a human.
But to the very root of crimson power that pulsed through the lake.
> [NOTICE]
Quest Completed!
Reward Gained: Serpent Tribe's Loyalty and Faith.
Cordelia looked down at them.
A breeze stirred the crimson petals floating along the cave water.
Her domain had just gained its first army.
___
A black-purple serpent slithered forward from the kneeling crowd.
"…Master," he whispered.
Cordelia flinched. That word—so unfamiliar, so final. No one had ever called her that.
The serpent, still bowing, spoke again.
"May we be graced with the name of our new monarch?"
And then it came—not from her mouth, but from the very soul of the cave itself.
A voice like an ancient whisper through stone and root echoed across the forest.
"CORDELIA."
The serpent finally looked up. His eyes were deep purple, his hair black with streaks of violet. And yet—he did not hesitate, did not question. He bowed again, this time deeper.
Then two elderly figures, a man and a woman, stepped forward. They too knelt.
"My lady," the woman pleaded, "Please…save our tribe."
Cordelia's voice was calm. "Why should I?"
The answer came not in words, but in thunderous movement—all the serpents dropped in kowtow, heads pressed to earth.
"We will give you everything," they begged.
"Our souls, our minds, our bodies. Our faith. Our strength. You will have it all."
Cordelia's eyes narrowed. "You are one of the most powerful tribes in this forest. What enemy could you not defeat?"
The male serpent clenched his fists.
"Leviathan. The sea serpent. It feasts on us—has for years. They dominate the waters… We've already lost half our forces."
"And now… now those hunter scum have destroyed our eggs."
The desperation in his voice cracked something within her.
> [QUEST ALERT]
Mission: Slay Leviathan.
Reward: Unlock Crimson Eclipse
Failure Penalty: Loss of the Serpent Tribe.
Val: "Want to apply [Marked] on one of them? It'll deepen the bond. You'll truly feel everything they feel."
Cordelia: "I would love to."
She began to change—no longer a root, but a blooming goddess of war.
Crimson hair rippling, golden eyes glowing. She, wearing a white skirt and blouse, her waist bare—golden bracelets glinting on her arms. Her silhouette shimmered atop a small piece of land surrounded by the ancient lake.
The serpents remained kneeling. Not one dared look up.
Cordelia raised her hand. A single crimson vine shot across the water, stopping at the feet of the black-purple serpent.
"Stand," she said.
He obeyed.
Step by step, he walked the vine bridge, stopping before her on the sacred ground. He knelt again, voice soft:
"…My lord."
Cordelia reached down, her fingers weaving through his dark hair.
She fisted it. Firm.Final.
"Marked."
A ripple of power surged. The serpent's body jolted—golden light flashing in his eyes before fading into purple once again.
Then on Cordelia's waist, a tattoo bloomed: a glowing purple serpent coiled in a ring of crimson petals.
And a golden mark on his neck. Symbolism.
He stared at it—everyone stared at it.
But he? He felt it.
A loyalty so primal, so absolute, it almost shattered him. This wasn't fear. This was bond.
"You all are mine now,"
And all the serpents bowed once more—not to plead, not to beg—
—but to acknowledge.
Their ruler.