“What is it!?” Narcha asked in worry, noticing the boy trembling.

Eiwin also put her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm the boy down. Red took a deep breath, trying to push aside the turmoil the memory of that monster caused in his mind. However, the feeling seemed to be ingrained in his body and it warned the boy again and again about the danger this being represented.

This sensation seemed to come from the same mysterious place that Red felt his crimson sense. It was more than a simple instinct. It was as if another individual living inside his body made their presence known and was screaming at the boy to run away.

It was strange.

It was foreign.And then it was gone.

Although some trepidation still remained, Red felt his trembling subside. When he collected himself again, he noticed his companions were staring at him in concern. At least, Narcha and Eiwin were. Reinhart seemed more curious than anything.

“There’s a monster there.” Red said. “… A monster we met earlier.”

Narcha frowned. “Which monster?”

Reinhart was the one to respond. “A snake. Bigger and more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen before. Probably the kind of beast you can only find at the very center of the Grand Serpent Canyon, at least according to tales. Only reason we’re still alive is probably because it couldn’t bother itself to kill us.”

The woman’s expression worsened. “What’s a monster like that doing here? If it’s really that strong, no one in this trial can kill it.”

“How would I know?” the knight shrugged. “Maybe it’s not aggressive.”

His words did not sound very convincing.

“Is it blocking the way forward?” Eiwin asked.

“We can only see the tail hanging off the canyon side up above.” Reinhart shook his head. “But the snake is hundreds of meters long, so its head might be in another part of the canyon for all we know.”

The younger woman seemed somewhat reluctant, but still nodded in the end. “Then we should proceed for now. If the snake is that big, we can spot it from far away with both yours and Red’s help and change directions if it comes down to it.”

Reinhart smiled. “That sounds reasonable to me.”

Narcha nodded. “There’s no way I’m turning back right now. We need to catch up with those imperials before they get too far.”

The knight scoffed at her words, but surprisingly chose to not offer a snarky comment or remark. The group continued to walk forward until the snake tail also became visible to Eiwin and Narcha, whose eyes widened in shock.

“It’s gigantic.” Narcha said in a tone full of awe. “I only ever heard of monsters this size in tales and legends.”

“It’s not moving.” Reinhart said. “Maybe it’s dead.”

The woman frowned. “Do you really believe that?”

He shrugged. “Not really.”

Red would also have been interested in examining the beast further if it wasn’t for the fact his body had started to tremble again under this foreign sensation as they got closer. Not to mention, he hadn’t even gotten within a hundred meters of the beast yet, at which point he would be able to detect its fluctuation. He frowned in frustration.

‘Why is this happening?’

The boy was afraid of the titanic snake, of course, but he didn’t believe it was to the point where even looking at it would fill him with dread - he had seen plenty of scary things, after all. Yet, here he was, his body seemingly acting independent of his mind to warn him against going further. It frustrated him to no end.

Eiwin seemed to notice his condition. She looked over at the other two. “Let’s hurry and be on our way. It’s best we be far away from here by the time this monster acts again.”

Both Narcha and Reinhart agreed with the woman. They started moving again, trying to avoid getting closer to the tail as they passed it by. Eiwin walked by Red’s side, monitoring his condition while the boy calculated how close they would need to get to the appendage to pass by.

‘It’s definitely within 100 meters.’

Red braced himself for the worst. An air of nervousness surrounded the group as they approached the tail. A few seconds later, Red felt the fluctuation of the monster flooding his mind. Unbearable pain and information assaulted his mind, and the boy immediately stumbled.

…

Eiwin was there to catch him before he fell, though, supporting him by his arms.

Narcha looked back in alarm at the boy. “What is-”

Eiwin interrupted her with a shushing motion. The older woman frowned but still nodded along. Reinhart was watching the entire interaction with a worried expression.

It was clear that although the snake’s presence didn’t affect the others as much, they still felt a level of discomfort just by being close to this beast. They were also intent on getting out of here as soon as possible.

…

For his part, Red was struggling with a terrible headache and didn’t even have the strength to react as Eiwin dragged him along. The boy felt like an eternity passed before the fluctuation of the snake disappeared.

It took him almost a minute before he felt confident in standing on his own two feet as the trembling also subsided. Eiwin, however, still seemed worried about his condition.

Red shook his head. “I’m fine now.”

“What happened, kid?” Narcha asked him with a frown. “That was a terrible time to collapse.”

Although the woman used her own coarse way of asking, it was clear by her expression she was worried.

Red hesitated. “… It’s just a side-effect of my power.”

He was reluctant to explain the specifics of his crimson sense in front of Reinhart, so the boy was deliberately vague.

“I see…” Thankfully, Narcha was able to pick up on his hesitation and didn’t press the matter further.

“Are you going to be okay, Red?” Eiwin asked, still close by him as if afraid he would fall down at any time.

The boy nodded. “As long as we get far away from this monster, I should be fine.”

Indeed, as soon as they distanced themselves from the snake’s tail, his trembling ceased and Red slowly recovered.

“Can you still see the tracks?” Reinhart asked.

Red nodded. They were still following the same path and weren’t diverted by the snake's tail. That is, if it was there by the time they passed by, anyway.

The group saw no signs of the colossal snake or any other monsters for the next fifteen minutes of travelling. Now, however, they weren’t puzzled as to why no other beasts inhabited the area.

‘No one would want to live close to that monster.’

“The path is opening up.” Reinhart said, taking the boy out of his thoughts.

The rest of the group examined their surroundings as they moved, and sure enough, they noticed the passage they were walking on was widening.

“Does this mean we’re almost out of this hole?” Narcha asked.

“I don’t know.” Reinhart shrugged. “I’ve never been to any canyons.”

Eiwin also shook her head. “It’s impossible to tell. We might just be heading towards another closed off area, just wider this time.”

The knight laughed. “You sure know how to give us hope, don’t you, lady?”

The woman just frowned in response. They kept walking, until, sure enough, the passage opened up into a large plain area. The area was a couple of kilometers wide, and a large pond stood at the center of it. There were no signs of any vegetation or animals, though, and to their dismay, the area was also enveloped by the canyon walls.

There were no signs of any exits.

“Fuck!” Narcha cursed out loud upon noticing this.

“Come on, don’t be so disappointed!” Reinhard said. “We haven’t even explored the place yet. There might be some other underground passage we can take to leave.”

“Ugh… I suppose you’re right.” Narcha couldn’t offer a counterargument to that.

The knight laughed and looked over at Red. “Do you still have their tracks, kid?”

The boy didn’t respond, looking over at something in the distance.

Reinhart frowned. “Have you found something?”

Red hesitated. “There’s something weird about that wall…”

The man followed his gaze and frowned. “You’re right. It doesn’t look natural.”

Narcha looked over. “What do you mean? Bah, I still can’t see anyth-”

Suddenly, lightning struck the spot they were looking at, and all of them had to cover their eyes - even Red and Reinhart, despite their dark vision. The thunder reached them very quickly, making the ground rumble and causing their bodies to tremble.

Red’s ears were ringing from the noise and for a moment he felt he had gone deaf. However, that soon passed, and the boy could hear his surroundings again. Yet what replaced it was a consistent sound of static.

‘What is that noise?’

His eyes also recovered from the sudden flash and he looked back at where the lightning had struck. Hundreds of arcs of lightning were travelling along this “wall” - the apparent source of the sound Red had been hearing. As the boy examined the arcs further, though, he noticed they delineated a shape.

A shape Red was familiar with.

“That’s… The snake?” Narcha asked, staring at the figure in disbelief.

The lightning arcs running along the monster’s body had offered enough light to where even Narcha and Eiwin could see.

It was indeed the snake - its colossal body embedded and curled up between the canyon walls. The creature seemed similar to the snakes they had found in the canyon so far - grey skin and a large horn - yet it had some distinct aspects other than its enormous body. Traces of dark blue scales could be found along its frame, and the arcs of lightning seemed to be especially numerous around these strange spots. Its horn also seemed too long compared to its body, and for some reason, the arcs of lightning refused to travel up its length.

Despite these differences, though, the creature also shared the strongest quality of its lesser brethren - camouflage. If it wasn’t for the lightning strike, they wouldn’t have been able to make out this strange canyon wall was actually a colossal snake all along. The thought made their blood run cold.

Soon enough, all the lightning arcs running along its body were absorbed into the blue scales, and the creature blended once more into its surroundings. It hadn’t moved even once, despite the lightning strike.

Only when its figure was no longer visible did the group seem to relax somewhat.

“… Is that the monster you saw?” Narcha asked. The woman was trying to put on a strong front, but it was clear the sight of the creature had shaken her confidence.

Reinhart didn’t bother pretending, though, and his usual nonchalant expression was now tinged with worry. “I think so. Unless there are more of these things here.”

“… It eats lightning.”

The knight’s frown deepened. “Seems to be the case.”

Narcha grunted and looked over at Eiwin. “Do you recognize it?”

The younger woman seemed the least affected out of the entire group from the sudden revelation, but her expression was still severe. “I have read about plenty of snake monsters in books - including legendary ones only spoken about in tales. None of them were related to lightning, though.”

“Could it be a mutated beast?”

“That would be a reasonable guess.” Eiwin nodded. “But the truth is that there are still plenty of unknown creatures in this world - and even the sects can’t claim to be aware of all of them.”

Narcha sighed in disappointment. “I suppose we’ll never really know it, will we? I’m sure Rog would have liked to see it, though. Either way, we should get out of here before it awakens.”

The warrior looked over at Red.

“So, kid, do you still see those tracks?” she asked.

Red was snapped out of his reverie by the woman’s question.

He nodded. “They’re still here.”

Narcha seemed relieved. “And where do they lead?”

Red hesitated.

This didn’t go unnoticed by the woman, though, as her expression fell.

“Do you mean…" she trailed off.

Red nodded again. “It goes towards the snake.”

The entire group fell into silence.