Two fire spirits struck the White Snake's head, and it immediately began to thrash, trying to shake off the fireballs.
Come on, burn! Kagami's eyes narrowed as he watched the snake's desperate movements.
However, the Flame Spirits burned with extraordinary energy, and unless he retracted them, ordinary methods couldn't extinguish their flames.
Seeing that the Flame Spirits couldn't be shaken off and the intense heat was unbearable, the White Snake quickly dispersed into a multitude of small white snakes, writhing on the ground in an attempt to escape the fire.
It's smarter than I thought. He watched the snake's tactical dispersion.
By contrast, the intelligence of the Flame Spirits wasn't very high.
He could only control the Flame Spirits when they were within sight. Earlier, when the Flame Spirits flew behind the snake's large body, Kagami lost control of them.
Come on, find your way back. Show me you're worth something! his eyes darted around, searching for any sign of his wayward Flame Spirits.
The spirits could track Kagami's intended target. Eventually, they returned and struck the White Snake's head again.
The only issue was that the Flame Spirits' autonomous movement was slower than when he controlled them mentally. Even an ordinary person with quick reflexes could dodge them, making them somewhat like slow-moving will-o'-the-wisps.
Too slow, too dumb. There has to be a way to make them better. He analyzed the Flame Spirits' limitations.
It seemed the hit rate of the Flame Spirits was a significant problem.
But there was a solution: enhancing the intelligence of the Flame Spirits.
These spirits were intelligent flames, and their intelligence wasn't fixed. It could be improved through special means.
The hive-like sphere in Kagami's consciousness was actually a collective mind known as the Hive Mind. Each individual Flame Spirit was a part of this collective consciousness.
Cthugha's Flame Spirits allowed them to absorb the knowledge and memories of intelligent beings. This knowledge not only fed back into Kagami's brain but also enhanced the Hive Mind's collective intelligence.
If I can feed it knowledge, make it smarter... This could be the key to real power.
As knowledge accumulated, all the Flame Spirits would grow smarter, craftier, and faster in their movements.
Meanwhile, the small white snakes on the ground, set ablaze, thrashed and rolled wildly, but the Flame Spirits continued to burn them, and the sound of sizzling flesh filled the air.
The White Snake quickly thought of another strategy: it abandoned its burning body and re-formed, launching a counterattack on Kagami.
The newly re-formed White Snake was noticeably smaller than before, but it was still ferocious.
It lashed out furiously, tossing aside lab tables with ease. However, he had already taken shelter in a safe spot. Mirrors! I can control them without direct sight! The idea struck Kagami as he dodged a flying piece of equipment.
Although the White Snake could disperse and reassemble at will, it couldn't completely avoid being touched by the Flame Spirits.
Once even a small part of it was touched, the White Snake was forced to shed that part of its body to prevent the flames from spreading.
One by one, the small burning snakes were cast off from the main body. Soon, the area around the White Snake was littered with scorched, charred snake remains.
Piece by piece, I'll reduce you to nothing. Grim satisfaction filled him as he watched the White Snake diminish.
Through this process of attrition, the once-massive snake had shrunk to the size of an ordinary snake. The now-miniature serpent glared angrily at Kagami, who was slowly approaching.
In this diminished form, the snake was no longer much of a threat to him. The venomous fluids within the snake had evaporated due to the flames, and the antidotes he had prepared were no longer necessary.
Now, only the last remnant of the snake remained. Kagami decided not to burn it with an ordinary Flame Spirit but instead used a Cthugha's Flame Spirit.
In his left hand, a blue, skull-like flame appeared out of thin air. Crimson lightning flickered in the skull's eye sockets and mouth.
The blue skull flame floated slowly towards the White Snake's head and engulfed it entirely.
Through the semi-transparent blue flame, Kagami could see the snake struggling violently inside.
What was more astonishing was that the Cthugha's Flame didn't burn the snake from the outside—it started from within, with blue flames pouring from the snake's mouth.
It's beautiful... Kagami watched, transfixed by the spectacle.
As the White Snake's body gradually turned to ash from the inside, his mind absorbed some alien knowledge.
---
He was no longer himself, but the snake, trapped in a liquid-filled tank, looking out through the murky green fluid.
I can't move.
Why can't I move?
I was completely immobilized, suspended in this viscous liquid. My body felt weird and foreign, like it belonged to someone else.
A face appeared before me, distorted by the glass and liquid.
Orochimaru.
"Ah, my little experiment. You're awake."
His voice sent shivers through my body.
I wanted to please him, to be worthy of his attention.
Look at me, Orochimaru-sama.
Time dragged on.
Every so often, needles jabbed through my scales. The stuff they pumped in burned like fire. I tried to move and scream but my body wouldn't listen.
I was always watching, always aware, but never able to escape.
One day, Orochimaru drained the tank. As the fluid receded, I felt my body collapse onto the cold metal bottom. Before I could even attempt to move, hands grabbed me, rough and uncaring.
"Hold it down," he commanded. "This next test requires... precision."
I felt the cold bite of a scalpel against my scales. No anesthetic, no mercy.
Just the sharp pain as he methodically sliced me open. I could feel every cut, every tug as he exposed my insides to the air.
"Fascinating," he murmured, prodding at my organs. "The cellular regeneration is progressing nicely. Let's see how it handles this."
A new agony bloomed inside me as he inserted something foreign into my body.
It burned, spreading through my veins likefire.
It hurts!
I tried to move again, to fight it somehow, but I couldn't.
"Now," Orochimaru crooned. "Be a good little snake. This pain is necessary for your evolution."
Evolution.
That's what I wanted.
To evolve, to grow stronger, to be worthy of Orochimaru-sama's praise.
I endured the pain, hoping that one day, I would be perfect in his eyes.
But that day never came.
As weeks passed, I grew larger, stronger. My body could now split into smaller snakes and reform at will.
Orochimaru-sama should be pleased.
Yet, when he looked at me, I saw only disappointment in those golden eyes.
"Not good enough," he muttered. "The transformation is incomplete. Another failure."
No, please.
I can be better!
I'm not a failure!
Just give me another chance!
But Orochimaru turned away, his attention already shifting to new experiments. "Seal the lab," he ordered his assistants. "This project is terminated."
I was left alone in the darkness.
Abandoned.
Forgotten.
A discarded experiment deemed unworthy.
---
Kagami fell to one knee, gasping for air as the memories faded. Every nerve in his body screamed with phantom pain.
This can't be Cthugha's true power. Feeling every moment of agony... No wonder it's only an imitation. Cthugha itself wouldn't experience such pain, right?
He looked at his hands, half-expecting to see scales or scars. The memory of Orochimaru's cruel experiments was still fresh.
Despite the horror of the experience, Kagami realized that the memories contained no truly valuable information. No secret jutsus, no hidden weaknesses to exploit.
Just pain, loneliness, and a desperate desire for approval that was never fulfilled.
Their greatest value was in enhancing the intelligence of the Flame Spirits.
After absorbing the White Snake's knowledge, Kagami noticed that the Flame Spirits seemed to move slightly faster.
But the improvement was barely noticeable—it might have been a placebo effect.
Just as Kagami let their guard down, a white streak darted towards the iron door from among the charred remains on the ground.
It was a snake trying to escape.
No! His thoughts were cut short as he scrambled to react.
He attempted to command the Flame Spirits to ignite the fleeing snake, but before it could reach the door, Spidey, that had been weaving a web in the corner, suddenly turned and pounced on the snake.
In that instant, Kagami almost thought he was mistaken, but the spider moved so fast that only a blur could be seen as its legs precisely pierced the snake's head.
Spidey?
The small snake's head was effortlessly impaled, and Spidey lifted the snake towards its mouth, as if tasting the skin, before tossing it aside and resuming its web-weaving.
It seemed Spidey had no interest in the snake. It didn't need material food; it fed on souls, and the snake had none.
However, its size, speed, and strength had all clearly improved.
Looks like I'm not the only one evolving. Evolving? This could be interesting... He watched Spidey return to its web.
If it could grow larger, it could become a formidable force in future battles.