A clear forest lake stretched beneath the pale glow of twin moons, its surface a mirror reflecting their ethereal radiance. Ripples danced across the water as a small white serpent glided effortlessly through the tranquil depths, its lithe form cutting through the shimmering reflection.
Occasionally, the serpent lifted its head above the surface, inhaling the crisp night air as moonlight bathed its glistening scales.
Hiss…
"Thisss feelss amazing," the white serpent murmured, its voice carrying an almost human-like quality, though distorted by its reptilian tongue.
With a graceful motion, it slithered onto the shore, its sleek body coiling upon the cool earth.
Hiss. Hiss.
"I can finally enjoy swimming again~"
Its blood-red eyes lifted to the larger of the two moons, which hung full and luminous in the endless night sky.
Hiss.
"How long has it been since I could move so freely~"
A wistful tone tinged its words as it turned to gaze at its own reflection in the moonlit water.
Hiss. Hiss.
Moonlight glinted off its pristine white scales, casting a spectral sheen over its slender form. Its eyes, crimson and slit-pupiled, held an unnatural intensity. Just above its throat, three tiny shards jutted outward—blood-red crystals that gleamed like fractured rubies. Beneath them, seventy near-invisible pores lined its neck. If the serpent had paid closer attention, it might have noticed even thinner shards forming at their tips.
Hiss.
"You've really become something strange, haven't you, Adrian~"
The name rolled off its tongue like a whisper from another life.
Opening its mouth slightly, it revealed crystalline fangs—deep red, like the shards along its neck.
Hiss. Hiss.
"But a new life is a life nonetheless," Adrian mused, his gaze returning to the twin moons above.
There was no denying it now. This was no longer the world he had once called home.
A quiet sigh escaped him.
"I suppose I'll just have to cope with living as a snake from now on... What do snakes eat again? Birds and rats?"
A flicker of distaste crossed his face at the thought.
Hiss. Hiss.
"I'll just find some birds' nests and steal a few eggs when I'm… Hmm never mind, I guess I'll start searching for some nests~"
A sudden wave of hunger surged through him mid-sentence, a primal need that tightened in his stomach.
With a final glance at the lake, Adrian turned toward the forest and disappeared into the shadows of the trees.
—
Twenty minutes later…
The dense forest pulsed with nocturnal life. Leaves rustled as unseen creatures moved through the underbrush, their presence betrayed only by fleeting whispers in the wind.
Above, Adrian slithered through the branches of an ancient oak, his tongue flickering as he hunted.
Twit~! Swallow. Twit~!
The night echoed with the faint cries of birds.
Twit~! Swallow.
Adrian hung upside down from a thick limb, his body tightly coiled as he swallowed the last remnants of a red-feathered bird he had plucked from its nest.
Hiss. Hiss.
'It finally went down~'
His stomach churned slightly, but the satisfaction of his first successful meal in this strange world overpowered the discomfort.
"Now th—"
He stopped abruptly, feeling an unsettling sensation rise within him.
Speaking so soon after swallowing whole prey wasn't a good idea.
Before he could recover, the stillness of the night shattered.
Boom!
Adrian's entire body tensed.
'What the hell was that!?'
The explosion hadn't come from far. He slithered toward the edge of his branch, peering down through the gaps in the leaves.
His tongue flicked outward, tasting the air. Smoke. Blood.
Then he saw it.
A monstrous creature—a hound with a grotesquely human face—stood in the clearing below. Blood dripped from its jagged teeth, pooling at its feet. Seven crimson shards jutted from its thick neck, pulsing with an eerie glow.
"It's useless, humans."
Its voice was twisted, guttural yet disturbingly articulate.
Boom!
A fireball exploded against its hide, illuminating the clearing in a violent flash. Yet the beast barely flinched.
"Lucas! Snap out of it!"
A brown-haired man, appearing to be in his mid-twenties, shouted at another who looked exactly like him—his twin—who stood paralyzed in fear.
The beast turned sharply, its bloodied maw curling into something that almost resembled a grin.
GRAAAAAAA!!!
The shards around its neck pulsed, and in the next instant, it lunged.
A blonde-haired boy who had been attempting to flank the creature gasped.
CRUNCH!!
The demon's fangs sank into the boy's face, dragging him to the ground.
Thud.
A wet, gurgling sound followed.
Chew. Chew.
Adrian watched in horrified silence, his body unconsciously tightening around the tree limb.
'What is that thing!?'
A woman in a witch's cloak stumbled back, her expression twisted in terror.
Tsk!
"Smith! We're no match for this demon… let's make a run for it!"
Yet even as she spoke, she hurled another fireball toward the creature, as if unwilling to accept the futility of her words.
Boom! Boom!
"Run?!"
The human-faced hound snarled, baring its bloodied fangs as it turned toward the fleeing adventurers.
The witch's hands moved swiftly, pulling out a worn leather talisman.
BOOM!
A thick cloud of black ash exploded outward, swallowing the battlefield in darkness.
Adrian instinctively pulled his head back into the tree hollow.
'Should I run? …No, that would draw attention. Just stay still. You're just a snake, living peacefully in your ill-gotten nest. This has nothing to do with you.'
He forced himself to remain still, barely allowing his tongue to flicker outward.
Yet something gnawed at him.
'They spoke in English… didn't they?'
That realization sent a shiver through him. The adventurers' medieval garb and fantasy-like weapons made their presence bizarre enough—but their language was familiar.
And then there was the beast.
'A demon… that's what they called it.'
His gaze lowered to his own body. The white scales. The crimson shards embedded in his throat.
'If that thing is a demon because of those shards… does that make me a demon too?'
Adrian's mind swirled with possibilities. Could he wield the same power? Could he—
Sigh…
'No. I'll figure that out later. Right now, I need to stay unnoticed.'
He cast one last glance at the clearing below, where the Pale-Faced Hound continued its gruesome feast. Then, with a slow and silent motion, he retreated deeper into his tree hollow.
—
Down below, the demon lifted its bloodied head.
It sniffed the air.
Then, slowly, its gaze drifted toward a distant willow tree.
Hmm…
Something… lingered there. A presence obscured beneath an almost imperceptible miasma.
"Has this forest drawn in another intriguing demon so soon…?"
—
On February 1st of the Holy Calendar, deep within the Whispering Forest, a crossbowman and two swordsmen met their demise at the hands of one of the four named demons of the Whispering Forest:
"The Pale-Faced Hound."