With both wings fully spread, the traitorous serpent looked down at the small existence before its eyes.
“Niaaaah…”
‘How long had it been since it last lifted itself into the air and looked down upon such small creatures?’
The omnipotent feeling coursing through its entire body made the traitorous serpent’s scale-covered lips curl into a grin.
And rightly so—it had been counting down the days and nights in anticipation of this moment.
Some time ago.
On the day the traitorous serpent first became aware of the water serpent’s existence,it remembered hearing the thought the water serpent had projected:
“If I stay here any longer, I’ll just break through in a straight line.”
At first, it had been rage.
The fact that such a thought had even reached the traitorous serpent meant that the water serpent hadn’t even aimed—it had simply broadcasted it in all directions.
Such an act… was only possible for someone who was so certain of their own veneration that they felt no need to be cautious.
If it had been like the traitorous serpent—trapped in molten lava, if insignificant creatures swarmed every day like vermin to gnaw at its flesh, it would never have been able to send out such a thought so freely.
And yet, that cunning water serpent still chose to mingle with those disgusting, insignificant creatures.
It made the traitorous serpent want to burn it alive right before its eyes.
However.
By the time its sight had fully returned, allowing it to see the truth for itself, its thoughts had completely changed.
It was a distant past, but the traitorous serpent still remembered what its own eyes had looked like when reflected in the lake.
They were nothing like the eyes that now blazed with fire.
Well.
The water serpent was unique in its own way.
Not all of its kind were born equal—some had eyes as dazzling as gemstones, while others did not.
But the idea of piercing straight through without looking away…
That cunning—no, wise—water serpent.
Surely, its eyes must be worthy of being the first treasure to commemorate freedom.
‘The traitorous serpent wanted those eyes.’
At the mere thought, heat flared within its chest.
It exhaled a fevered breath in response to the pain in its heart.
It felt as though jagged shards of shattered crystal, forcibly held together and spinning, were sawing into its heart.
It wasn’t sharp.
It wasn’t piercing.
It was simply hot.
Absurdly, incomprehensibly hot.
As the searing heat spread from its heart to its head, its thoughts became simpler.
As far as the traitorous serpent knew, there were only two ways to quell this scorching pain:
Either steal enough treasure to satisfy the ring, or spew enough fire to cool the ring down.
Since treasures were always rare, the traitorous serpent had typically chosen the latter.
But now… things were different.
Because the greatest treasure was right before its eyes.
“Gyaoooo.”
The water serpent it saw in person exceeded all expectations.
Its body was small.
And because of that, it became all the more desirable.
Fully formed wings, feathers and all.
Eyes more beautiful than the finest gemstones.
Despite its youthful appearance, its form was already breathtaking—surely, it was a budding talent overflowing with potential.
It wanted to snap that budding talent before it could bloom.
To break it and display it in the most splendid part of its lair.
It didn’t seem difficult.
That tiny water serpent’s body lacked heat—lacked a core.
A water serpent without a core.
No matter how outstanding it was, it was nothing more than a beast without fangs.
‘And why was such a remarkable creature without a core?’
Perhaps it had been despised by that entity—so much so that it had been stripped away.
Not that it mattered.
The traitorous serpent wasn’t interested in such trivialities.
It only cared about one thing: it wanted that tiny water serpent so badly, it was going mad.
It didn’t care if that weak little thing mocked it as “Scrap Iron.”
Every water serpent that had called it that had never lived to tell the tale.
This one… it might survive, but it would never return.
The traitorous serpent lunged.
Somehow, despite its small and frail appearance, the water serpent felt terrifying, as though it was something that should never be touched.
But its vision, clouded by greed, failed to recognize the truth.
And then—
The traitorous serpent sensed that something was wrong.
It had definitely flown forward… yet the sight before it was growing more distant.
The sunlight was blocked.
Its proud wings had been severed from its body, casting a shadow below.
“…Aaaaah…?”
A dull, thudding sound.
Only then did it feel the foreign pain of its wings being cut—bone and all.
The traitorous serpent realized that it was falling.
Flesh could regenerate, but bones could not.
Having lost its most precious thing in an instant, the traitorous serpent screamed.
“No, nooo, nooooo…!”
“My wings, my precious wings…!! AAAAAHHHH!!!”
Unable to lift itself into the air anymore, the traitorous serpent flailed helplessly, plummeting straight down.
Back to the depths from which it had just climbed.
Back to the abyss it never wanted to be buried in again.
As the traitorous serpent fell, the water serpent looked down at it with a pitiful gaze.
“What just happened?”
A member of the ‘Siegfried’ unit tried to process what they had just witnessed.
They had been retreating while IF-684 and IF-017 clashed.
But in that brief moment—
***
IF-017 remained in place, but suddenly, IF-684 let out a scream and plummeted.
As he spotted IF-684’s severed wings lodged between the shattered floors of the research facility, his eyes widened.
Even just the severed portion was as large as a school sports field.
He had heard that IF-684’s bones were indestructible due to its anomalous nature.
Even if only a speck had been cut, it would have been astonishing—yet someone had managed to cut off that much in a single stroke?
Indeed.
IF-017 truly lived up to its classification as a top-tier unknown phenomenon.
Because of its characteristic of sleeping all day, the researchers had somewhat overlooked it.
But it was the parent—the god—of the 017-1s.
A title that was not given in vain.
Which was why—
“Hmm… Why is that kid over there? Shouldn’t we go save them?”
He couldn’t believe his ears when his senior said that.
Suspecting cognitive contamination, he responded sharply.
“Are you insane? Even a stray dog would recognize that as IF-017. It even has horns, wings, and a tail.”
But it was like reciting a sutra to a cow.
His senior checked his wristwatch—standard issue for the Mobile Strike Force—and then shot him a look as if he was the crazy one.
“There’s no Anti-Entropy reading. That’s a human.”
They had just witnessed IF-684’s wings being cut apart right in front of them.
And yet, his senior was acting like a blind man with open eyes, ready to rush to IF-017’s aid.
His jaw nearly dropped.
Even IF-017 didn’t seem particularly pleased.
As he wrestled with his senior, trying to stop him from doing something insane—
***
Step, step.
The sound of approaching footsteps.
“Cut him some slack. It’s an occupational hazard.”
A voice unfamiliar but heard a few times before.
Just as he was about to pin his senior to the ground, he turned to the side.
Then, he hastily stood up and saluted.
Even his unruly senior, who had been making a scene as if he would never understand reason, did the same.
A woman with a grim mechanical arm twitched her fingers.
She was wearing a gray coat.
“When you’ve worked in the Mobile Strike Force long enough, you learn to trust machines over your own eyes. My eyes can be contaminated, but machines can’t… If the Anti-Entropy reading is at zero, then it’s not an unknown phenomenon. That’s just common sense.”
An Alpha-class personnel.
The woman, who tapped their shoulders lightly as she passed, was none other than Long Weilan, the deputy commander of the Siegfried unit.
“But seriously, that’s a bit much. Even I can tell at a glance that’s IF-017. If someone saw you, they’d think you had ten years of experience.”
An Alpha-class operative had appeared personally on a battlefield that had just been a war zone.
And now, she was walking straight toward IF-017.
The others voiced the obvious concerns.
“It’s too dangerous for you to be here, Commander.”
“You should stay in the rear—”
But she simply scoffed.
Raising her metallic arm, she clenched her fist.
“The weapon loaded in this hand is Level 3 Gram. If I don’t go, then who will?”
With that, everyone silently acknowledged her authority and stepped back.
The final measure against IF-684—
Level 3, Gram.
That was the weight behind the title of a strategic weapon.
After a few steps, she stood face-to-face with IF-017, who was peering down into the gaping hole below.
“It’s been a while, IF-017. How many years has it been…?
Though, since you were sleeping, I guess I’m the only one who thinks it’s been a long time.”
For some reason, Weilan’s tone was subtly irritated.
IF-017 looked up at her.
Regardless of her tone, it trotted forward and locked eyes with her.
Even when she averted her gaze, it tugged at the hem of her coat persistently.
‘What was this about?’
Just as Weilan frowned and turned to look—
Squish.
Without thinking, Weilan accepted something that IF-017 had handed her.
“…What is this?”
“Beep?”
Hearing the sound, she looked down at the small creature cradled in her arms.
She and the Tsuchinoko locked eyes in mutual confusion.
‘What was the meaning of this?’
As she was about to question IF-017—
Before she could, IF-017 hopped up and patted her on the head.
“…?”
She didn’t even have time to brush off its hand.
By the time she reacted, IF-017 had already darted toward the hole and leapt down.
Weilan peered into the abyss leading to IF-684’s containment chamber.
It was deep.
Meanwhile, the Tsuchinoko, lying on its back, let out a confused beep as it wiggled.
Watching in silence, Weilan poked its soft cheek with her mechanical finger.
The Tsuchinoko promptly chomped down on it.
“…You really bit that?”
That was Weilan’s mechanical arm, capable of deflecting bullets with ease.
Sure enough, within moments, the Tsuchinoko let out a kueeng and teared up.
“…You really are a dumb snake.”
She had come fully prepared to face IF-684 head-on.
Yet the situation was unfolding unexpectedly…
In an unexpected… in an unserious way.
Weilan chuckled.
A recent memory surfaced.
Right before she last closed her eyes—before she woke up here.
She had been groggy then, so her memories were hazy.
But she somewhat remembered that person’s face.
That person’s friend.
Back then, they had been pink and soft, but now they looked pale and drained.
She wasn’t sure what had changed.
But she recalled that they weren’t bad people.
Well.
She wasn’t exactly handing the chubby snake off for adoption—just entrusting it for a bit.
That should be fine.
Besides, she had already given the snake a small inferno.
Even if that person was an enemy, it wouldn’t be a problem.
That side could handle itself.
So, her course of action was clear.
It had been several dozen seconds since IF-017 had fallen with folded wings.
Now, the glowing orange surface below was coming into view.
Plop.
She landed in warm liquid.
It wasn’t water.
It felt like metal.
Annoyed by the sensation, she stepped onto the surface.
It didn’t take long to find Scrap Iron.
“You… you weren’t supposed to be here…! You… you…!! Even after ascending, are you still fully suppressing your core? This is—”
“Impossible! This makes no sense!!!”
Scrap Iron thrashed violently, half-submerged in the metal.
Unlike Weilan, who stood on the surface, only its head poked out above the liquid.
Now, they were at eye level.
“But you know—”
“Didn’t say…”
“Until you quiet down?”
“Still not quiet, huh?”
It seemed Scrap Iron wasn’t getting the message.
So, I’d just have to make sure it understood.
I approached Scrap Iron.
“Stay away! Get away from me!!!”
The moment it saw me, it went into a frenzy.
Its tone had become strangely childish…
Just a little more, and it would sound like a toddler who couldn’t even form words.
I sent it a thought.
‘Surely, you didn’t think just losing your wings was the end, did you?’
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
Scrap Iron fled.
Hehe.
“Where do you think you’re going?”