A serpentine beast with silvery scales was impaled on earthen stakes. Thorns protruded from some of the trees, piercing the creature's flesh. But the most absurd thing was that the snake's head was lacerated with numerous cuts, making it difficult to determine what type of creature it was.

The unceremonious deformity caused by the series of swings simply made one shudder.

Neither I nor Ragnar noticed when, how, or why this incident occurred.

The only thing I captured was the girl swinging her sword before sheathing it. Purple blood stained the snow an incomprehensible shade.

And yet... what the hell is going on here?

"A rather large snake."

The driver, having come to his senses, hesitantly scratched his beard.

"It's a Tartal snake." Quite a dangerous creature.

"Yes, I noticed. I couldn't notice its appearance until the very end. Luckily, the traps I'd prepared worked.

"Didn't notice it until the very end? What was she talking about?"

Of course, even those with a Rook-level Soul Breath won't immediately sense the Tartal Snake, but hearing something like that from someone who turned a snake's skull into mincemeat... that's a joke, no less.

However, if you think about it, there's nothing surprising about it.

The Tartal Snake is capable of moving while completely concealing its presence. No sensory organ or sixth sense can detect this creature until it's too late.

Even its coloring matches the surrounding terrain, making it the most dangerous inhabitant of the local forests.

This abomination often leads a sedentary life, waiting for its prey, showing no signs of its existence. And even if by some miracle you were lucky enough to detect its presence earlier, its tough scales wouldn't allow you to easily break through.

Personally, I've witnessed many times how even experienced soldiers struggled to overcome the Tartal Snake, and here...

~ Aud, what do you think?

~ It's dangerous. Both the weapon and the snake itself.

~ Could you elaborate? How did she do it?

~ The Knight cast multi-layered enchantments... gravity, shapeshifting, temperature increase, warding, earth enchantments, tree enchantments, enchantments based on the power of spirits. She's at least a Royal-level spellcaster. Be careful with her...

A Royal-level spellcaster...

"Well, well, young lady... do you specialize in fighting beasts?"

"Not at all. I'm better at fighting demons. That took some effort, though."

"Even so..."

"Phew, but even so, that's still impressive. You used different types of enchantments simultaneously?"

Ragnar, who had been examining the snake and whatever had immobilized it with great curiosity, approached the knight, scratching the back of his head.

"You could say that. It took some effort to develop this type of enchantment within a standard warding formula."

"A warding? But isn't that a high-ranking enchantment? As far as I know, you need to understand all the anomalies and how the Tera flows to create anything new."

"True, proven warding enchantments are quite simple to create. Besides, many magical, shamanic, and alchemical formulas were created using warding enchantments. But even they need adjustments depending on the situation."

"So that's it..."

"But how did you know this creature would be here?" "Did the sword really tell you?" I couldn't resist interjecting, to which the knight merely laughed.

"Ha-ha! That nasty hunk of steel would never say anything like that. I'm just being rather cautious, so I set up the enchantment while I was pacing around here. Any change, any threat, any fluctuation in the astral plane, the way the air moves, the way Tera's behavior changes, and so on—many factors must be taken into account for the trap to work."

"How much thought did you have to put into that?"

"I'll give you some simple advice. If you want to survive, think first about what could kill you and what countermeasure to use. And... we need to consider how Tera is changing here, otherwise we'll just be out of luck."

"So, the snake getting caught in the trap was just luck?" I asked incredulously as Raubtin stared intently at the Tartal Snake, biting her thumbnail.

"The installation type of charm isn't the most flexible; it requires a constant flow of a pre-calculated anomaly. Let's say, if the spiritual lines were slightly weaker than I assumed, the ground wouldn't have heated up to the required temperature to change shape. I think we should try the formation approach, but then the activation speed will suffer..."

"What's going on here?" the staff officer's sharp voice made us all turn around.

Disgruntled, he emerged from the hut and walked toward us, wading through the half-packed snow.

"Don't you see? They caught a snake," I quipped, unable to restrain myself, pulling a small wooden box containing a hand-rolled cigarette I'd bought in Begba from my uniform pocket. "After seeing and hearing that, it's only natural to want to light up. It's hard to stay calm when you see something like that in person."

"What kind of behavior is this in front of a superior officer?"

"Excuse me, Staff Officer, for my unregulated behavior!"

"Fuck, I look like an idiot with a joint in my mouth and standing at attention."

"At ease, unregulated behavior doesn't bother me now, as long as you maintain proper etiquette. So? How did that creature manage to get so close?"

"I assume it's a different species, one that's already adapted to our protective measures!"

"Already?" "But the last development of barrier charms was six months ago," Hrut said doubtfully after Ragnar's answer.

What this guy is good at is understanding how defensive charms work and which beasts are resistant to them. Even before joining the Combat Corps, this idiot trained in the Research Corps, so he knows quite a bit about this sort of thing.

"But this doesn't look like our developments..."

"That's my work."

"Yours?"

"Something wrong? Or are you saying I'm incapable of something like this?"

"I wasn't going to say that. It's just rather unusual to see that creature in such a state. Even when it moves, it shows no signs of life."

"An unpleasant opponent. If you don't mind, could I take a look at your charms? Maybe I can make some adjustments."

"I'll think about it."

"Huh? So they can talk anyway?"

That's what it means to be so focused on a specific task...

"Hey, hey... don't you think their behavior is a little unnerving?"

"What are you talking about?"

I looked at Ragnar, who had already approached me, looking slightly tense.

After taking a small drag of toxic smoke, I simply watched the two discuss something.

"What do you mean, 'about what'? They've been squabbling all this time, and then suddenly they start discussing something properly..."

"Are you stupid? This is clearly no time for bickering. Besides... you'd have to be an idiot not to understand the current situation."

"An idiot, yes..."

"The Knights are completely different. They say that after training, they're equal in strength to the Three Kings."

"Well, that's not surprising, considering who they're usually pitted against. But even so..." Becker decided to hold his tongue, which meant things weren't as usual...

"Hey, you two!" "Stop gossiping and get busy with the snake! The last thing we need is for the smell of a corpse to bring other animals running!" Becker croaked, heading back to the hut.

Ragnar and I simply sighed immediately after accepting our superior's order. Then we headed to the Tartil Snake, which Raubtin was already butchering.

Usually, butchering the carcasses of various creatures is done by scavengers under the supervision of senior combat officers, or by adventurers on missions, but in cases like these, you usually have to do everything yourself.

It's at moments like these that you regret not having an experienced scavenger nearby. You don't want to dirty your uniform and then stink of entrails and blood. But there's nothing else to do, you have to do it.

Truthfully, I couldn't imagine a scene in which a frail-looking girl would calmly disembowel a corpse without fear of getting dirty.

Not worried about the stench of the snake's mouth, Raubtin lifted the beast's partially torn jaw and plunged the dagger straight into the gum. With sharp, continuous movements, she removed one of the fangs. Just seeing this picture made me frown.

"Um... aren't you afraid of the poison?"

"It's fine, I've already cast a detox."

"And when did you manage to do that?" Ragnar asked, pulling out his knife.

"Back during the battle. But I thought the meat would be tougher."

"It only has tough scales and bones. The meat is pretty soft," I replied, cutting through the muscles of its mouth to get to the base of its tongue and then cut it out.

At the same time, Ragnar cut away the scales and added:

"But that didn't stop you from mutilating the snake so badly."

"You know, even I had to work hard to shred its brain."

"So you finished it off by damaging its brain?" I asked incredulously, turning my gaze to the girl, who had already pulled out her second fang.

The knight herself started blinking like a fool after meeting my gaze.

"So, you didn't have to touch the brain?"

"That's not true. The space between the eyes is usually used to create shields and chest plates. That's why many try to cut off the head to avoid damaging the material," Ragnar explained, as I stuck out my tongue.

The skull wasn't the only material used. Scales were used for protective elements or as an ingredient in alloys, the tongue and eyes were used as reagents in experiments or simply for various potions.

Glancing at Ragnar, who was smiling while the girl adjusted her hair, I said with displeasure, "Hey, stop dawdling, better put up some extra protection."

"That's not necessary; my wards are still working."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you."

"And why not?"

"Even your protection wasn't perfect." Besides, there's no guarantee you'll be able to deal with such a horde of creatures.

"Well, that makes sense."

"Besides, the Tartil Snake isn't the only one capable of deceiving the senses. Absolutely all local wildlife is an ambassador for deceiving one of the senses."

"So that's how it is... in that case, it's worth studying the local bestiary to come up with an appropriate countermeasure."

"A countermeasure? Considering you're the Queen of Enchantments, you'll have no trouble coming up with something," the idiot Ragnar said calmly, cutting the snake's scales.

The girl sighed after she began cutting the scales.

"Good preparation is the key to success. Even I'll have a hard time if I can't figure out who's in front of me and what their enemy is thinking. That's why knowledge is important, otherwise I won't survive. You understand, unlike magic, enchantments aren't as effective."

Indeed... while a single mage can cast an ice arrow simply by reading the Words of Chaos and Power, a sorcerer must use several different charms to achieve the same level.

"Of all the types of Tera, charms are considered the most useless and are not particularly widespread on the continent. Weak effect, limited use, little impact on the surrounding area, short duration—these are just some of the problems. But worst of all, many mistakenly consider easy-to-use charms to be a pastime for ordinary people, and charms to be used only in everyday life. Many have forgotten that the anomalies began with charms."

"Well, many don't even bother studying them."

"Exactly! Many don't even understand how enchantments work or that they can be more powerful! That's why I'm interested to know Hego's take on enchantments!"

"Well, as you can see, we use them extensively," I quipped, to which the girl merely began nodding.

"Exactly! What's the point of a magical sword or an artifact that changes shape if a common person can't use it?! To me, it's a waste of resources and time. Instead of achieving effectiveness, they waste time on nonsense."

"Is a knight even allowed to say that?"

"Of course not! But I can't just be hypocritical and say something like 'shamanism is better because it borrows the power of the spirits' while I use enchantments."

"Indeed, it's somehow illogical," Ragnar said as the girl twirled the knife in her hand.

"Still, I don't understand." If enchantments are "useless," why are they still relevant?

"Weapons cannot be created without them. And enchantments are closely linked to the Words of Chaos and Power. So, in fact, everyone still uses enchantments, but they don't realize it."

"They don't realize it?"

"That's right, Olaf, they don't realize it. How can I put it... there's a theory that Thera is divided only into gifts and enchantments. Magic, shamanism, alchemy—they're merely derivatives of enchantments. A kind of specialization."

"But is that even possible?"

"That's why I say it's a theory, since it hasn't been proven, because there's another theory alongside it. That enchantments once belonged to one of the four worlds that gave birth to the current world."

"The Four Spheres Theory, if I'm not mistaken," I remarked, to which the knight merely nodded.

" "Yeah, the theory that there were four dimensions that merged into one, but it doesn't explain much when you look at things on a larger scale."

"On a larger scale?"

"For example, the aura..."

Ragnar's words made me tense a little, but at the same time, I realized something important.

While we were dissecting the snake, Velina Raubtin, using our casual conversation as a pretext to study us, was planning to unleash hell on us later.