The blazing bonfire gave off heat fiercer than the sun's, and the sacred snake's hissing seemed to echo right beside their ears, washing over them with the heat.
Combined with the dancing of the winged fallen angels and elves around them, it created an indescribable sense of a primal ritual.
Stranger still, the white snake's eyes gleamed with wisdom so cold it was almost mechanical-even Kroya's Tower Spirit seemed more human than it did.
Was this a living creature or some kind of magical machine?
Although Ryan and the other two felt as though their minds had accelerated, racing at incredible speed, they still could not see through the sacred snake.
Ryan, who had studied rituals in depth, knew this absolutely could not continue. Even if they had not summoned it, who knew what might happen if they accepted this "gift"?
Ryan struggled to shake his head and gripped the five-colored bracelet on his wrist tightly.
The little stones formed from red, orange, yellow, green, and cyan flashed faintly, and gentle magic instantly repelled all the sacred white snake's power.
Only then could Ryan finally see the white snake for what it was-it was actually composed of individual characters, characters imbued with the power of spoken words.
The white snake noticed the only human who had broken free of its word-based power, and an apple fell from the apple tree around which it was coiled.
Black feathers carried the apple to Ryan.
All the dancing demon half-elves around them stopped in astonishment-this blessing had actually been bestowed upon an outsider!
The apple representing wisdom, the sacred object guarded by the snake, the precious fruit nurtured with the blood of fallen angels and elves, had actually been given to a human!
Under the demon half-elves' stares, Ryan felt an immense weight