Chapter 71 - Only a mob

"Whatever, you are here to seek power from Master White Snake Sage, right? Follow me!" - Tagitsuhime turned around and guided Eiji into the temple, with the words "Ryuchi Cave" inscribed on a plate.

When Eiji entered the temple, it didn't take him long to see a huge white snake sitting on a sacred seat smoking out of a long thin cigarette holder.

Tagitsuhime stopped at the entrance and signaled Eiji to go upstairs towards the huge white snake.

He didn't say his usual sarcastic remarks, instead, he felt nervous and went solemnly upstairs, when the huge white snake spoke to him: "You are here to learn senjutsu? Are you sure you want to risk it? If your body is unable to withstand my power, I will eat you."

'That's really more dangerous compared to learning sage mode under the toads...' - Eiji smiled wryly while thinking to himself.

He contemplated for a second before sighing and saying: "Nothing is free in this world, how can you get power without risking something?"

White Snake Sage looked at him amused, before taking the cigarette holder with her tail from her mouth.

Suddenly without a word she jumped at an incredible speed and bit Eiji in his shoulder.

"ARGHH!!!" - Eiji was overwhelmed by the pain and instantly lost consciousness.

Eiji found himself to be in an endless space, where everything was red except for the ground.

He looked at the white ground and saw that it was scaly, but after looking for a few seconds, to his shook, he saw the ground moving like it's the body of a large animal.

'This place is creepy. Even worse is that I can't stand anywhere else than this creepy ground...'

Instinctively he wanted to draw his sword, but he realized that it was missing: 'How is it missing? Didn't I carry it the whole time with me even when I was naked?'

While he was confused, the ground started to shake and move at a tremendous speed.

'Shit!' - Eiji didn't want to lose his balance, so he retreated backward as far as he could.

The ground started to finally stop moving and when Eiji looked up, he saw a giant snake, which had his face, looking down at him.

"That's even more creepy, I gotta say. I never knew I had an ugly twin brother like you..." - Eiji tried his best to appear calm.

"HAHAHAHA!!!!! You are still trying to hide your fear and nervousness behind tough words?? I know you like no one else, so this won't work on me."

"Knowing me like no one else? Who or what are you?" - Eiji had a serious expression and didn't dare to be careless.

"I'm your inner voice, the one you neglected until now...that's why I ask you: Why don't you give up already?"

"What?"

"I said, why don't you give up already...isn't it enough? You are only a mob. You couldn't even save Hayate-sensei. Why don't you accept that you are only a mob and can't do anything? Still, even as a mob, didn't you do enough? You reincarnated into a world with your previous life's memories and could experience this world you loved so much in your previous life. You had your fun, isn't it now time to stop bringing chaos to this world through your sheer existence? Why are you so selfish?"

Eiji heard all that and was silent.

Emotions ran wildly in his heart: he knew that it was selfish of him to get involved with important events to try to get the outcomes he wanted. He could hear an inner voice whispering to him, that it's better to just disappear since he is only a mob anyway...

While this was going on, surrounding parts of the ground transformed into small white snakes that started to cover him.

Funnily enough, he didn't sense or feel it, and after some time only his head wasn't covered.

"Are you not responding? Of course not. I know you and know your decision anyway, so let me help you!"

The huge snake charged with an open mouth at him about to devour him.

At the hall, the White Snake Sage looked at Eiji's body.

His body couldn't handle the natural energy she injected into him and he started to transform into a snake.

'Looks like that's it. I have never seen someone failing faster than him. Most would struggle for some time before transforming...well I will just eat him, so I won't complain...' - the White Snake Sage licked her mouth and moved joyfully towards Eiji's body with her head.