That time I was reincarnated as a snake (Tensura)

- Mira POV -

Companion, just one word, but a word that can mean a lot. It is someone with whom you share experiences, joys, sorrows, fears... and pain. They are there to support you, not in the way you want, but in the way you need: from giving detailed instructions to help you, to something as simple as being the ear that listens to your complaints, a shoulder to cry on, or a pat on the back that comforts us. A companion can be a friend, with whom you share your hobbies or interests; a companion can be a work colleague; a companion can even be a... lover, someone with whom you are willing to share the rest of your life.

Until not long ago, I wouldn't have thought I'd have one. Me... a forest monster, used to a life of survival of the fittest, the idea of depending on others was something I couldn't consider. For as long as I can remember, I've always been alone, fending for myself. If I was hungry, I'd hunt. If I encountered someone stronger than me, I'd run away. All I thought about was survival.

Maybe that's why I never had any subordinates. My early years were a race to become strong, with no time to stop and think if others could help me on my way. After living a life like that for so long, I admit I became somewhat antisocial.

After going through years of constant struggles, I naturally became stronger. My survival was no longer something to worry about, I was free to contemplate more.

So I decided to travel. For years I continued to move around this forest. When I liked a place, I stayed there for a while. When I got bored, I looked for a new place. Sometimes, I had to fight with the owners of the territories I passed through, but it wasn't much of a problem. If they were weaker than me, I killed them cleanly. If they were stronger, I simply ran away.

At some point, a long time ago, I acquired the ability to move through shadows. I don't remember if I got it from evolving or because I was good with shadows. Who can remember something that happened over a hundred years ago?

With this skill, my life became easier than ever. As someone who specialized in speed and deadly attacks, acquiring this skill was like giving wings to a tiger. Believe me, I know from experience; I have faced several types of tigers and I can say that the most difficult ones are those with wings.

...

With my strength and skills, life began to become monotonous and boring. I had no longer met a rival worthy of getting serious with. Sometimes, I considered leaving the forest and seeing what was beyond, but I gave up on this idea.

The density of magicules became lower the closer one got to the edge of the forest. I didn't want to live in an environment with such a low density; it would be like being thirsty all the time.

So I decided to spend my time in the forest.

At some point, I came upon the territory where a three-headed snake, a thunder tiger, and a gale eagle were fighting each other for sole rule. Watching their battle excited me, so I decided to join in the fun. It became a free-for-all, and I, of course, was the clear winner.

Because of this brief moment of fun, I decided not to kill all three of them. Instead, they would have to hand over most of their prey to me as tribute. With these supplies, I could pass the time without needing to hunt, leading a life of leisure.

For a while, I thought my life was at its peak. But I had a wake-up call that knocked me off my self-imposed pedestal.

It all started on an afternoon like any other. I was traveling outside my territory, in search of something interesting, when he appeared.

On the ground, a huge shadow loomed over me. At some point, when I looked up, I was shocked by what I saw. It was a gigantic monster flying in the sky.

It looked like a huge lizard with four legs, a tail and a pair of wings. It had thick, dark red scales, a long neck and long, sharp fangs.

I've never seen anything like it in my entire life.

That moment was unforgettable for me, not because I was impressed by his appearance, but because of the fact that when he passed over me, I could feel a tyrannical aura trying to force me into submission. I knew what this feeling was due to, it was something I had not felt for a long time.

It was the coercion that strong beings have over the weak.

In my stupor, he turned his gaze to me. I could see only a trace of disdain in his gaze. I knew that was what he thought; it was the same look he had when he saw someone inferior to me.

That ignited my fury. Without any qualms, I threw my strongest attack at him: my shadow blade. A blade with more than half of all my magicules. I wanted that bastard to pay for underestimating me.

To my surprise, he didn't even bother to dodge. He just stayed flying in place, waiting for my attack to hit him.

When the attack hit... nothing, nothing happened. The attack didn't do any damage to him.

I saw the bastard mock me.

After being satisfied with his mockery, he shot a breath of fire in my direction.

Which wasn't a problem for me to dodge. Seeing me disappear and not wanting to waste time, he just let out a snort and flew away.

Only when he retreated did my sight return to the place where his fire breath hit... I could only see a completely black area, all the trees and plants turned to ashes.

That experience was my first wake-up call: I was no longer the strongest I knew.

Thinking back to my early years when I was weak, my flame of ambition to become stronger was rekindled. I was not willing to be weaker than others, because that would mean that they would be the ones to dictate my life or death.

I returned to my territory and set out to increase my strength. Unfortunately, I didn't make much progress. Although I improved my control over my skills and further refined my combat style, I couldn't feel a true increase in strength. I knew that if I met that guy again, it would be the same result as before.

Later, when I captured some humans who entered the forest for fun, I was able to learn more about this world I lived in. These guys, although weak, had a lot of information. It was from them that I learned about many monsters I had never heard of, including that bastard. Apparently, their race was called dragon. They told me how one of them, which I'm sure was the one I met, had destroyed a kingdom, killing hundreds of thousands of humans.

According to them, after such a massacre, he was never heard from again.

To my bitterness, it reminded me that I was still far from his strength.

A few years later, I had my second wake-up call.

Apparently, many humans invaded the forest for their ambitions. This provoked the fury of the ruler of the forest, whom I had never met until that moment. He, with a single attack, destroyed their army as if they were nothing. The consequences of his attack devastated miles of forest around. Luckily, I was very far from the place.

Before that attack, he had let out a domineering shout: "Ants, you dare to mess with Veldora, the storm dragon. I will destroy you."

When I heard "dragon," something in me… snapped.

'Can dragons be this strong? Do I even have a hope of catching up to them?' I wondered.

It was upon seeing his immense power and the fact that I could see no results from my efforts that I felt despair. I believed I could never reach such heights. What was the point of trying so hard?

That idea was in my mind for a long time. … Until I met Kai.

It all started out of a simple curiosity of mine, my curiosity about a monster I had never seen before. This monster hunted prey after prey; sometimes it would take them to its cave, other times it would eat them outright. At first it seemed normal, although similar in appearance to those pesky storm snakes, this guy was a bit different, a bit smaller than the latter. From what I could sense of it, it was not even half as strong as the storm snakes, I assumed it was perhaps its pre-evolution.

But that thought was quickly dismissed, because as I spied on him hunting, I saw him disappear out of nowhere.

Something puzzled me, I had lost track of him. I tried to use my senses to the fullest, but I could not perceive his location precisely, I knew he was there, my rich experience told me so. I was only able to see him again later, after he had finished off his victim.

That put me on alert, although I had faced many types of monsters with stealth abilities, they had their flaws, flaws visible to the naked eye, but this guy's ability... lacked them.

It was only after watching his methods for a longer time that I figured it out. Although undetectable, it always left traces; if one paid attention, perceiving the traces and making predictions, the skill was no longer invincible, knowing this, I was able to relax.

Later, I decided to confront him and see what he was capable of. From my observations, I knew that he was highly resistant to physical attacks, so, using shadow magic infused into my claws, I attacked him by surprise from his blind spot.

Since I didn't put much force into it, I knew it wouldn't be much of a problem for him. I was shocked by what happened next, the wounds I inflicted on him healed before my eyes.

My surprise only reached its limit when, taking advantage of my momentary carelessness after dodging his feint attack, he managed to use an attack that almost managed to kill me, a powerful jet of water with high penetration, a little to the right and it would have pierced my heart.

This scared me greatly. If I continued, I knew I would die at his hands.

I had to retreat and heal my wound for a week, I planned to get revenge for this when I was fully recovered.

Only to be further surprised, the next time we met, he had grown stronger. Before, my sneak attacks from his blind spots posed a danger to him, now, he could even sense my attacks without the need to see and dodge them, as if he had a full view of his surroundings. Even when I managed to land a few attacks on him that he couldn't dodge, I could only watch as the damage dealt didn't come close to the same damage from the last fight. Even when I increased the strength of my attacks to the limit, I could only leave him with superficial wounds that would heal almost immediately.

Although in my perception he was still as strong as he was a week ago, his combat ability had caught up with me. To my regret, I couldn't crush him.

He had specifically prepared himself to counter my stealth and the damage from my magic, all this, in just a week since I lost sight of him.

In the middle of the fight, the bastard was even having fun.

Only when we stopped due to neither of us being able to overpower the other did we start talking calmly, wanting to clear up some of my doubts. I asked him why he was so strong, hinted at the unique monsters, something I believed he was, given his monstrous growth rate.

He claimed to be one, but something in his tone told me he wasn't being completely honest.

But since I was hoping to get information from him, I didn't say anything.

The bastard was so shameless as to demand me as payment for the information. Although he later offered me to be his partner in adventures, I could see in his eyes the desire for possession, something normal. Not to brag, but I am very desired. I had come across several guys who wanted to court me, although they were usually other felines like tigers or lions, this guy had strange tastes.

In order to achieve my goals, which I was on the verge of giving up on, I didn't mind making some sacrifices. It would depend on his future performance if he could win me over, in the worst case, I could run away after getting what I needed from him.

I was prepared for it to take a long time to get the information out of him, surely he would only give it to me if he trusted me completely or I offered him certain… benefits.

But it wasn't like that.

To my surprise, I only had to pester him a little to get him to tell me the information I wanted. After a few jokes, he gave me all the information, down to the last detail.

He seemed to have a lot of knowledge, that was my impression. The humans he had captured did not know even a fraction of what he told me in that short period.

He even gave me several options so I could choose which method to use. I spent countless years searching for the way, while he even had several, I felt a little inferior, although I didn't show it.

One was the easy way, to subordinate myself to him, quickly help him grow stronger and when he was stronger than me, he would give me a name, which would instantly give me a massive power boost. I won't deny it, it sounded somewhat tempting, but this went against my way of life, of depending only on myself, I would never be comfortable with power given away in exchange for my obedience.

The second path was to follow him out of the forest, accompanying him on his adventures. In them, he said that I could find opportunities to become stronger, even if that wasn't the case, I could always choose the first path. It was a lie, I could see it in his eyes. It wasn't the paths part that was a lie, but the part about not being able to find opportunities. From the confidence in his tone, I could tell at a glance that he already had plans for himself to become strong. If I was willing to accompany him, he would surely share some with me.

From all the information he knew, he knew there was something strange about him. It wasn't normal for a monster of his strength to have so much intelligence or knowledge, it seemed almost as if he was talking to a human, a cunning, scheming guy.

In order to feel comfortable with him, I demanded that we give each other a name on equal terms.

He gave me a name that he said meant "wonderful." He said it with such emotion that it seemed like I was that to him.

And when I was about to give him a name, he interrupted me to ask me to name him whatever he wanted. This seemed unfair to me, but since I might get a favor from him, I decided to put up with my annoyance.

It's funny what name he wanted: Kai, according to him it meant "sea", something strange for a snake.

With everything done, we prepared to begin our journey.

Our first stop was a town near the edge of the forest.

It was when we arrived that I began to notice more oddities about Kai, from acting stealthily to avoid being noticed, although this city posed no threat to us, we could have killed everyone if they bothered us, then he looked for a secluded place to establish what he called a base. To avoid being discovered, we killed all the humans around. There I noticed another oddity about Kai, although he could kill human men, he seemed to have apprehension about killing women and children, whenever it was necessary, he would let me take care of it, he did not want to see such a scene.

Later, his actions seemed very strange to me, from following humans and listening to their conversations, to starting to create what he called a shadow organization, which we could use for his future plans, including killing several dragons and taking their bodies. Apparently he wanted to obtain their dragon factor.

When I suggested that we just go to where the dragons lived and kill them ourselves, he flatly refused, saying it was dangerous, but he didn't say what the dangers were. But I could see his panic.

He acted like a human, fearful, planning, like someone weak , when he is clearly similar in strength to me.

Only after he told me about the path to becoming a spiritual life form did I know why. He must have been a human and for some reason ended up as a monster, and coupled with his fear, I could only think that he went through several things before he died and his soul entered the body of a snake.

monster 's body .

Everything fit: having a unique ability, his vast knowledge, his human-like actions.

Even though I discovered it, I didn't really care as much as I had when I first suspected it.

With all the time we spent together, I got to know him better. Although he can be annoying sometimes because of his sense of humor, he's actually not a bad guy. He may be ruthless to those who get in his way, but that's normal for a monster like us, only the strong are right. But I could see from his treatment of me that he values those who are close to him. He was never stingy with me. If I asked him something, he always answered. When I needed help with my skills, he was right by my side giving me advice.

Although our relationship may have started as opponents, he kept his word. He never treated me as his subordinate, but as a true partner.

He shared with me information that others would kill to obtain and he gave it to me like it had no value.

Not because he didn't know its value, but because it didn't matter to him to share it with me.

Because he really wanted me to be with him, someone who could accompany him. Not because he needed my strength, he had never used it for his plans, nor my skills. He always had several ideas for new skills. He only had me around, because he wanted someone's company.

Something I could notice after so much time.

I could almost always see him thinking about his plans, with fear and anxiety. Something was bothering him, but I didn't want to worry him, he preferred to bear everything himself. He always tried to act confident, but at night he always stared at the starry sky with an air of melancholy and longing.

He was sad, but he wasn't willing to share it with me.

That bothered me, because in all this time, I came to see him as a true companion.

Someone who cared about me, who was there to support me, someone I could trust, but he wasn't willing to tell me his worries because he didn't think I could support him.

On our journey by wagon towards the capital of this kingdom, when we arrived at a village, we could see that several monsters were approaching to attack the human village, knowing that if we did not intervene, everyone would die. I asked him if he wanted to intervene.

He refused, he didn't seem to care what happened to them, even when I hinted at their possible relationship with humans. He just blurted out phrases to justify his inaction. He didn't believe them, much less me, but I knew he didn't want to talk, so I stayed silent.

Everything was normal: monsters killing and devouring their prey, a sight Kai and I were used to. Until those monsters started slaughtering the children. When Kai saw that scene, he seemed desperate to help them, but for some reason he stood his ground. In his eyes I could see helplessness, despair, regret, fear, a mishmash of multiple feelings. In the end, there was resolve in his eyes, although I could see a tear falling from his eye, a sign that he was in pain.

I wanted to comfort him, but I didn't know what words to use.

Only when all the humans were dead, he wasted no time in slaughtering all the monsters with all his fury. I had never seen him with such hatred, not only hatred towards them, but also towards himself.

When he was done, he searched for the children's remains and I could hear him speaking in a sad tone, that they could rest in peace, that everything he did was only because he was strong and could.

He knew that this reminded him of his past, although he did not know what he experienced, it seemed that he had lost his loved ones, and he saw traces of them in the women and children.

I wanted to comfort him, but when I got closer and we looked into each other's eyes, he just ran away.

He knew I cared about him.

Don't you trust me? Did you think I couldn't understand you?

What good is a partner who can't support you when you need it? I feel useless.

Later, he asked me for time. Apparently he wasn't ready to share it, I was willing to wait, but only if his secrecy didn't affect us, and he agreed.

On our trip, he helped me with the skill I had been developing for a long time but couldn't get. With his advice, I was able to achieve it.

When I thanked him, he just said, "That's what colleagues are for," with a genuine smile.

That's true, that's what partners are for, and even if he's not ready to share his concerns with me right now, as his partner, I'll wait. I'll wait until he's ready, but for now, I'll just support him by being by his side.

Just as he supports me.

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Author's Notes:

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask for suggestions for new Demon Lords, I plan on there being more than thirty of them, they won't enter the story together, but gradually.

You can give me suggestions, like names, their races, lore, their motivations, I'll write them down and maybe they'll be included in the story later.