Free Web NovelChapter 31: A Cunning Snake
Should he strike first? Or wait for death to find him?
The answer was glaring. There was no way he would wait for death to find him.
But how could he kill it without releasing his killing intent? Lucien was baffled. The moment his intent slipped, the python would sense it, and the element of surprise would be lost. His mind raced, searching for a solution, but every path led to the same dead end.
He noticed that the Volkoids and creatures here were sensitive to killing intent. It was as if the very air carried their awareness, making every predator a living alarm.
He didn’t make a move yet, still pondering how he should go about this. If anything went wrong, it would spell his death. One wrong move, one stray thought, and he would be the one lying dead on the crimson soil. His heart pounded against his ribs, each beat a reminder of the danger that lurked just beyond his hiding spot.
After a while, when the python was getting close to his location, Lucien decided to bite the bullet. His muscles tensed, his grip tightening on the Abyss Carver as he prepared to strike.
But at the nick of time, the snake stopped eating. It seemed it had had its fill.
Its gaze darted around before moving to one corner, where it curled up and slept off. Its body relaxed, its breathing deepening into the rhythm of sleep.
Lucien saw this and was surprised. Thanks heavens. It seemed luck was on his side.
He didn’t move until he made sure that the snake had really fallen asleep. He watched its coils, the steady rise and fall of its body, the stillness of its tongue.
After confirming so, he treaded carefully, using the Sovereign of Slaughter and Scholar’s Insight to conceal his killing intent. He moved like a shadow, each step silent, each breath controlled.
He hoped it worked. As he moved closer, he summoned the Abyss Carver. The blade materialized in his hand, cold and familiar, its edge gleaming faintly in the crimson light.
Looking at the snake, which was peacefully sleeping, he could see the deep gash, its injuries healing at a speed close to the naked eye. Flesh knitting together, skin sealing, as if the wound had never been there. The sight was almost mesmerizing, a testament to the creature’s power.
It looked like a cute being, but Lucien knew that was just a facade. Beneath that peaceful exterior lay a predator that had survived in this land of death.
He checked carefully, maybe it might have noticed him, but there was no response. It was still in sleep. Its body remained still, its breathing unchanged.
He poured his Originat into the Abyss Carver silently. The blade hummed with power, its edge glowing faintly. After pouring enough, he swung it at the neck of the snake.
CLANG!
The sound of metal clashing shook Lucien. He felt as if he had struck a mountain, to the extent that his body started vibrating from the impact. The shock traveled up his arm, numbing his fingers.
"F*ck." Lucien cursed out in his mind, realizing that he had underestimated the snake. Its scales were far tougher than he had anticipated.
"Oh, funny. Here I thought there was a foe around. It turns out it was such a weakling."
This female voice shook Lucien. Chills ran down his spine. He stiffly turned his head to the snake.
Its eyes were open, no signs of sleep. They gleamed with amusement, watching him with the patience of a predator that had already won. It scrutinized him from head to toe, its gaze lingering on his trembling form. Lucien’s body felt chills, as if a predator’s gaze was fixed on him, weighing him, judging him.
"Hmm, so you are truly a weakling," it continued, as it drew its tongue out, tasting the air.
"Damn, it can talk." Lucien felt the sky falling. Volkoids that could talk weren’t such weaklings. They were ancient, powerful, and cunning beyond measure.
Shadow Stride.
Without any further thought, he ran. His body blurred, stepping into the shadows, hoping to escape. But the next moment, he felt something slamming him, as if he had clashed with a train. The air was knocked from his lungs, his ribs screaming in protest.
The snake had whipped him with its tail. Everything tumbled around him, his vision blurry for a second as he spat out a mouthful of blood. The crimson liquid painted the dark earth, his body crashing to the ground.
He was left lying on the ground, his body screaming in protest. Every muscle ached, every bone felt like it had been shattered.
He forced himself to look up, and his mouth opened wide in shock.
What was before him wasn’t a small snake. It was a gigantic one that blotted out the sun.
Its body was massive, coiled like a mountain of obsidian scales that seemed to drink the crimson light. Each scale was the size of a shield, dark and gleaming with a faint, oily sheen. Its head was broad, triangular, with ridges of bone running along its crown like a crown of thorns. Its eyes were no longer pale yellow, they were molten gold, burning with ancient malice.
Its fangs were long as swords, dripping with a dark, viscous venom that sizzled where it touched the ground. A low, guttural hiss rumbled from its throat, vibrating through the very air, making the ground beneath him tremble.
It was no longer the small, wounded python. It had grown, or perhaps it had always been this way, hiding its true form, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.
It seemed it wasn’t that heaven had smiled on him or that he was lucky. He was simply unlucky.
This was one fact Lucien had realized since he had been in this land of death. Luck was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
He looked at the wound he had seen, now horrifying in its absence. But with his very eyes, he watched as the injuries closed up with insane speed. Flesh knitting together, scales reforming, the gash vanishing as if it had never existed. The process was swift and seamless, a display of power that made his heart sink.
Its skin was smooth, as if it had never been wounded.
Lucien opened his mouth, wide enough to stuff an egg in.
What a cunning snake!
"Oh, a human. It’s been ages since a human entered this land." The snake said, its voice a mix of shock and excitement. Its tongue flicked out, tasting the air around him.
It moved closer to Lucien, its massive form casting a deeper shadow over him. "But with your strength, there’s no way you would have caused such devastating damage that happened three days ago when I checked here."
Its words made Lucien’s mind pause. Did that mean it had been here since that scene had happened? The thought sent a cold wave of dread through him.
He felt chills at how patient this snake was. It had watched, waited, and now it had him exactly where it wanted.
He didn’t even recognize it with the form it had now. What Volkoid race was it? His mind raced, searching for answers, but none came.
As he was deep in thought, he suddenly found himself being dragged into the air by an unknown power. His body lifted off the ground as if caught by an invisible current, his limbs dangling uselessly beneath him.
He was pulled before the face of the giant snake. Those predatory molten golden eyes sent chills down his spine, their ancient malice piercing through him like blades of ice. The sheer size of the creature made his mind reel, its head alone was larger than his entire body.
He wondered how strong the snake was, because it was even bigger than the double-headed wolf. The wolf had been a mountain of muscle and fury, but this serpent dwarfed it completely.
The snake snapped open its mouth, revealing rows of curved fangs dripping with thick, sizzling venom. Its jaws unhinged wide enough to swallow him whole, the darkness within promising an agonizing end. The scent of decay and old blood washed over him, thick and suffocating.
Lucien tried to break free, his muscles straining, his limbs thrashing against the invisible force that held him. But it was futile. He could only watch himself draw closer to the gaping maw, each inch bringing him nearer to certain death.
Lucien felt defeated. Was he and death best friends in his past life? The thought echoed in his mind as despair clawed at his heart.
He instinctively closed his eyes, not wanting to witness how he would die. His body trembled, his breath caught in his throat.
"But on second thought, eating such a weakling wouldn’t benefit me."
The words of the snake resounded in his ears, causing his cells to cheer in excitement. His heart leaped with a desperate hope. He opened his eyes to see that the snake had closed its mouth, its jaws sealing shut with a grinding sound.
Its cunning eyes were fixed on him, gleaming with something far worse than hunger. It seemed he had escaped death, for now.
But his happiness came too early.
He felt a foreign energy trying to invade his soul. It was cold and invasive, creeping into the deepest parts of his being like a parasite. This shook Lucien as he tried to fight back, his will clashing against the intruding force.
"It’s better to make you my servant. Maybe I can find a way to leave this cage." These words sounded like hell to Lucien. His mind screamed in defiance.
He would rather die than become a servant of someone, let alone a Volkoid. The very thought was a violation of everything he was.
But the fact that he was weak couldn’t be changed.
"Oh, what a strong-willed young man. But it doesn’t change your fate." The foreign energy increased and became more powerful, pressing against his defenses like a tidal wave.
Lucien became powerless as he watched the foreign energy invade him, and he lost consciousness, his mind sinking into darkness.
"What an interesting human! First time seeing one." The snake began to invade his body and privacy, its consciousness probing deeper into his being.
ROAR!
A draconic chant resounded, ancient and primal, shaking the very ground beneath them. The snake immediately froze up, its body going rigid as if struck by lightning. Lucien’s eyes snapped open.
They weren’t human-like. They were reptilian, draconic and domineering, burning with an ancient power that made the air itself tremble.
He didn’t say anything. All he did was glance at the snake, and it began to scream in pain, its massive body writhing and rolling on the ground as if being torn apart from within.
After a while, a large circular rune appeared and imprinted itself on its head, burning into its scales like a brand of absolute authority.
