The serpent madly chased after Freya, its mouth wide open, ready to engulf her whole.
It moved so fast that for a second, I couldn’t even react. I just stood there like an idiot, staring as it reached just meters away from her.
And just when I thought it was game over, Freya moved. "[Binding Breath]!"
The moment the words left her mouth, the serpent’s speed dropped drastically, as if someone had yanked it back with invisible chains. Using that tiny opening, Freya jumped to the side with everything she had.
The serpent missed her by a hair’s breadth, colliding headfirst into the rocky ground with a painful hiss that made the air tremble.
But it wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot.
With a terrifying swiftness, it twisted its body, ready to pounce on her again.
And this time, it might’ve succeeded—if not for the ragtag group coming in clutch.
Abilities, skills, and all sorts of flashy nonsense were fired at the serpent’s body. Blasts of fire, shards of ice, bolts of lightning, even a poorly aimed wind blade—it was like watching kids throw rocks at a tank.
All of their abilities were at best rank: ★. Pretty much mosquito bites to a beast of this caliber.
Honestly, I was a little surprised by their courage. I genuinely thought they’d all turn and run like cowards.
’This was such a grand suicide though...’
The serpent was only mildly annoyed at best. It flailed its head once, shaking off most of the attacks like they were nothing more than dust.
After about a minute, it had enough.
It reared its head up high, a dark, ominous pressure descending onto the field.
The serpent hissed—a deep, bone-chilling sound that rattled the stones underfoot and sliced into our souls.
The examinees couldn’t withstand it.
One after another, their legs gave out, bodies collapsing to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Fear paralysis had them in a vice grip.
Only a few—barely a handful—managed to stagger upright. Those few grabbed onto Freya, dragging her away as fast as they could toward a nearby rock formation, desperate to put anything between them and the monster.
The serpent’s slitted eyes narrowed, its massive body coiling. With a flick of its muscular tail, it struck.
The impact shattered the air.
Several examinees were sent flying, their bodies exploding midair like bags of blood. Arms, legs, heads—body parts rained down, splattering the ground with fresh, hot blood.
The black rocky floor was instantly painted crimson.
What had once been a lively group now looked like a war zone. Pieces of broken bodies laid scattered everywhere like some grotesque art exhibit.
From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Freya’s expression.
Her violet eyes stared blankly at the scene in front of her, frozen in shock, unable to process the carnage.
’Good,’ I thought, narrowing my eyes.
First phase of the plan... completed.
Now came the real test.
Would she blame herself and spiral into depression?
Or would she see the truth? Would she grit her teeth, clench her fists, and decide to never let something happen again?
If she used her brain, she would realize it wasn’t just her fault. It wasn’t even really mine either.
The group was pathetic.
Spectators. Tourists.
When the real danger came, their first instinct was to run, not fight.
Their cowardice had signed their death warrants.
If she thought everything through properly, then there was no doubt—she would strive to be stronger. Strong enough to protect. Strong enough that no tragedy would ever happen under her watch again.
A bitter smile crept onto my lips.
Stretching my arms, feeling the mana swirl around my legs, I prepared myself.
It was time to go all out.
In a blink, I activated [Flash Speed].
My body blurred and vanished from my spot, reappearing behind the serpent like a ghost.
The world slowed down for a split second.
Every muscle in my body tensed.
The short sword in my hand gleamed wickedly under the bloody sky.
Without hesitation, I plunged it deep into the serpent’s scaly hide.
I felt it—the resistance. The way the serpent’s dense muscles tightened around the blade, trying to reject the foreign object.
But I gritted my teeth and twisted the sword savagely, feeling the scales grind and snap apart.
A geyser of dark blood erupted from the wound, spraying across the ground, splattering onto my uniform.
The serpent hissed—an ear-splitting sound of pure fury and pain.
It flailed wildly, slamming its tail down in an attempt to smash me to pieces.
I immediately kicked off my feet, launching myself into the air. Midair, I spun around, slashing in a sharp arc.
The short sword, condensed with glowing amethyst mana, tore through the serpent’s thick hide like it was nothing more than wet paper.
The blade sliced cleanly, ripping apart scale and muscle in one swift, fluid motion.
But if I ended it just like that—too cleanly, too easily—they would’ve grown suspicious of me.
And that was something I couldn’t afford.
So I ducked back, letting the serpent gain some footing.
Despite its injuries, the damn thing was still a monster for a reason.
Thick, dark blood kept oozing from its body, pooling at its feet. The puddle beneath us grew bigger with every passing second, staining the black rocky ground a deep, horrifying crimson.
It hissed, glaring at me with those wild, feral eyes.
For a second, the paralysis effect from eyes tried to kick in again—but I wasn’t some chump.
The serpent lunged at me without warning.
With a smooth sidestep, I evaded its tackle, watching as it crashed into the ground with a deafening boom.
Its open wound scraped across the molten, heated surface, burning the exposed flesh.
A shrill, ear-piercing hiss erupted from its fanged mouth, the sound sharp enough to make my eardrums throb.
Before it could fully recover, it twisted its entire massive body in an unnatural, almost grotesque way—and lashed out at me again.
This time, I didn’t dodge.
Instead, I let the lightning surge through my arm, crackling around the blade.
And the moment it opened its mouth to snap at me—
The blade slashed across the side of its face, cutting so deep that its entire jawline split open, dark blood spraying into the air like a fountain.
The serpent writhed in agony, shaking violently.
For a brief second, it almost looked like it would cry from the pain.
I huffed, my chest rising and falling in deep breaths.
The scent of blood was everywhere—thick, metallic, and suffocating.
And yet, despite it all, a sly grin tugged at the corners of my mouth.
But no time to waste.
Without giving it even a second to recover, I surged forward again, leaping onto its blood-soaked body.
Again and again, carving through flesh and bone without mercy.
Tearing open wound after wound, until its body became nothing more than a broken, mangled mass of dangling flesh and shredded scales.
It was a masterpiece of brutality. A picture painted with blood.
Mana exploded from my sword.
In an instant, thousands of deep, precise cuts riddled its entire body, turning it into something unrecognizable.
Flower buds burst from the open wounds, blooming into dazzling violet flowers that exploded immediately after forming—
Each explosion ripping apart more flesh, spraying gore into the air like fireworks.
The petals that bloomed weren’t delicate either. They were sharp, deadly—slashing and carving whatever was left of the serpent’s body.
This vicious cycle repeated again and again, each bloom followed by another wave of devastation.
Finally, I decided it was time to end it.
Kicking my blood-soaked feet off its ruined body, I launched myself high into the air.
Mana gathered thickly around me, amethyst lightning crackling violently along my sword.
I angled the blade downward.
And then—like a comet tearing through the heavens—I dropped.
Air howled past my ears, the world around me blurring into a single point of focus:
The serpent’s broken, battered form below me.
It looked up at me weakly, as if sensing its demise approaching.
And, in a rare flicker of acceptance, it closed its eyes.
A moment later, my blade pierced through its skull cleanly, sinking deep with a sickening crunch.
Its body shuddered once.
A system notification blinked in my vision.
I exhaled a shaky breath, feeling the rush of victory surge through me.
But that feeling didn’t last long.
The instant I touched the ground—
The mountain trembled beneath me.
At first, it was a faint vibration.
Then, a full-on quake.
Rocks split apart. Dust filled the air. The very ground felt like it was alive.
With a slow, deliberate motion—
A massive, golden eye.
The slit-like pupil alone was bigger than my entire body.
It stared at me—unblinking, and indescribably cold.
The moment I met its gaze—
A shudder ran down my entire spine.
My body refused to move. My instincts screamed at me to run, to escape, to survive.
I stumbled back, dropping onto my ass as my legs buckled uselessly.
’The fuck is that!!!’
I could barely even breathe as that gigantic golden eye continued to watch me—
silent, terrifying, and filled with a suffocating pressure that threatened to crush me with nothing but its existence.