Vol. 4: Chapter 7
Lila braced herself with Dragonbane as the roaring hurricane of wind bore down on her.
A storm of invisible blades slammed against the shield, the impacts ringing out like a frantic drum solo. While Dragonbane absorbed the damage, the sheer knockback effect was unstoppable.
SLAM!
Lila was thrown hard against the iron bars of the cage.
A minute later, the gale subsided. She dropped to the floor with a soft thud.
-1024
The wind blades hadn't scratched her, but the fall damage still took a chunk of her health.
Lila pushed herself to her feet and faced the Gluttonous Serpent once more. The massive beast was staring at her, its eyes as large as dinner plates, clearly stunned to see her completely unharmed.
A tense silence fell between them.
Suddenly, the Gluttonous Serpent squeezed its eyes shut. Its massive body began to ripple, a roundish shape moving down its length from head to tail. Then, a long, drawn-out hiss escaped from its rear.
A thick, foul-smelling green cloud billowed out from the serpent’s tail.
Poison gas!
Seeing the toxic fog spread, Lila yelled to the others.
"Everyone, pop a [Greater Anti-Toxin Potion] now!"
As the gas cloud rolled towards them, the party members scrambled to pull out their potions. A few were too slow, catching a breath of the toxic fumes.
-2000
-2000
The initial tick of damage wasn't catastrophically high, but the lack of a duration timer on the debuff was terrifying. This was a persistent area-of-effect attack; for every second they stood in the cloud, they would take damage.
One by one, they downed their potions.
-100
-100
The damage-over-time continued, but it was now reduced to a manageable level. Thank God for Kael's warning; without the potions, all ten of them would have been slowly choked out.
With the immediate threat handled, Lila hefted Dragonbane and charged. She closed the distance and brought the blade down hard on the serpent's coiled tail.
-21092
The serpent hissed in pain and whipped its tail around in a furious arc.
Parry!
Lila blocked the blow, immediately countering with another slash at the same spot.
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-21325
The Gluttonous Serpent quickly recoiled, trying to tuck its wounded tail behind its body. But Lila was relentless, sticking to it and landing another vicious cut.
-21395
...
Twenty-one thousand damage per hit was a drop in the bucket against a boss with hundreds of millions of HP. But for some reason, the serpent seemed utterly terrified of her attacks, constantly thrashing its tail to keep it away from her. And just as constantly, Lila kept hacking away at it.
After nearly half an hour of this strange dance, the serpent let out a final, agonized shriek.
Its tail severed from its body.
Ignoring Lila completely, it opened its massive maw and tore a portal into the air before it. With a final, desperate twist, it wriggled through and vanished.
The women outside the cage erupted in cheers.
"Yeah! We won!"
"Awesome job!"
"Guess the big snake was a total coward."
"Seriously. They should call it the Craven Serpent, not the Gluttonous Serpent."
"Craven Serpent, hehe."
...
Lila bent down and picked up the massive, severed tail.
System: You have obtained [Tail of the Gluttonous Serpent].
She checked the item’s description, which contained a single, slightly comical line of flavor text:
[Tail of the Gluttonous Serpent]: Surprisingly delicious. Rumored to be a delicacy among the gods.
Mission accomplished.
It was a shame the boss bailed. No gear drops, no XP. Still, the experience from the swarms of smaller snakes was enough to last a normal player four or five days of grinding. The trip was definitely worth it.
Lila led the way as her team stepped through the teleport nexus, reappearing in the main hall.
They were greeted by the wide, panicked eyes of Grace and Peppa.
"What was that giant snake?"
"It was huge, like, 300 feet long easy."
"I was so scared, I thought it was going to eat us!"
"I was just worried it would wake up the Mythic-rank Rat..."
...
"It's the Guild Leader! She's back."
"Leader, were you guys fighting that thing?"
"It escaped through the portal we used to get in!"
"You don't think it's waiting to ambush us out there, do you?"
...
Lila tuned out Grace and Peppa’s endless chatter, her eyes scanning the hall. Besides her own group, only Kael was there. She realized her team was the second one to finish.
She walked over to Kael and handed him the [Tail of the Gluttonous Serpent]. She didn't say a word, just sank down to sit beside him, leaning against the cool stone wall.
Grace and Peppa had already moved on to a new topic.
"Peppa, who do you think will be next?"
"My money's on that team."
"No way, it's gotta be the other one."
"Wanna bet?"
"You're on. Don't be a sore loser this time."
"You're the sore loser! You totally lost last time and didn't pay up."
"Did not! You lost!"
...
Lila listened to the twin sisters argue, a small smile touching her lips. She glanced over at Kael. He met her gaze, seeming to understand the question in her eyes.
He answered with a single, quiet word.
"Hazel."
As if on cue, the portal swirled to life again, and Hazel’s team stumbled into the hall.
Hazel was panting, her face etched with exhaustion. The teammates behind her looked shell-shocked, the terror of their trial still fresh on their faces. Of the ten who went in, only five remained.
Pouting, Hazel walked over to Kael and held something out to him.
Her voice trembling slightly. "I'm sorry. We couldn't protect it."
Kael rose to his feet and took the object from her hand.
It was a wooden dagger. Or what was left of one. The blade was fractured, spiderweb cracks covering its surface. It looked as if it could crumble to dust at any moment.
[Dagger of Elunara] (Damaged)
A blade so sharp, it ignores all defenses.
Physical Attack: 10,000,000
Anatomy Charges: 0/4
Kael stared at the broken weapon, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He had assumed the dagger would simply shatter into nothing once its charges were spent. So it leaves behind a 'corpse,' he mused. Maybe it can be repaired.
He tossed the [Dagger of Elunara] into his inventory without another thought.
At that moment, Grace and Peppa abandoned their argument. They rushed over to Hazel, their eyes wide with morbid curiosity.
"Hazel! What kind of monster did you guys run into in there? Tell us everything!"
Seeing the two sisters, Hazel's tense expression softened a little. She took a deep breath and began to recount their ordeal.