Chapter 170 169: A Few More Serpents...

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You all had some great ideas, as well as reactions to the previous chapters lol.

Anyways, let's eradicate an innocent family of snakes, hmm~?

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Before we could take in the death of the large Coal Serpent, we heard more hisses coming from the mound, before feeling the earth around us tremble slightly.

Leone's eyes went wide as she felt that, and she shouted out "Spread out! They can burrow short distances!"

Jumping away from one another, we all stared at the ground around us, searching for any signs of the Serpents appearing around us.

Coating my body in a thin sheet of ice, I then focused intently on the earth, before my eyes found a thin line of raised gravel approaching me.

Grinning, I waited another moment for it to ambush me before jumping away, using my wind mana to amplify my movement speed and stare at the wide open maw of the Coal Serpent, which was slightly smaller then the one we had just killed.

Its crimson eyes searched for me when it noticed that nothing was between its jaws, only to hiss in pain as my dagger sunk into the monsters neck, only to frown as my blade didn't sink as deep as I wanted it to.

Wrenching the dagger from its flesh, I watched as a thin stream of blood arced through the air, but I sadly had little time to admire the wondrous scarlet liquid as the Serpent jerked my head towards me, attempting to knock me to the ground with its heavy weight.

Droplets of dull orange liquid flew from its jaws, as well as from its giant fangs, and I pursed my lips as I heard the ground sizzling as the. droplets fell to the ground.

This wouldn't be a fight that I could revel in my bloodlust, sadly...

Dodging another swipe of its large head, I frowned as I noticed that the Serpent was now slowly leaving its burrowed tunnel, slithering around me and locking me inside of a tight, constricting circle.

Coiling over itself, the Serpent created a living, moving wall of scales and flesh, making my frown deepen.

I could jump over it, but considering its head was now looming above me and filling with more of that lava like liquid, I didn't want to risk positioning myself in the air, at least not without a few safeguards.

Freezing my steel dagger in a thick sheet of ice, I then traced a sequence out in front of me, making the Serpent hiss.

​ It tried to lunge down to stop me, but it instead collided with a block of solid ice that I had encapsulated myself in.

Feeling the air around me plummet in temperature, I started tracing more and more runes, layering spell after spell into a large ritual circle.

The Serpent was constantly slamming into the ice, and I could hear thin cracks forming on the outer surface.

My hand sped up, and I frowned as I realized how long this spell was taking.

It was a giant combination of basic spells, but it was rather effective and something that I had wanted to try.

This was a spell I had made for when I am surrounded by either one large enemy like this Serpent, or dozens of enemies like a horde of strong Ghouls.

You could never be too prepared.

Altering the structure of the cube I was in, I took a deep breath as I finished the ritual circle, the dozens of green, dark blue, and pale blue runes flaring in specific sequences as it activated.

The Serpent was still slamming against my protective cube, before hissing as it collided with a small spike that had formed on the cubes surface.

Staring at it warily, the Serpent hissed again before closing its maw, moments later opening it to spit out a giant glob of that orange liquid.

That liquid sizzled against the ice as it melted it, and I started desperately muttering "Come on, come on..! Activate..!"

I needed every rune to be active before the spell would flare to life, and right now...

There were a few runes that were dull, and I looked up at the roof, watching as the liquid slowly chewed through my ice.

I couldn't divert my mana, so this was currently a race against time; I was putting trust into this ice dome I had made, and so far...

It was working.

Thankfully, before the liquid melted through half my ice, the ritual circle around me flared to life, making me grin.

It was a dozen some odd spells sewn together into one larger, intricate spell, and now...

My eyes widened as I watched the fruits of my labor ripen.

A gale picked up around me, and the Serpent raised its head to glance around, its crimson eyes filled with worry.

If my dagger hadn't managed to do much damage, and I wasn't fully aware of its entire capabilities, I was willing to be cautious in this fight; I didn't have Jahi's strength to simply cut through this monsters hardened scales.

As the gale continued to pick up speed, flurries started to shower down, before growing into larger chunks of hail.

Getting pelted by dozens, hundreds of chunks of ice, the Serpent let out an annoyed hiss, before flinching as one of those ice chunks grew sharper, scoring a shallow gouge on its black scales.

However, those sharpened ice balls grew in frequency, until they turned from chunks of hail to long spears of ice, which slowly impaled the Serpent.

It was trying to unwind its large body, before it was turned into a pincushion, but sadly the spears grew longer, and they started fixing the various sections together, keeping the Serpent in the center of this deadly storm.

I was still protected by my dome of ice, and any spear that drew close evaporated as it was turned into powdered snow that coated the ice.

Watching the Serpent slowly die to a thousand cuts, I grinned as each wound weeped blood, creating a frozen lake around me.

When it finally breathed its last, I stopped the blizzard of spears I had summoned before dissolving the ice around me.

The Serpent turned to dust, dropping large amounts of scales and a few bones, making my grin widen.

Each item I got from this monster meant money, and I needed money.

But for now, my eyes were fixated on the pool of blood around me, and I licked my lips.

I hadn't seen such a beautiful sight in my entire life...

Save my wives, of course, but...

This is its own category, and for now...

It took the number one spot.

I wanted to see a larger ocean of this wondrous crimson liquid, and the idea of the suffering that would need to be caused to get that to happen...

Sent shivers down my spine.

Shaking myself from my new future dream, I scooped up my prizes and watched as the others finished up as well.

Anput was a blur of red and silver, the Serpents body coated in deep gashes before turning to dust, and the Jackalkin was panting, her body covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

Jahi was swinging a golden blade around, easily severing different parts of the Serpents body before killing it completely.

As for Leone, she had a bright sun flaring above her head, various bolts shooting from it as they targeted the Serpents open wounds, making the monster hiss in agony before being burnt to dust completely.

When we were all finished, we exchanged glances, realizing that we had all taken around the same time, either by choice or necessity.

Regrouping back in the center, we all smiled at one another before pooling together our spoils, our smiles turning to grins at the amount of materials gathered.

"Well this has been a lucrative run..."

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What'd you all think of the spell?

It's a combination of a wind storm, rain, freezing area, and reshaping the hail; complex when joined together, but rather simple individually.

Effective too; I mean, have you ever been out in a hailstorm? I have, and that shit HURTS...

Anyways, chapter 2 for today done, hope you enjoyed~!

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