"How's it still alive...?!" Aiden mumbled, assuming a bare-handed fighting stance, no matter how sloppy it might have been.
However, without caring about Aiden's thoughts, the Serpent lunged forward.
Its speed was almost double that of the moments before.
Shit!
Aiden tried to dodge by turning his body the moment he perceived the attack; however, he was nowhere near fast enough to evade the Serpent's ruthless assault.
The venomous fangs of the Serpent scratched his right thigh, making him bleed while simultaneously risking getting poisoned.
"It's too fast—Ughh!"
Sparing no time, the Serpent followed up by slamming its tail onto Aiden with insane speed.
And Aiden, having completely removed the Air from the vicinity, didn't have the wind swirling around him in protection, causing him to hit his back against a boulder, hard.
"Cough~ Uogh... It's bad. Cough~ Real bad."
Standing up while supporting himself with his hands, Aiden said, coughing up blood.
His vision became slightly hazy from being slammed into the boulder.
He also felt something was wrong with his backbone, but he could figure that out later.
Right now, his biggest concern was that he was barely managing to keep track of the White Serpent's movements, and the snow all around them wasn't helping either.
Moreover, even if he found an opportunity to attack, he had no weapon capable of damaging it—those scales served as natural armor.
I need a weapon—!
Rolling around the boulder to hide from another incoming assault from the Serpent of the Storm, Aiden tried to deduce a strategy.
He wondered if he could try using water as a form of weapon, but dismissed the idea. He couldn't freeze it into ice, not in the Ice Phoenix's territory—and he couldn't pressurize it enough to pierce the Serpent's scales either.
He just wasn't that proficient at managing his magic.
Then what can I do?!—
SMASH
The Serpent shattered the boulder into pieces, its horrifying fangs dripping with venomous saliva coming into view.
HISS!
Its jaws opened wide, attempting to swallow Aiden whole, but Aiden, being quick on his feet, blasted water into its face and ran.
He ran as fast as he could—it didn't matter where. Between trees, around boulders, into occasional caves—he just ran. However—
"Arggghh!"
—The hope of outrunning a 20-meter-long serpent was a fool's errand.
A sharp stabbing pain shot through his left leg, paralyzing him and forcing him to fall to his knees.
He reached down to find numerous white, scarlet-lined scales embedded near his calves.
This bastard! It knows how to throw its scales?! Why was its intelligence so low then?!
Lifting his gaze, Aiden saw the slow crawl of his approaching death.
The Serpent didn't show emotions like humans, but Aiden could sense the mockery in its movements.
Mocking him for his powerlessness.
Mocking him that, despite taking out Air, he was still about to die before it.
And it would ensure that itself.
"I'm not dying here!!!!"
Aiden growled, forcing the gears of his mind to spin in the face of death.
What can I do?
What can I do?
Anything I have in my Possession—...Ah!
That's it!
My Possession!
It was energy that could be manifested into a weapon, wasn't it?
Finally seeing a light in this dark night, Aiden managed a crooked smile.
"Manifest [Possession: Legacy of the Everharts] for..."
Muttering under his breath, Aiden paused mid-sentence.
...What is my desire to manifest it?
"For that, I need your power to..."
...Maybe I should say something noble? After all, Father wielded it before me.
"...build the Kingdom of Everhart again."
.
.
Despite muttering "his desire," nothing happened.
What? Why?
Why did it not manifest?
Why?!!!
[Host, you do not have to lie. It would only manifest to your truest desire.]
...? My truest desire— Ugh!
The Serpent had wrapped its tail around Aiden's body while he was trying to manifest his Possession.
Shit!
"Manifest [Possession: Legacy of the Everharts] for that, I need your power to... Ughh!"Aiden paused for a fraction of a second as the Serpent's grip tightened, bones nearly twisting.
"...To defend myself!"
He screamed his desire as loudly as he could, but...
.
.
Nothing happened.
Why—
Before he could even ask himself, the Serpent of the Storm opened its mouth.
Its saliva burned Aiden's skin wherever it touched.
The inevitable was only moments away.
Ahhhhh!!!!
C'mon, manifest!
I need you to kill this damn snake!!!!
C'mon!!
The Serpent jerked its head forward to swallow Aiden—but then, a blinding light burst from his hand.
A scythe appeared in his grasp.
A scythe with a black snath and a crystallized crimson blade, glistening with murderous intent.
Slight turquoise crystals were embedded along it, shimmering in the light.
CLANK
The blade of the scythe met the Serpent's fang, and with a metallic clash, it shattered the tip of the fang.
[{Possession: Legacy of the Everharts} has manifested into {Death Scythe: Harbinger of Death}]
[...Analyzing. Analyzing.]
[1%... 2%... 5%... 100%.]
[Completed.]
DING
[No one has ever used this as their weapon in the history of the Everharts. Hence, the Host will not inherit an Art for the weapon.]
**********
For a heartbeat, Aiden simply stared at the weapon in his hand, unable to believe.
But still a scythe?!
Seriously?!
Though Aiden questioned the absurdity of it, he didn't dwell on it for long.
"Let's get you some much—Urghh!"
He shoved the shaft of the scythe between himself and the Serpent's body, prying himself free.
"Now, let's get you some much-needed rest..."
Resting the Harbinger of Death on his shoulder, Aiden muttered, blood seeping from wounds and poison swelling in his veins.
"...Mr. Serpent."
HISS!
The Serpent lunged again, but Aiden, with greater range, parried its fangs and slashed across its neck before it could strike.
The crimson blade sliced clean through the serpent's metal-tough scales, sending a scarlet geyser into the air, which froze instantly.
DING
[One Death has been caused by {Death Scythe: Harbinger of Death}]
[Refining...]
Notifications buzzed in his head, but with the adrenaline fading, Aiden collapsed—right on top of the Serpent's head.
"Hahaha... God, that was scary!"
He laughed, breathing heavily, until the pain hit.
"Ow! Ow! ...Let's patch up first."
He let the Wind flow again, tore and cleaned his shirt, and carefully cleaned his wounds.
He removed each scale from his leg and wrapped it tightly to stop the bleeding.
Then, wrapping wind and water around his leg's nerves, he did his best to stop the venom from reaching his heart.
Afterward, he fished out one of the two cocoa sticks from his magic bag and gulped it down like a drink.
"Yawn~ ...Now, let's hope I don't die... blink~... from poisoning."
Exhausted beyond belief, Aiden's eyes fluttered shut as he lay on top of the Serpent's skull.
But just before sleep took him—
He saw something dazzling.
Something ethereal.
Something radiant, shining just a little distance away.
...Ephy?
...No. Maybe it's just my hallucination.
**********