The Zither Moon Mountain Plains loomed like a nightmare etched in stone, their jagged peaks clawing at a sky bleeding twilight, the air thick with the cloying sweetness of Beta Daisies and the sharp smell of rotting flesh.
The cliff's edge was a brutal line, its granite face plunging into a valley below where enchanted stone blades jutted up like the teeth of some ancient beast, their surfaces glinting with a hunger that never dulled.
Bones and shredded flesh littered the ground, remnants of fools who'd dared the drop, their silent screams woven into the wind's mournful howl.
The four acolytes—Leylin, Bosain, Shaya, and O'Brian—stood in a tense knot, their faces flickering in the glow of a bonfire, its flames spitting sparks into the dusk.
Nearby, a handful of bound captives, townsfolk snatched from Zither Moon Town, trembled on their knees, their eyes wide with animal terror, their muffled whimpers swallowed by the night.
Leylin's gaze swept over the group, his bright brown eyes glinting with a cold, predatory calm, his voice slicing through the heavy silence like a blade through flesh.
"Alright, let's test our theory," he said, his tone low and hard, but laced with a hungry anticipation that made the air feel sharper. "Bosain, you're down there watching. Tell us if this works, or if we're just tossing another body into the grinder."
Leylin then turned to the captives, his boots crunching on loose gravel. He strode to a black-haired woman, her face pale as bone, her eyes glistening with desperate, pleading tears that spilled down her cheeks.
Her bound hands twitched uselessly, her body shaking as Leylin's hand clamped around her neck, dragging her across the rocky ground toward the cliff's edge.
Pebbles skittered into the abyss, the wind tearing at her tattered dress. He plucked a Beta Daisy from the sea of yellow blooms blanketing the cliff, its petals vibrant against the gloom, its red heart pulsing like a fresh wound, and tucked it into her bosom, the flower's weight a grim omen against her trembling chest.
Her muffled cries grew frantic, her gaze darting to Shaya, the only woman among them, her eyes screaming for mercy, for a shred of humanity.
Shaya stepped forward, her red hair blazing in the firelight like a cascade of molten flame, her expression carved from ice, her voice sharp and unyielding, dripping with a zealot's fervor that made the captives flinch. "Stop your whimpering," she snapped, her tone cold but burning with a fierce, almost religious pride, her green eyes boring into the woman's soul. "You're serving Magi, beings so far above you, you're lucky to breathe the same air. It's an honor to die for us, so shut up and be obedient."
Her words were a lash, stripping away hope, her stance rigid, as if the woman's fear were an insult to their purpose.
The woman's sobs choked off, her body quaking as Leylin hauled her to the cliff's edge, his hand tangled in her hair, his grip merciless but steady, the wind howling like a chorus of ghosts.
He counted down, his voice flat, a clinical edge barely a pulse of remorse in his chest, "Three, two, one—release!" he growled, hurling her over with a single, brutal motion, her body tumbling into the void.
The gag tore free, and a horrified scream ripped from her throat—"No! Please, gods, no!"—a raw, gut-wrenching wail that echoed off the granite walls, fading as she plummeted into the darkness, her voice a fleeting scar on the night.
Leylin stood rooted at the edge, arms crossed, his face a mask of stone, but his voice was soft, thick with a calculated hope that betrayed the fire in his veins. "Come on, let this be the one," he muttered, his eyes narrowing as the woman shrank to a speck, swallowed by the shadows below.
"I'm sick of throwing bodies and getting nothing but blood." Shaya and O'Brian flanked him, their breaths held, their faces taut with tension, the fire's crackle a stark counterpoint to the silence of the abyss, the air heavy with the weight of their ambition.
A pulse of energy rippled through the air, faint but electric, a heartbeat from another world that sent a shiver down Leylin's spine, his rune-seared skin tingling as if alive.
His lips curled into a sharp, wolfish smirk, his voice low and fervent, bursting with a raw excitement that cracked his usual calm. "Spatial waves!" he said, his tone alive with discovery, his mind flashing back to the blood-soaked chaos of secret realm.
"That's the signature of a secret plane opening, same as the bloodbath. We've cracked it!"
Shaya and O'Brien's heart pounded, the promise of Dylan Gardens a fire in their chest, gaze locked on the void below, hungry for what lay beyond.
Static crackled from the green semicircle device in O'Brian's hand, Bosain's voice bursting through from the valley below, wild and breathless, laced with a mania that bordered on ecstasy.
"She's gone!" he shouted, his tone vibrating with awe, carried over the wind's scream like a war cry. "I saw it midair, right as she fell, a fucking light swallowed her whole! She vanished, Leylin was right!" His voice trembled with a feverish thrill, the words spilling out in a rush, as if he could barely contain the vision burned into his eyes.
Shaya's breath hitched, her voice soft and wondrous, her green eyes wide as she stared into the abyss, her hands brushing back her tangled red hair, her tone trembling with a reverence that felt almost sacred.
"Courage and respect… who the hell would've figured that out?" she said, her words slow, as if savoring the riddle's elegance, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"Jumping off this damn cliff, no spells to save your ass, with those blades down there sharp enough to cut through time itself… shit, even an official Magus would think twice before trying that kind of stunt."
O'Brian nodded, his gaunt face lit with a rare spark of enthusiasm, his voice rough but warm, his sunken black eyes glinting with a grudging admiration that softened his usual scowl. "And that Beta Daisy," he said, his tone carrying a quiet awe, his fingers brushing the flower tucked into his robe, its petals soft against his calloused skin.
"Without it, the plane stays locked tight. You nailed it, Leylin."His smile was genuine, a crack in his weary facade, his words heavy with respect as he clapped Leylin's shoulder, the gesture awkward but earnest.
Bosain climbed back up, his golden hair wild from the wind, his silver robes smeared with dust, his voice low but thick with approval, his usual arrogance tempered by a reluctant respect as he locked eyes with Leylin.
"You really put it together, I was right to invite you." he said, his tone warm but measured, a faint smile curving his lips, his words carrying a weight that acknowledged Leylin's brilliance. "The daisies, the jump, the whole damn puzzle. I'd have been tossing bodies for days without you."
Shaya clapped, her hands quick and eager, her voice bright with a teasing lilt that carried a flicker of her old flirtation, her green eyes lingering on Leylin with a spark of admiration. "Here's to Leylin's big brain!" she said, her tone playful but genuine, her smile wide as she leaned closer, her red hair catching the firelight like a beacon.
"You're making the rest of us look like idiots, you know that? Figured out the ancient Magi's game like it was nothing."
Leylin's expression didn't budge, his face carved from stone, his voice flat and cutting, slicing through their praise like a blade through flesh, his irritation a hot coal smoldering beneath his calm. "Enough with the ass-kissing," he said, his tone cold but laced with a weary edge, his eyes flicking to the cliff with a predator's focus. "I didn't come here to get clapped for like some circus act. The plane's open, let's move before something else crawls out of it."
Their admiration grated, a distraction from the power he craved, his heart thudding with the promise of what lay below, his rune-seared skin prickling as if sensing the secret plane's pulse.
O'Brian's voice surged with urgency, his gaunt frame trembling as he snatched a Beta Daisy, tucking it into his robe with a feverish eagerness, his tone alive with a desperate hunger that cracked his usual gloom.
"The plane's right there, waiting for us!" he said, his words spilling out in a rush, his sunken eyes blazing with need. "What the hell are we standing around for? Let's get down there and claim what's ours before some other bastard sniffs it out!"
Bosain's gaze shifted to the remaining captives, their faces pale, their eyes darting like trapped rats, his voice calm but heavy with a cold pragmatism, a faint edge of disdain curling through his words. "We've got them to deal with first," he said, his chin jerking toward the huddled figures, his tone carrying the weight of a man used to making hard calls. "Can't leave loose ends crying for help back in town."
Leylin waved a hand, his voice a casual dismissal, devoid of warmth but thick with a ruthless finality, his tone hard as the granite beneath their feet.
"Kill them O'Brien." he said, his eyes glinting with a cold pragmatism, as if their lives were pebbles to be tossed aside.
"No point dragging this out." His words were blunt, his heart steady, his mind already on the plane below, the captives' fate a footnote in his ambition.
O'Brian's face tightened, a flicker of resentment flashing in his sunken eyes, his nod a low growl of bitterness that barely hid his frustration.
"Always me, huh?" he thought, his mind heavy with suppressed anger as he turned to the captives, his dagger flashing in the firelight. "Bosain calls the shots, Leylin plays genius, and I'm stuck mopping up the blood. Fine, let's get it done." His words dripped with resentment, but he moved with mechanical precision, slashing throats, blood pooling on the stone like dark mirrors, the captives' gasps fading into a silence that weighed heavier than the cliff itself, their deaths a grim offering to the ancient Magi's riddle.
Bosain's smile was fierce, a hungry grin that bared his teeth, his voice vibrant with anticipation as he clutched a Beta Daisy, its petals glowing faintly in his grip, his tone a rallying cry that stirred the air like a war drum.
"No more waiting!" he said, his silver robes shimmering as he stepped to the cliff's edge, his heart pounding with the thrill of the unknown. "We've got the key, we've got the guts, let's claim this fucking plane before it spits out something worse than blades!"
The four acolytes,each with a Beta Daisy tucked close leaped from the cliff, the wind roaring in their ears like a banshee, the abyss swallowing them whole. Leylin's skin blazed faint red, runes flaring to resist the crushing pressure, his heart pounding with a fierce, exultant thrill as he plummeted, the air tearing at his robe like a thousand claws.
Halfway down, a circle of light erupted on the precipice, its radiance twisting the air, revealing a glimpse of another dimension a shadowed, alien world that pulsed with ancient, untamed power, its pull like a hook in his chest.
Bosain's voice broke through the wind's scream, raw and wild, his tone vibrating with a feverish hunger that matched the fire in his eyes, his golden hair whipping like a banner. "There it is!" he shouted, his words a beacon in the chaos, his heart pounding with triumph. "The entrance to the secret plane! We're in."
A dizzying weightlessness seized them, the world spinning in a kaleidoscope of shadow and light, their stomachs lurching as reality warped. They landed in a dark cave, the air damp and heavy with the scent of moss, iron, and something older, primal a subterranean cathedral with rough-hewn walls that seemed to breathe, its depths lost in an oppressive gloom that pressed against their skin like a living thing.
Leylin's boots crunched on uneven stone, his eyes sharp and thoughtful, laced with a quiet unease as he scanned the shadows, his greed wand a steady weight in his hand, its wood warm against his palm.
"This place is massive," he said, his tone calm but heavy with realization, his eyes tracing the cave's vastness. "Subterranean, no question, but it's not under the cliff's base, we scoured that with spells. This is somewhere else, somewhere hidden."
Shaya's voice cut through, sharp and urgent, her hands brushing back her tangled red hair as she spun, her tone trembling with a mix of fear and frustration, her green eyes darting through the gloom.
"Where's the woman we sent?" she asked, her words quick and breathless, her heart pounding with sudden alarm. "She's gone, vanished! What the hell happened to her?"
Bosain lowered his head, his voice low and grim, a flicker of caution threading through his bravado as he pointed to the ground, his tone heavy with the weight of truth.
"She didn't vanish," he said, his finger tracing a puddle of blood, mingled with tattered cloth the woman's remnants, torn and scattered like a butcher's leavings. "Something got her, and it wasn't gentle."
His words were blunt, his heart steadying as he met their gazes, his silver robes smeared with dust from the fall.
Leylin's eyes flashed, a spark of cold calculation igniting, his voice soft but heavy with realization, his tone laced with a predatory edge that sharpened his gaze.
"Attacked," he said, his words slow and deliberate, his hand tightening around his wand, the cave's silence a blade at his throat. "There's something in here with us, and it's hungry." His heart thudded, his mind racing with possibilities.
The group huddled back-to-back, their breaths shallow, the dimness a living thing that seemed to coil around them, the air thick with the scent of blood and stone.
O'Brian's voice broke the tension, rough and urgent, his gaunt frame crouching as he pointed to a semicircle track carved deep into the stone, stretching into the darkness like a scar of violence.
"Look at this." he said, his tone sharp with discovery, his sunken black eyes glinting with a mix of fear and fascination. "Tracks, big ones, fresh as hell."
The tracks clustered around the woman's blood, each one a mark of raw power, their edges rough and jagged, as if clawed into the stone.
Leylin knelt, his fingers brushing a palm-sized scale, its surface black and rough, like obsidian forged in a nightmare, his voice sharp with recognition, a quiet dread threading through his calm.
"Snake trail," he said, his tone clipped but heavy with realization, his mind racing through his vast knowledge of serpents, his heart thudding with unease.
"Not just any snake something massive." The scale was heavy, its texture alien, a relic of something ancient and lethal that sent a chill down his spine.
Shaya's voice trembled, her hands clenching as she scanned the shadows, her tone tight with fear that cracked her usual bravado, her green eyes wide with dread. "A snake?" she said, her words a whisper, her heart pounding so loud she swore the cave could hear it.
"You're telling me there's a giant fucking snake in here with us? What kind, Leylin? What's coming for us?" Her voice rose, a flicker of panic breaking through, her red hair falling into her face as she gripped her comb artifact tighter.
The hiss of a serpent's tongue sliced through the silence, cold and mocking, a sound that sent a shiver down their spines, the cave seeming to constrict around them like a living trap.
Leylin channeled his spiritual force, his voice a low, coaxing murmur in Parseltongue—"Shaaa hisss aaa vuuu…"—seeking a response, a connection, his tone soft but fervent, like a prayer to a god he didn't trust. But the creature ignored him, its arrogance a palpable weight, as if Leylin were a speck beneath its notice, its silence a slap to his pride.
Leylin's jaw tightened, his thought bitter, a spark of irritation flaring in his chest.
'Too damn proud to answer.' he thought, heavy with frustration, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the dark. 'Or too wild to give a shit.'
Bosain's voice was low and tense, a faint thrill weaving through his words as he licked his lips, his tone alive with a reckless hunger that made his eyes gleam. "It's big, whatever it is," he said, his silver artifact morphing into full-body armor, its surface gleaming like moonlight, his heart pounding with the thrill of the hunt.

"Big enough to make this cave shake. Let's see if it bleeds." His words were bold, but a flicker of caution lingered, his hands steady as he braced for the fight, his armor humming with latent power.
A massive black shape surged from the darkness, a shadow given form, charging with a speed that shook the cave, the ground trembling under its weight like an earthquake.
Bosain roared, his voice wild with triumph, silver wires erupting from his armor, wrapping the figure in a web of shimmering light, his tone vibrant with exultation.
"I've got you, you bastard!" he shouted, his heart pounding with the thrill of capture, his eyes blazing with a conqueror's zeal, his armor gleaming as he tightened the binds. "You're not slipping away from me!"
Shaya's voice cut through, sharp and urgent, her hands trembling as she tossed a bright light ball into the air, her tone fierce with resolve, her green eyes flashing with determination. "Illuminating spell!" she cried, her words a command, the ball exploding in a sun-like radiance that flooded the cave, banishing the shadows like a cleansing fire.
The beast was revealed—a giant snake, over a dozen meters long, black as midnight, its rhombus-shaped scales glinting like obsidian forged in hell, a red line streaking from head to tail like a vein of blood.

A stubby horn crowned its head, pulsing with immense energy, its amber eyes glaring with a cold, primal fury that seemed to pierce their souls, its presence a mountain of muscle and malice.
Bosain's tentacles held it, but the snake dwarfed him, its coils a titan's wrath, the scene almost absurd in its scale, a mortal daring to bind a god.
Leylin's brow furrowed, his voice low and tense, a spark of dread beneath his calm as he studied the beast, his heart thudding with unease, his mind racing through his encyclopedic knowledge of serpents.
"Neborake Mamba?" he muttered, his tone sharp with analysis, his words quick and clipped. "No, it's missing the triangle pattern on its belly. Black Horrall Snake? Here?" His voice sharpened, a quiet dread threading through his words, his thoughts a whirlwind of calculation as he stepped back, his greed wand a steady weight in his hand and the body runes almost ready to flare in full force to run away.
'Wait! Black Horrall Snakes have Kemoyin Serpent blood—Rank 3 potential, strength like a goddamn mountain, vitality that laughs at death. But this one… it's not full-grown. If it was, we'd be dead ten times over.' Leylin thought.
The snake's ear-piercing hiss shook the cave, a sound that rattled their bones, its body writhing, tail flailing like a whip, the air trembling with its fury, the ground cracking under its weight. Bosain's milky-white bindings snapped, shattering like brittle glass, his voice a choked gasp as he stumbled back, his triumph crumbling, his tone raw with shock.
"What the hell!" he shouted, his heart pounding with a mix of fear and defiance, his armor dented but intact. The snake's amber eyes glinted with a human-like mockery, a cruel intelligence that sent a chill through his spine, before it lunged, jaws gaping, aiming for Bosain, now sprawled on the ground, his voice a grunt of pain as he scrambled to rise.
Shaya and O'Brian roared, their voices raw with panic, their movements frantic as green potions and silver knives flew toward the snake, their tones thick with desperation, their hearts pounding with the need to survive. "Take it down!" Shaya screamed, her voice shrill with fear, her hands trembling as she hurled her knives, their blades glinting in the light. "We can't let it get him!" O'Brian's voice joined hers, hoarse and urgent, his gaunt frame trembling as he tossed vials, their contents exploding in bursts of green flame.
"Burn, you bastard!" he shouted, his tone alive with fury, his sunken eyes blazing with a desperate resolve. The attacks sparked off the snake's scales, useless, the beast unmoved, its eyes blazing with contempt, its hiss a mocking laugh.
Leylin acted, his voice sharp and urgent, his greed wand flashing as he shouted, "Expelliarmus!" The spell burst forth, a weak push against the snake's mass, but enough to jolt it, throwing its aim off, giving Bosain a heartbeat to scramble up, his face pale but fierce, his voice a choked gasp of relief.
"Nice one, Leylin!" he shouted, his tone vibrant with gratitude, his heart pounding as he steadied himself, his armor gleaming despite the dents.
"Be careful, it's probably a Black Horrall Snake."
Bosain's eyes widened listening to Leylin, his voice thick with shock, his tone trembling with a mix of fear and realization as he locked eyes with the snake, his heart pounding with the weight of their peril. "Black Horrall Snake?" he said, his words heavy with disbelief, his silver sword raised, its blade glinting in the light.
"You're telling me we're facing a beast that, when it's grown, could take on a Rank 3 Magus? Why the fuck is it here, guarding some old Magus's leftovers?"
Bosain's voice was cold but fervent, a spark of realization cutting through his dread, his tone alive with the thrill of danger, his eyes locked on the snake's writhing form.
"Calm down everyone, It's not mature. Use full force to defeat it." Leylin said, his words sharp and certain. "Although its strength is just shy of Rank 1, still a baby by its standards. But if it swallows one or two of us, we're done, its strength'll spike, and we'll be lunch." His tone was grim, his mind racing with strategies, his rune-seared skin tingling as if answering the beast's challenge, his greed wand steady in his grip.
Bosain's eyes flashed, his voice rising with a reckless hunger, his eyes vibrant with ambition as he gripped his silver sword, his armor gleaming despite the dents, his heart pounding with the dream of conquest.
"If it's young, not even a Magus, we've got a shot!" he shouted, his words a rallying cry, his heart laid bare with the promise of power. "This thing could fight Rank 3 Magi when it's grown! If I bind it, make it mine, I'll be untouchable! Imagine it—me, Bosain Lilytell, with a Black Horrall Snake as my partner!" His voice was wild, his eyes blazing with a feverish need, his sword flashing as he charged, slashing a gash across the snake's scales, palm-sized fragments clattering to the ground like shattered obsidian, blood leaking from the wound.
The snake's tail struck, a black lightning bolt, its speed a blur that sent Bosain flying into the cave wall, rocks crumbling around him, his voice a grunt of pain that echoed off the stone. He rose, armor dented but intact, his tone a desperate plea, raw with need as he turned to the others, his heart pounding with the weight of his ambition.
"Leylin, O'Brian, Shaya help me pin this bastard down!" he shouted, his voice cracking with urgency, a mix of command and begging that laid his soul bare. "You'll have the Lilytell family's gratitude, my word as heir every reward from this plane, it's yours! Just help me bind it!" His eyes were wild, his hands trembling with the dream of power, his silver sword raised like a banner.
'What's this guy planning?' Leylin's eyes were calm but sharp, his greed wand raised, his tone laced with a stillness that cut through the chaos, his mind cold and calculating even as his heart thumped with the thrill of battle. "Shaya, O'Brian, get it under control," he said, his words a command, his eyes flicking to them with a predator's focus. "I've got a spell that can weaken it, but I need time to pull it off. Move!"
He began a long, abyssal curse, its verses dark and heavy, meant to sap the snake's strength, his voice a low chant that stirred the air, the cave humming with its power, his rune-seared skin blazing red under the robe ready to explode if anything goes wrong.
O'Brian's voice was hoarse with effort, his gaunt frame trembling as he cast, his tone raw with determination, his sunken eyes blazing with a desperate resolve. "Latent Fireball!" he shouted, a blazing orb flaring to life, enhanced by potions that burned like a furnace, its heat scorching the air, the cave glowing with its fury.
"Burn, you scaly piece of shit!" he roared, his words spilling out in a rush, his heart pounding with the need to prove himself, his hands trembling as he tossed vials to amplify the flame, the fire exploding against the snake's scales in a shower of sparks.
Shaya brandished her artifact, a wooden comb, ancient and pulsing with power her voice fierce with resolve, her red hair glinting in the light, her tone alive with a fiery determination that matched her blazing locks.
"Comb of Vengeful Spirit!" she cried, her words a battle cry, combing her hair, which grew wildly, blanketing the ground in crimson strands that surged like a living tide, wrapping the snake in a steel net, tightening with relentless force, red imprints searing its scales.

"Hold still, you bastard!" she shouted, her voice raw with effort, her hands trembling as she poured her will into the artifact, her heart pounding with the thrill of battle. "This'll keep you down long enough for Bosain to do his thing."
The snake fell, dust and shards flying, its eyes dimmed by O'Brian's fire, the gash Bosain left now blackened and raw, its movements sluggish but still lethal, its hiss a low, angry rumble that shook the ground.
Bosain's voice roared with praise, vibrant with exultation as he leaped to the snake's head, his movements a blur of white afterimages, his tone smug and zealous, his heart pounding with triumph.
"That's it, you two!" he shouted, his words spilling out in a rush, his eyes blazing with the dream of conquest. "Keep it pinned, nice work! This little baby's mine now, you hear me?" He withdrew a scroll radiating immense power—a sealing contract, rare and priceless, a Lilytell heirloom that pulsed with ancient magic, its energy humming like a storm trapped in parchment.
Leylin paused his incantation, his eyes narrowing, a flicker of calculation beneath his calm, his mind cold and sharp as he watched Bosain's reckless gambit, his heart steady despite the chaos.
'If I finish this curse, it'll hit Bosain too.' he thought. Hurting Bosain would torch his career at Abyssal Bone Forest, especially without Dorotte to back him up.
'But if the price is right, I'd rip your smug head off and not lose a wink of sleep, Lilytell or not.' Leylin wasn't afraid of Bosain's family, not with his new strength, at most ge would just run away, but he needed a reason worth the fallout.
For now, he held back, his voice low and thoughtful, his tone heavy with awe as he studied the scroll. "A sealing contract in a scroll huh?"
Bosain's hands trembled, his voice fervent as he chanted, ripping the scroll open, his tone a fevered plea that echoed off the cave walls, his heart laid bare with the dream of binding the snake. "This is it!" he shouted, his words spilling out in a rush, his eyes wild with need.
"This scroll's my ticket to greatness—me and this snake, we're gonna carve a legend!" A radiant white light erupted, forming a magic formation laced with
The sealing contract was a rune marvel that humbled Leylin's rune knowledge, his voice soft with awe, his heart thudding with a grudging respect. "Is that Alvain runes?" he said, his tone heavy with realization, his words slow and deliberate. 'Still kicking around after all this time? I thought it was lost knowledge. I'm still a damn novice compared to whoever crafted that. I guess compared to official magus from reputed families I am still a bit lacking.'
The formation pulsed, green light shooting into Bosain's forehead and the snake's skull, a bond forming in the air, the cave humming with its power. The snake thrashed, resisting, its eyes blazing with defiance, its movements wild and desperate, its hiss a roar that shook the ground.
Bosain's voice cracked with desperation, sweat streaming down his face, his tone a raw, pleading cry that echoed off the stone. "Come on, you bastard, hurry!" he shouted, his heart pounding with the weight of his dream, his hands trembling as he poured his will into the spell. "Get in there, bind with me! My life, my future it's all riding on you!"
The green light sank into the snake's head and then, a mocking glint flashed in its amber eyes, a cruel intelligence that sent a chill through Leylin's spine, his heart thudding with a sudden dread. A massive spiritual force erupted, rejecting the light, the formation exploding in a blast of raw power that shook the cave, dust and shards raining down.
Bosain flew back, blood spraying, his armor shattering, his voice. A choked scream of pain as he slammed into the ground, his chest heaving, his silver robes torn and bloodied.
Leylin's mind was sharp with realization and analysis, racing as he pieced together the puzzle, his heart pounding with a mix of dread and exhilaration.
"The backlash!" he muttered, his words quick and urgent, his eyes narrowing as he studied Bosain's crumpled form. 'That wasn't a young snake, it's a mature Black Horrall Snake! It regressed in strength, but still packing enough punch to shred that contract. The question is how strong was it before it decayed to this degree? Rank 1, 2 or...'
A white rune flared from Bosain's body, a milky radiance enveloping him, its glow resplendent and sacred, like a god's touch, healing his wounds, staunching his blood, his face regaining color in seconds as he gasped for air.
Leylin's eyes glinting with envy at the Lilytell's wealth. 'A single-use healing rune—Sarenrae's blessing, no less. You've got more toys than a Magus's vault, Bosain. Lucky bastard.'
Shaya's voice was shrill with disbelief, her hands trembling as she gripped her comb, her tone raw with panic, her green eyes wide with fear as she stared at the spot where the snake had been. "What the hell just happened?" she cried, her words spilling out in a rush, her heart pounding with the chaos around her. "That scroll was supposed to bind it! Why's Bosain spitting blood?"
O'Brian's voice joined hers, hoarse and urgent, his gaunt frame trembling as he scanned the shadows, his tone alive with a desperate fury, his sunken eyes blazing with the need to survive. "The contract fucked up!" he shouted, his words raw and bitter, his hands clenching as he gripped his potions. "We're in deep shit now, Leylin, what do we do? That thing's not playing around!"
Leylin furrowed his eyebrows, grabbing his greed wand flashing as he drew a saber in his left hand, its thunder runes pulsing with latent power. "The contract failed, kill this damned snake before it kills us!" he shouted, his words a battle cry, as he chanted, the saber's runes flaring.
He hurled it, the blade slashing a bloody gash across the snake's body, blood leaking like a dark river before the saber crumbled, its power spent.
The snake screamed, a hiss that shook the cave, shattering Shaya's crimson hair, its scales flashing black, a wave of shadow energy rippling out, cold and malevolent, the air humming with its power.
Leylin's voice was sharp with warning, his tone fervent with realization, "Shadow element!" he shouted, his words quick and urgent, his eyes locked on the snake's vanishing form. "It's shifting, watch out!"
The snake's body turned transparent, scales to bones, vanishing in a heartbeat, the cave's gloom swallowing it whole like a predator claiming its own.
Leylin's eyes were grim but alive with analysis, his mind locking onto the threat, his thought heavy with realization. 'It's not just concealment—it's Shadow Stealth, like my Shadow Form.'
"Be careful, It negates attacks while it's in stealth, a Rank 1 spell effect."
O'Brian's eyes shrank, his voice hoarse with fear, his gaunt face twisting as he scanned the shadows, his tone raw with panic, his hands trembling as he gripped his potions. "You are saying this ain't no Rank 0 trick!" he shouted, his words spilling out in a rush, his heart pounding with the weight of their peril. "That's official Magus-level spell! Why didn't it pull this earlier? We'd be dead by now!"
Leylin's voice was cold but fervent, his tone alive with realization, his eyes scanning the dark with a predator's focus, his greed wand steady in his grip. "It's too costly for it," he said, his words sharp and certain.
'This proves it. This really is a mature Black Horrall Snake, weakened but still deadly, and it's kept this skill from its prime.'
Bosain coughed, his voice anxious and gloomy, his armor dented but intact, his tone hurried with a flicker of fear beneath his bravado, his golden hair matted with sweat and blood. "It's like a Rank 1 Shadow Stealth I saw an elder use once," he said, his words spilling out in a rush, his heart pounding with the weight of their peril. "Invisible on the physical plane until the time runs out or we hit it hard enough to break it out. We're fighting a ghost now, and it's pissed!" His eyes darted through the gloom, his silver sword raised, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and defiance.
O'Brian's voice broke through, raw with panic, his gaunt frame trembling as he pointed behind Leylin, his tone a desperate cry that echoed off the stone. "Leylin, behind you!" he shouted, his words quick and breathless, his heart pounding with the need to warn, his sunken eyes wide with terror.
The air flickered, the snake materializing, its massive jaws gaping, amber eyes blazing with a hunger that promised death, its hiss a roar that shook the cave as it lunged, the ground trembling under its wrath.
....
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