Under the shroud of night, Noah raced toward the Dark Forest.
No time for hesitation—first thing tonight, he was going to take down that Nine-Headed Serpent.
The Dark Forest lay deep in the western reaches of the Forest Kingdom.
Its reputation came from the fact that it had long been home to the elusive and dangerous Dark Elves, a place where light rarely touched the ground.
After over an hour of relentless trekking, Noah finally reached the area near his destination.
[Continue straight for 500 meters. Turn right at the end. Your destination will be on your left.]
The voice of the Eye of the Gods rang crisply in his ears.
He'd kept it active all the way here, letting it serve as his personal navigation system, helping him avoid unnecessary detours.
Boom!
A casual flick of his wrist sent a blazing fireball crashing into a wild monster that had leapt at him from the underbrush.
Noah's brows furrowed. Without hesitation, he triggered the Wind of Haste effect from his gear, surging forward at greater speed.
He had just barely caught the sound of shouting ahead.
"Someone's fighting a boss this late at night?"
His chest tightened at the thought.
If someone killed the boss before he got there, it could take ages for it to respawn—and that would ruin his plans for class advancement tonight.
"Better hurry. I might still make it in time!"
Noah abandoned all restraint. Even the cooldown-heavy Flash of Radiance was thrown in to push his speed to the limit, his figure blurring into the darkness.
Soon, the ominous atmosphere of the forest grew thicker, and the Serpent King's Pool—lair of the Nine-Headed Serpent—came into view.
The pool was massive, hidden deep in the forest and split into sections by thick, ancient trees.
The water was an inky black, like diluted ink that had never been fully mixed, thick and heavy.
Around the pool, all vegetation had withered away, leaving a barren ring of foul-smelling, charred swamp.
"Hsssaaaarghhh!"
A sharp, bone-chilling hiss echoed from ahead.
"There!" Noah instantly locked onto the serpent's position.
Hugging the edge of the pool, he dashed forward.
When he reached the largest section, the view opened up—and his eyes widened.
"Holy hell… that's a big snake."
Towering above the black waters stood a colossal serpent, its scales black as midnight.
It rose over thirty meters into the air—as tall as a ten-story building—and it was terrifying beyond words.
Worse, it had nine heads, each one stretching open a massive maw dripping with saliva and gastric fluids, the stench strong enough to turn one's stomach.
The sheer oppressive presence was suffocating, especially under the dim, shifting glow of moonlight filtering through the trees.
Compared to this monster, the Silver Wolf King from the starter maps was a harmless puppy.
Noah quickly checked its status.
[HP: 58%]
A smile tugged at his lips.
"Perfect timing."
He slowed his pace, taking the moment to observe.
Boom!
Without warning, the black waters erupted in a towering wave, smashing against the rocky walls of the pool's edge.
There, over twenty players were engaged in a desperate struggle with the serpent.
Judging from their gear, most were around level 90, and even so, they were barely holding on.
That single wave had instantly shredded 40% of many players' health bars, drawing cries of alarm.
Then the serpent's health bar flared blood-red—it had entered Berserk Mode.
Its attacks came in a flurry, nine massive heads slamming down without mercy.
BOOM!
The shockwaves sent players scrambling.
One knight at the front made a fatal mistake. Even with his shield raised, he was instantly crushed and devoured in one brutal bite.
"Damn… even the tank's gone."
Noah quickened his steps.
The players were rattled, their focus broken.
The serpent, finding no immediate targets, slipped beneath the black surface and vanished.
"Shit, it reset!" someone groaned.
For this kind of field boss, once combat was broken, its HP instantly restored to full—an entire night of effort wasted.
Near the back of the group, a strikingly beautiful summoner in revealing armor frowned.
"What's going on? Can we still finish it tonight?"
Their leader, looking stressed, shot back, "What's the rush? This thing's always been hard to kill. Show a little patience!"
"What? I'm paying you guys and this is your attitude?" she snapped.
"Oh please, if you're not happy, hire someone else. But let me tell you, in the entire Forest Kingdom, no one else dares to take on this contract but us!"
Noah arrived just in time to catch the tension.
Before the argument could escalate, the crowd suddenly fell silent, eyes widening in disbelief.
"It's Demon-Slayer!" someone gasped.
The atmosphere flipped instantly into excitement, voices overlapping in awe.
Noah strode forward with his staff in hand, calm and composed.
"I'm here for the Nine-Headed Serpent. Make some room."
The leader's eyes lit up, ready to offer an alliance—but the summoner beat him to it.
"Demon-Slayer, I'm a huge fan! Can you help me kill it? I'll pay you!" she said in a sweet, almost childlike voice that was nothing like her earlier tone.
Noah arched a brow. So she's the one who hired this team? A rich lady, huh.
"Sorry, I'm not short on cash," he replied coolly, "and my services don't come cheap."
"I know," she said softly, "how about… ten million gold?"
Ten. Million.
That was equivalent to one billion credits in real currency.
Even Noah almost lost his balance. "Do you own a mine or something?"
"No mine," she said lightly, "just a hundred companies."
The Eye of the Gods whispered in his mind:
[This is a high-profile player. Her house is bigger than your entire Jiangnan City. Show some respect.]
"…Miss Wang, was it? Please, join my party."
At that price, who could say no?
She beamed and accepted the invite immediately.
Noah stepped up to the edge of the pool, the rest of the players exchanging glances.
The leader crossed his arms with a smirk.
"Heh, blinded by gold. Even Demon-Slayer's not above it."
"That's a level 99 field boss," someone added, "even a level 200 five-man team might fail. And he's… level 1?"
They shook their heads. "This is suicide."
"Mark my words," the leader said coldly, "without paying us at least 100k gold, Demon-Slayer's not getting past this boss. Not today."