The serpent just stared at him in silence, without saying a single word in response to his question.
"Hahaha…" Resigned to his fate, he said in submission. "B-boss, what's your first mission for us three?"
"You bastard! It only looked at you—why did you drag us into this with you?" Junnix was annoyed and yelled.
"Shut up! It's too late… The Boss already knows we're all the same person." Jun said aloud as he looked at the serpent, he called 'Boss.'
"Right, Boss. Hehehe… don't worry, Boss, I'll teach this idiot a lesson for disrespecting you." Jun shot a glare at Junnix. "Come here, you imbecile! You're a failure as Jun's body. Come here… come… come…"
"Wait for me there, you f*cker! Since you dragged us all into this, I'll make sure you die by my own hands." Junnix yelled. On the other side, the separation happened when the Boss slammed down to the ground. He walked slowly, but not slow enough not to arouse the serpent's suspicion.
"How amusing. Even in this dire situation, you're still looking for a slight opening. But too bad it won't work." The serpent spoke telepathically, with an amused tone.
Junnix froze when he heard what the serpent said. As if it were openly mocking their pathetic game of pretend. Jun also swallowed hard, realizing it had seen through their scheme.
"Let's stop the chase, Jun. This offer of mine will only bring you benefits. I don't want you to miss this opportunity." The serpent said solemnly.
Jun stared at the serpent's eyes. Hesitated. From its tone alone, if he rejects the serpent's offer, their lives wouldn't end well. He didn't want that to happen, but what choice did he have? They were utterly powerless in front of this behemoth.
Jun sighed deeply, "Hah… Fine. I accept. So… what's this opportunity you're offering?" Resolve burned in his eyes as he looked at the serpent.
"Great… First, let me mark you to prove that we made a deal." Its eyes emanated a bright red light directed towards Jun.
Jun's body froze for a moment, expecting that the marking that this serpent was talking about would be painful. But to his surprise, he didn't feel anything. According to what he'd seen online, when a person was marked, they would feel excruciating pain. Jun checked his body, but he found no strange marks.
Jun tilted his head in confusion, but he was happy; after all, he didn't feel any pain.
"Done. I put the mark on your soul. I also masked your soul; that's the first reward." Then it looked at Junnix and asked telepathically, "Junnix, right?"
Junnix gripped his knife hard. "Yes."
"Okay, Junnix, this is the second reward. Use your knife to attack me as hard as you can. You see these eyes, right? Hit me there, that's the softest part of my body. You might damage it if you put enough effort."
Both Junnix and Jun were confused about what this serpent was talking about. Or what it was plotting. But he still obeyed and stabbed the eyes in the middle of its scales. A surprised expression soon appeared on his face, as the knife only bounced back, and only a small crack appeared on the eye he had hit.
"What the…" he murmured. His hand was slightly numbed. Jun was also surprised, but only for a moment, because he knew how pathetically weak they were.
"Harder. Hit harder, that's the only way for you to gain as much as possible. And please do it fast." The serpent spoke while staring at Junnix.
Junnix took a deep breath and stepped backward. Then he screamed as he ran, throwing his body's weight at the knife. When he was only half a meter away, he lifted the knife while holding it with both hands, then he swung… like an axe.
"BAM!"
Finally, he struck the eye, and it shattered like a mirror, breaking into pieces of varying sizes. He was then blown away due to the shock waves caused by the shattered eye. Junnix lay on the ground, panting.
"Again. Destroy as many as possible, and do it fast." The serpent spoke.
–––
"Hah… Hah… Hah… I-I can't do it anymore. I-I think I'm going to throw up if I do this any longer." Junnix said telepathically, because he couldn't even utter a single word. He's just there, gasping for air, while lying on the ground. Around him were millions of glass-like pieces scattered across the ground.
"Good. It's more than enough, and lastly, for my last reward." The serpent then stared at Xin, "Out of the three of you, your fate is the closest to mine. So take care of this."
After saying that, another eye appeared on the scale in the middle of its head. This eye was much smaller than the rest—but unlike them, it was far brighter, brighter than even its own eyes.
The scale flew out of its head, directly landing on Xin's hand. "I'll explain everything later after I die."
"What?" Jun couldn't believe his ears. "After you die?"
"Yes. After I die… I'll explain everything you must do in return." The serpent said calmly.
Then its body rose, as it stared into the distance. As if expecting someone or something to come. This behavior confused the three about what it was doing.
Out of curiosity, the trio also followed the serpent's gaze. But no matter how they looked, they didn't find anything worth looking at.
"Here it comes… We'll meet again soon. Nice to be working with you." The serpent said.
Jun clearly knew what it meant. Death had come. They all looked in the same direction, curious about what this supposed death the serpent was expecting.
However, they did not expect what the serpent would do next.
After staring into the distance for over a minute, the serpent lowered its head, staring at Jun and then… It opened its mouth wide and lunged at Jun out of nowhere.
This happened so fast that Jun couldn't react in time. "Wha-"
"BOOM!"
But before it hit Jun, a bright crescent-shaped slash appeared out of nowhere and blocked the serpent's sudden attack.
This clash sent a shockwave through the surrounding area, sending the three away from the serpent.
As for the serpent, its head was thrown back, making it lose balance and crash to the ground––causing the earth itself to shake.
This sudden event terrified the three; they couldn't react. All they saw was the serpent's sudden attack and then… boom, they were already in the air.
The three braced themselves for the impact. But the crash they were expecting didn't happen; instead, they felt a pair of arms embracing them.
"Thump"
"Nice!" A youthful voice sounded in Xin's ears. "Hey! Old man, are you still alive?"