18 CHAPTER 18: THE SERPENT'S LAIR RAID (5)

"The serpent is dead."

Silence fell upon us after hearing those words. Neither I nor Jeanne knew what to say.

"...Dead?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Probably. Come here." General Zhang replied to me, but his attention was still focused on the lake.

We slowly stepped forward, through the damp ground beneath us.

What did he mean the serpent is dead? Then what about its soul? Did we come in late? Lots of questions began to run in my head.

"Take a look for yourself," general Zhang gestured his head towards the calm body of water in front of him, "see that thing over there?"

I peeked over his shoulder, and was immediately taken aback by the sight in front of me. Inside the clear blue-ish lake, lies a huge dark blue serpent, unmoving and lifeless. There was not even a faint trace of mana coming from it. And Eli had told me that if there was no mana flow from a monster, that means...

"Is it really dead? Or am I just inept at detecting mana?" I questioned.

"This one is a hundred percent lifeless, at least," general Zhang answered me, "but I can't say for sure if we failed or not."

"Is it not the serpent we're aiming for? Or are you implying that the soul is indeed stolen, but we can still steal it back?" I asked, while trying to come up with a logical explanation about what was going on here.

"No, this is definitely the serpent we're aiming for. I participated in the second serpent raid, and it looked just like this one." Jeanne explained, putting her hand on her chin like she always did whenever she was thinking hard.

"Be on your guard." General Zhang suddenly said.

We immediately looked around for any signs that could be useful, but I found nothing. I just saw plenty of glowing blue crystals on the cave walls, the calm and serene lake with occasional drops of water, and the damp ground.

Wait, the ground was damp? It may be because the ground was near a lake, but it was still too damp.

"I can't sense any mana flow, but..." General Zhang pulled out two daggers he had been hiding all this time, and adopted a wider stance.

"I can sense a killing intent." His eyes glinted red.

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Meanwhile, Owen's group had just entered the town's gate. They marched inside, with Owen leading the group in the front. The news of the serpent's lair raid had spread fast among the townsfolk, and the second they heard the gate being opened, everyone gathered to get a glimpse of the group.

The road was huge. Huge enough for an entire army with carts and cavalier units to march on comfortably. But this time, the road looked empty and lonely. The stones paved on the road were used to lots of horses and donkeys stomping on them, and the trees nearby were used to the sound of metal clanking every time hundreds of soldiers moved.

This time, the crowd looked at the group with mixed expressions. Some of them gasped audibly with their hands over their mouths, while some of them just bit their lips and frowned, as if they already knew this would happen, but still hoped for a miracle which never came.

The soldiers' expressions were grim, but their eyes still had determination inside them. As the group marched on, more and more people noticed the smell of blood, and lowered their heads in response.

"I've seen this sight hundreds of times, and I can distinguish the smell of blood as soon as I smelled it, but..." An old man watching the march among the townsfolk said to his wife, "I still can't get used to it."

His wife smiled a bit, and grabbed his hand, "me too," she said, "every time I see them come back, I still hope our son would be among them, coming home to us..."

"I understand how you guys feel." Suddenly, a young woman nearby who was also watching the march pitched in on the old couple's conversation.

"Are you hoping for someone to come back, too, young miss?" The old woman smiled sweetly at her.

The young woman smiled back at her, while gripping her half-heart-shaped necklace, "yes. I'm still waiting for my fiancee who went missing 3 months ago."

The old couple said nothing and just smiled weakly upon hearing her story.

"We were supposed to get married last month... But I guess we'll have to wait until he comes back one day..."

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"Take the injured to the infirmary! The rest of you who are able to move, treat the animals, quick, before they die! Call the Vanguard's vet!" As soon as they stepped into the Vanguard's area, Owen's instructions thundered throughout the courtyard.

"Help! We need more medic here!" A healer called out for help, to transfer the injured from the cart to the infirmary.

As everyone was bustling around, Dmitri spotted Owen and ran up to him.

"General Owen! I have urgent news!" Dmitri called out to Owen.

"What is it, soldier Dmitri?" General Owen asked him with a dire look on his face.

"I have a message from this boy..." Dmitri hesitantly said.

Owen looked down, and found a skinny boy holding Dmitri's hand. His other hand, however, was holding a rat.

"Dmitri, we are in a pressing situation right now. I do not have time to babysit." Owen rubbed his temples.

"No, general. This boy here has information about the serpent! ...Or so he says." Dmitri scratched the back of his head.

Owen raised his eyebrows upon hearing the word 'serpent', "what does he know?"

"You see... Apparently, Wolf here can speak with animals. You know, speaking as in, really speaking," Dmitri started explaining, "just like how we speak right now."

"...If that is true, then he's a Monad-type. A rare one, at that." Owen glared at Wolf.

"I am pretty sure it's true, sir. I've checked multiple times, and it seems like he really could talk with animals," Dmitri patted Wolf, "go on, Wolf. Tell him what you know."

"The snake sleeps. It was hungry, ate a lot. Now it sleeps." Wolf said casually.

"He's saying that the serpent was hungry and needed to eat a lot, and now that it had eaten its fill, it's time to sleep." Dmitri fluently translated.

"I am more amazed at how you can understand him." Owen said.

"Snake sleeps, few years, so there is new snake. Need energy, so snake eat, and then sleep. After that, snake new. New snake very angry, hate people." Wolf explained with hand gestures.

"He said that the serpent usually sleeps every few years to evolve. Before it sleeps, it needs a lot of energy, so it will eat a lot, and then it will go into a deep slumber," Dmitri translated, also with hand gestures, "and after it awakens, it would have already evolved into a stronger, very hostile serpent."

"That is news to me... The other two serpents we defeated before this didn't have time to evolve." Owen's expression hardened.

"Yesterday snake wake up. Snake very angry. Wolf can hear the snake. Painful." The boy pointed at his ears.

"Wolf meant to say that the serpent had woken up since yesterday, and he could hear the serpent's cry of anger all the way from here. He said his ears hurt from the aggression." Dmitri translated perfectly.

Owen's eyes widened, "Dmitri, ask the boy further about how to deal with the serpent, or anything that might help!" Owen raised his voice.

"Ah... Yes, I will." Dmitri was taken aback by Owen's command.

"Things may get worse if we don't act fast... We left general Zhang's group over there." Owen explained.

"What!? Are they raiding the lair with only 3 people!?" Dmitri exclaimed.

Owen said nothing and just stared at Dmitri with a serious expression. Dmitri quickly understood what that gaze meant. He gulped, and started asking the boy.

"Wolf, do you have any clues on how to defeat the serpent?" Dmitri crouched until he and Wolf were on eye level.

"No." The answer was very concise.

"...That's expected. It's okay. Dmitri, prepare yourself. We are going to depart with a new squad soon." Owen crossed his arms and turned around.

"But Wolf knows a way, so you strong." Wolf spoke just as Owen was about to leave.

"What is it, Wolf? Anything would be great!" Dmitri said to him.

"When snake evolve, snake skin go. Eat snake skin, you strong." He answered while petting the rat in his hand.

"Dmitri, translate."

"Yes, sir! He said that the serpent will shed its skin, just like a snake does, upon evolving. If we eat the skin, I assume something good would happen?" Dmitri explained, although unsure about the latter part.

"That's sufficient enough for us. Let's go. We don't have time to waste." Owen turned around, and this time walked for good, to start organizing a new squad.

"Yes, sir!" Dmitri saluted, and then as he was about to escort Wolf back into the forest, he felt a gentle tug on his sleeve.

"Can Wolf come too?" He asked with his big, sparkly, puppy eyes.

"No, Wolf... It's dangerous. Big bros will go for a bit to kill the mean, angry snake, and then we'll come back, okay?" Dmitri patted his hair gently, with a smile.

"Wolf have friend there. Not dangerous, Wolf strong. Friend strong." He replied.

"I... Uh... Let me ask Owen..."

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The new squad was quickly assembled in a mere 10 minutes. With Owen in the lead, they immediately marched towards the serpent's lair, this time with more urgency than before. They rode the horses across the plain where the previous squad fought against the serpent's army.

"My friend is not here..." Wolf, who ended up coming along because Owen thought he might be helpful, sat on a horse with Dmitri.

"Don't worry, we'll find your friend soon." Dmitri assured him, even though he was really nervous for the kid's safety. Sure, Owen said that the kid's mana was ridiculously high so it would be fine, but that didn't mean that the kid knew how to defend himself... Right?

"That damn Elias... Did he know about this and targeted this day?" Owen cursed under his breath.

Suddenly, he realized something, and immediately stopped his horse. Seeing that their general had stopped, the entire army also stopped their tracks.

Without saying anything, Owen immediately touched the ground, and a cheetah-shaped earth golem appeared.

"What's wrong, general Owen?" Dmitri asked.

"I will go on ahead first. You guys stay in formation, and keep up your pace." Owen replied hastily.

"Why would you go on ahead first?" Dmitri inquired, panic started to creep on his face.

"My golem, who was with them, had just been destroyed."