Chapter 24: Snake Woman

In a dark, dark vision. I can hear a sound of dirt crashing down in front of me. A noise that sounds like digging with a sharp metal, screeching in my eyes. It's an annoying sound of metal hitting stone again and again.

"This plan will destroy my sythe!" screamed Jonathan.

In front of me are Nova and Jonathan, who's, for some reason, not using a torch or a fire underground. I'm waiting for their action to do something about this darkness, but it seems they don't even care. Do they have night vision?

I thought it was funny to watch how dumb these two are, but they are dumber than I expected. So it was my pleasure to take action.

"Lightious"

I activated a spell that brought light into our surroundings. It's similar to the 'whole fluorost' but only a small amount of light will appear.

"A... light spell?" Nova turned around and gave attention to the spell that I just cast.

"Hm? What's the matter, Nova?" I asked.

"You... earlier, you cast a fire spell, right?" asked Nova.

"Yep," I said.

"So you can use both light and fire magic?" Nova asked.

"Christ can also use wind magic," interrupted Neerial.

"Wind magic too?!" screamed Nova.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

Nova looked at Jonathan, and he just gave her a smile. Nova turned around back at us and spoke, "I'll explain later."

"Okay, then," I said.

I looked at Neerial as if asking if there's something strange about it. Neerial just gave me a confused look, like she was also in the same state as me.

Jonathan continued digging with his sythe while tears were falling from his eyes. His heart must be taking damage seeing his sythe be used in such a disrespectful way.

The process continued until the five of us reached the surface.

Jonathan was the first one to see it; he looked around to see if there were guards but didn't see anything. He went out and grabbed Nova's hand to pull her up. Jonathan also did the same for Amberstone, Neerial, and me.

We arrived at the back of the castle. The sky is still blue, and the air is refreshing. Even the backyard of the castle is covered in flowers. It's such an outstanding sight to behold.

"Let's go," said Nova.

Nova led the way to the castle, entering a backdoor. What we saw inside were stairs, and we quickly climbed them. As we go further, we hear people talking to each other. We immediately realized that it was the guards, and we prepared ourselves to fight them.

The guards noticed us but didn't react fast enough to counter our surprise attack. We successfully tied them up and took their clothes and armor.

Once we took their clothes, we put them in a storage room. Putting tapes on their mouths to not make a sound and tying them up with a rope to seal their movements.

We put their clothes and armor on to avoid standing out. The clothes and armor can also help us blend in with the castle as guards.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

Nova looked at Amberstone as if asking her what we'd do next. However, Amberstone just gave us a dumbfounded look, as if not knowing what to do.

"Don't look at me like that; I never went to this place," said Amberstone.

"Tsk, so useless," muttered Jonathan.

I agree with him; even though she's not at fault, I still feel the same as Jonathan. Neerial noticed the blank look in my face, as if knowing what I'm thinking. She smiled a bit and poked me with her elbow.

Just as we're talking to each other, a guard walks towards us and asks what we are doing. The five of us looked at each other, grabbed the guard quickly, and tied him up. We entered one of the rooms in the castle and put him against the wall.

"Wh-what are you guys doing?!" screamed the guard.

"Tell us the room of Nicholas," ordered Nova.

"Y-you guys are intruders! Why should I help you?!" screamed the guards.

Jonathan gave him a sigh and pointed his large red sythe into the guard's throat.

"Speak!" ordered Jonathan.

The guard felt fear at the risk of losing his life. He gulped and hesitated to give us information. Luckily for us, though, he gave in and told us the specific direction to Nicholas.

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We arrived at the door of Nicholas's room; it's a huge brown gate that is clearly made out of firm wood. The five of us stood beside it and looked at each other to synchronize our entries. All of us nodded and smashed the door fiercely.

"Tsk," muttered Jonathan.

"I expected this..." said Nova.

The room is empty; there's a throne in the middle and furniture covering the room. Based on the books I read, I thought castles had different rooms for bedrooms and thrones. Nicholas seemed to put it all together in one room, and somehow it works.

We looked around the room to search for clues, looking for even a tiny aspect that would help us gain a lead. Neerial crouched down and picked up something from the ground. Giving it a closer look and calling my name.

"Christ, look at this," said Neerial.

I turned around and went closer to her. I took it from her hand and gave it a close look.

"A scale?" I asked.

It's a white scale that might belong to a snake. But this scale is too large; it doesn't seem like it came from a regular snake that you see in the forest. It belongs to a large snake that came into this room. Wait.... came to this room?

I turned around and looked above the room. After I looked up, I immediately saw a hole in the attic above Nova and Jonathan.

"You two! Look out!" I screamed.

Nova and Jonathan turned around to look at me with a hint of confusion in their eyes. A hand came from the attic at a fast speed. It belongs to a woman with the half-body of a snake.

Jonathan immediately pushed Nova out of the way and deflected the woman's hand with his red sythe. Amberstone immediately responded and grabbed Nova out of the clash. Amberstone swifted away towards us, and I swifted in to the action.

I quickly pulled the sword out of my book and swung towards the woman, but she stopped it with her left hand. She had the two of our weapons in her hands easily.

I'm not wasting any effort on my attacks, but this woman is countering them effortlessly. It was the same for Jonathan; he's also trying his best to push his sythe but it's not moving at all! This woman is strong!

"How cute," said the woman.

She let go of our weapons and quickly turned around, smashing us with her tail. We expected the attack, but it's too fast. The two of us failed to block it and took it head-on. Sending us flying to the walls harshly.

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Neerial's POV

We are now in an imperil situation. Standing ahead of us is a woman with the half-body of a snake. Her scales are white, and her tongue is rather long. It's awful to look at; it makes me want to puke on the spot.

How can such a creature be so ugly? However, being ugly is irrelevant to being strong. This woman... No, this creature withstands the attack of Christ and sends him flying effortlessly. Even for me, that's a tough thing to do.

If the attack on Christ didn't work, then my attacks won't either. Realizing this reality in front of me, I can't help but grit my teeth. Without Christ, I wouldn't be here right now.

If he didn't kill those adventurers and if he didn't manipulate the information in the guild hall, I'm sure someone with a high rank will someday take my head.

That's why I want to repay him; I want to be stronger for him. I want to take on things that he can't. I'll be someone who will protect him at his lowest.

Right now, Christ has taken a direct hit. He might be unconscious right now. I'll protect him; I'll defeat this wicked snake in front of us. I'll...

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As I gathered my courage to escape this situation, reality slapped me in the face. As if telling me that my ambitions are nothing.

The hand of the snake woman appeared and grabbed my face. Quickly smashing my head to the ground.

The snake woman smashed my head over and over again. Nova and Amberstone have also been knocked out. They lay on the ground, their faces covered in their own blood. The snake woman held my head in the air. It was saying something, but I couldn't hear it clearly at all.

After she gave me a creepy grin, she smashed my head on the ground again, repeating it non-stop, again, and again, and again.

Sorry.... Christ... no... I'm sorry.... Klay...