A talking Snake-Woman

"Are you enjoying the slaughter of my darlings?"

Eo turned his head to see who had grabbed him. It was a weird snake-woman thing with a black pearl embedded in her forehead, and he didn't exactly remember the name for that type of monster.

"Wait, what were your kind called again?"

The snake-woman's eyes flared up in flames.

"You dare ignore my question? You will pay for that with death!"

Eo really wanted to kill it, but he knew he couldn't just skip the cutscene. Then he'd miss out on some information bound to be vital later on.

"Since you're being so brave," the snake-woman continued, "I will allow you to live just long enough to allow me to introduce myself!"

"One more thing," Eo replied. "You seem to be able to talk. Does that have to do with that pearl thing in your head?"

The snake-woman laughed maniacally. "Oh, how daring of you to try to delay your death by asking such questions! I'm getting excited at the prospect of killing you!" The snake-woman's eyes then darkened. "It won't matter anyway, because you'll die in the end."

Eo twisted himself out of her grasp and shrugged. "Fine then. Do the self-introductory thing you guys always do."

The snake-woman laughed evilly.

"I am Savazya, 83rd Officer of the Cha- Wait, I shouldn't reveal that yet. However, I'll tell you this: I am a Phase II monster with a Control Core, making me the smartest monster around here! Even more so than those supposed "intelligent" anomalies!"

"Hmm… Okay." Eo muttered, taking notes. "And your type?"

"I am of the most fearful Snake-Woman type, known for—hey, why are you writing it down? Shouldn't I be killing you right now?"

Eo scratched his head. "At first I was thinking, 'I wasn't wrong on guessing your type after all', but now my thoughts are more like, 'Isn't 'Snake-Woman' just a really boring name for a type?""

Savazya snarled. "Are you making fun of me, little boy? I'm going to-"

A chain dagger flew straight towards Savazya's head. It stopped right before entering.

It stopped, because Savazya had just grabbed it.

"-kill you right here, little boy."

☆

Eo was surprised. Most monsters he fought didn't have that kind of reaction time, much less the stopping ability. Plus, this was only a Phase II.

Eo willed another dagger chain to strike at a different angle, but Savazya dodged it.

Mouth contorting into a creepy smile, Savazya's long reptilian tongue flicked out. Sparks and poisonous gases slowly emanated from her maw. She suddenly yanked the chain she was holding.

Eo got thrown forwards from the pull. While midair he wondered how the Snake-Lady didn't cut herself while yanking the sharp daggers.

Eo only had enough time to manipulate his tangiform to throw himself off-course. He still slammed into the ground pretty hard, and got the wind knocked out of him.

"Say," Eo said while coughing, "Do you…"

"Hmm?"

The Snake-Lady leaned closer.

"Is this a mercenary's last words with his final breath?"

"...brush your teeth?"

Eo managed a smile, which in his state, looked rather creepy. The Snake-Woman backed off alarmingly.

"This proves you're intelligent," Eo continued. "You've recognized what it means when a hero's most dramatic words are cut off only to reveal something inane. It's at that moment when you know you've-"

Eo coughed.

"Let's just say you know you're about to get killed."

The Snake-Woman seemed to get infuriated.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" She drew out long emerald blades and poised in a pouncing position.

Then Eo, who was slowly leaking (insulated) essence on the floor, summoned chains at her ankles and tripped her. As her body hit the floor dozens of chains sprang up and bound her.

Eo picked up the blades she had dropped and walked over to her body, which was writhing in frenzy under the chains.

"I, SAVAZYA THE-"

"Too bad you didn't get to show off your bad breath powers," Eo cut off as he decapitated the snake-lady-type with her own weapons.

Eo hefted the blades and turned them, watching the glint of green (slightly tainted in blood).

"Cool! Me likey."