Chapter Fifty

(The dungeon)

Before he could react, the serpent unleashed its devastating ice breath once more.

Ice crystals shot towards him like deadly spears, and he barely managed to conjure a makeshift shield of rock at the last second.

The ice breath collided with the makeshift barrier, causing a deafening explosion of freezing air and shattered stone.

Half of the bridge was now encased in ice, and Muichiro, though protected by his rocky shield, felt the numbing cold seep through. His breath came out unsteady in the frigid air.

Muichiro knew he couldn't defeat this creature with conventional means alone. It was resilient, and its regenerative abilities made it nearly immortal. He needed to come up with a new strategy, and fast.

Calling upon his skill Nature's Blessing, Muichiro invoked the power of the fire element.

Flames erupted around him, enveloping his body. The intense heat countered the freezing effect of the ice, and he could feel his skin thawing.

Using his elemental control, he focused the flames to melt the ice that had broken through his shield. Droplets of water sizzled and steamed as the bridge slowly returned to its normal state.

With terrifying speed and regenerative ability, the serpent's severed head reconnected with its body.

The torn muscles, flesh, and bone wove themselves back together, and the gem on its forehead glowed with renewed vigour.

Muichiro's eyes widened as he realized that he hadn't dealt a fatal blow.

The creature's regeneration was nothing short of astonishing, and it seemed he was facing a nearly indestructible foe.

The serpent, now fully regenerated, hissed triumphantly. It seemed to relish the challenge Muichiro presented, and it had no intention of giving up.

Muichiro stared at the creature, his expression resolute. He knew he had to find a way to defeat it, even if it seemed impossible.

...

As Muichiro continued to dodge the serpent's relentless attacks, he couldn't help but wonder how to overcome the creature's seemingly unending immortality.

The serpent would alternate between petrifying him and poisoning him, and him having to rely on his own regeneration skills to heal the effects.

And when it wasn't using these tactics, it would unleash its devastating ice breath, turning everything in its path into frozen destruction.

Muichiro was locked in a battle of attrition, and it was wearing on him. He needed a way to defeat the serpent once and for all, and he needed it fast.

....

Unknown to Muichiro, Pii, who had been unnoticed until now, had sneakily slipped past both him and the serpent.

Pii flew with urgency, not because it was abandoning Muichiro, but because it had felt an inexplicable calling.

Its tiny form moved swiftly through the dimly lit labyrinth of the dungeon until it came upon a peculiar sight. Pii spotted a gigantic tree, easily towering at 30 meters in height.

Yet, there was something unusual about this tree. Pii's sharp instincts noticed a hollow near the trunk, just big enough to accommodate a 16-year-old child.

Without hesitation, Pii darted into the hollow and ventured through the narrow passage. At the end, it encountered a vast chamber adorned with glistening crystals hanging from the ceiling.

These were the same crystals that adorned the 18th floor, signalling the time of day on the surface.

However, Pii wasn't drawn to the crystals. Something else had called out to it—a pulsing gem floating freely in the air. Pii approached it cautiously and pressed its forehead against the mysterious gem.

For a moment, silence enveloped the chamber.

Then, after about thirty seconds, Pii's form began to glow, shifting from its luminescent blue to a greenish-white hue.

Pii's eyes widened in shock and then panic as it abruptly detached from the gem.

It flew out of the tree with all the haste it could muster, its tiny form streaking through the labyrinth towards the ongoing battle.

...

Meanwhile, Muichiro had been locked in combat with the behemoth serpent. It had taken him some time, but he had finally identified the creature's weak point and devised a strategy to defeat it.

It was now a matter of executing that plan and hoping it would be enough to overcome the seemingly unbeatable serpent.

.....

As Muichiro was locked in a ferocious battle with the behemoth serpent, his agile movements and masterful swordsmanship allowing him to dance around its relentless attacks.

Yet, there was a hint of mischief in Muichiro's eyes as he sought to annoy the serpent in any way possible.

He taunted the serpent with lightning-fast strikes, making it snap its jaws in anger as it tried to catch him.

Muichiro mocked the serpent, gesturing wildly and sticking out his tongue, making it hiss furiously.

Frustration mounted within the serpent as Muichiro's tactics seemed to get under its scales.

It lunged forward, its massive head aimed at Muichiro. But this was all part of Muichiro's plan.

With impeccable timing, Muichiro leaped into the air just as the serpent's jaws snapped shut.

In an instant, he was swallowed whole, and the serpent's deadly saliva went to work, burning Muichiro's skin and coursing through his body, poisoning him.

However, before Muichiro had been consumed, he had taken a massive breath, and with sheer determination, he performed an unfamiliar sword art, gathering a quarter of his mind and silently chanting the incantation.

The serpent, feeling smug in its victory, suddenly felt an intense heat rising within its body, panic setting in as it desperately wanted to use its ice breath to cool down. But it was too late.

[Nature's Blessing: Active - Hinokami Kagura: CLEAR BLUE SKY!!!]

A ring of fire erupted from within the serpent, slicing off its head once again. Muichiro's face was burned, and his skin was now covered in the serpent's black blood, but he paid it no mind.

[Nature's Blessing: Active/ Seventh Form: Revised Gale, Sudden Gusts Highward]

Using the wind pressure from his blade, he soared high into the sky.

The serpent glared at Muichiro, its regeneration slowed due to the cauterized wound on its head and body.

Muichiro, now around 300 meters in the air, manipulated the broken bridge stones using Nature's Blessing to create makeshift projectiles.

With precision, he sent them hurtling toward the serpent, and shutting its maw shut rendering its ice breath useless.

Finally, Muichiro began to fall, his blade held firmly in his two hands, aimed straight for the gem embedded in the serpent's forehead.

Panic and resignation plagued the serpent's thoughts as it watched the blade descend, waiting for the inevitable end.

Muichiro landed gracefully on the serpent's head, mere meters away from the gem.

He brought his blade down with tremendous force, severing the gem and ending the serpent's life.

The serpent's eyes, once filled with panic, became calm as it closed them, accepting its fate.

Muichiro had delivered the final blow, and with that, the immortal serpent's reign of terror came to an end.

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Or that is how things were supposed to play out...but not everything goes to plan.

Before Muichiro had fully plunged his katana into the serpent's gem, a familiar blue friend at the last second had stood in the path of Muichiro's blade.

Muichiro in his shock quickly willed his whole body to stop the descent of his sword that was now only half a millimetre away from Pii's body...

"(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞" Pii...

"(￢_￢)" Muichiro...

"..."

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The serpent waited for its end, but after not feeling anything for quite some time it opened its eyes.

"(?_?)...The serpent was now confused...was it not going to be slayed?