Chương 138: Chapter 143: Felling the Serpent

I found myself in a dual world. The ground and the trees remained monochromatic in my vision, but the sky… the sky was a bright green of toxic clouds, and a giant snake was falling from it. That jump cost it, though. The force and speed it used were coming back to bite it in the ass. The curses didn't let the action go unpunished. I could see blood and flesh raining down with the cloud, and something more. The gas was condensing, becoming droplets and falling like rain.

Slowly in my accelerated perception, but still too fast to properly escape. It was just that big of an area, now covered by the clouds. Fucking toxic snake. I hoped the descent would kill it. As I moved toward the ground and away to escape the falling rain, I created a barrier of thick aura, reinforced with mana. Somehow the monster managed to reposition mid-air, descending in my general direction. I had to dodge again to avoid its sweeping tail trying to cleave me in half. How the hell was it doing it?

It was so fucking precise with that giant body, it was impressive. But not enough. I avoided it easily now. It was significantly slower, its movements stiff and clunky. I could hear bones grinding as it passed, and a thick ribbon of blood trailed from its mouth. It impacted the ground with a thunderous crash. Then it roared in pain, thrashing about and roaring more. That was the price to pay for its stunt. I continuously moved further away, trying to outrun the spreading clouds, with no success.

I felt the first droplets of green rain touch my barrier before I saw them. My eyes were sharp enough to notice the literal sheets of rain pouring down from the sky. As a single drop started to corrode a chunk of my aura, the whole scene turned more sinister. Every drop looked like an enemy, ready to claim its pound of flesh. As the rain fell around me, I used small blasts of mana to clear it from my path, trying to open a passage I could move through. The rain burned through my aura so fast it was ridiculous.

At this rate I'd be defenseless in a minute or two. But I was getting away. That massive attack had an end, even if it covered a vast area. I hoped it was some kind of trump card. I turned slightly to check the monster. It was pursuing me. Of course it was. One of the curses I used made retreat impossible. But it was suffering for it. Every movement caused damage, pain, and disorientation. It still came after me, but its once sinuous movements were now stiff and jerky.

Its bony tail dragged behind it as if it could no longer move it. Maybe it couldn't. Maybe something broke in the fall, not from the impact itself, but from the curses. I saw it open its mouth wider. Not just to roar, as it had been doing constantly, but as if preparing to attack again. A deep green light gathered at the back of its throat. Then a thin spear of condensed green liquid shot toward me with eerie precision. I had to use my hex-blast combo again to evade. That thing was too fast.

It passed me and shot into the distance, leaving only a green trail of smoke behind, which I immediately avoided. A new barrage began. As we exited the cloud's range, it tried to pepper me with attacks, big and small, which I dodged with increasing ease. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The snake was dying. Its own movements were killing it. But it couldn't stop. I hated fighting like this.

Dodging because every attack was too powerful to block or parry grated on me in a way that was hard to describe. It was infuriating, having to run from an enemy I came to hunt. But I had a reason. I wanted to see if defeating it with only curses, without any other form of attack, would grant me an achievement related to curses. It would also be a perfect prerequisite for my future class evolution. I had come to realize that while I had many tools at my disposal, my curses were my greatest asset.

I would accumulate more, create more. While mages learned spells, I would wield curses to fell my enemies. The strong ones, at least. The weaklings I could already deal with easily. Our game of cat and mouse ended a minute later. The snake could no longer follow me. Its attacks stopped, and so did most of its movement. Not completely. It still twitched, still tried to crawl forward, but every motion only inflicted more damage, draining its strength and confusing it further.

A small river of blood now flowed from its mouth, but other parts of its body were bleeding as well. The vital fluid seeped through its scales, mixing with the putrid water of the swamp. The Tyrant Mind curse made it impossible for it to stop trying to kill me, so it kept struggling. But it was spent. Slowly, its eyes closed.

I was tempted to leave the curses inside it, to turn it into a revenant and detonate it in the biggest Curse Detonation I could manage, just to prove I didn't need to run from this bastard if I wasn't chasing achievements. But in the end, I decided against it. The only thing it would give me, aside from satisfaction, was experience. I would ruin the core and have to recreate all the curses, wasting time and effort I could spend better elsewhere. So I made my choice. The curses detached one by one from the monster.

I could feel them, almost… happy. Humming with power. Part of it was my infusion, but part of it came from what they had done to the beast. Strange. Maybe I could use stronger monsters as incubators, to evolve more powerful curses. I should experiment with my hexes too. After all, the first curse I created came from mixing life-force with those pesky little hexes. So I should try again… Another minute of real time passed before the snake finally died. Ding! Should I trigger the notifications now? Why not?

There was nothing strong enough around to threaten me while I claimed my rewards. Still, one thought lingered. The way Adrian had described this fight had been exaggerated. It had been dangerous, yes, but not nearly as bad as I expected. I had thought it would take everything I had to bring this beast down. And yet, I came out without a scratch. Food for thought. I created a strong barrier around me, a protective bubble against any opportunistic predator that might try to take a bite while I was distracted.

I couldn't sense anyone nearby, but caution cost nothing. Then I triggered the notifications. ──────────── [You have slain: Venomfall Serpent Lv161 — Viscount] Solo kill confirmed. Experience massively increased due to extreme level disparity. Additional rewards and achievements granted. Tutorial Points Earned: 4025 Achievement Earned: Elite Slayer IV Kill an enemy 100 levels higher than you, solo. Reward: +100 to all stats. [Achievement Earned: Viscount Slayer] Kill a Viscount-class being, solo.

Reward: +15% to all stats. [Achievement Earned: Giant Slayer] Slay an entity at least 100 times bigger than you. Rewards: • +50 Vitality • +50 Constitution • +50 Endurance [Achievement Earned: Colossus Slayer] Slay an entity at least 1000 times bigger than you. Rewards: • +100 Vitality • +100 Constitution • +100 Endurance • +10% damage against significantly larger enemies [Achievement Earned: Defiance of Tiers II] Kill a Viscount-class being at least five times your level, solo.

Rewards: • +15% to all stats • Trait Evolution Token • Class Evolution Token • Skill Evolution Token [Achievement Earned: Profane Execution] Requirement: Slay a superior enemy using only curses Description: Piece by piece, certainty by certainty, you eroded your foe until nothing remained but the inevitability of their end.

Rewards: • +25% Curse Potency • Enemies afflicted by multiple curses take +20% increased damage Passive Casting – Level Up → Lv18 Reinforced Infusion – Level Up → Lv12 Arcane Manipulation – Level Up → Lv39 Curse Detonation – Level Up → Lv28 Aural Manifestation – Level Up → Lv20 Malignant Threshold – Level Up → Lv13 Arcane Sense – Level Up → Lv44 Accelerated Processing – Level Up → Lv8 Your Piercing Eyes skill has reached Level 10 and is ready for Evolution.

──────────── Another wave of power flooded my already enhanced body. I barely had time to process it before another notification rang out. Did I do it? I had more than eight thousand total stat points before. After this… I had to have crossed another threshold. Energy surged through me, wave after wave settling into my body. I felt so powerful that I could probably go fight another snake with my bare hands. The notification pulsed insistently, demanding my attention. Should I do it? Fuck it. Let's ride this wave.