anwhile, the giant serpent was still on a killing spree, tearing through humans like they were nothing.
Ethan strolled around casually, hands in his pockets, not lifting a finger to help. Logan had half a mind to guilt-trip him into doing sothing—until he realized Ethan didn't seem to have a shred of moral compass to begin with.
As the son of Oasis's leader, Logan felt it was his duty to protect their ho. No one else was stepping up, so he gritted his teeth, drew a machete, and charged straight at the monstrous snake.
Logan was an A-rank Speed Awakener, and it showed—his body blurred into afterimages as he sprinted forward.
"Die, you bastard!" he shouted, leaping into the air when he was about sixty feet away. He soared like a hawk, machete raised high, aiming straight for the serpent's head.
The snake sensed the danger. Its massive head turned, diamond-shaped pupils narrowing to pinpricks. With a sudden whip of its tail, it lashed out horizontally, aiming to swat Logan out of the sky.
The tail sliced through the air with a deafening whoosh, the sound sharp and violent.
To Logan, it felt like a wall was flying straight at him. Still, he didn't hesitate—he brought the blade down hard.
SCREEEEEE—
The machete scraped against the serpent's scales with a shrill, grating screech. Sparks flew.
Logan clenched his jaw, his hands going numb from the impact. He glanced at his weapon—already chipped and bent, the blade full of jagged notches.
It wasn't just the snake's scales being tough. Oasis was resource-starved; they didn't have the ans to forge proper alloy weapons. The machete he was using? A decorative piece he'd bought before the world went to hell.
"Shit!"
Panic surged through him. He hadn't even scratched the damn thing.
The serpent's eyes glead with contempt. Its tail didn't stop—it kept swinging, slamming into Logan with brutal force.
His breath caught. Pain exploded through his chest. He flew backward like a baseball knocked out of the park, crashing hard into the ground.
WHAM!
"Gah—!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth. His whole body scread in agony, like his organs had been scrambled inside him. He'd taken a serious hit.
"Logan!"
"Logan!" Franklin and the others shouted from a distance, their faces twisted in panic.
But Logan's blood soaked into the sand, the tallic scent thick in the air. It didn't take long for the sll to attract other mutated creatures.
One of them—a venomous snake as thick as a man's arm—slithered up from the ground, jaws wide open, lunging straight for him.
Logan's eyes went wide with terror. He was flat on the ground, too weak to move. All he could do was tilt his head back desperately.
Too late.
Pain shot through his lips.
The snake had bitten him—right on the mouth. A grotesque, venomous "kiss."
"Mmmph! Mmmmmmph!"
Logan let out a muffled, agonized groan. He grabbed the snake's head with trembling hands, pried it off with sheer willpower, and flung it aside.
He tried to push himself up, but his limbs had gone stiff. His body wasn't responding. Foam bubbled from his mouth, and he started convulsing violently.
Classic signs of venom poisoning.
"H-Help... ..."
He managed to croak out the words, clinging to the last shred of consciousness.
Ethan stood not far away, watching the whole thing unfold.
"Damn. He's foaming at the mouth. He's done."
And to make matters worse, more mutated beasts were closing in on Logan, drawn by the scent of blood. They were circling, ready to tear him apart.
Just as they were about to pounce, a sudden wave of freezing cold swept across the battlefield. Everything it touched turned white with frost. The ground froze solid, and the creatures on it were flash-frozen in place.
"I'm here, son! Hang on!"
"D-Dad..." Logan's body trembled uncontrollably, his speech slurred. The venom had swollen his lips so badly they looked like sausages.
Franklin's heart clenched at the sight.
Thankfully, Logan was an Awakener. His resistance to toxins was stronger than most. The venom from a small mutant snake wasn't enough to kill him outright.
But just as things seed to settle, the ground began to tremble again.
In the distance, the giant serpent slithered toward them, its massive body dragging across the sand with a chilling shhh-shhh sound that made Franklin's scalp crawl.
Its eyes locked onto them, tongue flicking in and out of its gaping maw. The thing looked like a nightmare co to life.
Franklin felt a cold sweat break out across his back.
"It already beat the crap outta my son... maybe it'll skip ?" he muttered, half-joking, half-praying.
But the serpent didn't slow down. It surged forward, its mountainous body radiating raw pressure with every movent.
"Dad! What do we do now?" Logan asked, his voice slurred and shaky.
Franklin clenched his jaw. He knew damn well he wasn't a match for this thing. It was just too strong.
"If it really cos down to it... we run. Abandon Oasis. Find sowhere else to survive."
Logan's heart sank.
"But..."
He didn't need to finish. They both knew what that ant. The surrounding desert was even more barren—no water, no food, just endless sand. Leaving Oasis was basically a slow death sentence. They might buy a little ti, but the end would be the sa.
The two of them stood there, faces grim, already bracing for the worst.
"No need to go that far."
A calm female voice cut through the tension.
Both n turned, startled.
Mia stood nearby, resting a massive Tachi sword on her shoulder. Her profile was sharp and beautiful, her long hair fluttering in the night breeze. Her eyes were locked on the serpent, calm and unflinching.
Franklin and Logan both stared, montarily stunned.
They knew exactly what she ant.
She was going to take it down.
But... could she really?
The serpent was a monster in every sense of the word. Mia, with her slender fra, looked like a twig in comparison. The contrast was almost absurd.
Still, she dragged the Tachi behind her, walking slowly toward the beast.
All they could see was her back.
The blade scraped against the ground, letting out a harsh shhhk-shhhk sound as it trailed behind her.
As she closed the distance, her pace quickened—faster, faster—until she suddenly launched herself into the air, blade raised high.
"Another one?" the serpent hissed, its eyes narrowing. It flicked its tongue lazily, unfazed. Just like before, it whipped its massive tail around to swat her out of the sky.
The tail ca crashing down like a falling mountain, packed with enough force to crush steel.
But Mia's blade flipped in her hands, lightning crackling along its edge. The energy surged brighter and brighter until it reached a blinding peak.
She brought the Tachi down with both hands, eting the tail head-on.
SHHHK!
The blade, charged with electric fury, sliced through the serpent's armored scales like a hot knife through butter. It bit deep, grinding against bone, and then—snap—the tail was severed clean.
Blood sprayed from the stump in a violent arc.
The serpent reared back, its yellow eyes wide with confusion.
"Huh? It's... gone?" it seed to think—just before the pain hit.
It let out a deafening screech, thrashing wildly, its body twisting in agony.
Franklin and Logan watched in stunned silence.
"Holy crap..."
"She's actually doing it!"
Logan stared at Mia's weapon, eyes wide with awe. The Tachi was a full alloy blade, clearly custom-built for monster hunting. Embedded in the hilt was a glowing lightning-elent crystal core, pulsing with energy. It made his own beat-up machete look like a toy.
Now, with its tail gone, the serpent went berserk. Its body writhed violently, and it lunged at Mia with its jaws wide open, fangs bared.
Mia didn't flinch. Her eyes narrowed, and with a single step, she launched herself forward like a bolt of lightning, charging straight into the serpent's gaping maw.
Her blade shimred, ready to slice through its neck in one clean strike.
But the serpent wasn't dumb. It had learned from losing its tail. This ti, it didn't try to tank the hit.
Instead, it opened its jaws wider, and the muscles in its throat flexed.
From its fangs, a jet of black liquid sprayed out—thick, oily, and fast.
The venom exploded outward like a fountain, covering a wide area. There was no way to dodge it.
Mia was hit head-on.
The mont the liquid touched her, her body seized up. Her graceful form stiffened, and a wave of numbness rippled through her limbs.
...
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