The group had barely entered the ominous void space when disaster struck. Within minutes, a dozen colossal, serpent-like creatures descended upon them.
They were completely surrounded.
"Spread out!!" shouted Rosin Karat. He floated above the tallic vessel, focusing all his energy on clearing the path ahead while keeping the platform from being ripped apart by gravitational turbulence.
But the deeper they traveled, the more serpents erged, each larger and more violent than the last.
Each direction was besieged.
One of the serpents slithered low under the platform, twisting with unnatural speed, and launched toward the left flank.
With both arms flaring, Galael unleashed a [Fire Wave], a rippling arc of molten cosmic fla that shot forward, illuminating the dark with searing brilliance. The fiery torrent smashed into the serpent’s armored face—but to his dismay, the beast kept coming.
"I need assistance here!!"
Galael braced himself—but before the creature could reach him, Grand Magus Soltz stepped forward with a growl.
"Back off, lizard!"
He slamd both palms to the side of the platform and cast [Planar Wall], a tier 8 defensive earth spell. Instantly, a colossal slab of stone erupted between the serpent and the alchemist.
BAAMMM!!
The serpent crashed into it with a bone-rattling impact, montarily stunned.
Seizing the opening, Ery unleashed his [Dao Edge], a sharp arc of energy that sliced across the beast’s face. The serpent screeched in pain—but still did not fall. Ery followed up with a second, then a third slash, but the damage was minimal.
Galael, sweat glistening across his brow, increased the intensity of his cosmic fla. His arms shimred with red-orange energy as he fired a focused fla burst that struck the beast’s face, this ti penetrating its cracked scales.
With the combined onslaught of blade and fire, the serpent hissed furiously and finally recoiled—its long body twisting away into the shadows of the void.
It wasn’t dead. Just frightened off.
Soltz stared at the cracks on his supposedly impenetrable wall, shocked. "This is madness. What level of creature is this?!"
Galael was similarly taken aback. "This one was stronger than the others. It’s... at least level seven. A mid-tier god-level creature, no doubt."
Ery’s heart pounded. Level 7—god-level beast. These were the kinds of monsters that could rival the Red Demon’s dragon or the savage god-beasts used by the barbarian beastmasters. And yet, these void serpents hunted in packs.
Having fought these monstrous creatures before, Supre Magus Rosin Karat quickly warned the others of a crucial detail.
"The more horns they have, the more dangerous they are. The one you repelled earlier... had two."
He paused, then added with grave intensity, "Watch out for the ones with three."
The group tensed.
"Wait... there are stronger ones than what we just fought?!" Soltz’s voice rose in panic. His eyes darted between the black horizon and the growing swarm of serpents circling behind them. "How far are we in?! How long until we’re out of this damned place?!"
Veyarel didn’t respond. His brows furrowed, eyes closed in focus. Ery could tell from his expression that sothing was wrong. Sweat ran down his temples as he continued probing the space with his magnetism-based technique.
More serpents erged while the ones they’d avoided before hadn’t given up. They were trailing behind like bloodhounds. Within the span of an hour, over a hundred void serpents had joined the hunt.
As ti passed, exhaustion began to take its toll. The deer-horned half-blood was heavily wounded, barely able to stand. Everyone’s reserves were thinning. They desperately needed to rest.
Instead, the supre magus gave a grim warning.
Everyone turned to see what he had noticed—and dread sank into their bones.
A massive blockade of serpents was coiling in front of them. At least fifty. Several had two horns, and one of them unmistakably had three. It hovered in the center of the group, like a general waiting to strike. The atmosphere warped around its body, its presence alone bending space.
Behind them, the swarm followed like a black tide.
"We need to break through!" Rosin Karat’s voice cut like thunder. "If we’re surrounded, we’ll be torn apart from all sides!"
Without hesitation, Veyarel began inscribing a high-tier spatial spell—glyphs of brilliant white light spiraling around him as gravitational currents surged. "I’m opening a gate to jump! But the pressure here is extre... I need three minutes to complete it!"
"Three minutes?!" Soltz shouted, eyes wide with disbelief. "These things could rip us apart in one! How do you expect us to last three?!"
The Supre Magus didn’t hesitate. With a surge of imnse power, he unleashed the full might of his Supre Realm, the space around him rippling under the weight of his aura. Rosin Karat raised both arms and channeled his strength directly into the platform beneath their feet.
In monts, the once-exposed structure transford. tallic plates shifted and expanded, folding like blooming petals into a fully enclosed vessel. Layer upon layer of enchanted alloy interlocked, forming a protective cocoon fortified with spatial runes.
The first wave of serpents crashed into the vessel like a tidal wave. The single-horned ones slamd with force but failed to make a dent. The two-horned serpents managed to scrape deep gouges into the armor—one even bent the outer wall inward with its coiled body. But then ca the three-horned terror.
It struck like a hamr from the gods, sending shockwaves through the chamber, nearly knocking them all off their feet. Massive hairline cracks snaked through the outermost tal plating as the creature’s body slamd against them again and again.
But the defenses held—for now.
Ery gritted his teeth. He recognized this power. The Supre Magus had entered the sa overclocked state he once revealed at Northstar Stronghold. A temporary release of energy... but it had limits. If Rosin Karat’s power faded before the teleportation completed, they would all die here.
At last, Veyarel completed the spell. The platform surged forward, tearing through the fabric of space. But the pull of the void was fierce. They were dragged back almost imdiately.
"How far did we get?!" soone shouted.
Ery closed his eyes and expanded his divine sense. His heart sank, realizing the creatures were still within his range. "Not far enough!"
"We need to move!" Galael roared, his voice full of urgency.
But the toll of the spatial jump was clear. Veyarel staggered, his old wounds reopened. Blood seeped from his lips. He muttered incoherently, swaying.
"Damn it! Not now!" Galael snapped.
Amid the chaos, Ery looked to Rosin Karat—and froze.
The Supre Magus, usually composed and commanding, now stood still... expression twisted in fear.
"Elder? What is it?"
Rosin didn’t answer. He was staring into the void.
Ery followed his gaze and expanded his own divine sense. At first, he felt nothing—just the crushing pressure of the void and the countless signatures of the serpents trailing behind them.
But then the void moved.
A ripple.
A shift in reality.
It was as if the very fabric of space shuddered... then parted.
And through that gash in existence... a colossal eye appeared.
One eye. A single, circular, unblinking eye as large as their entire vessel.
Everyone froze, knowing sothing far worse than the serpents had awakened.
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