The Serpent's Fall
The serpent's roar tore through the air. GRAAAAAAAAAHHHH! Kang Hyun had once heard that the pain of burning was the worst agony imaginable. He understood it now. The serpent's earlier bellows seemed almost quaint compared to the deafening volume that made blood trickle from his ears. It thrashed its head, twisted its body, slammed into walls, floors, and ceilings in a desperate attempt to extinguish the flames clinging to its flesh. Or perhaps it was simply writhing in blind torment. Kang Hyun didn't know what the creature was thinking. All he knew was that the moment had finally arrived.
He pulled the rifle from his back and leveled it at the beast.
KAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAK!
Spent casings rained down like hail. The magazine emptied in seconds. Blood sprayed across the serpent's hide with every impact. No hesitation. No mercy. Full-auto fire. The bullets punched deep but weren't fatal. The serpent was simply too massive for a rifle to bring down. Still, the message was clear: he wasn't running anymore. He was making his stand.
The serpent's unburned head swiveled toward him, pupils locking on. It watched the human eject the empty magazine, slam in a fresh one, and reach for the bag slung across his back. Its pupils dilated. It knew what bombs were. It understood they were dangerous. It recognized them as the pinnacle of human weaponry. The serpent had always been cautious and fearful. That was how it had survived until now. And unless one was an expert or had consumed enough media, they wouldn't know that C4 doesn't detonate from fire alone. The serpent only knew the cultural shorthand: bombs explode when they touch flames. And that bag held nearly twenty charges.
The question of mutual destruction never occurred to it. Agony from the burns clouded its mind. Even without that, the mere possibility made it hesitate. The Molotovs had set its body ablaze, and the man had stopped running. He was facing it now. The remaining bag had to be a bomb. Why else would he leave it behind? It only knew one thing: it would explode. As the serpent coiled to hurl itself forward, there was only one option left.
Run.
GRAAAAAAAAAHHHH!
It smashed through the wall. With a thunderous crash, it flung its body between the collapsing sections and wheeled around, retreating. Its destination was below. Its nest.
"Where do you think you're going, you goddamn bitch—!"
Kang Hyun's roar echoed as he gave chase, rifle barking. Bullets tore through hide and lodged in bone and muscle. Each hit drew blood and weakened it, but anything was better than being caught by the bomb. The serpent didn't stop. If anything, the desperation in his voice confirmed its choice. It was the right decision. It was clever enough to fall for the bluff. It overthought the trap. It inflated the enemy's intent. Even if it had been a bluff, it wouldn't have mattered. He had regeneration. It didn't. Whatever he had prepared, it could simply hide and strike once he was vulnerable.
Convinced, the serpent descended into the underground parking garage. The spiraling lot had only one entrance. Hearing pursuit, it never reconsidered. This was correct. This would work. It pressed onward with certainty, its faded consciousness driven only by hunger—until the sounds behind it suddenly ceased. It halted deep inside the garage, its massive body threading between the rusted supercars once owned by the cult leader and his mistresses. Its heightened perception caught something on the walls.
They resembled bricks. Dark green bricks. Plastered everywhere.
Knife Mastery — Intermediate
Stealth — Basic
Marksmanship — Advanced
First Aid — Novice
Bayonet Combat — Novice
Explosives — Basic
For a split second, the serpent heard a faint click.
GRAAAAAAAAAHHHH—
It tried to flee. Then the explosions began.
BOOM.
The walls turned crimson. The world turned white. Its own blood mixed with the light, glowing like a brilliant sunset.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM—
There had been no way to know the exact number of charges needed to collapse the underground parking garage. Not without the ability to acquire skills at will. The serpent's misfortune was that such a person existed here.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The parking garage collapsed. Massive slabs of earth, concrete, and rebar crushed down onto its body. GRAAAAAAAAAHHHH! The structure sank. Its flesh tore, bones shattered, and the biomass it had consumed was pulped. It screamed, thrashing, trying to reach the entrance—
CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!
Light vanished. The garage was completely buried.
*
From the beginning, the plan had been this. Eighty explosive charges and five bag bombs were undeniably powerful. Even a glance made that obvious. He hadn't known the precise destructive yield, but five simultaneous detonations should have been enough to kill even the serpent. Yet he couldn't use them directly. The serpent was too intelligent. Throwing the bags for it to swallow wouldn't work either—its Intelligence was 11, not 1. Setting traps in advance had also been unrealistic. Its Agility granted excellent balance and reflexes, and its Strength was monstrous. If it used that power to propel itself, there was no catching it. Outrunning it had never been an option either. So he'd abandoned escape.
That left only one way to use the explosives: indirectly.
His role had been twofold. Buy time for his sister to plant enough charges in the underground parking garage to bring the entire structure down, and force the serpent back into its nest.
GRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
He'd accounted for everything. The serpent burst from the rubble in tatters. Its body was redder than before, reeking of blood. Its arms were gone. Its torso was crushed and torn in multiple places. Yet it was still larger and stronger than him. A direct fight remained impossible. Even emptying every round from the rifle might not be enough. But that didn't matter. He had never intended to fight it head-on.
The serpent's roar cut off. It stared, unable to comprehend why he stood so far away. Kang Hyun grinned and pointed upward.
The Serpent of Eden had always been too passive. It never emerged unless prey wandered into the parking garage or something obviously edible appeared. Even when it could have collapsed buildings, it hadn't. It ignored sounds. It never entered Building 1, no matter how easy access might have been. The same went for Building 2. It had never detected Kang Ahyeon despite her Stealth skill. That had allowed him to plant explosives on both buildings before drawing aggro.
The serpent never heard the detonations. It had been trapped underground, too busy screaming. The result was immediate. Buildings 1 and 2 tilted simultaneously. The serpent looked up in a daze.
CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK…!
The sky vanished. The proud Sion Mountain Fortress of the New Heaven Rapture Mission Church—two apartment buildings prepared for the literal Rapture—were collapsing. Directly onto its head.
GRAAAAAAAAAHHHH—!
It screamed, struggling to escape. It twisted its pinned body, pulping its own flesh, but it was far too late. The apartments slammed down onto the serpent.
CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!
The thunder of collapsing buildings. The blood, sweat, and tears the cultist bastards had poured into their pathetic Rapture-preparation facility. Their precious Sion Mountain Fortress was falling, and with it came true apocalypse.
CRUNCH. CRRRRRRRRRK. BOOM. KABOOOOOOM!
Rebar impaled the serpent. Steel beams crushed it. Concrete pulverized it. Its agonized screams faded, growing quieter until they ceased entirely.
Quest Complete!
Variant, Serpent of Eden — Defeated 1/1
Reward: +5 Stat Points, Special Reward, Skill Grade Up Ticket
Goal Overachieved!
Truly remarkable! You have defeated an enemy you should never have been able to face through brilliant wit, resourcefulness, and sheer will! You are the predator and hunter of this dying world!
For perfectly slaying an overwhelmingly powerful foe, the right of the victor is granted!
Additional Reward: Unique Trait, 'Predation' — Plunder
Compatible Skills and Traits Detected!
Merging new trait 'Predation' with 'Plunder'!
New Skill Acquired!
Unique Skill, Greed Acquired
Successfully merged with Plunder.
Greed: Level 4
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※ What is Greed?
Greed allows you to plunder not only skills but also physical traits, mental traits, and innate dispositions from targets.
The number of Greed trait slots grows in proportion to its level.
"...Holy shit."
Kang Hyun let out a hollow laugh as he watched his sister waving from afar.