The Serpent's Venom

The status messages flashed before my eyes.

Exhaustion, cold, and thirst. They really threw everything at me.

The biting chill clinging to my skin was easily blocked by my Metal Reflection Gauntlets. The other status effects only drained stamina during combat, so there was no immediate need to deal with them.

If only the Earth Mother Goddess’s blessing had applied, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this.

Nyx whipped her head away.

What the hell? When someone compliments you, you’re supposed to look them in the eye.

“Hiii, it’s so damn cold.”

Coni blew warm breath into his hands, rubbing them together to warm himself up.

Stuck in an environment like this, it made sense why the Old Gods wanted to absorb other worlds into the Tower. The conditions were so brutal that an ordinary person wouldn’t last more than a few days before dying.

Thud. My foot sank into the desert sand.

A faint vibration spread from beneath the ground.

My Detection-enhanced Ultrasound picked up the anomaly without any trouble.

I lifted my foot high and slammed it down hard.

White Tiger Dominion Stomp.

Using it on sand reduced its destructive power quite a bit, but it was more than enough to shake everything beneath the surface.

Whoosh. Sand erupted from various spots across the desert.

The internal energy from my White Tiger Dominion Stomp had disturbed the area. The creatures that had been stealthily approaching from underground finally revealed themselves.

Fifteen-meter-long cobras.

Offspring of Apophis—the serpents that devour the sun.

Hiss—hiss.

The snakes flicked their long tongues.

Our party’s figures reflected in their vertically slit pupils.

The sun-devouring serpents were a step above ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the abandoned ents we’d faced earlier. Diamond-rank monsters. You’d normally only encounter them after clearing the sixtieth floor or higher.

Even Shin Junseok or Hong Yunsu would struggle against multiple sun-devouring serpents at once.

I activated Cloud Flow Steps and Full Sprint simultaneously. The moment I charged in a zigzag pattern, one of the serpent offspring opened its maw wide.

A yellowish liquid shimmered at the back of its throat—potent venom capable of melting anything it touched.

I focused intently on the serpent’s gulping throat.

Its neck moved in slow motion.

In that case…

A pitch-black aura enveloped my silver-gray armor.

Yellow raindrops poured from the sky. The venom sprayed from the serpent’s throat, covering dozens of meters in an instant.

I already knew it would spray its venom in a fan-shaped burst. That’s why I’d been watching the movement of its throat so closely.

This was a deadly poison that could even burn through mana. But since it was in spray form, my Dark Shadow Fighting Spirit and Metal Reflection Armor were enough to handle it.

It would’ve been perfect if I still had the Blessing of Greed, though.

The Chimera Essence.

It was originally an extremely dangerous skill with a high risk of going berserk. But after I remodeled the Primordial Seed into a vessel for my body, I incorporated the Chimera Essence as part of my physical makeup.

The skill’s risks were minimized while its efficiency was maximized.

If it had spat out the venom all at once instead of spraying it, I would’ve had to dodge. But because it scattered the poison over a wide area, I only inhaled a small amount—enough for Mutation to analyze it.

I’d have to get a poison resistance skill through Devour later.

“Sssssshhhhhh!”

The sun-devouring serpent swept its dangling tail across the ground. The pressure felt like an entire log flying at me.

I immediately released the mana I had rearranged while moving. The ice-encased spear collided with the serpent’s tail.

“Sssssshhhhh?”

The moment the sun-devouring serpent flinched from the cold, I didn’t miss the opening. I launched a ferocious charge and collided head-on with the tail that had been sweeping across the sand.

The stun duration was cut down to one second. That was more than enough.

The serpent’s eyes bulged as its limbs trembled.

Sun-devouring serpents. I could never forget how much trouble they gave me before my regression. Unless you cut their bodies into at least five pieces, they regenerated almost instantly. As offspring of the immortal Apophis, they weren’t easy to kill.

Why else would I have charged straight at it and applied a stun?

I used Body of Darkness, materialized five shadow blades, and hacked the serpent’s body apart with Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword.

Slice—slash—slash!

Purple blood gushed like a fountain from the wounds carved by the dark blades. It was weaker than the venom but still contained a mild toxin. That was exactly why I had used Mutation to analyze the deadly poison the serpent had spat earlier.

I immediately Devoured the dismembered corpse. A portion of my spent stamina and mana was restored.

She sounded confident, but she looked pretty strained.

Nyx was barely holding on, maneuvering her Polar Night energy in every direction to fend off the serpent’s attacks. It was a monster you’d normally only face in Diamond-rank missions. For Nyx, who had only just broken past the Bronze rank in terms of level, it was a tough opponent.

More than that… she really seemed to hate snakes, didn’t she?

Nyx’s gaze kept darting around. Because she couldn’t look the serpent straight in the eyes, she was being pushed into a defensive position. This wasn’t good.

I instantly teleported to the top of the serpent’s head and crushed its skull with Dragon King’s Fist.

Even after its head was gone, its tail still thrashed from side to side. Crimson bubbles welled up from the destroyed area, beginning the regeneration process. The speed was so fast it almost seemed like it was rewinding time.

I immediately deployed Body of Darkness again and took down the second serpent using the same method as the first.

Even a goddess had something she was afraid of. I’d have to remember that for later.

I answered casually and Devoured the second serpent’s corpse as well.

Sweat beaded on my forehead. I had burned through a massive amount of stamina, mana, and internal energy in a short time.

Even with the Blessing of the Goddess of Night, the terrain debuff was making me pant for breath. Thanks to the additional effects of Devour, I was still able to endure.

Yeah. One-sided hunting isn’t any fun anyway.

I let out a twisted smile and sharpened every one of my senses.

Hunting sun-devouring serpents was no easy task.

The terrain heavily favored them, and the desert penalties kept piling up.

This was the first time since I received the Earth Mother Goddess’s blessing. If even Nyx’s blessing had been nullified, I would’ve suffered tremendously.

Before my regression, it felt like chronic fatigue had followed me everywhere. Thinking about the Age of Ruin only made my mood worse.

“Ssssssshhhhh—!”

Sun-devouring serpents burst out from the sand. This time there were six of them.

Fighting six sun-devouring serpents at the same time was impossible.

The heat energy compressed to its absolute limit was released all at once. The darkness that had been shrouding the desert was torn apart.

“Ssssssshhhhh!!!”

The serpents screamed in agony.

As the Solar Explosion drove away the darkness, the sun-devouring serpents came into full view. Their skin was slightly melted, but it wasn’t a fatal blow.

Their father, Apophis, was said to have swallowed the sun god Ra. In mythological terms, it symbolized the eternal cycle of day and night. Either way, these were the descendants of a serpent that had once devoured even the sun itself.

Ice-type magic was effective against them, but since I didn’t have any skill stronger than Ice Spear, there wasn’t much I could do.

The sun-devouring serpents glared furiously and charged through the aftermath of the explosion.

Their coordinated assault was terrifying.

Boom! Bang!

Sand exploded in every direction. They made full use of their long bodies and insane regenerative abilities. The swarm of snakes swung their tails without caring if they got injured.

And that wasn’t all.

“Hiss!”

A waterfall of venom poured down. I used Cloud Flow Steps, zigzagging rapidly to avoid the deluge. Even though I had gained resistance to their poison, I couldn’t ignore the strong acid mixed into the venom.

Swish!

Nyx’s Polar Night moved in dazzling patterns, scattering the serpents’ focus.

In that brief opening, I leaped through space and appeared right beside one of the serpents’ bodies. A tail came flying at me from behind. I twisted mid-air and used Dragon King’s Fist to smash it apart.

“Ssshh!”

“Hiss!”

The serpent offspring spat venom at their own kin without hesitation. They were probably immune to their own poison, and even if their bodies melted, they could restore themselves instantly.

I spread the power of Polar Night in front of me. While the long wall of darkness blocked the incoming venom—

I tore the serpent’s body to shreds.

“Sssssshhhhh!”

It was still a bit shallow. The power was two steps below Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword. Even after materializing internal energy into my claws, the reach wasn’t long enough to bisect a sun-devouring serpent in one strike.

If one strike wasn’t enough…

I twisted my body in mid-air and unleashed Mountain Lord’s Wave Claw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once more. The razor-sharp claws ripped the pitch-black serpent apart. The continuous assault dismantled it into dozens of chunks of flesh before its regeneration could even activate.

Huff… huff…

My breath had reached my throat. In a single moment, I had burned through an enormous amount of internal energy, mana, and stamina. I immediately Devoured the corpse, and my ragged breathing finally began to calm.

If Nyx hadn’t supported me, it would’ve been far more difficult.

During the continuous battle—

Completing the essence absorption also granted me a new skill. The sun-devouring serpents were so strong that I hadn’t even noticed the essence filling up.

I had expected a poison or regeneration-related skill, but this was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a pleasant surprise. A debuff skill related to night. As expected of Apophis’s offspring, I suppose.

However—

An unexpected synergy effect had activated.