Azuma's POV

  The air atop the great swamp was thick and warm, smelling of decayed earth and stagnant water. Azuma squinted, but the dense, humid haze of the lumeri swallowed all light and distance. Heh. As expected. The canopy's too thick.

  He closed his eyes, centring himself. A familiar, cold pressure began to build behind his eyelids. When he snapped them open, his vision had changed. The oppressive blue pupil gave way to a brilliant, almost painful silver, and a chill spread through his scalp as his hair turned pearlescent white. The world was now a canvas of energetic signatures.

  It wasn't clear enough. He narrowed his focus further, the pressure tightening like a band around his skull. Then, the souls materialized: a petite, flickering soul (Anya) paired with a massive, robust soul (Goar). Behind them, another signature, smaller than Goar’s but certainly larger than Anya's, crept forward—the stealthy hunter.

  A small, grim smile touched Azuma’s lips. He took aim with the composite bow, the polished wood slick against his sweating palm. He pulled the bowstring, the ancient wood groaning softly, and as he exhaled, a plume of white, ethereal mist curled from his lips, instantly coating the arrow with a faint silver hue. He held his breath, waiting for the precise angle.

  Now.

  Bang! The sound was deafening in the sudden stillness of the swamp. A cloud of sulfurous smoke erupted near the target, a planned distraction. Azuma drove his concentration deeper, past the smoke and the visual clutter, locking onto the first cobra's enormous soul-body.

  Goar’s heavy punch had created the weakness—a momentary, brilliant flare of vulnerability. This is it. He loosed the arrow. It was silent, a black needle piercing the humid air, and it embedded itself exactly in the crack, vanishing into the beast's brain. The massive, robust soul of the cobra simply dissolved, snuffed out like a guttering flame.

  "Yessss! Plan one succeeded," he whispered, a rush of adrenaline making his body shake. His eyes instantly reverted to their normal blue.

  But his victory was cut short. A sound ripped through the swamp—a deep, visceral roar of pain and savage grief, closer and far more immediate than he’d anticipated. Shit, here comes the second one.

  He tensed, ready to scramble down and sprint to the formation point, but the immediate threat forced a change in plan. He gritted his teeth, forcing his eyes silver again with a visible strain in his jaw, and immediately saw the approaching soul. The signature was large, radiating furious intent, and it was coming directly toward his tree.

  Dammit. The realization hit him like a cold shock. The sound and smoke from his shot had lured the grieving mate to the source of the attack, not the fleeing prey. "Now I am the one who needs to lure the snake to the formation."

  He looked toward the distant, dissipating smoke cloud, teeth grinding. Did Anya and Goar realize the same thing? He had no time. He began his descent with frantic speed, leaving it to fate and their instincts.

  Anya’s POV

  The second, terrifying cry echoed across the water, a sound of primal rage and loss that vibrated in Anya’s teeth. "The second cry! We need to hurry!" she urged, pivoting to dash toward the pre-arranged formation point. Goar was a shadow, a massive, silent bodyguard pounding the earth behind her.

  She’d only taken a few steps before a heavy, firm hand closed around her arm, stopping her dead. Anya turned, heart hammering against her ribs, ready to snap at the delay, but Goar was already sniffing the air, his gaze locked on a spot deep in the trees behind them.

  "What happened? Be quick!" she demanded, impatience overriding caution.

  Goar’s voice was low, strained. "The snake isn't chasing us... it's going after Azuma!"

  Anya's eyes widened in horror, and the blood in her veins felt like it had turned to ice. Fear stilled her heart for a frantic second, a suffocating realization of her prince’s vulnerability. Her mind, usually so clear, raced, trying to calculate the variables: the distance, the snake’s speed, the setup time.

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  The paralysis lasted only a heartbeat before her protective instinct surged, burning away the fear and replacing it with focused, desperate resolve.

  "Goar, you follow that scent. You must intercept it and stop it from attacking my prince! Lure it into the formation if you can! I will go straight to the formation and activate it!" she commanded, her voice surprisingly steady. Without waiting for his acknowledgment, she wrenched free and dashed into the swamp, driven by a raw, unyielding need to protect.

  She was the first to reach the spot, immediately plunging into the cover of a dense, thorny bush. She gripped the activation rune, her knuckles white, her body tense. Her anxiety was a searing knot in her stomach, and she found herself silently praying to Mayogam, vowing anything to see her prince safe. If anything happens to Azuma, I couldn't face my lord. Oh no, what will I say to Antheros? These panicked thoughts consumed her, and her heartbeat was so loud it was the only sound she could perceive, a frantic, deafening drum in her ears. Then, slowly, painfully, her frantic pulse began to slow. The oppressive sound receded, and she finally heard the frantic crashing of the chase, closer now, followed by a heavy, familiar scent. The sound of rapid, heavy footsteps and then the huge, scaled body of the enraged cobra burst into view, its hood flared, its golden eyes narrowed with maniacal focus. It was pursuing a sight that caused Anya’s heart to nearly seize and then flood with a sudden, overwhelming relief: a large man sprinting toward her, carrying a child safely tucked in his arms. Azuma was safe in Goar's hold.

  Thank you, Mayogam. Her resolve firmed again, replacing relief with steely focus.

  She waited, every fiber of her being locked onto the giant serpent. When its massive coil was precisely on the narrowest part of the path, she screamed: "NOW! TO YOUR LEFT!" and slammed her palm down on the rune.

  The earth instantly retaliated. A cacophony of grinding stone and splintering wood filled the air as jagged, iron-hard earth spikes erupted from the ground and the banks of the path. The cobra, blinded by rage, realized the trap too late. The spikes pierced through its scales from every angle, shattering bone and ending its painful existence. Its gold eyes fixed on Goar’s panting face for a final moment before they glazed over and closed forever.

  Goar, winded, collapsed a moment later. After a long minute, he rose, still breathing heavily, and approached the colossal corpse, using his nose to confirm the cessation of life.

  They all sank down onto the muddy ground, utterly spent. Anya felt as if days, not just four hours, had passed since they’d left the house. She stared at the dead monster, the sheer scale of their success—and the risk—finally registering.

  She then looked at Goar, who was still loosely holding Azuma, and she rose, performing a low, formal bow. "Thank you very much for saving my prince," she said softly, lifting her hand to gesture for him to release the boy.

  Goar blinked, looking down, and seemed astonished to realize he was still clutching the child. He slowly set Azuma down. He sat back down, his eyes distant, a flicker of something new—a spark of fire and desire—brimming beneath the exhaustion.

  They had killed not one, but two Armored Scale Cobras, high-level A-class monsters capable of evolving into demons. A child and a small team had accomplished the unthinkable. Anya was flooded with a complex mix of thrill for the young prince’s potential and the lingering grief for the mission that had brought her here.

  The long silence was finally broken by Shizu's arrival, carrying a large, luminous white orb—the prize from the first snake. She stared at the second dead giant in disbelief.

  Azuma, rubbing his shoulder, stood up and began issuing orders with renewed authority. "Shizu and Anya, retrieve the snake lying in the forest. Goar and I will venture into the swamp and retrieve the other snake's body. We’ll check the nest for anything useful. We gather back here by sunrise. We need to get back to the hunting lodge before my mother sets out with a huge search party."

  Anya frowned, wiping a smudge of mud from her cheek. "What do you mean, 'snake lying in the forest'?"

  Azuma sighed, his shoulders drooping slightly. "We miscalculated. There were three snakes. After Goar killed the one that chased me into the forest, this giant one came for me. Thank God Goar was there."

  Anya’s shock solidified into an even deeper wave of gratitude toward the large man. She did as told, but absolutely refused to let Azuma venture into the swamp. Goar went alone, returning twenty minutes later with a large, heavy, dripping bag of treasures.

  They assembled at the temporary camp, all eyes on the eastern horizon.

  "Let’s go," Anya urged, shifting her weight impatiently.

  "Ah... in a minute. We need to enjoy our success, Aunty. Let's take a rest for a little time, maybe five minutes tops," Azuma negotiated.

  Anya looked at the boy, who was now visibly sweating, a nervous twitch in his eye. She sighed, a small smile playing on her lips. "You said the same thing half an hour ago. What happened?" she teased gently. "Are you afraid?"

  "Nonsense, Aunty!" Azuma waved his hand dramatically.

  "Then...?"

  "I am terrified," Azuma confessed, the bravado collapsing entirely as tears welled in his eyes. "Aunty, please save me!"

  "No," Anya said, turning her back with a deliberate, theatrical show of pride.

  A moment of silence passed. Then she began to quietly shake with laughter. "Yes... I said no. Ha ha... I finally succeeded."

  Azuma froze, a look of utter bafflement and dread spreading across his face. "What? She actually said no... to me?" His final defense mechanism had failed. A greater terror—the terror of a future without a human shield—filled his heart. "Oh no... my final plan failed. I am doomed. This time, not even my father will support me."

  Author Note:The cobras were defeated.Unfortunately for Azuma, the most dangerous being in this story is still waiting at home.

  —

  Author’s Corner:This arc marks the first full survival hunt in the story.I’d genuinely love to hear how the fight felt to you — the tension, the planning, or the miscalculations.Thank you for reading.