The smaller Giant Black Snakes were systematically taken down by Allan's group, bombarded by a hail of gunfire and magic. Cide could only provide distant supporting fire with his Sniper Rifle, while Yona and Kuzunoha ran, one carrying Albina, the other shouldering Yoru. All four were busy moving and firing back at the enemy. Elina and Jei could only observe and analyze these unusually large Monster snakes from a safe distance. Since everyone else was occupied with the smaller snakes, no one was free to deal with the seven remaining large Giant Black Snakes after two had already been shot down. This is why Allan decided to take on the task himself!
His strides grew faster, each stomp more powerful. He charged directly into the horde of smaller snakes, his Assault Rifle continuously unleashing bursts of bullets, like a torrent of electric sparks. These high-voltage rounds easily riddled the smaller Giant Black Snakes with holes or shredded them into pulp. Allan was becoming a living storm, sweeping away creatures large enough to swallow an elephant whole. The snakes' hisses were completely drowned out by the thunderous roars and gunfire. The desert floor was gradually covered in a pungent, metallic smell, mingled with the savory aroma of cooked meat. And, of course, his armor became increasingly smeared with burnt, foul-smelling liquid, accompanied by sizzling sounds from the snake venom. If not for the auto-oxygenation capability of his helmet, Allan's nose might have endured the torture of a vegetarian afraid of meat.
ZAP
First, a Giant Black Snake had its head riddled with holes. Before it could even finish its shriek or writhe in pain, the human-shaped storm named Allan pierced a large hole through its head. The remaining six gigantic snakes recognized the anomaly. They stopped slithering towards Yona's group, their glowing yellow eyes turning towards where the snake had been suddenly killed. What they received in return was an electrical current brighter than the moon at this moment. A searing, unstoppable bolt of electricity, refusing to retreat even against all six snakes.
ZAP
The lightning flashed, soaring over the heads of Yona's group – who were still focused on running far away – leaving another Black Giant Snake with its head blown off. The four of them stopped, witnessing this bizarre development.
"What was that light?!" Yoru exclaimed, as the flash reflected in his eyes. "Allan!" Yona cried out in alarm, seeing the scene unfold. "Wait, he can do that?!" Kuzunoha stomped her foot, still carrying Yoru on her back. "Why didn't he do it from the start?!" "I-I don't know!" Yona stammered in reply. "Perhaps, it's not that simple..."
Albina looked up, her eyes following the light named Allan – now darting towards the other snakes. A hint of worry flickered across her face.
"I hope he'll be safe."
Albina placed a hand over her chest, whispering a prayer that perhaps only the group faintly heard. A prayer offered to the god Gruumsh, hoping for the protection of a courageous soul. Though she wasn't sure what Allan was doing, she knew it was incredibly risky. Albina longed to use her magical singing voice to reach Allan, to help him, heal his wounds, or give strength to his unceasing legs.
Allan's metal-armored, thermoelectric body showed no signs of slowing down. He continued to charge and pierce through four more Black Giant Snakes in quick succession, adding to the piles of snake corpses on the sand. The last one's eyes widened, and it arched its body backward. They began to turn and tried to slither away as fast and far as possible. Unfortunately, their brain stems and heads had already been incinerated to ash by the human-shaped metal mass, which was smaller than even their eyes.
ZAP
Allan landed heavily, a large amount of sand blown away by the impact, forming a crater. Other sand beneath his feet crystallized due to the high temperature of the electric current.
"Agh-"
Allan groaned from his dry, burning throat. His armor was significantly dented, with gashes large enough to fit a hand, consequences of having to plow through countless sturdy walls of flesh. Yet, from the corpses of the Giant Black Snakes, white specks of light emerged and rushed into Allan.
"That hurt..."
Allan exhaled sharply, each breath puffing from his mouth condensed into white smoke in the cold air before dissipating outside his helmet. Even after his armor and bruises healed, the immense pressure from running at such high speed created a simmering scream throughout the muscles in his body.
"Allan!"
A voice called out. Allan turned his head and saw Yona running towards him with the other three. Glancing over them, seeing that no one had lost any flesh, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yo~." Allan forced his cheeks into a bright smile, giving a thumbs-up in approval. "Do you feel unwell anywhere?" Albina dismounted from Yona's back and walked over, looking him up and down to check his condition. "I'm fine."
Allan raised his arm to show off his sturdy muscles, but unfortunately, they were covered by his armor. Even after he said that, he still heard Albina begin her magical singing, the way a Bard casts a Spell. Her song transformed into glowing auras that enveloped Allan. They seemed to lull his protesting muscles. For a few dozen seconds, listening to the magical music with his whole body, a cool and pleasant sensation began to spread throughout him.
When Allan looked down, he saw his younger sister peering very closely. Yona said nothing, simply scrutinizing every nook and cranny of his armor. She was as meticulous as a sculptor searching for cracks in a masterpiece.
"Looks like you're overheating," Yoru commented, observing Allan's sweaty face. "You need to hydrate and rest to avoid heatstroke or fainting. And do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else?" "I'm perfectly healthy~." Allan now raised both arms, posing like a bodybuilder. "Overworking isn't good for your health," Yoru chuckled lightly, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "And you've had to bear all the heavy lifting, I'm really sorry."
Allan couldn't stop his wry smile. Despite his claims of being fine, his sister and new friends wouldn't leave him alone, at least not until they ensured he would fully recover. The scene reminded him of diligent and kind nurses.
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"Not at all." Allan shook his head slightly. "Without everyone, I probably wouldn't even have been able to shoot that snake, let alone get a nona kill." "Seriously," Kuzunoha crossed her arms, her fox tail seemed to stand straight up, and her face was somewhat scowling. "As a mercenary, you should have done that sooner instead of making your employers run for their lives!" "Heheh, my bad." Allan chuckled awkwardly, scratching his cheek. "I didn't even know I could do that..." "At least I think I can do it if I do what you did!" Yona looked up with sparkling eyes, or simply the reflection of light in her metal eyeballs. "Heheh, then let's race!" Allan clenched his fist as excitement surged within him. "I'm afraid that's not advisable," Albina said slowly but clearly, like Dr. Yoru would to a patient. "Your body will suffer severe trauma, and recovery will be more difficult if it's not adapted yet." "If we need to run like that again today, please let me do it!" Yona didn't take her eyes off Allan, her determined gaze showing no intention of taking no for an answer. "Heheh..."
Allan could only force a wry smile in place of an answer to the two girls who showed no signs of backing down. If this were a game, he'd think of options to increase his persuasion. Unfortunately, games involving using reputation for verbal battles weren't his strong suit.
[Everyone, get as far away from the Giant Black Snakes as fast as you can!] Jei warned through the comms. "What's wrong, Doctor?" Yoru clutched one side of his ear and asked. [Just run!]
Elina shouted, louder and faster than usual. Allan's group involuntarily panicked, unable to understand why they were being asked to do this.
Rustle
The air vibrated, the entire sand shaking as an earthquake struck. Allan's eyes widened in astonishment. Where the group stood, it became harder to balance, and the sand sank more easily. A completely unannounced event, he immediately wrapped his protective helmet around his head. He scanned the horizon, but there were no Giant Black Snakes anywhere on the pitch-black horizon (even though his helmet had been upgraded for night vision after the Dungeon mission).
"Look!"
Yona screamed, pointing towards the corpses of the Monster snakes. Looking in that direction, Allan's jaw dropped at the sight before him. The motionless snake corpses, both large and small, were slowly being pulled upwards. The whole group held their breath; something even larger was beginning to emerge from the sand, stretching itself upwards, piercing through the clouds and eclipsing the moonlight. The fallen Giant Black Snake corpses dangled in the sky, as if each one was a single hair of something much, much larger.
"...This thing," Yoru said, his voice trembling. Not from fear, but rather his survival instinct warning him repeatedly. "Another creature!" Kuzunoha immediately responded, an answer that did nothing to alleviate the tension, but rather made it more terrifying. "...Another Giant Black Snake!"
Albina declared with her considerable knowledge of Monsters. At the same time, a pair of glowing golden eyes opened, fixing on the group as if there were two moons in the sky.
--- At the Flooded Plains ---
Joker swam to Yong to ask about the situation. He was surprised his teammate wasn't flying anymore; instead, the Demon was wading in the water, his eyes fixed somewhere.
"Found something, Yong?"
Joker swam closer, asking through the comms, trying to avoid the noise of the water battle – contributed by the tsunami, the Jaci villagers, and the Deep Gold Fish.
[Ah, I just saw something suspicious.] Yong turned back, grinning at his friend, his eyes still shining like torches. He looked down at his friend's tattered, hole-ridden black clothes. [And you look pretty beat up, Jozo.] "What's suspicious?" Joker ignored the greeting and went straight to the more important matter. [Over there!]
Yong pointed towards the horizon. Though he didn't say it, his gesture couldn't help but make Joker think his friend was about to exclaim, "OMG look!"
Joker squinted, trying to follow the direction of the sharp-clawed finger. What he could make out was a faint golden glimmer at a tiny speck on the horizon. Even after concentrating for 10 seconds, he still couldn't discern what it was; it seemed to be more than 45 meters away.
"The fish?" Joker ventured. [Yes, but more than that.] Yong replied, not very helpfully. "They're beyond my visual range now," Joker clarified. [Ah, my bad.] Yong chuckled silently. He pulled out a slightly wet pair of binoculars from his pocket. [Here, brother.] "..."
Joker took the binoculars, shook them a few times, and then brought them close to his eyes. Aiming at the spot Yong had indicated, he saw a group of Golden Deep Fish hovering, just as they always swam in the air. The next thing made Joker's wolf eyes pause for a moment – a crystal-like sphere sparkling with blue light.
[Does it look like what you're looking for?] Yong asked with a friendly, confident smile. "...We'll need a way to approach it," Joker stated his next intention directly, his voice still low and steady. [To ensure they don't escape, we'll probably need to block both ends.]
Yong offered his idea, which Joker deemed the most reasonable at the moment.
"Are there any fish in the water?" Joker asked further. [I checked before, seems not.] Yong dipped his face into the water then resurfaced almost immediately. [Looks like they really want a clear view above the water.] "Good."
Joker finished his words and began to notice the water in the direction of the Deep Gold Fish starting to rise. The roar of the waves grew louder, gradually overwhelming the surrounding noise. The sounds of spears clashing and the shouts of the Jaci village warriors gradually faded, until they too completely stopped. He turned to look back; the warriors had stopped fighting and focused their eyes on the growing wall of seawater.
"We need to deal with this quickly." Joker turned to Yong and barraged him with questions. "Can you throw a knife and hit that stone? Or can a knife handle that tsunami?" [One, I can't throw accurately from that distance.] Yong replied just as quickly. [Two, I can only affect a small area, not a large one.] "Alright, give me some ice knives." Joker held out his hand. "I'll handle the front, you take the back." "Okay."
Yong immediately replied, while his hands conjured several knives to hand to Joker. Some had blades so cold that tiny ice spikes protruded from them. The others glowed with fire on their hilts.
He turned back, took a deep breath, and yelled towards the Jaci villagers, his voice reverberating 10 times louder than a normal Earthling. "EVERYONE, GET TO SHELTER FAST!" "I refuse!" The first voice Joker heard back was Galilahi's. "We should retreat for now, we shouldn't burden them further," Góy?ń said, gripping her sister's shoulder. "Recklessness isn't courage." "I refuse!" Galilahi's tail bristled and her wolf ears perked up. "This isn't advice, little sister."
The female Chieftain's face became devoid of emotion. She gripped Galilahi's tail and lifted her high. Galilahi was consequently flipped upside down.
"This is an order; you have no right to refuse," Góy?ń said in a steady, unchanging voice, but with a completely different weight. "..." Galilahi's teeth chattered together. Even so, she still shouted, "I refuse!"
Joker clicked his tongue at the scene of the Chieftain sisters. Galilahi's non-cooperation only annoyed him further. Not wanting to waste any more time while the wall of seawater grew larger, Joker plunged a knife into the water.
Notes:
- Nona kill: Killing nine.