A starry night loomed above, pretty enough to ignite the heart of any being, monster or human. Yet not one of them had any intention to cast their eyes upward to see it. All they cared about was moving their heavy boots or tails over the slick mud and no amount of starlight could render the path visible. Soon they arrived at their destination. A gigantic park of the old times, of a time when humans were on the pinnacle of their supremacy. A time when the monsters hadn't destroyed entire cities for their amusement. A place that was once known to be a famous tourist attraction and a theme park. But now, this place was overrun by awful creatures.

"I can't see much movement..." Azyriah whispered to Alleiah who was right next to her while using her binoculars to search for any lizardmen, "Can your people smell anything?"

​​

Alleiah kept wiggling her extraordinary tongue for a couple of minutes before nodding her head. The nagas had a keen sense of smell just like the lizardmen. The only difference was that while the lizardmen depended on their nose to smell, the nagas used to do the same with her elongated tongue. As for their nostrils, it had one purpose online to help them breathe. Nothing more.

"There are at least a few hundred lizardmen inside. Most of them might be asleep. That might be the reason why you can't see them in a glance." Alleiah replied while sticking her tongue out once again, "It was a good idea to do the reconnaissance after between dusk and dawn. Try looking in the Southwest."

"What can I say? Arnold always has the right answers to any problem." Azyriah replied with turning to face the naga before using the binoculars once again.

Arnold had decided to send Azyriah with the naga force along with a few other soldiers for recon purposes because he was sure only Azyriah would be able to work with the nagas without causing any ruckus. His reasons for choosing her were obvious. First, she didn't despise the nagas as everyone else did... Well, she did but she could put her feelings aside for the sake of the mission. And second, she understood the monsters better than most as she was the section chief of zone 1. This meant she more or less knew all about these monsters and their behaviours better than the monsters themselves.

As for their recon operations being conducted in the night, there was an obvious reason for that too. Azyriah recalled what Arnold had told them when the warriors protested against performing a recon mission at night.

"Have you ever seen an alligator up close? Do you have any clue about their behaviour or routine? Anyone?" He had asked them but no one could give him an answer.

Arnold's voice remained emotionless as he explained the facts to them, "Alligators are laziest after dusk and before dawn. You can almost consider them dead. That is until you either agitate them or they are starving. Even if the lizardmen have evolved from such beings and are now far above the usual alligators, I highly doubt even they can change nature's laws. My claims are not baseless. The nagas have confirmed that the lizardmen have never attacked them after sunset or before sunrise. Thus, I think it's best if we conduct our operations at night time."

'Its frightening how calculating that man can be...' Azyriah thought while scanning the area for any lizardmen on guard and soon she found many.

Most of them were concentrated around a specific building. And to her surprise, all of them were wearing top tier gears and wielding weapons that Devon used to supply to the syndicate. Now Arnold's other hunch was proven to be true as well... The lizardmen and Devon were conspiring together or they at least had some sort of relationship between them. That was the only way to explain why the Lizardmen were so well equipped.

"I think we have gathered enough information. This is the main base or at least one of those." Azyriah whispered pocketing her binoculars, "We got what we came for. Let's head back at once."

Alleiah nodded like the most obedient child in kindergarten before ordering everyone to head towards the tunnels. The warriors did as they were asked to by Azyriah, but the nagas refused to take a step back. They had decided, enough was enough. For the sake of their queen, they had been enduring the humiliation but no more. It was clear that their queen had abandoned all sense of reason. The queen they remember was no more, for the queen they served was not an as*-kisser.

They knew acting out before would be like forfeiting their lives and they might not be able to finish the humans as well as their queen. But now the circumstances had changed. If they cause a ruckus there, they would surely alert the lizardmen and in that way even if they ended up dying the lizardmen would make sure to kill the rest of the humans themselves. It was a win-win situation for them.

They quickly drew their weapons and charged at their queen as well as the humans. They will gladly sacrifice their lives to preserve the naga name.

Seeing the nagas charging towards them, the warriors steeled themselves to take on the slithering rats. But to their astonishment, they didn't even need to lift a finger to take care of them as a moment later, their heads burst open like a water balloon splashing blood and brains all over the warriors. A look of confusion and terror was plastered over the warrior's bloodied faces.

However, Azyriah remained calm for she knew exactly what had happened there.

Her suspicions were soon confirmed when she saw Nicole walking towards them. A maniacal smile had consumed her beautiful nature.

"Looks like brother was right as usual." Nicole whispered and kicked one of the headless corpses, "Petting a snake would only come to bite you in the butt. No offence." She said looking at the naga queen.

"Anyways, we better get out of here soon. The lizards might've heard the commotion." Azyriah reminded them and they all immediately left the place.

***

In an unknown part of the swamp...

Arnold was sitting inside the makeshift treehouse he made using his nature affinity.

"So it's true! Alligator meat indeed tastes like chicken." Arnold mumbled while he was munching on some lizardmen meat, "Although, I have to chew it for a while. But the taste is spot on."

While he was filling the empty void in his stomach, his communicator went off. Talos was contacting him. Arnold quickly put the meat aside and accepted the call.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Permission to deliver the daily report." Although it was Talos who had called him, the voice that came from the other side didn't belong to him... But to Arnold! It was like Arnold was talking to himself!