...

The battle at the center of Sky Island was getting more and more chaotic as a lot of Powerhouses were starting to get involved in it.

Some of them were the top experts of the guilds and other similar organizations who just arrived at Sky Island while the rest were the most skilled players who became interested and got curious about this newly opened map. And with their involvement, the battle became more complicated than how it used to be.

But at this point in time, while everyone was too occupied with their respective battles, a sudden change suddenly occurred in the most unexpected way.

Hiss!

A series of slithering sound suddenly resounded on the whole battlefield which immediately attracted the attention of everyone, both the Wingmen and players alike.

At first, these sounds were quite negligible since they were not that loud to begin with. But as more time passed, the sounds were getting more and more annoying and also started to affect the battle capabilities of the players.

At the same time, the Wingmen fighting in the air were also starting to get agitated due to the slithering sounds. Especially that those sounds were seemingly created by their mortal enemies.

Due to that, they seemed to have a tacit agreement to stop fighting before looking for the source of the slithering sounds which were their common enemy.

Seeing that, the players under them also felt that there was something amiss. So, they also stop fighting with each other and be on guard against what was about to come.

Unfortunately, the thing that they were looking for appeared in the most unexpected way and caught all of them off-guard.

Rumble!

At first, the ground beneath their feet started shaking violently as if an earthquake with a high intensity suddenly assaulted the whole island. Then the players felt that the ground where they were standing suddenly rose little by little as if something was planning to come out from it.

Boom!

Roar!

And before they could even react to it, a massive creature suddenly emerged from the ground with its mouth wide open.

Due to the previous shaking of the ground, the players failed to have a stable footing which led them to lose their balance when the ground suddenly burst upward. And because of that, they were instantly swallowed by the gigantic creature that suddenly came out from below them.

Some of the players were able to escape to safety due to their good reflexes. But their bodies suddenly froze when they saw the monster that suddenly emerged from the ground. It was even more true to the players who were standing in the distance since they had a clear look at what kind of monster it was.

"What in the world is happening? Why is a monster of that level in this place?" said the player from a distance.

Some of the players around him were even shaking intensely due to the terror that they were feeling.

"Hey! Hey! That is a level 300 Draconic Serpent!" shouted a player who seemed to be part of a powerful guild.

Boom! Boom!

Not long after, two more gigantic serpents suddenly emerged from the ground, swallowing yet another group of players respectively.

And with the appearance of yet another pair of serpents, the players started to panic as they were fully aware that they were no match against such an existence.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Then the three snakes suddenly released a world-shaking roar that rendered the players completely immobilized.

"F*ck! That is a wide-ranged Immobilizing Fear!" cursed someone as he was trying his best to cast a skill that could free him from the status effect.

On the other hand, the gigantic serpents ignored the curses of the players around it and started slaughtering them.

Bang!

But at the same time, the Wingmen people hovering in the air finally recovered their composure and started to attack the three snakes. And when the players saw that, they suddenly felt encouraged and also started fighting.

It was even more true for the players who were part of the Powerhouse Guilds and other organizations.

"We totally outnumbered them, so start attacking and assist the Wingmen Race! If we take down these monsters, we may even get some legendary drops!"

"Throw everything you have! Those monsters have massive bodies so it is an easy target!"

"Attack! Attack! Attack with everything! Don't you dare get lazy on me; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! We are going to get all of the loots that it will drop!"

…

…

…

Different kinds of orders were given out by the leaders of the groups present in the area. All of them were hoping to defeat this monster and get the items and equipment that were going to drop.

Blinded by greed, all of them seemed to forget what kind of monster they were dealing with. They even neglected the obvious fact that was standing right in front of them – that numbers meant nothing when it was facing someone with absolute strength.

"Wait! What!"

And it didn't take long for some quick-witted individuals to realize what was actually happening in front of them.

The three serpents standing in the midst of the cloud of smoke and dust created by the spells and skills of the players were seemingly unaffected by the attacks that they had thrown.

Even the Wingmen people also halted their attacks when they realized that they were not even leaving a scratch on the serpents' bodies. The black scales that it had were still shining brilliantly, not losing even a fragment of its original luster.

And when everyone was still too dumbstruck, the serpents opened their mouths widely and started swallowing the dense mana in their surroundings.

Not long after, the gigantic serpents re-opened their massive mouths, spitting a powerful beam of light in three different directions.

BOOM!

And it was immediately followed by a very powerful explosion that devoured the players in the surrounding area.

********

"Heh! Idiots!"

Not too far from that battlefield, Leonard was currently standing on a certain mountain peak where he could spectate the gigantic snakes' slaughter.

"Do they honestly believe that they can take down a monster of that level?" sneered Leonard while looking at the battlefield with a mocking expression.

After that, he started turning his head left and right as if he was trying to look for something. "Now, where are our next targets?"

"I'm done, what's next?" behind Leonard was Archimedes whose hands were currently covered with blood.

"Already? That's quite fast!" said Leonard after taking a quick glance behind him.

Meanwhile, there was a pile of corpses behind Archimedes. They seemed to be dead bodies of Black Nagas who had been killed recently.

'He already extracted their cores and skinned them?' Leonard looked at the skinned corpses for quite some time before grinning from ear to ear. "You got some talent in this. Are you sure that you don't want to turn it into a business?"

Hearing that, the corner of Archimedes' mouth suddenly twitched as he was not sure if those words were a compliment or an insult.

Leonard ignored the expression that Archimedes was currently making before changing the topic. "Anyway, I can no longer sense the other Black Nagas lurking around. I guess they are already aware that we are hunting them."

Hearing that, Archimedes suddenly frowned his eyebrows before walking forward and standing beside Leonard. And quickly after that, his owl-like eyes started glowing with a dim light as he swept his gaze at the forest below them.

Not long after, the frown that he was wearing turned even deeper as he also couldn't locate their targets anymore. He then clicked his tongue with dissatisfaction. "Tsk!"

Seeing his annoyance, Leonard couldn't help but chuckle a little before saying. "Don't worry, we will meet them again later. Weakening their forces for now is more than enough for us."

After that, he suddenly slapped Archimedes back which almost pushed the latter off the cliff.

Then, Archimedes suddenly swung his arm to push back Leonard's hand with a glare. "Get off!"

"Don't act as if we are close!" he added with a threatening voice.

Whistle~ ♪

Unfortunately for him, Leonard didn't get intimidated and just sneered with his actions. 'This guy rarely talks to others but he seems to be quite a decent guy. He looked like Shin Bro when we first met.'

But immediately after that, Leonard's eyes suddenly turned sharp as he felt another presence present in the area.

At the same time, Archimedes also sensed the other guy and quickly assumed a battle stance due to the hostility that he was getting from the other side.

On the other hand, Leonard then turned his head towards the direction where that hostility was coming from before saying with a heavy tone. "There is no point of hiding there if you can't even suppress that Killing Intent of yours."

"Hehe! Here I am wondering who dared to hunt my minions, who would have thought it is actually you?" said a person as he walked out from the shades of the trees.

Seeing that person, the expression that Archimedes was wearing suddenly turned solemn before muttering with a heavy tone. "Sildra."

On the other hand, Leonard was about to make his move and planned to eliminate this guy as soon as possible since he was sensing an unpleasant vibe from him. 'Eliminate the unknown variable immediately as per Shin Bro's instructed.'

"Eh!?"

But before he could even jump forward, Archimedes suddenly appeared in front of him and blocked his way.

"Hey! What are you doing? Move out of my way!" said Leonard with a deep frown.

But Archimedes refused to yield and said. "Let me handle this guy. I have a score to settle with him."

"Eh!?"

This time, Leonard became surprised since he could clearly feel the rage that Archimedes was trying to suppress. And due to that, he couldn't help but take another look at the other guy before muttering to himself. "He must be that guy."

After that, Leonard relaxed his body a little before removing his grip on his battle-axe. He then looked at Archimedes and sneered. "Is that so? Then I'll let you handle him as long as you will not let him escape."

Hearing that, Archimedes couldn't help but smirk a little before turning around while replying with a determined tone. "I never have any intention of letting him get away anyway."

...