[Durable Serpentfiend – Lvl 32.]

“I heard you when you said it the first time, Ex.”

[Affirmative.]

Trace Taylor exploded out of a thicket followed by Adair Russell and Elizabeth Evergreen, her party members who accompanied her on this insane mission. Or rather, that wasn’t right: she was the one accompanying them in this insane mission, not vice versa.

The ground trembled. She felt her boots quaking with each step she took. A giant serpentfiend gave chase to her, toppling over trees and crushing the earth, tearing open a path in the jungle that trailed behind the group of three.

Its long and sinuous form had to be over thirty metres in length, at the bare minimum. With a single bite from its gargantuan jaw, it could probably devour Trace whole. She glanced back once at the scuttling monster. The rapid clicks of its feet carried it forward just as much as its own undulating body did. Its legs protruded haphazardly and unevenly, more like spikes than like limbs, even if they could move.

The giant serpentfiend closed in on the party, opening its pit-mouth to reveal the jagged blade-teeth stabbing out of its brim. Trace glanced back at this and cursed.

“Fuck. You!” She fired two shots into the monster.

At its current level, her skill, Vulnerability Vision, let her discern the various weak points of a monster over 20 levels above her. And it told her that shooting into the mouth was moot.

In fact, shooting at it, even with Mystic Bullets, was pointless. Each shot would barely damage the durable serpentfiend. It’d be the equivalent of someone stabbing Trace with a toothpick. Which would still hurt, but the level difference was just too great for her attacks to be able to kill the giant monster. The only reason she still fired was to slow it for just a brief second.

The durable serpentfiend screeched as it swallowed Trace’s bullets. Adair spun around, weaving his hands together, conjuring crackling electricity onto the palm of his hand. A lightning bolt launched out, bouncing around the darkness that was the monster’s mouth.

It reeled back, and Liz decided it was her turn to strike. She twisted back, dashing at the momentarily stunned durable serpentfiend.

Trace fired her remaining rounds to draw its attention while her best friend slashed open its side. The redhead’s eyes flickered. Her attention was drawn towards the bleeding gash left behind by Liz. It was like the rest of the durable serpentfiend’s body was blurred into the background, with that one spot being the focus of the picture. Again, Vulnerability Vision was at work.

“Liz, get back!” she shouted.

Her best friend instantly leaped away from the durable serpentfiend. Trace Taylor aimed and pulled the trigger. A powerful blast shot out of her empty pistol.

Last in the Chamber.

Adair covered his eyes as the bright blue light streaked its way to the giant monster. Trace’s accuracy was on point— she struck the durable serpentfiend where its flesh was tender and weak, already damaged by Liz.

The attack sent the durable serpentfiend lurching away. It let out a cry of intense pain, a deeper screech more akin to a roar than the sounds made by its lesser serpentfiend counterparts. Trace watched as its entire body coiled around itself, covering its bloodied side.

But other than that, it was unhurt.

“Well, fuck.”

The durable serpentfiend lashed out, crashing at Adair and Trace. The redhead grabbed the man before he could be squished. They barely rolled out of the way in time as the monster’s head broke apart the earth, leaving behind a crater where they once stood.

Adair stumbled to his feet, splashing a cone of flames at the durable serpentfiend’s side.

“That’s not going to work,” Trace said as she got back up, reloading her pistol.

“I know.” He spoke through gritted teeth.

The fire barely looked like it hurt the giant monster. It looped back around, nearly hitting Liz was its tail. She knocked the tail back with her own strike, unleashing an aura of silver energy. It drew the durable serpentfiend’s attention to the black-haired Swordsmaiden.

She ran for a grove as Trace gave her covering fire, and Adair split the flames between his two hands. Then the Energy Caster directed his attacks towards the grass and the trees.

Trace furrowed her brows. “What are you doing?”

The pouring flames slowly subsided as the durable serpentfiend lost sight of Liz. It turned to face the remaining two humans. Adair spread his arms wide and tightened his hands into fists. The burning trees and grass flared up, raging wildly even as the durable serpentfiend barrelled towards them.

“I’m causing a distraction,” he said.

“Are you starting a goddamned forest fire?!” Trace stared at him, aghast.

“As I said: a distraction.” Adair grabbed her by the arm. “Now run!”

The pair made a break for it, heading in the same direction they last saw Liz. The durable serpentfiend tried to give chase, but the storm of fire held it back for a few precious moments. The flames didn’t hurt it, per se. It just didn’t like the bright light.

* * *

“Holy fuck.”

Trace and Adair reunited with Liz on a lonely road right at the fringe of the forest. A single house waited at the end of the road, abandoned and empty by the looks of it.

The redhead panted, bent over and clutching her knees; she hadn’t fully recovered from her injuries inflicted by the Bne Worldeater just yet, but was still somehow the least exhausted of the group of three. She looked over her shoulder, seeing the orange glow on the horizon.

The sun had set half an hour ago. The only thing illuminating the night sky was the forest fire Adair had sparked off. The durable serpentfiend was somewhere in that vicinity, probably searching, trying to hunt them down.

“If that thing gets to the city, hundreds of people are going to die.” Trace clenched her fists as the possibility settled in. “Thousands, even.”

“We ain’t gonna stop that thing, Trace,” Liz said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “None of my skills could even hurt it.”

Adair frowned. “To think that a level 32 monster is that dangerous. I never would’ve suspected it.”

Trace was pretty sure they didn’t even get close to killing the durable serpentfiend. While their attacks— specifically the combination between Trace and Liz— had hurt the giant monster, it was still far from dead. The only attack the redhead had that could damage it proper was her Last in the Chamber, but that skill could only be used once every nine-or-so minutes at its current level.

“We have to return to the commune. Warn the others.” She straightened, getting ready to leave.

“Right now?” Adair looked up at the dark sky. “It’s nighttime, Ms Trace Taylor. Many monsters, like the serpentfiends, are active during these hours. I do not believe it’d be safe for us to trek back now.”

“What are you suggesting, then?”

“Well, there is an empty house right there,” Liz piped up from the side. She gestured vaguely towards the broken fence— at the two-storeyed home with its lights turned out. “We could sleep for the night and return first thing in the morning.”

Trace wanted to protest, but she felt like buckling to her knees there and then. Her legs stung with pain, in desperate need of rest and recovery. However, she was still undecided until she peered into the shadows crawling over the forest.

Anything could be hiding. Even another durable serpentfiend. She didn’t want to be caught off guard when her legs hurt. So, she acquiesced.

“Alright,” she said and shook her head, “but let’s not assume this house is empty. I don’t want to be arrested for breaking and entering like someone here has been.”

Liz chuckled. “I wonder who she could be talking about. Got any ideas, Adair?”

The man flushed and shuffled ahead of the two women. “I assure you both, I will not make such an error in judgement again.”

He knocked on the front door of the house, and there was no response. Trying again, but a bit louder this time, he rapped his knuckles against the wood— and the door collapsed.

“Look at him go, Trace,” Liz said, crossing her arms. “Breaking and entering a stranger’s home again.”

“Going back on your word that quickly, huh?” Trace gave him a disappointed look.

“T-that wasn’t on purpose,” Adair sputtered.

“Sure it wasn’t.” The redhead started past him, stepping over the fallen door. “Anyone home?” she called out.

Again, silence. Shrugging, Trace pressed on, followed by Liz and Adair. She took out a torch, shining it around the hallway, illuminating the stairs and the side passages. The house was a mess, with furniture toppled over and emptied of their contents.

“Looks like whoever lived here left in a hurry.” She raised a brow and took a step into the living room. The couch was flipped over, torn and shredded like someone had pulled its stuffing out by force. “Wait—” And the redhead paused as her torchlight landed on a red stain.

Three bodies lay in the living room. They were piled on top of each other, right next to the broken coffee table.

Trace’s eyes widened as she staggered back. “T-that’s…”

“A dead family.” Liz walked over to the corpses. “Freshly killed. They haven’t even begun decomposing yet.”

“So, less than a day since their deaths,” Adair said as he stepped up next to her.

Trace watched from the back, her lips pursed, and her gaze intently turned away from the bodies. Then something clicked inside of her.

“Fuck.” She grabbed her pistol with trembling hands. “That could mean monsters are hiding in this house.”

“No.” Adair lowered himself to a knee, gently closing the eyes of one of the bodies. “They weren’t killed by monsters. They were killed by people.”

Liz drew away from the bodies. “He’s right, Trace. Look, they’re all stripped of their clothes. And that would explain why everything was ransacked. Some thugs probably broke in and murdered this poor family for their belongings.” She shrugged. “It is the apocalypse, after all.”

“We’ll give them a proper burial tomorrow.” Adair tore down a curtain and draped it over the corpses. He turned around, giving Trace a reassuring look. “For now, let’s rest.”

The redhead took a deep breath and nodded. “Right. Let’s do that.”

* * *

There were only two bedrooms on the second floor. One was a master’s bedroom, and the other was, presumably, a kid’s bedroom. After a short deliberation, the group of three decided that Trace and Liz would sleep in the master’s bedroom, while Adair would sleep in the kid’s bedroom.

The redhead shut the door and locked it as her best friend yawned behind her.

“There’s no need to be so paranoid, Trace,” Liz said, sinking into the large bed. “I’m sure those thugs, whoever they are, are long gone at this point.”

Trace laid her backpack down next to the bed and rummaged through it. She still had a dozen spare magazines. “They’re not the ones I’m worried about.”

“Oh.”

“Also,”— she glared—"stop hogging up the entire bed.”

“Sorry.” Her best friend smirked and rolled out of the way.

She collapsed onto the soft mattress, massaging her legs as Liz spoke up.

“Adair seems like a nice guy. Dude, did you see how he reacted when we teased him earlier? I doubt he’d try to hurt either of us.”

“He tried to kill me,” Trace said bluntly.

“Maybe he’s turned over a new leaf!” Liz waved a hand off dismissively.

The redhead sighed. “I’m not just going to trust him just because he seems to have turned over a new leaf.”

“But he hasn’t tried to kill either of us now. And he’s helping us. I don’t know why he did what he did— maybe he has a dark past or something. Or maybe he was acting out of desperation. I know that if I’m ever backed up against a corner, I’d probably kill a stranger if I have to.”

Liz snuggled under the blanket and glanced over at Trace.

“C’mon. You’ve always been one to hold a grudge. Just forgive and forget. That’s why I have a good relationship with my dad and you don’t.”

“Your dad’s a fucking arsehole. Has he even contacted you once since this whole thing happened?”

“Nope,” Liz replied cheerfully.

Trace rolled her eyes.

“I’m just saying, I’m sure Adair had a reason for acting the way he did back then. Veronica trusts him. And he’s helping out the commune too. I deadass think you’ve gotta cut him some slack.”

That was true; Trace didn’t understand the logic behind Adair’s current actions. When Veronica arrested him, she said he was a dangerous criminal. Now though, she let him wander freely, despite his relatively high levels. But what was even more perplexing was how he chose to put himself at risk for the sake of the commune.

“Maybe you’re right.” The redhead closed her eyes. “I’ll think about it tomorrow, alright? Just let me sleep. I’m fucking exhausted.”

She waited for her best friend to quip or to give some sort of response, but all she heard back was a loud snore.

“Seriously?”

Trace Taylor glanced over Liz who was already noisily asleep. Then she snorted and faced the other direction. Carefree as ever. It was something she admitted she could learn from her best friend. She closed her eyes again, letting sleep take over, and began to drift off, relaxed.

An hour later, she was jolted awake.

The house shook as a shriek could be heard in the distance. Trace scrambled for her weapon at the familiar sound, while Liz was already up and holding her Obsidian Longsword.

“The durable serpentfiend—” Liz started.

And a large shadow passed by the window as she ducked back. Trace huddled under the bed, holding her breath as the giant monster slithered its way past the house. It took half a minute before its long body finished its passing, like a train crossing through a station.

“What’s it doing here?” the redhead asked, getting to her feet.

“I don’t know, but it’s headed down the road. Look.” Liz ushered her over.

Trace watched from the window, her brows creasing as the durable serpentfiend continued north. The forest fire towards the southwest had abated slightly, but it still burned, like a dying ember in an ashened campfire.

“It’s…” The redhead froze, fear gripping her and holding her tongue.

That was the thing with setting the durable serpentfiend’s home ablaze— it wouldn’t get any sleep; it wouldn’t have anywhere to rest; and it wouldn’t be very happy.

It was upset. It was on a rampage. And it was…

Trace worked her jaw. “It’s headed for Liberapolis.”