This chapter has been proof-read by: AnthonyL

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Irene and I walked back to the temple room after the players disconnected. Of course I was curious to know what was inside the temple but more than anything else, I was eyeing all this delicious reptilian EXP crawling all around.

Molly may have exaggerated by saying there was a hundred snakes, from what I could tell there was around 30 to 40 which was still a buttload of them. Since all of them were over level 100 this meant a crazy amount of EXP if you took into consideration the 50% bonus.

Since I was a basilisk, the king of all snakes, I was pretty certain to be able to simply walk by them without being attacked but to leave such a huge amount of desirable EXP behind wasn't my style. Of course there was the issue of being outnumbered.

I may be their king but if I start killing them they won't simply stand still and let me do it. As strong as I might be, if all these giant snakes come at me at the same time, there's no way I can survive that. Going through my skills and items didn't help me find a way out of this impasse either.

The only way out of this problem was to use brain over brawn. I needed to devise a tactic allowing me to kite them one at a time.

Kiting: (Gamer slang) Kiting refers to keeping an enemy chasing you while also keeping it at a range where it cannot attack you. This tactic is often used to more safely attack the enemy using a long-range attack or to distract the enemy while others attack it.

The effect looks like you have the enemy on the end of a string, kind of like a 'kite', because you are both moving in the same direction and he's never catching up to you. It is a generic term that applies to any game with mechanics that allow it.

Not only that but we needed a plan allowing us to kite them one at a time without alerting the other which made things even more complicated for us.

“Sister, I need you to tell me what you can do. Do you have any ranged skills ?” (Kneeko)

“I have [Inferno] and [Mana pulse]... And one more that I am not allowed to show you.” (Irene)

“What the fuck Irene! What's the point in hiding that from me? Aren't I your adorable brother?” (Kneeko)

“I know!!! Sorry! But mother's words are absolute. She said you can't know of our clan's secret techniques until you become a member of our clan.” (Irene)

“Mother doesn't trust any outsider.. Sighh I hope brother won't come to hate me because of that.” (Irene)

Sighh how annoying. I will have make do with what I know. [Inferno] is a ranged attack but only has a small reach. Depending on her mastery of the skill , it can reach from 5 to 20 meters. Then mana blast was a skill similar to my fireball but constituted of pure mana with no elements.

Taking in all these new information, my skills and my surroundings, I created fighting simulations in my head trying to single out the tactic showing the highest rate of success. My first plan was to create barriers with vines aimed at funneling them one by one like ranchers do with cattle.

That plan was a failure when I realized that I couldn't grow vines on this granite floor. My next plan was definitely more vicious. Coming up with this kind of plan gives me shivers as to what it would be like to fight against someone as smart as me.

Not to brag or anything but I had came up with a plan that assured victory without casualty. I then ended up spending a few hours spitting in a bottle to gather as much saliva and venom as possible, then doused it all over the corridor floor leading to the snake room.

While I was doing this I sent Irene to bring me as much dirt as possible and created some piles of it here and there alongside the long corridor. Then I only had to grow various poisonous plants along the way where the snakes would be forced to rub against them.

In total, there were 30 different type of poisons used in the “death corridor” as we now called it. We also installed a few traps and wooden spikes along the way knowing very well that they wouldn't make too much of a difference, but it was better to over do it than not doing enough.

Once satisfied with our preparations, we walked back up the corridor and got into position. This would be a monster train like no others.

Monster trains (Dual meaning):

(1) A large group of monsters stacked near each other all following one player.

(2) A large group of monster that keep coming with no end in sight.

“Are you ready sister?” (Kneeko)

“Yes big bro!” (Irene)

She readied herself, holding the new bastard sword I had given her. Apparently she wasn't allowed to transform into her dragon form which made it more complicated. As for me, I had no intention of holding back. I was to Irene what the earlier players were to me, an annoyance preventing her from showing her true potential.

This annoyed me greatly but understood where Anastaria was coming from. She didn't know if she could trust me yet, maybe I could go over to another clan and crush the Rokugans. As long as I hadn't undergone the clan ritual, I couldn't be fully trusted.

I seriously couldn't blame her knowing fully well that I would have probably done the same thing in her situation. With our preparations and everything else ready, it was showtime.

“Cover your ears !!” (Kneeko)

[Basilisk Cry]

“KIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (Kneeko)

The entire dungeon shook. Then sounds that could only be described as “horror movie material” began to be heard. It was the sounds of a large amount of giant snakes hurrying toward our direction while being attacked by several traps and poisons along the way.

They truly were sounds of nightmares, enough to make a grown man wet his pants and freeze the blood in his veins. We waited 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes... The sounds kept getting closer and closer. Sweat was slowly trickling down my nose under the immense pressure of what was to come.

Sensing them getting really close, I transformed into my basilisk form. Then a few minutes later, the first snake appeared in all his glory. Well, actually he was quite wounded and was nearly dead so I abridged his suffering by biting his neck and trashing his body around like a dog with a toys.

They may have been giant snakes, but I was still 3 to 4 time bigger than them. One after the other I kept ripping them apart assisted by Irene who was spamming inferno down the corridor. Some of them put up a good fight but were nonetheless subjugated one after the other.

Having lost most of their HP due to poison, these level 100+ snakes were easy prey. What could have been an impossible battle had became a massacre. Easy pickings is what you could call them at this point.

Me and Irene were level upping like crazy and were now totally drunk on battle-lust when something very strange happened. A scream could be heard from down the corridor. After that, no more snakes were coming. What had happened? Was there a boss snake down there that we hadn't seen?

Our questions quickly found answers as a luminous doorway suddenly appeared next to us where there was none before. Out of the light slowly appeared the silhouette of a shadowy figure with red eyes. His body was entirely black preventing us from visually identify what it was.

“[Identify]” (Kneeko)

Monster (Kakaroto)Species:Egregore (Dungeon Master)Level:442Monster Rank:HighRarity:Very Rare

This is the information I have about Egregores in my database:

Egregore (also egregor) is an occult concept representing a "thoughtform" or "collective group mind", an autonomous psychic entity made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of a group of people.

I slowly turned my head toward Irene and whispered.

“Sister. Gulp*... I think we're fucked........ No wait! I ain't going down without a fight! Bring it you fucker! [TerrorEyes]” (Kneeko)

Taking a fighting stance next to Irene we braced ourselves for the coming apocalypse when the dark figure began speaking instead of lashing at us.

“You... are monsters. Why are you killing my children?!” (Kakaroto)

Quickly thinking of what I could say to avoid death, my response was one only a monster could come up with. Putting my tail on Irene's shoulder to reassure her, I then used my best acting skills.

“To get stronger... To kill more humans... To rain apocalypse upon this earth. ROARRRRRrrrrrr*” (Kneeko) Perfect role playing if you ask me.

Then seemingly reflecting on what I had just said, the dark shadowy figure stood there without talking for a few very long seconds.

“Why not kill humans then?” (Kakaroto)

Good question, but I had the perfect comeback for this one as well.

“To become a dragon unequaled under the heaven, I need to prey on my own kind.” (Kneeko)

After a few more seconds of silence, Kakaroto made a hand gesture which opened another portal filled with light.

“Go... If you are worthy, you shall receive strength. If you aren't, you shall find death. This is not an offer but an order.” (Kakaroto)

Stuck between a rock an a hard place, Irene and I reluctantly walked through the luminous portal and got instantly transported to the deepest part of the dungeon.

+++

STATUS:

PROFILENAME:KneekoLEVEL:189GENDER:MaleMONEY:445G 37S 22CRACE:Bolt Basilisk (Rare Variant)MONSTER RANK:Medium highHEALTH:4800STAMINA:600MANA:6190STRENGTH:1335(M)INTELLIGENCE:504 (+100)SPEED:22DEXTERITY:18(H)VITALITY:415 (+50)CHARM:40 (+40)LUCK:19 (+40)AGILITY:19RESISTANCE:125 (+50)(S)ENDURANCE:45SKILL POINTS:480FAME/INFAMY:-1700 (Mostly Evil)CLASS:-------------------TITLES:Spoiler : ☑ Elemental Master

☑ King of the pond

☑ Toxic Powerhouse

☑ TycoonPASSIVE SKILLS:Spoiler : Amphibious (E)

Obscuro Poison (B)

Poison Resistance (A)

Viper Neurotoxin (A)ACTIVE SKILLS:Spoiler : Basilisk Cry (D)

Deadly Breath ©

Death Stare (S)

Gardener touch (B)

Lightning Strike (E)

Lightning Discharge (E)

Luminar (E)

Poison Spit (D)

Sad puppy eyes (B)

Tail Whip (B)

TerrorEyes (B)

Vines Hell (D)

Viper Bite ©ARCANE LIBRARY:Spoiler : Arcane FireBall