"Is everyone alright?"

In front of them was a large hexagonal barrier of light.

"Thank you, Celestina. I thought I was going to dissolve." To Oscar's side were his teammates, who were wearing relieved expressions.

When the venom flew everywhere, Oscar tried to figure out how to survive. 'Steel Scales' would melt. Reis would not do anything against poison. His Ein wasn't powerful enough to stop the venom.

However, Celestina rushed over and instantly erected a hexagon wall of light with a six-pointed star in the center. The venom that touched this wall of light rebounded and sent flying back.

'Grade Two Hexagon Mirror'

Celestina originally learned the grade one version of the spell, 'Light Screen'. Once she became an Elite Exalt, she earned enough points to learn the grade two upgrade.

She was relieved to have made a great decision, empowering the spell to blow the venom back. If she had stuck with the grade one version, the venom would have stuck to the shield and corroded it before surging down like a waterfall.

It would have destroyed what remained of their footing and had a good chance of poisoning them.

"It exploded a large amount of venom from all of its orifices. Everything is melting around us." Oscar looked around to see green vapors rising from every part of the ground and walls not covered by Celestina's protection.

"Should I just go all-out?" Celestina asked.

"No. The reason we're in a group is to ease your burden. Not to mention that we need have some strength in reserve in case of emergency." Oscar rejected her idea.

This battle against the Thousand Serpent was tough, but it could be worse if another beast decided to join in. The loud sounds and powerful waves of Ein could attract another beast.

RUMBLE

The Thousand Serpent flailed around, shaking the ground, and rose with its mouth wide open.

"Hey, do you notice that snake looks a little slimmer?" Emily questioned the Thousand Serpent's current strange condition.

Its body was noticeably thinner, about three-quarters of its original size. The snakes that made up its scales were half as thick. Evidently, that venom explosion had emptied its body.

The 'Hexagon Mirror' started to flicker and dissipate.

Oscar observed their surroundings, and his face darkened. Once all the vapors were gone, the entire landscape of their location changed.

The flat, stable ground had been transformed into a deformed, twisted, and uneasy battlefield. It would be challenging to move around as fast and efficiently as before.

Any misstep could spell their death.

Oscar entertained the thought of Emily using her 'Rock Barrier' to offset it, but that was too much of an endeavor. Her Ein would be wasted as the Thousand Serpent demolished them all.

'We can't have Celestina go full power. The best play here would be to conserve our Ein. That venom explosion should have used up a good amount of the beast's Ein.' His buckler latched tightly to his arm.

"Hmm?" Oscar and the others watched the Thousand Serpent wriggle around; its snake scales hissed loudly when they suddenly extended out fully. Rather than a serpent, it was like a porcupine with snakes for quills.

The Sapphire Hedgehog growled and hissed at this display. Even though the Thousand Serpent was far above its power, it did not enjoy its imitation. George calmed it down quickly and turned to everyone.

"What the hell is this?"

"All the venom it used is gone, and the snakes extend farther than before. Was all that venom inhibiting its capabilities?" Phillip made what he could of the situation.

Now the snakes all over hissed and stared at the group of intruders with great malice. They swayed around in the air like floating tendrils.

To be beset by all the dead yellow eyes made every hair on Oscar's body stand exactly like a mouse about to be eaten. They suddenly retracted into the Thousand Serpent.

"Dodge!"

They could not think about moving as one unit. The entire group scattered right away as the Thousand Serpent thrashed its way with incredible speed, a gift from the loss of venom.

Oscar and the others managed to evade it in time, but that was not the end.

Some snake scales stretched out extremely long like rubber and moved like a whip, rushing erratically toward their targets. These snakes came down like twisting arrows.

'Light Barrage'

Celestina responded with her scattered attack of light rays that bent and met the snake tendrils in the middle. She stopped a good amount, but some managed to get through and torpedoed toward Oscar and the others.

Since they were spread out and split from each other, they had to face this alone.

'Dual Awaken'

His blue Ein burned on his deer anima's antlers. Together they fiercely defended their life.

'Flowing Mountain'

Oscar increased the Reis in his buckler by continuously deflecting the snakes as they arrived and redirecting them while burning his Ein in great concentrations. However, these snakes were powerful despite being offshoots of the Thousand Serpent. Their incredible strength weighed down on him, and his heart was hurting from the constant flow of Reis above his limits. His core and mind were beginning to feel a piercing pain.

Blood began to spill from his mouth and nose, but Oscar continued with this deer anima. They moved as one and deflected the snakes.

Off to the side, Emily and George managed to link with each other and were defending against the snakes. Phillip was throwing out his 'First Step' without pause.

'Radiant Lance'

Celestina shot out a lance at the Thousand Serpent. Her dragon anima let out another light beam, judging it was dangerous to get in close against these entangling snakes.

The pressure on Oscar and the others was lifted. The Thousand Serpent retracted all its snakes as it tried to dodge. But Celestina was one step ahead as she closed the distance.

'Hexagon Mirror'

The defensive spell acted as a wall that kept the Thousand Serpent from moving away. It slammed its head furiously onto it, creating cracks all over. But it was too late.

With no other option, the Thousand Snake bound and linked many of its snake scales into multi-layered shields of snakes to block the light beam and the lance.

The air trembled and started to heat up from the power of Celestina's light. Phillip and the others took the opportunity to close in and deal massive damage. The Thousand Serpent had no means to block them.

Celestina noticed something odd. Oscar was missing. With fear in her eyes, she looked over to the side. Oscar was kneeling and clutching his heart.

Oscar was reeling from the usual backlash from overusing his 'Dual Awaken'. Even though the Thousand Snake was weakened, it was still reckless to redirect all the Reis from its attacks while maintaining fine Ein control.

'What is this?'

However, something worse was happening to Oscar. Oscar clutched his left side where his ear used to be. A loud ringing sound tormented the insides of his eardrums until complete silence.

All manners of sound had disappeared from his world. He could not hear the hissing of snakes, his teammates' resolute shouts, and his heart's constant beating.

This happened before. After he fought against Erik during the 'Free Duels'.

'What the hell is happening to me?' Oscar could not breathe and coughed without pause. Each cough spat out more blood, worsening his condition.

The Thousand Serpent, under attack, noticed Oscar staying still like a trapped mouse. Its instincts took over; it desired to kill this helpless prey, and it extended one snake tendril to gouge out his throat.

Celestina watched in horror and was about to step in to stop it. But something unexpected occurred.

SWISH

A brilliant arc of light sliced through the air and collided on top of the snake tendril. It could not cut off the snake, but it did enough to stop the snake from attacking Oscar. The slash of light broke apart and dissipated.

'Who?' Celestina looked up to catch a glimpse of the spell user.

That spell was not hers, nor anyone else's. Whoever they were, they saved Oscar's life. Her dragon anima was focused on the Thousand Serpent; she couldn't see much through its eyes but the Thousand Serpent.

"Princess!" Phillip's shout roused Celestina's attention to the Thousand Serpent. They were now within range.

Sensing the danger, the Thousand Serpent had to retract the snake that tried to attack Oscar to deter these attackers.

Phillip observed that the snake tentacles were extremely long, but some snakes returned to a scaly state. When some of the snakes were done attacking, they retracted as the other snakes extended out.

Even the Thousand Serpent had its limitations on how it used its snakes. Once some extended out far, others had to retract.

At the moment, the Thousand Serpent had extended most of its available tentacles to block the light beam and lance, leaving a few to guard its defenseless body, one to attack Oscar, and the rest were idle as scales.

Phillip charged ahead, there were many scrapes and cuts from the snakes' bombardment, but he didn't care. This was the life and death battle he craved; he felt incredibly light and smiled. With all his Ein, he unleashed his most powerful 'Third Step'.

The few snake tentacles tried to stop him, but Emily was right ahead and used 'Heavy Impact' with both her staffs to put all her weight on the three. With the last ounce of her power, she created a 'Rock Barrier' that shot Phillip upward.

Her staff broke into pieces. The snakes were tough, and she did all she could as a Middle Apprentice Exalt. She smiled as she fell. Her job was over.

The rest of the snake tendrils were blasted by George's arrows. Then his hedgehog produced another long quill. George shot it out with all of his power.

Thanks to Emily's launching pad, Phillip bolted through the air toward the Thousand Serpent's face. His sword was burning prismatically with the overflowing Ein.

"Take this!"

Phillip threw out his sword anima, infused with all his Ein, toward the Thousand Serpent's eye–a modified version of his 'Third Step' that he came up with just now. Getting close was dangerous, and animas could be remote-controlled.

"GRAAAAHHHHH!" The Thousand Serpent screeched in a painful cry that reverberated through the caverns. The sword anima had stabbed halfway into its eye, releasing pus of yellow liquid.

"Half-way? Even its eyes are tough." Phillip sighed in shame that he could not do better. But he was also out of commission and tumbled to the ground, groaning from the pain of the rocks.

Then came George's blue quill, impaling the other eye. The Thousand Serpent lashed out in pain.

This allowed the dragon anima's light beam to sear some of its scales. The lance that was held back by the tendrils easily went past the disorientated cluster of snakes to the Thousand Serpent.

The Thousand Serpent behaved even crazier. It lost all reasoning and thrashed everywhere.

Phillip somehow got up, picked up the motionless Emily, and desperately tried to dodge the tendrils while keeping her safe. George, at a distance, overdrew his Ein to shoot more arrows to help them escape.

"Well done, everyone. You've all fought well." Celestina's triumphant shout was clear even through the painful cries of the Thousand Serpent and the quaking of the ground.

In her rapier was another 'Radiant Lance'. It shone like a holy light that made Celestina appear like a goddess of victory.

"It's over!" She shouted mightly.

The powerful lance of light shot at the crazed Thousand Serpent, tearing through any of the tendrils it met.

"To lose your cool is to admit defeat." Celestine murmured as she watched the unruly actions of the beast.

SPLAT

The lance impaled the Thousand Serpent through its mouth. A large hole was torn through the back of its head, blowing out its skull and brain.

All the snake scales and tendrils went limp and lifeless, hanging down, as the Thousand Serpent crashed to the ground in a pool of blood.

After a long and hard-fought battle, Oscar's group emerged victorious.