A petrified expression was shared among all the hunters of Skinscale as they stood outside the hive, gazing into the distance. With the perfect line in which they stood, one might have even mistaken them for tourists, who made such shocked faces because they'd just seen one of the many official natural wonders of Ezma. Unfortunately for them, the wonder up ahead intended to devour them whole. As the tremors grew stronger with each passing second, a massive cloud of dust moved closer and closer to the hive.

"We're actually doing this shit?!" one of the dragons yelled out. Deep inside, he wished he had retired sooner.

Veloc looked the man in the eye. "What would you prefer? Would you rather die fighting this threat, which we might beat thanks to your sacrifice, or would you rather run and die because, without you, we'd fail to protect Skinscale?"

"I..." Before the hunter could form a response, Veloc slowly put a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, pal, I can't guarantee you your life. No false promises from me. Somebody's gonna die here. There's no way we can all make it. Maybe it'll be you, maybe it'll be me. But we're no army. Every helping hand counts." He clenched his fist, firmly gripping the dragon's tunic. "So if you think about running, just remember I will always be faster. Abandon us and you won't even get to touch the gate again, understood?"

The hunter nodded and with rather great force, he pushed Veloc aside. The yellow dragon grinned. It always gave him more confidence to see his men riled up.

"So, what's the plan?" Glavas asked when Veloc joined him in the line.

"We keep hitting it until it decides to run. We see a weak spot, we'll use it. We get an opportunity to kill it, we'll take it."

"That's not a plan!"

"Sounds good to me," Veloc showed his wide row of teeth again.

The ground ahead of them finally tore open as the massive serpent rose out of it. Its size itself was enough to frighten even the most battle-hardened warriors. It was so massive it would most likely be able to eat a whole royal palace in one gulp. As the creature dove back down toward the hunters, Glavas quickly glanced over its body. One massive horn was protruding from its nose, like a giant's rapier. Spikes ran all across its body. Almost every scale looked like a large cluster of twisting barbs.

The dragons jumped out of the way, brandishing their weapons. Some even began with their counterattack right away. Magical traps and bombs were tossed onto the ground where the serpent was meant to dive again.

Glavas moved among the first ones. With his gun set to maximum output and aimed at the ground, he blasted himself high into the sky with a gust of air magic. As he ascended, the serpent turned its eye to him. Its gaze felt piercing. The difference in size became even more apparent now that they were eyeing one another.

"Wow, you're definitely the biggest I've ever fought," Glavas smirked as his hand slid a bright yellow crystal into the chamber of his weapon. Another gunshot reached the serpent's ears, along with a blinding light that suddenly hit its right eye.

The beast let out a loud hiss and finally burrowed down beneath the ground again. In a flash of yellow lightning, Veloc arrived as close to the serpent's body as possible.

"Are you really that armoured?!" he screamed at the animal. With one zap of his lightning magic, the chains around his forearms came undone. Only now did Glavas notice a duo of folding curved blades attached to the ends. "Let's find out!" Veloc shouted and began swinging his arms around. To the bystanders, he looked rather silly. Like a dancer whose legs didn't move, so they just used their arms in a faint attempt to imitate falling windmills. However, when one would see the chains dance around him, the aspect of silliness would all be gone. The blades flew through the air, being swung around by both Veloc's movements and his magic. Each zap of lightning the dragon sent through the chains made them twitch and move in ways that would otherwise be impossible. They kept striking against the serpent's scales, sometimes chipping off a few of the barbs. Unfortunately, there were no signs of any significant damage.

However, the snake was far too well aware of what was happening outside. It emerged from the earth with horrifying speed and began biting at the dragons, no longer trying to devour, but simply to kill. The hunters were no army. No more than twenty brave men and women. However, their skills and determination could not be compared to any other similar groups. Screams soon flew across the drylands like a vast ocean of emotions. For dragons, every feeling was a tool. A tool capable of transforming their magic from a mere innate skill to a devastating weapon. Each time blood was drawn, the hunters did not despair. They simply screamed on, using the pain to fuel their anger. The angrier they were, the stronger their attacks became. Some of the hunters even began noticing physical changes to their bodies. While the brown-scaled dragon that Veloc tried to encourage before the fight was previously rather short and scrawny, now he was towering over all of them, like a monster made of muscles and metal-like scales.

Soon, the serpent deemed it necessary to call for reinforcements. No longer was its head the only suitable weapon. On the other side of the battlefield, its tail emerged, forcing the hunters to split up and watch each other's backs.

Veloc's chain blade flew as high as it could toward the back of the serpent's head, where it hooked itself against the scales. With another zap of lightning, the chain twitched and pulled the yellow dragon off his feet and toward the stuck blade.

"Too tough to bleed?! FINE!!! I'll just keep chopping till I get to the meat!!" He laughed and while one blade always kept him swinging and climbing higher, the other didn't stop striking against the serpent's scales, chipping off bit after bit.

The serpent coiled its body, ready to strike against one of the hunters to end them once and for all. Then, out of nowhere, something hit it right in its head, close to the root of the large horn. The snake hissed as a decent amount of fireballs began raining down on it. With its eyes, it quickly scanned the battlefield. Red dragons always used fire. To stop the burning sensation, it would therefore have to kill all the red-scaled hunters. The golden-glowing pupils narrowed as they found their target. The serpent lowered its head, ready to impale the dragon with its horn when suddenly, something forced its jaw to slam shut and the head to lean backwards. A massive boulder, tossed by a small team of hunters blessed with earth magic, struck the monster from below, dazing it for a few seconds. In the meantime, the rest of the crew began chopping down at the creature's defences. As it swayed from left to right, dizzy from the sudden blow to its head, it could feel the tiny, insignificant strikes against its scales. There was also something on its back. Veloc's screaming was barely noticeable to the serpent, but the same couldn't be said about the calamity his attacks were bringing.

Glavas watched the scene from afar with extreme disappointment. Were these really the hunters of Skinscale? Was this really how the dragons fought? Sure, their strength was incredible and they all did their best to watch each other's backs, but the overall combat was uncoordinated and messy. The young elf had no idea where to even begin. Every monster had a weakness. And yet, this creature was not showing any. His best bet was therefore to keep his distance and observe the whole situation with the hopes to discover something that might help them.

The snake finally snapped out of its confusion. The irritation it felt was immeasurable. This was no longer simply a matter of food. This was about killing whatever annoying little pest would dare to cause it so much discomfort. Its massive jaw flew open and a few rather massive drops of green liquid were seen dripping from its maw.

"Careful! It's about to spit!" one of the dragons warned the others.

"Detonating!" another one yelled out, which prompted everyone else to quickly retreat. With a simple subconscious command, the dragon set off the magical trap the serpent swallowed with its initial dive. Subsequently, all the other traps and bombs laid down by others were prompted to explode as well in a massive chain reaction. A dull explosion could be heard. The snake's scales cracked in certain places and a cloud of smoke soon erupted from its throat. Unfortunately, it came along with one hastily prepared spit.

"WATCH OUT!" a hunter yelled at her comrade, whose reaction time was not the best. The green liquid splashed his arm, instantly starting to sizzle and smoke. The droplets were visibly eating holes into the hunter's skin and flesh. His screams, for a moment, overshadowed the sounds of battle before they stopped completely as he fell unconscious to the ground.

"You motherfucker!" Veloc screamed at the monster. His body literally lit up with lightning as anger pumped ungodly amounts of mana through him. His blades soon mimicked the same glow as he filled them with his magic. Now every strike carried the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder. No storm, not even the wildest one, would ever make this much noise.

Seeing the wounded hunter lying on the ground finally prompted Glavas to move. In his mind, there was an idea. Something that just might work, should the enraged chief of hunters be willing to listen. It was said that a dragon's wrath is one of the most horrifying sights in Ezma. It happens when one's emotions overflow. They lose all signs of rational thinking and become nothing more than hulking beasts with tremendous power. Glavas hoped it hadn't come to that just yet. He needed Veloc to be cooperative.

As the elven hunter approached the serpent, propelling himself up its thorny body with blasts of wind magic, Veloc continued his rampage.

"Get him to safety!" he yelled at the hunters on the ground, who were just picking up their injured comrade. Glavas briefly looked their way. The dragon's arm was gone. Nothing was left of it. An acid so potent was something that simply should not exist. Now he finally understood Veloc's desire to kill the beast. Its very existence was unnatural.

The yellow dragon swung around the serpent's body, right under its head. The two chain blades tangled up and formed a massive electric collar.

"COME ON! I'M THE ONE YOU SHOULD WORRY ABOUT!!!" Veloc yelled and sent as much magic as he could into his weapons. The serpent hissed and began thrashing around, trying to shake off the painful chains.

"Veloc!" Glavas shouted at him the moment he reached him.

"What?!"

"I know how we can kill it!"

"Speak!"

"When I tell you, you'll strike this metal staff!"

"What sta... WHAT THE FUCK?!" the dragon's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as he saw a long staff fly out of the tattoo on Glavas' arm, accompanied by a splash of blood.

"Are you okay?!" he asked and the glow around him visibly dimmed.

"Yeah, no worries," Glavas reassured him and clenched his teeth, waiting for the pain in his arm to pass.

The serpent had just about enough. The collar was not coming off, so it decided to treat it like a stuck shed. It slithered over to the thorny hive, almost knocking the hunters off its back, and began scratching against the sharp exterior.

Glavas climbed a bit higher, to be at the same level as Veloc. "Sorry about this," he said and without further explanation began hitting the dragon over the head with the staff.

"Ow, Ow, OW! YOU LITTLE SHIT! STOP IT!" Veloc yelled and his previous glow returned.

"Sorry, just had to get you riled up. As you come down, just strike the tip of the staff," he explained and looked at the firearm in his hand. It was still set to maximum output.

"Down?" Veloc asked and obtained his answer soon after when Glavas slid further down and shot the dragon in the back. The massive blast of air nearly tossed the elf away.

"GLAVAAAAAAS!" the yellow dragon screamed as the blast carried him high up onto one of the massive thorns running around the whole exterior of the hive.

In the meantime, Glavas moved. He jumped off the snake's massive scale and propelled himself upward by continuously firing his weapon. He could feel the metal heat up as he ascended. The maximum output blasts were not good for the mechanism. By the time he reached the serpent's head, he had to drop the gun. Holding it any longer would give him a nasty burn, and it was clear that any more shots would break it beyond repair. As he landed on the snake's head, it began scratching itself against the hive once more, tearing off some parts of the wall. Glavas did not waste one second. He set the staff down, holding it upward facing the sky.

"NOW! HIT IT!" he yelled at the dragon above him.

"Hahaha! I get it now! You sick fuck, you better dodge in time," Veloc grinned and dropped down. While falling, he kept spinning his chain blades. With each revolution, their glow intensified. The lightning magic inside them accumulated, ready to burst out with a single strike. The serpent saw the mysterious shining object falling its way, and immediately turned to retreat. The realisation, however, came far too late.

It was like the strike of a truly enormous bell, which was quickly overtaken by a clap of thunder so loud the entire hive thought they went deaf for a moment. Glavas' hand stung and tickled as the strike sent a few loose bolts of lightning around, some of which managed to hit him. The shockwave from the explosion tossed both hunters further down the creature's back, but they were both still very much alive. The scales on the snake's head were completely crushed, and the metal staff was lodged a solid few centimetres deep inside its skull. The serpent's body came crashing down against the hive. The massive horn on its head pierced the stone and made a rather large hole in the outer wall of Skinscale. The glowing runes on the inside flickered out and faded, leaving only some of them still intact and barely illuminating the interior.

"Is it dead?!" Veloc shouted at Glavas.

"No! But should be too out of it to move. Strike its head! Now!" he instructed his friend while rubbing his palms. Although he did manage to let go of the staff in time, the damage he sustained was still painful. Climbing the serpent, especially without the help of his firearm, was next to impossible.

Fortunately, Veloc was perfectly suited for this task. His blades flew upward and along with his magic offered him a quick lift all the way to the head. The hunters down below watched and cheered as their captain moved in for the kill of a millennium. He finally saw the damage he and Glavas have managed to cause. The sight of the serpent's exposed and vulnerable flesh filled him with even more determination.

"This kill is ours!" he called out so loudly that Glavas could hear him. "To the two best hunters in all of Ezma, Glavas and Veloc!" With that he swung his blade in a long arch, aiming to strike the staff once more and send it right through the serpent's head.

A shock went through his mind when he suddenly saw the chain of his weapon snapping. That alone, however, wouldn't be all that uncommon. After all, metal can get weaker if it becomes enchanted with more magic than it can handle. But no, this was different, because the thing that snapped the chain was a hand. A slim, scaly hand which had erupted out of the serpent's body.

"What the fuck...?" Veloc gasped, unable to comprehend what was happening. The scales shifted and the body of the snake burst open, releasing... something. That was the best word Veloc could describe it as. A something. What climbed out of that wound seemed like the upper body of a naga, except that it lacked almost all the typical facial features of one. It looked like a perfectly smooth humanoid body covered in the scales of a serpent. The worst part, however, was its head. The only normal part about it was the two eyes, both carrying a faint yellow glow in their pupils. The nose was replaced by simply two holes in the face. As the creature emerged, it yawned. The mouth was so wide pretty much the whole upper half of the head leaned back as it opened, revealing two rows of long teeth, and an incredibly long tongue. Veloc stood there, frozen in place. In his years, he had never seen anything like it. His shock allowed him to shout but a single sentence: "It's not over!"