THE WORLD-DEVOURING SERPENT AND THE ELVEN ANOMALY

CRASH... CRASH... CRACK!

A horrifying sound echoed as the colossal wooden gates of Fortress 22 shattered into thousands of splinters, fluttering through the air. The most impenetrable layer of defense had finally been crushed under the pressure of the siege engines and the maddening willpower of 20,000 human soldiers. At the base of the fortress, a triumphant roar erupted, shaking the entire valley. Old General Kenshin sat on his horse, the corner of his lips curling into a victor's smile.

But that smile didn't have time to fully form before the atmosphere abruptly shifted. A suffocating, oppressive pressure descended from above, violently squeezing the chests of every cheering player. The surrounding temperature dropped drastically, and the sky, which had been glowing with the sunset, was suddenly obscured by rolling black clouds, turning as dark as pitch.

From the top of the ruined fortress wall, the white-cloaked figure of the white-bearded old man—Wrath—slowly levitated into the air. His previously gentle eyes were gone, replaced by two abyssal black holes radiating towering bloodlust. The old man spread his arms, and a surge of dark purple magic billowed out, enveloping his entire body like a gigantic cocoon.

"You insects... have crossed the line." The old man's voice no longer came from human vocal cords; it rumbled and echoed from all directions, deafening to the ears. "Activating Ultimate Skill: Serpent's Hunt!"

Instantly, the dark purple magical cocoon detonated. A shockwave swept across the field, blowing away hundreds of the human vanguard like dried leaves. As the dust settled, everyone—including the Lord of Fortress 22 standing in the back—was left staring up at the sky with their jaws dropped in absolute terror.

The white-haired old man had vanished. Hovering in mid-air was a monster beyond all human imagination. He had transformed into a colossal black serpent!

The snake's body was absurdly massive. When it reared its head, its height surpassed the 120-meter mark, tearing right through the low-hanging clouds. Its body rippled with gigantic muscles, covered in sleek black scales that were harder than any alloy in existence. The length of this monster was more than enough to coil entirely around Fortress 22 with its tail to spare. It looked like an incarnation of the apocalypse stepping straight out of Norse mythology.

The giant serpent's eyes snapped open. They weren't the eyes of a beast, but two blazing, blood-red suns, shooting deathly glares down at the earth. It let out an ear-piercing hiss, opening a maw wide enough to swallow a high-rise building whole, revealing venom-drenched fangs that dripped acid capable of melting solid rock.

"Advance! Do not retreat! Fire arrows! Use magic!" Old General Kenshin shouted, desperately trying to maintain formation.

Tens of thousands of people began focusing their firepower on the monster. Showers of brilliant arrows, fireballs, and streaks of lightning relentlessly battered the Serpent God's black scales. But... it was meaningless. Completely meaningless. The most powerful attacks from the 20,000-strong legion—the same force that had just pulverized Fortress 22—only produced tiny clinking sounds upon hitting the snake's body before bouncing off, not leaving so much as a scratch. His body was an impenetrable fortress.

The red-eyed serpent began to move. It lunged forward, dragging its massive underbelly against the ground. The path it took looked as though it had just suffered the wrath of a category-five hurricane. The surrounding earth trembled violently, splitting open into deep chasms. Ancient, thousand-year-old trees were crushed by its colossal bulk, snapping like toothpicks. The human legion tried to brace with their shields, but a mere, gentle sweep of the snake's tail wiped out thousands of soldiers, turning them into streaks of white light flying back to the respawn point. An overwhelming sense of helplessness enveloped humanity in the face of this creature's absolute hardness and dominating power.

However, right in the most desperate moment, just as the serpent prepared to open its jaws and devour the Old General's central command...

SWISH!

An incredibly ear-piercing sound of tearing wind echoed from an impossible distance. No one saw where the attack came from. They only saw a blinding streak of light rip through space, slamming directly into the flank of the colossal monster.

BOOM!

A massive explosion rang out, accompanied by flashing sparks. The giant serpent slightly faltered. For the first time since his transformation, his hardened black scales cracked. Though it was just a small fissure the size of a bowl, it was enough to shock every single spectator. It was an arrow! An arrow condensed entirely out of pure light energy.

The colossal serpent growled, its fury flaring up violently. Its house-sized head slowly turned, glaring toward the distant bamboo forest where the arrow had been fired. Those glowing red eye sockets narrowed in pure threat.

"The Elf Tribe... is it you?" Wrath's deep, muffled voice echoed, shaking heaven and earth.

Despite his fury at the one who dared scratch his scales, he decided not to leave right away. The arrogance of a being carrying the bloodline of the Supreme Being made him want to slaughter the human army first before settling the score with the sniper. The giant head opened wide, preparing to massacre General Kenshin's formation.

But the hidden enemy didn't give him the chance.

Just as the serpent lowered its head... SWISH! BOOM!

Lại một mũi tên ánh sáng nữa phóng ra từ hư không. Lần này, nó nhắm thẳng vào cằm của con quái vật. Động năng của mũi tên ánh sáng lớn đến mức phi lý, nó phát nổ ngay khi chạm vào lớp vảy cứng. Cú va chạm kinh hoàng tạo ra một làn sóng xung kích đẩy văng cái đầu khổng lồ ngược ra phía sau. Toàn bộ phần thân dài 120 mét của con rắn bị hất tung, đẩy lùi về phía sau tới 24 mét, cuộn tròn và lăn lộn cày nát cả một mảng đồi trống. Bụi đất tung mù mịt che khuất cả bầu trời.

When the mortal dust slowly settled, from the distant bamboo forest, a breathtakingly beautiful sight emerged.

Miles away from the battlefield, amidst the vast bamboo grove swaying in the wind, a young girl from the Elf Tribe was hovering in mid-air. She wasn't using flight magic; rather, she was employing an extremely bizarre and agile posture: She was seated in thin air, her slender bare feet pressing firmly against two large bamboo stalks on either side to keep her balance. Her body was suspended by the pressure from her legs and the bending of the two bamboo trunks, creating perfect tension.

Her emerald green hair fluttered in the wind. Her sharp elven eyes glinted with mischievousness. Ignoring the extreme distance—far beyond the vision of any master marksman—every arrow she fired was unbelievably precise, as if equipped with a magical tracking system. Seeing the giant serpent furiously struggling to its feet and glaring in her direction, the elven girl merely smiled—a smile that was half-teasing, half-provocative.

On her back was a vine-woven basket filled to the brim with intangible energy arrows. Her hands moved as fast as phantoms, continuously drawing arrows and pulling the bowstring.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Brilliant streaks of light tore across the sky, traveling at the speed of sound. On the opposite side, the massive monster suddenly became a reluctant target practice dummy. Despite its destructive power, its 120-meter frame was a massive disadvantage against these homing arrows. The giant serpent frantically writhed, attempting to dodge with swift, slithering movements. However, against the marksmanship of the Elf Tribe, dodging was futile.

He took four, then five arrows consecutively.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Every arrow that buried itself into his body resulted in a wide-area light explosion. Their insane kinetic force sent the serpent's colossal body bouncing into the air, flying dozens of meters before crashing violently into the earth, creating deep artificial craters. Once an imposing Evil God no one dared oppose, Wrath was now being batted back and forth like a giant ball.

"ROAR!!!"

The serpent completely lost control to his rage. He unleashed a deafening roar, ignoring the existence of the petty human soldiers. His colossal body coiled like a spring before launching toward the bamboo forest, his maw gaping as if wanting to swallow the entire hill whole. He shot forward with the speed of a missile, leveling thousands of bamboo stalks in the blink of an eye. The spot where the elven girl had just been standing was crushed into fine powder.

But when those giant jaws snapped shut, he realized he had only bitten air. The presence of the elven girl on those two bamboo stalks had long vanished.

She had used her tribe's special teleportation skill. Instantly, she reappeared in a new location: atop a colossal, ancient tree standing 100 meters tall on the peak of the mountain right behind the serpent. This position was so high and so far away that, to the naked eyes of the soldiers below, she looked like nothing more than a faint, shimmering speck of light amidst the clouds.

This time, the Elven girl was no longer smiling. Her expression became extremely serious. From a virtual void, she drew a massive arrow of light, five times larger and longer than the previous ones. The energy radiating from it distorted the surrounding air.

Realizing this arrow could not be drawn with normal arm strength, she executed an unprecedented maneuver. She leaned back against the treetop, aiming the giant bow at the sky. She planted both feet firmly against the wooden body of the bow to lock it in place. Meanwhile, she gripped the blazing bowstring tightly with both hands, using the strength of her entire body, combined with her back and leg muscles, to draw it taut.

The bow bent into a perfect semicircle. Magical energy from the sky converged into the massive arrow, glowing as brilliantly as a fragment of the sun. Unlike the smaller, harassing arrows, this giant arrow of light carried colossal, destructive power—a strike capable of ending the highest-tier entities.

SWOOOSH—BOOM!

The girl let go with both hands. The giant arrow transformed into a three-meter-wide laser pillar, plummeting straight from the heavens at terrifying speed. There was zero chance to dodge.

Piercing through space. Piercing through defenses. Piercing through all black scales.

THWACK!!!

The light arrow slammed straight into the center of the giant serpent's 120-meter body, pinning it to the ground. A pillar of light erupted straight into the stratosphere. The monster roared in agony, the pain ripping through its internal organs causing it to thrash wildly. Its giant tail lashed blindly through the air, smashing the surrounding small mountains. Black blood gushed from the wound like a fountain, corroding the rock and soil below.

Using terrifying strength, it bit off the light arrow embedded in its body and ripped it out. By now, the monster had completely abandoned everything else. Old General Kenshin? The human army? Fortress 22? None of it mattered anymore. In a mind clouded by absolute rage, it had only one singular goal: To sacrifice that Elven brat alive!

It twisted its blood-soaked head toward the mountain, looking up. "Found you!"

The serpent spotted the girl standing atop the giant ancient tree. She had just regained her balance, and upon locking eyes with the colossal monster, she smiled again. A highly provocative smile, as she gave a thumbs-up and then slowly turned it downward.

The serpent shot up the mountain in a frenzy. But in the blink of an eye, the moment its giant head went airborne...

BOOM!

Another massive arrow fired from the treetop, burying itself straight into the center of the serpent's forehead before it could even open its mouth.

CRASH!

The extreme pressure from the explosion sent its entire massive body rocketing backward into the sky. The 120-meter frame was caught in a massive aerial vortex, spinning and somersaulting multiple times before slamming violently into the earth, carving out a deep trench that stretched for miles.

With the relentless vitality of a system monster, the serpent shuddered, trying to right its posture. It coiled its rippling muscles and raised its battered head, intending to open its jaws and incinerate that entire mountain to ash.

But... when its glowing red eyes looked toward the giant ancient tree, the girl was nowhere to be seen. No trace of magic, no sign of life. She had teleported and vanished completely, as if she had never existed in this world, leaving behind only humiliating disgrace for the one bearing the title of the Supreme Being's Descendant.

The gloomy sky violently shook as the serpent threw its head back, letting out a roar filled with immense resentment and madness that echoed into every corner of the realm of Aethelgard:

"I WILL NOT LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS, YOU DESPICABLE ELF!!!"

At the foot of the ruined hills, General Kenshin's 20,000 soldiers stood rooted to the spot, their weapons hanging limp. They had just witnessed a battle of gods, a place where humanity, no matter how iron-clad their discipline, were just insignificant, helpless spectators watching the sky collapse.

And in the real world, in front of the screen of the old television broadcasting the match, Arata held his chopsticks mid-air, a slice of cucumber pinched between them, and froze. He turned to look at Yuki, whose jaw had dropped as she chewed her instant noodles.

This game... had just birthed an anomaly capable of shaking the very throne of the Supreme Being.