"Oh, cool," I nonchalantly said, raising the Soultaker. "I've always wanted to fight giant snakes."

Castor shot me a look that was a mix of disbelief and annoyance, but I couldn't help myself. The adrenaline was pumping, and I felt alive. The two serpents hissed in unison, their massive forms coiling in anticipation of the battle to come. The room grew brighter as the red torch's flame grew, casting a crimson glow across the gleaming scales.

[System alert: Hidden quest added.]

[Quest: Defeat the Celestial Twin Snakes only having a Moonsnake or Sunsnake weapon equipped.]

[Requirements: Equipped Weapon temporarily reset to original state. No damaging Skills allowed.]

[Reward: Counterpart Weapon | (Locked)]

[Time Remaining: 00:04:50]

I raised an eyebrow curiously. "Well, isn't that convenient," I murmured, glancing at the group. "Looks like I've got the right tool for the job."

"Wait, you're not seriously going to complete the quest, right?" the Soultaker protested in my hand. "Why would you want another subpar weapon in comparison to me?"

I snorted, leaping back to avoid a silver blast of magic from the Moonsnake. "It's not about the weapons more so than it is for completing the quest," I retorted. "Besides, you've been my main weapon ever since you transformed, and I highly doubt that'll change."

The Soultaker fell silent, as if contemplating my words. Meanwhile, the two snakes were closing in, their movements coordinated and deadly. Castor and Gretchen took their positions, ready to keep the serpents' attention. Eliwood and Celine prepared their spells from the rear, eyes focused and ready to assist from afar.

The Sunsnake seemed to be protective of his twin, absorbing the attacks Castor and Gretchen dished out without taking damage whatsoever. The Moonsnake hung back behind her twin, firing off powerful spells at us with a precision that was eerie for a creature of her size. Now I saw why Seth and the other Enigma members emphasized teamwork. The snake bosses were working well together, and we needed to do the same if we had any hope of defeating them.

"Okay then... if you promise not to replace me, I'll let you use another weapon for now," the blade mumbled in my hands, almost shyly. I mean, I was going to use the Silver Serpent regardless, so there wasn't any need for the sword to say that.

[Huh. You know, it seems like you guys are becoming a couple with every conversation.] Sephera's message blinked before my eyes, ruining the mood. The Soultaker and I angrily snapped back at her while I tried to focus on the battle.

Ignoring the banter, I switched weapons, the Silver Serpent feeling surprisingly light in my grip. Probably because the sword's damage had been reset back to 150. I checked to see if I could add the damage back, but was unable to. That was fine by me. Despite not having the bonus of damage Skills, I still had a few tricks up my sleeves.

Castor and Gretchen were struggling on the frontlines, unable to get close to the Sunsnake due to the Moonsnake behind him keeping them at bay with magical attacks. Meanwhile, Celine and Eliwood couldn't get a clear shot at the Moonsnake with her twin hyper-focused on blocking their ranged attacks. It was the perfect combination of defense and offense. Well, almost perfect.

"Castor, Gretchen, get ready to run past the Sunsnake!" I called out, charging up a Flooded Kingdom empowered by Holy Element. Castor shot me a glance and nodded, silently giving me control of the team. I returned with a thankful smile, casting the Flooded Kingdom.

Water rose up from the ground to our ankles, a chilling yet soothing sensation. While it didn't do much to me and the rest of the team except getting our legs wet, the twin snakes practically froze in place from the slow debuff.

"Nice one, Luquier!" Gretchen shouted over the hissing snakes. Castor took the opportunity to sprint past the stunned Sunsnake, while I followed closely behind.

[System alert: Celestial Twin Snakes' Shed Skin passive activated. Debuff has been removed.]

"Not so fast," I muttered under my breath, casting Neutralize on the pair before they could move again. I had to reset the day cooldown using 24 points, but that was honestly nothing.

At first, it seemed like it worked, causing the twin snakes to once again freeze up. But then, their eyes began to glow even brighter, and their scales rippled with an intense energy. A silver light coated the both of them, and to my shock, they were able to move again.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I thought to myself as the Moonsnake lowered her massive head towards Castor and I. Behind us, I could hear Gretchen's yelp of surprise as the Sunsnake moved to intercept her. I assumed that since Shed Skin was a passive, it'd continuously trigger, which made using Neutralize every time a bit useless. I thought it would be a one and done thing, but perhaps persistent abilities had a work-around. That was fine by me, since a stun-lock and a cleansing wasn't all I had up my sleeve.

Before either serpent could do anything, I casted a Rainfall empowered by Holy Element, causing a torrent in the boss room. Momentarily taken aback, the serpents quickly realized that the rain boosted every member in my party's Speed by 105%, which didn't make them faster than the snakes, but at least they had a chance to survive now. As for me, I was pretty much untouchable.

The Sunsnake roared, his massive tail swiping towards Gretchen, but she danced around it with a grace that belied her size. Castor took the opportunity to plunge his sword into the serpent's side, but the blade barely made a scratch.

I grimaced, trying to think. I was fine without damaging Skills, but the measly 150 damage from my Silver Serpent wasn't going to do any significant harm to Sevira. Not to mention that Lumiro couldn't be harmed as long as his twin was still alive, with Sevira unable to be killed if he was alive. Wait a minute.

I Duplicated myself, making sure that my clone didn't have any weapon equipped before letting him draw the attention of the Moonsnake. With the Rainfall more than doubling our Speeds, I was pretty confident that none of us would be in trouble any time soon.

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"Gretchen, Castor, leave the Sunsnake to me!" I yelled out, heading towards Lumiro. "Slip through and focus your attacks on the Moonsnake to whittle her Health down with my clone!"

They nodded and split up, Castor and Gretchen focusing on the Moonsnake while I approached the Sunsnake. He tried to stop them, but a volley of dark mana arrows pelted him from one side as a torrent of fire blasted the other, distracting and irritating him.

"Thanks! Eliwood, focus your attacks on the Sunsnake! Make sure he doesn't get a moment to breathe! Celine, keep your distance and shift your attention towards the Moonsnake!" I barked out, running to meet the seemingly impervious Lumiro head on.

"Hope I don't fuck this up," I murmured to myself, Linking my Strength with the Silver Serpent's damage. I held my breath, waiting for the system message to pop up and say that I had failed the quest because I used some ability outside of the restrictions, but to my relief, nothing came.

With a roar, I charged at Lumiro, the Sunsnake's eyes narrowing as he saw my intent. The Silver Serpent was a toothpick compared to the potential of the Soultaker, but I was more focused on a certain trait than the raw damage. As I closed the distance, I took a swing at the Sunsnake, my blade carving through the air with surprising speed. The serpent's scales shimmered as they absorbed the brunt of the attack, but a definitive, long cut appeared on his side.

[Silver Serpent]

[Traits: Venomous | Petrifying | Piercing]

Apparently, I guess the Sunsnake wasn't expecting me to ever cut through his scales due to his unharmable Trait, but the Piercing Trait of the Silver Serpent did the trick. The creature hissed in pain, his body convulsing slightly from the Petrifying effect around the wound. The Moonsnake tried to turn her attention to me, but the relentless barrage from my teammates kept her occupied.

[Sunsnake God Lumiro]

[Health: 23,150,550]

[System alert: You have inflicted the Petrification status on Sunsnake God Lumiro.]

Fuck. The Sunsnake probably had some defensive abilities that reduced the amount of damage he took. If it weren't for that, I probably would've one-shotted him just now.

"You... you dare use a weapon forged from my sister's kin!" Lumiro hissed, his eyes narrowing to slits as he reared back to strike. But I was ready for him. With the Rainfall still boosting my Speed, I easily dodged his attack and swiped the Silver Serpent across his neck.

[Health: 21,301,100]

[System alert: The Petrification effect has increased.]

Nice. I was hacking away at his Health faster than I expected, with the additional benefit of Petrifying parts of his body. Too bad the Venomous Trait didn't work, though as a snake god, I figured he'd have immunity to that.

"Eliwood! Throw anything that has a Piercing Trait at him! That's the only thing that can bypass his unharmable ability!" I shouted, as the Sunsnake's body grew increasingly rigid from the Silver Serpent's Petrification effect. I took a moment to check on my clone and the others fighting against Sevira.

My clone was doing a surprisingly good job, dodging and parrying her attacks barehanded with a grace that would put any seasoned fighter to shame. Castor and Gretchen had her pinned down, their attacks landing with precision and power. Sevira's Health was rapidly dwindling, but with her twin brother alive, the Moonsnake couldn't be killed.

The Sunsnake's eyes grew dimmer as the Petrification spread, his movements becoming more sluggish. I took a step back, panting slightly from the exertion. The battle wasn't really intense, more so tedious, and once again I was tempted to take off the bracelet and end this quickly. But I had to admit, struggling a bit while gaining teamwork experience was pretty rewarding. It made me think of ways to incorporate that coordination with my clone and ring specters.

The rain continued to pour down, keeping me and my allies' Speed doubled as we wore down the snake twins. Honestly, if it weren't for the Silver Serpent, I don't think I would've been able to come up with a way past the twins' abilities.

Slowly but surely, Eliwood and I chipped away at Lumiro's defenses. The Sunsnake was a formidable opponent, his fiery scales reflecting the torchlight and making it difficult to gauge where to attack. But with each strike from the Silver Serpent, his movements grew more labored, his scales cracking and flaking off from the Petrification.

At first, there was a danger of leaving Celine alone in the backlines, buffing and supporting us, but with this strategy, she had nothing to fear, switching to long-range offense with her flames. As far as the plan went, I thought things would go smoothly. Take out Lumiro first, then Sevira.

But, as with any battle plan, it didn’t account for everything.

Before I could land the killing blow on Lumiro, there was a deafening screech that echoed through the room, momentarily halting our actions. I glanced back at the group fighting Sevira and nearly took a hit from Lumiro in shock.

It seemed like the traits on my Silver Serpent were inherited from the Moonsnake, as Gretchen seemed to have been completely Petrified, her stone figure rigid with an expression of terror. Castor managed to save the right side of his body from being Petrified, and my clone was unscathed. Celine had managed to keep herself safe, far from the heat of battle. Gigi and Seth continued to monitor our progress with unreadable expressions.

"That's... a problem..." I muttered to myself, increasing my focus. I met my clone's eyes and nodded, watching him immediately cast Neutralize to free Gretchen and Castor. In the midst of battle, I was faintly pleased to see that it didn't detract from my Risk points or Skill usage. I switched my sights back to Lumiro, but he seemed to have a second wind, warily gazing at Eliwood and I.

Before the others could recover, Sevira quickly slithered to her twin, glowing with a silver light. Lumiro began to glow gold in response, and I started to get a bad feeling.

[Uhh... that kinda looks like a second phase ._.; ]

"Yeah, I can see that," I grumbled at Sephera's message, dashing forward to try and stop it.

Maybe a part of me was hesitant to give up a good fight, or perhaps the masochistic side I never knew I had was holding me back, but whatever it was, I consciously slowed my pace towards them. In all truthfulness, I wanted to see the second phase.

The gold and silver auras surrounding the twin snakes grew brighter, then illuminated the boss room, blinding me and the others. When my eyes slowly refocused, the two gigantic snakes were gone, replaced by two humans standing in their place.

The figures were ethereal, their skin a mix of shimmering scales and human flesh. They looked like deities from a forgotten myth, each with a crown of serpents coiled around their heads.

The woman, probably Sevira, had sleek, silver hair, her eyes the same piercing blue as the moonlit nights. She wore a flowing silver gown that matched her scales, her beauty both terrifying and mesmerizing. As she levitated in the air, she definitely had the aura of a goddess.

Next to her, the man, likely Lumiro, had a fiery aura that danced around him, his skin a mix of gold and fiery red scales. His hair was a wild mess of flaming locks, and his eyes burned with the intensity of the sun. His attire was a set of armor that looked like it was made of pure gold, with snakes weaving through the plates, their eyes shimmering with an otherworldly light.

"Despicable mortals," Lumiro's voice boomed, the sound reverberating off the walls, "you dare to challenge the Divine Celestial Serpents?"

Sevira trained her eyes on me, a gaze full of hatred and resentment. "You bear the weapon of our kin," she hissed, the very air around her crackling with power. "Your insolence will not be forgotten."

****

[Updating…]

[Name: Sevira, Viper Goddess of the Moon | Level: 3026]

[Health: 50,000,000 | Strength: 14,000,000]

[Speed: 14,750,000 | Magic: 16,000,000]

[Name: Lumiro, Cobra God of the Sun | Level: 3026]

[Health: 50,000,000 | Strength: 18,900,000]

[Speed: 12,980,000 | Magic: 14,650,000]