There was no opening. No space he could exploit. And the worst thing of all was the damned durability of the Anaconda’s freaking scales. They were too tough for his knife to pierce, and the more he tried, the more the edges of the only weapon he had chipped.

He’d long realized that he was fighting a losing battle. And, therefore, he changed his approach.

Panting as he hid behind a tree within trees, Rain glanced toward his crumbling home in longing as a sequence of strategies he could use to sneak past the monstrosity with a god-complex and into it played rapidly in his head.

That was all he could do. If he remained adamant on trying to kill something as huge as that he would just get his life snuffed out. His priority was the memory triggers in his home. All he had to do was sneak in, get them, and hope he could escape without getting squashed and eaten.

Like hell I will. Rain wiped off the excess rain water on his face which had mingled with his sweat to cloud his face. And stop shouting in my head, will you? Your way of speaking is weird too.

He was glad that the beast could only speak into his mind, not the other way around. If not, he would have been found out by now.

Well, truthfully, that was only a matter of time. He had to move soon.

Rain looked at his deteriorating knife and a feeling of hopelessness almost hit him hard.

Despite its attack potency, his Skill was utterly useless against the Anaconda. It was not that he couldn’t see those red dots indicating the critical points of the monstrosity of a snake, it was just that they were very few—at most of the number five—and they were located very close to its head. Trying to strike them would be tantamount to him giving up himself to be devoured.

He had definitely chosen the best option possible at the moment. And as soon as he saw an opening he dashed out of his hiding spot, not letting even a single second slip from his grasp.

However, things didn't turn out the way he had expected.

While still locked in his scurry towards the derelict house that was his home, Rain was struck with an intuition to look up at the Anaconda. It was an action he was both glad for and regretted. The former because he could retreat quickly, and the latter because the Anaconda had an eye peering down at him. This was why it had four—a view of all angles of the scenery at the same time.

He had been outsmarted.

For a moment there, Rain even thought he saw a smirk on the beast’s face. Gosh, he hoped that was him hallucinating.

Twisting his right ankle west, Rain stopped his running instantly. He had been moving at such a neck breaking pace that he almost felt like he would dislocate it with that abrupt stop of his. Maybe it was due to his Durability, but the pain from that action of his was brief, and it had been only that.

Knowing he couldn’t continue his charge onward towards his home, and, at the same time, couldn’t turn his back to the Anaconda in order to escape from this vicinity, Rain decided to retreat back into the trees.

All he had to do was go back into hiding. What could go wrong?

Well, the Anaconda had other ideas.

It was ironic. Humans used to be at the top of the food chain, now one was being called puny.

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To be honest, Rain couldn’t argue against the Anaconda’s stand at this instant, after all, it went on to prove that he was actually puny after that remark of its.

The cluster of trees Rain had been planning to hide within was swept away by the tail of the Anaconda like dirt by a broom. This made him frown.

Why had it not done that before? Was this all just a game to it? And…

How the hell is it so agile with that size?!

Rain gritted his teeth and nimbly avoided the scattered debris and trees the snake swept in the air towards him. Then, just as he landed in a safe spot, the Anaconda’s tail whipped at him, but he immediately dug his heels into the soaked earth below his feet and jumped as far away as he could to avoid taking the brunt of the strike.

He had not been expecting to get away unscathed. Not at all. No one with their wits about them would have expected to fully avoid the strike of something with such a width as the Anaconda. And that was why even though he was thrown into a tree by the snake’s follow up, creating a crater within its bark, he was not one bit surprised of the outcome he found himself in.

Rain poured out a mouthful of blood with a cough, staining his teeth and his hoodie red. Then he shifted his gaze towards his broken right hand and the knife he held, which had finally shattered.

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

Merely saying ‘I don’t intend to die’ won’t cut it, huh?

He could feel blood finding its way to his throat, seeking an outlet, and whatever little energy he had left being siphoned away by some unknown force. His eyes were growing dim, his ears deaf, and his mind blanked to the point that the blabbering of the Anaconda dulled to a point of no understanding.

It had just been one hit, a half-baked one in fact, but it shattered almost all his ribs, broke his right hand, and seemingly ruptured some of his veins. There was no vigor left in his legs either. They were not broken, but they sure felt like it.

I really am going to die, aren’t I? So much for investing all my Experience Points into Durability. Rain thought to himself as he took his gaze up, allowing the rain to pour down on his face in such a wild manner that he was almost blinded by it. The smug look the Anaconda had appeared before his blurred view then. It was drawing closer to him as though taking its time to savor the fear it had imbued in its prey. Rain sighed. I wonder, shouldn’t I at least get back my memories before I die? Am I really never going to recall who my parents are, my siblings, if I have one, my friends too? Am I really going to die without all my memories?

At this point, he couldn’t even feel the pain that was shrouding his body any longer. He had grown numb to it.

Let’s look at the bright side, shall we? Maybe this is all a dream, and when I die I’ll wake up. Tsk. Dream? Like hell it is.

At that moment, his mind flew to the mysterious beings referred to as ‘Benefactors’, but he couldn’t even get angry.

Why should he be angry at them, though? If anything, it was the Anaconda he should direct his fuming at. It was what was about to end his life.

Well, that train of thought was not Rain’s.

While Alice had been giving her insight on who or what the Benefactors were, Rain had come to a notion that figuring the Benefactors out would shed some light on what exactly had happened to earth. In other words, they had a hand, if not more, in earth’s desolation, which was equivalent to having a hand in the fact that he was about to die.

At this moment, Rain became sure of one thing. He really hated those Benefactors, whoever they were.

I’m sorry J, the figure of his Companion appeared in his head, I won’t be making it back.

Those were the last of his thoughts as an overbearing darkness engulfed him in an instant, plunging him into a warm but damp world that seemed to tear into his skin and disintegrate every cell in his body as it approached his bones.

Then, in that sinking darkness, something unprecedented appeared…

[Side Character Rain Leclair has met the conditions for receiving a Mark]...

[Met Conditions: First human to feast on the border between humanity and beasthood]...

[DNA Alignment originated from fulfilling the required condition was successful]...

[Side Character Rain Leclair is now eternally tainted with the Mark of Caduceus]...

[Bestowed Epithet: Shadow of Asklepios]...

…

[Side Character Rain Leclair has found himself in a moment of despair. The seal on the Mark of Caduceus has been undone of its own will]...

…

[Side Character Rain Leclair has become the Shadow of Asklepios]...