Language attention! Minor gore attention!

Chapter 3

Normally there weren't any monsters this level in the vicinity of civilization. But, the party understood, this logic didn't apply here - after all, this was a border of civilization, any farther and there were mountains, where powerful mobs thrived. The snake must had been one of them, the thought that probably en even stronger monster claimed it territory there was shocking to them. This was not the time to be pensive though, a moment's lack of attention might cost one his life!

"Guys, run!"

It was Marley who saved them. He broke them out of stupor. They immediately dodged to the sides and in the place where they were just a moment ago now was the snake's head, buried in the ground.

They didn't waste this chance and started to use their skills on the rest of the snake's body. Unfortunately, they didn't have much time to try that, and snake swung his tail at them blindly.

Flossie and Iborelian were about to get hit, but in the last moment Cindy managed to jump in before them and blocked the attack with her sword.

Unfortunately, that didn't save her from getting thrown at the wall and losing about half her health in the whole process.

"Healing hand!"

Thankfully, the priest wasn't level 193 for nothing. He immediately restored her lost HP and removed the stun status.

The rest had to dodge so only ranger, who was already in a distance, kept attacking. But where was the meaning in it, if his default attacks with arrows didn't even lower snake's HP by 1%, and only the strongest skills: first strike shaved off 3% hp but couldn't be used twice on the same enemy, poisoned arrow dealt 1% damage altogether but had a cooldown of 1 minute, and snipe dealt random crits (this time about 0,5%) but required long time to aim (about 10 secs, and had 50 secs cooldown)?

After hitting the ground with his head snake's HP didn't even twitch, and the party (excluding Marley) managed to deal damage worth about 0,5% HP, resulting in Snake having around 95% HP now.

"Ok, here's the plan! I will tank with Ken, Flossie stay back, Iborelian stay in the healing range, Marley shoot from the maximal distance you can inflict 100% damage from and Acaleri, try to deal critical damage attacking his weak points!"

It was Cinderella - she recovered from being planted in a wall by the snake and she once again took the lead of the party. But she wasn't the only one to recover - the snake withdrew it's head from the ground and now glared at the party that has retreated for a moment to regroup.

Everyone acknowledged her orders.

Iborelian and Marley dashed away from the powerful opponent, with Flossie pacing without haste in their wake. Ken and Cindy positioned themselves a few meters in front of enemy, while Acaleri entered the shadows to wait for and exploit an opening. The snake only glared at them, not getting in the way of their maneuvers. It's like it was saying, 'I don't give a crap about your silly little plots, food. Do what you want and die already".

"Let's go!!!"

On Cindy's mark, everyone started attacking. First to hit was Marley. Apparently, he decided to target the beast's critical hit areas, and used first strike skill to enhance the effect. To be exact, he aimed at an eye.

But to no avail - the snake used something like a transparent eyelid, a membrane of some sort maybe (author's rant... that is, note - if some of you don't know how it looks, remember kabuto in his sage mode in naruto shippuuden... what, you didn't watch it? Ask uncle google or aunt wikipedia, maybe you can actually find it ^^). This not only protected it's eyes, but also still allowed him to see the humans.

A low, intimidating hiss left the snake's jaws. It may have been an indication of an incoming attack, but this will never be known, as Ken and Cindy in the exact same moment rushed at the monster with their swords ready to strike.

They both slashed at it using skills involving lunging. Woman used power lunge - a skill where you rush your enemy to slash down at him from above your head dealing damage as strong as the distance traveled after activating the skill and with long cooldown - while young man used impaling sword - a slightly stronger skill with similar properties, but requiring more mana and piercing the target, not slicing it.

They not only managed to hit the snake, which was distracted by Marley, but also damage it!

Unfortunately, their powerful skills both yielded as much as 5% of snake's max HP together. So there was 90% of the beast's hit points left.

Because, as the saying goes, the misfortunes like to travel in pairs, not only was the snake alive and kicking but also quite angry. It hissed shortly and then assaulted the pair.

For neither Cindy nor Ken was it good - they both lost respectively over 1/3 and almost 1/2 HP from the swift and powerful attack made by the monster's tail. Of course, Iborelian was there, so they were promptly healed.

Snake likely understood what has just happened, because he went for the priest when warrior and swordsman were getting up. Although a though one, Iborelian wouldn't last long if the snake got him. Thankfully, the assassin in that very moment attacked back of the snake's neck, using the skill backstab. Thanks to snake being focused on the priest, it was possible to use it to deliver a strong attack. It took around 3,5% of their foe's life and buried it's head in the ground.

They did not miss the opportunity - everyone used their strongest available skills to punish the giant serpent, while Thunder the bard started singing "...We attack, attack, attack..." providing an ample buff for attack damage. They managed to lower the snake's hp to 60% that way until it finally freed itself. Needless to say, it was seething with rage.

The reptile gave a loud, angry hiss and started to attack area around it with it's tail. Unfortunately, Ken and Cindy were affected almost killed and stunned. The priest had just enough mana to heal them, but not to remove the stun status. He had to meditate in order to regain his mana, but it would take 5 minutes and there was no way they would win without his support. Ken and Cindy barely managed to contain the angry snake together whilst being continuously healed by the priest. And there was no way an assassin or a ranger would be able to tank, is there?

That's why, after a second's worth pondering, Marley shouted "We have no chance of winning people, and the retreat route is sealed! Let's disperse and try the tunnels! Maybe someone will survive and make it outside!"

It was a difficult decision, and a risky one. But not as risky as staying to fight the monster.

"Flossie, can you divide the light so each of us have one?", asked Iborelian.

"Yeah, no problem. But it will disappear if I die!"

"Good, let's try it then!"

They put their plan into motion. First, all unable to fight, namely Thunder, Iborelian and Flossie, entered the tunnels while the other three was averting the serpent's attention and stalling for time. Before the bard left, he gave them the last buff, that increased agility for 4 mins. It was a song, ghost division. Well, only a part of it, actually. He used a rare skill, echo, that made it possible for him to sing only the chorus and leave, whilst the buff was still active.

Thanks to the boost it was possible to avoid the enemy's attacks. They even managed to land some hits of their own, but it was obvious that the buff wouldn't last long enough for them to actually kill the bastard. So, they made up a plan, and started acting on it 2 minutes after the first three people escaped.

It was quite a simple plan, really. They lured the snake to the place where soil was just a bit softer than a rock, and then Acaleri with Cindy gave the snake an uppercut, both slightly from the sides to make it harder for it to retaliate. Less than a second later Ken, thanks to heightened agility was able to strike it centrally in the head from above. Well, at least that was the plan, but warrior is a class focused on strength and assassin on agility, so it was a no-brainer that their attacks' power would vary. Unfortunately, they were too engrossed in battle to realize something like that, and Ken gouged the beast's eye.

It started to flail wildly in pain, hissing loudly. The trio made some distance and looked at it. Both tanks were obviously satisfied with their work even though they were swaying from being tired, and assassin had a deadpan face as always.

"Yeah! We got it's eye! This way it won't be able to follow our trails in the tunnels well!"

Cindy and Ken rejoiced, but Acaleri stepped in to stop their mirth.

"Snakes don't need eyes to see prey. They can feel the animal's warmth and smell with their tongues."

Both sword users looked at themselves.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Shit! So we should have aimed at it's tongue?!"

"Yeah... or rather, that would be impossible!"

"Rather then that, let's escape already!"

Acaleri was slightly more talkative than usual. Well, nothing wrong with that - their lives hanged on a thin hair.

They heeded his words.

After 4 minutes, everyone has advanced similarly far into the tunnels. It was possible thanks to agility buff - when it wore off, the previously stalling trio managed to cover the same distance as the three who entered them first. Let's have a look at how they fared.

***

Marley

He was advancing into the tunnel without looking back and not stopping even for a second. Everyone decided not to use whispers since it could make you lose focus and then life, so he traveled in silence, only quiet sounds of him moving were breaking the silence. It was five minutes after he entered the tunnel that he started hearing something from behind him. He didn't even turn back but rather picked a quicker pace. The sounds from behind him were getting closer and closer anyway, and after a half a minute of pursuit he ended up in snake's jaws, eaten.

***

Acaleri

Assassin was running for his life - well, actually, he was on all fours since the tunnel was only one meter in diameter - he didn't want to die. He was the one to blend with the shadows, not the gastric acids of a beast. After about three minutes of running, with agility buff worn off, he heard a male's shout and felt a tremor. He wasn't sure, but it was probably the ranger, and it was probably his last shout.

Two minutes later he felt the earth shake, accompanied by a loud thud. He looked back and saw a glint of a snake's eye in the darkness.

'Great, he's on my tail', he thought to himself.

He run and run, and it took the snake almost 5 minutes to catch up to him. With no other choice, the man turned around to face his nemesis, which in turn just spat poison at him, rendering him unable to fight in a blink... and then eating him whole. The snake was very angry after having it's eye destroyed - it was quite painful after all - and would spare no efforts at hunting down every and single one of the puny little humans that dared to escape it's hunger and imprint the body with injuries.

***

Thunder & Iborelian

The two somehow met - it seems the tunnels they took converged into one single tunnel, big enough to run with your back straight. They heard a few thuds, with last one more than ten minutes after they entered their - hopefully - retreat route.

"Shit I hope everyone will be alright!"

"Yeah, I agree"

Bard spoke his mind, and priest concurred. After all, they were all friends - whether it would be with vain narcissist Flossie or strange role-playing fellow, Ken.

"Hey, did you hear it"?

"What?"

The priest was forcefully called back from his thoughts.

"As if something were creeping in the dark..."

"?"

In the end, they never knew what hit them.

***

Cindy

She was crawling through the tight tunnel for almost 15 minutes now. From time to time she heard faint sounds of some explosions or something, but she didn't stop even for a while. Not like she would be able to do anything, after all.

After another minute she heard a loud blast behind her and looked back, but her eyes were embraced by darkness. Nothing was visible, so she decided to be on her way. She stopped every half a minute to look back though, as she could swear she felt something was following her. It was starting to get to her, she hated snakes and spiders.

Finally, she was able to relax (or was she, really?) - when she looked back who-knows-which time already, she noticed some glint in the darkness. It was the giant serpent, filling the tunnel completely.

"Fuck! Are you really telling me to fight in that tight-ass tunnel?!"

She could read the answer from the glint of the snake's one remaining eye, 'Of course not, just become my food already!'

"Retarded piece of shit reptile, prepare for the greatest diarrhea in your life!"

After shouting that, she turned around (quite a feat, given the sorry diameter of the tunnel) and charged at her enemy. Seriously?! Seriously.

Even snake was surprised for a moment.

Well, who wouldn't be? She started crawling towards it with a great speed and voluntarily entered the snake's mouth, which in turn automatically gulped her down it's throat.

***

Ken

Youth had much more luck - he managed to reach the end of the tunnel, a big cavern that the magic light couldn't even wholly illuminate, so he didn't even see the walls, not to mention the ceiling.

Then, from the neighboring tunnel the giant serpent appears, crawling with chaotic movements, as if it was drunk.

"Wait what?", Ken couldn't help but voice his disbelief.

The snake looked at him with his last eye and hissed. And then it threw it's body to the side, and his HP came down by a few percents, now at 30%.

"What the hell?"

Contrary to Ken you might have realized, but it was Cindy, who deliberately got herself devoured so as to strike the snake from inside.

Well, anyway, young swordsman wasn't stupid so he used this situation to attack the snake. His mana has came back since it was like 20 minutes since he entered the tunnel. He started by using impaling sword, rushing the serpent and taking his other eye, while it was distracted. It resulted in a massive blood gushing from the snake's eye socket and a powerful hiss full of wrath.

But Ken didn't stop there.

The gaps between Cindy's attacks from inside were becoming bigger, she didn't have any mana for quite some time already and her health was running low because of the snake's acid. She could feel that snake battled someone else so she doubled her efforts despite being mighty debuffed from gastric acids that made it so that she wasn't able to do even as much as 50% of her usual self.

Outside, Ken delivered consecutive attacks. After eliminating snake's eye, he cut off it's tongue using iron jet when it tried to find him using it's other senses, and continued to hack at it, finally getting it to 1% of HP. It was then when it happened.

The giant serpent felt it's death was near. It has lived for over 300 years and accumulated much knowledge and experience. It started off as a small viper in the forest and continued to fight and devour opponents. At some point it gained intelligence and aimed to become the most powerful being in the world. It couldn't contain it's rage and hate towards the little hairless monkeys with their paltry tricks that destroyed it's ambitions. So, of course, it decided it wouldn't go down alone.

And thus, it released all the poison it had stored inside it's big body. Needless to say, Ken was in the center of the cloud that appeared. He quickly grasped what it was, but unfortunately, before he escaped the cloud, he has already inhaled a lot of it. And so his HP started to drop.

Thanks to all those circumstances, he had about half an hour left. He decided to try and cut the snake's hide to rescue the one inside, but it would took time. And that, unbeknown to him, he didn't have.

When he was staggering towards the snake's central part, he suddenly heard an almost inaudible sound. He whipped his head towards the source and his heart skipped a beat (no, not as in "wow nice babe" or "what a tasty looking gentleman", but rather as in "OH MY FUCKING GOD I'M FUCKED) - a giant tank-sized spider crept up on him and was barely three meters away. When it noticed he was looking at it, it leaped towards him.

He dodged and then was forced to parry the heavy attacks of it's front legs. He stumbled when backing and almost miraculously avoided a fatal hit (or rather bite) to his head. He managed to get back on his legs and took his fighting stance. Spider didn't attack, though. He started to wonder, 'Why the fuck is that crappy spider not attacking", when he suddenly spit blood.

He didn't register any injury and the poison wasn't strong enough to make him cough blood in large quantities. Then, he felt an itchy feeling in his torso and looked down. A spike protruded from his stomach, having pierced from his back. He looked at the direction from where it came, and saw another giant spider which had it's poison sting driven into his back. A realization came to him, 'So it's a couple... fuck, figures... I could have guessed that, the smaller spiders must have been their offspring...'

And then the darkness embraced him, while he died.

***

Meanwhile, Flossie's tunnel led to the surface. She waited for a whole day (in-game) but no one else turned up, thus she left.