[An enemy has appeared.]

Ayah jerked back, looking frantically around her. Another enemy? Where was it?

Something sharp and fast shot passed her head. A series of sharp zaps that sent the strands of her hair frizzling. Then, whatever that was, cut through the serpent’s heads. And as the serpent multiplied, the sound returned and the new heads fell to the ground, motionless.

Ayah watched with mounting horror as the serpent hissed and snarled, its eighth heads roaring above them.

Who did this?

She frantically looked for the perpetrator, but she found no one. Other than the first warning, the system had quieted down.

Someone was targeting them. Someone was out for their blood.

Was it one of the other contestants? No. Whoever that was, was much more powerful than all the others combined.

And that zapping sound. It sounded like an electric current had gone past her. Lightning magic. She knew only one person proficient in that kind of magic. It was certain now, Aayan was trying to kill them, and his right hand and close confidant, Zain, was here.

Ayah glanced at Harith. He didn’t look fazed. His eyes weren’t even staring at the new writhing monstrosity. He was looking to the side. As if he had sensed where the attack had come from.

Impossible. Ayah had locked his mana usage. There was no way for him to sense any source of mana.

Harith’s head spun towards her. He lifted his hand and sent his sword flying towards her head. Ayah wanted to jerk away from the blade, wanted to evade it, but her feet were glued to the branch, her eyes fixed on his.

What… was he doing?

[An enemy has appeared.]

The blade whizzed by her and a groan of pain− not hers− sounded next to her. She whirled around coming face to face with faint glowing blue eyes. She flung herself away, landing on another tree.

The man, Zain, glanced at her, smirking, before he darted back into the forest, disappearing between the thick foliage.

Ayah tightened her hold around the hilt of her sword, steadying her shaking hands. She glanced around the shadows cast by the light, searching for him.

Nothing.

Did he leave?

“System, how many enemies are here?” she asked.

[Player is currently engaged against 1 enemy : The Black Serpent ]

“Is there anyone else here?”

[System is unsure about player’s query.]

“The enemy you said had appeared, is he still here?”

[The enemy is no longer in proximity to player.]

Where did he go? More importantly, what was he trying to do? She didn’t even feel his presence. If he had wanted to kill her, nothing could have stopped him.

She took a deep breath, and exhaled. She would deal with whatever Zain threw at them later. If the system was right, the man had already left. She had to deal with the new monstrosity that jerk had created.

One of the heads barreled towards her. Ayah jerked away, blinking in shock as the direction it came from registered in her mind. The ground, not the water. The head had somehow dug its way through the ground below.

She gritted her teeth, watching as the earth shook and other heads sprung up, as if summoned.

Three more heads made their way to Ayah, fast, weaving around each other. She didn’t have a moment to think, dodging and swerving around sharp fangs, hacking at them without adding more heads to the count.

She sidestepped another head, only to run right into another one. It sent her flying, and she hit a tree with a hard thunk, crashing to the ground in an unceremonious heap.

“I’m okay,” she wheezed out between coughs as Harith and Laila called for her. She held her hand up to stop their advance towards her. They needed to focus on the threat before them. She was fine. She was always going to be fine.

She managed one full breath before she was flinging herself upward, just narrowly avoiding the serpent’s opened maw that emerged from the earth. The ground split as another one veered towards her. It was too fast and she was already in the air. There was no way she could avoid its fangs. Then a sharp pointed rock in the shape of a long sword tore into the serpent’s neck. It didn’t sever the head off but it veered it away from her. A second, and a third stone sword joined the first, embedding the serpent’s head and sticking it to the ground.

One down for the moment, seven to go.

She jumped over the mess of heads, they twisted around each other, competing to get to her. She slashed at the opened maw of one of them and sped over its scales, sword cutting through the flesh along its neck. The other heads chased after her, their fangs cutting through the flesh of their brethren in their attempt to get to her. Ayah didn’t stop, she slid over the twisting neck, her blade slashing the serpent’s head in a vertical slash. But the closer she got to the main body, the more resistance her blade met, till a loud rang sounded as she met the hardened scale. Her blade made a cut, but soon, the blade stopped, refusing to go further.

She flipped around, bringing her sword forward to slash at an incoming head. She jumped away, and another stone wall momentarily halted the advance of the heads towards her.

She surveyed the heads as they tore through wall after wall. The head she had cut into had already healed and joined the others at destroying the stoney defenses.

“Dammit, I can’t win like this.” She gritted her teeth. “I’m just using up my stamina.”

She evaded even more heads, and winced as one fang tore into her leg. She glanced down, the blood trickled sluggishly down her leg. Good. The wound wasn’t that deep.

She flung herself upward, staring down at the writhing heads. She needed to do something. Her breathing was erratic, and her mind was scattered. She couldn’t think of anything besides evading the opened maws. At this rate, there was no way for them to kill it.

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She took a deep breath to calm her drumming heart and collect her thoughts.

Calm down, and think things through. There must be a way to get to its core.

A sudden thought came to her.

Ayah tightened her hold over her sword. If she couldn’t kill it from outside, she would do it from inside.

She jumped over the falling stones, propelled herself against the highest stone tower, then launched herself into one of the serpent’s open maws. One of the fangs tore into her shoulders on her way down its throat. Except for the slight ache and the notification from the system, she wouldn’t have noticed it. Was she getting used to pain?

The inside of its throat was velvety and scorching hot. She slid inside with ease, the hot and slippery liquid leading her even further.

The fluid hit her cheek, and for a moment it just felt wet.

But then it started to burn.

She gritted her teeth against the pain as she resisted the urge to reach up and wipe it away. The last thing she wanted to do was to take a hand off her sword when she was inside the serpent’s digestive system.

Her eyes stung. She blinked rapidly to clear her blurred vision, and with each blink, pain clawed at them.

She was being eaten alive. If she didn’t hurry, she would be dissolved into a mush.

She tried to take a deep breath to steady herself, but she couldn’t seem to catch her breath, choking on the overly hot and acidic air inside the monster. Every breath she managed to suck in felt as though tiny daggers were eviscerating her lungs. She clutched at her chest, coughing and gasping, vision going blurry.

Then her eyes closed.

She was tired. Too tired. She just needed to take a short break and rest before she opened her eyes and faced whatever awaited her.

That was right. She would open her eyes in a second.

She just needed…

Just needed…

“Ayah,” a woman’s voice said, chuckling. “Wake up, dear. You’re going to be late.” She felt a warm and soft hand comb through her hair, gentle and so light.

It was warm, but not the suffocating warmth inside the serpent, it was the gentle rays of the sun after a night of intense rain.

Ayah shifted her head to give the woman more access to her hair. It was so… soothing, in a way Ayah had forgotten it was how a simple touch could bring this much comfort. The woman chuckled but didn’t retract her hand, something Ayah was grateful for.

“It must have been tiring, fighting alone all these years,” the woman said, a hint of sadness and something close to regret coloring her words. “But you’re not alone now, not anymore.” The hand stopped, and the woman seemed to lean closer to her. “Come on, it’s time to wake up. They’re waiting for you.”

She jolted awake from her dream. She groped for her sword hilt, found it, and then slashed it against the only source of light in this suffocating darkness.

[Congratulations! You have defeated Black Serpent x 1 ]

[Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!]

[Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!]

[New item acquired : Black Serpent Blood x 1]

The cavernous darkness shook around her. It writhed and twisted. She heaved a deep sigh as the whole thing rattled, crashing down to the ground.

She just sat there, unmoving, her eyes blinking slowly in the dark. Then a cut right next to her head let some light filter in. She closed her eyes tightly, listening as the blade made quick work of the scales, then hands dug her out from the slippery insides.

“Ayah,” Harith said, his voice heavy with seriousness. “I need you to let go of your

sword.”

She blinked slowly, confused, then she looked down and finally registered the fact that her hands were still wrapped in a death grip around the hilt of her blade.

“Ayah,” Harith repeated, a little sharper this time.

The muscles of Ayah’s hands won’t obey though, and a moment later, she felt something warm against them.

Harith grimaced as the acid on Ayah’s hands and sword smeared against his palms, but he slowly worked her fingers loose, untangling them from around the hilt. Harith never wavered, despite the fact that his hands must be burning as badly as hers, and when her sword finally dropped to the ground, both of their hands were red and blistered.

“We need to – ” she started.

Before she could finish, he swept her up into a princess carry, took a couple steps, then threw her into the lake.

Ayah sputtered. “Are you insane?” she shrieked.

“You need to wash off the acid,” he said.

All her wounds had healed once she had leveled up. So she just sat in the lake, letting the water wash away the serpent’s acid. She didn’t need to do anything for the burns, they would heal on their own, something she was grateful for.

Harith looked unbothered by the state of his hands, as if pain was beyond him.

She brought her knees to her chest and leaned her head between them. She was tired, too tired. But she didn’t want to sleep. Couldn’t. The voice that had woken her up inside the serpent’s stomach came to her mind. She wasn’t sure she would want to wake up if she heard it again.

It was her mother. She was certain. Years might have passed since she had last heard it, and sometimes, she would forget certain details about how she looked − did she wear her hair down? Would the corner of her eyes crinkle each time she smiled?− but there was something Ayah would never forget; the sound of her mother’s voice. So gentle and soothing. Like the gentle kiss of spring after a long and cold winter storm.

Harith sat on the bank, his feet dangling in the water, his eyes glued to his sword that was now back in his hands.

He must have used his mana to call it back while she was still trapped inside the serpent’s stomach. If he was alarmed at his momentary loss of mana, he didn’t show it. His face betrayed no emotion.

“Don’t use your mana,” Ayah said before she could stop herself.

“That was quite a risky move you did back there.”

Ayah shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?”

He leveled her with a stare. Ayah stared back at him. After a moment, he sighed, running his hand through his raven locks. “It did this once. But it might not be the case next time. You’ll find that in life, not many risky plans are worth undertaking.” He paused for a moment, before continuing, “Do me a favor and consult me before carrying out any of your crazy ideas.”

Ayah grinned. “Sure, I’ll try.”

Which meant unlikely.

Harith looked at her, and sighed, his shoulders sagging in something akin to desperation.

Laila and Adil stood a few feet from the water. The kid was watching the monster’s carcass with an awed expression on his face. This must have been the biggest monster he had seen in his life.

Laila looked uncomfortable. She glanced at her little brother, her gaze softening, then back at them.

Ayah watched her with concealed amusement. She already knew what the king’s guard wanted to tell them.

[Laila sent a request to exit your party.]

[Adil sent a request to exit your party.]

[Accept/Reject]

Ayah stood up and walked up to her. The woman held her hand for a handshake, but Ayah was having none of it. She took hold of Laila’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug. It was a bit uncomfortable with the jagged parts of the armor digging into her, but Ayah didn’t mind. Laila lifted her hands and put them around Ayah’s back, hugging her back.

After a moment, they both untangled themselves.

“Thank you for your help, Laila. I really appreciated it.”

Laila nodded, softness pulling at her brows.

Ayah smiled at her. “I wish you good luck and a safe return to you both.”

Laila nodded. “And you, as well.”

Before she disappeared behind the trees, she turned. “If you ever pass through Karia, I would like to share a cup of tea with you.”

“I would love to.” Ayah grinned.

Laila’s eyes glanced at Harith, who was standing a couple feet behind them, and bowed deeply. “You too, your highness.”

Harith nodded, giving a slight bow with his head. “It would be an honor,” he said.

Ayah waited till Laila and Adil had left before turning to him. “Learnt some manners, haven’t we?” She put her fingers under her chin, and nodded. “I’m impressed.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “You want to get to the next location or you wish to spend the night here, next to this stinking carcass. Got to say, you seemed a bit too comfortable there.”

Ayah gawked at him. She stood on her toes and bonked him on the head. “I nearly got eaten alive.” she complained.

“From what I saw, you were having a good nap.”

She didn’t respond other than hitting him in the same spot.