With struggle in his steps, Ilex ambled away, creating a comfortable distance between himself and his companions. He sank to the ground, legs crossed, and laid his grimoire before him. He leafed through a few pages, settling on a particular page, he pressed his palm firmly onto it, and a wondrous sight unfolded. Before their very eyes, a figure began to materialize, sharing Ilex's body type, but composed entirely of shimmering, ever-changing acid. The acidic doppelgänger advanced towards the group, poised and ready to assist them in their impending boss fight.

“I can still support you.” Ilex yelled from a short distance.

Ilex stood steadfast and patient as Brian, Sophia, and Kael tensed, their muscles coiled in anticipation of the looming threat. High above, a dark speck in the sky grew larger with every passing moment, hurtling towards them at a breakneck pace. A miasma of dread clung to their very souls as Brian, Sophia, and Kael instinctively put some distance between themselves.

“That’s the Alpha.” Brian's fingers tightened around the hilt of his dagger. The weapon tremored uncontrollably in his grasp, and the knife now seemed as fragile as his own nerves. The battle against Zarkon flashed through his mind. It had taken him and four other decimators absolutely everything they had to take down the Grivaxian alpha. Brian dismissed his worries, telling himself that he was a decimator now.

“Breath my friend, we strike at the same time.” At the utterance of those words, Kael seemed to merge with the environment itself.

Silence enveloped the battlefield like a suffocating blanket as the decimators awaited the advent of the alpha. The toxic atmosphere grew drier with each passing moment. And then, without warning, it struck.

The colossal serpent collided with the ground, her immense body crashed like a meteor fallen from the sky. The massive serpentine creature left an impact crater that sent seismic waves in every direction. A venomous pool within the blast radius erupted, sending lethal droplets of purple liquid raining down across the space.

"Shit!" Brian cried out as the devastation sent him flying a few meters, landing on his back with a gasp. A moment later, the venomous mist fell like a spray. It made Brian's exposed skin red, but it didn't feel like it was enough to inflict poison. Perhaps due to his increased constitution, he thought.

Kael, ever nimble, had little issue avoiding the chaos, while Ilex remained safely outside the blast radius. Sophia, however, wasn't so lucky. The alpha had aimed for her, and it didn't miss.

She managed to teleport away just in time to avoid a lethal blow, but the momentum of the devastation carried her through her disappearing act. Her head struck a rock with a sickening thud, and she crumpled to the ground.

“Sophia!" Brian looked for a parth to reach her, but the Valtivenom alpha stood directly between him and Sophia. As he glanced over at her, he saw blood rolling down her head. "No, no, no. Damn it," Brian muttered under his breath while clenching his jaw, but he punched the ground and swiftly stood up.

"Stay focused, Brian," Ilex urged, his voice tight. "We have to deal with the alpha first."

He’s right, Brian recognized. He called out to Kael, who was closest to Sophia. "Check on her, quickly!"

Kael rushed to Sophia's side. He assessed her condition and gently laid her in a safer position.

In the center of the crater, amidst the downpour of venom, Vipros unleashed a bone-chilling screech that reverberated through everyone's eardrums and even carried a shockwave. Brian, already unsteady, stumbled to the ground once more, his hands desperately trying to cover his ears.

"Son of a bitch, what's the point of having freaking powers if they don't come with earplugs?" he groaned as he tried to think of a plan.

Kael's camouflage vanished in the face of the assault, revealing his grimacing face, while Ilex's acid clone briefly faltered, its form momentarily unstable before regaining solidity. The virulent green clone shimmered with an eerie luminescence as it leapt into action, charging towards Vipros and leaving a trail of sizzling liquid in its wake.

The alpha flicked her tongue. “One, two, three, I guess the female one is out already. Wait, what is that? It has the shape of the aliens, but it's... liquid.” Like the other valtivenoms, Vipros's words were thick and almost gargled, like water running over rough stones, but her tone was sly and filled with a calm malevolence.

“Hi Vipros, my name is Brian. Is there any chance that we can talk this out?” he managed to stammer out.

“You know me by name? Hello Brian, you are an intriguing one. However, you’ve killed my children,” Vipros gestured toward some of the dead valtivenoms. “Plus, we’re on a schedule. So stay put.”

Brian was completely without words. There was no doubt Vipros was planning to kill them, but she seemed even more level-headed than Darius.

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The broodmother noticed the clone's approach and flicked her forked tongue, letting out a malicious hiss. The colossal serpent lunged towards the clone, venomous fangs bared and ready to strike.

Vipros noticed the clone's approach and flicked her forked tongue, letting out a malicious hiss. The colossal serpent lunged towards the clone, venomous fangs bared and ready to strike. The acid clone dodged the vicious attack with surprising agility, ducking beneath Vipros's snapping jaws and retaliating with a swift punch.

"Take that, you overgrown worm!" Brian shouted, cheering for the clone as the impact sent a shower of acidic splatter onto the beast's chitinous exoskeleton. Vipros let out a pained screech as the once-impenetrable armor began to corrode.

"Maybe we have a chance…" Brian’s mind was analyzing every detail, attempting to decide how to act, but the pressure in his chest was a bigger distraction.

Ilex’s clone continued attacking, seizing the opportunity as Vipros recoiled from the corrosive blow. With a powerful leap into the air, the clone delivered a devastating kick to the serpent's glowing eyes.

Vipros reared back with a piercing shriek that echoed through the battlefield, her blind rage fueling her next strike. Desperate and furious, she lunged towards the nimble clone, but only narrowly missed as it deftly danced away.

After several failed attempts, Vipros's stinger found its mark, driving through the clone. Yet, it simply passed through without inflicting any harm. The clone appeared undeterred, quickly regaining its form even as Vipros withdrew her tail. Traces of residual acid dripped from her stinger, slowly evaporating, but leaving the clone otherwise unscathed.

Kael sprang from Vipros's blind spot, daggers gripped tightly in his hands. "I've got this," he whispered, attempting to pierce the beast's resilient armor. However, his blades merely skittered across the chitin, leaving no trace of damage. In retaliation, Vipros violently lashed her tail, sending Kael hurtling across the crater with the sickening crunch of breaking bones.

"KAEL!" Brian yelled, feeling helpless and terrified. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that his knife would be as effective as a spoon against Vipros. Yes, his eyes could track every one of her swift, lethal movements, but his body couldn't match her speed. And finally, his EHG was a defensive move. Brian found himself engulfed in a familiar wave of helplessness, feeling utterly useless once more in the heat of battle.

"Dammit," Brian sobbed, emotionally defeated as Vipros ignored the acid clone and decided to lunge towards Ilex. He shook off his despair and charged to defend his friend, haunted by visions of Ilex's demise. "I can do this!" he growled, determination flaring within him.

But Vipros's inhuman speed left Brian hopelessly outpaced and powerless to intervene. It quickly became clear that he wasn’t going to make it in time. As Vipros's stinger raced towards Ilex, Kael materialized from the shadows, his arms stretching to their limits to encircle the serpent's tail. Kael’s hands began to bleed from the friction, but with every ounce of strength, he held Vipros at bay, buying Ilex the precious time needed.

In that instant, however, the snake turned her head, towering above Kael and fixing her glowing eyes on him. Emitting a sinister hiss, Vipros regurgitated a torrent of venom upon him. The caustic substance cascaded over Kael, his body convulsing in agony as it ate through his skin and devoured his very essence. Screams of anguish filled the air, a horrifying crescendo that marked the end of the fearless ninja.

"KAEL!" Brian’s voice thundered through Serpent’s Pools, drawing Virpos’s attention.

“I told you to stay put,” Vipros said with a sibilant hiss.

The valtivenom didn't even need to move; Brian was close enough to strike. She thrust her stinger towards him like a deadly spear. As he looked up, catching sight of Vipros' incoming attack, his eyes, burning with anger, emitted a subtle purple glow. He was subconsciously channeling a torrent of Valtite energy into them.

With only moments to spare, Brian raised his arms, right palm over left, and activated his EHG. The black hole ensnared Vipros' stinger as dark energy crackled around his hands.

The tail was too thick for his vortex to fully capture and it only managed to hold a small portion. Vipros growled in annoyance and her forceful tail shoved Brian backward, disrupting his concentration and interrupting his EHG.

As the black hole vanished, so did the captured section of her tail, leaving a precise, clean cut.

Brian and Vipros looked at each other, perplexed. “Huh, that’s new.”

It took a brief moment before Vipros let out an agonized scream and her yellow, viscous blood began pouring from her wound. “Imbecile, you dare mutilate the broodmother!!!” The colossal creature writhed on the ground in pain, and Ilex didn't hesitate.

"Go get her!" Ilex shouted to his acid clone, his voice laced with equal parts determination and dark amusement.

In a grotesque scene, the clone thrust itself into Vipros' gaping maw, its semi-solid form gradually liquifying. The serpent's screams of agony were soon replaced with the raw sound of devastation as the insides of her mouth began to disintegrate under the corrosive assault.

"Sweet mother of…" Brian whispered, awestruck by the horrifying display. "Ilex, you twisted genius."

The cavernous space once filled with deadly fangs was now a hollow void, the relentless acid having consumed it entirely. The assault continued unabated; the acid seeped further down the serpent's throat and esophagus, relentlessly carving its path of destruction.

“Got her.” Ilex closed his grimoire.

You have vanquished [Valtivenom Alpha - lvl 33] - Valtite has been distributed amongst your party. You have gained +317 Valtite reserves.

‘DING’ Your valtite energy grows to level 17, empowering your stats and increasing your potential. +2 to each stat and +2 untrained points.

‘DING’ Your valtite energy grows to level 18, empowering your stats and increasing your potential. +2 to each stat and +2 untrained points.

‘DING’ Your valtite energy grows to level 19, empowering your stats and increasing your potential. +2 to each stat and +2 untrained points.