I now faced off against the one who had ordered the assassination of Gual, I would make him pay as images of Tigra crying came to my mind, he would not escape me.

I was the first to make a move, dashing forward, swiping with one blade then the other. I had not had an encounter with a Serpentes before, with no combat experience with this species of Animalia; I was uncertain of the outcome.

“Careful master,” warned Larana as the Serpentes neck extended, lashing out at me. I jumped back in surprise. Seeing the way his body moved was quite unsettling, but I knew how his venom would be inflicted – by his teeth.

“I’d heard rumours of your power and from what I have seen I am not impressed.” He dropped his cloak revealing himself fully, he was the king of all Naja, an Ophiophagus Hannah, closely related to the King cobra, but strangely his scales were green, and he had a purple belly, was this related to the dark power he was imbued with? He had no legs just a long tail. His yellow eyes piercing like daggers, sent a shiver down my spine.

“Wouldn’t mind putting the cloak back on, would you?” I asked jokingly.

“Jokes aside boy.” He glanced at my arm. “My poison, even with a few drops is fatal, you should be feeling it about now.”

I lifted my arm. “Apart from my blood burning, this is nothing compared to that Latrodectus.”

“What?” He didn’t understand what I meant.

“You see I was poisoned before by her to apparently to die a slow, painful death, but having a powerful water talisman such as Mila, certainly comes in handy against such poison.” I wasn’t going to tell him I had an immunity against poison, wasn’t going to tell him my family secret. “So, you see this little scratch or even a full-on bite wouldn’t make much of a difference.”

“Impossible,” he hissed. “I’ll just have to test your theory.” He lunged at me, faster than before, almost like I had insulted his pride, perhaps he hadn’t faced someone with an ability to resist poison. A part of me wanted to prove it and let him bite me, but I didn’t want to be losing consciousness on such an important mission.

He swiped at me with his strangely clawed hands, then his neck got longer trying to circle around to a blind spot, but with my talismans I had not blind spots.

Raziel jumped behind me, roaring out a blazing flame, giving Sniper no option but to back off.

“Forgot you wielded their power.” I defended myself, his claws sounded like metal against my metal blades. I knew something was off about them.

We continued like this, a stale mate between the both of us, he couldn’t get close enough to actually bite me, I wouldn’t let him. It seemed almost like he wanted to prove me wrong, and I couldn’t land a hit either, his own defence capabilities were strong. I expected nothing less from an Animalia who could move their body in such sharp movements.

I thrust forward, then twisted Arata’s sword to the left, trying to slice at him, Sniper’s body moved, bending just enough to avoid getting hit. I stepped back, then twisted right as he swiped his claws and whipped his tail from behind.

I jumped back swiping Arata upwards at thin air, summoning a built of lightning to strike down and a gush of water from below him.

“Got you,” I smirked.

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“Not bad for a Feles so young,” commented Sniper, moving forward unscathed, the dark aura around him glowing more intently, it had protected him. “I have done what I needed.” He moved away from me. “It is almost time.” He looked around to see the place with so few clones left to defend it. “What?”

“Didn’t think I came alone, did you?” I said pleased with how quickly my team had disposed of the threats.

“No matter,” he shook his head, he didn’t seem to be bothered. We’d ruined his plans so why wasn’t he worried.

There was a huge explosion from the tubes, the lightning energy they had taken from the dragon was sparking out everywhere, infused with the dark power.

I felt my heart pounding loudly, sending shockwaves through my body, my power was disrupted Raziel and Arata both disappearing. I stumbled forward, my breath catching in my throat, what was happening? I’d felt this before, years ago, was this what caused it before, the creation of clones?

Before I knew it Sniper had wrapped his entire body around mine. I cried, dropping the twin lion swords as he squeezed tighter, making it harder for me to catch my breath.

“Like the members of his clan, you are far more sensitive to the dark power than others.” He hissed next to my ear. “Wielding his talismans, you must be a direct descendant. Soon all those who share his blood will die.” He laughed. “Now let’s test how resistant you are to my poison and how you react to the darkness.” My eyes widened as he sunk his fangs into my shoulder. I let out a scream of pain, struggling to break through as I felt the poison quickly flowing though my blood stream. My whole body was on fire, my body pulsating through the dark energy that went with it. In an instant I could do nothing immobilised by pain

The air went cold, icicles forming all around, my vision blurred as I saw a glimpse of Ibiki. The ice began forming all over Sniper’s body, I could feel his grip loosening, like his cousins he was susceptible to the cold.

Sniper withdrew his fangs as he was struck by multiple attacks at ones, lightning, fire, ice and earth.

“Damn,” he cursed, moving away. “If only I had a little longer.”

I stood there in a daze, trying to fight off the amount of pain my body was now in. I slowly knelt picking up Raziel and Arata. “That was a big mistake.” I panted, my team coming in around me. I felt ashamed I had let this happen, my sensitivity to the dark energies was becoming a problem, especially if it happened in such serious situations as this.

“Was it?” He grinned. “But I am surprised you are not dead yet.”

“Have you finished playing yet?” A female voice came, as she stepped into view, her body glowing with dark power, her scent reeked of it, and her frame was hidden by the cloak she wore, I was uncertain what Animalia she was.

“Not yet,” he remarked.

“Could have saved me some, looks half dead to me,” she sighed. “How mighty the Fang clan has fallen.”

“You can still play with them if you want,” commented Sniper.

“Really.” She stretched. “Would be nice to let loose after being dead for so long.” She glanced between each of my team. “How precious at how they are protecting you.” My team stood in front of me.

“Back down, you can’t take them,” I warned.

“Neither can you in your state,” responded Kiba. “You might not realise it, but his poison was infused with a dark essence, which is at this moment coursing through your body.”

“I can handle it,” I snapped.

“You are not alone,” said Lin.

I smirked, I seemed to keep forgetting I had a team to back me up, most of the time I been on my own or taking Brendan, but now I had a whole team. Edge, Lin, Finn, Ibiki, Kiba and Rex.

“Alright, you’ve got this.”

“Good,” nodded Ibiki. “Be very cautious of the Naja. Rex, Kiba and Finn he is all yours. Edge, Lin you’re with me to take out this seemingly more powerful clone.”

“Clone,” she laughed. “I am no clone, just took so many failures, before I could be reborn. Amazing how many times I’ve been taken out by your clan.” She held out her hand manifesting the dark aura around her to create a dagger. “I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

I could already sense the power difference between my team and the two infused with dark power, they were not ready for this fight, but for now I would just have to have faith in them, faith that we would survive.