The Sole Prince of the Fallen Kingdom-Chapter 26. Serpent of the Storm

HISS~

In the eerie surroundings of a moonless night, two emerald-like eyes gleamed from a white snake that appeared to be more than 20 meters long.

A serpent whose body seemed perfectly camouflaged in the surroundings of the Frostveil Thicket swiftly chased a wolf, making little noise and manipulating the wind to its advantage.

When Aiden spotted the huge serpent, he hid behind a pine tree, maintaining a fighting posture the entire time.

...That's why I wanted a fire before nightfall. Seems like I wasted too much time. Aiden was terrified by the creature that had appeared out of nowhere, though he remained in a combat stance.

He was holding the same icicle stone he had used to peel sticks, now wielded as a makeshift stabbing weapon.

Though a sword was the weapon Aiden had trained with the most, Azriel had at least taught him the basics of everything, fearing he might not always have a sword at hand.

But they were just that—basics.

"Hooh..." Taking a deep breath, Aiden further calmed the wind around the area to prevent even a single sound from reaching the giant serpent, then peeped from behind the tree to silently analyze it.

Two fangs, each longer than Aiden's height, gleamed with deadly promise, curved and extremely sharp.

A body strong enough to bring down the crystallized trunk trees if it struck them with force, causing chaos in the surroundings.

Its surreally snowy white color camouflaged it perfectly with the background, making it extremely difficult to follow its movement. However, whenever something grazed its body, an uncomfortable, shrill sound echoed, as if scraping against a hard metal surface.

Pshhh—

Gradually, having lost too much blood, the wolf's speed deteriorated. Before it had a chance to turn and fight back, the serpent's fang ripped its body apart, and a fountain of blue blood erupted.

Some of the blood landed near Aiden, freezing instantly, causing him to gulp down his saliva.

Don't panic, Aiden. Calm down. The serpent's still there.

Aiden rotated around the tree trunk, trying to keep his eyes on the serpent every second.

The serpent, having killed the wolf, gulped its body down in one swoop without dismembering it.

Its fangs, now covered in blue blood, looked more horrifying than ever.

Char, anything you can tell me about it?

[Nope. I know as much as you do about this world, which is basically what we learned in the lessons at the Castle. Aside from some magic and system-based things, that is.]

You'll be useless until my death, won't you?

[I am not useless! I might be able to show you its stats.]

...Well, I guess that would be better than nothing.

[Then here you go.]

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Title: Serpent of the Storm

STR: 27 (Rank E+)

AGI: 18 (Rank F+)

VIT: 19 (Rank F+)

MAGIC: 20 (Rank F+)

INT: 4 (Rank G-)

CHARM: 30 (Rank E+)

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Its strength is bad news. Aiden muttered, his eyes fixed on the serpent, analyzing its every movement.

...But that title—Serpent of the Storm.

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

It might mean it uses wind magic, which I'm immune to. So, that's something.

Calming his breath, Aiden looked toward the branch Ephy had been on—and found it empty.

That's good.

"Now, if you've had your meal, please leave, Mr. Serpent." Aiden prayed from the bottom of his heart, but it seemed the Serpent God (if he even existed) wasn't impressed by him.

Having finished devouring the wolf, the serpent stood still for a few moments before rapidly moving toward—

That's the direction of Elsie's body! I can't let it go there.

Even though Aiden couldn't comprehend why a serpent that massive would go after a dead body—especially one buried and frozen under the earth, he had no time to think.

He had to stop the serpent before it got there.

And to do that—

He had to defeat it.

**********

SPLASH—

Aiden manifested some water in whatever form came to mind at that moment and hurled it toward the serpent, catching its attention.

"My apologies, Mr. Serpent. But I cannot let you go in that direction," Aiden said, feigning confidence with his words.

To whom? Probably himself.

His breaths were quick, his knees slightly quivering, and he even managed to sweat in this freezing atmosphere. But he knew he had to grow stronger if he ever wanted to fulfill his promise to Elsie, and bring back both Elsie and his father.

Much, much stronger than he currently was.

HISS~

Hearing Aiden's voice and seeing a moving figure, the serpent instantly lunged forward at an impressive speed for a creature of its size.

Aiden quickly sidestepped, anticipating a delay due to the serpent's size, hoping to gain a moment to strike.

"Those scales look tough. I hope they weren't the reason for those metal scraping sounds—"

SLAM!

The serpent's tail slammed into him before Aiden could gather his thoughts and attack.

Despite surrounding himself with wind in a defensive manner and reacting in time, it still had enough power to send him flying a few meters back.

"Cough~ It knows how to utilize its entire body to attack?!" Coughing up a bit of blood, Aiden muttered under his breath, trying to steady himself.

HISS—

The serpent opened its mouth. Its fangs, gleaming with a greasy substance, hinted at venom.

Aiden ran between trees, hoping to use the surroundings and his short stature to his advantage.

After all, a creature that big would need space and time to turn around fully.

The serpent, seeing him flee, whipped around and slammed into a pine tree in the process. The tree crashed down on its tail, slowing its reaction as it hissed in agony.

"That's my chance!"

Without wasting a second, Aiden seized the opportunity and attempted to strike with the stone. However, the moment it touched the serpent's scales—

SHRILL—

An uncomfortable metal scraping sound pierced the air, and the stone broke at its edge.

Shit! I need to aim somewhere else.

"Hiss~" The Serpent of the Storm hissed, writhing against the soil as the fallen tree trunk was pushed aside from its tail.

Wind began swirling around its fangs as it prepared to strike.

"That's not going to work!" Aiden charged straight ahead, still holding the same stone, while controlling the wind and completely erasing it from the vicinity.

And as he did, the wind swirling around the serpent's fangs vanished, and everything around them fell still, as if frozen in time.

The tree's leaves. The snowy grass. The bushes.

Everything stopped moving. The air itself had been eradicated from the surroundings.

"HISS—!" The serpent, sensing its magic dissipating and noticing the environmental shift, made its fangs even more venomous.

But the brief moment it took to recover and adapt was enough for Aiden to close in.

He gripped the stone tightly, covering its edges with water and increasing the pressure with every passing moment. As soon as he was face to face with the serpent, he jumped to attack its eye.

Sensing danger, the serpent flailed in panic, grazing Aiden's right leg with one of its venomous, razor-sharp fangs.

"HIYAA—!" Gritting his teeth, Aiden stabbed the stone into the serpent's right eye and left it there, causing as big a water explosion as he could manage. It wasn't much, but it still caused the creature to bleed natural scarlet-red blood.

"Tsk..." Spitting, Aiden muttered while wiping venom from his leg with water. "I hope it hasn't entered my bloodstream."

Aiden tore a piece of his clothing, washed it with water, cleaned the wound, and wrapped it tightly around his leg.

He wasn't even paying attention to the giant serpent—perhaps, because of his fake confidence, he had assumed that having a four-inch stone embedded in its eye, combined with pressurized water and an explosion in its one unprotected spot, would be enough to kill it.

And if not that, then surely the absence of air would be.

Surely.

I'm fine without air? That's a relief to find out—

Aiden finished patching himself up and turned around—only for his facade to crumble.

The Serpent of the Storm was still alive, though clearly not unscathed.

Its mouth hung open, venomous saliva dripping from every corner.

Each drop burned the snowy grass it touched.

Its fangs, cleaned by the same water Aiden had used, now gleamed with an even deadlier promise.

Scarlet blood ran in a line from its right eye, freezing on its scale and giving it a dangerous glint.

Aiden could deduce it didn't have much time left; however, for now, its body was on an adrenaline rush.

And he had to survive these next few minutes against the creature.

**********

[A/N: It's my first time writing an action scene, so do tell me what I can improve! (or if it's perfect lol)]