Chapter 125: Trapped by Fangs, Saved by Wings

The Leader-Level Viper hissed viciously and launched its heavy body directly toward his throat.

Ethan stepped right into the heart of the attack, his dark eyes burning with cold resolve as his sword flashed like silver lightning, splitting the giant beast’s lunge. But the sheer volume of the surrounding swarm made holding the rooftop impossible, and with his daily Teleportation uses completely exhausted from the morning’s bat battle, he had no choice of aerial escape.

Breaking through the writhing carpet of scales, Ethan vaulted over the edge of the rooftop, landing heavily on the ruined avenue below.

The stench hit him instantly~a thick, suffocating odor of stagnant swamp water, rotting flesh, and concentrated venom. Hundreds of blue-black Vipers poured out from the overgrown grass flanking the ruined street, their bodies thick as a man’s arm and their dark scales glistening in the morning light.

At the center of the swarm, the Leader-Level Viper raised its massive head once more, its blue, vertically slit pupils fixed entirely on him. The Snake King mark on his left arm burned furiously beneath his sleeve, acting as a beacon that drove the entire swarm into a frenzy.

The first vipers lunged, dozens of fanged jaws snapping open at once. 𝖋𝘳ℯ

Ethan raised his hand, gathering spatial energy in his palm to tear open a thin black fissure that swept across the ground, swallowing more than a dozen leading vipers before vanishing. The Leader-Level Viper slammed its tail against the ground with a sharp crack, sending fractures across the asphalt as the rest of the swarm closed in from both sides.

Ethan’s expression hardened. He stepped back and swung his sword, Spatial Cut tearing through the air to sever several attackers while dark-green blood hissed against the stone.

Though he cut them down, the numbers were overwhelming, with several new vipers appearing for every one he killed. Checking his system panel, Ethan noted he had five uses of Spatial Fissure and ten uses of Spatial Cut remaining~his most reliable offensive skills, which he could not afford to waste entirely on ordinary fodder.

The red-haired Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey was still fleeing somewhere ahead, and its Mental-type Core represented his best chance of acquiring an Ability capable of dealing with mind control, especially after losing the Streak of White’s Core to the Tiger King. Deciding he needed to break out of the immediate crush, he swept his sword to force a recoil, turned, and sprinted down the avenue in the direction the red-haired monkey had fled, with the swarm in hot pursuit.

He raced through the ruins, leaping over collapsed fences and weaving between abandoned vehicles while the vipers surged behind him like a dark river. The Leader-Level Viper proved to be the fastest of them all, gliding over the ground with astonishing speed despite its enormous size.

Glancing over his shoulder, Ethan watched the creature rear its head back and spit a stream of venom that struck the wall beside him, eating through the concrete with a sharp hiss and sending chunks of masonry tumbling down. Ethan released another Spatial Fissure to swallow a cluster of pursuers, gaining a momentary buffer before the Leader-Level Viper surged through the gap and spat another stream of venom that splashed close enough to splatter droplets onto his clothes, burning tiny holes through the fabric.

"Damn it!" Ethan gritted his teeth as he tore the smoking cloth away.

The creature was closing the distance, and with his daily Teleportation count exhausted, he was running out of opportunities to slow it down. He was still debating whether to turn and fight when a strange sound came from above~the steady beating of wings.

Then a light, playful, and mocking voice drifted down from the sky.

"Well, well. If it isn’t the great Ethan, the man who wants to become the emperor of the Apocalypse. How did you end up running for your life from a bunch of little snakes? I thought you were supposed to be unstoppable."

Looking up, Ethan spotted a woman in black leather clothing hovering above the street, her golden wings spreading wide behind her. Sunlight glinted off their feathers, creating a brilliant halo around her silhouette. Her arms were folded across her chest, and an amused smile played on her lips.

Kate.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you doing here?"

Kate shrugged, gliding effortlessly above him. "Taking a walk. Enjoying the weather. You know, the usual things people do when they aren’t being chased by a hundred poisonous snakes." Her gaze dropped toward the swarm surging behind him. "Though I have to admit, watching you run like a stray dog is much more entertaining."

Ethan ignored the jab. He looked past her, toward the direction the red-haired monkey had escaped, then glanced at the Leader-Level Viper rapidly closing in. An idea formed in his mind.

"Help me deal with these Vipers, and the Leader-Level Core is yours."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "You’re offering me a Leader-Level Core?"

"That’s what I said."

Her teasing smile widened. "Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

She unfolded her arms and extended both hands. Several bone blades materialized around her, their pale surfaces catching the sunlight. With a flick of her wrists, she sent them hurtling toward the approaching swarm.

The blades tore through the air, slicing Vipers apart before they could react and disrupting their advance. Kate descended slightly, her golden wings beating hard enough to send dust swirling around her boots. "Now that’s more like it!"

The Leader-Level Viper raised its head, its blue eyes fixing on Kate. The creature let out a furious hiss, abandoned its pursuit of Ethan, and turned toward the woman in the air.

Kate’s smile faltered. "Oh, come on. I just got here."

The Viper lunged upward. Kate shot higher into the sky as its jaws snapped shut beneath her, twisting in midair to send another volley of bone blades toward its head. The Viper recoiled, then spat a stream of venom at her, forcing her farther away from the street.

Ethan didn’t wait to see what happened next. He turned and ran.

"ETHAN!" Kate’s furious shout followed him. "YOU BETTER NOT BE PLANNING TO LEAVE ME HERE!"

He heard the crash of colliding bodies and the sharp whistle of bone blades behind him. Ethan kept running, feeling only a tiny twinge of guilt. Compared with being called a coward by Kate, obtaining the Mental-type Core to save Rose was far more important. Besides, she had agreed to the deal and could handle herself, at least according to the thoughts fading into the distance with her creative curses.