Chapter 280: Beast commander.

A small black snake head popped up from the middle of the pond It let out a sharp hiss, its long, purple, split tongue darting in and out as its yellow slit-eyes locked onto the group.

Etania transitioned to combat mode, gripping her gun and ready to shoot. "Another snake."

Beauty’s cheerful robotic voice chimed directly into Zyra’s mind.

[Good news, a second scan reveals that what’s beneath the pond is actually over three thousand low rank venomous snakes. That’s way more than the one thousand you need for your quest!]

Zyra nodded slowly, staring at the large pond. Collecting three thousand snakes was great, but how on earth was she supposed to fish them all out without getting bitten to death? They couldn’t fish them out with fishing rods.

Hey, Beauty, Zyra thought, do you sell giant fishing nets in the system shop? Like, reinforced titanium ones?

[Yes, Host! Reinforced Nets are available for 25 Resonance points each,] Beauty replied sweetly, before changing her tone to mock confusion. [But Host_ why go through all that hustle and waste your hard-earned stones when you can just command the beasts to crawl out themselves?]

Zyra’s eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. She slapped her forehead so hard it made a loud thwack. "Right! I totally forgot I’m a low-level Beast Commander!"

She turned on her heel and strutted right to the edge of the water. Swallowing her pride, Zyra cleared her throat, clapped her hands sharply, and shouted across the lake, "Alright, boys and girls! Attention please! All low-level crawlers, slitherers, and creepy-crawlies_ hop on out!" She calmed her breath, unleashing waves of energy like Beauty had taught her to do so.

Bullet, Etania, and Bianca all stared at her back in dead silence.

"Ma’am what do you mean crawl out?" Bullet whispered loudly, pointing an index finger at his own temple. "Is she talking to the beasts in the water?"

"I don’t know," Bianca muttered, watching intently. "But Achilles said she talks to herself a lot, so nothing surprises me with her anymore."

Zyra’s chest rose as she exhaled. A pulse of soul-energy unfurled from deep within her, and a mist of soul-light rippled across the pond, shimmering like moonlit water.

Before Bullet could ask what, she was doing, the calm pond surface began to bubble violently. It looked like a pot of boiling soup.

Then, they came.

It wasn’t just a few snakes. Hundreds of snake heads broke through the surface. But it wasn’t just snakes! three-eyed serpents, giant purple crabs, bloated acid-spitting mud-eels, and armored scorpions all began scrambling over one another, frantically swimming toward the shore like eager students responding to the lunch bell.

Zyra’s aura coiled tighter, pressing against the creatures in the pond that were drawn by the force of her command. It pressed against them like a leash.

"Holy mother of miracles!" Bullet gasped, taking three big steps backward and raising his gun in absolute horror.

Zyra summoned her beast pocket, opened it, and placed it wide open on a flat surface. She stood next to it like a ticket collector at a theme park, tapping her foot.

"Only the snakes, the rest of you go back! Don’t push! Get inside, come on, move it!" Zyra counted out loud as the parade of venomous snakes slithered and hopped straight into the tiny pouch. "One, two, fifty, one hundred_"

A particular fat, crimson-scaled snake paused at the mouth of the pouch, looking up at Zyra with big, innocent reptilian eyes. "Um, Excuse me, boss? Where are you taking us? Is there food inside?"

Zyra froze. She had not expected any of them to talk to her. Much like a butcher, she didn’t need the cow asking questions. And couldn’t exactly tell the poor thing that it was going to be eaten by Spice.

"Uh_" Zyra forced a warm, maternal smile. "You’ll see! It’s a_ surprise vacation spot! Lots of legroom! In you go!"

The snake hissed happily and dived headfirst into the pocket.

[You are a terrible human,]

"Are you just realizing it?" Zyra huffed, wiping sweat from her brow as the last of the lake creatures crammed themselves into the pouch. At the last second, she added ten more than she needed. She would spare the fat crimson one and other smart ones. As for the rest.... nature’s law would have to be followed.

Once all the snakes were safely taken to the beast domain, she zipped the beast pocket tight and secured it to her waist, as if it was holding precious cargo.

"Beauty, scan the area for, threats, the root or a mid-level python_ do not forget the dew fruit too."

[Scanning... area is completely clear, Host. No threats detected, just standard ambient poison.]

"Alright, clear path. Let’s keep moving," Zyra announced. "Save all your questions for when we return home."

The team fell into line, walking down the muddy trail surrounding the pond. Bullet took up the rear, his eyes darting suspiciously into the foggy trees.

Suddenly, a sharp whoosh of air cut through the quiet.

"Whoa!" Bullet yelled, ducking down so fast his armor clanked loudly against the rocks. "Something just flew right over my head!"

Zyra and the rest of the team whirled around, weapons drawn. Hovering in the air just a few feet away was a strange, majestic creature. It had the slender, scaly body of a serpent, but behind its triangular head floated a pair of translucent, dragon-like wings. Behind it, a dozen more of the winged reptiles emerged from the fog, fluttering softly.

Beauty’s voice popped up instantly. [Host, those are Low-Level Dragon Snakes. They aren’t dangerous at all_ just extremely curious, like little children.]

Zyra lowered her guard. Looking at the lead winged snake, she bent her knees slightly and offered a polite, respectful bow. "Just passing through, folks. Move along."

To everyone’s absolute shock, the lead Dragon Snake hovered higher, folded its wings neatly against its back, and dropped its head down low, bowing formally right back to Zyra.

The winged snake hissed in a clear, echoing tone, before signaling its pack to fly up into the misty canopy.

Bullet’s jaw hit the floor. Etania covered her mouth with both hands, tears of pure reverence welling up in her eyes. The entire team was utterly tongue-tied. Wild, proud beasts of the dungeon had just bowed to Zyra.

Bianca walked up beside Zyra, nudging her shoulder forcefully with her own. "Are you still going to sit there and tell me you’re not the Divine Maiden? Because I am one hundred percent convinced now."

Zyra let out a long, exhausted sigh, dragging a hand down her face. "Bianca, for the thousandth time, I am just a normal girl who uses logic and_ " She paused, realizing it was completely useless to argue. "You know what? Fine. Think whatever you want."

Remembering her quest, Zyra quickly looked up at the still hovering lead Dragon Snake before it flew away entirely. "Wait! Do any of you know where I can find a poisonous root that is at least a hundred years old?"

The winged snake stopped mid-air. It nodded its triangular head so strongly it looked like it might pop off.

"Yes," the snake hissed, flicking its tail toward a dark, cavernous grounds in the deeper parts on the outskirt of the dungeon "Follow me. I know the exact place where the ancient root grows."

Zyra gestured for the rest to follow it.

Before she could move, Bianca grabbed Zyra’s hand. The look on her face was one of suspicion. "What exactly are we doing? Are we really following a snake? Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?"