Chapter 282: Very mad snakes.

As eager as Bianca was forge ahead, Zyra shook her head. "Let’s wait until their footsteps vanish. Neil does not strike me as an honorable hunter; he smiles way too much."

Etania added, as if the others had been blind. "And he was totally flirting with you."

Elfy pitched in with a question that was helpful...or not, depending on who you asked. "Should I kill him?"

"No." Zyra replied.

"Yes." Bullet replied, at the same time as Zyra. He looked at Zyra and added, "Hunter would do it." His fingers tapped his gun, itching to leave holes in the body of the fool that dared to steal his boss’ wife.

Zyra turned her glare down at the lead dragon snake. "Hey, dragon snake. You still haven’t answered me. How much further?"

The winged serpent flicked its tongue, its green eyes blinking. ’Not much further, boss. Just beyond the nest.’

Then, the lead snake slithered closer to its companions, and they began to whisper in low, rasping hisses. Zyra sharpened her ears, tapping into her inner cultivation to strain her hearing.

’Are we really taking them to the Venom Depths?’ one of the smaller snakes hissed nervously.

The lead dragon snake lightly flapped its tiny wings, sending a puff of dust into the air. ’That is where the oldest poisonous trees are. If she wants the oldest roots, she has to go where the death-gas is thickest.’

Zyra heard every single word. She immediately turned back to her party, her voice dropping to a low, serious murmur. "Stay sharp, everyone. We’re swimming in dangerous waters. These snakes aren’t taking us via the tourist route."

They continued forward, but this time, somewhat more relaxed because they knew another group of humans was somewhere ahead of them. All was silent until a loud, cheerful laugh echoed through the trees.

"I found them! I found high-ranking eggs!" a human voice shouted excitedly.

Bullet tossed an empty water bottle onto the damp moss with a heavy sigh. "That’s got to be Neil’s crew again. Do those guys ever shut up? They are practically telling every snake where to find them."

The party paused at the edge of a clearing to look. Neil and his hunters were crowded around a giant, pit-like nest filled with shiny, well-kept eggs. The entire nest was built out of a horrifying pile of crushed human, snake and beast bones.

"They have to be crazy to steal one of those eggs." Bullet muttered, eyeing the ribcages sticking out of the mud. Whoever owned those eggs was not an easy target. The thought actually put him more on edge.

The lead dragon snake shuddered, shaking its triangular head. Boss, we cannot stay here! This is the Bone Nest. The Mad Snakes are hiding somewhere nearby_ probably beneath the bones.’

"Mad snakes?" Zyra whispered back.

[They are called Mad because they don’t just crush their enemies’ bones,] Beauty chimed in with her cool, systemic voice. [They crush and devour their own kind as well. Feral beasts with zero chill, cannot be tamed.]

Zyra nodded once. She didn’t need to be told twice. "We’re leaving. Now." She raised her hand, motioning for her team to back away slowly.

[Host, watch your back!] Beauty warned_ a fraction of a second too late.

A big, yellow-dotted tail whipped out from the shadows, flying straight for Zyra’s spine out of everyone there!

"Mother master!" Elfy screamed.

Without hesitation, Elfy lunged forward and shoved Zyra out of the way. The heavy tail slammed into Elfy instead, sending her flying through the air with a gasp. She crashed hard at the top of the pit. Bianca came flying next into the center of the bone nest, rolling right over the prize eggs.

"No!!" A woman on Neil’s team shouted.

Viscous yellow yolk exploded everywhere, covering Elfy’s armor and ruining half the clutch.

"Boss! They’re trying to steal our eggs!" a hunter from Neil’s team roared, pointing his gun straight at Bianca.

The man leaped forward, swinging his blade, but Bianca just sneered. She flicked her wrist, pulling a dagger from her side pocket, and swiped the incoming bullet clean out of the air, deflecting his shot with effortless precision.

The hunter stumbled back, wide-eyed and sweating. "What the hell? What skill is that?"

"That is not what’s happening, you fucker!" Bianca barked. She raised her blade and pointed up into the canopy. "Look up, idiot!"

Hanging from a giant branch above them was a big, yellow-dotted Mad Snake, its jaw unhinged as it hissed at the party. It lunged down toward Bullet, but Zyra was already moving. She fired her lock-gun quickly. Gravity energy shot out, wrapping tight around the serpent and forcing it to stay in one place. "Now! Stab the head!"

Etania leaped onto Bullet’s shoulder, using him as a springboard to launch herself into the air. With a fierce battle cry, she drove her heavy short sword straight down through the top of the snake’s skull. The beast thrashing once before slamming limply onto the forest floor.

Neil snapped out of his shock and shouted to his crew, "Form up! Help them!"

Before his men could move, the bone pit beneath them violently erupted. White ribcages, human skulls, and dirt flew into the air as a second, even larger Mad Snake slithered out from beneath the pile!

It hissed wildly, its large tail sweeping out and knocking two of Neil’s hunters off their feet. It further pierced its tail in their chests.

Neil gritted his teeth, thrusting his hand into his coat to pull out his Lock Gun. "I’ll lock this one down!" he yelled, aiming at the lunging monster.

He aimed at the beast’s chest, but just as his finger touched the trigger, the Mad Snake’s jagged tail whipped around like a lightning strike.

The heavy tail struck Neil’s wrist, snapping his hand backward with a sickening crack. The Lock Gun flew out of his grip, spinning through the air and landing deep in the mud. Neil clutched his broken, bleeding arm with a gasp of agony, tumbling backward into the rattling pile of bones.

"Neil!" the blonde female screamed as the Mad Snake loomed over him, its jaws dripping with smoky venom.

His half-life beast, a mid-level stone ape ran towards him, but the mad snake slapped it away with its tail.