Chapter 120: Second Terror

From the memories gained from Devouring the Demonized Flying Lizards, Ray made many crucial discoveries.

Not only did he find out what the Bloodsuckers were truly capable of,

he also confirmed that the Flying Serpent was indeed located in the place he had suspected all along.

Now, its chamber was located in the depths of a labyrinth that stretched deep underground.

The labyrinth had many layers, each one crawling with monsters and littered with traps designed to tear intruders apart.

For anyone else, reaching the Serpent’s chamber would have been a nightmare.

However, for Ray, it was almost effortless.

Disguised as a Demonized Flying Lizard, he simply walked through the labyrinth’s passages without anyone questioning him.

Not a single creature dared to block his path or raise an alarm as he entered the Flying Serpent’s chamber.

He attacked it the moment he laid eyes on it.

Before the Flying Serpent could become suspicious, before it could even open its mouth to ask a question—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Black fireballs detonated across the entire length of its massive body, reducing it to a pitiful, burning mess.

What was worse—far worse—was that the self-regeneration ability it had always been so proud of, the same ability that had let it heal from countless fatal wounds before, simply didn’t activate this time. Its body refused to mend itself.

Its flesh refused to knit back together.

It was as if something unseen, something incomprehensible, was interfering with its natural healing, sealing away its power to regenerate and recover from harm.

Gag!

The Flying Serpent let out a low, pained roar, its colossal form writhing helplessly on the scorched stone floor as steam rose from its body where the black flames still lingered, refusing to die out.

“What have you done to me?! Why… why aren’t my wounds healing?!” Its voice trembled between fury and disbelief as it glared at the lone human standing before it who had harmed it to this extent.

As it was consuming too much stamina, Ray had ended his transformation right after catching it off guard. So now he was back to his original form.

“That’s not important,” Ray replied in a flat tone. “What matters is that you understand your current position. Right now, you’re completely at my mercy. An if you refuse to cooperate with me, I’ll kill you without a second thought.”

“What do you want from me, human?” it hissed, its voice shaking as a mixture of pain and dread seeped into every word.

It was really scared of Ray. After all, he had subdued it in a flash. The way it spoke and its body language showed exactly that.

“I want answers,” Ray replied, his gaze unblinking, as he pressed on his advantage.

“Answers… to what?” the serpent managed to speak through its pain, but it didn’t know how long it could last like that.

“How did you find out about me?” Ray asked.

“A… black hawk of the Bloodsuckers informed me that the Mad Chieftain had died,” it said through clenched fangs.

Black Hawks — Ray knew that name all too well.

They were a group of thralls specially engineered by the Bloodsuckers, possessing a rare spatial distortion innate power that allowed them to traverse immense distances in short bursts of time.

Unlike most Bloodsuckers and lesser thralls, who were crippled by sunlight — their flesh searing, senses dulled, and strength rapidly dwindling under its touch — the Black Hawks could travel even during the day.

Why?

Their physiology was unique, and their shadow-woven bodies could sink into any shadow. When in that state, they could jump to any other shadow within the scope of their innate power or they could simply emerge from the shadow they’ve entered.

They travel during the day by jumping from one shadow to another until they have reached their destination.

Fire & sunlight was still their greatest weakness.

Anyways, they were indispensable to the Bloodsuckers.

They formed the core of the Bloodsuckers’ communication and reconnaissance network.

Their primary purpose was to relay vital messages and exchange intelligence across territories and among high-ranking Bloodsucker personnel as well as their crucial allies. As for their auxiliary uses, they were often deployed for long-range surveillance, target tracking, and resource scouting, ensuring that no information ever stayed hidden from their masters for long.

Ray had a clear understanding of their nature and purpose, having absorbed the memories of the Demonized Flying Lizards with his Devour Skill.

In fact, with the knowledge he currently possessed, he knew that their masters, the Bloodsuckers, were far more organized, far more methodical, and far more resourceful than the Velorians believed them to be.

They were coordinated. Calculated. And their every action was driven by the intent to conquer Veloria as soon as possible!

“Does that satisfy your curiosity? If so, can you please put out the fire consuming me? I can’t continue like this.” the Flying Serpent rasped, voice powerless, giving off an extreme sense of weakness as if it would die anytime if nothing was done to stop the cause of its sufferings.

Ray waved his hand, dispelling the black flames that still clung to its body. The heat died away like a snapped thread.

“Tell me about the Necromer,” Ray demanded. “Where is he right now?”

With his show of mercy and the clear threat in his tone, Ray had given the Flying Serpent every incentive to talk. He had dispelled the flames eating it alive, spared its immediate life, and made it understand that cooperation was its only chance of surviving this disaster. Believing there was still hope, the Serpent caved and spilled everything it knew.

Ray listened intently as it spoke.

The most important piece of news he gleaned was.

The Necromer had already gone ahead to put the first phase of the Grand Plan of the Bloodsuckers into play.

This Grand Plan was divided into three phases.

The first phase, in brutal detail, was as follows.

The Necromer would unleash an inexhaustible tide of undead to assault the Great Wall nonstop for three days and three nights.

Wave after wave of various kinds of undead would batter the defenders of the Great Wall, forcing them to stretch their ranks thin and burn through reserves of food, medicine, and stamina.

The undead would be varied to create various kinds of trouble for the defenders.of the great wall.

All the while, the Necromer would erect and maneuver life-siphoning cursive arrays to leech the lifespans of everyone defending the Great Wall and feed it into his army, allowing him to replenish losses virtually as fast as they occurred.

The assault was meant to be an attrition war, three days and nights of ceaseless pressure designed to shatter resolve and exhaust every last reserve.

Once the defenders were worn to breaking point, the second phase of the Bloodsuckers’ Grand Plan would begin.

The Mad Chieftain and the Flying Serpent would arrive with their armies to exploit the perfect opportunity the Necromer would have created for them.

The Mad Chieftain’s brutes would smash the gates and cleave through the inner defenses, while the Flying Serpent, accompanied by its army of aerial beasts, would rain destructive magic from above, tear open the defenders’ formations, and prevent counterattacks.

With the gates down and the Wall breached, the third phase would begin.

The Army of the Night would pour through, encircling the Three Kingdoms and turning a contained struggle into a full pincering invasion!

“If everything were to go according to plan, Veloria would fall to the clutches of the demonic creatures, is that it?” Ray’s tone was sharp.

The Flying Serpent slowly nodded, its scales flickering weakly under the dim light of the chamber.

“And you three so-called Great Terrors actually agreed to it? You honestly don’t mind seeing your world fall into the hands of invaders who have no respect for life, no regard for anything but hoarding resources and laying waste to everything else?” Ray was appalled by the audacity of these traitors.

The Flying Serpent’s slit pupils narrowed, “I am a creature of instinct, not virtue. To preserve myself, I agreed to their proposal, just as I am agreeing to cooperate with you now.”

“You mean you are shameless beyond belief,” Ray said, his expression cold.

It was basically screaming that it would do anything to survive. It was like a person saying they would gladly sell their parents, children, spouse, nation if they could live to see another day. Yes, it was just that bad.

Upon hearing Ray’s taunt, the Flying Serpent gave a rasping chuckle that echoed through the stone chamber.

“Call it what you will, but you have not seen what the Army of the Night is capable of. The Kingdom of Ratallia fell to them overnight! An entire realm — devoured before dawn! If the Three Kingdoms had been built upon similar terrain, they too would have long since vanished. Tell me, human, when faced with such horror, would you still speak of pride?”

“As for feeling ashamed for selling out the very land that fed me from infancy to adulthood, heh.”

It sneered before continuing in a much calmer tone, but its words were strong and impactful.

“The strong decide, the weak obey. That is the only truth in this world. Siding with the victors at the right time. How many have done that throughout history? I cannot feel ashamed of my decision, especially when it concerns my life… and my future.”

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