Chapter 203: The Three-Eyed Shadow Serpent

The moment the resurrection completed, a surge of power flooded Marcus’s body as his stats snapped back to full. A halo of golden light flared around him, forming an invincible barrier just as the lingering shockwaves from the explosion swept through the courtyard. Shattered stone and twisted debris slammed into the shield with sharp clack-clack sounds, scattering sparks in all directions, yet failing to leave so much as a scratch. Even so, the force behind the blast was overwhelming, and the knockback sent Marcus flying backward as his Nightmare Dragon Steed bolted ahead in a panicked, uncontrollable dash.

There was no time to think and no time to hesitate. His invincibility was already ticking down, and if he wasted even a fraction of a second, he would die.

Second One of Invincibility: Marcus activated Run for Your Life, forcefully breaking free from combat mode. As his vision steadied, something dark fluttered into view directly ahead of him, drifting unnaturally amid the chaos. It was the Black Raven Cloak, the Double-Headed Raven King’s Artifact. The violent explosion had torn it from its master’s control, leaving it suspended in the air like a discarded prize.

Second Two of Invincibility: Marcus’s original plan had been simple: activate Wanderlust and escape back to the city without delay. But the moment he saw the cloak swaying before him, greed struck like lightning. Without thinking, he urged his Nightmare Dragon Steed forward with everything it had, stretching out his hand toward the unattended Artifact.

’So fragrant…’

A sudden, intoxicating sweetness flooded his senses, the scent delicate yet overwhelming, clouding his thoughts for the briefest instant. A pale, smooth hand appeared out of nowhere, moving with effortless grace as it plucked the Black Raven Cloak out of the air just before Marcus could touch it. His fingers closed on nothing but empty space.

’Who?’

A slender silhouette slipped past him in the wake of the lingering fragrance, swift and lethal. Marcus caught only fleeting impressions: a graceful hand, the curve of a firm, trembling chest, and an unmistakable aura of mature allure, like a half-remembered dream. The next instant, the Raven King’s furious shriek tore through the battlefield, followed by a barrage of Dark Sky Thunder crashing down and a sudden surge of violent wind.

Ding!

“Stonehaven, Sienna, the Maiden of the Water Moon Cult, attempted to use the skill ’Cyclone Path’ to teleport you to the cult’s headquarters. The attempt has failed”

Too much had happened in a single second.

While Marcus had been fixated on the cloak, Sienna had been watching him intently. With the Three-Headed Black Dragon Knight momentarily occupied by the serpent, she seized the opening. A flick of her Wind-Dance Heaven-Splitter Fan sent a raging tornado toward the Raven King to stall him, and in the same breath she used Teleportation to appear directly in front of Marcus. She snatched the Artifact first, then immediately attempted to use Cyclone Path to abduct him along with it. Her intentions were clear, and her persistence was relentless.

’That crafty woman,’ Marcus thought grimly. She wanted the treasure and the man. She got the treasure, but his abnormally high Luck stat spared him from being kidnapped yet again.

Sienna, however, was livid. Cyclone Path had failed on this Fighter for the third time, and her patience was wearing thin. She was just about to abandon caution entirely and unleash her ultimate Seduction to charm him by force when the Raven King intervened. There was no chance he would allow her to escape with both his Artifact and his quarry. A bolt of Dark Sky Thunder tore through the air toward her, his intent unmistakably lethal.

Facing the Raven King’s full fury, Sienna had no choice. She abandoned her charm mid-motion and Teleported away, leaving the thunderbolt to crash harmlessly against Marcus’s golden invincibility barrier in a blinding flash.

Hiss!

At the same moment, the Six-Headed Twin-Winged Serpent noticed the unnatural golden glow surrounding Marcus and instantly sensed that something was wrong. Desperation flared within it. The Dragon-Horse Lyre was slipping away. Dodging the Dragon Knight’s blade, it lunged toward Marcus and unleashed a terrifying attack. One of its heads spat out a swirling mass of dark energy, compressing space itself into a miniature black hole that pulsed with ominous power.

This was no ordinary strike.

With the spatial distortion closing in and multiple high-level enemies converging, Marcus reached the final heartbeat of his invincibility. He did not dare test his luck any further.

“Wanderlust!”

Light engulfed him in a brilliant flash, and in the next instant he vanished from the battlefield entirely, leaving only chaos and fury behind.

SCREECH!

The Double-Headed Raven King released a shrill, grief-stricken cry that echoed across the ruins. It felt as though his heart were being torn apart. This was the ultimate humiliation. He had finally cornered the man who haunted his thoughts, only to watch him escape once more, slipping away right under his nose. Not only had he failed to reclaim the Dark Violet Sky Dragon Pet Egg, but he had also lost his Black Raven Cloak to that witch from the Water Moon Cult.

And he knew, with bitter certainty, that Sienna would never return it.

Driven into a true frenzy, the Raven King turned his wrath on her. His Nine-Feather Dark Thunder Fan became a blur as he unleashed a merciless storm of Dark Sky Thunder, pouring every ounce of his hatred into the assault.

Nearby, the Six-Headed Twin-Winged Serpent watched Marcus’s disappearance with cold, calculating eyes. Its spatial black hole had struck nothing, and the Dragon-Horse Lyre was gone. This outcome was unacceptable. With murderous resolve, it summoned a Grade 8 pet.

The Three-Eyed Shadow Serpent.

The creature was as thick as a man’s waist and more than fifteen feet long, its crimson tongue flicking as it hissed softly. The most unsettling feature was the vertical black eye embedded in the center of its forehead, pulsing with an eerie, lightless glow.

The Three-Eyed Shadow Serpent was not merely a killer. Its third eye possessed the rare ability to peer through the fabric of space itself, tracking enemies by sensing disturbances in spatial energy.

Obeying its master’s will, the serpent opened that eye fully. The residual traces left behind by Marcus’s Wanderlust lit up clearly in its vision, forming an unmistakable trail. Locking onto his escape path, the third eye released a beam of dark light, and the Shadow Serpent dissolved into it, plunging into the spatial current in pursuit.

This was the serpent’s final hope.

A low-level player like Marcus stood no chance against a Grade 8 pet. If the Shadow Serpent caught up and wrapped its massive body around him, he would be completely restrained. From there, the Six-Headed Twin-Winged Serpent could follow the spatial link, close the distance, and reclaim the Dragon-Horse Lyre once and for all.

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