Chapter 79: The silver Serpent

A silver aura approached from the eastern sector—General Ruan responding to Ethan’s signal.

His reinforcement would provide crucial support, but Ethan calculated it wouldn’t arrive for at least two minutes.

Two minutes they might not have.

The Serpent reared back for another poison assault, venom glands pulsing as they prepared a larger volley.

Ethan made his decision. Defense had failed. Only offense remained.

“Hold this section!” he commanded the nearest captain. “Reinforcements are coming. Survive until then.”

Without waiting for acknowledgment, Ethan vaulted over the battlements. Enhanced Speed activated as he descended, slowing his perception of time to navigate between attacking monsters.

He hit the ground running, Crystal Hardening activated to protect him from any surpise attack.

The Serpent noted his approach immediately, massive head swiveling to track this unexpected development.

It abandoned its planned attack on the wall, reptilian instinct recognizing the greater threat.

Precisely as Ethan intended.

A poison orb streaked toward him, its trajectory precise enough to intercept his path. But Ethan had anticipated this, his seeming charge a deliberate feint.

He pivoted mid-stride, his speed carrying him perpendicular to his original vector.

The poison struck empty ground, dissolving earth into steaming crater.

Above, the Harpy screeched warning, wings generating focused wind currents to impede Ethan’s approach. Dust and debris swirled in miniature cyclones, reducing visibility and creating unpredictable movement hazards.

The coordinated defense confirmed Ethan’s assessment—these two silver-ranks operated with unprecedented cooperation.

The Serpent struck with blinding speed, massive head darting forward on muscular neck. Fangs longer than daggers sought Ethan’s flesh, venom dripping from hollow channels designed to deliver death.

Ethan sidestepped with milliseconds to spare, Crystal Hardening absorbing grazing contact that would have shredded ordinary human skin. His dagger found purchase in softer scales beneath the Serpent’s jaw, drawing blood that hissed when it struck the ground.

The creature recoiled, more surprised than injured. Its vertical pupils contracted to thin lines as it reassessed this prey that had drawn its blood.

On the wall, soldiers watched with mingled horror and hope as a lone figure engaged a silver-rank monster in direct combat. Most had never witnessed such confrontation—silver against silver, predator against predator.

“Is he insane?” A captain whispered.

The veteran beside him shook his head slowly. “No. He’s buying time.”

Indeed, each second Ethan occupied the Serpent’s attention prevented further poison attacks on the wall.

Each moment he survived allowed General Ruan to close the distance from the eastern sector.

The Harpy, recognizing this strategy, redoubled its efforts. Wind currents intensified around Ethan, attempting to unbalance him or drive him into the Serpent’s strike range.

Then bronze-beasts joined the assault, directed to swarm the isolated human.

Dozens converged from all directions, seeking to overwhelm through sheer numbers what they couldn’t overcome through individual strength.

Ethan activated multiple talents simultaneously—Crystal Hardening for defense, Enhanced Speed for mobility, Fire to create space when monsters pressed too close.

He became a silver-wreathed whirlwind, daggers finding vital points. Each strike eliminated a threat, each movement positioned him optimally for the next engagement.

[You have killed High-Bronze Beast…]

[You have killed Mid-Bronze Beast Shadow Wolf]

[You have killed Mid-Bronze Beast: Razorback Boar]

The Serpent struck again, massive body coiling for devastating power. This time Ethan couldn’t fully evade—the attack came while sevent peak bronze-beasts occupied his attention.

Impact sent him tumbling across broken ground, Crystal Hardening preventing immediate death but not eliminating damage entirely. Pain lanced through his side where the serpent had attacked.

He regained footing just as the Serpent’s tail whipped toward him—a secondary attack coordinated with the Harpy’s aerial assault.

Wind pushed him into the tail’s path, while the appendage itself moved faster than its size suggested possible.

Ethan activated Shield, the translucent barrier materializing milliseconds before impact. The tail rebounded with force that shattered his protection, the feedback sending him staggering backward.

I Need a new approach.

The bronze-beasts closed distance, forming a circle that limited his maneuverability. Above, the Harpy maintained wind pressure, containing him within an ever-shrinking combat zone.

Classic hunting behavior—isolate, contain, exhaust, then kill.

A new silver aura flared at the wall’s edge—General Ruan had arrived, his power cascading from the battlements like liquid moonlight.

“Ethan!” The general’s voice carried over the chaos. “Fall back!”

Retreat would place him within the Serpent’s poison range with limited maneuverability. Advance would drive him deeper into the monster horde.

Neither option promised survival.

Ethan chose option three.

He activated multiple talents simultaneously. The combined effect transformed him into a silver comet, power radiating in waves.

Fire erupted around him in a perfect circle, incinerating the closest bronze-beasts and creating momentary space. Wind strengthened the fire beneath his control, countering the Harpy’s influence to stabilize the battlefield.

In that manufactured moment of stability, Ethan struck—not at the Serpent’s body but at the ground beneath it.

His strength drove daggers into stone, channeling concentrated force into fault lines beneath the surface. The earth trembled, then split with concussive force.

The Serpent, caught mid-strike, lost balance as its support suddenly collapsed. Ten meters of muscular body thrashed in momentary vulnerability.

“NOW!”

Ethan shouted to Ruan.

The general didn’t waste the opportunity. Silver energy condensed around his blade as he leapt from the wall, weapon aimed at the Serpent’s exposed neck.

Steel reinforced by silver power drove through scales that had repelled ballista bolts.

The blade sank to its hilt, blood erupting around it in pressurized geyser.

The Serpent’s death throes shook the earth, massive body whipping with force that shattered stone and pulverized unfortunate bronze-beasts caught in its radius.

Above, the Harpy screeched in what sounded like rage rather than frustration. It circled once, itd eyes fixed on the fallen Serpent, then turned northward—toward Han’s position.

Ethan watched its retreat.

Ruan approached, blade still dripping silver fluid. “You’re either the bravest fighter I’ve ever seen, or the most foolish.”

“Neither,” Ethan replied, scanning the battlefield as bronze-beasts scattered without silver-rank direction.

The general’s eyes narrowed. “The Harpy headed north.”

“Yes.”

“Toward Han’s position.”

“Yes.”

“We need to move,” Ethan stated, already calculating their next action.

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