The sound of explosions reverberated in the surroundings as the Little Girl and the Silver Snake exchanged blows with each other.
“I knew it,” the Silver Snake said through telepathy as it eyed the Little Girl that it planned to hunt down. “You are only this powerful on the days of the Full Moon. It’s a good thing that I didn’t have to wait a long time to fight you at your full powers.
“You should have looked for me when I was not at my peak strength,” the Little Girl replied. “Your chances of winning would have been higher.”
“And why should I do that?” The Silver Snake eyed the Little Girl with a disdainful look on its face. “Eating you at your weakest will not benefit me in any way. The stronger the Creatures I devour, the more it will benefit me. So, after I eat you, I will hunt down the King Manticore and become the strongest creature in this Domain.”
“Eat me?” the Little Girl narrowed her eyes. “I am stronger than you. The only reason why you are still alive is because your scales have become somewhat harder than before.”
The Giant Silver Snake nodded. “You’re right. But that will change soon.”
Without another word, the Silver Snake opened its mouth and unleashed a Poison Spray that could melt rocks.
The Little Girl deftly avoided the snake’s attack and pointed in the direction of the snake’s head.
“Moon Beam!”
A ray of silver light emitted from the tip of her finger and shot toward the Silver Snake’s head. However, the thirty-meter-long Giant Snake had already anticipated this move, so it was able to dodge it easily.
This wasn’t its first time fighting against the Little Girl, so it had already memorized her abilities.
Just as the pink-haired girl was about to unleash another Moon Beam, the Silver Snake’s eyes glowed bright red, emitting a flash of light in her direction.
The Little Girl’s body momentarily became paralyzed, and the Silver Snake took advantage of this to lash out its tail against its stationary target, temporarily rooted in place.
A pained cry escaped the girl’s lips as the tail slammed on her body, sending her flying backward.
Although she was in pain, she managed to regain her balance mid-air and landed on the ground, skidding for several meters before coming to a complete stop.
Suddenly, she felt danger coming from underground, so she immediately jumped back to distance herself from whatever was about to attack her from below.
A moment later, the head of the Silver Snake emerged from the ground mouth first, its jaws opened wide.
It then unleashed an Acid Spray at point-blank range, forcing the Little Girl to summon a barrier of moonlight around her.
The Silver Snake had already anticipated this move as well, so it followed up its attack with another tail strike, breaking the MoonLight Barrier and hitting the body of the Little Girl, sending her crashing toward the ground.
“H-How?” the Little Girl asked as she painfully propped herself up on the ground to look at the Monster, which was supposed to be weaker than her.
“How?” the Silver Snake replied in a teasing tone. “It seems that you still don’t understand. Yes, I was weaker than you a while ago, but if you didn’t notice, I am getting stronger as time goes by. Because you underestimated my strength, I was able to give you a surprise attack.”
The Giant Snake then lowered its head and eyed the kneeling girl on the ground. Its eyes were filled with amusement like a predator playing with its food.
“Little Girl, let this be a lesson to you. Do not underestimate someone whom you think is weaker than you,” the Silver Snake stated. “Among the four of us, I was the weakest. Because of this, I was forced to become that Ancient Wendigo’s servant. I didn’t know where it went, but it was no longer in the Deathseeker Forest.
“Knowing that, I took a gamble and devoured the treasure it had been protecting in its Lair. I didn’t know why that bastard didn’t consume it in the past. Perhaps it was waiting for the right time to evolve into a stronger Creature, or perhaps the power of the treasure wasn’t enough to make its bloodline ascend to its next stage.
“I’m sure that it will go into a frenzy once it knows that I have devoured its treasure. But, before that, I planned to become stronger than it. I will first consume you, then the King Manticore.
“After that, I will consume the Ancient Wendigo and become the Overlord of this world. So, you can rest in peace knowing that you have played a role in making me strong. So… die for me!”
The Silver Snake’s eyes glowed once more, paralyzing the Little Girl in place.
It then opened its mouth wide, about to bite down on the Magical Creature that would make its bloodline evolve to the next level.
The pink-haired girl shouted and summoned the strongest Moon Barrier that she could summon.
The fangs of the Giant Snake dug down on the glowing dome of light, creating cracks on its surface.
“You are just prolonging the inevitable,” the Silver Snake said in contempt as it applied more force to its attack. “Accept your fate willingly and become my sustenance!”
The cracks in the dome of light spread, and the sounds of glasses breaking spread in the surroundings.
But just as the dome of light was about to shatter, a moon beam collided with the Silver Snake’s head, pushing it away hundreds of meters.
The Little Girl glanced behind her and saw several Wizards and Witches descending from the sky.
In front of the formation was the angelic beauty whom she referred to as her Kindred Spirit.
Luna landed a few meters away from the Little Girl and hurriedly ran in her direction.
She then poured a magical potion over the girl’s body, healing some of the injuries that she received during her battle with the Silver Snake.
“I’m sorry, but this is all I can do for now,” Luna said softly as she helped the Little Girl to stand up. “Don’t worry. We will protect you.”
“It’s you people again!” The Silver Snake hissed upon recognizing Ethan’s group who fought against the Ancient Wendigo in the Deathseeker Forest. “Good! You saved me the trouble of hunting all of you who have invaded our world. I will devour you all!”
“We’ll see about that!” Ace said as she stood between the Silver Snake and his group. “You have to go through our Master first. After you beat him, I will give you the opportunity to fight me!”
The young man even pointed at the Silver Snake as if taunting it to do its worst.
Ethan glanced at Emma, who hurriedly averted her gaze.
The handsome young man then looked at Archer, who was Ace’s twin brother.
The latter lightly coughed his throat before summoning his bow.
“It’s fine, Master,” Archer replied. “Although my brother can be a bit eccentric at times, he has the skill to back it up. He just wants to look cool in front of the ladies.”
“… You call that acting cool?” Sefarina had a disgusted look on her face. “We are here to protect Master, yet he wanted that Giant Snake to beat Master first before he fights it? Isn’t that the complete opposite of our mission?”
“Master, can I whack his head with my Mace?” Bridge asked with a solemn look on her face. “Maybe he got kicked by a donkey when he was born. One quick smack might fix that.”
Ethan chuckled before summoning his Sea God’s Trident.
“You can whack him later,” Ethan replied. “Let’s whack that Snake first.”
All the members of Ethan’s group summoned their weapons and wands in preparation for battle.
Luna, who was holding onto the Little Girl, lightly patted her head and also summoned her own wand.
“Don’t worry,” Luna said with a determined look on her face. “We will protect you.”
The Little Girl looked at her Kindred Spirit with a surprised look on her face.
“No,” the Little Girl said as she raised her arms to cup Luna’s face, pulling her head towards her. “We will fight together.”
The Little Girl kissed Luna’s forehead, creating the pact that would bind the two of them together for life.
When she pulled back, an emblem of a crescent moon faintly shone on Luna’s forehead, proving that their pact was complete.
“Give me a name,” the Little Girl said softly as she looked at the young lady with an expectant look on her face.
At that moment, a name suddenly appeared inside Luna’s mind, which she knew was perfect for the adorable Little Girl in front of her.
“Selene,” Luna said. “Your name will be Selene.”
The Little Girl smiled before looking at the Silver Snake, whose scales were slowly changing to black. Gold colorations could be seen at the edges of its scales, making it look especially beautiful and deadly at the same time.
“Everyone, get ready,” Ethan stated as the Sea God’s Trident in his hand hummed in preparation for battle. “This fight won’t be easy.”
The giant Black-Gold Snake emitted an ear-piercing screech as if venting its frustration at the people who interrupted its meal.
A minute later, a battle under the moonlit sky shook the entirety of Janga Valley, making all of the Creatures inside it flee in fear of being involved in a battle for survival.
———————-
(Author’s Note: Selene’s picture is in the comment section.)