286 Chapter 286: Black Underworld Swamp (2/2)

”Yes, sir!” everyone chorused, slashing and striking at the Black Underworld Snakes relentlessly. The serpents had gotten a little smarter and were pulling back, staying out of range of the melee weapons. That didn't stop them from being bombarded by long-ranged spells or magical bullets, but they minimized their casualties as much as possible.

I was about to charge into battle with my swords to help the mercenaries, but Anastasia flung out a hand to stop me.

”Richard, you should do what you're best at.”

I immediately understood what she meant. Pushing my glasses up, I hung back and tried to complete my spell as quickly as possible. With so many Black Underworld Snakes, even after five minutes of furious combat, their number seemed undiminished.

Fortunately, five minutes was just the amount of time I needed to complete my summoning spell.

”Vermillion Phoenix!”

The majestic Celestial Guardian burst into life, spreading his wings as he soared into the air. Fiery feathers materialized around him as he hovered above the clearing.

”Everyone, be careful!” I shouted. ”Fall back!”

They didn't need telling twice. Everyone immediately complied, broke off from combat and withdrew to a safe distance. I didn't require a further invitation and immediately mentally directed Vermillion Phoenix to sterilize the area. The fiery feathers slammed into the writhing swarm of Black Underworld Snakes before enveloping the entire area in a hellish inferno.

”Holy f…!”

Even the mercenaries shrank back at the fearsome firepower that my Vermillion Phoenix had unleashed when his job was done, there was little more that remained of the clearing but scorched craters and ash.

”This boy really reminds me of my granddaughter and her Hellfire Bear,” Principal Porter said ruefully. ”They would have made a great match.”

Screw you, old man. I ain't interested in Lilith. And she wasn't romantically interested in me either. She had much better candidates for love orbiting around her. Why would she choose a random stranger like me? Just because I helped her out in the Spiritual Road? As if romantic relationships were so easily contrived.

”Is anyone hurt?” Brent demanded, turning back to his forces and assessing their condition. He tried to ensure that everyone had been accounted for ”Sound off!”

”Sir!”

Barely had the first person began to voice out when I spotted a dark shadow slithering out of the trees and darting toward our leader. The movement was so subtle that I almost didn't catch it – it was only thanks to the fine-tuned sensors on my glasses that I was able to see it at all.

”Watch out, sir!” I shouted.

”!!!”

Brent spun around and was almost knocked off his feet by a gigantic cobra that was several times bulkier than the huge Black Underworld Snakes we had just faced. He twirled his staff around and deflected its jaws to the side, barely escaping getting bitten by its extremely venomous fangs. Huffing, he dove to the side just as it bit at him again, its forked tongue snaking out dangerously.

”A Nine-eyed Giant Cobra?” I muttered, recognizing its distinctive look. With a single huge yellow eye in the center of its forehead, four beady eyes blinked on either side of it. It hissed ferociously and lunged toward us once more. ”As if I'll let you! Vermillion Phoenix!”

Soaring high up, my Celestial Guardian unleashed another meteor shower of fire once more, bombarding the Nine-eyed Giant Cobra and engulfing it in flames. The monstrous serpent hissed ferociously and dispelled the hellish inferno with brute force, purplish mana shimmering around its scale body.

”Whoa, that thing's pretty tough,” I remarked. Despite Vermilion Phoenix's powerful spell, all he managed to do was burn the Nine-eyed Giant Cobra a little. There were a few black spots on its serpentine body, but not enough to subdue it. I hoped the slight injuries were enough to drive it off, otherwise I would have to start bringing out my big guns.

”The Nine-eyed Giant Cobra is a rank B monster,” Brent warned. ”It's not going to go down so easily. Protect the archaeological team!”

”Roger that, Captain!”

While the mercenaries formed a wall between the Giant Cobra and the university professors and students, I continued to bombard the Nine-eyed Giant Cobra with Vermillion Phoenix's flames. Moving up to support my Celestial Guardian, I summoned a chibi Green Dragon and had him aid me in sending a storm of flower petals to flay the scales off the gigantic monster. The Nine-eyed Giant Cobra lunged at me, but I twisted my body to the side before countering with slashes from both my swords. Despite my best attempts, I failed to decapitate it.

The Nine-eyed Giant Cobra tried to coil around me in an attempt to suffocate and crush my body, but I vanished amidst a storm of flowers. Skidding backward, I sent another maelstrom of razor-sharp petals at its face, almost blinding it. However, I did nothing more than leave several cuts on its head.

As much as I hated to admit it, I was still far from being able to defeat a rank B monster by myself.

Fortunately, I wasn't by myself.

Behind me, Anastasia made her move. While I was distracting the Nine-eyed Giant Cobra with my wood spells and Vermillion Phoenix, she had snuck around and reached behind the rank B monster. The Fiend continued to snarl and bear down on my position, but failed to hurt me. Just like this we were locked in a stalemate. An amusing thought occurred to me – the Nine-eyed Giant Cobra must have found me just as annoyingly sturdy as I perceived it to be.

And then Anastasia threw her poisoned dagger, which sliced through the armored scales and penetrated deeply into the monster's hide. The Nine-eyed Giant Cobra wailed and thrashed wildly, spinning around to hiss vengefully at Anastasia, who was now retreating.

”Your opponent is me,” I informed it coldly before casting another storm of razor-sharp petals that sliced off a good chunk of its scales and flesh. The Nine-eyed Giant Cobra screeched and twisted to face me, only to be met by a colossal fireball from Vermillion Phoenix.

Then…it suddenly went rigid and began frothing at the mouth. Going into convulsions, it jerked and flailed about in the clearing, shrieking in agony. After a few minutes of razing the clearing, it finally fell to the ground, white foam flooding its jaws.

”That took quite a while,” Anastasia remarked casually as she plucked her dagger from the Nine-eyed Giant Cobra's corpse, cleaned it and kept it wherever she usually placed it before drawing it. She turned to the stunned Silver Wolves and smiled dazzlingly. Even Brent was speechless at how effective her poisons were on such a massive monster. Disregarding their slack-jawed expressions, Anastasia gestured toward the tomb, which was still within plain sight. ”Shall we move on?”