The silence after Song-Woo was swallowed was deafening.
The snake's eyes glowed like twin moons soaked in venom, its body steaming, rupturing. Then—
It shed.
White scales crumbled to the floor like ice, and beneath them emerged a towering figure—seven feet tall, humanoid in shape but with a long, sinuous neck, reptilian limbs, and a skull that retained the cobra's crest. Its hands were talons. Its tongue flickered with a hiss that made the air tremble.
The Snakeborn had awakened.
Ye-Rin raised her axe. In-Ji pulled back his hammer slide with trembling fingers. Seo-Yeon didn't breathe.
It moved first.
With one swipe, the Snakeborn slammed its claw across In-Ji's ribs, *launching* him into the wall. Blood smeared against stone as he crashed down like a broken toy.
"IN-JI!"
Ye-Rin charged, screaming, spinning her axe in a full-body cleave—only for the creature to catch it mid-air and yank her forward. Its tail snapped around her waist like a whip and flung her sideways. She slammed into the rubble with a grunt.
Seo-Yeon gritted her teeth, raised both hands—and the world trembled.
Gravity folded in around the Snakeborn. The floor beneath it collapsed inward, a black hole in miniature sucking at its feet.
It only snarled. Its muscles *tensed*. With a deafening roar, it broke free of her pull and leapt forward.
A fist larger than her head careened toward her face.
At the last second, she raised a telekinetic wall.
Boom!
The barrier shattered. She flew backward. Skidded across the ground. Her nose was bleeding. Her arms were shaking.
The creature turned to finish her—
And her eyes snapped open.
Crimson.
A sudden wind howled around her. A ring of kinetic force exploded outward, blasting away rubble. Her fingers curled in the air, as though grasping something invisible.
Then, without a word, Seo-Yeon rose—floating, twitching, her eyes unfocused. Her hair levitated around her like threads of wrath.
"Seo…Yeon?" Ye-Rin coughed.
She didn't answer.
The Snakeborn lunged. She met it in mid-air.
In a flash of speed and fury, Seo-Yeon wrapped the monster in a red-glowing vice grip—telekinetic limbs crushing its chest and throat. It screeched, its bones cracking. Blood oozed from its nose and ears.
"You took… everything," she whispered, her voice doubled, like an echo from hell. "Give him back."
The Snakeborn's mouth widened, spitting acid—
But Seo-Yeon ripped its jaw downward with one hand, bending it until it cracked and snapped loose from its socket. Then she crushed the fangs with a focused force spike, the sound wet and sickening.
It tried to claw her.
She stopped its hands mid-swing. Turned them backwards. Then shattered both wrists.
A scream burst from its chest.
Then Seo-Yeon raised both arms—and like the sky itself broke, hundreds of invisible blades formed around her, spiraling in the air.
"Die."
The blades rained down, piercing the Snakeborn from every angle, carving into it like divine judgment.
It collapsed to one knee.
And yet—
It didn't fall.
It grinned through bloodied fangs.
With the last of its rage, it roared and *blasted* her with venom from its shredded mouth.
Seo-Yeon's shield faltered.
The acid splashed across her arm.
She screamed.
And then—her glow dimmed.
Her feet touched the floor again. Her knees buckled.
Seo-Yeon collapsed face-first onto the stones.
"NO!" Ye-Rin screamed, rushing forward.
But the Snakeborn rose again. Half its face was ruined, its spine bent—but it kept coming. With a low hiss, it reached Seo-Yeon, grabbed her by the ankle, and flung her aside like trash.
Then it turned to Ye-Rin.
Her legs trembled.
She raised her axe one last time.
"Come on then," she growled. "Let's end this."
It walked toward her slowly—then, rushed.
Their weapons met. Claw against steel. Blood against fury.
Ye-Rin landed a blow across its ribs, but the Snakeborn retaliated with a tail lash to her thigh, dropping her to one knee. It grabbed her throat.
Lifted her into the air.
Ye-Rin gasped, legs kicking.
Her fingers slipped from the axe.
It was going to snap her neck.
But then—
A thunderclap echoed across the tower.
Lightning forked across the ceiling.
And with a tear in space—he arrived.
A three-headed dragon, glowing gold and silver, descended like a god. His wings stretched wide, eyes burning with ancient rage.
"VOL—" Ye-Rin choked.
The Snakeborn turned, sensing something wrong.
It was already too late.
Volt,tackled the Snakeborn with all three heads, sending them crashing into a pillar, then another, shattering the stone as if it were paper.
Volt roared in a chorus of voices—wind, storm, and lightning.
And on his back—
"EUN-HA!" Ye-Rin gasped.
There she was.
Eun-Ha stood in her rider gear, her eyes focused, her hand on Volt's neck.
"Hang on," she whispered, sliding down from his back and drawing a glowing seed from her belt. She held it close to her heart.
The Snakeborn rose from the rubble, enraged, spitting bile and fury. It turned—not to Ye-Rin, not to Volt—but to Eun-Ha.
It charged.
And Eun-Ha stepped forward.
The seed glowed.
"I summon you…"
The air behind her rippled—like a mirror disturbed by wind.
From that shimmer stepped a figure ten feet tall, made of wood and sunlight and golden vines. Its face was a mask of bark and fire. Its chest held a glowing core, pulsing with ancient life.
"...Guardian Spirit: Verdaniel."
The forest guardian raised its arm, and a tidal wave of roots exploded from the floor—catching the Snakeborn mid-charge and hurling it backward like a rag doll.
The Snakeborn shrieked as its body was impaled by branches and crushed by tree limbs erupting from the earth.
The whole tower groaned under the magic.
Volt landed beside Eun-Ha, wings folded, all three heads watching the thrashing enemy in silence.
Ye-Rin stumbled to her feet, breathless.
In-Ji crawled from the rubble, bleeding but laughing hoarsely.
And Seo-Yeon—still unconscious, her face pale and streaked with blood—lay beside them all, silent but alive.
For a long, tense moment, no one said a word.
Then Eun-Ha spoke.
"Don't worry. I'm here now."