The baby bear was far stronger than its mother, the baby bear let out a thunderous roar. As the snake collided, five or six trees toppled over from the impact, dust and splinters filled the air, swallowing everything into a choking cloud of dust. From within that chaos, the ground collapsed inward, forming a deep crater, Vayu watched where the snake had fallen and suddenly a hole formed inside the cloud of dust and something flew out with a terrifying speed, it was the snake that burst out, its mouth open wide ready to devour the baby bear. Its body was smaller now… yet it felt far more terrifying. A vicious, oppressive aura came from it, making the air feel heavy. Its eyes darkened into a deep, poisonous green, burning with killing intent. The baby bear roared again, releasing a sonic attack that rippled through the forest—but it barely had any effect, barely slowing the snake. In the very next second, the serpent struck. The baby bear was sent flying as its small body crashed into a tree with a deafening impact, bark exploding outward as the trunk split into two. Although many things happened, but it all happened in mere seconds that the mother didn't even knew what had happened.
The mother bear's eyes turned blood-red as she saw her baby laying against the tree trunk and let out a thunderous roar, it roared in fury and charged toward the snake without hesitation. As the mother bear closed the distance the snake flicked its tail and it hit the mother bear like a whip as it cried in pain and blood came out from its back. But she didn't stopped and charged again, the serpent slowly turned its head toward her. A sinister green light appeared around its body, thickening and then hardening—until its scales began to solidify. Nearly forty percent of its body shimmered like emerald gemstones, reflecting the light with deadly brilliance. The mother bear trembled, she knew instantly that she was no match for the snake. She growled and a brown light appeared much lesser than the snake and when it dimmed, her claws glowed wrapped in a dull brown aura that slowly turned golden at the tips. Compared to the snake's armored body, it was pitiful. The snake hissed. The sound alone sent chills through her bones, yet she could not flee as her cub was behind her.
Another roar tore through the forest, filled with resolve. Both beasts suddenly turned their heads. The baby bear stood there, as its entire body was engulfed in a radiant golden light. The glow rippled like liquid metal, flowing over its fur before slowly condensing, hardening, and fusing into his body. In moments, the cub looked as if it had been carved from pure gold. Every strand of fur shimmered. Even its eyes burned with golden brilliance. Though it was still smaller than its mother, it had grown—more than twice its original size now. Its presence alone crushed the air, when it roared this time even the forest trembled.
For the first time fear appeared in the snake's eyes. Yet the serpent did not retreat, with a furious hiss it coiled its body like a spring. Its form compressed even further, muscles tightening to their limit—then it shot forward like a living spear. The baby bear charged as well clashing head on. The collision was thunderous as a large carter appeared at the place where they collided. The snake's body was thrown backwards, as its massive body crashing through trees and becoming violently tangled among shattered trunks. The baby bear, only rolled once across the ground before stopping. It clutched its head with both paws. Its forehead had turned red from the impact, then it began to cry. Although it was the baby bear crying, it was the snake who had suffered the true damage, its body laid twisted among broken trees, struggling to lift itself.
And somewhere far, hidden in the canopy, Vayu watched in silent awe. Vayu had already retreated far away. If he had stayed any closer, he would have died the moment the snake crashed through the trees. He had never witnessed a battle like this before. If demonic beasts were this terrifying… then what about shapeshifters? A chill ran down his spine. If he ever fought one of them now, he would die—without question.
The snake hissed again as it slowly freed itself from the shattered trees. Blood stained the edges of its mouth. As the baby bear was still crying, it opened its jaws and spat a glob of green liquid. The mother bear reacted instantly. She snatched her cub and leapt aside just as the liquid struck the ground. A violent sizzling sound erupted where it landed, the earth bubbled and melted like flesh in acid. The snake hissed in fury watching its prey get away, its eyes glowed eerie green once again and it spat one more glob of liquid green liquid at the same time. This time, the mother bear did not move, her body stiffened, hypnotized once again by those glowing eyes. The green liquid struck the baby bear but nothing happened. The liquid slid off its golden fur like oil on water, dripping harmlessly onto the ground below. The snake's rage exploded. Its entire body ignited with green light and green smoke came out from every scale on its body, brighter and denser than before. Behind it, a massive snake-shaped phantom began to form—translucent at first, then it started taking form a snake and started getting larger and larger, more horrifying with every heartbeat. The phantom opened its jaws and swallowed the snake whole. What emerged was a monstrous serpent—at least five times larger than before, its entire body glowing emerald green, its scales gleaming like gemstones, its eyes shining with merciless intelligence.
Both the bears stared trembling. The pressure alone crushed the air around them. The mother bear's eyes cleared, as she was freed from hypnosis. She stepped forward, positioning herself in front of her cub, she roared with everything she had left and a brown flame erupted around her body, wrapping her like burning armor as she shielded her child. Even then— She was smaller than the serpent's mouth and in comparison to the snake she looked like a rabbit, from the shadows, Vayu watched his heart pounding. Only power decided who lived… and who died. As the mother bear shielded her cub, the baby finally stopped crying. It lifted its head and looked at her with trembling, watery eyes, as if it understood everything— that she was offering her life so he could live. Something inside the cub snapped and Rage ignited within him, turning his golden eyes crimson and every strand of golden fur on his body stood on end. The liquid light coating him began to churn violently, compressing, condensing—until it took shape of a bear, forged entirely of molten gold.
But instead of growing larger, the golden bear began to shrink… smaller… smaller… until it was no bigger than a piece of candy. The baby bear lunged forward and swallowed it midair and a sharp popping sound echoed from within his body.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
His bones expanded violently as his body surged in size. In mere moments, the cub grew—past his mother, past his previous limits—until he stood as massive as the emerald serpent in front of him. Their was a clear difference between he two, the phantom snake was just a illusion. But the baby bear had real body, making it far stronger then the snake. The mother bear turned, staring at her child in disbelief as the transformed bear roared. The sound was so overwhelming it tore through the forest, echoing for kilometers, flattening trees in the close range of the bear. The earth trembled beneath his paws as he charged toward the serpent.
For the first time— panic appeared in the snake's eyes, knowing it could no longer win, the serpent opened its jaws and spewed an enormous cloud of green gas, flooding the battlefield in toxic mist. The baby bear rushed forward without hesitation— But the mother roared stopping the cub just before entering the fog. He stood still outside the cloud of gas waiting and growling, its muscles tensed.
Minutes passed.
The green smoke thinned… and vanished. The forest fell silent and the snake was gone not even a trace remained. Only broken trees, scorched earth—and a mother bear standing beside her child.