As the two conversed, Natsu subconsciously looked up.
But just then, without warning, the ground in front of Natsu suddenly bulged violently, as if a huge force was trying to break through the surface.
Immediately after, a large snake with a massive body covered in white scales burst out of the ground, its golden eyes like searchlights, emitting a chilling glow.
Natsu felt an extremely malevolent killing intent fall upon him and subconsciously shifted his body slightly backward.
The white-scaled snake opened its crimson maw, large enough to swallow a full-grown beast, and with lightning speed, bit fiercely into Natsu's chest.
Following this, the fierce white-scaled snake twisted its massive, python-like body, frantically thrashing Natsu, who was caught in its mouth, back and forth.
Natsu's body was like a leaf in the wind, completely out of his control.
"Ugh, ahhh!" Natsu screamed in agony, his voice shrill.
Cana, in the sky above, immediately paled upon hearing his cry; her previously calm expression instantly replaced by anxiety and worry.
She looked down eagerly, exclaiming, "Natsu!"
Inside the white-scaled snake's mouth were two white fangs, at least half a meter long, which had now deeply pierced Natsu's body, and venom had already entered his system through the wounds.
Under the intense pain, Natsu's eyes instantly became bloodshot; he roared and unleashed his magic power with all his might.
In an instant, crimson flames ignited the young man's entire body, and scorching heat immediately spread out.
This action successfully forced back the white-scaled snake that had bitten him.
The giant snake, at least twenty meters long and as thick as a concrete pillar, suddenly released its bite the second before Natsu's body burst into flames, quickly retracting its body and coiling into a ball.
The white-scaled snake coiled its body, its tail flicking slightly, raising a cloud of dust.
Its head rose upright, golden snake eyes filled with malice and indifference, staring intently at Natsu, who was engulfed in flames and kneeling on the ground.
That gaze seemed to be scrutinizing its prey, contemplating its next move.
The white-scaled snake continuously flicked its black forked tongue, and the next second, it surprisingly spoke in human language, "I waited for over ten minutes for you to be distracted, and in such a sudden situation, you managed to avoid the heart. What astonishing reflexes."
Natsu did not respond; he had two fist-sized bloody holes in his right chest and abdomen, constantly dripping blood onto the ground.
With his chest pierced and lung damaged, Natsu, who was always on combat missions, was no stranger to injuries. In this situation, he knew very well that he couldn't easily open his mouth to speak, otherwise, if blood choked into his lungs, he could very likely suffocate to death.
Moreover, Natsu now felt a bone-chilling coldness spreading through his body, trying to flow through his entire bloodstream.
An unimaginable stinging pain and a strong sense of weakness came from his blood vessels, and his vision was already somewhat blurry and doubled.
The white-scaled snake's venom seemed to be a special kind of cold poison; in addition to severe pain, it also damaged the nervous system.
The flames on Natsu's body grew weaker and weaker. The venom was already traveling through his blood towards his heart and brain, and he had no choice but to constrict his magic power to suppress his heartbeat, slow down his blood circulation, and delay the venom's progress.
In the sky above, although Cana was extremely anxious, she did not immediately go down to rescue Natsu. Instead, she flicked her hands, and ten cards, each containing the Evil Crow King's Bloody Ray magic, instantly flew from her grasp.
In the sky above, twenty arm-thick crimson lasers instantly crossed a distance of over ten meters, heading towards the bald man in the white kimono with a destructive aura.
With a series of 'thud, thud, thud' sounds, the twenty blood-red rays instantly pierced through the bald man's body.
The bald man's body appeared with holes that went straight through, each opening startlingly visible, yet eerily, no blood flowed out.
The next second, a faint wisp of white smoke flashed over the bald man's corpse, dissipating into the air like steam, and then his body surprisingly transformed into a damaged white snakeskin, slowly drifting down from the sky.
Seeing this, Cana's face instantly turned extremely grim, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "It was a decoy!"
"Evil Crow King, save him!" Cana reacted quickly, immediately shouting to the Evil Crow King, who was closest to Natsu.
And the Evil Crow King, who had just been rapidly approaching Natsu, had by then transformed into a black cloud, quickly arriving beside Natsu and completely enveloping the fallen Natsu within the black cloud.
Then the black cloud shot up into the sky, quickly coming to Cana's side.
During this time, the white-scaled snake on the ground made no attacking moves, and the surrounding beast tide had also quieted down, remaining still in place.
The white-scaled snake, along with the magical beasts in the beast tide, looked up at Cana and the others in the sky, their eyes unblinking, their gaze dead and indifferent, sending chills down one's spine.
The gaze of tens of thousands of magical beasts made cold sweat break out on Cana's back, even the Cloud Steed beneath her was restlessly pawing its hooves.
The Evil Crow King and the Frost Spirit also came to Cana's side, guarding her on the left and right.
A dead, murderous, malicious gaze fell upon them.
Below, not a single magical beast made any other movement; this group of magical beasts stared at the sky like statues, unmoving.
Cana's face was slightly pale, but anger surged in her eyes; she had just glanced at Natsu's injuries.
If Natsu hadn't reacted quickly and shifted slightly, avoiding the vital spot, the poisonous fangs would have pierced his heart, and he would have died on the spot.
Her companion's severe injury made her furious at this moment; killing intent burst forth from Cana's eyes as she looked down from above, asking word by word, "Who exactly are you?"
Cana's question was directed at the massive white-scaled snake below.
The white-scaled snake flicked its black forked tongue, its golden snake eyes showing no emotion.
Faint white mist appeared on its massive body, slowly drifting into the air.
The next second, the white-scaled snake's body twisted and rotated in place, and dense white mist rose, covering the entire giant snake.
The white mist came and went quickly, dispersing without wind, but the bald, kimono-clad man who had just called himself White Snake Hydra emerged from the white mist.
The bald man looked up slightly at Cana in the sky, his lips curling into a somewhat sinister smile, his black forked tongue twisting in his mouth, and his golden snake eyes showing clear signs of madness, "We are New Humans, New Humans who will eventually dominate the world!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a dark cloud abruptly appeared above the bald man's head, and a bright golden lightning bolt suddenly struck down from the dark cloud.
It landed precisely on the bald man, and the golden lightning exploded, instantly smashing him into the ground.
The intense lightning strike easily created a huge pit in the ground, the pit's surface scorched black, and the bald man once again transformed into a huge but charred black snakeskin.
Black smoke and the scent of roasted meat emanated from the pit along with the snakeskin.
Clearly, this was another decoy.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded over 40 chapters of this story on Patreon.
If you're enjoying it and want to read ahead, feel free to check them out here:
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thanks a lot for your support, it really helps me keep going.