Evan Chu's heart jolted as he saw the Flame Serpent King—this thing was enormous, and the flames on its body were clearly no joke. He'd have to be careful.
"Boss, these Flame Serpents might be tough, but we're no pushovers either. I'll take on the Flame Serpent King—you and the Violet Thunder Fox can just focus on cutting down the rest of these serpents!" Goldwing called out. With a flash of golden light, he transformed into his true form and soared into the sky.
At the same time, the Violet Thunder Fox shifted into her true form as well. Evan knew perfectly well that only in their beast forms could spirit beasts unleash their full power.
Goldwing's massive figure instantly appeared before the serpent horde. With a deafening screech, he sent dozens of Flame Serpents scurrying back into the yellow sand.
Goldwing flew straight at the colossal Flame Serpent King. As a bird, he was a natural enemy of snakes—even if these serpents didn't have real blood, they still instinctively feared him, backing away several meters.
But the flames on the Flame Serpent King's body made Goldwing wary—he couldn't attack directly with his talons. His only option was the golden feathers on his body, which he fired in a barrage straight at the King.
The Flame Serpent King wasn't easy prey either. Its massive jaws opened and spewed out a jet of fire several meters long, nearly setting Goldwing's feathers ablaze. Both sides attacked without holding back—neither could gain the upper hand.
With Goldwing tying up the Flame Serpent King, Evan and the Violet Thunder Fox threw themselves into the fight, killing with all their might. Evan had already told the Violet Thunder Fox that if she got bitten and hit with fire poison, she could use an Ice Crystal to clear it—no need to worry.
In an instant, streaks of violet lightning flashed again and again among the serpents. The Violet Thunder Fox unleashed lightning not only from her mouth but also from her tails. Though the tail lightning wasn't quite as powerful as the blasts from her mouth, its effects were even more obvious—a few breaths later, a whole swath of Flame Serpents lay twitching on the ground.
Evan went straight for the easy kills—whenever a Flame Serpent was knocked down by lightning, he'd waste no time swinging his sword and slicing it clean in half.
Man and fox worked together flawlessly. In less than ten minutes, they'd already cut down half the Flame Serpents.
Jenny Sima now had a crowd of Flame Serpents gathering in front of her, but thanks to the protective purple barrier, the serpents couldn't touch her at all—they could only writhe helplessly outside the shield.
"Macy, push harder—let's finish off these annoying things quick. Goldwing looks like he's struggling with the Flame Serpent King," Evan called out.
"Got it, big brother! Or maybe you should go help the old bird—I've got these guys under control. Even if I get hit, you've still got Ice Crystals, right? No big deal!" the Violet Thunder Fox replied.
Evan realized she was right. Both the Violet Thunder Fox and Goldwing were eighth-rank spirit beasts, so fighting these fourth- or fifth-rank Flame Serpents should've been easy—except for their fire poison and tough defenses, which forced them to stay cautious.
"Be careful—I'm going to help Goldwing. The flames on that thing are no joke," Evan said, then charged straight toward the Flame Serpent King.
The Flame Serpent King saw Evan rushing over and immediately spat out a five-meter-long jet of fire. Evan dodged in a hurry, shocked to find the air itself crackling and the yellow sand smoking from the heat.
"Damn! Coming at me so hard, huh? You wanna play rough? Fine, I'll show you what tough really means!" Evan snapped, furious at being forced into such a sorry state by a fire snake.
In a flash, he unleashed his Heart Sword, sending it shooting straight at the serpent. "Bang!" Frostbane slammed into the Flame Serpent King's body with a huge crash—but instead of piercing straight through like Evan expected, it bounced right off.
"Holy hell, that's some insane defense!" Evan gasped. This thing could actually withstand a direct hit from his Heart Sword—way tougher than those ice pillars. He hadn't expected that at all.
"Boss, this damn snake's defense is way too strong! My attacks aren't doing a thing—hurry up and think of something!" Goldwing shouted from above.
Just where were they, anyway? Even Goldwing's attacks couldn't hurt this thing. Was its rank higher than Goldwing's? That didn't seem possible... So how could they kill it?
Evan pondered, when suddenly a fierce gust whipped past—he realized the Flame Serpent King's tail was sweeping toward him so fast he couldn't dodge.
Bang! The tail hit him square on.
By sheer luck, Evan was sent flying through the air and crashed down more than ten meters away. Blood welled up in his mouth, and his clothes were scorched in several places, stinging from the burns.
"Trying to sneak attack me, huh? I didn't sneak up on you, but you just had to go for a cheap shot. Even made your grandpa bleed. If I don't kill you today, I'll never live it down!" Evan spat, scrambling to his feet, furious.
"Boss, you okay?" Goldwing called out from above.
"Still alive! That overgrown eel packs a punch, but compared to me, it's still not enough," Evan replied.
He tucked Frostbane back into his storage ring, then split his focus—two razor-sharp sword energies shot out, aiming straight for the Flame Serpent King's eyes.
Eyes were always the weakest spot—be it human or spirit beast. One of Evan's invisible sword energies struck the Flame Serpent King's eye dead-on.
A harsh, grating scream erupted from the Flame Serpent King's mouth. Its massive body rolled desperately across the yellow sand—the pain of losing an eye was obvious.
"That's the price for sneaking up on your grandpa! How do you like being a one-eyed monster, huh?" Evan laughed out loud.
The Flame Serpent King couldn't speak, but it seemed to understand Evan's words. It charged at him, spewing a long jet of fire, while its tail swept in from the side.
"Trying to distract me with a feint, huh? Not falling for it this time!" Evan shifted aside with a quick Shadow Step.
The burning sensation on Evan's body grew stronger—he knew he'd been hit with fire poison. He quickly pulled an Ice Crystal from his storage ring and pressed it to the scorched area.
The chilling energy from the Ice Crystal eased the burning pain considerably. But then Evan noticed the Flame Serpent King's remaining eye fixed on the Ice Crystal, and its whole body actually backed away.
"Is it afraid of my Ice Crystal?" Evan wondered.
"That's right. These Flame Serpents really do fear your Ice Crystal. It's strange—the Flame Serpent King is barely a seventh-rank beast, but its defense is on par with a king-class monster. With your current strength, you can't kill it. The only way is to put your Ice Crystal in its mouth," Sword Spirit suddenly advised.
"Heh, this time I'm really going to finish you off..."
"Heh, this time I'm really going to finish you off..."