Chapter Thirty-Six: Devoured

She seemed a bit embarrassed under my gaze and quickly changed the subject. "Are you here for this quest too?"
"No, I have other tasks to do," I replied, "but from what you're saying, it seems this quest can be taken by many people."
"That's right," she said. "You'd better leave soon. This quest is indeed open to multiple players. After I left, quite a few more came to take it, and they’ll probably arrive any minute. If they see I’ve already killed the target, they might try to fight me for the quest item."
"Is that so? Well, would you like to join me on my task instead? We could avoid those people and head back to the city together later. If you’d rather not, you can return on your own."
I started trying to persuade her to stay. Having a beautiful priestess not only meant strong healing, but she would also be pleasant company. Isn’t there a saying that men and women working together don’t tire as easily?
"Alright," she agreed. I helped her onto the back of the Gale Wolf King, seating her behind me. The wolf didn’t seem to mind carrying an extra person and bounded ahead as swiftly as ever. I recalled the Giant-Horned Lizard; after all, its movement speed was painfully slow.

After more than an hour, we finally arrived at the last location for my quest—within a black, foggy swamp in the Forest of Death. My target was the boss here: the Black Mist Serpent King. As we entered the marsh, the fog grew thicker, visibility dropped significantly, and it became clear this was more of a swamp than a mere mud pit—water everywhere, threatening to swallow us with a single misstep. The Gale Wolf King’s speed slowed considerably.
Heartmoon frowned. "Seriously? Do we have to go this way? Why do you guys always like to grind monsters in places like this?"
I could only sigh. "I don’t have a choice—the quest target is here. It’s not like I want to be."
No sooner had I finished speaking than a massive black figure emerged from the swamp ahead, startling us both. Composing myself, I realized it was a gigantic python—the Black Mist Python, level forty, a common beast.
Heartmoon grew excited. "A level forty monster! The experience must be great! Go for it, I’ll heal you," she said, waving her staff and casting a blessing on me and my summoned beast.

The python immediately spat venom at us. I quickly summoned the Giant-Horned Lizard to intercept the attack; it was poisoned right away, its health dropping by hundreds in rapid succession. My heart ached to see it. Heartmoon cast her dispel skill, cleansing the poison.
The Gale Wolf King lunged at the monster, its twin claws dealing 1,320 damage. The python retaliated with another venom attack, drenching all three of us in a poisonous shower. We were instantly poisoned, losing one hundred health per second. Heartmoon kept healing herself and using dispel to remove the poison—had she not, her fragile mage’s health would have sent her straight back to the Heavenly Dragon City in seconds!

After gulping down a few potions, Heartmoon’s dispel finally cleansed me. Just as I was about to speak, the Black Mist Python’s tail swept us both off the wolf’s back, costing us more health. Then it lunged at me with gaping jaws—I dodged and unleashed an energy blast to its eye, dealing 732 damage. One of its eyes was left a bloody hole as it howled, whether in pain or rage I couldn’t tell. The Giant-Horned Lizard charged in, knocking the python aside, and the Gale Wolf King finished it off with a rending claw—declaring the Black Mist Python defeated.
I gained 700 experience points; defeating higher-level monsters truly paid off. Heartmoon cheered, "These monsters give amazing experience! With a few days of grinding here, reaching level thirty is a breeze."
"That’s true," I agreed.
"Let’s hurry and find more monsters to kill! With this kind of experience, we can’t afford to waste it," Heartmoon urged.
"I know, but these monsters hide in the mud. Unless we enter their range, they won’t come out." I thought for a moment, then summoned the Mud Snake.

The little creature could burrow—finally useful. It slipped underground to lure out more Black Mist Pythons, which I then recalled. The Giant-Horned Lizard and Gale Wolf King would take them on, with Heartmoon supporting and healing. A single Black Mist Python was no match for my two summoned beasts; once exposed, it became our experience points.
We grinded for two hours and discovered hardly anyone else trained here. The main reason, I figured, was the distance from Heavenly Dragon City and its depth within the Forest of Death, not to mention the environment: heavy fog and swamp everywhere, monsters hidden in the mud, nearly impossible to spot. This place remained untouched territory, and we were the first pioneers.

After two hours of slaying monsters, we took a break, drank some water, nibbled on dry rations, and pressed on. But this place was enormous—it took us over four hours to scour the area, yet still, no sign of the boss. Was there really no boss here? Was the quest just some trick devised by the AI?
With these doubts, we searched for another half hour. At last, luck favored the persistent: I discovered a cave at the deepest part of the swamp, hidden by the fog—impossible to notice without careful inspection.
I sent the Mud Snake in to scout. At my command, Fire Wolf King let out a low growl and moved toward the cave. The Mud Snake looked much like the Black Mist Pythons here, so it probably wouldn’t be devoured instantly. We followed at a distance.

But five minutes after entering, the Mud Snake let out a pitiful wail before its life was snuffed out, falling into slumber. Then, a massive head emerged from the cave, jaws so wide it could have swallowed a whole cow, emerald eyes too fearsome to meet, and a long tongue flicking, emitting a sinister hissing sound that sent shivers down my spine.
We were both stunned, then immediately turned and ran. From its posture, it was obvious this boss was not something we could handle!

Unfortunately, we had already drawn its attention. After a short sprint, I looked back—its entire serpentine body had slithered from the cave, half reared up, standing nearly fifteen meters high. Those jade eyes were locked onto us.
With a thunderous roar, it spat a stream of black liquid. The Giant-Horned Lizard took the hit but was instantly covered in white smoke and began to dissolve. In a single strike, the boss vaporized it—its four hundred defense and two thousand health as useless as paper.
The boss lunged, snapping the Gale Wolf King in half with its massive jaws. Then, with a sweep of its tail, Heartmoon was struck, her health instantly depleted, sending her back to the city—everything happened in a split second.

Black Mist Serpent King, level forty-eight.
A true boss—this was my quest target, but how on earth could I defeat such a terrifying creature? Just then, the boss attacked with such speed that it cut off my escape.
I knew there was no running this time; this beast’s AI was surely much higher than that of the Human-Faced Demon Spider. It coiled its massive body around me, its sinister head flicking its tongue, preparing to swallow the puny human before it.
Its head lunged; I leapt backward, just managing to dodge, but it swiftly contracted its body, binding me tightly. I couldn't move as the beast opened its maw and bit down, taking my upper body into its mouth. With a gulp, I was swallowed whole.