The snake changed its attack pattern after the explosion damaged its mouth.

It stopped biting skeletons directly. Instead, it crushed them with its coils and tail before they could reach the head. It also kept its head higher above ground level while avoiding the same trap.

James sent another skeleton forward to test if the snake would fall for the same trick.

The snake destroyed it with a tail sweep before it got within ten meters of the mouth.

The snake was not mindless. It learned from mistakes.

The snake coiled across the central hall in a wide pattern and separated Team Zero. Finn was pushed toward the flooded lower floor section. James and Kael were forced behind a broken shopfront.

The ogre grabbed part of the snake’s body to stop it from crushing Finn completely. The snake responded by coiling around the ogre and starting to crush it with pure physical force.

[REANIMATED OGRE]

[HP: 2,410/3,200 → 1,640/3,200]

James almost recalled the ogre to save it, but he stopped because Finn needed those few seconds to escape from being trapped against the flooded section.

The ogre held long enough to keep the formation from breaking completely.

The snake suddenly turned toward James’s side of the hall without warning.

Its head burst through the broken shopfront from the side. James could not dodge backward because debris blocked that path. Venom covered the route to his left.

He raised his shield, but the snake’s head clipped him and threw him through a glass display case.

[BLESSING OF THE FIRST ACTIVE]

[DAMAGE RECEIVED REDUCED BY 2.5%]

[JAMES GANNER]

[HP: 584/660 → 421/660]

James hit the floor hard while coughing blood. His shield arm shook from the impact. His vision blurred for a second, but he forced himself up because staying down meant dying.

The snake lowered its head again, and the mouth wound from the earlier explosion was still visible with torn flesh exposed.

James used swordsmanship properly. He did not try to cut through scales. He moved close and stabbed into the exposed flesh that Corpse Explosion had created.

[SWORDSMANSHIP EFFECT ACTIVE]

[WEAK POINT STRIKE]

[DAMAGE: 480]

[BOSS HP: 29,590/35,000 → 29,110/35,000]

The damage was not huge, but it proved his sword could matter if he attacked the correct places instead of wasting energy on armored sections.

The snake pulled back while black blood dripped from the reopened wound.

James had used Necro Blast, Summon Undead Skeleton, Corpse Explosion, and continuous undead control. His mana was still high, but he knew the fight would get much worse before it ended.

He focused on the dead demonic beasts scattered across the mall while death energy rose from their corpses. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

[CALL OF SOULS ACTIVATED]

[MANA RESTORED: 180]

[JAMES GANNER]

[MANA: 1,052/1,140 → 1,140/1,140]

The passive skill pulled energy from corpses across a wider range than normal because of his title effects.

This did not heal his injuries. It only restored mana.

James understood that the corpses scattered around the mall were his best resource now, but the snake would not fall for the skeleton bait trick again. He needed a bigger opening.

The snake coiled toward Finn again while trying to crush him near the flooded lower floor where there was less room to dodge.

Finn took the pressure and held his ground as long as he could, but the snake’s physical strength was too much.

[FINN HP: 612/780 → 488/780]

The snake coils wrapped around the flooded section and separated Finn and Aria from the rest of the team. Aria cut at the coil to create an escape route, but the scales resisted most of her damage.

[DAMAGE: 330]

[BOSS HP: 29,110/35,000 → 28,780/35,000]

Elliot saw the opening and acted fast without hesitation. He sent ice across the wet floor and up the damaged part of the snake’s body where Aria had just cut. The ice did not freeze the snake fully, but it slowed the coil for a few seconds.

[DAMAGE: 300]

[BOSS HP: 28,780/35,000 → 28,480/35,000]

That delay saved Finn and Aria from being crushed.

But Elliot drew the snake’s attention.

The snake’s tail lashed across the hall before anyone could warn him. It moved faster than Elliot could dodge. The tail hit him directly and slammed him into the wall.

[ELLIOT HP: 390/540 → 0/540]

[PARTY MEMBER DECEASED]

[ELLIOT HAS FALLEN]

"ELLIOT!"

Aria screamed his name while her voice cracked and tears started running down her face.

James’s sword hand tightened until his knuckles went white while his chest felt hollow. Elliot had been standing there three seconds ago before he saved Finn and Aria, but now he was dead and there was nothing James could do about it.

Finn’s chest tightened while guilt hit him like a physical weight because he was the one who made them attempt Floor 10. He had pushed for the high-value target before leading them into the collapsed mall, and now Elliot was dead because of those choices.

But James forced his eyes away from Elliot’s body because the snake was still moving through the mall and they would all die if he stopped to grieve now.

He looked at the boss HP bar that had barely moved.

[ABYSSAL VENOM PYTHON]

[BOSS HP: 28,480/35,000]

They were fucked.

The snake had killed Elliot in one hit while barely taking damage. It still had over twenty-eight thousand HP left. The ogre was almost destroyed. The dire wolf was badly damaged. James was injured and mentally strained.

Finn understood it too while guilt burned in his chest. They were in a fight they might not survive, and one of them was already dead.

But the snake kept moving and did not give them time to grieve.

James could not let the snake attack again while the team was still shaken from Elliot’s death.

A wounded demonic beast near the broken stairs tried to crawl away while bleeding from deep cuts. James killed it quickly with Necro Blast to trigger Death Chain.

[NECRO BLAST ACTIVATED]

[MANA COST: 10]

[CURRENT MANA: 1,140/1,140 → 1,130/1,140]

The beast died.

[DEATH CHAIN TRIGGERED]

[COOLDOWN: 4 MINUTES]

[MENTAL STAMINA DRAINED]

Necrotic energy chains erupted from the dead beast and shot toward the snake. The chains connected through the damaged mouth wound where corruption could enter the body.

[DAMAGE: 1,700]

[BOSS HP: 28,480/35,000 → 26,780/35,000]

The snake did not freeze completely because it was too powerful for full paralysis. But its movement slowed for two seconds while the chains drained energy.

James paid for it immediately. His head pounded like someone had driven nails into his skull. His vision split at the edges. His thoughts became heavy and slow.

[JAMES GANNER]

[STATUS: MENTAL STRAIN]

The opening was short, but it was enough for Team Zero to move out of the worst position and regroup.

The snake recovered from Death Chain and attacked James directly.

James was slowed by mental strain. His body did not respond fast enough when his brain gave movement commands. The snake’s mouth opened and came down toward him while fangs dripped venom.

Finn was too far away. Aria was blocked by part of the snake’s coil. Kael was maintaining the poison resistance totem and could not reach James in time.

The ogre moved first.

It broke free from the snake’s crushing coils and threw itself between James and the descending bite. The ogre grabbed the upper jaw with both hands and held it open for one second while giving James enough time to roll away.

Then the snake crushed it.

The jaws closed. Bones broke. The ogre’s body crumpled.

[REANIMATED OGRE]

[HP: 1,640/3,200 → 0/3,200]

[REANIMATED OGRE DESTROYED]

[REANIMATED SLOT FREED: 1/5]

The ogre broke apart inside the snake’s jaws and dissolved into black mist that faded quickly.

James survived, but the loss hit him hard because the ogre had been one of his strongest reanimated undead and had saved his life twice in this fight.

As James rolled away from where the ogre died, he fired Necro Blast into the open mouth before the snake could close it.

[NECRO BLAST ACTIVATED]

[MANA COST: 10]

[CURRENT MANA: 1,130/1,140 → 1,120/1,140]

[WEAK POINT HIT]

[DAMAGE: 2,200]

[BOSS HP: 26,780/35,000 → 24,580/35,000]

The snake pulled back while wounded but still far from dead.

The snake thrashed through the mall while breaking more pillars and tearing open sections of floor. Water rose from the flooded lower level. Venom spread across broken tiles in expanding pools.

Team Zero regrouped behind a collapsed concrete section that provided temporary cover.

Finn’s jaw tightened while guilt sat heavy in his chest because he had pushed them to come here. He had led them to the high-value target, and now Elliot was dead while they were trapped with a monster that could kill them all.

James forced himself to check the current state even though his chest felt tight and his thoughts kept pulling back to Elliot’s body against the wall.

[ABYSSAL VENOM PYTHON]

[BOSS HP: 24,580/35,000]

[JAMES GANNER]

[HP: 421/660]

[MANA: 1,120/1,140]

[STATUS: INJURED, MINOR POISON EXPOSURE, MENTAL STRAIN]

[REANIMATED DIRE WOLF — LEVEL 9]

[HP: 460/1,400]

[REANIMATED OGRE — LEVEL 10]

[DESTROYED]

[ELLIOT]

[HP: 0/540]

[STATUS: DECEASED]

No EXP appeared because the snake was not dead yet.

Finn looked at the boss HP and understood how badly they were losing. Over twenty-four thousand HP remaining. One teammate dead. Their strongest summon destroyed.

James looked at Elliot’s body one more time before forcing his mind to work tactically instead of emotionally. The ogre died to save him. Elliot died to create an opening for Finn and Aria. The snake still had over twenty-four thousand HP left.

They were in a fight they might not survive, but James could not afford to break down now.

He stared at the corpses scattered across the mall and understood what kind of weapon the snake had given him.