Then the serpent’s head descended slowly from above, making its way between the branches until it hung suspended over the main road, about ten meters up.

Rose let out a long sigh while running a hand across her face.

"This just doesn’t stop..."

Seeing the giant serpent, both Ely and Alice immediately went on guard.

"Can you hurry it up?" Aria said, crossing her arms while looking at the others with a bored expression. "Frankly I’m starting to get tired of watching you fight."

Ely, Alice, and Rose all looked at her at the same time.

"Excuse me?" Alice said with notable annoyance in her voice. "As far as I recall you haven’t done anything all day."

"Yes, and?"

"Aren’t you going to help us?"

"I’m support, Miss Alice, not a combatant," Aria replied with a shrug.

"..."

"But if you’re really so weak that you need me to save your butts with my buffs," Aria added, examining the nails of one hand, "then I suppose I can make an exception."

Hearing the exchange between the two, Rose let out an audible sigh.

"You really are very annoying when you put your mind to it," Rose chimed in, glancing sideways at Aria.

"I agree," Ely said, nodding.

"See? I even made you two friends," Aria replied with a smile. "I’m an incredible support."

The three of them looked at her with expressions ranging from irritation to the urge to throw something at her, but before the argument could escalate, Mark stepped in. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Uh, girls, the enemy is right there," he said, pointing at the serpent with one hand.

All four turned their heads in the direction of the giant serpent, which was still suspended between the trees with its mouth open and fangs dripping venom onto the ground.

"Oh, right..." Ely said, surprised. "Sorry you had to witness our little argument, Master."

"It doesn’t matter," Mark said, waving a hand. "Just deal with it so we can keep moving and get out of here as soon as possible."

"Right away, Master!" Ely said with a smile, turning to face front and drawing her sword.

The serpent, which had apparently gotten tired of waiting for the group to stop arguing, decided to take the initiative.

Its head plunged downward with a speed that didn’t match its size at all, opening its jaws directly toward the group with the intention of swallowing whoever was closest.

However, Ely was faster and leapt directly toward it, the two meeting halfway.

"Sacred Slash!"

Her sword connected against the side of the serpent’s head with a wave of white energy that exploded on impact.

The blow was strong enough to completely redirect the serpent’s trajectory, sending its head to the right where it crashed into one of the giant trees.

After the hit the serpent stayed still for a couple of seconds with its head resting against the trunk, stunned from the impact.

But it quickly recovered, lifting its head while shaking off the bark fragments that had stuck to its scales.

"Well... it’s tougher than I thought," Ely said, raising an eyebrow.

And while the scales at the point where Ely had hit were cracked, they surprisingly hadn’t broken completely.

"My turn!" Alice said, bending her legs and leaping toward the serpent.

Golden energy covered her right fist as she rose directly toward the serpent’s head.

"Earth Breaker!"

Alice’s fist connected against the same spot where Ely had struck, but this time the result was different, the scales fragmented into pieces that flew in every direction.

The impact sent the serpent crashing back to the main road, its body slamming against the ground and kicking up a cloud of dirt and leaves that covered the entire area.

"Nice!" Ely shouted.

Alice landed a few meters from the serpent and shook out her fist.

Rose, who hadn’t moved from her position, walked calmly over to stand beside Mark, Zilu, and Aria.

"Aren’t you going to help them?" Mark asked.

"No need," Rose replied, crossing her arms calmly. "Those two gorillas are more than enough to finish off that poor little animal."

Mark watched as the serpent writhed on the ground with its head scales shattered and dark blood pouring from the wound.

"...I suppose you’re right," Mark admitted.

The serpent pulled itself up once more and launched itself again at Ely and Alice with full force.

It was furious.

But before it could reach either of them, something dropped from above.

Yuki.

The assassin appeared directly on top of the serpent’s head, falling from the treetops with both daggers in hand.

Yuki drove both daggers into the serpent’s pupils simultaneously, sinking them in to the hilt.

The serpent, now completely blind, whipped its head from side to side without direction, crashing into everything within reach.

Ely didn’t waste a second and sprinted directly toward the serpent, and when she was close enough she jumped to gain height, pushing off with the full force of her legs.

"Holy Crescent!"

Ely’s sword came down on the serpent’s head with a wave of sacred energy that cut through the air.

The blade drove directly into the top of the skull, sinking deep until Ely felt it pass through bone, flesh, and finally something soft.

The brain.

The serpent stopped instantly and its entire body, which until a second ago had been violently thrashing, collapsed.

The impact of the body against the ground was so strong that the earth trembled beneath Mark and Zilu’s feet, the latter having to grab her Master’s arm to keep from losing her balance.

"Done," Ely said, pulling out her sword and dropping to the ground.

Seeing the serpent no longer moving, everyone began approaching the corpse to get a closer look. Mark was about to go too when suddenly a window appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 52]

[New Skill Unlocked: Touch of Death (Lv. 1)]

Mark read the notification.

’Finally, after such a long time, I leveled up again.’

Just one level.

’Yeah... something is definitely limiting my growth on purpose, there’s no way I only go up one level after eliminating so many enemies,’ Mark thought with frustration.

But he set that thought aside for now and opened the details of the new skill.

[Touch of Death – Level 1]

Type: Contact Necromancy

Effect: Upon activating the skill and touching a living being, the target enters a state of paralysis similar to rigor mortis for 10 seconds. The target remains conscious but cannot move any part of their body.

Cooldown: 5 minutes.

Use: Requires direct physical contact.

’Not bad,’ Mark thought after finishing reading. ’Ten seconds of paralysis is pretty useful in a fight.’

But then he frowned.

’The problem is that to use it I have to touch the target... and that’s easier said than done,’ Mark concluded, letting out an internal sigh. ’I suppose I’ll have to figure out how to use it without getting myself killed in the process.’

For someone like Ely or Alice, who could close distances in a blink and had the endurance to take hits, a contact skill wouldn’t be a problem.

But for Mark, getting close enough to an enemy to touch them was basically a death sentence.

Then Ely’s voice was heard.

"Master!" she called out, pulling him from his thoughts. "Could you come here for a second? You’ll probably want to see this."

"Give me a second."

Mark quickly closed the window and walked toward the serpent’s corpse, which was now surrounded by all his subordinates.

When he finally reached the corpse and looked at what Ely was pointing to, he understood immediately.

Along the serpent’s body, between the scales, there were deep cuts that had been cauterized.

The edges of each wound were still faintly smoking, emitting that constant heat that Mark had already seen before.

"..."