Chapter 34 - 33: Back to Morgan.

Chapter 34: Chapter 33: Back to Morgan.

Three days had passed, and Raymond showed no sign of stopping. They had already left the borders of Flawless lands and were deep into the woods.

"I feel like this is suspicious," Morgan muttered.

Raymond had led them straight to a large pack of wolves. At least fifty of them stood in a clearing, staring at the group with hungry eyes. That alone was strange enough. What made it worse was what Raymond did next.

He stopped. The calamities began to shift uneasily.

Then Raymond’s bodyguard, the one with the booming voice, shouted:

"FRET NOT! HOUSE DRAKELL WILL PROTECT!"

He slammed his fist into the ground.

**CRACK!**

The earth softened like mud. Every wolf sank into it up to their chests, howling and struggling. A moment later the ground hardened again, locking them in place.

"YOU MAY HAVE THE REST!" the bodyguard yelled.

The calamities roared and charged.

Swords flashed. One calamity drove his blade straight into a wolf’s side. The animal whimpered and collapsed. The rest of the group fell on the trapped wolves like wild dogs, cutting and stabbing without mercy. Beare was right in the middle of it. Her ribbons shot out like spears, wrapping around the necks of five wolves at once. She leaped into the air, twisted hard—

**CRACK!**

All five necks snapped.

Raymond stood apart from the slaughter, watching with a cold expression. His bodyguard stayed close beside him. Something about Raymond felt different now—colder, more distant than before.

"Little shit, what the hell are you waiting for?!" Beare shouted mid-air.

Only two people had not joined the killing: Rudrick and Morgan.

Rudrick eyed Morgan with open suspicion. No normal calamity would refuse free points like this.

Morgan walked toward a female wolf whose legs were still locked in the earth. She looked up at him and let out a soft, pleading whimper. Something in that sound made him hesitate. He hated killing when he didn’t have to.

He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I’ll pretend to stab you. Act dead and you’ll live."

He had no idea if she understood. Still, he pressed the flat of his short blade against the fur of her neck and made a show of stabbing. The wolf gave a loud whimper, collapsed, and closed her eyes.

By the time Morgan straightened up, the rest of the pack was already dead.

"We rest here tonight. We head out tomorrow," the bodyguard announced.

He pulled a strange folded object from his bag. When he opened it, the thing expanded into a large, fancy tent.

Morgan barely slept that night. Two powerful calamities were still angry with him, and the tension hung heavy in the air.

Two more days passed. Then another two. Nothing changed. Raymond kept leading them from one hunting ground to the next—snake dens, then finally the Water Serpent Mountain.

The mountain itself was half-submerged. What looked like a calm, still lake stretched out beside a wide cliff path that even a carriage could travel. The water was dead quiet.

"You think this lake is calm and harmless? Wishful thinking," Beare said. "This is the most dangerous place we’ve hunted. The serpents are huge, and they give a lot of points."

"I can’t see anything," Morgan said, leaning forward to peer into the water.

"Wait—don’t—"

**SLASH!**

A gigantic serpent exploded out of the lake. Its thick tail wrapped around Morgan’s waist and yanked him under in one smooth motion.

"Oh no!" Beare shouted. "Luke is going to kill me!"

The other calamities barely slowed down.

"He’s already dead," one of them said as they walked past. "Weak kid. No way he survives that."

Beare stared at the water, jaw tight. She remembered Luke’s warning clearly.

"Protect him, Beare. I’ll work double shifts for you. But if anything happens to him... I swear."

"Oh, relax, mother," she muttered under her breath, trying to sound careless. "We’re protected by House Drakell."

When she turned around, the group was already moving ahead. She tried to push forward, but the others blocked her path.

"He needs help!" she shouted. "My friend is down there!"

"Quit it, you whore," one calamity sneered. "You think that weakling lasted more than a few seconds?"

Beare’s temper snapped. She kicked him hard between the legs.

"Arrgh—you bitch!"

She didn’t wait for him to recover. Her ribbons shot out and she launched herself forward, landing directly in front of Raymond’s horse.

"Please stop," she said, arms spread wide. "One of the snakes took my friend. Help him!"

Raymond looked down at her with a frown.

"If he looked into the lake, it’s already too late. We cannot save him."

"Please!"

"He’s already dead, girl. Move," someone in the crowd called.

"Shut up!" Beare snapped, then turned back to Raymond. "Or maybe you’re just scared the snakes will get you too."

Raymond’s eyes narrowed.

"What did you say?"

"I’m just being honest," she pressed. "If you’re not afraid of those snakes, then save him. Even if he’s dead—bring his body, or the snake that took him."

Raymond scoffed, but he didn’t look away. Truth was, with only his Fourth Wave open he couldn’t dive in and fight freely. He also couldn’t afford to look weak in front of everyone.

Meanwhile, deep underwater, the serpent kept swimming downward with Morgan still trapped in its coils. The pressure was building. His lungs burned.

*At this rate I’m going to die.*

The system window suddenly appeared in front of him.

**[Initiate Fifth Wave?]**

He thought he had used up all his free unlocks. There was no time to question it. Morgan accepted.

His green hair flashed pure white. His eyes turned blood-red. A long scythe formed in his hands in an instant.

The serpent felt the change. It twisted around, jaws open, ready to swallow him whole.

**PENG!**

Morgan raised the scythe like a shield. The serpent’s teeth slammed into the blade and sent him flying backward through the water. The creature roared—the sound muffled and distorted—then lunged again.

*What the hell is this thing?* Morgan thought. *Even with Fifth Wave open, it’s still this strong.*

He had power, but no real training. Experience was something he still lacked.

The serpent came at him without pause. Morgan started swinging the scythe in wide arcs, forcing the creature to clash with him again and again. Each impact sent shockwaves through the water. The surface of the lake above began to ripple and churn.

Up on the path, Rudrick noticed the disturbance and frowned.

Raymond raised one hand toward the water.

"This fireball should be strong enough to disrupt them," he said. "If the snake comes up, I’ll finish it. If not... I’m not wasting more time."

"I agree," Beare said quickly.

A fireball formed in Raymond’s palm and grew larger by the second.

Underwater, Morgan was being pushed back. The serpent’s teeth finally sank deep into his left arm.

"Shit!"

At that exact moment the massive fireball plunged into the lake.

**BOOM!**

The explosion rocked the water. Because the serpent still had its fangs locked in Morgan’s arm, it couldn’t twist away in time. Fire seared across its scales, burning but not killing it.

That was all the opening Morgan needed.

He swung the scythe in one clean, powerful arc and severed the serpent’s head.

The body convulsed once, then went still.