Chapter 355: Sky Serpent

The massive shadow above them continued to spread across the ancient wilderness until it swallowed the light filtering through the canopy, turning the world beneath the giant trees dim and cold.

For one long breath, nobody moved. Sage stood with Mina gripping his robe tightly, his eyes slowly rising through the gaps between the enormous leaves, while Gregor, Brutus, Caelis, Lyana, Vanthrice, Boren, and the rest of the adventurers all followed his gaze with the same growing horror.

The forest around them had become unnaturally quiet, as if every beast, insect, bird, and hidden predator had instantly understood that something far greater than them had arrived.

Even the enormous trees seemed smaller beneath that shadow, their titanic branches trembling as a heavy pressure descended from above, pressing against everyone’s shoulders like invisible chains.

Sage’s throat tightened as the clouds above the canopy twisted in a slow circle, darkening into a storm that had not existed moments earlier, and within that storm something long, vast, and impossible moved with the grace of a living mountain.

The creature finally revealed itself when its head broke through the storm clouds, and the sight made every person below feel as though their hearts had been grabbed by a cold hand.

It was a serpent, but calling it a serpent felt almost insulting to the scale of the thing. Its body stretched for hundreds of meters, coiling through the sky in massive loops that disappeared in and out of the clouds, each movement causing the air to groan and the forest canopy to bend beneath the pressure.

Its scales were enormous, layered like jagged mountain plates, each one dark emerald near the edges and black at the center, reflecting faint lightning from the storm gathering around its body.

Two golden horns curved backward from its head like the crowns of ancient kings, long and sharp enough to look as though they could pierce through castle walls with ease. Its eyes were a deep emerald green, glowing with ancient hunger and cold intelligence, and when those eyes slowly shifted toward Sage’s group, several adventurers unconsciously took a step back despite knowing there was nowhere to retreat.

Boren’s lips trembled as he stared upward, his round face drained of every trace of color.

"Boss... please tell me that thing is far away."

Sage did not even blink. "It is far away."

Boren’s eyes lit up slightly. "Really?"

Sage’s expression remained grim. "And it is still big enough to cover the sky."

Boren’s hope died immediately. "I should not have asked."

Vanthrice stepped forward slightly, her short hair shifting in the wind, her bronze spear already in her hand as she stared up at the serpent with narrowed eyes.

Unlike Boren, she did not show fear openly, but her grip around the spear shaft tightened until the leather wrapping creaked beneath her fingers.

Her calm gaze moved across the serpent’s body, studying its motion, the shape of its scales, the rhythm of its breathing, and the way the storm responded to its presence. She had been silent for most of the escape, conserving her strength and watching the surroundings while Valeria cleared the path, but now even she could no longer stay still in the face of something that turned the sky into a hunting ground.

"That thing is not just flying," Vanthrice said quietly. "It is controlling the storm around it."

Caelis glanced toward her with a heavy expression. "Can we outrun it?"

Vanthrice’s eyes remained fixed above. "If it decides to chase us seriously... no."

Nobody liked that answer.

Just then the serpent opened its mouth and let our a roar. Its roar came down like the wrath of the sky. The entire forest shook violently as the sound crashed through the wilderness, tearing leaves from the canopy and sending smaller beasts fleeing in panic. Massive birds that had been hiding among the upper branches burst into flight, only to be caught by the shockwave and flung away like scraps of cloth.

The ground beneath Sage’s boots trembled, loose stones bouncing across the roots, while several adventurers clutched their ears and staggered under the force of the roar. Mina buried her face against Sage’s side, her little body trembling despite the stubborn grip she kept on her pouch of stolen coins.

Far behind them, the roar from the treasury answered faintly, low and dreadful, making Sage realize with a sinking heart that they were now caught between two nightmares: something awakened behind them and something ancient hunting above them.

Valeria moved first..Her crimson figure appeared at the front of the group, her sword already drawn, crimson mana coiling faintly around the blade as she stared up at the serpent with cold eyes. She did not look afraid, but the sharpness in her expression told Sage everything he needed to know. She was not treating this creature like the golems.

She was not treating it like the giant beasts she had turned into blood mist during their escape. This thing was different. Her stance was not one of someone preparing to kill an obstacle, but someone preparing to delay a disaster long enough for the others to survive.

"Keep running," Valeria said without looking back. "Do not stop. Do not look for a chance to fight. If it comes down, I will stall it."

Sage’s expression tightened as he said. "You are not planning to fight that thing head-on, right?"

Valeria gave him a brief glance. "I said I will stall it. I did not say I will die for your greed."

Despite the situation, Gregor let out a dry laugh. "She still has time to blame you."

Sage clenched his jaw. "Everyone can blame me after we survive."

The serpent attacked before they could say more. Its massive body twisted among the clouds, and one of its coils descended with terrifying speed, not directly crashing down like a falling mountain, but sweeping across the forest canopy in a long, brutal arc.

The moment its body touched the upper branches, hundreds of giant trees snapped like thin sticks. Entire sections of the ancient forest were flattened instantly, and the shockwave from the sweep rolled toward the group like a wall of wind and broken wood.

Sage shouted for everyone to move, but Valeria had already launched herself upward. Crimson mana erupted around her legs as she shot toward the incoming shockwave, becoming a red streak that cut through the storm-darkened air.

Her broadsword flashed once, and a vast crimson arc tore forward, splitting the wave of broken trees and wind before it could smash into the group.

BOOM!