Tagorihime, who had been furiously pouring out Senjutsu Chakra, stopped when she heard the voice.
She turned and saw Yeyu looking at her in confusion.
Tagorihime couldn't believe it. "You—you weren't swallowed by Garaga?"
Yeyu smiled. "It swallowed me?"
"How could it? It isn't strong enough."
Tagorihime stopped pouring out Senjutsu Chakra, and the sand and stones that had been surging across the ground as if alive fell still.
Garaga finally got a chance to catch its breath.
But when it saw Yeyu standing in the air, it was stunned. "You—you weren't swallowed by me?"
It clearly remembered swallowing Yeyu.
How was he unhurt?
Yeyu looked at Garaga. "I had high hopes for you just now, but now I'm not so sure I want you as my Summoned Beast. You're kind of weak."
Garaga was dumbfounded.
It was the first time anyone had ever spoken to it so brazenly.
"Brat, how dare you call me weak? Don't think I'm weak just because I don't usually go out."
"I'm the strongest Great Snake in Ryūchi Cave."
Yeyu scratched his head. "But you seemed to get beaten pretty badly by her just now."
"Honestly, watching from the sidelines made me feel the pain."
"Look, you're still bleeding."
Yeyu pointed at Garaga's body. It was indeed bleeding.
Its body was so huge that it looked like a river of blood was flowing.
Garaga looked at its bleeding body, then turned to glare furiously at Tagorihime. "Tagorihime, that brat's still alive. You should apologize to me."
Garaga was furious. Tagorihime had attacked without even asking, and had nearly kicked it to death.
It had been beaten until it was covered in blood, while Yeyu stood there completely unharmed.
It felt like it had been terribly wronged.
But Tagorihime ignored it.
She turned to Yeyu. "How are you unharmed?"
"That creature's venom can petrify you."
"I clearly saw it swallow you."
Yeyu explained, "You shouldn't forget that I know the Flying Thunder God Technique."
At Yeyu's words, Tagorihime understood.
Then she turned to look at Garaga. Seeing its miserable state, she felt a little awkward.
For a moment, nobody spoke. The cave was eerily quiet.
Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime looked at Tagorihime, speechless.
Garaga lay on the ground, licking its wounds.
Blood had stained the ground red.
"Apologize! If you don't, I'll ask the White Snake Sage to settle this fairly."
When Tagorihime continued to say nothing, Garaga roared at her from the ground.
Tagorihime thought it over and decided to apologize.
But before she could speak, Yeyu said to Garaga, "You're the one who was outmatched. Why should she apologize to you?"
"From what I saw, you were the one provoking her the whole time."
Garaga glared at Yeyu, grinding its teeth. "Brat, this only happened because of you, and you still have the nerve to speak?"
"If it weren't for you, would she have beaten me like this?"
Yeyu smiled. "But you didn't die, did you?"
"And you're a Summoned Beast. What's a little injury like this?"
"You'll recover before long."
Yeyu's words nearly made Garaga die of anger.
"Fine, fine. So neither of you is going to apologize, huh?"
"Then I can only ask the White Snake Sage to settle this fairly."
There was nothing else Garaga could do. It couldn't beat Tagorihime, so it could only ask the White Snake Sage to punish her.
They had never fought before, and Garaga had assumed the Three Goddesses were just for show. It had never seen anything special about them.
They had merely lived longer than it had. What was so impressive about that?
Only today had it learned that Tagorihime, one of the Three Goddesses, could nearly kill it with ease.
How could the other two possibly be weak?
The White Snake Sage had always indulged Garaga.
After humans betrayed Garaga, it had relied on its strength to bully the other Great Snakes in Ryūchi Cave.
The White Snake Sage had done no more than scold it.
Garaga didn't trust humans and refused to accept a human's contract, but the White Snake Sage never forced it.
Even so, Garaga had never shown the White Snake Sage the slightest respect.
Perhaps being indulged so much had made Garaga think that Ryūchi Cave couldn't function without it.
But now, the only one it could rely on was the White Snake Sage.
It really couldn't beat Tagorihime. If she kept fighting, it would die.
If the other two Goddesses hadn't stopped her just now, it would already be dead.
The White Snake Sage had also said that the Great Snakes of Ryūchi Cave must not kill one another.
And Tagorihime had nearly killed Garaga just now.
Tagorihime furrowed her brow. She knew that if the White Snake Sage found out, she and Yeyu would definitely be punished.
Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime hurriedly stepped forward to speak. "Tagorihime, it's just a matter of apologizing. There's no need to take this all the way to the White Snake Sage."
"After all, you were the one who attacked."
They weren't speaking up for Garaga. They knew that if this reached the White Snake Sage, Tagorihime would definitely be punished—she'd be locked away for at least several decades.
She had nearly killed Garaga just now.
Yeyu glanced at Garaga, then at Tagorihime. "I think the White Snake Sage is powerful enough to know what happened here already. Since she hasn't said anything, she probably doesn't intend to punish you."
After all, Tagorihime had only been trying to save him.
Even though he hadn't been in any danger.
He couldn't just stand by without speaking up for her.
Tagorihime furrowed her brow. "You don't understand. Killing one another is forbidden in Ryūchi Cave."
"And after all the commotion you caused here, it'll be difficult to form a contract with any of the Great Snakes in Ryūchi Cave."
Yeyu didn't care. "So what? I've already gained a power stronger than a Summoned Beast."
"Although it wasn't what I wanted at first, learning Senjutsu is more worthwhile than getting a Summoned Beast."
Tagorihime looked at Yeyu. "Do you really think so?"
Yeyu nodded. "Of course. With Senjutsu, it doesn't really matter whether I have a Summoned Beast or not."
"Besides, if this Great Snake really is the strongest Summoned Beast in Ryūchi Cave, then I'm honestly not very impressed."
"I'd summon it to help me fight, not to keep it as a pet."
"If it's this weak, I'd probably have to protect it whenever I summoned it. So would I be summoning a Summoned Beast, or a pet?"
Hearing Yeyu's words, Garaga hissed furiously at him. "Brat, I'll eat you! How dare you call me a pet? Humans really are all rotten!"
Yeyu ignored it.
He continued speaking to Tagorihime. "Actually, after watching you fight just now, I was thinking—"
"You don't want to." Tagorihime cut him off.
Yeyu frowned. "I haven't even finished."
"I know what you're going to say. I hate you, so don't think about summoning me."
"So don't even consider it," Tagorihime said with a cold snort.
Yeyu looked at Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime.
The two hurriedly made their positions clear. "I don't like you either, so don't even think about summoning me."
"Same here."
They both shook their heads.
Yeyu felt a little disappointed. "Then what other Summoned Beasts in Ryūchi Cave are worth summoning?"
Before you continue