Eyeless Snake

"What was that?" Everyone stared grimly in the direction where the Soul Master had vanished.

Vega's expression was especially ugly. The one who had met with disaster was his subordinate.

"Maybe... it was that Eyeless Snake," Norbert guessed. "The last time I saw it, it was tracking a Wind-Walking Tiger."

"Yan Jin..." Amon said lightly.

"Understood." Yan Jin stepped forward, molten lava surging around her. "Volcanic Barrage!"

One magma ball after another shot toward the thicket, propelled by her second Spirit Ring skill.

The scattered magma set the trees ablaze. In an instant, flames roared to life and showed signs of spreading outward.

"Uh..." Vidal said hesitantly, "is it really okay to set the mountain on fire?"

"It's fine... There are so many fire-element Soul Beasts in the forest, yet forest fires are almost nonexistent. Soul Beasts instinctively protect their habitats. While the fire is still small, they will put it out.

"To us, this is merely a place to gather resources, but to them, it is the home they depend on for survival.

"Because this is a volcanic region, the forests in the Ironheart Mountains are not very continuous. They are scattered in small patches, so we do not need to worry about causing too much damage.

"Besides, forests have their own balancing mechanisms. When fire elements become overly concentrated in an area, water elements will gather to offset the harmful effects of excessive fire elements.

"Furthermore, Yan Jin would inevitably cause some damage fighting in the forest anyway. This is only happening a little earlier."

Amon wore a gentle smile, but the mercenaries beside him felt that smile was colder than ice.

A burst of Soul Power suddenly erupted from the thicket. The dirt on the ground seemed to come alive, wrapping around the burning trees and extinguishing the flames.

A massive White-Scaled Great Snake slowly extended the upper half of its body from branches untouched by the fire.

It had no eyes. Two backward-curving horns grew from its head, and its mouth was black. Its scales were snow-white, but their shapes were strange, like twisted worms.

The corners of Amon's mouth rose slightly. This was his target.

"Eyeless Snake..." Cadron frowned. "Isn't this... a little too big?"

At his reminder, the others suddenly realized just how enormous the portion of the snake's body protruding from the trees was. More of it remained hidden within the canopy, impossible to see clearly, but its total length was definitely over ten meters.

Eyeless Snakes grew two meters every thousand years. In other words, this snake had already exceeded their expectations.

"Are we still fighting it?" Vidal asked.

If its Spirit Ring was beyond what they could absorb, hunting it would be pointless and would only waste their strength.

"Right now, it is not a question of whether we want to fight. This thing has no intention of letting us go... It sees us as prey!" Vega said grimly.

"Good. I have no intention of letting it go either... It is still within my hunting range." Amon slowly adjusted his Monocle as he spoke.

The Eyeless Snake's mouth opened slightly, as though it were giving Vega and the others a mocking smile.

It slowly slithered down from the canopy, its body winding as it moved. It was eerie, yet beautiful.

When they saw its full form, the mercenaries and Vidal could not help but gasp.

This Eyeless Snake was a full eighteen or nineteen meters long. It was already very close to becoming a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast!

"Didn't you say it was only five thousand years old? Even if your visual estimate was off, this is way too far off!" Vega roared angrily at Norbert.

Norbert was frightened stiff by the Eyeless Snake as well. He stammered, "I... I... It shouldn't have been this big when I saw it last time."

"Shouldn't have been?"

"Dogshit, open your eyes and look! You call this shouldn't have been this big?"

"You got us killed!"

"Nobody panic yet! There are so many of us. If we join forces, we may not need to fear it!" Vidal shouted, trying his best to steady morale.

With such a large team, dealing with a Soul Beast comparable to a Soul King would not be a problem if they coordinated well. The trouble was that most of them had already lost their fighting spirit the moment they saw it.

Even Vidal himself was considering whether he should just run.

As long as he ran faster than his teammates...

There were still fourteen Soul Grand Masters. He definitely would not be the last one!

But he quickly abandoned that thought. They were in a forest. Running would only lead to them being picked off one by one, and the Eyeless Snake was a Soul Beast renowned for its perception and sharp senses. If it was determined to hunt them down, there was no way they could escape.

"Do not think about running away alone. You should have prepared before coming here and learned what kind of Soul Beast an Eyeless Snake is. In this vast forest, we cannot shake off its pursuit at all."

Leiqi and Koman's eyes flickered. They exchanged a glance, then assumed fighting stances, agreeing with Vidal's words.

"Damned beast." Vega cursed under his breath, then had the Soul Grand Masters under his command prepare to face the enemy.

The Eyeless Snake slowly approached, intending to make its opponents abandon their formation through increasing pressure.

Before it could threaten them any further, it suddenly halted. Using the middle of its body as a pivot like a pendulum, its upper body swung to one side.

A bolt of lightning grazed past its body and struck the ground at an angle, leaving a patch of scorched earth.

The mercenaries looked at Lei Yin in surprise. They had not expected this half-grown boy to actually dare attack first.

But Amon had noticed something from the Eyeless Snake's evasive movement.

He had seen it clearly. When the White-Scaled Great Snake dodged, Lei Yin had not even attacked yet!

It looked as if Lei Yin had attacked and it had dodged, but in truth, it had moved to evade first, and only then had Lei Yin launched his attack.

It could probably foresee its opponent's movements half a second, or even one second, ahead!

With Lei Yin setting an example, the mercenaries also revealed their Martial Souls one after another and began attacking. They did not think they were so inferior that they could not even compare to a child.

The ones attacking were all Soul Masters with long-range skills. For the moment, no one dared approach this enormous creature.

To everyone's surprise, the Eyeless Snake evaded every attack with agility completely unfitting for its massive body. Its movements were perfectly timed, without even a single unnecessary motion.

At that sight, everyone's expressions grew even grimmer.

The Eyeless Snake had intended to keep approaching, but a burning pain suddenly flared from its side. It opened its mouth wide and let out a silent hiss, reflexively twisting its body and shifting several meters away.

"This hide is really thick." Yan Jin stood at its side, looking at the burn on its belly with dissatisfaction at the result of her attack.

The Eyeless Snake did not attack the human who had dared approach it. Instead, it moved far to the side, coiled its body, and assumed a defensive posture.

Its not particularly intelligent mind was filled with deep confusion. It should have been able to "see" every danger unfavorable to itself one second ahead and respond in advance, yet it had not foreseen Yan Jin's movements at all.

That made it wary.

In truth, Amon had cooperated with her. When Yan Jin rushed over, he had used Deception on the Eyeless Snake, slowing its thoughts and breaking its "foresight," allowing Yan Jin to land her attack.

The mercenaries could hardly believe their eyes. How had she dared run up and punch it just like that? This was an Eyeless Snake nearing the ten-thousand-year level!

They were frightened just watching it from afar. Was this little girl not afraid at all?

The facts proved that Yan Jin really was not afraid. She was truly brave!

Rolling her wrist once, Yan Jin charged straight ahead.