Previously, his abilities only had the characteristics of sharpness, speed, and flight. This time, with his two pairs of wings, Herbert discovered two new traits that manifested from their different colors.
His black wings now had the power to corrode whatever it touches. But considering that one slash of his black feathers had caused the container made out of unknown material to disintegrate, Herbert felt that the power of corrosion should be closer to the word decay. On the other hand, his white wings could purify whatever it comes into contact with.
After Herbert launched a melee attack against the White-Horned Snake, he was once again subjected to a mental illusion. This time, with the help of the white wings on his back, Herbert had managed to retain his consciousness.
In front of him was the White-Horned Snake with heterochromia. It has also reached the Transcendent rank but with its current strength, Herbert judged that it should also be similar to him, being only able to reach the Transcendent rank recently.
With his eyes narrowed, Herbert could feel his surroundings turning hazy. However, since he had already memorized its position, he decided to forsake his vision by closing his eyes. He then continued his battle in a blinded state. Due to the large body of the White-Horned Snake, Herbert still managed to hit its body accurately.
With his speed, he was also able to prevent himself from being seriously injured. Feeling the wind pressure that occasionally brushed past him, Herbert could quickly make split-second decisions that prevented him from being directly hit by physical attacks. However, because he still had one of his sensory organs completely cut off, he sustained minor wounds and scratches. Although it wouldn't affect him much, he still had to contain any blood loss to prevent himself from bleeding to death.
With all of the ruckus and commotion that the White-Horned Snake's attacks caused, the guards who were standing still looked at each other and made their way toward Herbert. As members of the Ravenmoon family and as Herbert's guards, their mission was to protect the heir at the cost of their own lives.
When they arrived, they soon came face to face with another White-Horned Snake that was facing off against Herbert whose eyes were closed.
Compared to the previous Transcendent rank White-Horned Snake that they had fought off earlier, this snake was weaker and unable to speak the human language. However, this did not mean that it was any weaker than the other Transcendent ranked monsters.
With their arrival, Herbert instantly heard their footsteps coming closer and he became worried.
"Don't come any closer! I can handle this on my own. Call the others who still haven't used their third dose of Silver Moon Leaf."
With their strength, they could only be influenced by the mental illusions that were being cast by the White-Horned Snake in front of them.
But it was already too late, they had gotten too close to the White-Horned Snake. They soon entered a dazed state while they continued to remain standing in place. Hearing no response from them, Herbert frowned and guessed that they had gotten too close.
With a flap of his wings, he retreated and landed near the two guards and let his white wings touch them.
"Leave, quickly!"
When they regained a moment of clarity, they used this chance to once again retreat from this place and continue the fight outside where it was more suited for their fighting styles as Ravenmoons.
In a flash, they soon made their way out of the cave. However, Herbert realized that the White-Horned Snake did not seem to be fully intent on following them out of the cave.
With its intelligence, Herbert realized that this White-Horned Snake seem to be much smarter than the previous White-Horned Snake that he had killed.
As someone who knew that this world was a work of fiction written in a literary form, Herbert knew that he shouldn't leave any loose threads behind. Because more often than not, this would almost always come to bite him on his behind in the future.
"How many do we still have that haven't used their third dose of Silver Moon Leaves?"
At his question, the guard who took command when he was breaking through answered.
"My lord, there are still the three men who were sent to guard the Princess and another two who did not get to use their third dose of Silver Moon Leaf."
"Gather them. We still have to kill another Transcendent White-Horned Snake. It doesn't want to get out of the cave so we can only kill it inside."
Following his command, the five others soon gathered and prepared to enter the cave where the monster was waiting for them.
Meanwhile, Herbert observed the current state of Princess Amelia and the others who were still in a daze. Their faces were pale and their brows were furrowed. It appears that they seem to be having a terrible nightmare that they can't wake up from. Occasionally, Herbert could hear them groaning out in despair. He even heard Princess Amelia talking out loud, having full-blown conversations with whatever she was dreaming.
Naturally, Herbert did not disturb them at the moment. Originally, he had to use the Silver Moon Leaf to wake them up but considering that his white feathers seem to be able to alleviate the illusions cast by the White-Horned Snake, he decided to save the Silver Moon Leaf instead.
Due to their current predicament, Herbert had no intention of waking them up. He still needed to slay the last snake that managed to survive before he continues with his other plan to make Lady Elena betray Princess Amelia.
Once Herbert had prepared himself, he once again spread his wings and prepared to enter the cave with the five men. If he hadn't reached the Transcendent rank in the previous battle, then he wouldn't have made this decision as this would only be a risk. However, with his newfound strength, Herbert thought that he should at the very least, have the basic foundation to stand his ground. His repeated nightmares of being instantly slain by the protagonist in one sword slash should now be an unfounded worry. At the minimum, it should now take the protagonist more than one hit before he gets to land a killing blow.
While Herbert was starting his search for the last survivor of this monster lair, the Transcendent level White-Horned Snake finally started to worry. The wounds on its body that had been fresh were now starting to rot.
It had never experienced this before so the White-Horned Snake began to feel fear. It was the fear of the unknown intruder that had murdered its kind and looted its home. With this fear came the uneasiness and desire to escape.