"Captain, look out!"
A guardsman leapt to push the guard captain out of the way of the viper's lunge, taking the bite in his place and getting directly lifted into the air as the giant snake injected its venom.
The guard screamed in agony before passing out, with the snake spitting them out to the side.
"Yuhan!!!" the guard captain yelled, struggling to get up.
He was still fighting to suppress the venom already coursing through his body from a previous bite, desperately circulating his qi, and he grit his teeth as he stood, barely hanging on to consciousness.
'Not good... at this rate, we'll be wiped out!' he thought, stubbornly rushing in front of the giant viper to make a stand as the rest of those fighting with him dragged the latest victim of the snake's venom to relative safety.
There were three more victims still clinging on to life, but they had all used up their poison cleansing pills, already. If they didn't end this fight soon and get them treated, then not even their Foundation Establishment cultivation would save them.
However, even with his peak Foundation Establishment cultivation, he was unable to strike a decisive blow against his opponent's tough, flexible scales, and had even taken a serious wound for his troubles.
'Damn it, should I give the order to bring the young miss back to safety?" he thought, ready to sacrifice himself to buy them time to escape.
They should have been able to handle this situation, but the giant snake wasn't just bigger than ordinary Red Vipers; it seemed to have increased intelligence as well as a stronger venom, turning what should have been a tough, but winnable battle into a slow battle of attrition, with them being unable to close out the fight while the viper patiently defended and waited for its venom to take effect.
Things became even more hopeless when he thought of all the lesser Red Vipers that were swarming around the main group.
Just as the viper was about to strike again, however, the guard captain felt a brisk wind as a tall figure blew past him, spinning rapidly in mid-air before slamming a heavy staff down on the head of the lunging snake.
"It's you...!" the shocked captain exclaimed, a tiny bit of hope returning to him at the sight of reinforcements. But wait, wasn't this person a mortal...?
The viper could only rear its head back, hissing in pain from the heavy blow. Still, there was no sign of any external injuries, and it simply glared before lunging at the newcomer, baring its arm-length fangs.
"Okay, this guy might be a bit tough," Ryker said to himself, leaping out of the snake's path with ease as the weight of its charge threw up a cloud of dust.
"Woah!"
He didn't even have time to land before the snake shot back out of the cloud towards him, and he had to smack it with his staff to get out of the way, using the force of the strike to push his body to the side.
This game of cat and mouse continued for a few exchanges, the viper throwing its body at him with increasing frenzy as it went, seemingly growing more berserk with each strike Ryker landed on it.
Finally, however, the snake managed to catch Ryker off guard with a feint, dodging his swing while he was mid-air and coming back in for a bite.
"Ah, shit. Mini C, Fireball!" he shouted. The phone-like device in his bag popped out on its own, wrapped in a bluish-light, with the screen pointing at the quickly approaching maw.
[Initiating Thermal Blast,] came Mini C's voice from the device, and red, glowing circles filled with arcane runes rapidly manifested in the space in front of the screen.
The surrounding air shimmered as it was pulled in and condensed, and just before the snake's mouth closed on them, a spark ignited the compressed air, causing a deafening explosion.
The giant viper lurched backwards and roared as it flailed on the ground, thick smoke rising from its mouth. Ryker rolled into his landing and took the opportunity to charge, taking hold of Mini C's housing unit to deal a finishing blow.
"Let's give him another one!" he shouted, as the viper recovered from its writhing and shot towards him, as well, its slit eyes brimming with fury.
[Insufficient Charge. You have 11% battery left.]
"...Damn it, I always forget to charge before I leave..."
Ryker's lament didn't last long as he was forced to twist his body to dodge the giant viper's fangs, opting to throw himself into the mouth of the serpent to try and finish it off from inside.
He quickly angled his staff to lodge it in its throat, giving himself a handhold before he fell further down into the snake's belly.
"Ugh, it stinks in here. Maybe not the best idea," Ryker said in a nasally voice as he held his nose.
The snake's slimy throat muscles and cartilages pressed down on him unpleasantly, and he could feel the snake thrashing wildly as it tried to shake him free.
"Hey, we got enough juice for a Mana Cutter at least, right?"
[Just enough. Highlighting cutting path to the brain stem.]
A glowing line made its way up the snake's innards, and the device in his hand spun up more magic circles, manifesting in a semi-circular saw. The saw whirred to life with a high pitched buzz, and he pressed it to the cartilage pushing against him. Blood started flying everywhere.
"Yeah, this is gross. Remind me to never do this, again," Ryker said, grimacing as the blood splattered onto his face.
The snake's thrashing grew more intense, its body convulsing fiercely. He felt like he might get crushed at this rate, but he resolutely held the saw in place.
"Almost there...!"
And then, with a sudden stiffening, the giant Red Viper froze in place, before slumping to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Its body twitched every now and then, but the light in its eyes was gone, dimming as they glazed over.
"Incredible..."
The guard captain who had retreated to where the wounded were recuperating looked in amazement as the giant snake went down.
Who was this man?
Enough strength to defeat a monster even several Foundation Establishment realm cultivators couldn't bring down, and without any apparent cultivation of his own.
Then there was that explosion he created without any noticeable spiritual fluctuations.
What was even more puzzling was the mysterious energy that was gushing forth from his body during the fight, which seemed to agitate the snake and cause it to attack recklessly. Was this the source of his power?
"Captain, are you alright?!"
One of the soldiers in charge of defending Long Meiling came running up to him, taking out more doses of cleansing pills and handing them to the guards tending the wounded.
The soldier handed one to him as well, and he quickly swallowed it, breathing deeply as the pill energy circulated and the pain from the venom subsided.
"I'm fine. How is the young miss?"
"Yes, the young miss is unharmed. The snakes surrounding us started to retreat after the big one went down."
The captain sighed in relief; it seems they'd be able to make it out alive, after all.
Just then, a squelching sound came from out of the snake's mouth, a hand poking out to pry its jaws open as Ryker pulled himself out of the sticky mess of saliva and blood.
"Ugh, shit. Mini C, give me a clean?" Ryker said, getting himself up to his feet and shaking off whatever gunk he could.
[I can, but I'll be entering sleep mode, after this,] came the reply, and a magic circle appeared above Ryker's head, slowly descending over him.
The blood and viscera seemed to slide off of him as the circle passed over his body, and soon enough he was squeaky clean, though a bit of the smell still remained.
[Don't forget to charge. I'll keep the translation routine going for another 30 minutes, so wrap things up before then.]
With that, the device in his hand went dark.
"Thanks," Ryker said, stuffing it back in his bag. He looked to where the soldiers were resting, as well as to where Long Meiling and her bootlickers were winding down from the excitement.
"Friends, huh?" he mused, "Should be easy enough."
Running a hand through his hair, he made his way over.