It had been several days since Vikir had returned to Balak's village.
The Red Death had been completely uprooted, but its aftermath was far from over.
Though freed from the horrors of the plague, many were weak from dehydration and upset stomachs, and much nourishment was needed for the sick.
So the unaffected warriors hunted hard for food for their families and friends.
Vikir and Aiyen were among them.
"...shhh. Found it."
Aiyen was the first to spot the prey.
Bikir's senses were sharpened, and he knew where it was.
Two years ago, when Aiyen would say, "Look, there it is!" and point to it with his finger, Bikir would say, "Where? I don't see it.
But now Vikir is almost as good at spotting prey as Aiyen.
The prey Vikir and Aiyen have their eyes on is one they've met before.
Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo
On a branch, a snake swallows a large jaguar whole.
A mouth as big as a catfish, a bizarrely flat snout, razor-sharp teeth.
Danger Rating : A+
Size: 32 meters
Found in: Ridge 8, Red and Black Mountains
-Named 'Full-body Intestine Snake'.
A snake whose entire body is made up of intestines.
It boasts a large mouth and appetite that can swallow an elephant in one bite, and legend has it that the giant Mushuhushu, which has lived since time immemorial, can swallow an entire country.
They are famously silent as they crawl across the ground or swim through the water.
At first glance, you wouldn't think it was a snake at all.
Even compared to other common Mushuhushu, this old individual is more than twice as large.
They can reach up to 40 meters in length, weigh more than 5 tons, and have a mid-body bridle of up to 3 meters.
Considering that the average individual stops growing between 25 and 30 meters long, that's a lot of size.
Aiyen carefully examined the snake.
"His name is Ka'ah, and he's a rival to Gustav, the lizard from the swamp far away. There's no other creature in this neighborhood that can match him."
Aiyen was right to be cautious.
The giant Mushuhushu named Ka'ah was not only huge, but it made no sound when it moved.
Its natural protective coloring, silent movements, and overwhelming strength and size would have been enough to keep it as the dominant force in a region.
But today it had met its match.
Vikir bared his fangs at the snake.
"You're old. It is time to repay the debt of the rainy season."
Once before, he had raided a Balak village.
It was a night of torrential rain. He came down the overflowing river and attacked Balak's warriors.
Vikir had fought it with his baskerville flesh, but he had been unable to win, and had only been able to chase it away.
By then, the water had risen so much that he too was being swept away.
"Now the water has gone down and he's regained his territory. He must have regained a lot of strength. Look, he's got a big belly."
Aiyen pointed to the center of the giant python's body.
In addition to the jaguar that had just gone down its throat, the snake's stomach seemed to contain several other beasts.
I could tell by the way the snake's body was bulging in several places in the shape of a necklace of pearls.
Aiyen drew his bow.
"If we catch him, we can get the other meat inside, and since it's tenderized, it'll be perfect for feeding the patients."
"I agree."
Vikir nocked an arrow to his bow.
Aiyen gave Vikir a nudge and pulled the string.
"It takes a lot of muscle to draw a bow."
No wonder, given the tension of the draw.
Archers actually need more arm strength than most blunt-weapon users.
Especially since Aiyen's bow has a unique construction, with five strings and up to ten arrows on the string.
Pulling this off requires at least several hundred kilograms of muscle strength.
Obviously, it's a much harder discipline than wielding a sword or mace.
And then.
Puff-puff-puff.
The aura-laden arrows fly out, aiming for Ka'ah's neck.
[...shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]
By the time Ka'ah realizes it, the arrows are already lodged in her throat.
Pit.
Vikir draws his magic sword, Beelzebub.
Ka'ah immediately closed the distance, aiming for Aiyen, but Vikir had been waiting for that.
Vikir attacked with a barrage of arrows, but as soon as Ka'ah was close enough, Vikir sliced him under the chin with Beelzebub.
Snap.
The hard scales snapped in half and red blood spurted out.
At intermediate to advanced Graduator levels, the aura becomes thick and sticky, almost indistinguishable from blood.
Vikir continues to thrust his blade, dodging Kha'ah's dragon trim as it rampages around him.
At this point, Ka'ah tried to fight back.
[Woosh! Woosh!]
He gagged and threw up something.
Vikir recognized Ka'ah's intentions immediately.
" ...It vomits out the prey in its stomach to increase its mobility."
It was a typical attack pattern of snake-like creatures.
Once they have consumed a large meal, they can lie down and remain motionless for months, and if they need to make a quick getaway in the meantime, they will vomit up the food in their stomachs to lighten their bodies so they can escape.
Ka'ah had lost his territory for a while due to the flooding of the river during the rainy season and hadn't been able to feed much.
He has also burned a lot of calories floating down the river and fighting Vikir, so he must be starving.
As such, he's currently consuming a large amount of food to replenish his strength.
With a full stomach, his movements were naturally sluggish and slow.
[Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle].
Ka'ah wanted to vomit out all the huge chunks of meat in her stomach.
That alone would probably shed nearly two tons of weight.
But.
"No way."
Aiyen's arrow interrupted Ka'ah's vomiting.
She fired another arrow, and another, and another, until it lodged near his uvula.
The target was the jaguar he had just swallowed.
Aiyen's arrows penetrated the scales that Bikir had split open, pierced the tough flesh, and lodged in the jaguar's body in the esophagus beyond.
It was as if giant spikes had pinned the jaguar's carcass to Ka'ah esophagus.
Naturally, the bodies of the other creatures Ka'ah tried to vomit up would only pile up underneath the nailed and immobile jaguar, unable to pass through the esophagus.
In the end, Ka'ah is left with a grotesque bloated neck, unable to expel the contents of her stomach.
Because of that, the movement became more unnatural, and even the view behind it was limited by the hood and ribs that swelled like that of a cobra.
In more ways than one, this was good news for Vikir, who had been aiming for the snake's vital points of attack, the back of the neck and under the chin.
…Kwasak!
Vikir stretched out Beelzebub and severed the end of Ka'a's spine, the nerve cord that connects his neck to his brain.
A gush of cerebral fluid, bone marrow, and blood gushes out.
Baskerville carnivorous, flesh-eating. The six ambush teeth burrowed into Ka'ah's body, relentless and persistent.
Pow, pow, pow, pow! Thud!
Vikir stubbornly pounded and pounded and pounded at the wounds that had been thrust into him.
He dug and dug and dug, tearing flesh, shattering bone, and severing nerve fibers.
Even. Aiyen had been aiming for Ka'ah's rear all this time.
Boom!
Arrow after arrow lodged in the snake's genitals.
"How's she doing?"
"...."
Vikir sighed inwardly at Aiyen's relaxed demeanor even in this critical moment.
And then.
…Thump!
The raging leaven snake, Mushuhushu, slammed its large body into the ground.
It had been a long time since he'd caught a big fish.
* * *
The warriors of Balak have gathered for a raid.
They have been working hard to nourish the sick.
Catfish, salmon, carp, and other fish fattened by the rainy season. Large lobsters and old lobsters from the Salt River. All sorts of nutritious mushrooms, roots, berries, and other ingredients were gathered together to make the soup.
The oxbear subadult that Ahun had caught earlier was his greatest achievement so far.
But the return of Vikir, Aiyen, and the wolf Baqira turns the tables again.
Ahun slapped Vikir on the back and laughed heartily.
"No matter what I do, I can't beat you! Hahaha!"
It took all of Balak's warriors and wolves to lift and carry the giant snake.
The old king, who had long ruled this corner of the depht, was now reduced to a tattered mass of meat.
The lean meat was roasted, smoked, steamed, and stir-fried.
The bones made into broths, medicines, and other things.
The entrails and blood were boiled in water and made into soup.
The highly nutritious snake meat, stir-fried in oil and roasted until fatty and golden brown, was reliably restoring the patients' strength.
What's more, the meat of the other animals in Ka'ah's stomach was just tender enough to be eaten by the younger patients.
Everyone is grateful to Vikir, showing him respect and love.
But in the midst of all the attention, Vikir had other things on his mind.
"I'm glad I caught Mushuhushu. It paid off.
The jackpot had been won.
Vikir's eyes lit up as he saw Mushuhushu's soul occupying one of the three orbs of the magic sword Beelzebub.
-1 slot: Burn – Cerberus (A+)
Slot -2: Silent Heel – Mushuhushu(A+)
Slot -3: Sacrum – Oxbear(A)
Mushuhushu Kaa's move is in.
Vikir's passive is Silent Hill, which replicates the snake's ability to make no sound when it moves.
"...Silent Heel."
Even if you're just walking around, you can turn on your heels to create the same effect as if you were walking on eggshells.
This was a deceptive ability that could be incredibly helpful for survival in dephts, and even more so for assassinations, stealth, ambushes, and even journaling.
Furthermore, Vikir's ability to shoot a bow would prove invaluable in the future.
"It must be similar to the sound-killing skill that Adolf the Mad used in the past."
Once, when Adolf attacked Balak's hunting party to retrieve a Camus, silencing magic came in very handy.
Vikir nodded as he watched the beads at the base of Beelzebub's hilt glow red from the spirit of Mushuhushu.
Just then.
A voice drew everyone's attention, including Vikir's.
"The shaman has finished his ritual!"
The sentry shouted, and the mood in the village suddenly turned sour.
The Red Death had just begun, and the mysterious Ahheman, who had entered the temple to offer sacrifices and heal the sick, had finally emerged.