NOVEL WEB Chapter 168: Cooperation
When she first heard the absurd number she had to clear, she felt a bit discouraged. But after fighting the Xagas, she found out that the tricky part wasn't the numbers, but how you acted around the monsters and took it down. If you slayed them at the correct spot and time, then you could disintegrate their life easily.
But if you didn't take action quick enough and let them shapeshift to their strongest forms, then it would be extremely troublesome. The people soon got used to the Xagas' fighting flow, and became even more mightier in slaying them down. The number five hundred was filled up, and there were no longer any Xagas approaching them.
Aria eyes the System's notification bar, which displayed the stage clear announcement. It didn't give her any reward. Instead, it told her what her next goal would be.
The dungeon boss.
[Quest: The Serpent's Anger
The Serpent Xenos has heard of the genocide happening to its children and will soon make a move. The Serpent had been in a slumber before it heard the deaths of its kin, so its status will be decreased slightly for the first ten minutes until it regains perfect control of its body. After the time limit ends, the Serpent will enter the highest Rage form motivated by revenge. Its status numbers will be heightened significantly. The Serpent has to be eradicated in order for the <Player> to clear the dungeon. In an hour, the Serpent's anger will cause the unstable land to deteriorate and fall apart. Please clear the quest before the time limit ends.
Objective: Kill Serpent Xenos. 0/1.]
'One hour time limit.. And ten minutes of sluggishness. This will be a tough fight. Should I go all out right from the start? Or.. I should see how much of a threat this serpent really is first, right?' Aria hummed as she stretched her limbs, preparing herself for the next fight.
Knowing the System's seriousness, for it to mark down this dungeon, the Serpent Xenos must be a really frightening creature. One could only imagine how many peculiarities it hid within itself.
Rumbling noises from underground were heard. It made everything shake, and the toxic substances flowing in the air much more potent than before. It still did not affect Aria, which made her thankful to her resistances. However, the others did not have it as good as Aria. They were affected quite badly and had to regroup with the supports to be provided extra protection.
As always, the Cha siblings stayed unbothered. Cha Seol-hyun, with the other mage began to protect others.
Lichte was taken care by Reina. It seemed like Reina was actually a huge poison expert, as she solved the way to suppress the effects within no time. It showed her prowess even more.
Of course, that wasn't the main thing Aria needed to pay attention to. Serpent Xenos was about to rise. It had a high momentum of climbing up from whatever level it was sleeping at before. Aria located the creature's presence and got away from the spot that she predicted it was going to come out of.
In mere seconds, the Serpent's head poked out through the surface and broke free. A domineering presence. A pair of beady black eyes with hexagon shapes neatly lined up as its pattern. Massive golden horns that protruded out of its head. And a gigantic body that had a ridiculous concentration of poison circulating around.
Fear. A huge amount of pure fear. That was what people felt. Shuddering as they were glared at by the Serpent, who saw that there were no longer any of its children lingering around the environment.
The dungeon world was actually empty except for the vast land that hosted the Xagas. Thus, the Serpent was quick to show its full body out and terrify the masses.
"...Is [Halvargg] resistant to poison?" Aria looked at her sword. The serpent's body was completely covered in a goo that was obviously potent poison. Not to mention [Halvargg], she didn't know if she was even able to approach the serpent.
They had to kill this monster somehow. Aria's eyes were firmly set on Blythe and Cha Seol-hyun, wanting to know their next move. The two seemed to be discussing a couple things. Within moments, Aria saw that Blythe was actually coming to approach her again.
"Hello, Miss Aria. Could I talk to you for a moment?" Blythe spoke.
"..Is this the time to have a relaxed chat? The Serpent is currently sluggish, if you couldn't tell. I'd say.. Ten minutes. Ten minutes until the serpent goes all out. Do you think you should be here?"
"Yes, I do think so. Because I want to borrow your power."
"Me..? Well, I'm certainly not charging in right away. The Serpent's poison... I don't know if I would be able to withstand fighting it. Why don't you try, honorable Hero?" Xu Jiaqi taunted the man.
"My sister has offered you to join our lines. It will be a temporary cooperation. My sister is an extremely great support, she will increase our chances of winning significantly."
"I am just a nobody. Hero, are you scared of going in? Is that why you are trying to recruit me, so you would have a friend to bring down with you?"
"It's not that I am scared, it's that I know.. your sword and mine are the only ones who can stand up to the serpent. If we don't hurry like you said, this fact might change. Won't you lend us your strength?" Blythe did not get mad, but stretched his hand out for a handshake instead. "I know that you have bad relations with my sister, but please, for the sake of keeping our lives intact, we need to stick together. Fighting that thing is impossible with my men, it will be futile."
Aria was also not foolish, she didn't want to risk her life just because she held enmity with the Cha siblings. She considered the offer further for a short while before nodding at Blythe and heading towards Cha Seol-hyun with him.
'Just this once.'