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Mid Evening (Next Day) - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan / Zan Border

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- Lawton Keen ~

"We have finally arrived at the border, let’s stop here and get some rest!"

""Yes Sir!"" Everyone responded in unison before immediately spreading out and throwing up their tents.

-It’s good to see they’re still enthusiastic about finally taking part in a real fight.

- It had been a couple days since we left at that point, so I expected them to be a bit tired, but they all seemed ready to go.

-I guess their training is going well.- "Scouts, scan the area for monsters and report any unusual findings. We will be here until sunrise!"

*Thump* Casually hopping off my horse, I reached into my satchel and pulled out a ration and water before looking for a place to sit.

-That should work…- Walking over to one of the countless half-dead trees nearby (Trees with Yellow Leaves), I pulled out my sword and sliced through the bottom without thinking much of its state. *Shing-rustle-THUD*

When I finally took a seat on it, I let out a deep breath and started to munch on my snack.

-Everyone seems to be working well together…- I was trying to look around to find people who were slacking or simply not being a part of the group as I ate, but everyone was pulling their weight.

Before I knew it, the camp had finished being set up, and people were waiting around their campfires, snacking on rations and waiting for orders.

-Now, all that's left is for the scouts to return so everyone can rest…- Slowly standing up and putting away my remaining food, I turned toward the captain’s tent to discuss tomorrow's plans, but was interrupted by a messenger.

"Sir Keen! We found something we believe you need to see." The scout looked quite panicked, which made me all the more curious about what he found.

"What did you find?"

"It's a huge circular clearing around 10 kilometers ahead, directly south-southwest. We couldn't poke our heads in too much because of several strong monsters in the area as well."

-I knew things were going too smoothly…- We hadn't hardly run into any monsters besides some goblins and orcs on our way here, so we were due for something that would put up a fight.

"Alright, I'll come with you, let me do something first." *Whistle* "Captain Coleman!

Come here for a moment!" I called over Coleman, the second in command for this expedition.

"What is it, sir?"

"I'm going to investigate something with the scouts up ahead, I need you to take command while I'm gone. Also, save me a bowl when they make soup, I should be back before it gets cold."

"Right away, sir!" Giving a shallow bow, he turned back and jogged towards the middle of the camp.

Looking back at the scout, I set my hand on the hilt of my sword. "Shall we?"

With a light nod, the scout dashed out of the camp and into the woods. -As quick as usual, huh…-

I was quick to follow after him in a good mood, but it didn’t take long for that to sour. -What the…- Before we even got halfway to the supposed monsters, I could see major changes in the environment.

Unlike before, the trees didn’t look like they just lacked a bit of water but instead had entire branches falling off and revealing the dry and crumbling wood that composed them.

It looked as if the tree hadn’t seen water in years, but things only got worse from there.

As we continued to run, the litter on the ground only grew in volume. Before we knew it, we had to slow down to traverse over the thick layer of leaves, branches, trees, and even dead forest critters that covered the ground.

-What in the world..- My positive mood was nowhere in sight as I gripped the hilt of my sword more tightly. -Just what kind of monster could do this…-

Quickly coming up to the edge of a clearing, a majority of the trees only had their trunks left or were completely uprooted.

But what was behind the wall of collapsed trees in front of me was something I couldn’t have prepared myself for. -W..what…-

I could only stand there, stunned and speechless, as I looked out into the clearing.

"Sir Keen, this is the area I mentioned. It's around 12 kilometers to the other side, but we couldn't get too far in before we caught the attention of the monsters toward the middle."

Although the scale of the clearing was mind-boggling, the most horrifying part was that the ground was covered in ash or hardened dirt as if it was melted and cooled. I couldn't even see any stumps or roots left from any trees. -Something just.. turned a whole forest to ash...-

Something of this scale was far beyond what I could handle, but at the same time, it was even further beyond what anyone else could.

"Hooh.." -I can't let the fear grip me, otherwise I'll get caught off guard...- Although the ash was cool, there was still a chance the monster that did this was still there.

"Sir Keen, would you like us to call up some of the S ranks?"

"No, I'm going to run up and scout the monsters before deciding what to do. If there is something I can’t handle, then there is no need to waste energy fighting."

Unsheathing my greatsword, I started lightly running forward into the ashen field.

Towards the middle of the clearing, there were a couple of huge monsters coiled around, their tan-colored scales glistening in the moonlight.

-Some Great Cobras, huh...- Although they usually only reached A or B rank, sometimes they could push into S rank. The issue was that the ones up ahead were nearly 2 meters in diameter, and likely around 60 meters long, making them some of the biggest cobras I’ve ever seen.

-And to think there’s more than one...- Great Cobras were actually fairly common in areas with extremely abundant wildlife, mainly swamps and rainforests, and would occasionally be kept by smaller nations to help control an unruly dungeon’s population, but not only were they not native to this area, but we also hadn't seen so much as an insect for several kilometers.

-But I guess why they’re here isn’t my problem to figure out…- Locking my eyes on the closest cobra, I managed to dash up to it in complete silence, and without alerting it at all.

-Ash really makes my footsteps quiet.. doesn’t it…- Leaping into the air over the coiled cobra, I tightly gripped my sword with both hands and slammed it down into the top of the snake's head.

But my sword, not sharp enough to cut through its skull, hit it like a hammer. *Crack-CRUNCH*

The ground shattered simultaneously with its skull, killing it instantly.

But its body still contracted and attempted to retaliate.

*WOOSH* The huge snake body zipped right past me at a speed I could barely match, making my eyes go wide. -These things…-

Backing away as fast as possible, I set my sight on the other sleeping cobra and darted to it. -I need to kill it before it can wake up!- After seeing the horrifying strength and speed of the other cobra, I decided I couldn’t let this turn into a proper fight.

But I was too slow.

*Gleam* The glimmer of the other cobra’s ruby-red eyes was imprinted in my mind at that instant.

-Sh*t…- Seeing its head rise high above its body, I felt a sense of intimidation I hadn’t felt for many years.

But that only sparked a flame deep in my chest.

*fwip* Raising my sword toward my shoulder and pulling my arm back, I drove my front foot into the ground and channeled everything I had into hurling my sword like a lance. *Crunch-FWOOOSH*

The blade practically teleported to the head of the cobra, but it still reacted just in time.

*Shing* The blade ripped through the cobra’s hood, just missing its skull and leaving behind a large wound, but no vital damage. -Ah, sh*t…-

In the next instant, the cobra's mouth opened, revealing its two massive, white fangs.

Assuming its bite would be undodgeable, I hastily allocated my aura to my arms and braced myself.

And I was right. *CRACK* (Sonic Boom)

With my instinct barely managing to keep up, I somehow managed to grab hold of its fangs, but the force behind them drove my legs into the brittle ground. *CRUNCH*

"Ngh! Not.. TODAY!" Letting go of one fang, I hastily reached over for my greatsword, still embedded in its hood, and gripped it tight.

*Shing* Its light-red blood glistened in the moonlight as I finally pulled it out.

"GOT YA!" Raising my sword, I promptly slammed it down into its head with as much force as I could muster. *Shi-CRUNCH*

Its head was brutally sliced down the middle, making it go limp, but its body still put up a fight.

*fwip-THUD-WOOOOSH* I barely managed to dodge a flurry of strikes from its body as it spasmed and threw itself about, but thankfully, I managed to get away without getting hit after a short moment.

Once I managed to back off and look back around the field though, I felt a gaze that made me feel like death itself was looming over my head.

Just a couple hundred meters away, in the center of the clearing, was another colossal snake, incomparably larger than the other cobras, that had raised its head out of a deep crater.

But even ignoring its size, it was far from normal.

Its scales glowed orange like red-hot iron and exuded a heat that rippled the stars and moonlight around it, but most horrifying of all, its crimson, ruby-like eyes stared into mine like those of a sentient being. -W..what is.. that..-