This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Chapter 341 The Unknown

The disorienting feeling of the teleportation array left Kain's stomach churning, but thankfully his feet quickly met solid ground. He stumbled slightly, cursing under his breath.

He quickly looked around to catch his bearings, but unfortunately, there was nothing to see…

An oppressive darkness wrapped around Kain like a shroud, and he could barely see his hands in front of his face, much less the environment around him. He could vaguely tell that he was in a forest based on the air which was heavy and damp, carrying the faint scent of decaying leaves. But the thick canopy above him blocked out any light coming from the stars and moon, leaving the forest floor in a pitch-black gloom.

"Well, this is just fantastic," Kain muttered under his breath, his voice sounding unnaturally loud in the eerie silence.

After enhancing his eyesight using his spiritual power, he turned in place, trying to find some sense of direction. But the gnarled, looming trees all looked the same, and he was unable to find a direction using the stars due to them being blocked from his vision.

He quickly noticed that he was alone.

"Serena?" Kain called, his voice echoing faintly. No response.

'Just great...I honestly should have expected this. Why would I expect a normal orientation in which we sit in chairs while listening to someone on the stage drone on and on for hours?'

The sudden rustle of leaves to his left made his blood run cold. Without even bothering to look in the direction of the sound, he ducked and rolled away from the direction he felt a movement in the wind.

Boom!

Where Kain had been previously standing a dark figure resembling a whip struck the ground, leaving an indentation in the earth several feet deep.

Kain followed the 'whip' and realized that it was the tail of what appeared to be a black snake, almost indistinguishable from the shadows around it, aside from its glowing green eyes.

It didn't give him a chance to catch his breath and quickly struck again—this time with its head.

"Seriously?!" Kain yelped, throwing himself to the side just in time to avoid the snake's deadly bite. He hit the ground hard, the damp earth soaking into the pajamas he was still wearing.

Frantically scrambling to his feet, he summoned his contracts, muttering under his breath, "A little warning would've been nice, Darrow. Or, you know, a chance to put on actual gear!"

The snake coiled back, seemingly unfazed by the sudden appearance of many more spiritual creatures. If anything, catching sight of over 20 Vespid guards, all weaker than its blue-grade self, just made it excited. This kind human must have come specially to deliver a large meal to it! It's cold-blooded heart was almost touched.

It flicked its tongue, a move that Kain strongly suspected was done due to its appetite being aroused, and lunged forward, this time aiming for Aegis.

The golem didn't flinch. Instead, it raised one massive arm, a wall of jagged stone erupting from the ground in an instant. The snake collided with the barrier, its body rebounding with a sickening thud.

However, its tough body appeared unharmed, although it did seem stunned by a green-grade creature being able to resist so strongly.

Seizing the opportunity, the Vespid guards swarmed the snake. Their buzzing filled the air as they darted toward the serpent, their stingers glowing faintly as they rotated and stored up wind-attribute energy to increase the penetration power of their attacks.

The snake snapped at the wasps, happy at their approach, but they were too quick. They jabbed at its scales repeatedly, leaving faint indentations, but a stinger had yet to lodge firmly into its flesh to drain its energy—although it did seem to cause it a small amount of pain.

The snake hissed, a low, menacing sound that reverberated through the darkness, and its tail whipped through the air with startling speed. Several Vespid guards narrowly avoided the attack, but one was hit and instantly exploded into a shower of blood and limbs.

However, while the snake was distracted, Bea was extending ts influence toward the snake. The creature's movements faltered briefly, its glowing green eyes narrowing in confusion. But it was difficult to exert a strong degree of control in a short time on a creature one level higher.

Managing to take control of the odd blue-grade creature during the previous laboratory mission in which they were weakened by Serena's contract Balens, almost made him forget how difficult it usually was for Bea to fully control blue-grade spiritual creatures.

The serpent's body writhed violently, slamming into nearby trees as it tried to shake off the invisible invader. Its thrashing created a loud ruckus, but the moment of vulnerability was all Kain needed. "Aegis, now!"

Aegis' massive figure, which even dwarfed the blue-grade spiritual creature, moved with surprising speed for its size. It raised its massive arms high before bringing them down with crushing force—straight onto the head of the disoriented snake. The ground trembled at the huge force.

At the same time that its struggles momentarily halted due to the shock of the blow, the ground trembled as jagged spires of rock erupted, forming a cage that pinned the snake in place.

Sensing the constriction, its thrashing grew more desperate, but the stone bars held firm.

Queen's wings emitted a resonant hum, as a green-tinted wind blew that enhanced the attack power of the guards.

The wasps formed a tight formation around the cage, and the increased power of their stingers created audible whistling sounds more closely resembling the launch of missiles.

The serpent let out a final, furious hiss as the wasps' attacks finally broke through. One stinger embedded itself deep, and with it came the draining surge of energy being siphoned away.

Once there was the first stinger breaking through, there was a second, a third…

The snake's struggles weakened, its movements growing sluggish as its vitality was sapped.

Aegis delivered the finishing blow. With one massive arm, it brought down a crushing strike. With its vitality drained, and the blow occurring in the same spot as before, the snake's skull was shattered. The serpent's glowing green eyes dimmed, and its body went limp, slumping to the forest floor.

The forest fell eerily silent once again, save for the faint hum of Queen's wings and the rustle of Aegis's movements as it retreated.

However, Kain knew that this was momentary. He quickly extracted what he could from the corpse before fleeing as far away as possible. He had no idea where he was and there could very well be strong creatures drawn to their location—hungry and drawn by the thick scent of blood.