High above the charred ridge of the Fire Mountain…
The suffocating coils of the sacred Nagastra pulsed around Kent like venomous vines, holding him captive in mid-air.
The poison mist had thinned, but the mountain still trembled beneath the sheer pressure of the Naga Ancestor's divine presence.
The colossal serpent had long since shifted into his humanoid form—an ancient god cloaked in molten scales and towering arrogance. His crimson jewel pulsed like a second heart in the center of his brow, and his eyes, deep like obsidian wells, gleamed with disdainful amusement as he slowly circled the bound youth.
"You dared pluck flowers from my neck," the Naga Ancestor murmured with a sinister smile, "and now you plead for your life?"
Kent, though his body ached and his meridians throbbed from the earlier skirmish, raised his head calmly. His lips, dry and cracked from the heat, parted with steady resolve.
