Chapter 79: The Serpent's Wrath
Panic swept through the village like wildfire. Screams tore through the night as the monstrous serpent—Kharesh of the serpent lineage—slithered through the streets, its seven heads rising above the rooftops like looming towers. Each head moved with its own hunger, each mouth opening wide to reveal rows of jagged teeth before snapping down on fleeing villagers. The creature didn't just kill—it swallowed. Whole families vanished into its massive belly, which swelled grotesquely with every victim.
Children cried. Elders prayed. Mothers clutched their young as they ran for safety that didn't exist. No one knew where the beast had come from. No one understood why it had come. But its fury was endless, its appetite insatiable.
Elara and Ariella stood on a distant hill overlooking the chaos, horror etched on their faces.
"This... this is because of the Master," Ariella whispered. "He stirred forces he couldn't control."
Elara clenched her fists. "Then we must be the ones to end it."
---
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, the Master had become unrecognizable. His once-grand robes were now tattered rags. Mud caked his face and hands. His feet bled from wandering the wilderness, and his eyes were hollow pits of torment. He no longer looked like a ruler, but a wretched beggar lost in his own madness.
The shadow had stripped away his dignity, piece by piece. It whispered incessantly, dragged him through memories of his worst crimes, made him relive Little 7's screams, Little 9's pleas.
One night, driven by desperation, he climbed a jagged cliff and stood at its edge. "Let me go," he muttered, preparing to throw himself off.
But before he could leap, black tendrils of smoke burst from the shadows beneath the rocks, lashing around his wrists and ankles. They pulled him back with cruel strength, slamming him to the ground.
He cried out, trying to crawl forward, but the tendrils coiled tighter.
A voice echoed in his mind—cold, guttural, and deep.
"You don't die until I say so."
The Master thrashed. "Why won't you let me go?"
"There is more suffering yet," the shadow replied, its tendrils tightening around his throat. "You will feel every ounce of what you've done."
He sobbed, broken, as the tendrils finally receded into the ground, leaving him crumpled and gasping.
---
Crushed and desperate, the Master stumbled into the girls' path days later. He dropped to his knees before them, his body trembling.
"Please," he whispered. "Kill me. I can't endure this anymore. The shadow... the serpent... my sins... they devour me."
Ariella's face darkened. "You dare ask us for mercy after what you did?"
"You created this chaos," Elara added. "That monster is your legacy. The blood it spills is on your hands."
The Master lowered his head. "I know. I deserve it all."
"Then suffer," Ariella said coldly. "Just like the ones you left to suffer."
They turned their backs on him.
---
Determined to stop Kharesh, the girls traveled to the Guardian of the Crevice, who protected the realm of visions. Beneath the silver roots of an ancient tree, they summoned the Blue and White Queens through a sacred chant.
A vision came—a glowing serpent's skeleton buried beneath a salt lake. A dagger forged from one of its bones, cooled in the tears of the innocent, would be the only weapon capable of piercing Kharesh's enchanted hide.
After the vision ended, the girls immediately journeyed to the salt lake. The air was heavy with salt and sorrow, and the bones shimmered beneath the shallow waters. Using ancient tools whispered of by the Queens, they forged the dagger—its surface etched with glowing veins. When the blade was cooled in the weeping waters left behind by grieving villagers, it hissed and pulsed in Elara's hands.
"This is it," Ariella said, eyes burning with resolve. "Let's end this."
---
The Master now wandered aimlessly, haunted. He muttered to himself, speaking to memories.
"Little 9... my son... I never meant to kill you. You were my favorite... It was the shadow. It twisted me. Forgive me..."
But no one heard his cries—except Kharesh.
The serpent found him near a dry riverbed, the air thick with dread. All seven heads surrounded him, glaring with cold fury.
"You are the cause," Kharesh hissed. "You killed my kin. You summoned the shadow. Now you will pay."
"No," the Master whimpered, crawling backward. "Please... spare me... I was wrong..."
Kharesh didn't speak again. One head sank its fangs into the Master's leg. Another crushed his arm. A third one coiled around him, breaking ribs with each tightening squeeze. His screams echoed through the trees.
The girls arrived just in time to see him reduced to a shattered, bleeding husk.
Ariella watched coldly. "So this is how it ends for him."
Elara looked away. "He asked us for death. The serpent gave it to him."
When the final head struck, snapping his spine, the Master's cries ended forever.
Kharesh turned to them, his body dripping with blood. "My vengeance is fulfilled."
Elara stepped forward, holding the bone dagger.
"Then your time is over too."
In a flash, the sisters struck. The blade pierced the serpent's side, sending a tremor through all seven heads. Kharesh writhed, screamed, then fell.
Silence returned to the village.
---
As the girls walked away from the battlefield, Elara's voice broke the quiet.
"When will it end, Ariella? How much more can we take?"
Ariella looked up at the stars, face unreadable. "Not yet. The shadows still have a vessel. And it's coming."