Chapter 119
Haruto prepared to press his advantage and finish off the Devil Serpent.
Just as he closed in, however, he saw the thick mane behind its head stand on end, every strand pointing directly toward him.
Sensing danger, Haruto immediately threw himself aside.
A torrent of green venom sprayed from the raised mane a split second later.
"What a troublesome poison."
Haruto frowned.
He would have to wait for another opening before he could kill it.
The Devil Serpent had already recovered.
In less than a second, its mangled flesh healed completely.
Even the enormous claw that had been blown apart regenerated as though nothing had happened.
Haruto had known that Devil Serpents possessed extraordinary regenerative abilities, but witnessing it firsthand was still astonishing.
With recovery like that, the creature practically had no concept of minor or serious injuries.
Unless an attack killed it outright, any damage was little more than a temporary inconvenience.
"HISSSSS!"
The Devil Serpent released a furious shriek.
Haruto’s previous attack had truly hurt it, driving the beast into an even greater rage.
Its enormous body twisted violently before lunging at him once more, bringing a fierce rush of wind through the cavern.
Haruto watched it approach and decided to put the plan he had prepared into action.
Instead of confronting the Devil Serpent directly, he moved nimbly throughout the cavern, repeatedly evading its frenzied claw strikes and torrents of venom.
While dodging, Haruto rapidly traced heating magic circles across the cavern walls with his fingers.
His movements were incredibly fast. In less than three minutes, the surrounding stone was covered in densely packed arrays.
Once the final magic circle was complete, Haruto drew a deep breath.
"En!"
He released his Nen at full power and expanded En to its absolute limit.
His awareness spread instantly through the cavern, covering everything within a thirty-meter radius.
At the same time, Haruto extinguished his Light spell.
The glowing orb hovering overhead vanished, allowing darkness to swallow the entire cavern once again.
Losing the light did not initially affect the Devil Serpent.
Its primary method of sensing prey underground was not vision, but the infrared organs growing from its head.
Even in complete darkness, those organs could still detect Haruto’s body heat.
Haruto, meanwhile, continued tracking every movement it made through En.
The Devil Serpent still could not land a single attack.
As the heating arrays continued operating, however, the air gradually became unbearably hot.
Scorching waves rolled through the cavern, and even the stone walls began radiating heat.
The intense temperature concealed Haruto’s body heat within the surroundings.
The Devil Serpent’s infrared senses became completely useless, leaving it effectively blind.
"Hiss... hiss...?"
The enraged beast suddenly stopped attacking.
With heat surrounding it from every direction, its sensory organs fell into complete confusion.
Its massive body twisted uneasily through the darkness as its head whipped from side to side, yet it could no longer locate Haruto.
The temperature disrupted the Devil Serpent’s senses, but it had no effect on En.
The instant Haruto sensed the creature’s panic, his eyes flashed.
He kicked off the ground and shot forward like a ghost, appearing directly beneath the Devil Serpent’s enormous head.
With a turn of his wrist, the Melk Knife he had purchased appeared in his hand.
Haruto poured every remaining trace of Nen into the blade.
A dense layer of aura wrapped around it, giving the knife a terrifyingly sharp presence.
He tightened his grip, every muscle in his body tensing as his right arm exploded upward.
"Cut!"
Haruto swung with all his strength.
A highly compressed blade of aura tore free from the Melk Knife and sliced through the darkness with a piercing whistle, heading straight for the Devil Serpent’s neck.
The attack met no resistance.
Empowered by both the Melk Knife and Haruto’s Nen, the slash effortlessly split the Devil Serpent’s tough hide, carved through its thick muscles, and severed its tendons, bones, and blood vessels in one clean motion.
The beast’s head separated from its neck.
It crashed heavily to the floor with a dull boom.
The enormous body convulsed several times before finally going still.
Silence returned to the cavern, broken only by waves of lingering heat and the faint scent of blood.
Haruto cast the Light spell again and deactivated the heating arrays.
He looked at the dead Devil Serpent, then down at the Melk Knife, whose blade did not carry a single drop of blood.
Genuine delight spread across his face.
"The Melk Knife certainly lives up to its reputation."
With an ordinary weapon, even pouring all his Nen into a strike would never have allowed him to decapitate the Devil Serpent so cleanly.
Haruto did not immediately continue onward.
The battle had been brief, but it had also been extremely dangerous, and he had nearly exhausted his Nen.
He needed to recover before moving deeper into the cavern.
There was no telling what other threats awaited him, so proceeding in a weakened state would be reckless.
Naturally, the fastest way for him to recover was by eating something delicious.
The most obvious ingredient was the Devil Serpent itself.
Time was limited, so Haruto had no intention of preparing anything elaborate.
After examining the meat, he found that it was dense and firm, while the layers of fat were astonishingly thick and gleamed with a rich sheen.
He sliced the meat into thick steaks and seasoned them.
Then he drew another heating magic circle on the ground and placed a frying pan over it.
Once the pan was hot, Haruto laid the marinated Devil Serpent steaks across its surface.
The instant the meat touched the metal, a sharp sizzle echoed through the cavern.
An abundance of fat immediately rendered out, soon covering the bottom of the pan in a clear golden layer.
A rich meaty fragrance spread through the passage.
As soon as the steaks were cooked, Haruto eagerly picked one up and took a bite.
The lean meat had a relatively mild flavor, but the thick fat was exquisite. It melted the moment it touched his tongue, releasing a rich, mellow sweetness.
The leaner portions were wonderfully chewy, with a springy texture that released deeper savory flavor with every bite.
Even more importantly, Devil Serpent meat contained an enormous amount of energy.
Haruto’s exhausted body rapidly recovered, while his nearly depleted Nen reserves refilled at a remarkable pace.
After eating several steaks, he had already returned to peak condition.
Once he was full, Haruto cleaned up and resumed following the Sea Fireflies deeper into the cavern.
Roughly half an hour later, a gentle glow appeared at the end of the dark passage.
Haruto instinctively quickened his pace.
He followed the light until an underground shallow beach finally emerged before him.
This was the spawning ground of the Puffer Whales.
Countless translucent crystals were embedded throughout the stone walls and beach, radiating a soft, warm glow that illuminated the hidden cavern like something from a dream.
Gentle ripples moved across the clear seawater.
Everything around him was completely still, creating a scene so beautiful and peaceful that it seemed capable of soothing every trace of anxiety in a person’s heart.
"This view is incredible."
Haruto unconsciously slowed his breathing, and even his heartbeat gradually settled.
He sat down on the sand.
There was still some time before the Puffer Whales appeared, so he might as well enjoy the scenery.
After a moment, Haruto suddenly remembered something and took out his phone.
There was naturally no signal underground, but the camera still worked.
It would be a terrible waste not to preserve a few photographs of such a beautiful place.
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