Chapter 33: Raging Storm
*Bzzzt*
*Bzzzt*
The sharp sounds echoed one after another. Within a few breaths, the number of lower-level monsters had fallen greatly.
The white serpent stared at Jake with his eyes wide open. ’Six hundred of my slaves have been reduced to one-third...’
"As expected, I must kill this human today to smooth my journey." Its cerulean eyes shined brightly as the serpent concluded coldly.
Its voice came low, inaudible as a subtle hiss lingered beneath every sentence.
In that moment, the serpent felt a familiar rage boiling in its heart. One after another, its plans were being foiled.
Over a decade ago, it faced grave danger while ascending to the seat of a territory lord. Despite spending years, it only managed to gather approximately six hundred in forces.
No matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t infiltrate the human dwellings. Then one day, an unknown monster stole some of its mindless zombies and escaped.
Its years-long preparations to break through to C-rank were stolen. Now, before its own eyes, all of its forces had nearly been killed.
’Even now, his powers are continuously increasing through those threads...’ Its eyes twitched, glaring at the fine blue threads above Jake’s head intently.
Jake, on the other hand, was in a miserable state. A stream of blood continuously leaked out of his injured lip as he continued to bite down harder.
At one point, his teeth had completely cut through his flesh, creating a smile-shaped wound above his chin.
Still, he couldn’t stop. Controlling the blue lightning was anything but comfortable.
Lightning Of Honor.
It was a class-specific C-rank skill that could only be used safely when the user fulfilled several requirements.
One of which was to reach C-rank to unlock the full potential of one’s class.
In this world, human strength heavily relied on two factors—the class rank and one’s own rank.
The former decided one’s potential, while the latter judged one’s current strength. Depending on the different ranks in the class, two people of the same rank may possess completely different levels of strength.
But Jake was only a D-rank currently. Facing his imminent death, he had no choice but to forcefully activate this skill.
As a result, the wild, raw lightning was running wild in his body.
His flesh was being shredded to fibers, and his bones had started to burn black. Every breath he took allowed a part of the lightning to pierce through his brain.
’I can’t keep... this transformation for long...!’ Jake raised his head with great struggle.
Locking eyes with the white serpent ahead, he slightly bent his knees.
The serpent immediately noticed his intentions, seeing most of his energy gathering in his feet.
"You—! You dare look down upon me?!" Feeling belittled by a dying human, the serpent flew into a rage.
*Bzzzt*
With a sharp sound, Jake leapt several feet into the air, aiming for the serpent.
He raised his arms in the sky, bright lightning crackling through his fists.
The serpent opened its mouth wide in response. A crimson energy crackled in its mouth, its eyes shimmering with confidence.
*Bam!*
Jake’s punch landed directly over one of the serpent’s fangs. With the contact, a sharp light flashed across the surroundings, blinding other monsters. Jake, however, was not affected.
The serpent swiftly protected its eyes with its crimson energy. Even his strike didn’t budge its fangs at all.
Both Jake and the serpent were D-rank in strength. Due to some underlying factors, the serpent’s strength surpassed Jake’s expectations.
Realizing that his attack went in vain, Jake widened his eyes before sensing danger. He immediately retracted his hand and jumped away.
At the same time, the serpent used its crimson energy to amplify its blood-thick venom.
With a single thought, its fangs released a dubious amount of venom, spitting it out at great speed.
As the venom touched the ground, a faint sizzle could be heard from the area. Dark fumes rose from the floor as its venomous potency destroyed the soil.
Unfortunately, one such droplet barely grazed Jake’s left leg, infecting it in an instant.
The venom burnt through his flesh and entered his body. In just a moment, the area turned red with swelling, as veins gradually started to bulge out of his body.
"Do you really think I’m the same as I was ten years ago?!" The serpent furiously hissed at him, looking down as though he had already claimed victory for himself.
In a sense, he wasn’t wrong. Jake had already gone beyond his limits. Now, with his venom inside his body, it was only a matter of time before he died miserably.
However, all this while, the serpent seemed to have overlooked something important.
Jake may have been arrogant, but he wasn’t stupid. Since the beginning, he never had any intention of "winning."
Right now, he was simply racing with time.
He skillfully used the intense lightning running rampant through his body to actively burn the poison, restricting it from spreading any further.
Then, he charged at the snake once again, aiming to distract him with all his might.
One after another, countless bright flashes completely blinded the surrounding monsters, as his attacks failed to land even once.
At some point, even he felt dejected.
Would his move work?
The next instant, he quickly dismissed such thoughts and continued to attack.
*Bam!*
*Bam!*
Every strike took the serpent’s complete attention to block. For some time, it felt genuine hostility from Jake. But soon, it felt like something was wrong.
Despite knowing that his attacks weren’t working, he simply kept attacking in the same way. Even his hostility had faded by a portion.
In this moment, a near-static sound rang in its mind. It was a primal instinct, or rather, a skill that strengthened its instinct.
"Danger!" Its mind screamed restlessly. Stunned, its cerulean eyes traced Jake’s body yet found nothing wrong.
Then, from the corner of its eyes, it noticed that the surroundings had darkened exponentially. Realizing something had truly gone wrong, it quickly turned around and retreated to some distance.
Vigilantly, it looked up and froze.
The entirety of the sky, for as far as it could see, was covered in pitch-black clouds. Bright lightning flashed across its surface now and then, creating a sharp, soul-shaking rumble.
"Hahahahaha..." Standing behind, Jake collapsed on the ground, laughing heartily.