A Barbaric Proposal - Chapter 42: Prey and Poison

Zaiyila thought she had suffered enough—betrayed by her own mother and sold into marriage with a wealthy, aging man. But on the night of her pre-wedding ceremony, everything takes a dark and unexpected turn. A swarm of deadly snakes descends upon the gathering, killing her groom-to-be and throwing the hall into chaos. Fear spreads as the people recognize the serpents as the servants of the enigmatic and terrifying Snake King, Everett.When Everett himself arrives—a striking, horned man of unmatched beauty and power—Zaiyila finds herself drawn to him in ways she cannot explain. Despite the fear he inspires in others, she feels an unshakable connection to him, one that transcends the realm of logic. The moment she defies the fearful kneeling of the crowd, she unknowingly seals her fate.Taken into Everett’s domain, Zaiyila is forced to confront not only the dangerous, supernatural world she’s been thrust into but also the awakening desires she cannot deny. As she unravels the truth about her past and her connection to the Snake King, she must decide—will she resist the pull of destiny, or will she embrace the darkness and passion that Everett offers?A tale of betrayal, power, and an irresistible bond, Bride of the Serpent King explores the fine line between fear and desire, fate and choice.---

Bags of salt, spices and sugar stacked from inside the shop all the way out into the streets. Merchants loaded with goods going flooded the streets with their carriages.

They stole his future. Now, he’s rewriting reality.Ryan was at the top—champion of the world’s biggest VRMMO, but one wish changed everything.“I wish I could start over.”The Orb of Wishes granted it. Literally. Time snapped backward. The world unraveled. And Ryan woke up years in the past, holding his younger sisters close in a rotting apartment, broke and desperate.This time, he’s not starting from scratch.He remembers it all. Every hidden boss. Every bugged quest. Every game-breaking secret. While the world waits for the launch of Kingdom Forge, Ryan prepares to tear through it like a storm.But when he logs in, something glitches.His old character is locked. His class is reset. His power? Supposedly gone.Then the system flashes something strange:[Access Granted: Legacy Bank Synced][Warning: You were never meant to exist.]Ryan grins. He doesn’t need a strong class. He doesn’t need fair odds. He has what nobody else does—endgame knowledge in a beginner’s world, and an account holding gear, gold, and exploits that broke the game once before.He’s done being a pawn.This time, he’ll become the glitch the system can’t contain.

In the tribal farming era, the world was vast and unknown. Upon continuous exploration, the people of ancient times were appalled to discover that in this world, where the sky was round and the earth was square, all sorts of miracles had befallen them. There were even figures like an ultra-big ten-thousand-foot giant, as well as huge intelligent beasts that had mysteriously appeared, trampling upon the mountains and rivers, and shattering the earth. Hundreds of years later, in such a dangerous environment, people fought against the huge beasts and finally established the glorious Sumerian civilization. On this day, a wise giant suddenly made a complete descension on earth, trampling on all the mountains and rivers, and wiping out the entire nation. The world crumbled, and city-states collapsed; had the gods descended to condemn the people?

“I’m sorry, you’re all just ants living in the orchard of my yard and you are just scrambling all over the place. If I were to accidentally pass you by, I might just accidentally trample you all to death. That’s it for you.” So first, I’ll set up a sandbox in my own yard, a base area for plotting farmland. Then, I will shepherd the human race and various worlds in my sandbox.