Lunar Legacy: Rise Of The Beastlord-Chapter 66: Serpenthis

Jayden spun to the side, avoiding the first snap of jaws. The gator’s head brushed past his ribs.

Jayden landed a hard knee to its jaw, grabbed the back of its neck, and slammed it face-first into a boulder. The stone cracked. The gator went limp.

One down.

The second charged.

Jayden pivoted, side-stepping its bulk, then jumped and brought down both heels on its spine.

CRUNCH!

It roared in agony, buckling.

Jayden twisted in mid-air and landed with a three-point crouch—only to see the other two barreling toward him in a pincer attack.

He smiled.

They were falling right into his rhythm.

Jayden leapt... allowing the gators to crash into each other. The sound was hideous. Bone against bone. Muscle against hide.

While they were dazed, Jayden extended a hand to the ground.

A nearby boulder trembled.

Then rose.

With a flick of his wrist, he launched it at the nearest beast’s side.

THOOM!

The gator was flattened. It didn’t move again.

The last one snarled, stumbling to its feet.

Jayden landed on its back, gripped the base of its skull, and twisted sharply.

CRACK!

Its body fell still beneath him.

Silence reclaimed the forest.

[+30 Exp received]

[You have received 120 Exp in total]

[Requirements has been met]

[Analysing compatibility...]

[Host is compatible with available beast energy]

[Would you like to absorb the E-Rank Tremor Gator’s energy?]

[Yes] [No]

Jayden stared at the prompt for a second, then shook his head.

"No. Not now," he muttered.

The tremor gators were the type of beast that didn’t possess any form of ability, even at a higher rank. All they had was their thick skin, and formidable jaws.

After Jayden gave a response, another notification popped up almost instantly.

[4 E-Rank Beast Crystals Gained]

[Beast Crystals have been added to Inventory]

Jayden sighed in satisfaction. He stored the bodies too—both the Howlers and the Tremor Gators.

No evidence left behind.

Without wasting anymore time, he began to move away from the area. He hoped not to encounter any more random beasts. Because he wasn’t here to play exterminator.

He had a target. And he wasn’t leaving until he found her.

Jayden pressed forward, deeper into the woods. The trees thickened, shadows stretching long as the moon rose behind the clouds. And then... he stopped.

He was being watched.

The wind shifted above the canopy of trees surrounding him. His instincts screamed at him to get away from the area.

And without giving it a thought, he ducked left, body moving before his mind caught up.

SSSSHHHHHHH!!

Two translucent jets of liquid hissed down from above, hitting the ground where he’d stood seconds before.

The grass burned away. Steam rose. The ground bubbled.

Jayden’s eyes shot upward immediately.

There, draped in the high canopy like a crown of death, was a massive serpent.

Its scales shimmered green and silver in the moonlight. Its body was long.. at least fifty meters, and thick as a grown tree trunk. Its tongue flicked in and out like a whispering dagger, and its yellow eyes pulsed with venomous hate.

It slithered down the tree slowly, deliberately, like a god descending from its throne.

Jayden was on his guard, he activated Inspect quickly,

_____

Name: Serpenthis fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Rank: D-Rank

Ability: Poison Secretion

HP: 500/500

_____

"Serpenthis, huh?" Jayden muttered. "All right, bring it on."

The serpent hissed, its body coiling and tightening, ready to spring.

Jayden narrowed his eyes, anticipating it’s moves.

The Serpenthis hissed and lunged—its entire body descending like a whip of muscle and venom.

Jayden dashed and slid under it’s lunging body, narrowly avoiding it’s fangs which were dripping with venom. He ducked behind a tree, then emerged on the other side.

He narrowed his eyes. "Alright... you’re not just some regular D-Rank."

He had already knocked five F-Rank Howlers flat and dismantled a team of Tremor Gators like a one-man wrecking crew. But this—this beast was different.

Serpenthis. That name lingered on the edge of instinct. A snake feared not for its size, but for its venom. A creature whose very existence was a poison. A weapon

Jayden lowered his body into a stance, eyes flicking around, calculating. He prepared to charge, his fist tightening as energy surged through him.

[Wait! Don’t make contact]

Luna’s voice rang out before he could charge... her tone sharp and cautious.

Jayden skidded to a stop mid-motion. "What? Why not?" he furrowed his brows.

[That beast... Its entire body is coated in a neurotoxic slime. One touch, and it’ll paralyze you in seconds]

Jayden gritted his teeth. "Great. A snake I can’t punch."

The Serpenthis hissed, its jaws snapping with unnatural speed. A split second later, two jets of transparent fluid shot from its fangs—acidic venom arcing toward Jayden like ghostfire.

Jayden ducked, flipped backward, then rolled into a sprint to the left. The venom struck the earth with a furious hiss, smoke rising as it melted through soil and roots like boiling acid.

Jayden spun, dashing behind a tree for cover, but the beast moved with uncanny grace. It launched itself forward, slithering and twisting around tree trunks, climbing and striking in quick, fluid bursts. Jayden leapt aside as the beast crashed through a massive branch that splintered like glass.

"This thing’s fast," Jayden muttered, "And smart."

[Then stop thinking like a brawler and start thinking like a tactician] Luna advised. [Use your environment. You have telekinesis—remember?]

Jayden smirked, energy beginning to ripple through his arms. "Right."

With a flick of his fingers, a large log behind the Serpenthis rose into the air. Jayden threw his hand forward, launching the log like a missile. The serpent sensed the movement and coiled tighter to dodge, but Jayden was already moving.

He kicked off a low-hanging branch, using the momentum to vault over the Serpenthis’s head. As he flipped through the air, he extended his hand and yanked a cluster of rocks from the earth with telekinesis, hurling them toward the serpent mid-flight.

The beast snapped its jaws, breaking two in midair—but the third struck its eye, and it recoiled with a furious hiss.

Jayden landed, slid backward on his heels, and sent a telekinetic pulse toward the serpent’s underbelly—where its scales were thinner.

The pulse struck hard, sending the Serpenthis skidding back against a tree with a cracking thud.

But it recovered quickly and charged towards Jayden with an insane frenzy.

Jayden barely dodged the retaliating strike... a lashing tail covered in a slick, glistening film of venom. He could feel the heat as it whipped past him, embedding into a rock and cracking it clean in two.

He backflipped, landing on all fours before springing to the left and dashing around Serpenthis’s side. The serpent hissed and turned, but Jayden used the trees as cover, hopping from trunk to trunk and hurling debris with precision—small branches, boulders, whatever he could get his mind around.

Jayden gritted his teeth as he landed on a sturdy branch. "This is gonna take forever unless I find a way to finish this." he clicked.

[Aim for the eyes again] Luna suggested. [Or... the mouth. If you can time it just right...]

Jayden nodded. He reached out with his mind and latched onto a long, broken spear-like branch. He yanked it into the air and hovered it behind him like a dart.

The Serpenthis reared up, mouth opening wide to unleash another venomous spray.

"Now!" Jayden shouted, flinging the spear with telekinetic force.

The branch whistled through the air like a bullet... right into Serpenthis’s open mouth.

Shhhlkk!

A squelching sound followed by a gurgled hiss. The serpent twisted violently, coiling and thrashing as it tried to dislodge the wooden projectile buried deep in its throat. Blood oozed out, hissing where it touched the earth.

Jayden panted, eyes locked on the beast. It swayed, coiled, then slowly... it collapsed.

[+40 Exp received]

Jayden fell to his knees, exhaling deeply.

"That... was way too close."

[You did good] Luna said, quieter now.

Jayden stood, rubbing his forehead. His body ached, but not a single drop of venom had touched his skin.

He had earned a clean, tactical victory.

He stared at the serpent’s massive corpse, then.. the expected prompt appeared.

[Requirements has been met]

[Analysing compatibility...]

[Host is compatible with available beast energy]

[Would you like to absorb the D-Rank Serpenthis’s energy?]

[Yes] [No]

Jayden took a deep breath and stood on the spot for a while, contemplating.

Then finally... he gave a reply.

"Yes."