Revenge of the Serpent

Chapter 46

The blazing sun shone through the leaves of the Delphi Forest as many footsteps sounded out from within, a group of nine Heroes walked in a single-filed line as they all followed a woman who was. Leading them at the front.

She was wearing a full black military-style suit, though she didn’t wear a helmet which let everyone see her short orange hair and light brown eyes, her right hand was gripping on the handle of her katana as she walked with action. “I’ve been to that cave with Ken here before, he suspected that it was a demon.”

Ken, a robed man holding a magic staff nodded in confirmation, glancing behind him with his deep blue eyes. “Yes, I’m sure you all know but demons are one of the most powerful race of Gate Creatures, you should be careful—“

“Yeah, yeah, the kids know, Nora.” A muscular man rolled his eyes, he had short spiky purple hair and black eyes, he had tattoos and piercings all over the place which weren’t even covered up by his punk-style clothing. He was carrying a large broadsword on his shoulder, its designs matched his aesthetic as well with a black made and a bandage-covered handle. “Besides, I’m Ragnar the Demon Slayer, I’ve killed over five hundred demons ever since the beginning of First Gate!”

Derek turned to look at his friends behind him, despite having an expert on the team, he still felt slightly nervous and wanted to know if he was the only one feeling that way, but then he realized that Lira, an assassin, looked very pale like she was about to pass out. “Are you okay, Lira?”

“H-Huh?” The black haired woman looked up, her grey eyes seemed dull as she met eyes with Derek. “I…I don’t know…I’ve been feeling a little off since I’ve taken that…medicine.”

“You too?” Brandon, the tank of the team, spoke up in a worried tone, his brown eyes filled with concern as he glanced down at himself, more specifically, he was looking at his thick knight-like armor. “…My Silver Wolfsbane had never felt this heavy.”

“Hm? But Rhys’ dad said it was supposed to increase our ranks right?” Alex, a redhead, spoke as he peeked his head into the conversation, alternating his brown eyes between the three of them. He was the last mage on the team who specialized in support spells, and was skilled enough to not need any sort of medium to cast his magic. “I feel a little dizzy too, but I can feel my mana pool increasing.”

“Might just be a little side effect then.” Derek concluded, since mages were several times more sensitive to mana than the other classes, Alex’s claims sounded believable.

“Get ready, we’re here.” Nora spoke as she put up her fisted hand, signaling everyone to stop. She slowly pulled out her katana, careful to not make a sound as she stepped closer to the cave in front of her.

Just as she’d taken her third step, Ken suddenly grabbed Nora by the shoulder, stopping her from moving. She turned around and frowned at the mage. “What are you doing?”

“It’s…I sense black magic.”

Immediately after Ken had finished speaking, a tornado of darkness rose from in front of the cave entrance, causing everyone to take out their weapons and stand on guard, eyes fixated on the now dissipating magic, which revealed three figures standing inside.

Derek’s eyes widened with recognition, how could he have forgotten? That same but slightly longer raven black hair, and most importantly, the same pair of eyes that kept haunting him in his dreams.

“It’s him! It’s Theodore! Kill him now!”

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Gabriel walked into the large room underneath the Griffins’ Science and Technology Inc. building, the door still hadn’t been installed yet and he could immediately see the large contraption inside, it was the same circular-shaped machine that’d opened up a blackhole-like portal.