Part 1: The Guam Serpent and Lion Spirit Hound

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Hissss!

It was an unmistakable sound.

“A snake?” Kia exclaimed loudly when she heard the hissing sound. She could instantly tell that this was not just some ordinary snake. The hissing caused her skin to slightly tremor and her hair to stand on edge. It was like her body was dropped head first into a vat of ice – an extreme negative instinctual reaction.

Krrrrrr! Hisssssss!

“What the hell is that?!” This time Kia could not stop herself from cursing. This was the first time she had experienced such a strange dreadfully cold thing. This creature elicited a feeling in people as if meeting a natural predator of humankind.

“Hey, what did you guys unleash?” However, what greatly disturbed her was that despite the powerful and escalating hissing sounds, she could not see the snake at all. In her mind she already expected it to be a leviathan-sized serpent.

“Ha ha, girl, there is no use for regrets now.” Feeling as if they had an advantage in this battle for the first time, the youngest were hyena could not help but remark in glee.

In the next moment what came into sight was an unforgettable thing for Kia. A small green serpent, the size of a grass snake, came into view. Suddenly, there was a bulge on its head, its eyes bled, and disgusting twisting bumps appeared all over its body. Like a twisting mass of flesh, the small snake suddenly transformed into a gigantic beast!

Guam Serpent!

“Hisssssss!” With a hiss that went deep into everyone’s core, the wind started blowing violently as dust and rubble was sent flying everywhere. Dust demons formed and sharp blades of piercing rain assaulted everyone at the scene.

The snake had transformed into a massive purple serpent with toxic orange-green flames and fumes of dark purple smoke occasionally flowing out of its mouth.

Witnessing this scene, Kia could tell that, “Monsters like this are beyond human control!”

What was a Guam Serpent?

In the mythologies of the ancient continent, Guam Serpents were ancient creatures similar to the dinosaurs. They were pre-historic, ancient, archaic, old, and even mythical among other mythical beasts. However, Guam could be more than a snake as there were also other species of Guam. It had been suggested that Guam could have been an ancient water-born creature like a whale elephant, the ancestors of the hippopotamus, a dinosaur, or even an ancient species of crocodile. No one knew for sure but what was clear was that Guam was more akin to an ancient primordial bloodline rather than one species.  

The Guam Serpent was a species of the ancient Guam. Though it was not truly comparable to its predecessors, it had an air of ancientness around it. From what Kia knew, the earliest depictions of such a beast in the legends of her homeland depicted it as a snake with a plume of feathers, which could transform into a human-like form after bathing in volcanic flames.

Later, different types of the creature emerged with cultures and religions venerating them as gods: living on and in the ground and blessing it; guardians of the underworld; and deities of wisdom. Naturally, while these serpents represented hidden wisdom and sacred mysteries, they were also symbols of the more sinister ideas of death, evil, treachery, or sickness.

“Dangerous! Dangerous!” It seemed a short walk had turned into fatal danger for Kia. She knew for sure that not only was this creature dangerous, it was also likely to be extremely poisonous.

Before, Kia could compose herself in the face of the charging serpent, a sharp swish entered her ears and by the time she turned around, a tip of an arrow had already pricked her nose. With less than a microsecond to react, Kia could only violently jerk her body sideways while putting all her strength into her right arm.

With the threat of sudden death so clear in that moment, it was like time had frozen and a moment later, her hand reached the speedy, vibrating, javelin-sized arrow clasping it tightly in her hand.

However, she did not pause nor try to stop the arrow’s momentum. With a twist of her waist, the arrow in her palm was redirected towards the Guam Serpent’s open mouth that was spewing purplish-green toxic poison towards her. In the same movement, not only did she dodge the serpent’s poison but she also wielded her twin chain daggers – the [Dark Soul Twin Blades], and quickly swung behind her in an X direction cutting 2 more arrows in half.

 ‘1, 2.’ Whenever she fought, timing was always at the forefront of Kia’s mind. It was not the strong attacks or the battle strategy that counted the most, it was all about timing. Especially in the face of an arrow sniper shooting from far in the dark, she could not rely solely on her eyesight or hearing to tell when the attacks came. All she could do was to grasp the bowman assassin’s timing and synchronize her movements to match his. 

“This is so dangerous,” Kia could not help but lament for being surrounded by enemies on all sides. Enemies leapt towards her from all directions closing any path of escape. In response, she could only punch downwards with all her might.

Boom!

Like a bomb going off, the ground shook all around her causing the were-hyenas surrounding her to lose balance. Not even wasting a moment’s time, one of the brothers was sent flying with a powerful hook.

‘1, 2, 3.’

Three arrows were dodged.

“Twin Blade Slash!” When the Guam Serpent’s attack reached Kia again, she swung her twin blades horizontally aiming at the serpent’s giant neck.

“As expected, I can’t even get through its scales!” The serpent’s defense was as steady as diamond; impossible to break through. A second swing and all Kia saw was sparks flying of the serpent’s scales as they deflected the twin daggers once again.