Predator

Shing! Noah grasped his sword tightly as he stared back at the emerald krait. He had cut through the monster's scales once. He could do it again. "SCREEEECH!" The monster screamed in rage, its purple eyes glowing as it stared at Noah hatefully.

Today, it had to kill this insolent creature that didn't know its place in this forest. Nothing else was more important than its authority. And it would not let some weak encroacher challenge its position in this forest. "HISSSS!"

CRACK! Noah shot towards the monster, shattering the soil beneath his feet as he rushed forward. Whoosh! He jumped into the air as he stared down at the screeching figure of the snake. Clang! His sword crashed against its head. Swoosh! Crack! The emerald krait's head smashed into the ground, sending up waves of dust.

Thud! Noah reached the ground, landing on his feet as he stared at the monster in front of him. "Not sharp enough!" He glanced at his white sword. The hit earlier was most likely a lucky shot. He might not be able to break its scales so easily. But that simply meant that he could injure the monster, given enough time.

The emerald krait raised its head as it shook off the dust from its body. Whirrr! Its body groaned and creaked as it started pumping mana to every single muscle, strengthening itself drastically. The emerald krait's innate ability was perfect for its body. It augmented its defence heavily, covering up for its inability to protect most of its body by itself. And the emerald krait could simply improve its attacking power by channeling mana through its body.

Noah stared up as the monster looked down on him, its eyes glowing brighter than before. It wasn't screaming in rage anymore. "HISSSSS!" It opened its mouth, baring its fangs wide. "Smart. Intimidation tactics." Shing! Noah swung his sword, bringing it in front of his face. "Unfortunately, its too late for you to try scaring me."

Swoosh! He shot upwards. The white fog gathered around his pale body, pushing him upwards as he sped towards the purple eyes. His white hair was pushed aside by the wind, revealing his cold, empty eyes that stared right at the emerald krait. He was like a predator.

Clang! The emerald krait rushed downwards, meeting Noah's sword head on. Shudder! A jolt ran through his arms as the force was reflected by the emerald scales. Whoosh! The monster used the momentum provided by his sword to twist its head around, opening its mouth wide.

"Ethereal Body"

Noah gathered the fog, pushing himself to the side. The fog wasn't strong enough to let him fly. It could only provide extremely limited movement while airborne. In fact, propelling himself upwards with the fog was a useless tactic. It couldn't provide nearly enough force to make him fly. But right now, all he needed was a slight push.

"HISSSS!" Noah saw a pair of gleaming teeth rushing towards him. WHOOSH! The emerald krait rushed forward, passing through his body. Shing! He thrust an arm outside the monster's body, clasping a fog-covered sword in his arm. WHOOOSH!

"I can use mana too." Whirrrr! He poured mana into his arm, strengthening himself. Stab! His arm twisted towards the emerald krait as he plunged the sword into its body. It was the same thing he'd done to the toothless krait. And now he would kill its master using the same tactic. WHOOSH! Bam! Suddenly, it was quiet. Noah emerged from the monster's body as his feet met empty air.

Whoosh! The ground rushed towards him as the wind whistled past his face, moving his white hair wildly. Whirrrr! He channeled mana through his body, strengthening his legs as he braced for impact. THUD!

Noah's feet sank slightly into the ground, pounding the dried soil to dust. Pat...pat...pat. Waves of dirt shot from the floor, thrown up by the impact. Swoosh! He moved the fog, protecting himself from the mild shower of dust.

Drip...drip...drip. Noah looked up. The sound of dripping had intensified. Another gash ran along the monster's body, leaking blue coloured blood that fell to the ground. "SCREEEECH!" The emerald krait screamed in rage.

CRACK...CRACK...CRACK. It slithered across the floor, moving faster than it ever had as it rushed towards Noah. THUD! The monster struck, creating a hole in the ground as Noah dodged its attack. Clang! His sword clashed against its scales, trying to break them. "Too slow!"

"SCREEEECH!" It whipped its head around chasing after Noah's pale figure as it struck with its head. THUD! Clang! Noah jumped away, slamming his sword against its back as he pounced over its body. Its whipped its tail, trying to deliver him a heavy blow. Whoosh! The air in front of him was snapped away as a lightning fast object appeared in front of his face.

Noah took a step back, narrowly avoiding the monster's tail. Clang! Splotch! He swung his sword downwards, drawing blood as he pierced through the scales yet another time. "SCREEEECH!" The emerald krait screeched in pain and frustration. It stopped moving. Splotch! Noah stabbed his sword, driving it into the wound. "SCREEEECH!" It screamed again, now with a hint of fear as pain coursed through its body.

"The King of the Rainforest. A terrible predator." Whoosh! Noah jumped forward, driving his sword into the monster's back. "SCREEECH!" Suddenly, the emerald krait wanted to run away. All thoughts of retrieving the 'Seed', all thoughts of maintaining its authority had perished. It didn't care if the Lizardmen took over the forest. It didn't want to die.

CRACK...CRACK...CRACK. It shot forward, making its way to the wall of the crater in an attempt to escape. Splotch! "SCREEEEECH!" Suddenly, the emerald krait screamed in pain. "SCREEEECH!" Its head plunged to the ground, smashing through the dried soil as its body lost control, its momentum carrying it forward. "Where do you think your going?" Noah stood on the creature's back. He stared at it with his dark, empty eyes boring into the snake, perfectly resembling an emissary of Death.

A chill ran down its spine. Those dark eyes- for the first time, they seemed terrifying. Unlike the previous times when it had stared right into those two empty abysses, the emerald krait was afraid. Splotch! "Screech!" Noah pulled his sword out, wrenching it out from the emerald krait's spine.

Thump...thump...thump. The monster's heart started beating faster as if it was trying to make up for the heartbeats the monster would never experience. Shing! Noah swung his sword, pointing it the monster's eyes "If you're not the predator...." he stared at it with a cold expression "....you're prey"

"SCREEECH!" Bam! Noah thrust his sword downwards, slamming it between the emerald krait's eyes. Clang! The sword didn't pierce the scales. The monster looked up, a ray of hope starting to condense in its eyes. BAM! The sword crashed into its skull, sending a wave of pain through its pain. BAM!

Ethan watched the scene as he lay on the ground, trying to recover from his battle with the monster. BAM! Why wasn't Noah's sword piercing through the monster's scales? He seemed to have enough power to slice through them. Had he run out of mana?

BAM! "Hurk!" The emerald krait's mouth opened, spewing blood. Splat! The blue blood splashed onto the wall, creating a stain on the forest. BAM! Noah kept slamming the sword, uncaring of the monster's condition. BAM!

A shiver ran down Ethan's spine. "Noah!" He called out. "Noah, stop! You've already defeated it. Just cut its head off." BAM! "Hurk!" The snake coughed again, vomiting even more blood than before. BAM! "Stop!"

Noah acted as if he couldn't hear Ethan. BAM! "Stop! Just kill it already!" BAM! Noah stopped for a moment. His empty eyes fixed on Ethan. "Look away if you're uncomfortable." Swoosh! His short, white hair fluttered in the wind as he raised his sword once again.

BAM! "Hurk!" BAM! "Hurk!" Noah continued to slam his sword against the emerald krait's skull, making it perish bit by bit. BAM! Why was Noah doing this? BAM! "Hurk!" Had he gone crazy? BAM! Why was he torturing the monster? BAM! Why wasn't he killing it? BAM! Why did he have to make the emerald krait suffer so much, right before it died?

BAM! Noah raised his sword above his head. "Hiss....hiss...hiss" The emerald krait breathed heavily as it lost all hope of survival. Its body rose and fall with each breath as the seconds ticked by, bringing it closer and closer to death. Swoosh! The white fog gathered around Noah's sword, making it sharper and stronger. He thrust his palm underneath its jaw, prying its mouth open.

The great emerald krait, the ruler of all lower ranked reptilian monsters. A creature that was born into nobility. The King of the Rainforest on Hydragyros. And one of the only lower ranked reptilian monsters to possess something that indicated its grand nobility- a pair of Twin Fangs.

Noah lifted his sword like an executioner, holding it high above the emerald krait's head. "Hu...hurk" It tried to struggle as it started to realise what he was about to do. Swoosh! The sword grew whiter and whiter, becoming even more sharp as he raised it into the air

"Hurk!" The emerald krait struggled, shaking its body as it tried to free itself from Noah's grasp. Even though it was about to die, it still had some pride left of the King of the Rainforest. CRACK! Noah grasped its skull, crushing its bones as he tightened his grip. "Screeech!" It screamed in pain, momentarily losing control over its body. "The king is dead." Shing! Noah's swung his sword downwards. "Now he is prey."

The world seemed to slow down as his sword descended, an instrument of desecration that was sharper than an executioner's axe. Thump....thump....thump. Ethan could feel his heart beating loudly as he stared at the sword. His eyes widened. Crack! Noah's sword passed through the emerald fang, severing it from the emerald krait's mouth.

The monster's purple eyes dimmed as it tried to process what had just happened. Thump...thump...thump. Clatter....clatter....clatter. The fang fell on the floor, making a sound that had never been heard in the forest. The emerald krait's eyes widened. Suddenly, its eyes glowed purple. "SCREEEEEEECH!" It screamed in rage and sadness as it watched the last shred of its dignity stolen from it.

"SCREEECH!" The emerald krait raised its head, putting up a desperate struggle as it tried to escape from Noah's clutches. It would kill this human. It would kill this creature that had taken everything from it before it died. It had to. "SCREECH!" Splat!

Suddenly, the monster stopped screaming. Drip...drip...drip. Thud! The emerald krait's head fell to the ground, bouncing slightly as it embraced the dried soil. It was dead. It had all happened so quickly. As if the disgrace it had just faced was meaningless. As if its final struggle was nothing in front of Noah.

Clat! Noah threw his sword to the ground. Tap...tap...tap. He walked towards the emerald fang as he stepped over the headless corpse.

Beep!

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[Deactivating Partial Ghostification]

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Noah's hair regained its original dark colour as his skin started to lose its deathly sheen.

Beep!

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[Quest: Kill the King of the Rainforest- The Emerald Krait(1/1)]

[Notice: Quest- 'Kill the King of the Rainforest' has been completed]

[Emerald krait fang acquired]

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Noah closed the quest window. He'd completed the quest, and he'd gotten the reward. There was nothing else to see. Tap...tap...tap. He started climbing the wall of the crater, heading in the direction they had come from.

"Hey Noah!" Ethan stared at the dark haired figure, almost afraid to speak. Crunch! Noah stopped climbing as he heard Ethan's voice. "Why did you torture that monster?" Ethan's lip quivered slightly, as if he didn't want to hear the answer to his own question.

Noah turned around. His dark, empty eyes looked at Ethan as he paused slightly, contemplating his answer. He stared back emptily. "Because I could."