The Damned Demon

Half an hour ago,

A figure dressed in a royal black robe was speeding through the stormy skies with a whisperstone in his hand,

Old but powerful beasts like dragons would usually never show themselves on Earth because it wasn't worth it for them, and their priorities were different. And so, as a Hunter, Asher never faced the Dreadspine Serpent in his past life.

Even after waking up in the demon world, he never knew much about it since it was a very reclusive creature and never lived within the Dracyra continent.

However, after hearing Lysandra's words, he felt quite curious about this creature.

He thought dragons were at the pinnacle among beasts. But to think there was another creature not in the spotlight but had the strength to rival dragons.

Maybe he might find something interesting or useful in the lair of a creature like that. Right now, he could just about use anything to secure the future of his kingdom.

"Merina, since you know so much about beasts and folklore, tell me what you know about the Dreadspine Serpent. You must know better since I heard one of the Moon Guardians in the past killed it. Is that true?" Asher asked while on his way to the rumored lair of the Dreadspine Serpent.

A gasp echoed from the other side as a gentle yet surprised voice slipped into his ears, "M-Master, are you standing near it? You shouldn't face it!" She could hear the storm echoing and could guess he was outside.

"Of course not. But tell me why you don't want me to face it? Is it that terrifying?" Asher asked with furrowed brows.

Merina began to explain, "It is a beast that not only has a long lifespan but a very powerful bloodline rivaling the dragons, belonging to the group of the First Demons."

Asher knew that the term First Demons meant the demons who were present not long after the birth of this world. These First Demons were usually very powerful, and their bloodline never lost its true essence, even after being passed down for generations. Drakaris and his bloodline were examples.

However, which First Demon was the Dreadspine Serpent, a descendant of?

"Only one of the Moon Guardians in the long past killed it, but he then passed down an order that no one should take the initiative to fight one. Everyone says he passed down such an order out of concern for his descendants, who might try to attempt to do the same and get killed foolishly. Not even he dared to fight it in its lair but instead came upon it outside somewhere," Merina added.

"Why? What's the big deal about its lair?" Asher asked curiously.

"It's rumored that it's unkillable in its lair, and so many peak Soul Devourers had lost their lives in that lair, even when they went in as a group to kill it, hoping to plunder some treasures the serpent might be hiding," Merina said with a tone of unease. Just talking about it made her feel nervous.

"Unkillable?" Asher raised one of his brows in intrigue since he hadn't heard that term associated with anyone but him all this time.

If so many peak Soul Devourers risked their lives and everything to try to kill this thing, it must mean there were some enticing treasures within its lair.

Merina seemed to hesitate before saying, "But Master…if you happen to come upon it…don't fight it if you can. If you are forced to fight it, then…no matter what you do, never look at its back, the spine region."

Asher could guess that Merina knew what he was going to do but at the same time she knew she can't change his mind about not going and so was trying to warn him.

"What about its spine?" Asher asked with furrowed brows.

"It is called as Curse of Despair. It is said that if someone stares at its back, they will get cursed by a deep, irreversible despair that would make even people with the strongest wills lay down their weapons and succumb to madness. The Moon Guardian of that time lost one of his women because she accidentally looked at its back," Merina said in a voice filled with tension.

"How convenient. Nobody can backstab it or attack its blind spots. No wonder so many died," Asher mumbled though he wasn't worried since it seemed like this snake had some Mindforce abilities which he didn't have to worry about in his Hellbringer form.

"Then, if there's nothing else, I will see you tonight. Don't let anyone know I asked you about this snake," Saying so, Asher was about to cut the call.

"Master!...P-Please be careful…" Merina said with an anxious voice, the fear and worry in her voice palpable.

"Don't worry about me, Merina. You know me...I am also unkillable in a way," Asher said with a smirk as he continued to speed off. Lysandra struggled but kept following him from behind.

—

Half an hour later,

Asher stepped into the lair of the Dreadspine Serpent, his senses immediately assaulted by an atmosphere thick with darkness and dread.

The entrance gave way to an expansive cavern that stretched endlessly into a pitch-black abyss.

His passive ability, Denizen of the Night, boosted his HP and MP by 10% and allowed his eyes to adjust swiftly, piercing through the veil of darkness that would have blinded any ordinary man.

The ground crunched ominously underfoot, strewn with decayed bones that told tales of brave or foolish souls who ventured here before.

Some bones bore a freshness that was unsettling, making Asher guess that their owners perhaps had fallen not long ago.

It painted a grim picture: these were likely the adventurers who had survived the serpent's minions only to meet their end in this very place.

Asher's mind raced—had the serpent ambushed them here, before even getting anywhere close to the heart of its domain?

As he pondered this, a subtle change came over him. A slight sluggishness seeped into his limbs, an unfamiliar weight that dragged at his steps.

Before the sensation could deepen, he slowly started feeling back to normal as if what had just happened was a trick of his mind.

But then an alarming realization dawned on him—his mana was depleting, siphoned away bit by bit at a rate of 10 MP/sec.

His gaze swept the cavern, and the truth hit him with chilling clarity. The air itself was a weapon here, saturated with a potent, invisible poison.

The realization of the cavern's lethal air made him realize why these bones were here.

They must have succumbed to the poison before they could even see or get close to the serpent.

Even for someone as strong as him, it caused him to feel sluggish within seconds.

Had he not possessed the ability to burn off poisons with his mana, he might have been another set of bones on the cavern floor.

No wonder people said it was unkillable in its lair.

With no time to waste, Asher quickened his pace, each step more determined than the last.

The danger of the poisoned air lent urgency to his movements. This lair was not just a nest; it was a kill zone, designed to weaken intruders from the moment they stepped inside.

Asher knew he needed to find the Dreadspine Serpent quickly and end this deadly game of cat and mouse.

His footsteps echoed through the vast cavern, and with heightened senses, he navigated the lair, a chilling domain where every breath he took felt as if it was being noticed.

The air was heavy, thick with venom that tried to seep into his veins, challenging his body's defenses to combat the relentless assault on his mana.

As he delved deeper into the serpent's sanctuary, the cavern widened, revealing grotesque sculptures made from the entwined bodies of countless previous victims, their forms distorted in eternal agony.

These gruesome statues served as grim markers, milestones obviously fashioned by the serpent to taunt or intimidate intruders like him.

Asher's eyes narrowed as he studied them while walking past, his mind piecing together the tales of horror and despair that these souls had left behind.

From their corpses, he could get a hint of how they died and what kind of attacks the serpent could have used on them.

Most of them definitely seemed like they died due to that curse of despair or whatever Merina called it.

However, the ground beneath his feet began to shift subtly, the solid rock giving way to a loose scattering of scales that shimmered with a dark iridescence.

These were not ordinary scales; they were sheddings of the Dreadspine Serpent, each large enough to serve as a shield, each carrying the faint residual power of the beast that shed them.

As Asher picked one up, it pulsed with malevolent energy and continued to shimmer with a dark green glow under the faint light of his own aura cast.

Normally, one's aura isn't supposed to shed any light unless one emanates it on purpose. So this made him realize that the serpent must use its scales as a way to sense auras. Obviously, this meant that the serpent already knew he was here.

[ Item Name: Scales of Despair

Massive scales shed by a Dreadspine Serpent. Detects any aura from several hundred meters away and is impervious to any legendary-grade poison. Contains potential properties that can be activated using mindforce ]

"Oh?"

He stashed away some of these scales since he felt they were small treasures on their own and would count as precious materials he could use to build stuff.

And seeing how these scales might contain more special properties in the hands of a mindforce user, he felt he could give some to Isola and find out what they were.

Continuing his advance, Asher noticed a peculiar pattern on the cavern walls—deep grooves that spiraled downwards, leading towards what appeared to be the heart of the lair.

These markings were not random; they were deliberate, a guiding path or perhaps a lure, drawing him to the epicenter of the serpent's domain.

His instincts screamed caution, yet the path forward was the only way to confront the beast and end it for good, hoping to find something useful over there.

As he followed the spiral deeper into the cavern, a subtle sound reached his ears—a rhythmic pulsing, like the heartbeat of the cave itself.

It grew louder, more pronounced, as if the very heartbeat of the serpent was syncing with his own. The air grew denser, the poison more acute, and Asher's steps became a battle against the weight of the atmosphere crashing down on him.

His mana expenditure increased to 20 MP/sec, making him realize the serpent must be very close.

Finally, the narrow passage opened up into a colossal chamber that was at least dozens of meters high, the ceiling lost to darkness, the walls lined with crystal formations that reflected his image back at him in twisted, menacing forms.

It seemed as if this chamber could easily house a large dragon.

In the center of the chamber stood an altar, atop which lay a massive, coiled skeleton—a previous Dreadspine Serpent, perhaps, its bones imbued with a foreboding power.

Asher approached the skeleton, his senses alert, when suddenly a cold shadow fell over him and only grew larger and larger.

Behind him, emerging from the shadows like a wraith, a massive form dwarfing his, like a dragon dwarfing a lion.

Its scales glistened with a sinister hue, and its dark purple eyes glowed ominously, filled with heavy, malevolent killing intent.