The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

Chapter 170: Tough Opponent

"...Good resolution. Make sure to stay close to Elgin. I don't want you dying just yet. Even though.. the technique will put you at a high risk of dying, having Elgin there will surely aid you a bit. It would've been better if I was there, but I have to go and lead this giant thing around while you prepare."

The giant serpent was still eyeing them. The puny humans. In its eyes, they were probably easy targets. Not at all a danger, but just an annoyance. Toys. 

Aria was going to prove that the puny humans were much more resilient and had the ability to fight back. Along with the rest of the group, that is. Her alone wouldn't suffice in this case.

"I won't die here! By saying that, it's like you are jinxing this whole thing.. How vexing." Reina harrumphed and began casting her spells without further saying a word.

"There. It's done. It's my best support spell to date. I hate to admit it, but Cha Seol-hyun's current skills are better than mine. I know that you didn't want her to bless you because you fear that she might do something to you.. But I suppose it would've been a better choice if you got her blessing." Reina whispered, patting Aria on the shoulder to cheer on her.

"I wouldn't want to take the chance. If she sabotages me at that point, I'd be dead. I still don't trust her. I can't bring myself to do that. Thank you, Reina. This much is enough." Aria felt a noticeable change in her power schemes and smiled appreciatingly.

"..Haa. You and your daring personality. I guess there's no helping it if you don't want to.. Be safe."

"Alright. I will leave that part up to you, then." 

Prolonging the planning would do them no good. All the necessary players were already on site. The plan could run right now, but there was still a matter of uncertainty brewing inside their heart that made them all collectively hesitate.

The serpent was undoubtedly one of the strongest monsters humanity had to face in a long time. This was a ridiculous enemy even for the likes of Blythe.

Aria rushed to the front lines and stood in front of the gigantic snake right beside Blythe. 

"Blythe, although I said that we are going to be working together, it's not exactly a friendly cooperation, but rather more like a business exchange. I don't know how you are going to do the defence, but I trust that you will be able to do it. Also, I am pretty confident in taking this guy down... So you don't necessarily need to do anything in particular. Maybe you will just hold me back. I doubt that you would be able to defeat it without me here. If not, there wouldn't be this kind of strained cooperation."

Aria's words were meant as provocation, but also a warning. For Blythe not to do anything funny.

Blythe only clenched his fists a bit tighter than before, whereas Cha Seol-hyun who overheard her words rolled her eyes.

"Pointless chatter." Cha Seol-hyun commented in a snarky tone. 

"Ha! You think so? I'm not kidding, though. Well then.. since the witch doesn't want me to chatter any longer, I'll be off." Aria's gaze changed into a dangerous glint, as she galloped away from the crowd and snuck up to the Serpent.

Her body's immunity added on to Reina's powerful blessing allowed her to get up close to the monster.

The only question left was the Serpent. How much damage would [Halvargg] be able to do to it?

'There is nothing else I can do except for trying.' Aria cast spells inside her head, fortifying [Halvargg] with magic and enchantments.

The strongest shot she can throw right off the bat, in order to figure out exactly how high did she measure up compared to it. How she fared against it.

It would determine her rate of survival by a significant bit, so it was by no means a gamble she wished to take, honestly.

She ran with high speed, climbing its slithering body and reaching its head.

Then, she jammed her sword into the middle of the Serpent's head with all the force she had within her.

"Did it work..?" She whispered in a low voice. There was no obvious injury, but she did feel the stab.

Right then, when she looked closely, she found that the tip of her blade penetrated the Serpent's skin in the crevices of its gleaming scales. She reached the serpent's skin, while cracking the scales surrounding it just slightly.

Blood was drawn, and it had a putrid smell that immediately caused Aria to fall back in worry that the blood would have an adverse effect to her. It reeked of acid. Dangerous substances. One that matched the identity of the poisonous Serpent.

She could feel that the acidic levels the Serpent was starting to emit pushed the limits of her body.

If she had to take in more poisonous substances than what she already had to consume right now, she wasn't sure what would happen to her. She was already covered in protection, but it still caused a severe change in her.

Aria clicked her tongue. She did expect the blood to be poisonous. That wasn't a problem.

Rather, the problem was the overall area they were fighting in.

They were humans, with little to no resistance to actual lethal poisons. They couldn't fight for long in this situation. They wouldn't be able to stand it.

Even if their stamina sufficed, their body wouldn't be able to hold on with the corrosion happening both outside and inside of them.

"Dianthe, are you able to repel the poison?" Aria had to take a gamble.

She had to survive, deal as much damage as possible whilst dodging, and distract the serpent until Reina could fire her attack.

She had to last until that moment.

No matter what method she had to go through. She needed to.

Using Dianthe as protection, and prolonging said blessing for the entire duration of this cursed game of tag with the serpent wouldn't do her mana supply good.

Especially since she had to be moving around quickly in order to stay safe. Her stacks of enchantments cost mana as well.

Aria gritted her teeth.