CHAPTER 59: CLAWDIA

Astrael’s fingers twitched toward his sword hilt, hand ready to strike. One clean cut to the throat and the feline would be nothing more than a pelt and a set of claws for sale.

But then... the beast tilted its head.

Its enormous golden eyes softened, pupils widening into round pools that caught the morning light. Its ears perked forward in a way that was absurdly... domestic, and it let out the smallest, most pitiful mrrp he had ever heard from something with fangs longer than his fingers.

Astrael froze mid-step, brows knitting. "...Seriously?"

The feline crouched lower, tucking its claws away, and gave a slow, deliberate blink, the kind cats used when they were trying to say they trusted you. Its tail swayed lazily, no longer in a threat display, and it even rolled slightly onto its side, exposing its stomach.

Astrael’s expression went flat. "...That’s cheating."

For a long moment, he stood over it, sword ready, trying to remind himself this was a predator that could tear his throat out. But the sight of those ridiculous, pleading eyes was like stabbing his own will to kill in the heart.

"Tch. Fine. Live a little longer," he muttered, stepping around it and sheathing his blade. "But cross me, and you’re dead meat."

The feline gave a chirp, yes, an actual chirp, and let him pass without moving.

...Or so he thought.

Five minutes later, his new skill prickled at the edge of his awareness again. Without looking, Astrael knew exactly what was behind him.

He sighed under his breath. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

The feline froze when its eyes flicked over his shoulder, then pretended to groom its paw like it had always been sitting there.

Astrael turned away, resuming his path deeper into Elderwood, but he could feel it shadowing him, just outside arm’s reach.

Looks like he’d gained a stalker.

Astrael stepped over a mossy root, his foot sinking slightly into the soft, damp forest floor. The feline’s faint pawsteps padded somewhere behind him, not close enough to be an annoyance, but close enough that he knew it hadn’t given up.

The morning mist still clung to the air when a faint shimmer caught his eye through a gap in the underbrush. He slowed and peeked from the bush, narrowing his gaze. Nestled in a patch of ferns, bathed in a sliver of sunlight that pierced the canopy, was a delicate bloom, translucent petals shaped like shards of glass, each refracting light into faint rainbow patterns.

A rare trace of surprise flickered in his eyes. He knew the herb present before him. It was a rare medicinal plant, worth enough to make most herbalists salivate. Its properties could slow bleeding, stabilise a dying body, or even serve as a key ingredient for high-grade elixirs. It was also notoriously temperamental, wilting within hours unless handled properly.

Heartglass Lily.

And selling it would earn fifty silver — an amount a normal commoner could live on for a year with a family of four.

But, where there was a Heartglass Lily...

Astrael’s eyes scanned the treeline. "...there’s always something nasty nearby."

His hand hovered near his sword hilt, Predator’s Gaze already extending like a silent net. The forest around the clearing seemed too still. No bird calls, no rustle of leaves, just the faint hum of the lily’s petals vibrating in the morning air.

Then a memory surfaced of an old mentor’s warning: Nature doesn’t leave treasures lying around unguarded. It hires killers to watch them.

The hairs on Astrael’s neck prickled.

Behind him, the feline beast had gone completely silent, its earlier casual stalking posture shifting into tense alertness. Its ears flattened slightly, and its golden eyes scanned the shadows beyond the flower.

Astrael’s grip tightened. "There you are..."

From the shadow beneath a tall tree, something moved, a ripple in the grass that wasn’t wind.

A low, wet hiss slid into the clearing, followed by the gleam of emerald scales. The thing’s body uncoiled slowly, each loop thick as a man’s torso, muscles shifting beneath iridescent skin that caught the sunlight in shifting shades of green and black.

Its head rose, triangular and flat, crowned with two horn-like protrusions curling backwards. Eyes like molten copper locked onto Astrael, unblinking. The forked tongue flickered, carrying a silent warning: Don’t come any closer.

[Target: Emerald Serpent]

[Tier: 0]

[Level: 25]

[Threat: High]

[Status: Calm, Coiled for Ambush]

[Note: Agile constrictor-type predator. Highly venomous. Exceptional burst speed over short distances. Known to guard rare flora within claimed hunting grounds.]

The serpent’s body tensed, the muscles rippling like a bowstring drawn taut. Every movement was unnervingly silent, its bulk shifting through the grass without bending a blade.

"Level twenty-five..." Astrael muttered under his breath. His lips twitched into something between anticipation and calculation.

The serpent’s jaw parted slightly, showing curved, translucent fangs dripping with venom so potent it left tiny pits in the soil where it fell.

The Heartglass Lily swayed faintly in the breeze, as if completely unaware it had just become the centrepiece of a killing ground.

The serpent struck without warning. One moment it was still, the next it blurred forward in a whip-like lunge, fangs gleaming. Astrael barely twisted aside, but the impact of its body brushing him was like being struck with a swinging log. He staggered, foot digging into the soil.

But it didn’t relent. The serpent’s tail lashed around, aiming for his legs. Astrael’s sword came up in a flash, steel ringing against scales, sending a jolt up his arm.

"Tch...," he hissed, forcing his stance low.

The serpent’s head darted in again, this time feinting to the right before snapping toward his exposed flank. He pivoted, slashing down at the glint of fangs, but the blade skidded off its armoured jaw.

Pain flared in his shoulder. He’d been a hair too slow — venom burned through the shallow puncture like liquid fire.

Astrael gritted his teeth. "...You’re going to regret that."

The serpent recoiled, circling him with sinuous grace, forcing him toward the Heartglass Lily as though herding him.

When it struck again, Astrael used [Predator’s Clarity], tracing the shift in muscle tension a heartbeat before the lunge. He dodged narrowly, countering with a brutal slash across its midsection. Blood spattered, but the serpent’s scales had absorbed most of the blow, a shallow wound at best.

His breathing quickened. Sweat beaded at his temple. That venom was already numbing his left arm.

The serpent reared higher, casting its shadow over him.

"You really... want to see how ugly I can get," Astrael muttered, shifting his weight, eyes locked on the creature’s throat.

The serpent’s body rippled, coils tightening as it slithered in a wide arc. Astrael kept his gaze locked on its head, every muscle coiled to counter the next strike.

Then—

Hiss—!

It vanished from his direct line of sight.

"Shit—!"

Instinct screamed a fraction too late, a blur of green-black scales shot out from the undergrowth at his back, fangs bared for the base of his neck.

A shadow cut across his vision.

WHUMP!

The feline beast, the same one that had been stalking him earlier, slammed into the serpent mid-lunge, claws raking across its eye ridge. The snake let out a vicious, rattling hiss, its momentum broken.

Astrael’s eyes widened. "You—?!"

The serpent recoiled, striking blindly at the smaller creature. One fang grazed the feline’s side, a sickly black spreading from the puncture almost instantly. The beast whimpered and growled, its movements growing frantic and unsteady.

"Damn it..." Astrael muttered, a sharp edge of anger in his voice.

The feline staggered back, legs buckling, but its golden eyes were still locked on the serpent, tail lashing in defiance even as poison worked through its veins.

The snake hissed again, half-blind, bleeding, but still far from defeated. Yet a flicker of anger flared within it. It had intended to kill this human, but a feeble creature dared to intervene and wound it; it was humiliating. It started to coil for another strike, this time targeting both of them.

Astrael clasped his sword more firmly, his venom-burnt shoulder throbbing as his eyes darted between the dying feline and the serpent.

"You just made a mistake," he growled.

Astrael’s vision narrowed until the world became nothing but the serpent’s looming shape and the shallow, ragged breaths of the feline behind him.

Something inside him snapped.

FWOOOM—

From deep within his body, crimson tendrils of raw, writhing energy burst outward, curling around his arms and legs like living chains. The air thickened with a metallic tang as the Blood Berserker’s essence surged through his veins. His muscles tightened, each fibre screaming with sudden strength, his heartbeat pounding like war drums in his ears.

The tendrils wrapped around his sword, merging with the steel until it gleamed a dark, crimson red, as though it had just been pulled from the heart of a slain beast. The weapon seemed to vibrate in his grip, eager for blood.

The serpent struck again, its remaining eye burning with primal fury, mouth yawning wide enough to swallow his head whole.

Astrael didn’t dodge.

With a primal growl, he stepped into the strike, his blade whipping upward in a vicious,blood-infused arc. Blood energy howled along its edge, the slash carrying far more force than his body alone could have generated.

SHRRRACK!

The serpent’s lower jaw split open, black blood spraying the forest floor. It recoiled, shrieking, but Astrael was already moving, faster than he’d ever felt himself move. He slammed into its coiling body, his sword plunging deep between its scales, tendrils burrowing into the wound as if drinking the life from it.

The snake writhed, slamming into trees, but Astrael’s grip was unbreakable. His muscles burned, his vision tinted in crimson, every movement guided by a singular thought:

Die.