CHAPTER 34: A DEAL

Claiming a Territory shouldn’t be taking this long. The original plan was to split up and clear the monsters in a jiffy, claim the territory, regain peace and shelter to plan strategies on how they will find the King piece and Kill the White King piece.

And problem solved! World domination restored, and the game would have a clear winner.

Sadly, things don’t always go exactly how we planned.

The twins have a phobia for snakes.

And Elian can’t fly...

What a beautiful turn of events.

Crix was crouched at the edge of the broken roof, peering down at the moving carpet of endless snakes below. The entire street covered in thick green snakes slithering over corpses and cars.

Sun gagged. "Remind me again why we’re claiming this part of the city?"

"Because the Red Halo idiots will if we don’t," Aven muttered, already rolling his stiff shoulders. He gently hovered to the other members, dropping Elian off his arms.

Elian again, thanked the stars that he’s finally at least... on a surface. Sun’s face instantly lit up as he made a beeline for him, but Elian gently shoved him off. "Ugh. Stop!"

"Why do you despise me?!" Sun eyes were now glassy, his voice coming as a little shriek.

What?!

Elian shook his head, exasperated. "I- I don’t!" No one likes getting slobbed all the time...

"Then don’t run from me! I need to look at your face rather than the triggering snakes."

"That’s not important right now!"

Aven tried to ignored them. But other members can clearly see his face twitching and his lips refraining from tugging.

He cleared his throat, still hovering in the sky. "If we don’t clear the road, they’ll climb up here. Unless you want to be snakes brothers and get splat with Acid..." he almost laughed. "or cursed, y’all better put your love life aside—"

Someone gasped, "love life?!"

"—yes, and work together," he glanced at Sun, "even if you don’t like me, Sunny."

That got their attention.

Crix dusted himself, standing with his backpack still strapped on his back. "It’s true. We can’t stay like this forever. And to my calculations, the advertiser we met caused this. So we need to go back to the Grand Casino. But what to do with these snakes?" He paced around. "I’ve never seen something like that."

"What about the curse?" Elian asked.

"I’m thinking... besides, Sun was a part of this havoc—if he hadn’t smashed one of the Red Halo’s members face across a slot machine... that’s when the creepy Advertiser came in and turned one of them into ash. Hence the other curse with snakes."

Sun scowled at the older man. "Now now, I am not to blame. We all went into the Casino. And three of the... umm..."

"Hobos." Moon suggested the right word he was looking for.

Sun snapped his fingers. "Yes. Hobo men walked in and tried moo... to uhh," he glanced at Moon for help.

Moon only giggled. "Tried to mooch."

"Yes. My pleasantries. They tried to mooch off us! We hadn’t known the monsters would be snakes, I merely thought we’d fight. And they’d just swoo— swoop! Swoop right in and claim the contribution points for their board. And one of them talked trash about Pawn and I can’t just stay and watch them do all that—!"

"So you cracked a man’s head open on a slot machine because he talked trash about me? Nothing else?"

Sun pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "They were being annoying. One called you a ’Guild’s Rotten Fetch Rat’. I got angry and basically taught him how to talk more proper." He looked satisfied with what he did.

Okay, that’s fair. Elian couldn’t even get mad about it. After all, it was nice for someone to care that much about him. How he dreads to see Sun smash the said Hobo’s face on the slot machine.

But the only focus at hand for now was to get rid of the snake. Which seemed impossible at first until the mention of this advertiser.

Maybe this advertiser controls the snake? But wouldn’t it be stupid to go there without a plan?

What if the advertiser is like Kykloi? If they don’t infuriate or cause any trouble... they might just go scot-free? Elian looked at his team. Two S-ranks and a SSS-rank Queen class.

They should do just fine.

No matter what, they must claim this sector.

"I’ll burn them." Aven turned to the crew after proper examination. "I’ll burn the snakes, clear a path and we get things evenly done," his tone left no room for argument. "Leader Crix. You’re a Rook, yes? Can you please make us a shield?"

"Yeah. I’ll get to it, although it may take a while." Crix lowered his backpack and removed his thick gloves. He rubbed his palms together, thrusting it into the sky as blue light crawled up his arms, spilling into a curved blue barrier that shimmered faintly over the team.

Aven curtly nodded. He was outside the shield to execute his plan. He lifted his sword, the purple glow emitted from him, spreading until it engulfed the blade as the air warped around him.

For a second, he looked like he was dancing, moving his sword in the sky that matched the flow of his body. Each swing tracing arcs of cracking violet above.

[Do you wish to use the skill: Atomic Inferno?]

Yes.

A wave of purple fire ripped through the streets. The snakes ignited one after another, sizzling into black ash. The light reflected in the twins’ wide eyes, their disgust turning to reluctant awe.

When Aven landed, Crix extended the barrier downward, forming a bubble around them. They dropped safely through the smoke and landed on the still-burning street. The reek was indescribable.

"The least to say... that was very sugoi."

Aven tilted his head, raising a brow.

"Cool. He meant that was cool," Elian added.

"Let’s just... keep walking," Aven muttered, already moving forward.

The closer they got to the Grand Fayein Casino, the clearer the city became. It was less chaos, more silence.

Elian now was starting to wonder where the other team was. Dead? Or just missing?

The heat still pressed at their backs as they made their way down the charred road. Each step crushed blackened scales that cracked like dried leaves. The air coaxed with thick smoke.

The Grand Casino stood ahead, or what was left of it. Half the building leaned on another. The once-golden letters were melted, the "RAND" hanging by one chain and swinging gently in the heat. Neon lights still sputtered and died, sparkling electricity every few seconds. And just under it, a tiny serpent statue curled around a dice pedestal.

Moon tugged Sun’s sleeve. Her gaze still on the Casino’s entrance before taking a step inside. "Everything would be alright, Sun."

Sun grabbed her pale hand, his mismatched eyes glaring at her. "Stop pulling my clothes."

Aven annoyingly hushed them. "Shut up!"

"You don’t have to be so loud!" Moon retorted.

"I’m not loud! You are! You can’t do shit just because you’re scared of snakes!"

"I-it’s a phobia!!"

Elian’s eyes twitched. He stepped in-between the men. "Oh my goodness! Now we’re all loud! I have an headache already!"

"But you’re screaming!"

All these were cut short when a deep, annoyed voice rolled through the casino.

"You all are clearly idiots. Fools, I say. Disturbing the guardian? Breaking one of my machines? And here I thought more followers came. It’s just the annoying humans still littering around."

Oh no!

And from behind a counter stepped a tall, lean man with a purple contrast skin in the middle of a weirdly neat set of gambling machines.... Apart from a slot machine that Sun had smashed. The purple man’s scales climbed up the sides of his neck to his jaw.

His eyes were narrow, pupils slit, and his teeth had a pair of long fangs. His attire was a ceremonial robe, trimmed with gold thread and layered like a high priest’s vestment.

This was the Advertiser Kykloi spoke of.

He raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

From the far side of the casino, the colossal serpent from before suddenly appeared, startling them all. Its translucent form coiling through the ceiling.

That was the snake they fought. Elian identified it by the half destroyed horn. Oh, come on—again?!

’Someone’ said something about them being fine on their own?

Only if Sun and Moon didn’t just freeze on the spot...

Ah. Shit. Elian raised a hand. "Wait—wait—don’t!"

The Advertiser paused mid-gesture, eyes narrowing.

Elian could feel his skin prickle under that inhuman stare. He didn’t know if he’d resurrect after being reduced to charcoal, and that made his voice shake when he said, "You’re... one of the forgotten constellation’s followers aren’t you? The one who owned this casino before the cosmic game started?"

The Advertiser blinked once. Then his face softened into that mock-proper expression again.

"No and yes," his voice soft, like someone indulging a child. "I do run the Grand Fayein Casino. But I am not a follower..." His grin sharpened, fangs glinting. "I am merely 15% of the Constellation Ophiuchus— the Serpent Bearer. Now tell me—"

He inclined his head, just slightly.

"Do you wish to worship within the Great Fayein Casino... or cause a ruckus? I will exterminate you just like the rest."

"No," Elian shook his head. "Neither of those. I want to strike a deal. You love gold, don’t you?"