CHAPTER 102: CHAPTER 102: NARGACRYPTA

Owen’s belly growled louder. Being pushed again and again only made it worse.

"Oh come on! Let me taste it!" he shouted, wobbling between the greedy Bogbelly Gluttons.

Another shove knocked him flat.

"Tsk! Fine!"

Frustrated and starving, Owen looked around. That’s when he spotted it—a separate nest, untouched, resting on a rocky ledge far from the others. It looked a little hidden... a little too perfect.

He squinted. "What kind of monster egg is this? ...Well, if the mother shows up, I can always escape. I’ll just squeeze into the cracks."

His belly grumbled again. "But for now... I’m starving."

Owen climbed the rocky path slowly, bouncing and pulling himself up with his sticky limbs. It took effort, but finally—he reached the nest. Three large eggs sat inside, glowing faintly. They were smooth and warm, steam rising gently from their shells.

Drooling, Owen used his tongue to poke a small hole in the first egg.

Psshhh!

Golden yolk oozed out, thick and shiny. His stomach roared. "Oh... wow..."

He slurped it up like hot soup, his tongue swirling inside. The flavor burst in his mouth—rich, warm, buttery, and better than anything he had ever tasted. Even better than chicken eggs!

Owen’s eyes sparkled. He finished the first egg fast, then gulped down the second just as quickly. Licking his mouth clean with a long roll of his tongue, he looked at the last egg.

He hesitated.

"...Should I leave this one alone?" he muttered. His stomach rumbled again.

"...Maybe I’ll save it. Or maybe... let Axelius taste it." He chuckled to himself. "It’s a shame, though. Axel won’t get to taste this. This thing is amazing

."

He wrapped his tongue around the third egg gently. "I’ll keep this for later—hehee~"

BOOM.

The cave trembled. Owen’s eyes shot up. The ground cracked slightly. Suddenly, long shadows dropped from the ceiling.

Thump. Thump. THUMP.

Huge, snake-like monsters slammed into the cave, each with razor-sharp scales and bright, twisted colors—red, green, and silver. The scales on their bodies were spikier than any normal snake. They hissed low, their tongues flicking wildly.

"Shit!" Owen gasped.

Without a second thought, he shoved the last egg into his inventory and bounced away, hiding behind a boulder. He peeked from the edge.

The snakes were everywhere. And they weren’t friendly. They began to devour the Bogbelly Gluttons, swallowing the fat monsters whole, blood splashing across the nest floor.

Owen’s slime form trembled. "Good thing I hid..."

Then, the ground quaked again.

From the shadows, a massive black-scaled snake slithered forward. The other snakes moved aside, letting it pass like a king.

Its head rose high into the air, nearly touching the ceiling. Its scales were blacker than coal, with jagged spikes sticking out like blades. Its eyes glowed red.

It moved toward the nest.

Owen’s eyes widened.

"Oh no... That’s the mother..."

The black snake sniffed once—twice—then froze.

SCREEEEEECH!

Its screech shook the entire cave. With one swing of its tail, it smashed the nest Owen had eaten from, rocks flying in all directions.

"Not good, NOT GOOD!" Owen screamed.

He turned and bounced as fast as he could. But the snake’s tongue flicked—and it smelled him.

Its head turned.

It locked onto him.

"Crap!!"

Owen transformed back into his slime form, his body shrinking and glowing faintly blue. Then—he launched forward, rolling and bouncing like a rubber ball through the tunnels.

Behind him, the black snake screeched again, its massive body chasing him, scales grinding on the stone like blades.

"WHY DID I EAT THOSE EGGS?!" Owen cried as he bounced for his life.

Owen bounced down the dark tunnel at top speed, his jelly-like body squishing and stretching with every leap.

BOOM! BOOM!

Behind him, the massive black snake crashed through the stone path, each movement shaking the ground. Its red eyes locked on him, and its fangs glistened with dripping venom.

CLANG! CLINK!

Its razor-sharp scale-covered body scraped the tunnel walls, sparking with each grind. Pieces of the rocky tunnel were breaking off, falling as Owen zigzagged around them.

"Too close!" Owen muttered, twisting mid-air to barely avoid a sharp tail swipe. He bounced off a wall and flipped forward, rolling faster.

The snake hissed, then launched its head forward like a spear.

WHOOOSH!

"GAH—!"

Owen ducked just in time, the massive jaws snapping right above his head. Its breath was hot and foul, like rotten eggs mixed with fire.

"Gotta identify this thing—!" he gasped, bouncing behind a rock just for a second.

He quickly pulled out his Monster Catalog Book, flipping through the shaking pages with slime fingers.

"Snake... snake... SNAKES—come on! Big snakes... Where’s the page?!"

As Owen flipped wildly through the pages of his Monster Catalog, the sound of crashing rocks behind him grew louder. His eyes scanned the text and images.

"Beast-type snakes... okay, yeah, smooth bodies, usually passive, react only when provoked..."

He turned the page—and froze.

There, under a faded sketch, was a rough drawing of a long creature with jagged, spiked scales along its back, fangs longer than its head, and red slit-eyes glowing like fire.

Name: Nargacrypta

Class: High-Tier

MonsterType: Spiked-Scale Predator

Known Traits: Highly aggressive, devours lesser beast-types. Rare. Extremely territorial. Will hunt anything that eats its offspring. Unlike other monsters, Narga protect its offspring till it had it’s own offspring.

Note: DO NOT MISTAKE FOR BEAST SERPENTS.

Warning: Once it smells a target, it will not stop.

He glanced behind him—the black-scaled monster, now fully revealed, had plates like razors lining its entire body. Unlike a serpent, its scales shifted, clinked, and even extended outward like blades whenever it got close.

"Aghh! I ate its eggs! This is personal for it now!"

He slammed the book shut and threw it back in his inventory. The Nargacrypta screeched again, the walls of the tunnel glowing red from its aura, and lunged forward with deadly hunger.

"Okay! Okay! New rule—no more mysterious eggs!" Owen shouted, bouncing with every bit of strength he had.

Behind him, the Nargacrypta slithered faster, its spiky body shredding through the stone like it was soft bread.