Chapter 1023 - 1021 Mutated Animals Acquired 12
Chapter 1023: Chapter 1021 Mutated Animals Acquired 12
The mutated animals nearby began to tremble, their instincts screaming danger. Even the livestock stationed kilometers away grew restless, their panic rippling through the land. It was as if something primal had awakened within them, a warning that something far beyond their level was unfolding.
They wanted to flee.
But fear rooted them in place.
Some hid. Others ran aimlessly, unable to think, driven only by instinct.
And Mike...
He wasn’t spared.
The pressure crashed down on him without mercy. His knees buckled, and he dropped heavily onto the ground, pain shooting through him as he landed. Yet even that barely registered.
Because all he could feel... was the overwhelming weight pressing in from every direction, suffocating, inescapable.
Duke and the mutated Golden Eagle clashed, not with claws or talons, but with sheer will.
Their auras surged and collided, pressing against each other in a silent but brutal struggle for dominance. The air itself seemed to tighten under the pressure as the mutated animal resisted fiercely, its instincts refusing to yield.
But it was already weakened.
Wounded from its earlier battle, the mutated Golden Eagle couldn’t hold out for long.
Little by little, Duke’s aura overwhelmed it, crushing and suffocating it, leaving no room for defiance. Still, the process dragged on longer than it should have. Had Duke been the one to defeat it in battle, the creature would have submitted far more easily.
Instead, he had to force its will down piece by piece.
Until finally...
The resistance broke.
The mutated Golden Eagle lowered itself, its fierce presence fading into reluctant submission.
Duke let out a satisfied breath, a wide grin spreading across his face as he stepped forward to inspect his new mount. After confirming that its fighting spirit had truly settled, he pulled out a vial of shimmering blue liquid and carefully fed it to the creature.
The effect was immediate.
Its wounds began to mend, strength returning to its body as it absorbed the potion’s effect. But Duke barely had time to enjoy his victory.
The ground shifted.
A writhing mass emerged from the shadows, long and sinuous, dark as charcoal, its scales swallowing what little light there was. As it fully revealed itself, its form became unmistakable.
A massive black serpent.
An anaconda-like monstrosity, bound by the same restraining spell that had once held the mutated Golden Eagle.
The moment the eagle saw it...
It shrieked.
A sharp, furious cry that tore through the air as if it had just laid eyes on a sworn enemy. Its wings beat violently, body straining against the bindings.
And now, having just consumed the healing potion, its strength had surged back.
The restraints trembled.
The creature struggled harder, more violently, driven not by fear, but by agitation... by rage. Of course, the mutated Golden Eagle reacted violently at the sight of the massive serpent.
It wasn’t just any enemy.
That creature was a known menace, one that preyed on nests, stealing eggs from flying mutated animals whenever the opportunity arose. A natural predator. A thief.
And, as it turned out...
This wasn’t their first encounter.
Kisha had already found that very same black serpent earlier... lurking around the mutated Golden Eagle’s nest. Using the system’s map, she had pinpointed the locations of nearby mutated creatures, saving herself the time and risk of searching blindly. By chance, or perhaps luck, they had been close to the cliff where the mutated Golden Eagle had built its nest.
And the mutated black serpent had taken advantage of the fact that the mutated Golden Eagle was out. Sensing that the eagle was away hunting, it had slipped into the nest, likely intending to steal eggs or whatever food it could find.
But it had miscalculated.
The mutated Golden Eagle had already consumed its stored rations before leaving, which was why it had gone out to hunt in the first place. The nest was empty. And before the serpent could even react...
Kisha found it.
The moment it tried to coil and strike, she had already torn open the seal on a Binding Magic Scroll, activating it in one swift motion. The spell snapped into place instantly. And just like that... The massive mutated black serpent was captured.
The reason Kisha chose to capture the serpent, despite having no intention of taking in reptile or arachnid-type mutated animals, was purely practical.
Its shed skin alone was valuable.
From what she had learned, it could be crafted into durable armor, something that would greatly benefit their warriors. Its scales were just as promising, thick, resilient, and capable of being reforged into protective gear.
Resources like that were too useful to ignore.
Even so...
Every time she met its cold, slit pupils, a faint shiver crawled up her spine. There was something deeply unsettling about the creature, something instinctively repulsive.
But Kisha pushed that discomfort aside.
In the end, she made her decision.
She would capture it...
And leave it to someone else to handle.
It wasn’t fear that made Kisha hesitate.
She had no doubt she could subdue the mutated black serpent if it turned hostile, nor was she worried it could harm her people under controlled conditions.
It was something far simpler.
She just... hated snakes. And anything remotely similar to them.
That instinctive aversion made it difficult for her to see past her discomfort, even when the creature’s value was obvious.
Because, in truth, the serpent was exceptional.
Unlike the mutated Golden Eagle, it didn’t rely on brute force. It was cunning. Calculated. It knew when to avoid a direct clash and when to strike. Instead of risking a deadly confrontation over a single meal, it chose stealth, slipping into nests, taking what it needed, and disappearing without a trace.
That kind of intelligence made it far more dangerous... and far more useful.
Its charcoal-black scales allowed it to blend seamlessly into the shadows, turning it into a near-perfect ambush predator. Even more remarkable was its regenerative ability; not only could it regrow lost scales, but it also shed them periodically as it grew.
And those scales...
They were incredibly durable, comparable to titanium alloy. There was even a strong possibility that their quality would improve as the serpent became stronger.
To Kisha, that meant one thing: A sustainable source of high-grade materials.
She couldn’t rely on purchasing everything from the system mall forever. With resources like this, they could start reinforcing their warriors’ armor and uniforms, significantly improving their survivability in battle.
It was too valuable to ignore.
And if the serpent proved obedient enough...
She might even consider raising it herself.
But for now...
She needed to get used to it.
Because just looking at the creature was enough to send a faint chill down her spine, dragging up memories of those old movies she had watched as a child. The "Anaconda."
And somehow, that only made it worse.
Now that the mutated black serpent and the mutated Golden Eagle could see each other while both were still bound, they immediately began struggling harder, twisting and writhing violently against their restraints.
Duke even had to release more of his aura to force the mutated Golden Eagle to lower itself and stay down.
As for the black serpent, it had not yet been fully subdued, so it refused to obey anyone. It kept thrashing, trying desperately to wriggle free from the binding spell. Its scales were tough enough, but it knew that would not be enough to withstand the mutated Golden Eagle’s talons or the force of its attacks.
For all its ability to hide in shadows and mask its presence like a silent assassin, it was not truly built for direct combat.
It knew that if the mutated Golden Eagle got hold of it, it would be shredded to pieces.
The serpent only looked intimidating because of its size and fearsome appearance, but in reality, it was not as deadly as it seemed. Even its earlier attack toward Kisha had been nothing more than an act of self-preservation, an instinctive strike from a creature that believed the first blow might be the only way to survive.
Only this time, it had miscalculated.
Because Kisha had already been prepared.
Mike had just received Kisha’s message, again, ordering him to tame the mutated black serpent.
But the moment he took in the scene before him, a dull headache began to throb at his temples.
The situation was a mess.
The other mutated animals he had just tamed were cowering, trembling under the pressure in the air, while the two largest creatures, the mutated Golden Eagle and the mutated black serpent, looked seconds away from tearing each other apart.
Fortunately, Duke was there.
He stood firm, suppressing the Golden Eagle with his aura, forcing it to stay down while he turned his attention to the serpent.
But the black serpent was another problem entirely.
It was unstable. Restless. It didn’t tolerate the presence of others, not humans, not other mutated animals.
The moment it noticed Duke approaching, its body twisted violently, struggling even harder against the binding. And when Duke’s oppressive aura pressed down on it...
It reacted instantly.