The Great Serpent coiled, its bloodied fangs gleaming in the dim light of the cavern, its slit pupils widening in alarm. Something had changed.
The weak, barely-breathing human it had dismissed as prey was now standing—no, towering.
And with a single hand, he had stopped its full-force lunge.
A suffocating aura radiated from Shwet. His grip on the Serpent's head was firm, unshakable. The massive creature writhed, its muscles flexing with desperate force—but it could not move forward.
It could not overpower him.
> [System: Unyielding Will – Absolute Dominance activated.]
Shwet's gaze shifted to his left shoulder.
His arm—his lost arm—had returned.
New. Whole. Stronger than before.
Was it the Fairy Lotus Serum? Or… the power of Unyielding Will?
It didn't matter.
His fingers flexed. Strength pulsed through him—not just in his muscles, but something deeper. A force beyond human limits.
He met the Serpent's gaze, his voice laced with quiet, cold amusement.
"Not so quick, Mr. Serpent. If you want to kill something, you'll have to deal with me first."
The Serpent hissed, baring its fangs, but it did not strike. Instead, it slithered backward, its body tensing.
It was on high alert, the sudden awakening of the man it thought was dead has shocked it.
Instinct screamed at it—the creature standing before him was something dangerous, something terrifying.
Shwet let it retreat. There was no rush.
Turning away, he walked over to the crushed body of the Assassin Taratect. The once-proud guardian lay in ruin, its legs curled weakly, its battered form barely breathing.
Shwet knelt, lifting it gently, his fingers brushing over its cracked carapace.
It had fought for him.
It had bled for him.
It deserved more than to be left in the dirt.
He placed the broken creature in the shadowed corner of the cave, somewhere safe from the chaos of battle. His voice softened, but his tone held a promise.
"You did well. Leave the rest to me now."
Then, he turned back to the battlefield.
The battle erupted in a blur of speed.
Shwet surged forward, the Nethrite Dagger flashing in his grip. He aimed straight for the Serpent's skull, thrusting the blade forward—
Shatter!
The dagger splintered instantly on impact.
Shwet barely had a second to react before the broken blade flew past his cheek, nicking his skin. He stared at his empty grip, brows furrowing.
"...Useless."
The Serpent saw its opportunity. It lunged forward, coiling around him, its massive body crushing down with overwhelming force.
This should've broken him.
It should've crushed his bones.
But it didn't.
The cavern trembled as a resounding CRACK tore through the battlefield.
A sound so loud it echoed against the stone walls.
Something had shattered.
His bones? Or the Serpent's skull?
A beat passed.
Then, the Serpent reared back violently, convulsing in agony. Blood gushed from its fractured skull.
Shwet pulled back his fist.
The impact had turned his entire arm blue. Veins bulged against his skin, as if his body wasn't made to handle this kind of force.
But then, within seconds—
The bruising vanished.
His body was adapting. Evolving. Becoming something else.
He didn't care about the mechanics of it. All he knew was—
This power was real.
The Serpent hissed, fury replacing its pain. It lunged again, fangs seeking his throat.
Shwet met it head-on.
Fist to fang.
No dodging. No tactics.
Just raw, absolute force.
Each punch sent tremors through the cave. Each impact left dents in the Serpent's massive skull. It had once been an unstoppable force.
Now, it was being beaten back—blow by blow.
Meanwhile, across the cave, the Titan Taratects were losing ground.
The last two of their kind, their massive legs struggling to hold their weight, their armor cracked and bleeding. They had fought bravely, but the Great Serpents were overpowering them.
One of the Titans faltered, its wounds finally taking their toll. It staggered back, legs trembling—
Then, it began to glow.
A faint, shimmering hollow light surrounded its massive form.
Shwet caught the sight from the corner of his eye. His breath hitched.
Evolution.
The Titan's exoskeleton cracked, revealing something new beneath. A stronger, reinforced carapace replaced the old one, gleaming with unnatural hardness. Its size doubled, barely fitting in the cavern.
Its wounds? Gone.
Its power? Unfathomable.
The Titan screeched—a sound that sent shivers through the battlefield.
A mid-battle evolution.
A nightmare for the Serpents.
The newly evolved Titan launched forward, taking on all four Great Serpents at once, giving a moment of rest to the other Titan which was in the similar situation as him.
Its attacks no longer desperate—they were dominant.
Each strike sent the massive Serpents reeling, their once-unshakable position now crumbling.
The battlefield was no longer in the Serpents' favor.
And on the other side—
Shwet was still standing. Still fighting.
His Serpent opponent shrieked in agony, its body barely holding together.
The second Serpent—the one that had slaughtered the Lesser and Base Taratects and was dead set on consuming the eggs too, soon took notice of the shift on the battlefield and it reacated to immediately.
It turned back, slithering towards him, joining the fight.
A 2v1.
But Shwet did not care.
His muscles burned. His bones sang. A power unlike anything he had felt before pulsed in his blood.
He felt unstoppable.
He clenched his fists. The energy inside him raged like an untamed storm.
The Serpents surrounded him, their bodies coiling, fangs bared, ready to strike him down.
Shwet smirked.
"Come at me, you fucking losers."
His voice was filled with pure, unshaken confidence.
Because for the first time since entering this hellhole—
He knew.
He was stronger.
And he was going to win, and not just win but make them pay for everything.