SSS Ranked Shadow Monarch: Summoning Infinite Shadows-Chapter 272: Guardian Snake

Aren looked down at Ragna. At the moment, he felt nothing more than boredom, the type you feel when you’ve played with that particular toy and already explored all that it had to offer. Ragna was finished, empty, and all that he was doing now was struggling to show relevance even when deep down he could tell that he was done.

"Arghhhhh, don’t tell me to stay down." Ragna growled, his hand stretching forward, digging into the dirt, penetrating its tough surface. He clutched the ground and pulled himself forward while pulling a knee in front and planting it into the ground.

He looked up at Aren. His eyes carried defiance, locked in a state where he refused to accept the end. Aren could see no hate behind those eyes anymore, but the gaze of someone that had something to prove, that had a reason to keep fighting.

"I’d ask what drives him, but there is not enough space in my heart now for this. I’ve failed to kill many enemies in the past, and they came back to haunt me."

Aren stepped forward. He didn’t speak anymore. He allowed the silence to sit. Not the type of silence that you feel when you enter a quiet room, but the type that comes the moment before a judge delivers a verdict, a weighty and life-altering silence.

"You fought well," Aren said, sounding generic like all those television characters, but that was the best he could say, and it was what fit with the current situation more than anything else. Ragna had indeed fought well.

"Sad it has to end here," Aren continued.

"I’m not done yet," Ragna said, and he believed those words. Aren could tell. He believed what he said.

"Yes, you are," Aren replied and swung. His ancient devourer curved through the air, coming down like the scythe of death, delivering a cold judgment that Ragna could not fight against. The devourer lunged into his neck. Bits of flesh flew into the air, followed by a rain of blood that fell to the ground before the head.

"System, turn off notifications," Aren muttered before the head hit the floor. He clenched his fist as he watched it. The thud of the head happened at the same time as his heartbeat. He looked away immediately. He didn’t want to acknowledge what he had done. He walked off immediately and didn’t look back.

"I respect you, Ragna. Your defiance was strong, and amongst all enemies I have faced, you somehow managed to make my heart tremble. Rest on. I know you’ll probably hate me in the underworld."

Aren looked at the mountain, taking a few seconds to dispel the dark fog that had gathered in his mind. His goal remained reaching the top, so he forged ahead.

[....]

Aren walked up the mountain calmly, each step pushing him further. Werewolves had attacked in their numbers, but were dispatched as the weak creatures that they were. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

He didn’t speak, keeping his eyes fixed on the goal, but as he came to the midpoint, he stopped suddenly. He looked to his side, eyes heavy, but not with exhaustion, but boredom.

A moment ago, his shadow sense had picked something up to his side, and curiosity got the better of him. Aren walked over there and looked at the rock. Something was underneath it. He couldn’t tell what it was exactly. A unique power was hindering his shadow sense. It was like wading through a thick, muddy puddle.

"What’s here?" he muttered, bending down and grabbing the rock. He lifted it up. Dust and smaller rocks fell off the body. He tossed it aside and turned to look back at what was there, only time froze in that moment.

A wave of cold rushed over his skin. His hairs stood straight, and his muscles tensed up instantly, as what he saw somehow sent shivers down his spine.

Aren saw an eye, massive, the size of a human, a golden pupil there looking right at him. His reflection was there in it.

"What is this?" He stepped back subconsciously. Something was coursing through his body now. It wasn’t a feeling he could place his finger on, but if he were to speak, he would call it dread.

[You have found the Guardian Snake, Jaggan]

Aren received a notification soon after, but the context couldn’t help him now. A guardian snake? What even was that, and why was it here?

The system seemed to hear the plea of his heart and responded.

[The angel locked in the mountains is a destroyer of worlds. None are allowed to come near. The Guardian Snake will destroy all that dare to touch.]

"Wait, what? Elton didn’t mention this. Shit, Athena is up there." Aren forced himself out of the dazed state that he was in. The realization of what lay ahead was heavy, as he could only imagine the great strength that a monster set to guard a sealed angel would possess. It was definitely far above whatever they had ever faced or even he had faced.

Aren looked back at the hole, only to notice that the eye had moved and was no longer there. He tried to search for it with shadow sense, but no matter how he scoured, there was nothing there.

He looked at the top of the mountain, knowing that it might be heading there now. His heart raced. He couldn’t leave Athena there alone, and he couldn’t allow her to touch the angel.

He was the only person that knew of the snake now and knew what would happen to those that reached the angel.

Aren bolted upward, eager to reach the top. His feet pressed against the rocky ground, propelling him forward faster every moment, his stride getting longer each moment.

The statue angel seemed to notice that something was different about Aren, or it knew that he saw the snake, and so it took initiative and proceeded to attack in an attempt to stop Aren from stopping someone from touching the angel.