\'Time to end this\'

Rowan\'s breath cooled and slowed as he thought so.

He closed his eyes and shut out sounds from his ears.

From his body, a light yellow aura erupted.

Rowan had been conserving energy since he saw no need to rush things. After all, in a battle of attrition, it was all about the last man standing.

? He just had to outlive his opponent.

But…

\'I was wrong\'

He was definitely wrong on that, and he paid dearly for it. The energy he thought to conserve had all been wasted when he had to protect his body from the snake\'s tail, else it would have been more than just ribs that were broken.

The snake swarm was closing in by the second. Now, time was no longer on his side. He couldn\'t afford a battle on two fronts, especially not in his current condition.

So, there was only one answer.

He had to finish off the big snake.

And he had to do it fast.

To do so with the highest rate of success…

\'I\'ll put everything into one attack\'

He would stake victory and defeat it on one strike.

And that\'s exactly what he did.

But of course…

*Screeech!*

The snake wasn\'t going to standstill and die, now would it?

With its instincts ringing out warnings, the snake quickly spotted its greatest foe standing completely still with his sword at the ready.

Along his greatsword was a yellow light.

The snake didn\'t know what it was, but it sensed danger from it.

Letting its foe finish whatever it was up to would spell disaster for it, so the snake moved.

This time with even more vigor.

It was determined to survive, and it would do whatever it took to make it so.

"Gather around the Admiral! We must protect him at all costs!"

The adventurers at Rowan\'s side quickly got the memo as they gathered around him like a net on all sides.

Vesta was the one who took the lead, standing in front while showcasing his white armor, which had become dirty at this point in time.

He raised his sword and chanted words to raise morale.

"We must buy the Admiral enough time to finish his preparations and this beast shall be vanquished! Maintain your positions at all times! For the Empire!"

And sure enough-

"For the Empire!"

-it worked.

Only an Expert Knight like Rowan could match the beast, and none who remained were even close to that stage, so they took on a defensive formation. That way, they could stand a chance, no matter how small, against the beast.

Since the aim was to buy time, it was the best decision they could make.

As the snake approached, the adventurers readied themselves.

They had all chanted minutes ago, but the true reason why they stood their ground was because they knew. They knew they didn\'t stand a chance of escaping their current predicament without the Admiral.

Meanwhile, the yellow aura that coated Rowan\'s great sword was getting brighter and brighter by the second.

But most didn\'t even notice that because-

*Bam!*

-the snake was already in front of them!

With its tail, it slammed down on the formation.

But the men held on as they burnt mana at a fast rate, one which the mana rich atmosphere couldn\'t keep up with, using it to amplify their body to withstand the impact.

Even with all this-

*Crack!*

"Ahh!"

-it still wasn\'t enough.

The arms of a few snapped from the first exchange, while for some, it was their legs.

Even Vesta had veins pop out all over his body as he tried to withstand the huge mass on top of him.

\'Damn, for it to be this much, I won\'t be able to last longer than a minute!\'

His limits were one minute before his body would fold under such pressure, and for others, it was far shorter.

"I don\'t think I can take much more" one of them muttered.

He could already feel his limits nearing.

But before he could fold under pressure-

*Screech!*

-the snake suddenly screeched, before taking its tail off the poor men in a hurry and thrashing around.

The unit of mages made themselves known on the battlefield once more as we see the snake\'s uncovered flesh burn at alarming rates.

And so the adventures guarding Rowan were able to get some respite.

But it was only for a few seconds. Too short a time for them to recover any decent amount of mana.

The snake got back upright as it stopped screeching, gazed at the mage unit from afar, and turned its gaze back to the adventurers in front of it.

It would have loved to use hypnosis right now, but sadly, it couldn\'t.

Just like Rowan had to use mental power to block off the hypnosis, the snake expended mental power to use it. After using it on Rowan so many times, its mind was very strained at the moment.

Rowan destroying the hypnosis affected the snake\'s mind, though to a small degree at first, but continuous usage had worn it out.

Now, the snake looked at the mage unit and then at the adventurer, trying to decide on the priority target.

The mages unit were dangerous because of their immense firepower that could hit uncovered flesh seven out of ten times if aimed right.

Then, there was its greatest adversary that had become a sitting duck with its blade now carrying an energy that could prove fatal for it.

So, should it approach the mage unit or press on here?

But the seconds used to ponder on its options were a terrible mistake.

Before it could make a choice-

*Baam!*

-a large rock it hadn\'t seen coming hit its head with a bang, successfully throwing it back as its head was completely disoriented.

Before it could balance itself, a voice rang out.

"Ya big lizard, get over here"

The figure of a man came into view as we see Motavu jump at the snake with a rock in his arms and bash the snake\'s head once again, before looking back and saying…

"What are you doing? Attack"

…not at the adventurers, but at the mage unit.

\'I can\'t let it get up\'

Despite Motavu\'s character, he knew his stuff.

That was why he kept hammering the snake\'s head with his fists after the rock broke. He needed to press his advantage, because he would suffer a lot in a one on one fight.

But he also knew that he couldn\'t hold it for long.

\'Come on, stupid Admiral, we\'re running out of time\'

Like the adventurers, he knew only Rowan would be capable of killing it.

\'I should be able to keep this up for a minute\' he thought.

But Motavu severely underestimated the snake, because in the next moment…

*Craaacck!*

"AHHH!"

The snake\'s tail had wrapped around his body and began breaking his bones by squeezing him tight.

Motavu was about to pass out from an overwhelming level of pain when…

*Screech*

Thankfully, help came on time, as another fireball made its way to the snake\'s body once more, causing it to fling Motavu out of its grasp without a second thought as it thrashed around.

*Bam!*

Motavu hit the ground with a bang. His whole body was screaming as he cursed inwardly. He couldn\'t even get up.

As the thrashing snake came back to its senses, its anger was directed at the mage unit and it moved to decimate them.

That wretched ball of red had damaged its body too much, and the pain was always the same. It didn\'t seem like it would be getting used to it.

But before it could go far, a voice rang out.

"Where do you think you\'re going?" a familiar voice said.

The snake could only turn its body to see Rowan with his whole body covered in aura.

The final attack was ready.