God Magnus

"I shall be watching... anomaly." Those rifts housing constellations in the viper's eyes returned to his mind.

If he had to rank it, that nightmare was the greatest fear he'd ever experienced, far beyond his fight with the serpent in the clearing.

Yet this moment easily claimed second place. The air warped with a hiss that felt more like a roar, and the entire forest fell silent in deep dread.

Even birds and small rodents seemed to vanish.

"There's no way to fight this thing... I'm going to die, but... It's not scarier than those eyes!"

The deep crimson couldn't surpass the constellations that nearly melted his brain. Gathering his courage, Oliver started running through the trees.

"A creature like that is way too big and-"

With supernatural agility, the damned serpent slithered through the trunks. The hot air from its nostrils reached Oliver's back like a reminder from hell.

"DAMN IT!"

He only had time to throw himself over a rock and dash through narrower trees to try and lose the damned thing.

When he looked back, a massive body wound through dozens of trunks, and the head of that damn snake was nearly upon him.

He raised the ivory fangs above his head and prayed it would be enough. There was no room to dodge, and he had to block a small train with his arms.

The result: Oliver was flung dozens of meters through branches and trunks. His arms trembled uncontrollably and the air in his lungs was gone.

But he was still alive. The damn blades were sturdier than Lucas and David could've imagined, and Oliver had to mentally thank them for being in his hands.

Pain burned through his body, but he stood firm. That creature wanted him dead at all costs, so he'd give it a reward for its effort.

At that moment, Oliver didn't realize something was growing inside him. The fear was there, but somehow it didn't take over.

It was more like fuel in the furnace that his heart had become from pumping so much blood.

Taking a deep breath and standing right in front of a giant rock, the damned snake attacked without mercy, and he was ready.

He dodged, launching himself sideways and rolling on the ground. Oliver drew his crossbow.

Dust flew, chunks of stone shattered, and while the snake was still dazed, he aimed and pulled the trigger straight at the demon's crimson eye.

Zim!

"Take that!! You damn snake!" he roared in triumph.

But his joy plummeted from heaven to hell in seconds when the snake simply closed the eye he aimed for, and the bolt bounced off its albino scales.

Sssssssssssss!

Its hiss was pure annoyance, and he could even sense disdain in its tone.

Taking advantage of that, he grabbed his blade from the ground. The white snake tried to encircle him, but Oliver jumped over a trunk and kept running.

"All I can do is run! I haven't landed a single hit. It's like a cat-and-mouse game, or rather, a fucking snake and a mouse! And clearly, I'm the MOUSE!"

Fallen trunks were crushed by the serpent, and vegetation lay destroyed. It wouldn't take long for Oliver to slip up and get devoured.

Night had already fallen, and it was obvious that thing could see better than he could in the dark. Luckily, the starlight was still shining bright.

Sssssssssssss!

"Shit!"

The attack came hard and fast, and he barely dodged it. The fangs, as large as long swords, flew past him, but not without a price. Droplets of venom splashed right onto his chest.

AAAAAHHHHHH!

As if acid had seared his flesh, hell boiled his skin and pain clouded his thoughts.

"Let's prioritize our group..."

"Thanks for saving my best friend..."

"I'll follow your lead..."

"Oliver... Do something..."

"My team..."

His team's voices and memories cleared his mind. The pain vanished, and a fire-like energy surged in his heart. Oliver's brain kicked into overdrive.

"That thing's tracking me somehow, but aren't albino creatures supposed to be... blind? I'm sure Professor Antonio taught us that in biology class!"

His muscles tensed and a plan formed. He needed to survive... He had already failed before, but now other people placed their faith in him, and unlike before, so did their lives.

"I CAN'T LOSE!!!"

Ignoring the burning acid or venom on his chest, in a moment like this, it didn't matter.

Oliver sprinted between trees, this time heading back to the blood lake where the damned serpent emerged.

The chase continued, and the forest suffered. Looking back, all vegetation was flattened and even some massive trees had fallen.

It didn't take long for the starlight illuminating the lake to hit his face, and Oliver began his plan.

He threw himself into the snake corpses, feeling the venom start coursing through his veins.

Staring at a nearly 15-meter-long serpent corpse, he pried open its mouth and crawled inside.

"If I'm wrong, I'm dead, but this is my last bet!"

Sssssssssssss!

The sound of something heavy sliding over the lake stones and the ground trembling chilled his soul. Oliver even considered praying for the angel to save him.

Seconds passed as his body weakened. Clearly, the venom was strong, and being inside another snake's corpse might be having an effect too.

Panic-filled seconds turned into minutes, and finally, he heard the sound of water moving.

"It probably went back to the cave behind the waterfall."

Oliver gathered courage to pull himself out of the snake, still thinking the albino serpent would be waiting to kill him. But nothing happened.

When he emerged, all he saw were corpses and blood, along with the trail of that colossal being entering the cave beneath the waterfall.

His vision blurred and weakness struck as the adrenaline faded.

"Now... how the hell am I going to survive this damn venom?"