Four people took up their positions. Maiko and Yuki were hiding in the forest to the side, waiting for Nana to do the first pull. She was going to run in one direction while Fatty waited for the horned snake to return then he would pull it after.

Nana had her sword drawn and was ready for anything. Since her movement technique required her to be more in line with her large sword, it did not hinder her to have her weapon drawn. The huge rank five horned snake raised its head and looked at Nana with eyes filled with killing intent. 

With every step, the horned snake raised its head higher, its long black forked tongue sticking in and out of its mouth. It was in a warning stance, trying to make Nana to stay away, but Nana continued forward. When she got about thirty feet from it, the horned snake could no longer sit still. It could no longer let the puny human get closer. 

It’s large head shot out at Nana, who quickly dodged to the side and began to run away from the spot Yuki was in. The horned snake took the bait and began to give chase. Yuki did not waste a single second and jumped up and stepped on air shooting forward before Maiko could even react. Yuki knew how dangerous the horned snake was, so if Nana slipped up at all, she would end up seriously injured.

Yuki quickly entered the cave that was dimly lit and found that it was not all that deep. She quickly arrived at the end of the cave to find a large nest with three eggs lying in it. “The mission gives points for every egg so…”

Yuki felt slightly bad, but she still took all three eggs into her space before turning around and bolting back towards the exit. She figured it would take thirty seconds to reach the end of the cave so she could get out in the same amount of time. Nana only needed to provide a short window for her. But sadly, not all things go as planned….

A large head with big yellow eyes appeared before Yuki, causing her to halt her steps. She could hear Nana outside the cave trying to get the snake’s attention which told her that the damn snake had actually turned around not long after she had entered the cave. 

Yuki could only curse her luck. She had not expected the horned snake to turn around so quickly. She could only guess that this meant the rank five horned snake was more intelligent than she thought. It had chased them for a few minutes before, but now….  

Yuki did not panic, instead, she held her hand on the hilt of her sword and looked for even the smallest bit of space for her to escape through. What she was hoping was that the horned snake would attack like it normally would by charging at her. If it did, she would have a chance to escape, but if it used its poison on her, she might not get that chance.

Unfortunately for Yuki, it was just not her day. The snake opened its mouth, which allowed Yuki to see a glowing purple light that suddenly flew at her at an incredible speed. Yuki had no choice but to dodge backward further into the cave. Yuki saw a wave of purple fluid spread out towards her as she continued to retreat. The smell of the fluid burned her nose and made her eyes water. She had not even touched it, and it was already enough to affect her senses. 

“Heavenly Suppression!” A booming sound rocked the cave as the horned snake cried out in pain. It was unable to turn around in its current position in the cave, so it was now an easy target for Nana and Fatty, who had rushed into the cave to try to help Yuki.  “Yuki!!!!!!!!!”

“I’m fine!” Yuki yelled out as she landed on the ground. The whole space in front of her was now covered in purple poison. “Be careful! It shot poison! Stay near the entrance of the cave!”  She had to warn Nana before she decided to pass by the snake and make her way over to her.

Nana bit her lip as she looked at her sword which had only cracked one of the scales of the  rank five demonic beast. Even with her heavenly suppression, it was not enough to shatter a rank five demonic beast’s scales. “Nana heads up! Thousand Ways of the Ax!”

Nana jumped back just as Fatty dropped down and slammed his ax right on the spot that Nana had hit, cracking the scale in half and slicing into the horned snake, causing it to cry out in pain. Nana was about to use this chance to run over to Yuki when she heard Yuki’s warning making her halt her steps. She wanted to risk it, but if she ever got hurt or died, Yuki would be left alone and blame herself for her death.

Gripping her sword, Nana bit her lip before making a firm decision. “Fatty, we are killing this thing here and now!” They currently had the advantage. The horned snake was stuck in the tunnel of the cave with little room to move around, nevermind turning around completely. It would either need to keep chasing Yuki or try to escape by backing out. And since it seemed to be protecting the eggs, it would not dare thrash around too much, or it would end up causing the cave to collapse. The odds were on their side.