Chapter One Hundred Eleven: Contract Scroll "Scan the data of the Horalar Black Snake in front of me!"
Leilin issued the command once more.
"Beep! Target data: Strength: 18. Agility: 15. Constitution: 20. Spirit: 22. Abilities: 1. Scale Defense — The diamond-shaped scales covering the Horalar Black Snake's body are perpetually enveloped by a defensive Field, granting immunity to physical and magical attacks below Degree Five and significantly reducing the power of attacks above Degree Five. 2. Shadow Stealth — Inherited from the Komoin Giant Snake's shadow power, allowing the Horalar Black Snake to enter stealth at any time, suppressing all of its own fluctuations. 3. Lightning Flame — Projects thunder-fire from its horn. Estimated attack power: 1,215 degrees. Status: Extremely weakened!"
"These stats…"
Leilin's eyes went wide. "They've already far surpassed the limits of a Third-Rank apprentice — nearly on par with a full
The Chip held no records on full Wizard stats, so Leilin could only make this guess.
"Ross, watch out! This is a Horalar Black Snake! Its power is immense — far beyond what you can imagine!"
"Hissssss!"
Before Leilin could finish his warning, the Horalar Black Snake raised its head and let out a piercing, ear-splitting shriek.
The massive serpent's body began to writhe, its tail whipping across the cavern so hard the entire cave seemed to shake.
Crack! Snap! The milky-white tentacles kept snapping apart, white pus oozing from the wounds.
A disturbingly human glint of mockery flickered in the Horalar Black Snake's triangular eyes before they reverted to those of a beast. It lunged straight toward Ross on the ground with its jaws gaping wide.
"Save him!"
Xiaoya and Jiamen roared, launching several green vine-whips and silver flying daggers straight at the Horalar Black Snake.
Bang! The daggers and vine-whips struck the Horalar Black Snake's scales, throwing up a few sparks.
The Horalar Black Snake didn't flinch in the slightest. It opened its massive, blood-soaked maw, snatched Ross off the ground, and gulped him down whole!
"Oh! No!"
A lump bulged out from beneath the giant serpent's throat, as though someone inside were fighting back.
But soon, as the lump reached the serpent's belly, its struggles grew weaker and weaker, until at last it went completely still.
The entire process took less than a few seconds — so fast that Lein and the others had no time to mount a rescue.
"A Horalar Black Snake???"
Bosain, standing off to the side, was only just recovering from his shock. "That's a creature capable of rivaling a Third-rank Wizard once it reaches adulthood? How could it appear here?"
"Rivaling a Third-rank Wizard?"
Jiamen and the others nearly jumped out of their skins!!! A Third-rank Wizard! That was the level of the Dark Night Lighthouse's leader — a single person powerful enough to suppress all three major academies, including Black Bone Forest!
"If it were truly at the Third-rank Wizard level, we'd already be dead. Nothing but ash left. Could this black snake still be immature?" Lein's thoughts raced.
"No! That's not right! This is an adult Horalar Black Snake, but due to being sealed away for so long without being able to feed, it has degraded from the Third-rank Wizard level to the verge of barely matching a First-rank Wizard! On top of that, it was woken up by that mortal boy at the beginning..."
Following the Chip's prompts, Lein pieced together the truth of the matter.
This Horalar Black Snake was likely a creation of the Crimson Grand Wizard from long ago, carelessly left behind here.
There was clearly no food in this secret realm. The Horalar Black Snake could only reduce its consumption by constantly hibernating.
But centuries and even millennia had passed, and no matter how efficiently the Horalar Giant Snake conserved its energy, the degradation was irreversible — from a creature that could once rival a Third-rank Wizard, it had deteriorated to a state roughly comparable to a First-rank Wizard.
After swallowing Ross, a flicker of satisfaction passed through the Horalar Black Snake's slit-pupiled eyes. Then it turned its gaze back to Lein and the other three.
"It's still just a juvenile Horalar Black Snake — not even comparable to a full Wizard. We still have a chance!"
Lein feared that Bosain's earlier cry about "Third-rank Wizard" would utterly crush the morale of Jiamen and the others, so he hurriedly spoke up to rally them.
Lein had the Chip. He could deduce the truth about the Horalar Black Snake's degradation, but he needed to keep this hidden. There was no way to explain it to Jiamen and the others in such a short time, so Lein simply told a lie.
"Juvenile?" Bosain's eyes lit up. "You're right! This Horalar Black Snake is far too weak — even weaker than an average full Wizard. It must just be a juvenile!"
"This is a creature that, once fully grown, can rival a Third-rank Wizard! If I formed a contract with it..."
Bosain murmured to himself, and then the glow on his armor shimmered as a cluster of metal converged in his right hand, forming a slender, silver-white sword.
"Come then! Legendary Brutalizer of the Night! Let me, Bosain, become your master!"
A look of fanaticism filled Bosain's eyes as he lunged forward without hesitation.
Clang!!! The silver slender sword struck the scales of the Horalar Black Snake, carving out a deep slash. Several palm-sized scales flew off instantly.
"As expected of an adult Horalar Black Snake! There's no way I can break through its defensive Field!"
Bosain shouted at the top of his lungs: "This is mine! This Horalar Black Snake definitely belongs to me!!!"
"Hiss hiss!!!" The Horalar Black Snake let out an angry hiss and whipped its tail around.
Boom!!! Like a bolt of black lightning, the long tail slammed into Bosain with tremendous force.
Bosain was sent hurtling through the air like a cannonball, leaving a deep indentation in the cave wall beside him.
Crash!!! Dirt and rocks rained down, revealing Bosain in his gleaming white armor.
"Leilin, Jiamen, Shaya — help me pin it down! Not only will you earn the friendship of the Lillitelle family, but I'm willing to give up all the spoils from this expedition!"
Bosain shook his head, finally snapping out of his delusions, and called for help from Leilin and the others.
"Regardless, we need to subdue this black snake first — otherwise, none of us will get anything!"
As Jiamen spoke, he poured vast amounts of Spiritual Power and mana into the green emblem.
Ripples of emerald-green light continuously radiated outward from the emblem.
Clang!!! Countless verdant vines burst forth, nearly filling the entire cave, and reached out to entwine the Horalar Black Snake.
"Cloud of
Leilin also unleashed his signature spell — a massive expanse of dark green mist enveloped the Horalar Black Snake entirely. From within the fog, the sounds of corrosion echoed without cease.
"Comb of the Wraiths!" Meanwhile, Shaya produced her prized Magical Item.
It was a wooden comb that looked somewhat aged. Shaya picked it up and ran it through her fiery red hair.
Sizzle!!! Her crimson locks grew wildly, spreading across the floor in a thick layer in the blink of an eye, dyeing the entire cave floor red.
"So it's a binding-type Magical Item. Combined with Jiamen's green emblem, it might actually be enough to restrain the Horalar Black Snake!"
A flicker of anticipation surfaced in Lei Lin's eyes.
The dark green cloud of death dissipated, revealing the massive form of the Horalar Black Snake within.
Its scales still gleamed lustrously, though the wound Bosain had slashed open had torn into a gaping hole, ringed by flesh corroded to a purple-black hue.
The giant serpent's eyes had dimmed somewhat — it seemed Lei Lin's attack had actually done some damage.
"Attack together!" Jiamen nodded to Shaya, and countless green vines shot out from midair, lashing toward the Horalar Black Snake and wrapping around its head.
At the same time, the fiery red hair covering the ground spread like steel wires, then coiled inward like a closing net, binding the Horalar Black Snake tight.
Boom!!!
The green vines and red hair constricted relentlessly, leaving ring after ring of red-and-green stripes across the serpent's black body.
The enormous snake lost its balance and crashed to the ground, sending up a shower of stones and dust.
"Well done!" Bosain praised, his figure leaving several white afterimages in the air as he moved.
With a few swift leaps, he arrived right at the Horalar Black Snake's head.
"Little darling, you're mine now!"
Bosain's face wore an expression of triumph and frenzy as he pulled a scroll radiating powerful energy fluctuations from inside his coat and aimed it straight at the Horalar Black Snake's eyes.
"That's... a scroll inscribed with a contract Wizard spell!"
From the image detected by the Chip, it was an immensely powerful magical artifact — a contract formation array had been sealed onto it, worth at least tens of thousands of Magic Stones. And even at that price, it was virtually unobtainable!
That value exceeded the price of many Wizard companion creatures.
This went to show that the ancient Wizard families still possessed plenty of rare treasures.
Lei Lin watched Bosain as he unrolled the scroll, a thin smile curving at the corner of his lips.
"What a shame. A contract scroll this powerful might actually work against a high-energy creature in its juvenile stage, but this Horalar Black Snake's Spiritual Power is nowhere near that low..."
But without the Chip, Bosain would naturally never have thought of that.
At that moment, his face was filled with excitement as he finished chanting the incantation with trembling hands and tore open the wizard scroll.
Boom!!!
An incredibly bright column of white light surged upward in front of Bosain and the black snake.
The light swirled continuously, eventually transforming into an extraordinary wizard formation array, its surface covered in mysterious patterns and wizard runes.
"Advanced Contract Formation Array! Chip, record!" Lei Lin immediately ordered the Chip to record the formation's layout.
"Come! Become my contracted companion!"
Bosain muttered, and a beam of green light shot out from within the formation array, plunging straight into his forehead.
Another beam of green light shot directly toward the Horalar Black Snake, imprinting itself squarely upon the massive creature's skull.
As if it knew that once the contract was branded upon it, it would lose its freedom forever, the black snake thrashed and struggled desperately, resisting the green light's intrusion.
"Hurry! Hurry!!!"
Beads of cold sweat the size of soybeans dripped ceaselessly from Bosain's forehead as he stared fixedly at the Horalar Black Snake's head.
"My dream, my life — everything hinges on obtaining this Horalar Black Snake…"
Just as the green light was about to be completely absorbed into the Horalar Black Snake's skull, a sudden and unexpected change erupted!!!