In the suffocating mud...

Adir’s body twitched as the last of his breath slipped away, bubbles rising to the surface. His form flickered—human, serpent, shadow, light—caught in a chaotic spiral. His heartbeat faded.

Around him, dozens of loyal snakes thrashed, trying to reach him. But hundreds of venomous scorpions swarmed, biting them, pinning them down with brutal precision.

Above, Scorpion Aniuman let out a sharp hiss of victory.

Scorpion Aniuman: (mocking)

 "Such a disappointment. The ‘serpent boy’ sinks like dead weight."

Within Adir’s unconscious mind...

Everything was white. Quiet. Endless.

Adir floated in the void, weightless, his breath steady but hollow.

Suddenly, the silence was split by a divine hum. The space rippled with golden light.

From the horizon slithered a massive serpent, its scales shimmering like molten silver and emerald. Its eyes glowed with wisdom as old as time. Around it danced an aura of ancient symbols and divine fire.

The presence shook the soul.

Adir: (blinking, confused)

 "...Am I dead? Where am I?"

The serpent spoke, its voice echoing not in sound, but inside Adir’s spirit.

???:

 "You are not dead, my child. You are in the Between—where soul meets soul."

Adir's eyes widened.

Adir:

 "...Who are you?"

The serpent coiled in the air, and a celestial wind swirled around it.

Serpent:

 "I am Sarpanir, the Prime Fang, the First of the Great Serpents. Chosen by the Three Lords to carry their message across eras."

Adir fell silent, awe-struck.

Adir:

 "...I don’t understand. Why me? Why these powers? I’m not ready. I couldn't even save my mother..."

Sarpanir lowered its immense head gently toward him.

Sarpanir:

 "Power does not come to the ready. It comes to the one who must rise. You are not a mistake, Adir. You are the bridge between gods and mortals. The one who can do what they could not."

Adir’s voice cracked.

Adir:

 "Kraksh... the chaos lord... the gods failed. How am I supposed to succeed where they couldn’t?"

Sarpanir:

 "You will not be alone. And the gods did not fail—they laid the path. You must walk it. And in doing so, awaken something far greater than strength—union of soul."

Adir blinked, trying to follow.

Adir:

 "Union... of soul?"

Sarpanir:

 "Your essence is tied to all that slithers, all that stings, all that breathes through scale and soil. Focus. Feel them. Collapse the barriers. Let your soul merge with the forest’s heartbeat. Only then can you rise."

The snake’s coils shimmered brighter.

Sarpanir:

 "Now return, son of the Serpent Flame. Return, and show the enemy why the gods still believe."

With that, the ancient serpent vanished in a burst of golden dust.

Back in the mud...

Adir’s eyes shot open. But they were not the same.

Now glowing with twin halos of gold and green, he no longer gasped for air—he breathed through the earth itself.

He shut his eyes again and whispered:

Adir: (calmly)

 "Feel them. Every life. Every thread of energy..."

His soul expanded.

Suddenly, he could see it all—the glowing blue flows of his serpent allies’ spirits... the corrupted red sparks of the scorpions... the chaotic black pulse of the Aniuman...

And something deep within him snapped into focus.

With one deep breath, Adir’s entire form vanished from the mud.

Above the clearing...

Scorpion Aniuman narrowed his eyes. The surface of the mud was calm now—too calm.

Scorpion Aniuman: (growling)

 "Where is he? WHERE IS HE?!"

Suddenly—

A green-gold aura exploded in the air above the swamp.

Adir reappeared, floating above the ground. His body radiated divine heat, encircled by swirling serpent energy. Scaled sigils shimmered across his limbs, glowing like ancient runes. From the snake mark around his neck, a blue aura blazed, coiling upward like fire caught in a cyclone.

Adir: (calm but deadly)

 "You should’ve buried me deeper."

All the scorpions around him froze, their pincers twitching in sudden hesitation.

 Wounded snakes nearby—limp and bloodied just moments ago—rose again, revitalized by the glowing energy channel flowing from Adir. Their eyes burned with unnatural life.

Adir slowly raised his hand.

From above, a colossal serpent spirit, forged from radiant light and ancient energy, spiraled down through the sky, wrapping around him in the air like a divine guardian.

Scorpion Aniuman: (snarling, baring his fangs)

 "You shouldn’t have come back!"

Adir: (eyes flashing like twin stars)

 "I never left."

He lifted both hands—and the snakes surged forward in a torrent, a tidal wave of fangs and fury, flying through the air like a storm of ghosts. As they struck, the entire swamp was consumed in thick smog, whispering with the hiss of a thousand serpents.

The Aniuman slashed wildly but couldn’t see.

 The mist bit into his armored hide—cut after cut, unseen yet piercing.

 These were no longer just snakes—they were spirits. They moved through the air like phantoms, slithering in wind, not in mud.

Scorpion Aniuman: (roaring in rage)

 "ENOUGH!"

With a cry of fury, he slammed both arms into the earth.

 Hundreds of scorpions burst forth, racing in all directions, moving so fast their motion blew the mist apart. The smoke split, revealing Adir—still floating, untouched, his eyes glowing with eerie serenity.

Scorpion Aniuman: (panting)

 "You’ve learned some new tricks, serpent... but you can’t defeat me!"

Adir: (coldly, with divine power in his voice)

 "I’m not here to defeat you. I’m here to end you."

He extended his arm—and from his palm, serpents burst forth, midair, transforming mid-flight into glowing energy blades. The knives twisted and spun like coiled vipers, slicing into the Aniuman’s hide. Each strike sparked with radiant flame.

Scorpion Aniuman: (recoiling in pain, blood hissing as it hit the ground)

 "AGHH! You dare—!"

His body began to warp and expand. With a shriek of fury, he transformed—armor thickening, claws lengthening, and his tail growing into a spiked, armored mace. His eyes glowed red, his face now distorted into something monstrous.

His final form emerged—a towering, demonic scorpion, grotesque and nightmarish, with horned fangs, a segmented armored face, and a tail like a falling star.

Adir: (staring in awe and disgust)

 "You’re not a normal Aniuman... you’re a demon."

Scorpion Aniuman: (grinning, monstrous)

 "Did you finally get scared? You should be. This swamp will be your grave!"

Adir: (voice rising in divine wrath)

 "I’ve faced worse than you in the fires of my past. You're just another shadow."

The demon lunged—massive claws swinging, tail smashing trees like toothpicks.

Adir vanished in a blur of gold and blue, dodging with divine speed. He reappeared midair, hovering just above the rampaging beast.

Scorpion Aniuman: (laughing wickedly)

 "You think you’re the only one who can evolve?"

He roared—and lunged again.

But this time, Adir’s aura flared. His body twisted as his spirit surged outward.

A radiant serpent emerged—not one, but five heads, each one glowing with a different hue: gold, sapphire, emerald, crimson, and violet.

 The sky trembled as Adir’s true spirit form rose behind him: a five-headed serpent god, fangs bared, hissing in celestial wrath.

Adir: (voice layered with divine echoes)

 "Then witness mine!"

He struck downward—a divine serpent storm unleashed. Lightning crackled from his eyes. The spirit serpent heads roared, shaking the swamp, their voices echoing with ancient power.

The swamp shook with the weight of gods.

Above the shattered trees and steaming muck, Adir hovered—his body a blazing beacon of divine wrath, the five-headed serpent spirit behind him writhing through the heavens. Each head moved with intelligence, watching the Scorpion Aniuman from every angle.

Scorpion Aniuman: (sneering)

 "You think your glowing pets frighten me? I AM TERROR! I AM PAIN!"

He lunged—tail spinning like a flail, claws crashing together like cymbals. The ground cracked beneath each step, sludge flying as he thundered forward like a monstrous war engine.

Adir’s eyes flared.

He thrust his arms forward, and the five serpent heads opened their jaws—each releasing a blast of elemental power.

The golden head spat pure searing light, blinding the demon.

The blue head roared out a wave of ice mist, freezing one claw in mid-air.

The emerald head unleashed a coil of vines and thorns, binding the demon’s limbs.

The crimson head breathed flames, which burned with divine fury.

And the violet head released psychic venom, causing the Scorpion to stagger, screeching in agony.

Scorpion Aniuman: (thrashing, wild)

 "NO! I am the wrath of Murunda! I cannot fall!"

Adir: (descending slowly, voice booming like thunder)

 "You’ve spilled blood without purpose. You’ve served darkness without question. You—are done."

The Scorpion ripped through the vines, leapt high into the air, and aimed to crush Adir beneath his massive tail like a comet.

But Adir didn’t move.

His snake sigils flared brighter than ever before.

Adir: (whispering to the serpent spirits)

 "Bite. Breathe. Break."

The five serpent heads converged, forming one colossal mouth of divine energy.

As the demon tail fell toward him—

Adir raised his hand.

And the spirit serpent struck.

A blinding pillar of light shot upward, swallowing the Scorpion Aniuman whole in a thunderous blast. Trees bent away. The swamp waters evaporated into mist. Even the clouds parted as the roar echoed for miles.

Silence followed. The demon’s body, now cracked and scorched, fell from the sky like broken armor.

He hit the ground—shattered, his monstrous form shrinking, wilting.

His final, rasping breath rattled through the air.

Scorpion Aniuman: (coughing, fading)

 "How... did you... become this?"

Adir: (kneeling beside him)

 "By choosing the light... even in the dark."

The demon’s red eyes dimmed to nothing.

His body crumbled—not into flesh, but black ash, as if his very soul was burned away by purity.

The five-headed serpent faded behind Adir, slowly dissipating into streaks of light that returned to the skies.

The swamp was quiet.

 The snakes bowed their heads.

 And Adir... stood victorious.

He looked to the horizon.

Adir: (softly, to himself)

 "One down. Murunda... I’m coming for you next."

His cracked shell smoked as divine fire licked along the cracks, sealing his fate. What once roared with fury and hatred now lay in broken silence, half-buried in the very swamp that had been his domain.

Adir hovered above, chest heaving, energy swirling violently around him. But there was no rage in his eyes now—only quiet sorrow and ancient resolve.

Adir: (softly, almost to himself)

 “Let this ground never forget what it buried…”

All around him, the snakes hissed—not in fear, but in reverence. They coiled around trees, the air, each other, basking in the new divine energy that now pulsed through the soil.

Far away, hidden in the shadows of trees, unseen eyes watched.

A silhouette stepped back—a figure cloaked in darkness, her golden eyes flickering.

???: (coldly, to herself)

 “So... the child awakens. Murunda must be told.”

She vanished.

Meanwhile, on the mountain...

Garu coughed as he tried to rise, his injured wing dragging behind him. The Rhino Aniuman stomped closer, looming like an unstoppable force of nature.

Rhino Aniuman: (chuckling)

 “You’re broken, bird. A cracked idol.”

Garu: (weak but defiant)

 “Still standing... aren't I?”

And then—the wind changed.

From the swamp below, a blinding light surged into the sky. Even from the cliff, it was visible—a serpent of celestial fire coiling upward through the clouds.

Garu’s eyes widened.

 He felt it in his bones. The shift.

Garu: (gritting his teeth, smirking)

 “Heh... you picked the wrong day to fight me, horn-boy.”

Rhino Aniuman: (brows furrowing)

 “What is that light—?”

Garu’s eyes glowed faintly, the light sparking across his feathers.

Garu:

 “That’s your doom coming for you... and my backup.”