Akira could hardly breathe. His legs were rooted in place, as if frozen by some unseen force. The creature's amber eyes locked onto him, scrutinizing him with an intensity that made every crevice of his body feel exposed.

  It was a silent interrogation, one that Akira could not escape from. His breath came in shallow gasps. His thoughts were a jumbled mess of panic and confusion. What do I do? No… What can I do?

  Akira knew he stood no chance no matter if he tried running or fighting, even if somehow he defeated this… nightmare, many more would just descend from the treetops.

  What could a normal human with no memory of anything but his name do against a monster that looked to be a nightmare incarnated?

  He did not know whether to feel frightened or in awe of the creature, or maybe he was simply feeling both things simultaneously.

  His grip on the mantis claw tightened and softened, his body could not decide between taking whatever chance at surviving and going for it or giving up and being at the creature's mercy.

  The crimson sphere that he held in his left hand was the only reassurance he had, Akira did not know why, but it made him calmer than he should have been.

  The creature leaned in and made a few clicking noises with its very long beak. Unfortunately for Akira, he did not know to cover his ears, the sounds that the monster made were as deafening as gunshots.

  His head spun as the sound of the creature’s clicking beak reverberated in his ears, each sharp note feeling like it drilled into his skull. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he thought he might collapse from the overwhelming noise, but he forced himself to stay upright, clutching the mantis claw and using it as a sort of crutch in one hand and the crimson sphere in the other, as though they were his only anchors in this nightmare.

  The creature’s amber eyes narrowed, and its long, graceful neck twisted as it observed him. There was something almost mocking in the way it watched him struggle.

  It cocked back and tilted its head to one side, as if trying to gauge his reaction.

  The creature leaned in, its long neck stretching out as the tip of its beak slowly approached Akira's small body.

  Just as the distance between the silver-eyed boy and the pearly white monster was within his reach, the monster suddenly retracted its head back and turned its attention to another part of the jungle.

  Without warning, a cacophony of sounds started playing from the monster’s kin above from the treetops. Was it… a warning?

  The pale behemoth in front of him stretched out its clawed ‘arms’ and stretched its immense wings as if trying to fly off, but before it could do that, something shot out of the forest.

  It was the snake that Akira had seen previously, or at least it was the same kind of monster, only smaller in size, its speed much faster than the boy’s eyes could hope to follow.

  By the time Akira’s gaze had landed back on the snake, it had already basically killed the monster that had landed before the boy.

  The snake’s jaws were already clenching tightly around the winged creature's long neck.

  There was no sound, no struggle, simply a weak twitch from the winged monster’s body as blood gushed from the wound, its rich crimson violating the pristine, almost divine white of the fallen creature.

  The fluid pooled on the ground in a growing lake. The sight was grotesque yet mesmerizing, his eyes unable to tear away from the horrifying display of primal dominance.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Even the winged monster’s kin had silenced its loud yet useless warnings.

  Akira was witnessing something so raw and impactful he couldn’t help but take a step back as his grip on the giant claw and on the crimson orb loosened.

  This is it… This is survival. There was no malevolence or hatred in the snake’s actions.

  It was simply to eat or to be eaten, it was pure, and in its own twisted way… it was beautiful.

  His mind was blank like a canvas painting a landscape of what was unfolding before him, a predator feasting on its prey.

  The snake started devouring the winged behemoth, slowly swallowing its body whole.

  As the snake continued its gruesome feast, Akira stood frozen, however the winged monster’s kin had other plans.

  The booming sound of wings flapping could be heard, it wasn’t one or two, nay, it was dozens or maybe even more.

  One of the pale creatures flew in with speed so great Akira’s eyes couldn't follow, despite the colossal size of these creatures, their speed and agility was far too much for Akira to comprehend.

  The snake finished swallowing its meal and with its belly now full, its amber eyes shifted, its head slowly turning to face the incoming threat.

  Its forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air.

  The pale creature, faster than any living thing Akira had seen before, dove straight for the snake with alarming speed, its giant beak ready to pierce the snake’s green scales.

  ‘CRACK’ The sound of bones breaking was the only thing that could be heard, Akira caught exactly the moment of impact, but it wasn't the snake who got hit… but the winged monster.

  The snake’s tail hit the winged behemoth like a whip cracking at lightning-fast speeds hitting the other monster.

  The monster fell crashing into a tree, its body twisted, mangled and broken from both impacts. Its beak split wide agape, the tips pointing in different directions as blood splurged from every orifice and open wound of its body, and at that speed it was even a miracle that its relatively small body did not become nothing more than mush and flesh paste.

  Akira finally came to his senses. I need to hide, one of the monsters might decide to attack me if I continue to stay out in the open like this.

  Taking advantage of the battle’s chaos, Akira quickly retreated behind a giant tree, using some underbrush to hide himself while still watching the fight between the titanic snake and the pale skinned monsters.

  Despite the number of flying behemoths, the snake did not seem too alert, as if it were simply swatting away a few pesky flies.

  The pale winged creatures, undeterred by their fallen kin, dove at the snake in waves.

  Their synchronized movements were like a macabre dance, their pale, luminous bodies darting through the jungle with an eerie grace.

  Each one aimed for a different part of the serpent's massive form, their sharp beaks striking like spears.

  But no matter how much they tried, their beaks nor talons could not even leave a scratch on the emerald scales of the titan as it whipped its tail, swatting them away, crushing some under its massive body while simply devouring others without a care.

  That's when Akira realized. This isn’t a battle, it’s a one way massacre.

  The winged monsters had no actual way of defeating the snake, they just flew towards their demise. Why? They look smart enough to figure out they can’t beat that thing… Is it a sense of need for revenge for their fallen kin? Pride? Some order from a being above?

  What could be driving them into this suicidal ballet of crimson rain and broken quartz bones?

  Akira moves slowly and carefully through the lush green covers, making sure not to attract any attention to himself as he observed the battle from different angles.

  Minutes passed and the carnage went on, the lush greenery now was washed with blood and golden hue from the setting sun.

  Piles of bodies scattered, mutilated, broken beyond any hope of salvation, lay like pearly white decor around the area, and in the middle, it stood tall and coiled.

  Proud yet unbothered, colossal yet so refined, the titan snake remained unscathed, its emerald green scales glistening in the filtering light of the ball of fire as it ascended beyond the horizon, each plate of armor on its gigantic body shun like jade of the highest quality.

  The leaves stood still as the bark let out a sigh of relief, it was finally over, the massacre had finalized and the results were obvious.

  With a full belly, the snake finished swallowing a few more winged behemoths to satisfy itself, now that it was completely full, there was no more need for it to be here.

  As for Akira, it didn’t even acknowledge his presence to begin with, and even if it did, he doubted it would act any different from his past counterpart.

  The giant monster simply slid away into the greenery, leaving a slight trail in the grass as its massive weight was now boasted even more by the feast of flesh.

  Wanting to get a closer look at the corpses Akira took a step closer out of the lush, however on the first step a sound spread to the black haired boy’s ears.

  It sounded like a deflating decayed ball.

  Akira looked down to see that he had stepped on a giant mushroom.