Chapter 249: Lily, Dahlia and Deathmist

The teleportation ended as suddenly as it had begun—so fast, it didn’t even last a full blink.

The moment we arrived, I spread my perception outward to scan the area. I wasn’t about to get caught off guard again.

We were inside a large wooden hall. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made from polished timber, warm in color and finely crafted. It looked a lot like the style of the houses Ana had been living in—but this place felt older, more sacred.

And then I noticed it.

We weren’t alone.

Right ahead stood a massive wooden door, at least twenty feet tall. Thick iron hinges held it in place, and its surface was carved with intricate designs—twisting, elegant shapes of nagas, the half-serpent, half-human beings.

But what caught my attention wasn’t the door.

It was the thing guarding it.

A gigantic wooden serpent lay coiled in front of it, its body carved so perfectly I would’ve assumed it was a statue—if not for what happened next.

Its eyes lit up with a pale green glow.

Then, with a long creaking groan, the wooden coils began to shift. The serpent uncoiled slowly, rising up as it moved, each joint cracking like old bark flexing for the first time in ages.

Its head stopped rising just inches from the ceiling, nearly thirty feet above us.

It stared straight at us.

And it was definitely alive.

Its eyes glowed a deep, earthy brown, and two thin beams of light shot out from them, heading straight for us.

I reacted immediately, waving my hand.

“Spatial Shield.”

The space before me shimmered as my will formed a curved barrier around all three of us. But the beams didn’t even slow down, they passed through the shield like it wasn’t there and struck each of us directly.

I tensed, ready to retaliate, expecting some form of paralysis or attack but just as quickly as the beams touched us, they vanished.

Nothing happened.

That’s when we heard it. A voice—soft, feminine, and strangely comforting—echoed from the serpent itself.

“A Feran?”

I blinked, then turned toward Steve. “Did you hear that?”

He nodded, frowning. “Yeah.”

Ana added, “I heard it too.”

I looked at her and gave a small gesture, silently asking her to respond.

Ana stepped forward, keeping her voice calm. “Yes. I am Anastasia Redscale from the Whitefeather Roc tribe. From the world of Feradros.”

The serpent didn’t reply immediately. For a few seconds, it remained silent, simply watching us with glowing eyes.

Then, in the same gentle tone, it said, “Hmm. I understand. So… why are you here?”

Ana turned to me, clearly uncertain if she should say more.

I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I swept my perception across the hall, trying to understand what this place was.

It looked like a shrine or a sealed chamber. That massive door behind the serpent, it was definitely protecting something. And the serpent itself… it resembled a smaller version of the giant serpent we’d seen sleeping in the temple within the pocket realm.

Finally, I stepped forward. I decided to take a more polite approach.

“Umm… if you don’t mind me asking, how should I address you?”

Even while facing a living wooden serpent, I still managed to be a gentleman. Proud of that.

The serpent shifted, bringing its enormous head down until it hovered just in front of my face. Its snout alone was bigger than my chest.

“You can call me Lily,” it said.

I blinked. That… was not what I expected. A named serpent?

Still, I kept my composure.

“Lily,” I said with a small nod, “we came here because we’re searching for a way to wake up the guardian.”

The serpent blinked slowly. “Guardian?” it asked, sounding genuinely puzzled. Its soft voice still felt strange, coming from something so huge.

“Yeah,” I replied. “We saw a giant serpent in a temple, inside a pocket realm. Its scales were dark red and black. We thought it was a guardian.”

Lily let out a low, amused chuckle. “That’s Dahlia. She is not a guardian.”

Her words hit like a bucket of ice water.

Not… a guardian?

Then what the hell had I been trying to awaken? What had I planned to unleash on Grandmaster Hugh?

I stared into Lily’s massive eyes and forced out a respectful reply. “I see. In that case, we apologize for disturbing you. We mistakenly assumed Dahlia was a guardian and came looking for a way to wake her so that she can help us with a situation. Thank you for your help. We’ll take our leave.”

I turned to walk away, hoping Lily would say more, anything that could clue me in on what was really going on here.

But I had barely taken a step when a root burst from the wooden floor and coiled tightly around my ankle, locking me in place.

Lily’s voice returned, this time with a curious edge.

“What kind of situation are you talking about? I’d like to know.”

I glanced down and tried to pull my leg free, but the root was strong—far stronger than it looked. I glanced back at Lily and realized something chilling.

I couldn’t scan her.

The system gave no level. No information. As if she didn’t exist.

I sighed. “All right. I’ll answer. But could you let go of my leg first?”

The root released instantly, slipping back into the floor like it had never been there.

I took a deep breath and lowered myself onto the hard floor. It was going to be a long story, anyway.

So I started telling her about the current state of the realm. I made sure to say over and over that the three of us were just best friends who had somehow been teleported here by accident and were now trying to find a way out.

I didn’t mention the Holts were humans or that there were Naga prisoners—I wasn’t sure how she’d react. I kept quiet about our mission too, only explaining that we were unlucky travelers trapped in this place.

But it felt like Lily wasn’t really listening to any of that. Her next question came out of nowhere, totally unrelated to what I’d said.

“What about the Deathmist?” she asked.

I blinked, tilting my head. “Deathmist?”

Lily went on, “The surge of the black fog that spreads across this realm.”

So that’s what the corruption was called—Deathmist. I’d never heard the name before.

I told her the Deathmist still surged regularly. The floating ruins were right now covered by it, and every night the mountain range disappeared beneath its black veil.

Lily pulled her head back and coiled her body, shrinking her height slightly.

Then she spoke.

“You can’t wake Dahlia without dealing with the Deathmist first. Who would’ve thought that after all these years, we’re still trapped by this curse.”

My brows furrowed. Just that one sentence from Lily made everything feel even more complicated.

Help the book with GTs and Powerstones.

Creation is hard, cheer me up!