Ssshhhh

From the darkness, a long and sizeable legless reptile emerged. The skin was golden brown with a tongue sticking out close to them.

"Ah, a snake? Who are you, and where are you from?" asked Arthur. He changed the position of his awareness to stand as usual. According to him, this figure is not dangerous.

"Kaia ..." Her distinctive hissing sound echoed throughout the forest.

"Alright, Kaia. I'm Arthur, and this is my friend, Gus. Please, don't underestimate him. Otherwise, you'll regret it later," Arthur retorted.

Gus trailed off as he stared fiercely at Kaia. Arthur was indeed really serious when he said things about Gus. But, let alone Kaia, Arthur himself didn't dare to mess with the ancient rabbit.

"No need to linger. What is your purpose for coming here? I don't have much time to argue with you," Gus asked.

"Shouldn't I be the one who asked? This is my territory. What is the purpose of you guys coming here?" asked Kaia. Her long body squirmed softly around Gus and Arthur.

Gus and Arthur turned their heads to each other at the same time quietly. They realized that the journey of the two was far enough that it didn't feel like they had left the Dark forest area.

"Ah, sorry. I forgot that this is no longer my territory. We came here just passing by. Our goal was actually to go to the southern forest," explained Arthur.

Unlike Arthur, who tried to communicate well with Kaia, Gus kept quiet while folding his hands together with an annoyed face. His eyebrows were bent as if he didn't like the creature in front of him. His feelings are that something went wrong with this giant snake.

"Alright. Since you've spoken politely to me, I'll let you on your way," Kaia replied as she stretched her twist at Arthur.

"Thank you, Kaia. In that case, Gus and I said goodbye to go." Arthur continued his steps, followed by Gus. However, the ancient rabbit had a little trouble getting away from Kaia's strong winding. Seeing this, Arthur did not remain silent. Instead, he helped his best friend, who was struggling.

"Wait," Kaia rebutted, stopping Arthur's footsteps.

"What's the matter?" asked Arthur turning to Kaia.

"I said, continue your journey. It's not your trip."

"What do you mean?" asked Arthur with a wrinkle on his forehead.

"I have already allowed you to pass through my territory. Now, I need the reward. Coincidentally, I haven't found any deer around the forest. You see, right? My stomach was shaking with hunger," Kaia replied.

Arthur's gaze went straight to Gus. The rabbit seemed to have known that this was going to happen. From the beginning, he felt that this creature was not good.

"Oh, you want to eat me, huh?" asked Gus casually.

Kaia smiled grinningly. Finally, the grumpy rabbit also spoke after looking at her sarcastically from the beginning of the meeting.

"He's not a prey. Didn't you hear, from the beginning, I told you that he was my friend?! So, please, we come in peace," Arthur retorted.

"Wait here. Let me take care of it; you don't have to waste energy dealing with the creature," Gus whispered to Arthur.

"You're sure? I can finish him off if you want," Arthur hissed.

"Yes, just calm down. You know who I am."

Gus advanced closer to Kaia casually. He jumped over the part of her body lying on the ground as if he was playing around.

"You hungry? Do you know that I'm an ancient rabbit? The truth is that if you eat, you won't be full. Unless you're going to die," Gus said.

Arthur smiled from a distance. His worry was gone because, just remembering something, Gus was playing his part.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect an ancient rabbit like you to be good at quibble. But alas, I'm not that stupid to be deceived. Now, stop talking because I'm already hungry!"

Kaia deflected her head towards Gus. Drop after drop of mucus came out of her mouth, her dark black eyes implying that this creature was starving. She began to wrap her body around the little rabbit, who still looked relaxed. She opened her mouth wide until he saw two fangs with sharp tips as spears.

"Oh, you can't believe it? Do you think I'm joking? I give you one more chance, lest you regret it," Gus said. His body was almost wrapped around firmly by Kaia.

Hunger had already darkened the eyes and ears of the infinitely long giant snake. So she didn't listen to Gus's words at all.

Swiftly, Gus pulled out a claw from his leg and stuck it into the lower part of Kaia's body, causing the creature to fall into pain. Of course, it made her windings come off spontaneously. After the winding comes off,

"Aaarghhhh! What did you do to me?!"

Kaia was poisoned while flipping through her body. She felt like something had entered her body to the point of making the pain continue to stab brutally.

"You see? I warned you, but you didn't listen to me. That's the consequence."

Furious at Gus's remarks, Kaia quickly approached him as he wanted to pounce directly on the furry creature. But, of course, Arthur did not stand still. Instead, he deflected Kaia's attack until her fangs almost stabbed into Arthur's arm.

While Arthur held Kaia's gaping mouth, Gus plunged his nails back into Kaia. Not only that, he even cut one pin and threw it into Kaia's mouth.

Instantly, Kaia shouted until he withdrew from Arthur and Gus's attacks. Not long after, her body relaxed, and she fell to the ground.

"It's a tiring day. Come on, let's continue the journey before sunrise," Gus invited.

"You're right. Tomorrow, we already have to go back to the Dark Forest."

They continued their journey back.

"I just found out that your claws could get someone killed," Arthur said as he walked through the trees.

"No, I can't do it. The snake will only faint for two or three hours. After that, she will regain consciousness," Gus replied.

"Then what did you do to Kaia?" asked Arthur curiously.

"When you were engrossed in talking to the snake, I secretly stuck my paws in the poisonous frog I saw behind the tree. During the meal, at that time, I didn't say much. But, I knew it was going to happen, just in case," Gus said.

"Poisonous frog? Wow, that's a great idea! I almost killed by the snake because of what it said to you," Arthur retorted.

"I told you, we don't have much time to fight against her. So don't waste energy doing that. Better, we're just getting ready for what happens when we get to the southern forest. Because, if there is a wizard living there, there is definitely something worse than a murderous big snake like Kaia."