Her plans were quickly falling apart.

The ground troops were hit the most. She saw her brother in the midst of fallen bodies, pushing back against the large snake to prevent it from crushing him and the six other snakes behind him.

The speedy snake was isolated from them by another group of panicked snakes that were slowly descending to chaos – only the scarred snake remained behind to help him.

They are able to hold on and push back, but the large snake applied more pressure as if it was just playing around with them. And soon the scarred snake grew weak and passed out from exhaustion.

Fearing the worst – the female guard used her cry as a last resort.

The sudden screech filled the cave affecting everyone around her – including the snakes that were already weak. It was one of its major drawbacks, in that her cry couldn't be focused on any specific target. She wouldn't have used it if the situation wasn't dire.

The large snake was also affected by the sound, allowing the snakes behind the male guard to flee – but it was only for a moment. It quickly began to move again like it didn't feel any adverse effects and like nothing had changed, it approached her brother with reared fangs.

Just when she thought it was the end, the large snake was suddenly struck by a splash of water that drenched its scales.

Stunned, the female guard looked in the direction it had come from, and saw a floating orb of water. It appeared above the unconscious scarred snake, transparent in colour but glowing from the inside with greenish blue light.

Whenever the large snake came close, more water shot out from the mysterious orb in the form of a whip it used to slash at the snake – almost like it was protecting the scarred snake.

What was it, and how did the scarred snake come to possess it, the female guard wondered.

The larger snake also looked stunned, and a little annoyed at suddenly being drenched with water. However, it was mostly unharmed and continued to approach, but after taking a couple of water attacks, the large snake was now completely wet, and a picture of fury.

The orb continued to generate more water, keeping the larger snake at bay and giving them a much needed hope...until it was sliced in two and shut down from the air by a flat spinning disk.

The snakes looked on in disbelief as the cave gradually became drenched in water – some scrambling out of the way of the attacks and others getting hit by sprays of water. But the mysterious orb reformed itself and continued to attack and soon, the once serious battle devolved into a chaotic water fight you would see amongst children.

However, the battle soon came to a standstill where neither opponent was able to take a step closer as both the large snake and the orb grew exhausted.

It formed a shield of water over the scarred snake, leaving the others in various stages of undignified defeat, with many even unconscious – yet it only seemed concerned with the scarred snake.

And then, rather than continue attacking the orb or the other snakes, it ignored them all and turned towards the injured snake, leaving the female guard extremely confused – did it not want to eat them?

Of the few snakes that could still move, only the male guard was exhausted but unharmed. The speedy snake freed itself from the other snakes and rushed over to them in confusion.

But as the other snakes slowly began to wake up, they realised something - despite its overwhelming strength, none of the snakes were heavily injured, and none had died.

The large snake had gone to the back of the cave where it then began to heal the injured pale snake, and the three snakes all stared at it with conflicting emotions, unsure of what to think.

They had attacked it without provocation when all it wanted to do was heal one of their own, so perhaps this result was deserved.

In her heart the female guard was completely convinced - there was no way this snake was anyone other than their leader. Her brother realized it too, and there was a glint of amusement in his eyes - he seemed both surprised and impressed.

The female guard was the least injured, so she thought it best to approach the snake to try and communicate.

If the scarred snake was awake, he would have rushed over to meet her without question. Unfortunately, he was still unconscious and locked under the mysterious orb's water shield.

So, the female guard decided to do it on his behalf. She cautiously approached the large snake after urging her brother and the speedy snake to stay further behind.

She was scared any move from them as a group would be perceived as an attack – alone she was less of a threat. Not that the larger snake would have any difficulty taking them all down, instead she was more afraid of getting attacked.

When she spoke to it, the larger snake did not respond so she moved next to it to observe its actions and watched with wonder as it materialised a red coloured serum from somewhere and fed it to the injured nestling and some of its colour returned instantly, although it remained unconscious.

The female guard tried speaking to it again and this time she was able to get its attention – yet there were no words exchanged. As the dark pair of eyes fell on her, she began to tremble, but not from fear – if anything, she wanted to hug their leader but was afraid the sharp blades on her body would impale her.

What to do?

Wait, what was the greeting again?

Ignoring the snickers behind her, the female guard shut her eyes in embarrassment and began to do the wriggly dance she hadn't repeated since their leader left. Once she was done, she stared at the larger snake, eagerly waiting for her to do the same.

After a long awkward pause, the vibrant snake began to dance too, although her movements were stiff and there was hesitation evident in her eyes.

With that, all of her fears were laid to rest. The male guard and the speedy snake rushed over to do the dance too. And all the snakes that were still conscious soon joined in with them. The cave soon exploded with cheer.

Their leader had finally returned!

The female guard was the happiest of them all – their leader had returned even stronger than before! And it seemed, things will change for them all now.

In the midst of the celebration, she suddenly felt a harsh pain in the base of her skull that made her wince.

Looking around, she saw some of the nestlings were experiencing the same thing, the male guard and speedy had their eyes shut like they were experiencing untold amounts of discomfort – while some of the other snakes remained the same.

And then she heard it clearly, a voice speaking inside her head that was neither male nor female.

〚You have been granted the name 『Ophelia』〛

〚Confirmed:『Status Inspection』has been acquired〛

A basic screen showing words she couldn't understand, appeared in front of her eyes.

----------------

Name: Ophelia [LV7 Neonate Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 74/74 Defence: 40

MP: 88/88 Intellect: 80

SP: 65/65 Magic: 76

Attack: 75 Agility: 106

Skills:

[Buoyancy:LV10] [Scent: LV9] [Grip: LV8]

[Evasion: LV8] [Opalescent Scales: LV5]

[Farsight: LV7] [Enhanced Agility: LV4]

[Compulsion: LV7] [Cooperation: LV9]

[Descant: LV8] [Critical Thinking: LV7]

[Vision Expansion: LV2] [Silence: LV6]

[Concentration: LV10] [Glide: LV9]

[Rapid Strike: LV7] [Fortune: LV8]

[Poison Fang: LV6] [Insight: LV8]

[Floating Ribs: LV10] [Leap: LV9]

[Stealth: LV3] [Glacial Skin: LV7]

[Heat Sense: LV5] [Bite: LV7]

[Probability Correlation: LV3]

[Danger Perception: LV4]

Titles:

[Pit Member] [Captain] [Siren]

Attribute:

[Status Inspection]

Resistances:

[Wind Resistance: LV9]

[Mental Warfare: LV7]

[Dark Resistance: LV4]

[Pain Resistance: LV1]

[Faint Resistance: LV1]

[Shock Resistance: LV1]

[Heat Nullification: LV1]

----------------

As she read, the meaning of the words slowly became clearer in her mind. She was amazed at what she saw, but as the female guard became aware of what had happened, her thoughts centred around her new name.

To which she concluded their leader really had poor taste.

[Did you feel that?] The male guard approached her.

[Yeah, it was amazing. What did she name you?]

He looked away, shying away from answering. [Not important. We need to regroup and recover all the injured first.]

Ah…It was probably embarrassing too.

At his words, Ophelia remembered the spaded snake and her unfortunate defeat - she wouldn't take it well when she woke up.

[I'm surprised you won't fight harder for your position as leader.]

[The stronger snake has to lead.] He answered simply.

[Your admirer wouldn't like you giving up so easily.]

[What admirer?] Her brother looked puzzled.

[Nevermind.]

Ophelia taunted him, but really she was relieved. She looked at their leader who was now curled up next to the injured snake. The uninjured snakes crowded around her and they all kept wriggling without any care, even when their leader closed her eyes.

[You noticed it too, right?] She said.

Her brother nodded.

After her mortifying dance, which thankfully not many saw, she was able to grasp their leader's major weakness.

She couldn't communicate at all like they did – if she even spoke at all.

If the spaded snake knew, she would think her lesser than them. But, something like that didn't bother Ophelia at all – if she couldn't speak, she was ready to become their leader's mouthpiece.

[We tell no one about this.]

The male guard curtly nodded.

Since they alone could receive her commands. It was up to them to convey her instructions to the others as best as they could.

Eventually she would pick it up like they all had, until then it would remain their secret.