Chapter 63: defeating the guardian

"You think a few words can scare us?!" the leader shouted, raising his weapon. "Attack them!"

"your account is completely overdrawn" I called out, stepping past Victor’s horse. The wave of manager authority blasted straight into the three woodsmen all at once. Their joints locked up completely, their weapons stopping mid-air.

I did not draw my sword. I used my high physical speed to glide inside their reach, my fists moving in three quick, direct lines to strike their shoulders. The impacts knocked all them completely off balance, throwing them into the shallow river mud until they dropped their weapons in total submission.

"Victor, disarm them and place them under supervisor custody,They can work off their transit fee by helping our guards clear the old fallen logs from the track tomorrow."

"Right away, sir," Victor gave a bow, his face remaining perfectly still as he dragged the moaning rogues away with the help of the front rank guards.

Once the entrance was clear, I transfer smoothly into my three-foot snake form to scout the deeper forest path alone. my eyes tracking the dense cedar trees as I glided deeper into the valley.

The air grew very thick the further I went, the old logging trails showing no human tracks at all. But as I reached the central clearing where the primary timber mill sat, my eyes caught a strange, unnatural distortion in the center of the yard.

A ancient tree root had burst straight through the floor of the old mill house. Coiled tightly around the wood was not a regular animal, but a giant, blind Timber Python covered in green moss-like scales, its body measuring over forty feet long. Its head was resting flat against a large, glowing green crystal stone embedded in the root matrix—the natural heart core of the entire logging valley.

[System: Advanced threat detected, Barry! You have located the West Bank Valley Guardian — A Tier 4 Ancient Timber Python. It has been absorbing the local nature core energy for ten years. Defeating this entity will allow you to claim the entire forest matrix for your village project!]

I uncoiled my reptile frame from the grass, my new hollow fangs tightening inside my jaw as the lethal core venom began to secrete into my mouth glands.

The giant snake did not stay still for long. The moment my invisible camouflage dropped, its blind head lifted high into the air, its nostrils twitching wildly as it detected the energy coming off my scales. It let out a whistling hiss that caused the wooden walls of the old mill house to shake, its massive body uncoiling from the central root matrix like a green whip.

my dark scales pressing into the ground as I prepared to launch my first strike.

The Timber Python come forward with incredible speed, its mouth opening to swallow my smaller body whole. I used my movement speed to slide out of its path, my body quickly across the grass. The giant snake’s head crashed straight into the wooden floor path behind me, shattering the old timber into tiny splinters.

Before the creature could pull its head back, I reared up my front section, opened my fangs, and activated my new core ability.

[Divine Nurturing]

A beam of energy erupted from my mouth, lighting up the entire dark clearing. The blast hit the giant snake squarely on the side of its neck. The sheer force of the beam tore through its layer of green moss and scales, leaving a deep, burning wound that oozed dark fluid onto the grass.

The Python let out a painful shriek, its tail whipping around in a furious circle. The impact caught my smaller reptile frame before I could slide away, throwing me ten feet backward into a pile of old logs. The physical blow sent a ache through my scales, making my breathing short.

Realizing its regular teeth could not catch my speed, the giant snake turned back toward the glowing crystal embedded in the root. It opened its jaws and bit down on the mineral formation, forcefully drawing the valley’s nature magic straight into its own core.

A wave of green energy exploded outward from its body. The ground beneath my tail began to split open, and dozens of thorn-covered vines shot out from the soil like ropes, wrapping tightly around my body and pinning me into the ground. The thorns dug into my defensive scales, their magic properties clamping down on my energy flow until I could barely move my tail.

The giant snake slithered closer, its head rising above my pinned form for a final, crushing drop.

’Form shift!’ I thought, triggering the internal link to my core instantly.

My small snake body vanished, and my human frame appeared in the center of the vine trap. My clothes looked dusty as I slipped myself out from underneath the loosening coils of the green vines.

Moving twice as fast now, I reached behind my shoulder and drew my new sword with a quick, direct movement. I did not use the main signature technique since it would drain seventy percent of my reserve energy, but I channeled every single drop of my physical power straight into the sword.

The Python dropped its head down like a falling boulder, its mouth open. I stepped forward with my right foot, bracing my boots into the ground, and swung the sword upward in a clean line.

’Slice.’

The sword cut straight through the giant snake’s lower jaw, slicing its massive head completely down the middle. The force of my physical strike did not stop there—it carried through its entire upper neck, splitting the green moss body apart until the creature fell onto the ground on both sides of the root, completely dead.

The entire forest fell completely quiet. My breathing was heavy as I lowered the sword, a normal expression of fatigue showing on my face. Fighting a valley guardian was a hard-working struggle, but the sector was officially cleared.

At the base of the root, the glowing green crystal cracked open, its dense nature energy turning smooth and clear as it accepted my ownership signature.

[System: SUCCESS! The West Bank Logging Sector has been successfully added to your inventory ledger!]

[Valley Core Magic Secured: Timber production limits increased by 200%.]

Victor came running through the brush a minute later, leading the five hundred guards into the yard with their weapons ready. When he saw the giant snake split in half on the ground, his face remained perfectly flat, but he gave a sharp, deeply respectful bow. "The sector is clear, sir. The enemy guardian has been fully processed."

"Get the loggers down here by noon tomorrow, Victor," I ordered, wiping the sweat from my forehead as I sheathed the sword. "We need these cedar logs carried back to the village immediately."

"Right away, sir," Victor said.