Chapter 195: A New Threat (2)

The moment he heard the loud screech, Jake’s expression changed instantly.

He turned to look up and found the small, four-eyed naga perched on the ceiling.

Jake’s eyes widened.

"Shit!"

The moment the screech echoed through the cavern, every naga below stopped moving.

For a brief moment, the entire cavern became eerily silent.

Then, one by one, their heads began to turn as countless pairs of eyes had turned toward them.

The nagas closest to the entrance suddenly hissed and began moving in their direction.

Then more followed.

Within seconds, the entire swarm started shifting toward the entrance.

At the same time, the giant naga slowly stood up.

"...?"

The moment it rose to its full height, the surrounding nagas instinctively moved aside.

Its enormous body towered over the others, and the ground seemed to tremble slightly beneath its weight.

Then it reached down.

Its massive hand wrapped around the two swords resting beside it.

Seeing that, Jake’s expression became serious.

"Aria, we’re going back!"

Aria glanced at him.

"Back?"

"Yeah. We can’t fight them here."

Jake quickly looked over the massive swarm of nagas rushing toward them.

There were simply too many.

If they stayed in the cavern, they would be surrounded in no time, and fighting so many nagas at once would be too risky.

He pointed toward the narrow passage they had just come from.

"That passage is narrow enough that they won’t be able to surround us."

Aria immediately understood what he meant.

"...Then they’ll have to come at us one at a time."

Jake nodded.

"Exactly. Instead of fighting hundreds of them at once, we’ll force them into the passage and deal with them one by one."

His gaze then shifted toward the giant naga.

"And that thing..."

Jake’s eyes narrowed.

"We’ll worry about it after we deal with the others."

Aria tightened her grip on her sword and nodded.

"Understood."

"Let’s go!"

The two of them immediately turned around and sprinted toward the passage they had come from.

But just as they were about to enter the tunnel, Jake suddenly felt something.

"...!"

His instincts warned him of danger.

He quickly glanced backward and noticed the giant naga standing several dozen meters away, its massive greatsword raised high above its head.

Jake’s eyes widened.

’What is that thing doing?’

Before he could react, the giant naga suddenly brought the greatsword down.

BOOM!

The massive blade stabbed directly into the ground.

And the moment it made contact, the entire cavern trembled violently.

RUMBLE!

But it wasn’t simply an earthquake.

The earth itself seemed to shift and twist beneath their feet as if something deep underground had suddenly awakened.

The ground around the giant naga began to rise and sink in waves, sending a violent tremor through the entire cavern.

Jake’s expression changed.

’It’s using a skill!’

He hurriedly stopped Aria.

"Aria! Wait!"

Aria looked at him in confusion.

"What—?"

Before she could finish, a deafening rumble came from inside the tunnel.

RUMBLE!

Jake’s eyes widened.

"Get back!"

He quickly pulled Aria away from the entrance.

The next moment—

BOOOOM!

The entire tunnel suddenly collapsed.

Massive chunks of stone came crashing down, completely destroying the passage they had planned to use.

Dust and debris exploded outward, filling the area around them.

Aria stared at the collapsed tunnel in shock.

"...The tunnel."

Jake’s expression turned grim.

They had just lost their escape route, and if they had remained inside the tunnel, they would have been crushed along with it.

Behind them, the sound of countless nagas continued to approach.

Jake slowly turned around.

His eyes fell on the giant naga standing in the distance, its greatsword still embedded in the ground.

Crack...

The giant naga slowly pulled its sword free and looked directly at Jake.

Then... it grinned.

Jake’s expression darkened.

"Bastard... It did that on purpose."

There was no time to hesitate.

Jake’s eyes narrowed.

’Fine.’

’Copy Lightshaping.’

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the system responded.

[Ding!]

[Lightshaping Lv.1 has been learned!]

He raised his hand.

At first, nothing happened.

Then, a faint glow appeared in his palm.

The light slowly gathered, swirling around his hand like flowing water.

Jake focused and then the light suddenly compressed.

WHOOM!

A brilliant mass of light formed in his hand.

Jake narrowed his eyes and began shaping the light.

The light stretched outward, then it hardened, and a blade slowly took form.

First the edge, then the spine, and finally the hilt.

Within seconds, a sword made entirely of solid light appeared in Jake’s hand.

It wasn’t just glowing; it was solid.

Jake tightened his grip around the luminous hilt.

The sword emitted a dazzling radiance that lit up the entire area.

Aria stared at it in shock.

"You... made a sword out of light?"

She could tell that it was somewhat different from the one Jake had shown her before.

But Jake didn’t answer.

He looked at Aria seriously.

"There’s no time to waste. Aria, I can upgrade one more of your stats. What do you want?"

He still had 400 Upgrade Points left, which was just enough to raise one of her stats to Above Average.

Aria’s eyes flashed, and she didn’t hesitate.

"Upgrade my Endurance."

Her answer came immediately, matching the seriousness in Jake’s expression.

Jake nodded.

"Alright."

He opened the status panel and selected Aria’s Endurance.

’Upgrade.’

The moment he confirmed it, his remaining Upgrade Points dropped.

[Ding!]

[-400 Upgrade Points]

[Aria’s Endurance has increased to Above Average!]

Before either of them could say anything else, Jake noticed the swarm of monsters almost reaching them.

The countless nagas surged forward, climbing up the slope toward their location.

Jake’s expression became serious.

"Aria, be careful. Just focus on defending yourself and don’t worry about me."

"Jake, I can fight with you—"

"No."

Jake firmly cut her off and looked at her seriously.

Seeing his expression, Aria bit her lip.

Even without him saying it out loud, she knew the truth.

She was weak.

Compared to Jake, she was simply too weak to stand beside him in this battle.

Jake’s expression softened when he saw her reaction.

"Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you."

He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Just stay behind me and protect yourself. I’ll take care of the rest."

He paused momentarily, then added with a confident smile, "That’s why I’m here. I am your Captain, after all."

Aria stared at him for a moment before quietly nodding.

"Okay..."

Jake turned around.

The moment his back faced her, the gentle expression disappeared.

His eyes became cold as he looked down at the countless nagas climbing toward them.

He tightened his grip on the sword of light.

"Come."

A confident smile appeared on his face.

"Let’s see which one of you has the honor of facing my new strength."