Way of the Knights

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"...okay, what the hell is actually going on?" Vendrick was really confused now. 

The strangeness of the situation in front of him was a bit much. At first he thought that these are vines but in truth it's actually the Vampiric Serpent. He also thought of the possibility that the Vampiric Serpent was just connected to the heart for some reason but when he took a close look, it's actually trying to devour it whole. He's finding it difficult to believe that this serpent could open its maws this wide. 

He wanted to know why the Vampiric Serpent is doing this, but walking right up to it and asking it directly would be a stupid idea, isn't it? But besides the serpent, who else could he ask? If there's any demonic beast in here that's capable of speech, it would be the serpent, but could it even answer him? It's mouth's full. 

It was really strange. What's this heart? How did it come here? Why is the serpent trying to eat it? How can the heart release that invisible steam? So many questions but there's nobody to answer him.. Moreover, Vendrick doesn't really have time to wait until this thing devoured and digested the heart completely. 

"Should I just say 'screw this' and eradicated the serpent and the heart itself?" Vendrick muttered to himself. "I mean, I at least got some answers. I know where the thing I need to kill is, and I also learned what's source of the infection."

The more he thought about it, the more attractive this idea gets.

"But what if something terrible happens after I destroyed the heart?" Vendrick asked to particularly nobody. "I mean, I call a Heart but is it really a heart? If it is, then who or from where did it come from? How did it appear here? What will happen if it was destroyed? What will happen to the infected? Ugh, there's so many things I don't know, and that might actually risk this whole process." 

These are mainly his concerns. To Vendrick, destroying stuff is the easy part, after all he has lightning on his side, that's never going to become a problem. The problem is, what if the whole Western Continent sinks upon destroying the heart? Yes, the likelihood of this happening is extremely low but what if it actually happens? Wouldn't that have severe consequences in this world? 

Yes, Vendrick is strong, but believe it or not, he's not strong enough cure or fix an entire world should it accidentally happen because of his recklessness. 

"Ugh, if I only had my Spacetime Laws with this." Vendrick groaned. "Temporal Scrying would've been so useful in this situation." 

Temporal Scrying is one of the skills that he got when he learned Spacetime Laws. It allows him to scry the history of anything using a single touch. If he had this skill, he would've at least get some information out of this large heart which he could then use to decide what's the wisest decision to do right now. 

Unfortunately, everything he knows about Spacetime Laws are sealed so he can't use it. 

"Come on, instinct." Vendrick muttered as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his thoughts. "Isn't it about time you tell me something?" 

Unable to decide, Vendrick decided to ask his instinct for help. It has never failed him before he trusted it more than anything else. Whether this works or not, only time can tell. 

Well, after concentrating for a while, he didn't feel anything. It seems that calling out for its help won't work this way. In the end, Vendrick became indecisive. He looked at the Serpent and the heart in front of him and sighed.

"Oh well, I'll just come back later. I'll ruminate on my thoughts for a bit and then decide what method I'll adapt for this one." 

Thinking about this, Vendrick then decided to slowly and quietly retreat from the scene when all of a sudden, he felt something. His heart throbbed and he suddenly started sweating. His pupils constricted as he froze on the spot. 

His thoughts became chaotic for a brief moment before he regained his stability. When he did, he sat down and regulated his breathing. 

"Better late than never I guess." Vendrick smiled wryly. What happened just now rinsed all thoughts of retreating from his mind. 

The moment he started retreating, his instincts flared and gave him a severe warning. It was so strong that he instantly realized the severity of the situation. What his instincts relayed to him was simple.

'Retreat now and you'll never be able to defeat that thing.'

'It's devouring that thing to ascend.' 

That's it. That alone was enough to purge all thoughts of retreating from his mind. 

Indeed, why did he not think about this? It should've been obvious the moment he discovered the Vampiric Serpent trying swallow this thing whole. The mere sight of that should've made him ask himself 'Why is it bothering to devour this thing when it's the rightful ruler of the Western Continent?' 

Everything it needs and wants should be given to it the moment it asked for it. Offering, sacrifices, food, entertainment, concubines. Not a single Demonic Beast would try to defy its orders since the serpent is way stronger than them. 

Demonic Beasts, despite what they look like and how they act, could actually feel contentment which sets them apart from humans greatly for the later would never feel content with what they have. 

As a Demonic Beast that reached its current stage, the Vampiric Serpent should've been contented with what it has. Everything it needed was at its beck and call. In the Western Continent, its no different from a god. 

But again, why is it devouring this heart? Why is it pushing itself so hard to the point where it even ripped its own mouth just to make sure it could slowly swallow this thing? 

Well, it should be a no-brainer question but for some reason, Vendrick didn't realize it until now. 

The Vampiric Serpent is a Demonic Beast with intellect, still it's a beast nonetheless, and most of its actions are spurred by its own instincts. The thing that will allow it to become stronger than before, possibly rivalling even the God at the Central Continent, was conveniently lying here, in its own territory and its not going anywhere so, why not right? 

If it were him, Vendrick would've done the same. In fact, this thing might've already been digested at this point if it was really him.

With all of this thoughts on his head, Vendrick eventually found his resolve. Right, there's no way he could let this happen. 

He still has no idea what will happen the moment the heart was destroyed but he's certain that it can't be worst than letting the serpent become a god as well.

Steeling his resolve, Vendrick dropped all pretenses. He summoned the spear and immediately covered the surrounding with a dome that isolates it from the outside. 

He no longer hid his presence, he walked out of his hiding spot in large strides covered with scales and lightning. His aura was felt by everyone, including the Vampiric Serpent. He could feel the serpent looking at him with a hostile gaze but Vendrick didn't care, he didn't do this to make friends with it anyway. 

Stomping his right foot forward, Vendrick grunted and released a mighty swing using his spear. Streaks of lightning shot out from his spear, directly reducing the carriers into dusts. 

From this point on, the carriers had been thoroughly alarmed and began rushing towards him. They tried to call for reinforcements but their voices didn't get out of the dome since it completely isolated them. From the very beginning, Vendrick already neutralized one of their fatal weapons which is their numbers. 

Snorting, Vendrick stomped forward once more and threw the spear. It became a projectile covered in lightning that easily penetrated their thick hides and reduced them to dusts. It's trajectory changed courses numerous times because it's controlled by Vendrick using his mind, it was like a heat-seeking javelin. 

Eventually, the spear returned to his hand. Vendrick launched another wave of pure destructive lightning that reduced a great number of demonic beasts to dusts. The poor things weren't even able to release a cry of indignation before dying. 

Dealing with the infected and the carriers weren't hard, it didn't even make him sweat. Since the place is isolated, no reinforces will come. This means, that it's down to Vendrick and the Vampiric Serpent. Unfortunately, the serpent doesn't appear to have any desire to dislodge itself from the heart. However, that doesn't meant that its completely defenseless.

Vendrick saw the tail of the serpent stabbing the ground. At first he was confused as to why but that didn't last long. 

From the ground rose numerous creatures. They appeared like blobs of blood at first but they eventually transformed into beings with the majority being demonic beasts. All of them shared a connection with the serpent so it would seem that his formation wasn't able to stop the serpent from calling re-enforcements. 

Now, if Vendrick wants to stop the serpent from devouring the heart, he needs to kill its minions first.