The core area was the smallest part of the forest, and at its center stood a wide, towering pavilion made entirely of forest stone, as though it had been carved from a single massive boulder.
The core layer stretched in a radius of roughly one hundred meters, with the pavilion positioned at its exact center.
If Ethan were to take even a single step into this domain, the Snake Lord and its minions would immediately rush out to attack him.
Yet he could not enter even if he wanted to, because the entire core area had been sealed within a Poison Domain.
"It's one of the Snake Lord's skills... Poison Domain," Ethan muttered as he began formulating a plan.
---
[Skill: Poison Domain]
-The Snake Lord becomes the center of a spreading dome of concentrated poison, forming a complete poisonous domain.
-All enemies within the domain suffer intense pain, disrupted senses, and weakened attributes.
-All poison-type monsters inside the domain gain increased attributes and enhanced potency for their poison-type skills.
---
"It's a very powerful controller skill indeed. It weakens enemies while buffing its minions, and I can't kill it unless I enter the poison domain. The only exception is if I destroy the domain from the outside with a high-range, highly fire-type skill and force it to come out."
Ethan gave a command, and in the next instant, his spirits moved into position to unleash an attack that could destroy the poison domain along with everything inside it.
The problem, however, was that to destroy the poison domain, he had to interrupt the Snake Lord, who was actively maintaining the skill while resting inside the pavilion.
If he failed to interrupt it, destroying the poison domain would be useless because it would instantly regenerate.
To prevent this regeneration, his attack had to reach the Snake Lord and force it to come out.
But his plan had a major flaw. His [Heat Wave] skill synergy had tremendous power and a long range, but not long enough to reach the pavilion.
A hundred meters still lay between him and the Snake Lord.
"I will use a fire-type skill since fire is best at burning poison, and I will use the wind element to empower the fire through elemental fusion."
The 120 wind spirits gathered along with the 120 fire spirits.
Ethan arranged them in a tight and orderly formation, mixing both types together and having them raise their wind-and-fire-formed arms toward a single focal point.
The wind spirits focused their [Wind Burst], and the fire spirits focused their [Heat Wave], all guided by Ethan's intent to fuse the two elemental skills.
He was pouring the combined energy of 240 spirits into this one fusion.
In the next instant, something happened that had never occurred before.
A massive magic circle manifested out of nowhere, covered in intricate, incomprehensible, majestic patterns.
It glowed with a faint red aura, and in the next moment, a gigantic sphere of fire emerged from the circle like a miniature sun, even larger than the one created by his previous [Heat Wave] synergy.
Instead of erupting outward in a towering wall of flames, the enormous globe of fire shot straight into the poison domain, burning every poisonous substance in its path as it drilled deeper.
It reached close to the pavilion and then exploded, releasing a massive dome of fire that rapidly expanded outward and burned through everything it touched.
It was as if the poison domain were being incinerated from the inside.
The blazing dome grew wider and wider until it reached the pavilion itself.
Ethan heard sharp, echoing shrieks, hundreds of them, coming from within as countless snake monsters were instantly reduced to ash, leaving only the Snake Lord alive.
The elemental fusion of [Heat Wave] and [Wind Burst] persisted for several seconds before the flames finally subsided.
Only after the fusion finished its work did Ethan step into the core area where the poison domain had once stood.
As he did, he sensed a strong presence approaching.
The Snake Lord revealed itself.
"It didn't take any damage?" Ethan narrowed his eyes at the creature.
The Snake Lord resembled the snake generals, with a serpentine body and humanoid arms, but it was nearly three times larger.
Its scales gleamed with a metallic sheen, and Ethan noticed a pair of bat-like wings that had been burnt away completely, leaving only charred wing bones with smoke drifting from them.
---
[Snake Lord]
[Level:15]
[Skills]
-Poison Domain: Unleashes a dome of concentrated poison that continuously weakens and torments enemies within its range. Prolonged exposure amplifies the lethal effects. All poison-type monsters inside the domain receive heightened strength and enhanced effectiveness.
-Poison Blast: Fires a thick surge of corrosive, toxin-infused energy that burns through targets on impact. The blast releases lingering poisonous corrosion that continues to harm all living beings caught within its effect.
-Scale Armor (Passive): It possesses hardened, scale-like armor that greatly increases resistance to Fire and Lightning elements, while significantly enhancing defense against physical attacks.
-Snake Lord's Voice (Passive): Allows the user to command and dominate all snake-type monsters whose level and species rank are lower than its own.
-Poison Coating (Passive): All attacks executed by it are imbued with a poison attribute. Targets struck suffer heavy immediate Stamina loss, reduced Strength, and decreased movement speed. Repeated exposure amplifies all poison-based effects. This skill also passively increases its own poison resistance.
---
"So its scales protected it from that attack, huh? At least it burned its wing, rendering it unable to fly. It also has the same skill my Undead Knights acquired from the attribute gem," Ethan observed curiously.
The Snake Lord did not appreciate his gaze.
It let out a furious roar as it began activating its [Poison Domain] skill.
In the next second, it yanked its long arms back and screamed at the top of its elongated tongue as waves of green energy erupted from its body, rapidly expanding to re-establish the dome of poison once again.
But Ethan was not about to let it do as it pleased.
He instantly commanded his spirits to deploy the [Heat Wave] synergy, and before the dome of poison could reach him, the flames from his spirits clashed with it.
They burned away the toxic mist and even washed over the Snake Lord, although the serpent took no damage at all.
Ethan did not expect it to.
He only used that synergy to cancel out the poison, not to harm it.
He already knew fire and lightning elemental skills were useless against this creature.
He could not use his water or wind spirits either, because their attacks were too weak to pierce its defenses. That left his Earth and Ice spirits.
He made his choice: Earth.
First, he ordered his Fire Spirits to cast [Fire Ball] continuously, keeping the Snake Lord occupied and forcing it to defend itself.
This prevented it from counterattacking while he prepared his Earth Spirits.
Just as he had done with the fire synergy earlier, he gathered the combined power of all 120 Earth Spirits into a single skill, their [Stone Javelin].
A massive amount of earth energy condensed into an enormous spear before launching forward.
The Snake Lord, busy fending off dozens of incoming fireballs from all directions, failed to notice the massive javelin hidden behind the barrage.
By the time it sensed the incoming strike, it was already too late.
The Stone Javelin pierced it right below the neck, shattering its scales, tearing through a large chunk of flesh, and exiting through its back.
The assault did not end there.
Ethan had already given the command.
This time, he let his spirits act freely with no synergy and no elemental fusion.
They simply unleashed a relentless wave of elemental projectiles at the exposed wound torn into the Snake Lord.
After a full three minutes of nonstop bombardment, the Snake Lord finally collapsed, dead.
Almost its entire upper body had been shredded beyond recognition and lay scattered in pieces.