Kain's ears still rang with Lira's raw scream, "Don't you dare quit!" Her voice breaking, then gone, along with Garr's frantic yell and Thom's broken plea.
A quick stab of sorrow hit his chest, as he recalled how they fed and clothed him.
His heart hammered, and fear gripped him as he took a step backward.
Meanwhile, the swirling glyph tattoo on his chest thrummed harder.
His mind spun, trying to grasp the situation, the people gone, when the serpent's voice rang out again.
"Why do you wear their face?" The voice was low, cold, and devoid of emotion.
Kain's breath hitched, thoughts stumbling.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
The serpent didn't stir. Its coils shifted, a slow glide through the mud, and then circling him.
Kain sensed it.
His stomach twisted, but the glyph burned hotter, eager, as if daring the serpent closer.
The serpent then paused Its crown of abyssal aether flickered as if probing him even more.
Then its voice sounded. "You're no spawn of dust. Of which of the seven are you and how come you look human?"
Kain stumbled back again. "Dust? He murmured
"How am I supposed to look?"
His mind scrambled, "I don't know what you're talking about, I came here by mistake in fact I will be leaving here now."
He turned to leave ignoring the glyph that churned and seemed to want him to confront the serpent.
The serpent's coils tensed, then immediately its tail lashed out, a bone-white blur tipped with a barbed spike dripping with black ichor.
Kain sensed it, a pulse of cold aether, and flinched, but it was already too late.
The spike slammed into his chest, a burst of withering chill that spread like ice in his veins, hurling him backward.
His body tumbled through the mud, crashing over roots, each impact a burst of agony, and the sounds of bone cracking could be heard. He skidded to a stop, blood flooding his mouth, choking him as he gasped.
The pain was immediate but barely up to a moment after he began to feel pain, the glyph kicked into effect.
Kain dragged himself up, mud squelching under his palms, and his breath ragged. "Oh god no?" he uttered, spitting blood from his mouth.
Another strike, a frost tide from its maw, a wave of black ice, rolled over him with a stinging chill that withered his arm.
Just again, the glyph pulsed, peeling the damage away like dead skin, and the pain only lasted for a few seconds.
Again it came, each blow should've ended him, the serpent's attacks were relentless and it aimed to end his life, but every time it felt like this was going to be the end, the glyph acted.
Kain's thoughts spun, and a bitter laugh left his mouth.
What kind of crap deal is this? No superpowers, no magic spell, blast, just something that burned on his chest and keeps me from staying dead?
Worst transmigration ever!
As if being irritated, the glyph burnt him even more.
The serpent's tail whipped again, a spike's aether, however for some reason this aether coming at him appeared slower.
He sidestepped, the spike moving past his cloak, missing by inches. His breath hitched, then a grin appeared on his face in an instant.
"Holy shit, did you see that?"
"I dodged that!" A surprise look was written all over his face then his voice sounded a moment after. "Missed, you bastard!"
The serpent snarled, "Insolent speck! You mock Dust's will?" Its tail spun, a whirlwind of spikes, each dripping black fluid and they launched at Kain.
Now it wanted Kain dead more than ever.
But Kain weaved through, while his steps were clumsy they were very precise.
Another strike a frost tide, a roiling wave of shadow and ice was sent forward.
Kain rolled aside, the glyph flaring to melt the frost grazing his arm. "Too slow, you overgrown noodle!" he shouted.
The serpent roared, "Slippery dog! I'll grind you to dust!".
Kain ducked again and while he was before danger his heart pounded with reckless joy.
For some reason, every attack appeared slower, and he could feel and sense it as they came at him, then suddenly, a realization hit him.
What if I hit back?
Kain's mind flickered to the novels he'd devoured back on Earth, tales of heroes throwing punches and kicks against impossible odds, moves he'd always dreamed of trying.
"What's the worst that can possibly happen?" He muttered.
Then he dashed forward, the serpent was like a mountain of aether before him. And only a few inches away, he sent his fist slamming into the scales with a dull thud, the impact jarring his arm but sending a thrill through him.
The serpent hissed, "You dare strike me, fool?" Its tail lashed, clipping his ribs but the glyph mended it quickly.
Kain grinned, undeterred, and swung again, fists hammering its flank, each thud a defiant echo of those fictional fighters he'd idolized.
The serpent's voice thundered, "Vile speck! I'll rend your soul to ash!" Its crown flickered, seemingly frustrated as Kain's persistence mocked its divine might.
The fight erupted into a frenzied dance under the eclipse's twilight, the serpent's abyssal aether surged forward, spikes rained, but every attack seemed to be meaningless in the battle.
Kain moved through it, his senses sharp, the glyph amplifying every pulse dodging spikes with a roll, weaving past claws with a twist, sidestepping tides, and each dodge was a rush.
The hairs on his body stood as he sensed the serpent's tail coiling again and as it moved towards him, he sidestepped it again.
Another claw slashing and he ducked, rolling through mud, coming up grinning. "Missed again you overgrown noodles!" he taunted.
Kain pressed the attack, his body filled with instinct, drawing on every move he'd imagined from those novels.
He sensed the serpent's maw gaping, a frost tide's pulse building like a black ocean, and dove aside, the wave freezing the air behind him.
He lunged, throwing a sharp jab at its jaw, the crack sending a thrill through him.
"How's that feel ?" he taunted, his voice filled with defiance.
The serpent roared, "Insolent worm! I'll end you!" Its claws raked, but Kain weaved past, and slammed an uppercut into its underbelly, the impact shaking its crown.
The serpent staggered a couple of steps backward.
Kain didn't let up, his body a blur of motion, each move a tribute to those fictional heroes. He dodged a spike barrage and countered with a flurry of punches, fists hammering scales until they cracked and black fluids came out.
The serpent thrashed and then yelled, "You are nothing!"
But Kain leaped, landing a knee to its maw, the thud jarring its crown. "Nothing? I'm the one beating your ass!" he shot back, his heart still pounding with reckless joy.
The serpent's frost tide rolled, but Kain rolled aside, coming up with a spinning kick, a move he'd always wanted to try that grazed its eye, the squish of void-like flesh giving way.
The serpent roared, "Curse you!"
Kain laughed, sharp and wild, "Curse you too!" He weaved past claws and delivered a double-fisted slam to its jaw, the crack echoing like thunder.
The serpent staggered, its coils slackening, its crown flickering as Kain's relentless assault turned the tide.
The serpent's moves grew frantic, its abyssal aether surging in desperate waves, spikes raining, frost tides crashing, claws slashing but Kain was alert, his senses locked onto every pulse.
He dodged a final claw slash, the aether's burning arc slow in his mind, and countered with a barrage of jabs, each thud cracking scales, ichor spraying.
The serpent's crown dimmed, its voice a weak hiss, "You… cannot…"
But Kain's final uppercut landed square on its jaw, the crack shaking the swamp, sending it reeling.
Its coils tensed in a desperate surge, wrapping around Kain like a vice and then squeezing him extremely tight.
Ribs cracked—crack—breath choked out, as he continued to be squeezed by the serpent
The glyph burned hotter, mending bones in an instant.
But just as the glyph didn't stop healing his body, the serpent tightened its hold on Kain with each passing period.
In a crazed surge, Kain bit down on its flesh, teeth sinking into its body. The taste was bitter like chewing a bad fruit but he dug in deeper and without any mercy.
The serpent's wail shattered the air, a bone-rattling cry that shook the nexus, echoing off aether crystals like a god's dying scream.
It thrashed wildly, but Kain, lost in the glyph's fury, kept biting, tearing at its core, black ichor coating his face, the wail reverberating until the swamp quaked.
Kain's teeth sank deeper, the serpent still writhing beneath him, its aether pulsing frantically in his senses.
Then suddenly his eyes burned, prismatic starfire-white with void-black pupils bleeding light beneath the eclipse's gaze.
A halo flickered into being—faint, fractured—its veins pulsing in time with the serpent's crown.
The glyph in his chest thundered, its rhythm rewriting his heartbeat, its roar drowning the world.
Black ichor dripped from his mouth, his torn robe clung to his skin now and scales began to slowly emerge.
The serpent shuddered, its scream cut short as the sky itself cracked, lightning bursting in silence.
Kain's eyes turned white, his skin began to crack open, thin lines tearing as new scales pushed through and as the air bowed around him, the eclipse changed shape.