Time passed.
Kael’s grip remained locked around the serpent’s throat as the grey aura continued pouring into its body. Slowly, the massive white serpent began to lose its physical density. Its scales became increasingly translucent, its enormous body fading until Kael could see through portions of it.
What he saw beneath that translucent shell was far worse.
The grey aura was tearing through the serpent from within.
It crawled through its body like an unstoppable force of decay, stripping away layer after layer of its existence as the serpent’s spiritual form began to deteriorate under the destructive force.
The serpent had stopped thrashing by now.
Its movements had become sluggish, its enormous body barely twitching as the strength continued leaving it. Its eyes, once filled with fury, had begun to lose their light.
"Am I about to die?"
The thought came with something dangerously close to fear.
"No, I can’t die here."
Its gaze shifted toward Kael.
Although the serpent had lost the battle against Kael’s destruction, but it hadn’t lost its instinct to survive. If Kael had disrupted its meal and forced it to the edge of death, then perhaps it could simply find another source of nourishment.
And there was one standing directly in front of it.
A decision was made.
The serpent’s body suddenly began to break apart until the enormous serpent collapsed into a swirling mass of invisible mist. The mist slipped through Kael’s fingers before shooting toward him, seeping directly into his consciousness.
Kael froze.
For a moment, he simply stood there, staring at the place where the serpent had disappeared. He couldn’t sense it anymore. Not even a trace remained.
He turned his attention toward the parasites.
The surviving eggs and worms that hadn’t been destroyed by his grey aura were gone too.
Kael frowned.
"Did it die?"
He searched the surrounding area with his consciousness, carefully examining the clearing for any remaining trace of the parasite but he found nothing.
After searching for several moments without finding anything, Kael eventually dismissed the matter.
Whatever had happened, it seemed the serpent had finally been destroyed.
His attention shifted toward Ezra.
She was still lying peacefully at the center of the clearing, her eyes closed and her breathing slow. The parasite was gone, yet she still hadn’t awakened.
Kael stared at her for a moment.
"So what now?"
He didn’t have an answer.
***
Meanwhile, somewhere within Kael’s consciousness, the serpent was celebrating.
It had escaped.
The moment its body had broken apart, it had abandoned Ezra and entered Kael’s consciousness instead. Kael had been so focused on confirming Ezra’s safety that he hadn’t realized what had actually happened.
The parasite had survived.
More importantly, it had found a new host, and Kael seemed to have even more abundant spiritual power than Ezra, making him an even better host.
The serpent’s consciousness trembled with excitement, though it lasted only a few seconds. It suddenly stopped, looking around.
There was nothing but darkness.
An endless darkness that stretched in every direction without any visible boundary.
Ezra’s consciousness had been a world. It had had fields, trees, wind, and even a sky. It had been soft and warm, filled with things that reflected her personality.
This wasn’t a world.
Calling it one would have been generous.
It was a void.
A massive, seemingly infinite void that contained nothing.
Then a groan echoed through the darkness.
"Seriously?"
The serpent froze.
A tired voice drifted across the endless space.
"This kid really doesn’t know how to stay out of trouble, does he?"
There was a brief pause.
"Now what? A mind invasion?"
The serpent’s entire body tensed.
There was another existence here.
Its forked tongue flickered as it slowly raised its head, anger replacing the fear that had begun creeping into its mind.
Who dares?
Its eyes narrowed.

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