Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 49 Black Hawk Down
When the giant eagle saw the giant snake appear, all its doubts were answered.

Why were those hairless monkeys able to so easily infiltrate the snake's lair? Why did the hairless monkey, who was perfectly fine before, suddenly go berserk? Why hadn't he seen the snake at all? Why did everything seem so incongruous, even though it was going so smoothly?

It turns out that all of this was a trap set by the snake!

Now, the trap has been closed.

The snake finally appeared.

"So it turns out you were the one who orchestrated everything from the shadows..."

The giant eagle felt it had understood everything.

Yes, that must be it. After all, it once drove those hairless monkeys to try to lure out the so-called snake god worshipped by those fat monkeys.

But now, it's the fish that's been caught.

"You... okay, okay, very good."

The giant eagle took a deep breath, maintaining its composure.

Although it was reluctant to admit it, the facts were already laid bare—at least in terms of secretly plotting and setting traps, the giant snake before it was indeed a cut above the rest.

Insidious, so incredibly insidious! They managed to turn the tables on it and trick it into this state...

“Impressive, you are certainly qualified to be my opponent.”

The giant eagle said this.

After it opened its mouth, the giant snake stopped and made a sound, as if it were saying something.

However, those words were not the language of the hairless monkey; they sounded like the pronunciation of those short, fat monkeys, which it couldn't understand at all.

But it didn't matter that it couldn't understand; it had already sensed the bewilderment in the other person's tone and seen the confusion on the snake's face.

This prompted it to snort coldly.

"Heh, you noticed that too?"

As it said this, the giant eagle suddenly spread its wings and soared into the sky.

Judging from its agile flying posture, there was no sign of injury whatsoever!
"You think you can outsmart me with a trap of this level?"

A giant eagle hovers in mid-air, its eyes gleaming with ferocity.

Yes, from the very beginning, attacks of this level could not possibly harm it, even if those fat monkeys risked their lives for the chance to attack in the air—but after realizing something was wrong, it still deliberately chose to suffer some insignificant damage, and even pretended to be exhausted from being beaten.

All this was to draw out the possible mastermind behind the scenes.

"To lure your prey into a trap, you have to make them think that everything is going smoothly... I should thank you, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have learned such insidious methods."

The giant eagle in mid-air stared intently at the giant snake on the ground.

"However, the worst thing you could have done was to appear in front of me in person."

At this point, the giant eagle even sighed.

The more it thought about it, the more it felt that this giant snake was truly the most formidable opponent it had ever encountered in its life—and unlike those beasts that only knew how to use brute force, this giant snake clearly had a clear advantage in intelligence.

Even just now, before it could take off, the giant snake had already sensed something was wrong—this was enough to show how perceptive the giant snake was, and how it had figured out all the key points in an instant.

But now, it's all too late.

After all, a real battle cannot be decided by trickery and schemes alone.

Ultimately, victory in a battle depends on one's own strength.

“I even feel a little regretful to kill you like this... after all, I have never encountered an opponent like you before.”

The giant eagle flapped its wings, which blotted out the sky.

"But the only way to show you the greatest respect is to kill you."

A colossal eagle, its wingspan obscuring the sky, swooped down.

No fancy methods or earth-shattering battle scenes are needed; after all, for an eagle to hunt a snake is a simple matter.

It swoops down, tears open the snake's neck with its sharp claws, and then pecks out the snake's internal organs with its sharp beak.

All that's left is the act of eating itself.

"Not only your wisdom, but also your flesh and blood, everything about you, will become one with me, making me bigger and stronger!"

Thinking this, the giant eagle extended its sharp talons, aiming at the giant snake's neck. It was just waiting for the snake to extend its head and bite, then it would swipe down with its talons and crush the snake's neck bones.

After all, snakes only have a few ways of attacking: either they bite with their teeth to kill their opponents by injecting venom, or they use their huge bodies to strangle their opponents and win the fight by suffocating them.

But no matter which one, none can withstand its sharp claws.

The giant snake in front of them seemed to know all this, and its head with venomous fangs did not show any intention of sticking out—it just lay motionless on the ground, as if it were terrified.

"The terror of being between life and death..."

The giant snake's stiffened posture, clearly indicating impending death, reminded it of its childhood.

It still remembers that when it was thrown out of the eagle's nest to learn to fly, its body was just as stiff at the moment it fell off the cliff.

"But I broke through my own limits, and that's how I gained the ability to soar."

With this thought in mind, the giant eagle's gaze became even more resolute.

"It's a pity that you're too focused on intrigue and scheming, which is why you can't do this... What a shame."

As the snake's head drew ever closer, the giant eagle could already picture itself pecking at the snake's flesh.

In the end, it is the one that has the last laugh.

Although it had lost two battles in a row in the previous battles of wits and courage, everything went smoothly after entering the life-or-death struggle...

"……smoothly?"

The giant eagle suddenly felt that something was not quite right.

This made it focus its attention once again on the snake's head on the ground.

At this moment, the giant snake had raised its head and even opened its blood-red mouth, revealing its sharp fangs.

"what--"

The giant snake, baring its fangs, even let out a chilling roar.

This is the posture of a snake attacking; clearly, in the final moments of its life, this giant snake chose to fight to the death.

"However, only to this extent..."

Seeing that even when the giant snake was fighting desperately, it was still using snake-like attack methods, the giant eagle immediately felt relieved.

"What's the use of opening your mouth wide? No matter how much you breathe on me, I won't be scared..."

"what--"

The giant snake on the ground was still exhaling, which made the giant eagle even more disdainful.

When faced with death, all it knows is to put on this intimidating act. This behemoth that it regarded as its opponent is nothing more than this.

But at that moment, the sound of his breath suddenly changed.

"Ha—Pah!"

Just then, two streams of venom suddenly shot out, spraying the giant eagle's face!
"you……"

The venom stung its eyes like never before, the intense pain preventing it from opening them and maintaining its balance.
"Boom!!!"

It was originally swooping down, but instead crashed headfirst into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"How could you, how could you..."

The giant eagle simply couldn't believe that it would fall to the ground because of a mouthful of venom—but at that moment it already felt death approaching, and while flailing its claws wildly, it desperately tried to open its eyes.

Even if it were to engage in a ground battle, it was confident it wouldn't be at a disadvantage. After all, it still possessed sharp claws and an iron beak, capable of easily tearing the snake's body apart, as long as the giant snake dared to approach...

"……Um?"

It opened its eyes and suddenly froze.

The reason was that what was getting closer and closer in their line of sight was not some snake's body that was about to strangle them.

Instead, it was a huge rock, even larger than its head.

"Oh!"

The flying boulder struck the eagle's head, instantly smashing its brains open.

(End of this chapter)