Hateful Prey

__________ POV Narration__________

The four of them made their way towards the back of the mountain. The Hellbell had made its territory exactly at the summit, just like Maha had explained.

That meant that they could fight it without making too much of a fuss.

It was quite far from the family home, therefore the assassins had an easy time hiding this from the younger members of the family.

The four of them were nearing its territory. And just like they had planned, Ashton was to go first and capture its attention whilst the 3 assassins attacked it by surprise.

Ashton hadn't told them yet, but he was doing this because he wanted the Hellbell to focus its mind-altering abilities on him.

If he did, the Zoldycks wouldn't have accepted this plan so easily. After all, if Ashton was to be driven mad they would surely die.

But the old scientist wasn't one to let himself be influenced by others.

__________ POV Ashton__________

This snake seems to have taken quite a bit of land for itself. This forest makes for a nice stage, I spread my Hatsu into everything I came by, just in preparation.

I doubt the Hellbell only has one powerful ability. Its poison is also probably more than I can handle, so I'll have to be cautious about that too.

After a while, I could see it. It was exactly as Maha and the books had described it. A snake with two tails. A strange Bell looking black blob around its neck area.

Wasn't extremely big in length, one of its tails were wrapped around a tree while the other was clutching a skeleton wearing a familiar set of clothes.

Even after all this time, it still hasn't let go of Zigg's remains. What a strange creature, it has no reason to keep holding onto it.

Or does it? It probably realised that this would bring more prey in its territory, so it decided to keep it close to itself.

The Hellbell is a highly intelligent species, at least it seems so. A calamity in general usually isn't a mindless beast.

Still, why didn't it try to change its territory at all? Are they truly this territorial? To the point where they'd stand in the same spot for years?

I took a few steps closer, I could hear a soothing bell chime, my mind being filled with murderous thoughts.

I guess this is its fabled most powerful ability. Well, unfortunately for it, it won't have much of an effect on me.

I'm already filled with murderous intent enough to drive a lesser man mad. This isn't even enough to affect me slightly.

Still, to think Zigg was felled by this... It's probably because he was caught off-guard. Those thoughts crept into his mind and wrestled for control.

I couldn't help but clench my fist and wait. The snake was likely going to come closer and bite me whilst I was in a manic state.

I could sense it slithering its way towards me, prepared to sink its teeth into me.

Just as it got close, I released an explosion from my body, blasting it away deeper into the forest.

The three Zoldycks all waited for it to return before making their move. And it was fast, at least as fast as the King before he fought Netero.

I could still dodge it, just barely. Its maw was stretched, trying to take a bite out of me, it leapt with great speed.

I rolled to the side. As it was still midair, all three of the Zoldycks took the opportunity, two of them weren't fast enough to catch it.

But Maha was even faster than me, his only hand turned into a claw as it slashed its Bell-like appendage in pieces. That probably got rid of its most annoying ability for the Zoldycks.

If they were to face it themselves one of them would certainly be driven mad, that's likely why they couldn't fight the snake themselves.

They didn't want to throw more lives at this snake, it had already claimed one of their own. From the smile on Maha's face, I can bet this feels very satisfying.

For me as well, it's quite therapeutic. Getting some closure for Zigg's family is a bit more important to me than studying a stupid snake after all.

It was about to lash out and try to bite the ancient Zoldyck. I grabbed onto one of its tails, but that proved to be unnecessary.

A giant dragon made out of Nen barreled into its side. I let go of its tail as soon as I saw it make contact. It sent the snake crashing against multiple trees.

To my side, I could see an angered Zeno, he gave up hiding his emotions I guess. I could see the veins on his hands, his sleeves were ripped apart.

The snake certainly didn't know when to give up, it came back towards us, Maha threw a rock in its path, it completely ignored it.

But I didn't realise the rock was just a distraction, as Silva appeared out of the dust the rock had raised and punched it from the side, it was sent flying towards me.

I caught one of its tails and swung it around. It seems I miscalculated a bit, as it wasn't as dazed as I thought.

Its head swung towards me, its jaw was stretched and its teeth were coated in poison, ready to meet my neck.

Just as I was about to use 'Fleeting Existance' An arm appeared in its way. Maha had jumped forward to intercept it.

I was about to try and save him. But he didn't have the face of a dying man, his rage was palpable. I could see it boiling in his eyes.

As the snake bit into his arm, the ancient assassin didn't even flinch. But something else happened, his hand was covered in veins as he flexed his muscles.

The Hellbell tried to take its teeth out, but the old man's muscles clenched them too tightly. The poison won't be able to kill this man, the snake tried to coil its tails around the old man.

One of my hands turned into a claw as I took off one of its tails.

Zeno and Silva both took out the other, the tails were tough to cut off, the two of them still managed with a few repeated slashes.

And just like that, all that was left out of the snake was a head that was stuck onto Maha's arm.

The hunt was over.

___________________________________________________

Eyy, hope you enjoyed it!

The Zoldyck family arc isn't over yet tho! You'll find out more about them soon.

If u want to support me search VeganMaster on Patr_eon.(It's 37 chapters ahead now).

The prices might look a bit odd if you're not working with Euro's tho.

It's cuz of how the currency value keeps fluctuating. It's actually just 4 euros for the third tier and 2 euros for the second one.

Also, is anyone having issues with this novel? How would I go about finding out if it's blacklisted or not?

Cuz it has some odd stuff going on, like how I can't see the power ranking when reading the book.

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