Battle of Slitherland (1)

Slitherland's border gate opened with a loud hiss. Flashing lights and festive music accompanied it.

Isaac caught a glimpse of the city behind the army's droids. There were gigantic rollercoasters all around. One of the main Ferris wheels even reached the roof. It was inside an artificial jungle with many statues representing its animal inhabitants.

Far away, atop a rocky cliff where stood the waterpark section, a gigantic three-headed serpent stared down with its six hooded eyes. The heads were spitting water that ran down to the many hotels on the flat ground. 

There was also a village on the outskirts with `many stores and restaurants. Isaac had never seen such a large theme park before. Only a few in the Central Continent could rival it.

"I wonder how many people died in this theme park."

He shifted his eyes to the frontline. Only about fifty armed soldiers were waiting for them at the gate. Frightened, they looked at each other before deciding, "We surrender!"

"Then drop your weapons!" A dark-haired woman stepped through the gate with a row of giant androids to shield her.

Despite surrendering, the humans froze as if they were hesitating.

"Something's wrong." The soldiers carefully approached them. "Wait, their eyes!"

They looked drugged and stared not at them but at the void: they had gotten hypnotized.

Isaac squeezed through the soldiers and got a better view. He noticed someone hiding in the forest. A snake humanoid was smirking at him.

"No, you can't retreat." He whispered, but his message magically reached the fifty enemy soldiers. "Suicide attack!"

"Run!" The dark-haired officer ordered a retreat while the robots tried to stop the hypnotized attackers from advancing.

A bomb exploded behind her. A few shards injured her back, but she kept running.

Isaac touched the ground with his hands and manifested a red magic barrier around the gate. He shielded her and the few other soldiers who had gotten out in time from the human bombs.

"Fire at will!" They retaliated, killing the fogged humans to prevent more explosions.

However, a dozen snake humanoids arrived at the entrance. Shocked, many soldiers looked into their eyes, and it was their turn to get hypnotized.

The man with goggles that Isaac had spoken to jumped on him with a rifle.

"Urgh! Wake up!" They rolled on the ground. Isaac couldn't win against the grown man's force. The man fired his rifle at him. He received a bullet in his left ear.

His survival instincts kicked in as the red magic he had used to make the barrier lowered his emotions. "Sorry." Isaac made a spear and struck it into the guy's neck.

"I need to kill the source," Isaac Tremblay said as he stood up. He aimed at the manipulating snakes with the palm of his hand.

However, just before he could launch his red magic beam, Seth dropped from the sky. He engulfed them all in a shadow and quickly suffocated them. The surviving hypnotized humans woke up with bloodstained hands.

"Don't sssstep in my theme park!" The snake humanoid who had smirked at Isaac came out of the woods. It was a young adult with animal tattoos all over his body.

Isaac hit him in the head with his spear's flat side. He tried to finish him off.

"Wait." Seth stopped him, blocking with his staff.

"Who are you?" He asked the strange cursed.

The snake cursed and responded. He stressed the 's' consonants deliberately. "I- I'm Sssnid, the manager of Ssslitherland, fifth generation descendant of Ulises, our clan's founder!"

"Then you must know Snoid." Seth avoided looking into his eyes.

"Snoid? Oh, yesss! He's my great cousssin who disssappeared a month ago, leaving the snake humanoids without a leader. I didn't dare try and lead the first layer in his absssence, so I've been hiding here instead. I mean you no harm, I assure you!"

"Saying this after attacking us? How shameless," Isaac's expression made Snid shrivel.

…

Taking over Slitherland was very easy. Snid had ordered the other snake humanoids to cooperate, and there were only a few thousand residents in the village. Having nothing to do, Isaac walked around the park and jumped on rides when they caught his eye.

"If I'd have come a month ago, this place would be crowded. There's even a whole artificial lake for the waterpark's waterfalls. The beach is beautiful despite the lack of a real sun."

A large digital screen over a wall where the lake ended represented the green landscape. It was so realistic that one could forget the displayed forest had gotten razed to the ground to build the theme park. It was a two-centuries-old video shot from the same place before the Orbarium Guild's tragic end.

Isaac sat down on the sand and looked at the setting sun.

"Hello, Stephen... Yes, We're in Slitherland." Over at the village, Seth talked to Stephen on his all-purpose watch.

"Good. Mister Rayn, do you remember our talk about Zephyr Dragos and his army?"

"Of course."

Stephen adopted a grave voice, and Seth heard his fingers tapping his desk's hard surface. "They've already passed the fourth and third layers. We couldn't do anything to stop them."

"I see…"

"They're heading to Slitherland. It's going to be the hardest battle so far. I will help you prepare well."

…

Karl City, Third Layer

The grey dome's heavy doors slid open. Ejiro Sani stepped outside, Aaron on his back, accompanied by the hundreds of released captives. Adia was waiting for him there, along with many werewolves.

She was stunned. "I didn't know there were that many!"

"It looks like the grey dome experimented on humans." It was the last thing Ejiro said before collapsing from fatigue.

…

In the morning, the Western Army arrived in Karl City. Luo Ren and Jenna Angel visited the hospital. They entered a shared room where Ejiro, Aaron, Gabriella and Christopher slept soundly.

"Oh, you're here?" Ejiro woke up to the slightest noise.

Luo nodded. "Yes. A portion of the army is travelling into the second and third layers. We will stay here for a while to prepare against the Topaz Guild's reinforcements."

"We were told they split into two groups. Half is passing by the first layer while the other half is in the second layer." Jenna added.

"Which half are you going up against?"

"The first layer's. We're flying off to Redan tomorrow since our fleet's aircraft are currently under maintenance inside that grey dome. You're welcome to join us."

"Sure." Ejiro looked at the others sleeping beside him. "How are they?"

"The doctor told us they should wake up today."

"Great. Then let's all go together."

"No. It's best if I stay in the second layer." Gabriella opened her eyes. "I already talked to the werewolf about it. We'll fight from here, and Christopher will send back a large portion of the army to protect the third layer."

Aaron sat up. "Can I go with you, Gabriella?"

"Of course. It'd be nice to have a friend around."

Luo chuckled. "You guys weren't sleeping at all, were you?!"