2329.Eternal

The Eternal Snake headbutted Marcella as soon as its figure regained its original form. The attack carried insane violence, and Marcella faced it head-on.

The impact flung Marcella toward the distant frozen layer. Everything inside her shook after crashing on the ice, but her world remained intact, and roots immediately pierced her skin to recreate her vegetation.

The attack had separated Marcella from her previous technique, and the Eternal Snake quickly added it to its collection of frozen areas. Still, none of that ice separated from those structures to fuse with the creature. After all, it didn't have injuries anymore.

Marcella didn't understand what had happened. She knew that her previous attacks had deeply hurt the Eternal Snake, but that damage had abruptly vanished without any apparent reason.

However, Marcella knew enough about the Eternal Snake's hibernation to link a few dots. The creature had probably gained some form of immortality, which partially explained the previous event.

"Do you think you can replicate a cultivator's world without abandoning your species?" Marcella asked. "Magical beasts are so naïve."

The Eternal Snake hissed in anger as it slammed its tail on the frozen landmass to sprint forward. Its massive body fused with its incredible speed gave birth to gales that shot in every direction, but Marcella barely cared about them.

The creature slammed head-on on the ice only to notice that Marcella had already left. She reappeared above the Eternal Snake with her vegetation, and another piercing attack shot out of it.

Countless plants pierced the green scales and invaded the snake's body. The creature couldn't stop that attack, but it didn't hesitate to rip itself away from that vegetation to assault Marcella again.

Marcella improved on her previous offensive. She teleported away and filled the Eternal Snake with plants again while also adding a cage of firm roots to her attack.

The Eternal Snake injured itself to escape those plants, but it failed to reach Marcella. The creature slammed on the roots that were enveloping its surroundings, and the latter held strong. They could endure its physical might.

The creature obviously didn't like that. The Eternal Snake saw that hindrance as a personal insult, but even biting the roots didn't help its situation.

"Your resilience definitely increased," Marcella commented when the snakes' injuries suddenly vanished, "But your species can't reach the same depths of a cultivator."

Marcella sent more power to the roots around the Eternal Snake to make them give birth to fruits. Seeds came out of them and generated branches that expanded in every direction, transforming the cage into a spiked hell.

The Eternal Snake couldn't stop suffering injuries. Roots stabbed its body and expanded inside it if it remained still, but the same happened when it moved. Marcella had successfully isolated it in a deadly trap.

"Your healing properties probably lack limits," Marcella announced, "But you can't fix your body if my plans occupy those areas."

More energy flowed toward the cage and thickened the array of roots. The empty spots inside the areas started to disappear, but that didn't change the Eternal Snake's situation. The creature had long since become unable to move.

The process continued until the entirety of the cage became full of sharp roots. Marcella made sure to close every gap before diverting her attention from the battle. The Eternal Snake probably was still alive, but she didn't care enough to remain in the area.

Marcella turned toward the layer of ice to inspect its fabric. The Eternal Snake's innate ability was truly sturdy, but she had plants that could pierce it. The process wouldn't be fast, but she had a way to reach the main battle.

Roots came out of Marcella's body again to give birth to fuming petals. The heat generated by those flowers intensified as Marcella added more energy and transformed them into multiple spiked structures.

The pointy plants shot forward to stab the frozen layer. Silver shards immediately fell from it, but the damage remained relatively insignificant. Still, Marcella remained calm and gave more energy to her attacks to continue the excavation.

Mere magical plants couldn't do much against such a tough material, but Marcella's constant flow of energy revitalized their fabric whenever they lost momentum. The fuming spears slowly made their way through the ice. It would take a while, but Marcella knew she could reach the other side.

The cage remained stable and added confidence to Marcella's approach. However, the frozen landmasses eventually started to fly toward the spherical array of roots.

The landmasses fell on the cage and did their best to freeze the structure, but Marcella had predicted a similar outcome. Her roots were ice-resistant, and the Eternal Snake's innate ability couldn't ignore that feature.

The ice could only expand and envelop the cage at that point. It didn't grow, but it still surrounded the roots hoping to win over their innate resistance.

Marcella didn't just let the Eternal Snake do as it wished. She sent energy to the cage while remaining focused on her drill-like plants. Reaching the other side was her main goal, so she knew she had to keep the creature trapped.

The drilling process continued without meeting any hindrance. Marcella even started to relax after a while. It made sense for a magical beast to be relatively easy to deal with, so she didn't think too much about it.

A tunnel came to life as the process continued. Marcella's plan was working, but her survival instincts suddenly screamed in fear. She didn't know the reason behind that reaction, but she trusted her mind enough to listen to its warning.

Marcella shot backward and left the tunnel to inspect the frozen layer as a whole. Nothing strange was happening there, so she turned to examine the cage. Her structure was still surrounded by ice, but even that situation didn't change.

Nevertheless, great surprise filled Marcella's mind when she turned back toward the frozen layer. Her tunnel had completely disappeared. The ice had regained its original form, wasting her previous efforts.

Marcella was stunned, but she didn't lose her cool. After reviewing everything she knew about the Eternal Snake, she could explain the event. It was safe to assume that its ice shared its resilience.

'I must kill it,' Marcella concluded, but another surprising scene unfolded in her eyes when she turned.

The layer of ice that had enveloped the cage had transformed into a giant reptilian head that bit down on the array of roots. The mouth was big enough to cover the entirety of the structure, and the latter disappeared after entering that frozen attack.

Marcella's expression flickered when she lost connection with the cage. In theory, the giant head had an opening at its base, so broken roots would have come out from there, but nothing left the mouth.

"Damned cultivator!" The Eternal Snake hissed in anger as soon as the mouth opened to reveal its intact body.

"You are one annoying being," Marcella commented while recreating her vegetation to prepare for the imminent battle. She couldn't find alternatives, so she decided to put everything she had into the fight.

"Annoying?" The snake repeated in a human voice. "I'm eternal! Anything frozen by my ability will remain frozen forever. Nothing can erase the traces of my existence!"