539

Name:Isekai Rohan Author:kophzi
Eyes weakly opening, a mixture of sweat and blood dripping from his forehead and down across his cheek, Asai took a few deep breaths to reinvigorate himself as his vision cleared. 

Having assassinated a small platoon of dekans who had remained mostly unaware of the intruder's presence among them, most albeit the last who had caught onto the strange foreign smell that mixed with an aroma he knew too well, blood. Not knowing whether they had any systems that would alert the rest of the castle into motion, Asai threw himself into a slugfest, an extreme close quarters melee fight. With tiny karambits against scales, horns and claws, the human had to stick to the dragonkin like glue, utilizing both the walls and the long-limbs of his opponent to achieve victory. Albeit, even with his best efforts, being slower and more sluggish without mana to empower his body and muscles, he failed to dodge a few hits. 

Having been sent flying to the other side of the wall, slamming his head and falling into a small concussion that left him dazed and aching, Asai had managed to inflict dozens of grievous wounds that bled out the larger foe.

In fact, the fight was quite close, as his entire right foot up to the shin was actually inside the dekan's maw. If it had just a moment more of life to bite down, and consume him, the tables would've turned.

Shoving himself off the ground, his head bumped into the sporadic pricks that stuck out from the walls, causing him to stumble and fall. Hugging the dekan corpse as a stinging jolt slammed through his brain. Once more pushing himself off, he almost fell into panic as he realized his hands were empty, and that the two golden karambits were no where to be seen.

"C-calm down, think- think..."

Waiting for his vision to stop swirling, for his thoughts to clear, and recalling the last seconds he could remember the two little fangs, his eyes fell upon the corpse below his feet. Kicking the head in annoyance, he had to lower himself by the knees and deadlift the dekan off its stomach and onto its back. Revealing the two golden weapons impaled within its chest. Another item that was revealed to him now that he found was a satchel that kept a set of keys, as well as a few dozen silver coins; however, unlike their Loha counterparts, depiction of a goddess with wings, their silver coins depicted a dragon that spun and consumed its own tail.

Taking just another quick peek around their living quarters that was mostly pillows and hay upon the ground, Asai ignored the raw meat and helped himself to their water supply.

..

"You're back already?"

Hebi the naga was pleasantly pleased to find that her newest friend had the ability to survive, which also portrayed just how capable he was, which filled her with confidence and hope that she could truly escape if the human assisted her. Having the set of keys thrown at her, she swiftly snatched and turned to remove her shackles.

As Hebi was occupied, Asai found it curious that he wasn't capable of casting any of his skills, but his passive-abilities were still active and running. Even looking at [Yomi & Yami] the two little golden fangs were slowly regenerating their mass, healing the nicks, scars and sharpness. Which made it clear to the human that mana still existed within the atmosphere, and that the prior ritual didn't remove mana entirely, but effected and casted debuffs upon the living.

"Thank you human. Now tell me, what does your friend look like? I've seen many, furry, hairy, muscular, tiny, floaty, fat and tall."

Hebi gently smiled at the human, who took a step back in surprise. Now that she had no shackles upon her limbs, and endeavoured to make Asai like her more, as to reduce the chances of him abandoning her if the chance or situation ever came to be. The hebi had transformed into a human from every angle, sporting long green hair that curled upon their ends. However, her serpent-snake green eyes gave her away as that wasn't something she could easily shift. After all, the eyes were the gateway into a person's soul.

"You don't like it? Are you one of those people who enjoys mating with other species instead? I can become full snake if you'd like that more?" Still wearing only just rags upon her body, she plucked the sides of the cloth and rose it high enough to almost reveal her lower half.

"No. I'm good... The friend I'm trying to save is Victor Del Lagos, prince to the kingdom of humanity. Golden hair, golden eyes, as tall as I am. Ring any bells?"

"A prince? I- I think I know the way, there was one human who was treated differently." She turned to lead the way, but shortly paused. "I could remove the mist right now, but the dekans will send their warriors to investigate. Or, I could focus on clearing only the mist near us? But it will tire me greatly so... And you might have to carry me, if you're okay with that?"

"Just do it. The faster I save the prince, the better."

"W-wait, which?"

Being too used to ordering people who had a clear understanding of his character, and willingness to throw himself into both danger and uncomfortable situations, Asai had to take a second to realize that he wasn't speaking to someone like Robin Sol, someone who rationalized and logically thought similar to him.

"Ah- Just the fog around us, I'll carry you if I have to." "It would also leave a clear path behind, both for Robin to follow and for me to use as breadcrumbs to find my way back." 

As someone who had been using his literal body to achieve his goals, sleeping with beauties all across the continent, in every single kingdom literally, and even entering a contract with a succubus that was paid for in sperm, having to carry a shapeshifting snake barely made any difference to his list.

Just to check whether he could or not, he swept Hebi off her feet and princess carried her as she merely pointed and cleared the path for him. Whilst he intended to immediately plot her back onto the ground, as she could walk for herself, Asai found the air clearer and cleaner whilst maintaining such close physical contact with her. And thus, decided to just carry her for now, as she was honestly really petite and light.