Chapter 709 - Cracked Seal

Kana stepped on air over and over again until she was high above the snake demonic beast and swung her sword multiple times in a crisscross pattern. Beams of sword qi materialized and flew at the snake demonic beast. "Take this, you stupid dragon wannabe!"

*Roar!*

A roar of pain came from the snake demonic beast as the sword qi cut into its skin. It turned its massive head and glared at the figure that was making a hasty retreat. Its anger made it forget about the other puny humans and began chasing after Kana. 

"Good, it's following me. If I can just give them time to escape, I can also try to get away myself…." Kana was glad her sudden attack worked. She knew the others were very tired and that if they kept going, one of them would have collapsed. While she was also tired, she still had the energy to keep going. 

As Kana used the treetops as a stepping stone to keep moving forward, a thought dawned on her. "All I do is run… Is this how one becomes strong?" 

Kana frowned at herself. She seemed to do nothing but running as of late. Every time she comes upon someone more powerful, she just runs. This was never like her. She once charged fearlessly into millions of soldiers to fight for her home. She faced off against people much stronger than her without a shred of fear. "This has to stop! I can no longer be like this!" 

Kana pushed back the fears she had welling up inside her and buried them deep in her heart as she stopped mid air and looked at the snake demonic beast charging towards her. No fear could be seen in her eyes now. They held nothing but pure resolve and determination. "I may not have the powers I had in the past, but this does not mean I should lose myself… As the Goddess of Life and Death, I should not show so much weakness… Yes, as the goddess of Life and Death, I should be strong and hold my head up high. I should face everything that comes at me. Fight head on and grow stronger step by step until I can finally leave this world and continue my journey."

*Crack!*

A cracking sound rang out inside Kana as a feeling began to well up inside her, a feeling she had not felt in a long time. It was as if something broke loose from the binds that shackled it for so long. Kana stared at the snake demonic beast and held her sword to the side as she softly said the words she had spoken so many times before: "I am death and death is me…."

*Boom!*

A powerful force exploded out of Kana and swept the area causing the trees, grass, and underbrush to suddenly wither up and die. It was as if the death element inside her was yelling out in rage from being suppressed for so long. The feeling of the death element running through her body once more made Kana feel very comfortable. "Was it because I had not acknowledged myself until this point? Was it because I had been too wary of fighting head on?"

Kana had many questions on why her death element would suddenly appear now, but she could not ask for anything more. "At least now… I will have another trump card."

Seeing the trees suddenly withering up and dying, the snake demonic beast came to a sliding stop, and it stared at Kana. It was unsure if it should continue its charge or not. Kana lifted her sword and placed it on her shoulder as she stared at the giant snake. "You wanted to eat me and my friends, right? Well, here I am. Why are you not trying to eat me now?" 

The snake demonic beast slowly began to back up. It did not dare go into the circle of death that suddenly appeared with Kana at its center. The black withered land made it feel fear in the deepest part of its soul. 

"Who said you could go?" Kana asked as she gazed at the snake demonic beast. She wondered what made the snake think it would turn and run after chasing her and her friends for so long. 

The snake demonic beast did not even glance at Kana as it turned to run. But Kana would also not allow to get away. She stepped on air using her Heavenly steps and charged after the snake demonic beast that was now fleeing for its life. It acted arrogantly before when it chased after Kana and her friends, but now the tables had turned, and that once arrogant attitude it held was nowhere to be seen.

"Stop running, let's talk! We can talk about how I should prepare some snake soup!" Kana shouted as she charged forward. All the while sending out blades of sword qi that now held traces of death element to it. With each cut from the sword qi, more and more life force was being drained from the sneak demonic beast. As Kana gave chase, she felt like her odds of leaving this world were starting to increase. With her death element, she could fight strong foes without too much worry. Her withering was enough to even make gods become fearful. But she still wished to train herself so she would not use withering unless it was necessary. Just like her soul, it would be a trump card that would allow her to act like a weakling. Kana smiled as her thoughts turned to how she was going to cook the snake in front of her. She, of course, made sure to express her thoughts out loud. "Should I do roasted snake, broiled snake, or just boil it?"

As for the snake demonic beast, he began moving faster. If it was able to sweat, its scales would be soft from soaking in it. It really did not wish to become a meal for the scary humanoid behind it.. It never thought that the little ant it was trying to eat would suddenly turn into the scariest monster it had ever met.