After the toad was dragged down into the murky depths of the lake, the boulder moved again. This time, it rolled away from the water. It had barely reached a distance of one meter before the shadow reappeared. It grabbed the rock and tried to pull it back.
The rock was too heavy for it to move in a hurry, though. And as it struggled, Han Sen was finally able to get a good look at the enigma that had been residing inside the lake all that time.
It was like an arm, but one that was plated all in copper. It was not too different from a snake, minus a head. When it came out to reach the boulder, it revealed itself to be at least one hundred meters long.
The rock tried its best to pull away from it, but it gave ground, bit by bit. It would soon be dragged in.
When the rock was two meters away from the water's edge, a rocky explosion sounded as the boulder rose up off the ground.
The boulder turned into a golem, and there were people behind it.
"Is that Yaksha and Blood River King down there? Were they hiding inside the rock this entire time?" Han Sen saw Yaksha and Blood River King down below, the latter in his signature red armor.
There was a six-armed monster with them, and it and the two spirits ran off while the golem stayed behind to hold back the snake as they made their escape.
The black shape from the lake attacked the golem with a greater rage. But then, another black shadow emerged. It went for the three that were daring an escape. Yaksha used his wings to avoid the initial strike.
Blood River King and the six-armed ape managed to evade the attack, as well. But in the next second, many more of those black snake-like figures shot out of the lake.
Yaksha brought out his Black-Feather Dagger, while Blood River King drew his sword to attack whatever was chasing them.
A metallic noise sounded whenever they drew a cut across the black snakes. What's more, their weapons weren't formidable enough to slice through them.
Two king spirits and two super creatures were now trapped, as more and more monsters arose to eliminate their ability to flee.
The golem did not relent in fighting back that horrible foe, and it was able to stand strong and not get dragged into the lake.
But it wasn't long before even more of the black shadows emerged. A larger host of the black menace grabbed a hold of it, threw it down on the ground, and dragged it across the shore.
The golem was pulled into the lake, and seeing it get pulled in like that, Han Sen couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine. It was a shocking scene to behold.
"What in the sanctuaries is this thing? Both Yaksha and Blood River King are unable to fight it? I'm lucky I didn't try to get any closer," Han Sen thought to himself.
"Tzzi Tzzi!" While Yaksha and Blood River King fought side-by-side, the six-armed ape was the next to get grabbed. It was unable to resist the strength of the pull, and it was immediately dragged away and down into the lake.
Blood River King was furious when he saw that the three super creatures he had brought with him had been killed. They had all been dragged into the lake by one fearsome monster.
He hyped himself to fight in honor of his fallen creatures, but at that second, Yaksha managed to muster the strength to cut through the monster and clear a way forward to escape.
"Run!" Yaksha shouted. The monster was quick to recover, and it grabbed his arm. Then, a lot more did. They dragged him into the lake.
Blood River King was touched by his seemingly heroic sacrifice, and so he took him up on the command and escaped.
Yaksha was dragged into the lake, and once he was, solace returned to the land.
Han Sen frowned, believing that something wasn't quite right.
Yaksha was not the sort of person who was willing to sacrifice himself, especially if it was to merely save another. He was one of the eight generals, too, so there was no way he could have been dragged in that easily. As Han Sen mulled that puzzling happening, something floated up to the surface of the lake.
Han Sen squinted to get a good look, and he noticed it was a copper statue. It looked like a copper screen. But when it bobbed for a bit, and Han Sen was able to get a better view, he realized it was actually a copper throne.
The entire throne was adorned with a number of patterns. The seat had been composed by a number of copper, snake-like figures.
Han Sen did not know how many snakes had been intertwined to build it, but it clearly represented the snakes that had arisen to attack the party earlier.
They seemed to have been built from copper were thus inanimate, but they soon started to move. And they seemed to be pushing the throne to the surface of the water.
A female spirit was sitting atop it, one that wore a black dress. Her legs were long and succulent; a highlight of the sight of her, sitting on the throne. She had long black hair, painting her as something of a femme fatal. She looked cold and unremorseful.
"I brought you three super creatures, see? I should help you take the Aqua Vine." Yaksha emerged from the water, speaking to the woman in a polite and sickly tone.