[3…2…1…0]
A second of silence passed, and a gray portal formed next to the innermost left wall.
A chunky rat with finger-long teeth jumped out of the portal. It wasted no time and pounced on a black snake at the back.
The black snake struck back and bit the side of the rat.
Sheeek!! Sheeek!!!
The rat shrieked in pain as the snake tried to coil around it, but the next moment, it bit the snake's scaled body.
Those teeth easily went through the thin snake's body and poked out from the other side.
Ray instantly felt the invisible connection between him and the snake breaking off as the rat shook it away.
Both parts of the snake coiled on the ground as the rat gave another bite, ripping the body into three pieces.
Not losing his calm, Ray turned to the other snakes, who were about to slither forward. "No, go back."
A couple of snakes hissed at him, especially the ones at the back, but they still turned back.
Just then, more rats poured out of the portal.
Two… three… six.
Their red eyes gleamed in the dim blue glow of the cave.
Not wasting any time, all of them rushed toward the slanted path.
Although prepared, he still clicked his tongue as the snakes were not yet in position.
He instantly pointed to two brown snakes. "Attack."
Those two instantly changed their direction and struck at the first rat.
One of them even bit off the rat's leg and started coiling around it.
The rat was about to bite the snake when a green snake that was coiling at the back shot forward like a spring and bit the rat's neck.
"Yes!!"
Shreek!!
The rat started squeaking as both brown snakes began to strangle it.
Ray turned back and saw that a group had already gathered next to the incline. Already familiar with what was about to happen, he shouted, "Yellow at the front. Emerald and brown in between. Green at the back."
The snakes slithered into formation as he saw the other six rats catching up to the first.
Three of them bit hard into the brown snake at the rat's leg.
A sickening crunch echoed as the brown snake's spine snapped.
At the same time, the other rats attacked and jumped on the much smaller green snake, shredding it into pieces.
Finally, the first rat managed to bite the last brown snake's head.
Three strings of connection between him and them snapped within his mind.
Ray just narrowed his eyes. 'At least the pathway is safe now.'
He could see that these rats were stronger, far stronger than what his snakes could handle.
Their big teeth pierced scales as if biting through wet cloth.
His eyes gleamed when suddenly another black snake darted out of the shadows. It managed to sink its fangs into the second rat's face.
Ray clapped his hands. "Yes."
The rat shrieked, thrashing wildly before smashing itself against the stone wall.
The snake was crushed.
Another thread snapped, but he did not care.
Instead, he turned to the very first rat. It already had blue vines all over its body.
It was now barely limping within the cave.
Ray inhaled slowly and shouted, "Stop attacking individually."
Through the mental link, he forced his will outward.
After the first clash, he had lost two brown, two black, and one green snake. A fifth of his snakes were dead, but at the same time, two rats were already done for.
For a moment, silence formed between the twenty snakes who now coiled before the incline and the rats who were busy shredding the snake's body further.
Five healthy rats rushed ahead, while the two that had been attacked limped at the back.
Ray focused on the front as three rats attacked the yellow snakes at the front.
The others instead jumped toward the incline.
Ray instantly shouted at the green snakes. "Attack."
The very next moment, four green snakes shot up into the air, biting parts of two rats and coiling around them.
One snake tried to coil around a rat's face, only for the rat to bite down hard.
Snap!
Another connection broke.
Even with their small size, it was still enough to stop the momentum.
Struggling, both rats dropped right into the mass of emerald and brown snakes.
Hiss!!
Hissing, the emerald snakes latched onto the two rats and dragged the creatures into a coiled mess.
Sqeeee!
Ray heard the rats squealing, which was drowned out by the snakes' loud hissing.
At that moment, he felt three more connections snap. Two from the mess in the center and one from the front.
The three rats together bit a yellow snake, snapping its spine. Still, this time they failed to rip the big body in two.
Suddenly, two brown snakes darted between the yellow snake and managed to bite the underbelly of one rat.
That gave one of the slow yellow snakes a chance, and it started to coil around the rat.
The two limping rats at the back finally managed to reach the front, though they looked spent.
He instantly focused on his connection with the black snake still hiding in the shadows and mumbled, "Don't attack."
The hidden snakes that were closing in quietly went deeper into the shadows.
Out of five these were the only ones with venom. They were too useful to discard randomly.
Ray looked at the last two rats struggling against the coiled yellow snakes, only for the remaining group of brown and yellow snakes to bite them.
The two creatures managed to dodge for a bit, but then the group of emerald snakes joined the fray.
Soon, even the last two rats were trapped.
It was chaotic, but things finally came under control.
Just then, a faint tremor shook the entire cave.
He turned toward the portal.
The red light intensified, and the portal began to expand.
His expression darkened. "Shit. Don't tell me the boss is already here."
Finally, the portal stopped expanding as its edges cracked with crimson sparks.
A shadow shifted within it.
He sensed the restlessness in the other snakes through the link.
Finally, a massive rat, double the size of the others, walked through the portal.
It had a long scar going across its right eye, with thick, hairless brown skin covering its entire body.
What's more, the boss had two massive silver teeth that shone within the dim cave.
As the boss rat moved forward, multiple small stones got crushed under its feet.
Even from the back of the cave, he could hear its breathing.
The boss monster's gaze locked onto him and then shifted to the rats' bodies scattered across the cave.
Just then, a new red panel popped up beside him as the mechanical voice echoed within his head.