My 100th Rebirth a day before the Apocalypse novel Chapter 1023

Chapter 1023: Chapter 1021 Mutated Animals Acquired 12

The mutated animals nearby began to tremble, their instincts screaming danger. Even the livestock stationed kilometers away grew restless, their panic rippling through the land. It was as if something primal had awakened within them, a warning that something far beyond their level was unfolding.

They wanted to flee.

But fear rooted them in place.

Some hid. Others ran aimlessly, unable to think, driven only by instinct.

And Mike...

He wasn’t spared.

The pressure crashed down on him without mercy. His knees buckled, and he dropped heavily onto the ground, pain shooting through him as he landed. Yet even that barely registered.

Because all he could feel... was the overwhelming weight pressing in from every direction, suffocating, inescapable.

Duke and the mutated Golden Eagle clashed, not with claws or talons, but with sheer will.

Their auras surged and collided, pressing against each other in a silent but brutal struggle for dominance. The air itself seemed to tighten under the pressure as the mutated animal resisted fiercely, its instincts refusing to yield.

But it was already weakened.

Wounded from its earlier battle, the mutated Golden Eagle couldn’t hold out for long.

Little by little, Duke’s aura overwhelmed it, crushing and suffocating it, leaving no room for defiance. Still, the process dragged on longer than it should have. Had Duke been the one to defeat it in battle, the creature would have submitted far more easily.

Instead, he had to force its will down piece by piece.

Until finally...

The resistance broke.

The mutated Golden Eagle lowered itself, its fierce presence fading into reluctant submission.

Duke let out a satisfied breath, a wide grin spreading across his face as he stepped forward to inspect his new mount. After confirming that its fighting spirit had truly settled, he pulled out a vial of shimmering blue liquid and carefully fed it to the creature.

The effect was immediate.

Its wounds began to mend, strength returning to its body as it absorbed the potion’s effect. But Duke barely had time to enjoy his victory.

The ground shifted.

A writhing mass emerged from the shadows, long and sinuous, dark as charcoal, its scales swallowing what little light there was. As it fully revealed itself, its form became unmistakable.

A massive black serpent.

An anaconda-like monstrosity, bound by the same restraining spell that had once held the mutated Golden Eagle.

The moment the eagle saw it...

It shrieked.

A sharp, furious cry that tore through the air as if it had just laid eyes on a sworn enemy. Its wings beat violently, body straining against the bindings.

And now, having just consumed the healing potion, its strength had surged back.

The restraints trembled.

The creature struggled harder, more violently, driven not by fear, but by agitation... by rage. Of course, the mutated Golden Eagle reacted violently at the sight of the massive serpent.

It wasn’t just any enemy.

That creature was a known menace, one that preyed on nests, stealing eggs from flying mutated animals whenever the opportunity arose. A natural predator. A thief.

And, as it turned out...

This wasn’t their first encounter.

Kisha had already found that very same black serpent earlier... lurking around the mutated Golden Eagle’s nest. Using the system’s map, she had pinpointed the locations of nearby mutated creatures, saving herself the time and risk of searching blindly. By chance, or perhaps luck, they had been close to the cliff where the mutated Golden Eagle had built its nest.

And the mutated black serpent had taken advantage of the fact that the mutated Golden Eagle was out. Sensing that the eagle was away hunting, it had slipped into the nest, likely intending to steal eggs or whatever food it could find.

But it had miscalculated.

The mutated Golden Eagle had already consumed its stored rations before leaving, which was why it had gone out to hunt in the first place. The nest was empty. And before the serpent could even react...

Kisha found it.

The moment it tried to coil and strike, she had already torn open the seal on a Binding Magic Scroll, activating it in one swift motion. The spell snapped into place instantly. And just like that... The massive mutated black serpent was captured.

The reason Kisha chose to capture the serpent, despite having no intention of taking in reptile or arachnid-type mutated animals, was purely practical.

Its shed skin alone was valuable.

From what she had learned, it could be crafted into durable armor, something that would greatly benefit their warriors. Its scales were just as promising, thick, resilient, and capable of being reforged into protective gear.

Resources like that were too useful to ignore.

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