Chapter 41 - A Near-Death State.
Hiss…!!!
From the high-pitched tone of the hiss, it slowly began to die down to a low tone as the Devouring Cobra struggled for its life. The last bite by the great white shark completely incapacitated it.
Its elongated skin now had numerous injuries of varying degrees; its originally thick skin was now lacerated on every part.
Its skin heaved up and down like it was a beating heart about to die. The prey was still stuck in its throat, and this was what brought its current doom.
Its originally sharp eyes slowly glazed over, now all it could see was a dizzy red. The prey still struggling in its belly did not help matters either as it already suffered from staggering internal damages.
The water surrounding their battlefield was already dyed completely with blood, the dark red blood already blended with the surrounding water to form a scene of pure carnage.
In a bid to ditch out its last struggle, the Devouring Cobra pooled all its remaining strength together and still tried its twisting and turning strategy to tire out its opponent.
Crunch!
Without hesitation, Sebastian bit in retaliation.
Just like its counterpart, he was already feeling completely exhausted. He was now hovering at that point dividing life and death, the green glow in his eyes threatened to be extinguished at any moment.
Though the Devouring Cobra suffered more outwards damage, inwardly, he suffered more. Due to the toxins that the Cobra already injected into his body, and the pressure exerted on his body, his body was already compressed by a lot.
At this moment, he felt like his body was in a circle shape from all the squeezing and compressing. Now, he felt like a newly bought FIFA ball.
Squelch!
The Devouring Cobra released a bubbling liquid-like foam from its mouth as it tried to fight against the invading power of death. Despite its efforts, its lifeforce kept on draining.
From the original white, its eyes slowly turned orange before turning pure red, then it finally went limp.
[You have killed a teenage Devouring Cobra- level 15: You have gained Experience.]
[You have gained 32 Skill points and 5 Adaptation points.]
[You have leveled up once.]
[You are currently out of battle: Unique talent- Adrenaline Surge has been deactivated.]
Immediately after these series of notifications came out, Sebastian did not have the luxury of heaving a sigh of relief as the weakness that was temporarily suppressed by the adrenaline surge came back with full force.
He tried to move his body but he could not, he felt like he was being dragged down by a dozen boulders attached to his body through an iron chain.
He even tried to open his mouth but the most familiar part of his body suddenly felt strange to him now, he felt like he was in another man\'s body and so was severely restrained.
Suddenly, the system lit up again with a notification, but this time the words were in an ominous scarlet color.
[You are currently under the near-death state: Your health points have gone below 10%.]
[You are currently under the heavily poisoned state: Your health points are being depleted in an extremely fast manner.]
[You need to take a bite from your prey immediately to replenish your health.]
[You have 20 seconds to take a bite off your prey.]
[Your time starts now: 19, 18, 17…]
Hearing this, Sebastian\'s head reacted immediately as he tried to rouse himself up but his body was still refusing to cooperate.
At this moment of desperation, he finally understood the meaning of the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Though the Devouring Cobra was already dead, its enormous body was still curled around him due to the cramped nature of the tunnel. This added weight made him feel even weaker.
[You have less than 15 seconds remaining: 13, 12, 11, 10…]
Sebastian was stimulated even more when he saw this. Death was something that is associated with you, even the dry bones shall rise again just for that desperate struggle to survive.
Despite feeling like his brain was on fire, he pumped all his brainpower into the now herculean effort of taking a bite of the food before him.
[You have less than 8 seconds remaining.]
[Your magic organ has recovered 2% of your mana points.]
Without hesitation, as soon as he saw this, Sebastian drew the power of the almighty magic organ again.
His dimming eyes glowed a green color again as he forcefully drew closer to the nearest skin of the dead Cobra, then he bit down with all his might.
Crunch!
[You have less than…]
He didn\'t hear what the system said again, as soon as he bit on the Cobra\'s meat he finally fainted. He didn\'t even confirm if he swallowed it, he left every other thing to fate.
…
Blink!
After an unknown number of hours, Sebastian\'s eyes finally regained focus. His eyes didn\'t actually blink as he could not, they just regathered lucidity and focus.
Immediately after his eyes opened, the first thing that presented itself before him was the dead remains of the Devouring Cobra.
Seeing this, all the memories of what transpired finally came rushing back. Then, the system spammed him with notifications as usual.
[You have eaten the meat of the Devouring Cobra: You have unlocked the basic profile information of the Devouring Cobra family.]
[You have assimilated part of the Cobra\'s magic essence: All negative effects such as poison, and weakening toxins have been purged.]
[You are still in a critically damaged state and your health points are now below 5%: Devour the meat of the Devouring Cobra to regain your health points.]
As soon as he read this, Sebastian began to feel…
"Damn! I\'m hungry!"
He immediately shrank back in pain as the injuries that he sustained aggravated due to his actions. Feeling more modest now, he quickly swam closer to the meat before him to fill his empty stomach.
Crunch!
Without hesitation, he started eating away at the Cobra\'s meat.
He could not finish it in one go. After eating for a few minutes, he felt the dizzy feeling again, and before he could react his eyes started dropping close.
He fell asleep again.