Chapter 123
I had learned to cook for her, I had also learned to craft all kinds of nice things for her; for some reason, her smile was always my biggest motivation even before waking up and the chaos that followed.
In addition to all the aforementioned, I suppose that the only other thing I learned was to play that instrument, of course, being my mother the instructor, it always seemed to be one of the best moments of the day; she really was a beautiful woman and a talented musician.
Having said all of the above, I think it should be clear that I never had a lot of time to spare to do what other kids did, especially like playing video games. . . but here’s where it gets a little curious.
I may not have played video games in my childhood. . . But even an ignorant like me knew what a final boss looked like when he was about to perform his ultimate ability. . . especially bosses like dragons when they used breath skills.
And one might ask, Desmond why are you telling us all this useless information about your past and video games? Well if they could see the scene in front of me they wouldn’t ask such a stupid question.
Only about 30 meters away was the Steel Emperor Serpent performing his own set of ultimate attacks, as to why I was so sure that was the case, let’s just say it was the absurd amount of mana from the environment that was being absorbed by a said snake; meanwhile the sharp scales that formed a mane at the base of its neck began to emanate a dangerous metallic glow and the snake’s throat, in turn, began to swell to the point where it looked more like a toad than a snake.
As I said, any idiot with two neurons would know that whatever the snake was about to do would certainly not be pretty and I soon witnessed a scene that only corroborated my words.
The corrupt beasts apparently sensed the imminent threat, but instead of retreating they attacked in an attack that could only be called suicidal against the snake, but their resistance did not last long, they barely approached the snake and it released everything that had accumulated in his throat.
.....
Thus a jet of metallic gray liquid shot out of its jaws in the direction of the corrupted beasts, the sheer impact of it was enough to send the corrupted beasts several meters away, but I had the impression that this was not the best part of the attack.
And I was right, when finished shooting the snake waited a few seconds while observing his pathetic opponents, the corrupted beasts recovered quickly from the impact of the gray jet but just as quickly as they fell into a desperate situation when the gray liquid that covered their bodies began to solidify; Similar to the process of turning to stone under the gaze of Medusa the corrupted beasts turned into mere statues before the mighty Serpent Emperor of Steel.
I suppose that’s what the notebook was referring to regarding that organ that stored liquid metal, heck it can be as valuable as you want, but obtaining it is more dangerous than one might expect.
Of course, my mental monologue was of no relevance to the snake, who, not feeling satisfied with the fate of his enemies, continued with the second part of his final attack, only then did I notice that the maelstrom of mana being absorbed by the snake had nothing to do with his breath attack because the mana absorbing focus that was the serpent’s mane became his new weapon.
Torrential rain fell on the corrupted beasts just a few seconds after being turned into statues, to their bad luck, it was not water that was raining on them, no, what was raining on them were hundreds but rather thousands of reinforced sharp scales with a tremendous amount of metallic mana.
By the time the attack was over, only one question remained in my head: What the hell did he fight for in the first place if he could have used an attack like that? I mean, you just have to look at what his attack did to the landscape, it looks like the outskirts of the green seed town after the bombardment in defense against the mutant beasts.
But when I saw the steel emperor snake again I understood better why I did not use this ability before, the answer was quite simple I guess and it was extremely exhausting; to the point where the snake looked like it would fall unconscious at any moment as it gasped for air.
Still, there was something that had me worried, even though the corrupted beasts had been destroyed it didn’t feel like the snake had won, there was something strange about the beasts’ behavior it almost felt like it did. . . no, it can’t be that or yes. . . trying to clear my doubts I went back to using the analysis function in the snake.
Shit, I knew I was forgetting something and now I finally know what it is, it is poison, the same poison that was so lethal as to receive a special warning from the notebook; it seems the beasts won. . . at least they completed their objective.
Once the venom finished killing the snake, it would begin to corrupt it until it became a necrotic creature similar to the beasts that attacked it, damn that cruel and unwieldy tactic.
Watching the snake weaken little by little as the seconds passed, I realized that using its ultimate attack put it in a state where it was even more vulnerable to poison and that it would not be long before it succumbed to corruption. . . unless. . . Unless I give him the coup de grace and then make sure he can’t resurrect.
′′ Sasha, in his current state; Do you have the confidence to beat that snake? ′′
Sasha looked at me for a few moments before looking back at the snake and just nodding in response, well I guess that decides; now even if I fail at least I have insurance. . . I don’t plan on failing though.