An intense feeling of absolute pressure and beastly killing intent almost choked Albrecht and Daley as the Adamantium Goliath Cobra stared straight into their souls. Its slit-like eyes dilated and contracted while its tongue hissed in the air.
Albrecht gulped. He was expecting to meet the snake but not this soon.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, the snake was actually on high alert since it could feel vibrations from the ground. As mentioned, the Adamantium Goliath Cobra could easily dig through the earth, and it could feel vibrations all around it while it did so.
"Whatever you do, don't run away. I won't be able to save you if you happen to do that." Albrecht let out as he felt another gulp in his throat. Without moving, he pulled out the 'Sword of the Cosmos'. Based on his knowledge about this particular skill, he was fairly certain that he could cut through the snake's skin.
All he needed was an opening. That's all.
'With a snake that gigantic, there's no way it could move fast enough to dodge my strikes.' Albrecht thought in his mind as he stole a glance at Daley who was already shaking in his boots. Albrecht couldn't blame his reaction, though. Had he been a normal person, he would've reacted similarly.
"Stay back," Albrecht instructed before he dug his sole into the ground. With all his strength, he propelled himself forward, aiming at the snake's neck and trying to cut it straight through with his 'Sword of the Cosmos' skill.
Tink!
A resounding clang was heard as the 'Sword of the Cosmos' bounced on the snake's hide. The sword which was supposed to cut through anything... it couldn't even cut snake skin.
[Adamantium Goliath Cobra had activated the skill 'Zecian Aura Armor']
[Physical attacks cannot penetrate the armor]
As two windows popped up in front of Albrecht, he nodded his head. Of course, it was a given that the 'Sword of the Cosmos' could cut through any material... but it didn't say anything about immaterial things. For one, aura, energy, and skills are not physical, hence the 'Sword of the Cosmos' couldn't penetrate through it.
Not all hope was lost though. Because this information also meant that the 'Sword of the Cosmos' is guaranteed to cut through the Adamantium Goliath Cobra if its skill was deactivated. All he needed was to force it to shut down its 'Zecian Aura Armor' and then he could kill it in one slash.
"All right," Albrecht muttered to himself as he received a blow to the face.
Apparently, while he was deep in thought, the Adamantium Goliath Snake flung its tail on Albrecht, sending him rolling a couple of hundred meters on the ground. The moment he regained his balance, Daley was about to be swallowed whole by the snake.
"NO!" Albrecht screamed, unleashing a spatial slash that zoomed through the air. Fortunately, the attack hit the insides of the Adamantium Goliath Cobra's mouth before it swallowed Daley.
Kiaahk~!
With a shriek, the snake flailed as it received damage for the first time in who knows how long. It knew what being invincible felt like, but now it felt more vulnerable than usual after receiving an attack in its mouth for the first time.
Forced to take a tactical retreat, the Adamantium Goliath Snake dove onto the ground and dug. Albrecht and Daley were surprised by its speed. However, at this point, there was nothing left to be surprised about.
"Are you all right?" Albrecht hastily sprinted towards Daley who was hyperventilating in the middle of the forest. The sight of the gargantuan snake was enough to traumatize him.
He also almost peed his pants, but after getting back to his senses, he realized that it wasn't worth telling Albrecht. "I'm all right," Daley answered. Ironically, he answered Albrecht after half a minute, which further proved that he was pretty shaken up.
Albrecht didn't take his reaction to heart. Instead, he nodded along and tapped Daley on the shoulder. "Yeah, I'm glad you're all right." He responded, feeling a tad bit guilty since he hasn't used everything at his disposal. Then again, the Adamantium Goliath Cobra would return, and at that time, Albrecht would be ready for it.
Crack!
His next opportune moment arrived a split second later when the ground split in two. When Albrecht and Daley glanced down, they saw the teeth of the gigantic snake, closing down on their whole body as it came out of the ground with its mouth wide open.
Albrecht's pupils dilated. Before he could think properly, he pulled out something from his spatial storage space, grabbing an item that fits in the palm of his hand. It's as if his body was not his since it moved on its own. In any case, he hoped that the object would help him out of his predicament.
[Item: Coin of One and Zero (S-Rank)— it's a coin with the number 'one' and 'zero' printed on each side. No one knows its uses.]
Disregarding the window that suddenly popped up in front of him, Albrecht flipped the coin.
As the jaws of the Adamantium Goliath Snake hinged down on them, Albrecht heard a 'ting' in his brain. It was the sound of notification whenever the System was going to announce something.
[Activation of the Coin of One and Zero is successful]
[The Coin of One and Zero landed on the number 'One']
[You can now permanently copy the skills of the Adamantium Goliath Cobra]
[Requirements: Defeat the Adamantium Goliath Cobra]
Despite the cheat-like reward and insane requirement of defeating the snake, it didn't give Albrecht and Daley a way out of the snake's mouth. At this rate, they were going to be eaten and slowly digested alive as they suffer inside the snake's stomach. Just the thought alone made the two of them shudder in mid-air.
Fwip~!
A whipping sound was heard, and Albrecht and Daley felt as if an intense force pulled them out of the way. The impact caused them to experience whiplash, but it was a tolerable whiplash, and it dragged them to safety which was a pretty good bonus.
"You guys all right?" A man drabbed in a black outfit asked as he set the two of them down. He had spiky hair, and half of his face was covered by a mask.
"And you are..." Albrecht trailed off, wondering why the man looked familiar.
"Pardon my late introductions. I'm Cainsz from the Heroes of Lomenschwaal." He simply responded, extending his hand as a greeting.
"It's a pleasure to meet someone from the Heroes of Relics." He continued.