#652 - Fatal shot

"Arrogant brat!"

The King Cobra cursed, his already dwindling patience wearing thin as he faced the relentless duo. He was desperate to know what was wrong with his connection to the god Set.

Moreover, he was outnumbered, and the longer the situation dragged on, the more disadvantageous it became for him. If he couldn't reestablish contact with Set, his power would only continue to weaken, and he might not even be able to maintain his transformation.

He couldn't wait any longer. Taking advantage of the fact that there were only two…

"Bang!"

A gunshot interrupted the King Cobra's thoughts. A pink shadow, dragging a long tail, cut through the air towards him, its target being the seven-headed snake staff he was holding with his tail.

"Tch!" The King Cobra clicked his tongue in annoyance. Unfortunately, the restraint from the stone man in front of him prevented him from freeing his hands. In desperation, he could only completely wrap the snake staff with his tail.

While this protected the snake staff, it also cut off his access to it and deprived him of his tail as a weapon. However, as long as he could protect the snake staff, it was all worth it.

After all, his power came from the snake staff. Without it, he was nothing.

"Clang!"

A bullet made of psionic energy struck the viper's tail. The energy scattered and exploded under the pressure, leaving only a small mark on the green scales.

"Damn it!" Quentin's curse escaped his lips. The weapon projected by his psionic ability couldn't be judged by the standards of conventional weapons. The bullet's power depended entirely on how much energy he poured into it when he created it.

The reason Quentin reacted so strongly was that the bullet he had just fired had consumed a significant amount of his energy, yet it only left a shallow mark on the opponent's scales. This was indeed a blow to his confidence.

'Too bad mental attacks don't work on him.' Quentin grimaced in annoyance. The King Cobra hadn't shown any mental abilities from the start. The fact that he could block his mental abilities was probably all thanks to that strange staff.

Taking a deep breath to ease his agitated mood, Quentin calculated how much energy it would take to penetrate the King Cobra's defense based on that one attack.

It would take at least all of his remaining energy. He had already exerted a lot of effort fighting the rock python, and he had fired several shots earlier. If he used all of his remaining energy, Quentin would likely pass out.

With teammates around, Quentin didn't have to worry about his safety, but this meant that Quentin only had one chance. Whether he succeeded or not, he would lose his ability to fight.

"Then let's do it." Quentin licked his dry lips, ignoring the throbbing pain in his brain, a sign of excessive use of psionic energy. But this pain also stirred up Quentin's more frenzied side.

'Give me a chance!'

He transmitted his thoughts to Ben and Johnny on the battlefield. This was the advantage of being a telepath. They could understand his intentions without needing many words.

The sudden appearance of thoughts that weren't his own caused Johnny, who was performing cobra maneuvers in the air, to stiffen. But he immediately realized it was the ability of that pink-haired cool kid.

"Want some teamwork?" Johnny revealed a mouthful of white teeth beneath the flames. "I love teamwork the most!"

Shouting wildly, Johnny flew up and down in the air, dragging a long trail of fire, circling around the King Cobra and Ben in the center. Of course, his flame attacks never stopped.

'That loudmouth.'

Ben, at the center of the battlefield, also understood Quentin's plan, which was why he was complaining about Johnny in his heart. It wouldn't be good if the enemy found out.

Fortunately, the King Cobra didn't seem to suspect anything, as he was silently plotting his own plan.

'Let's begin.'

Ben silently said the word 'start' in his heart, and then began to increase the power in his body. He could feel his strength gradually increasing as the battle progressed, almost becoming stronger every second.

Ben estimated that he was now absolutely capable of overwhelming himself from a day ago in terms of strength. This unreasonable enhancement made Ben wonder for a moment if becoming a stone man wasn't such a bad thing.

Of course, he only felt that way for a moment.

The Stone Man pressed down like a mountain, and the King Cobra, whose strength was gradually weakening, immediately felt the pressure. He knew he couldn't go on like this and had to execute his plan.

First, he needed to lure the opponent in.

The King Cobra's hands were slightly deformed by the Stone Man's grip. The unreasonable squeezing made him grimace in pain, his forked tongue flicking nervously, and his tail swaying restlessly.

Moving muscles are flexible, and their strength is definitely not as good as stationary muscles. This meant that his defensive strength had decreased, and it also meant that Quentin's plan could enter the next stage.

"Wooo-hoo!"

Johnny, flying in mid-air, spotted an opportunity. Diving down, he began to spin at an extremely high speed, gradually reaching a speed that the naked eye could no longer follow.

Flying, Johnny gradually caught up with his own tail flame. Using his speed, he formed a ring of fire in the air, which slowly became thicker and eventually turned into a rotating fire tornado.

The scorching air made the King Cobra feel uncomfortable and uneasy. As a snake-like creature, he couldn't adapt well to drastic changes in temperature, which could gradually kill him.

He wanted to escape, but Ben, who was facing him, had no intention of letting him go. His stone hands gripped him tightly like hydraulic pliers.

"You look hot." Ben gave a simple and honest smile. "Unfortunately, since I became like this, I've become insensitive to many things. Otherwise, I could empathize with you."

"You idiot." The King Cobra cursed. "Fire needs air to burn. If we stay in the center of this fire ring, we'll eventually run out of air to breathe, and we'll all suffocate and die!"

"That's exactly what I was going to say." Ben winked playfully. "My oxygen requirements have also decreased. I estimate I can live a little longer than you."

"Damn it!"

Whether he was disgusted by Ben's wink or worried about his own life, the King Cobra began to struggle violently. Even the tail wrapped around the snake staff increased its shaking force, even revealing a small gap.

'It's time!'

The moment this thought appeared in Ben's mind, it was picked up by Johnny, who was drawing circles. He immediately drilled out of the fire ring, and while the flames were still burning fiercely, he used the flames to mark a target on the fire tornado.

Behind that target made of flames was the King Cobra's tail, which was gradually loosening due to lack of oxygen.

"Bang!"