Cobra vs. Slime

"Ah? Senior Cobra!"

The bespectacled man pushed up his glasses and stepped out of the shadows, giving a sinister sneer.

Erik didn't react much to what the bespectacled man said, nor did he reply. Instead, a sinister smile crept onto his lips.

Erik felt a long-lost sense of familiarity from this guy—the feeling of someone from the shadows, despicable yet strangely satisfying!

"Ah, as expected of Senior Cobra, that smile is truly terrifying!" The bespectacled man pushed up his glasses again and teased.

"By the way, Senior Cobra, are you on some kind of secret mission? If so, you must give me a hint! Otherwise, it wouldn't be good if we started fighting among ourselves."

The bespectacled man seemed to enjoy talking, rambling on and on. With his slicked-back hair and powdered face, he looked every bit the hypocrite.

Despite being significantly older Erik, he addressed him as "senior" without a hint of shame.

Erik listened silently to the bespectacled man's self-indulgent monologue, without saying a word, but suddenly took a step back and then turned to the side.

Just moments before Erik was standing, a large, jelly-like, viscous substance suddenly fell from where he was standing, instantly corroding the ground and creating a large crater upon contact.

This was clearly a long-planned sneak attack by the bespectacled man, but Erik easily dodged it.

"Ha, that's it?"

Erik looked up and scoffed, his eyes filled with disdain as he looked at the bespectacled man.

Although Eleven's tutelage has improved Erik's arrogant and conceited personality considerably, making him much more composed, he is still fundamentally a nasty character, the kind of person who is quite hated.

Eleven always thought that with Erik's annoying temper, he would probably never find a girlfriend in his entire life!

Sure enough, the bespectacled man almost lost his composure when Erik looked at him like that; the corner of his mouth twitched, and it took him a long time to regain his fake smile.

"Haha, as expected of Senior Cobra, truly..."

"Alright, enough nonsense!" But before the bespectacled man could finish speaking, Cobra interrupted him, "I heard everything you were thinking!"

"You're disgusting. What you think and what you say are completely different things."

"You've come up with quite a few good sneak attack methods, seven, no, eight already."

As he spoke, Erik suddenly stomped his foot on the ground, and a jet of dark purple venom shot into the sky, completely dissolving a large mass of slime hidden underground.

"Unfortunately, I heard everything! Your ideas are no longer of any use."

As he spoke, a layer of dark purple scales suddenly appeared on Cobra's arms, and he looked at the bespectacled man with a ferocious smile, making it impossible to tell which of the two was the bad guy.

"Hehehe, Senior Cobra, you really are annoying!" At this moment, the bespectacled man's smile also disappeared, and he became completely gloomy.

Cobra's ears twitched, and he suddenly looked at the large clump of slime that he had attacked with his venom earlier. Although the slime had been almost completely corroded by the venom, the core remained, now a deep purple, exactly like Erik's venom.

"Hehehe, Senior Cobra, did you know? Slimes are a species that can evolve by absorbing the energy of others!"

"If conditions allow, even a dragon might not be a match for a slime!"

As he spoke, the bespectacled man suddenly reached out and grabbed the purple slime next to Erik, which flew into his palm and then merged into his body.

"Ah, is this Senior Cobra's poison? Its power is truly astonishing!"

After absorbing the Venom Slime, the bespectacled man's body visibly trembled, sweat beaded on his forehead, but his face wore an expression of ecstasy, and he even licked his lips with unbridled abandon.

Erik felt a chill run down his spine at the sight.

"Senior Cobra, did you know? My Slime Magic only grants me one chance in my lifetime to imbue a slime with slime attributes! And I'm using that chance on Senior Cobra."

"Now I have the same magic and poison as Senior Cobra! I've become just like Senior Cobra!"

"Senior Cobra, I remember you can't take your own poison, can you?"

As they were talking, the bespectacled man suddenly flicked his wrist, creating a huge ball of slime that lunged at Erik. This slime was filled with purplish-red toxins— Erik's venom.

Although Erik found the bespectacled man's words somewhat disgusting, he was prepared and easily dodged the attack with a light jump.

At the same time, he pushed off the ground with both feet, and his two dragon claws, oozing venom, shot towards the bespectacled man's true form with lightning speed. He no longer wanted to hear any more nonsense.

However, before Erik's attack could land, a slime that had appeared out of nowhere suddenly jumped up and swallowed him whole.

Erik, enveloped in slimes, was somewhat surprised. The slimes moved almost silently, and he couldn't hear the thoughts of the bespectacled man controlling the slimes.

"Hehehe, Senior Cobra, are you surprised?" At this moment, the bespectacled man's smug voice came again, somewhat proudly, as he pushed up his glasses and showed off to Cobra.

"The slimes I created actually have their own hunting instincts! But they lack intelligence and the ability to think, so there are some things they do that even surprise me."

"Haha, take this situation for example!"

As he spoke, the bespectacled man ruthlessly began manipulating more slimes to merge with the clump of slime that had grabbed Erik, his expression growing increasingly ferocious.

"Senior Cobra, since you're dead, just die peacefully! Don't try anything like coming back to life!"

"Only if you die will I have a chance to go to Brain Brian's side!"

The more the bespectacled man spoke, the more ferocious and terrifying his expression became. Gradually, all pretense was shed, and he became utterly deranged, letting himself go completely.

"Haha! Just a brat! What senior? Bullshit! You dare to stand by Lord Brain's side? You dare to be called the 'Oración Seis'?"

Erik ignored the bespectacled man's self-congratulatory talk and assessed the environment inside the slime. Despite its seemingly soft and jelly-like appearance, the slime possessed surprisingly high physical strength. Trapped inside, it was incredibly difficult to even move a finger, let alone attack. Its entire body was enveloped in that bouncy and soft substance, rendering it utterly powerless.

Furthermore, the slime's body was unable to breathe, and an extremely strong corrosive force was constantly digesting Erik's body. This force was not poison, but simply acid, which Erik could not absorb.

After adjusting his body, his magic suddenly erupted, releasing a large amount of toxins in an attempt to destroy the slime's structure.

However, things didn't go as planned. Erik's poison didn't have much effect; instead, it was absorbed by the slime ball, making it even more active.

The slime even started to imitate Erik, using venom to attack Erik, giving Erik his first taste of the terror of his own poison.

"Hahaha, useless brat! Being swallowed by a slime only has one fate: to be completely digested!"

"Aaaaah, die! Die! The only one who can stay by Brain's side is me! Only me!"

With a few roars, the bespectacled man's clothes began to rip apart, swell, wriggle, and twist, transforming in the blink of an eye into a gigantic slime monster.

"Roar! Roar Cobra! Become my nourishment! I will devour you completely, leaving not a single trace!"

"I will prove to Lord Brain that I am superior to you!!"

Roar!!

With a deafening roar, the giant slime monster suddenly split open, swallowing the slime ball enveloping Erik whole. Bound Erik was like a small boat in the ocean, constantly bobbing up and down in the slime solution.

"You're really noisy."

Just as the slime monster was howling incessantly, Erik's voice drifted out. Even though he was inside the slime monster's body, his voice still rang out.

"Even if you don't shout that loud, I can still hear you, you slime bastard!"

Erik inside the slime suddenly opened his eyes, his mouth slightly agape, and let out a cold laugh.

"Feel how noisy you are! Sound Magic — Sound Wave Impact!"

Boom!!

A muffled thud suddenly erupted from the slime monster's body, and the violent tremor caused the already semi-liquid slime to suddenly begin to tremble uncontrollably, with countless fine ripples spreading across its surface.

These ripples became increasingly dense and intense, like water droplets being poured into a pan of oil, splashing and crackling as they rose up.

Until one place could no longer withstand it, a large mass of slime suddenly burst open. Like a chain reaction, the collapse of one point led to the collapse of the whole.

The slime monster, as large as a small mountain, could no longer maintain its jelly-like solid state under the vibration of the sound waves, instantly disintegrating into a pool of slime that flowed everywhere.

"No, it's impossible... You, how did you do that..." the bespectacled man's weak voice came out.

At this moment, Erik held the bespectacled man's head in his hand, suspending it in mid-air. Only his upper body was transforming back into human form; his lower body remained in slime form, still attempting to devour Erik.

Erik didn't care, letting the bespectacled man wrap his thigh around his, revealing a ferocious and terrifying smile.

Sound Magic —this is actually the magic that Erik truly awakened, the magic that truly belongs to him. As for the Poison Dragon Slayer Magic, it's just magic that Brain later obtained by implanting Dragon Lacrima into Erik's body.

Sound Wave Impact is a type of magic that collects an opponent's voice and reflects it back at double the volume. It might not be very powerful under normal circumstances, but it's surprisingly effective against loud opponents.

"I told you, I heard everything you did. From the very beginning, you had no hope of winning!" Erik grinned maliciously, ripped the bespectacled man off him, and threw him into the air.

"Hey, don't you like eating my poison? Well, I'll let you eat your fill!"

"The Poison Dragon's Roar!"

Erik placed one hand in front of his mouth, his lungs bulging, and forcefully exhaled a large cloud of toxic mist carrying a deadly virus.

The poisonous mist traveled at incredible speed, directly penetrating the part of the bespectacled man's body that was still a slime.

Glug glug

Bubbles churned on the surface of the slime, and as more and more toxic mist rushed in, it could no longer withstand any more and burst open with a bang.

The bespectacled man let out a heart-wrenching scream as poisonous smoke and thick blood oozed from his mouth, nose, eyes, ears, and all other openings. He crashed to the ground with a thud.

Erik glanced at the bespectacled man lying there, only half of his body remaining, still twitching, and who no longer had his glasses, and curled his lip in disdain.

Someone of this caliber actually dares to dream of becoming one of the Oración Seis? That's just wishful thinking. None of those guys are easy to deal with.

"Well, it's none of my business now." Shaking his head, Erik decisively put aside the thoughts that were stirring in his mind and muttered to himself.

He finally has a place to settle down, thanks to Kinana. All the past troubles are no longer his concern, and he doesn't need to worry about them anymore.

"Cough cough cough, Cobra... do you think you've gained your freedom...?"

Just as Erik was about to take a step away, the bespectacled man's weak voice came again. Erik frowned and turned around, looking at the half-dead body.

"You think... cough cough... you think you can get away from... Lord Brain... Lord Brian so easily?"

"Once you've fallen into darkness, you can never escape it!"

"Cough cough cough..."

"Cobra... the darkness you're in is like... cough cough... a bottomless swamp!"

"Haha... cough cough cough... haha... Cobra, you're not getting away!"

"You can't escape! This swamp will hold you captive! Cough cough cough... The more you try to escape, the deeper you'll sink..."

"Cough cough... You think you've made it ashore? No! Cough cough... You're just barely clinging to life!"

"You'll eventually... you'll eventually fall back into darkness! Hahaha..."

"Not only that... cough cough cough... everyone you come into contact with on the shore will be dragged into the swamp! Everyone!! Cough cough cough..."

Everyone around you will die! They will all die!

"Cobra! This is your end! Haha..."

The bespectacled man laughed maniacally, as if in a final burst of energy before death. Suddenly, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, and then all seven orifices burst open, splattering out streams of dark blood. He lost all life.

Cobra stood there, hands in his pockets, his face terribly grim. After a long while, he couldn't help but spit on the bespectacled man's unseeing face.

"Pah! You think I can't hear what you're thinking? Who are you trying to disgust?"