I did not hesitate.
I pulled out the potion and drank it imdiately, not wasting even a single drop of it.
The effect spread quickly, stabilizing the worst of the damage and allowing to stay conscious and in control. It was not a full recovery, but it was enough.
That was all I needed.
I focused again on my surroundings.
The difference was obvious now. The steady digestive process had been disrupted. The acid no longer flowed evenly, and the walls no longer moved in a consistent pattern.
Instead, they twitched and spasd unpredictably, as if the creature itself had lost control over its own body.
It was not dead. But it was no longer stable.
And that ant I could do it again.
I took another steady breath, ignoring the lingering pain, and raised my hand once more as the faint warmth of Fla Spark gathered at my fingertips.
The thod was simple now.
Wait for the contraction. Use the air to gather the gas. Ignite it.
And repeat.
This was no longer a desperate gamble. It was a process. And as long as I could keep going, the outco was already decided.
The second cycle was easier.
Not because it hurt less, but because I no longer had to think about what I was doing. The pattern was clear, and my body moved with it.
The stomach tightened again, the pressure rising as the creature tried to regain control over its own body. The acid surged violently, splashing higher than before, as if the snake itself was panicking.
That alone told everything. A creature at this level shouldn’t lose control so easily. Which ant I had already pushed it further than it could handle.
The mont the pressure loosened, I acted.
Compressed air spread outward in controlled bursts, sharper this ti, more deliberate. I could feel the gas shifting faster now, disturbed not only by my actions but by the creature’s own unstable movents.
It was no longer a calm environnt that I had to manipulate. It was already breaking apart.
That made things easier. I gathered what I could, tightening the invisible pocket around , and without waiting any longer, I ignited it.
The explosion hit harder!
This ti, it wasn’t just a burst. It chained into the first damage, tearing through weakened flesh and sending shockwaves deeper into the creature’s body. The walls around spasd violently, and a deafening, guttural roar echoed through the confined space.
The snake thrashed. Not just internally, but completely.
Its entire body twisted, and for a brief mont, I felt sothing shift around as if the world itself had tilted. The pressure changed, the direction of gravity pulling sideways instead of down.
It had started moving.
No, it had started losing control.
The stomach clenched again. The contractions overlapped, chaotic and desperate, as if the creature was trying to crush the source of the damage, no matter the cost.
I didn’t give it the chance and barely waited this ti. The mont I felt even a slight gap in pressure, I used the air burst again, forcing whatever gas remained to gather as much as possible.
There was less gas now. Which ant I had to make it count.
I steadied myself, ignoring the way my body protested, and ignited the spark again. This explosion was the one that broke it.
There was no slow reaction this ti.
The mont the fire spread, sothing inside the creature gave way completely. The blast tore through already damaged tissue, rupturing vital organs deep within its body. The reaction was imdiate and violent.
HISSSSS!
The snake scread.
It wasn’t just a sound. It was a vibration that shook everything around . Like a raw instinctive cry of a living thing reaching its limit.
Then everything collapsed.
The walls around lost their structure, the tight pressure suddenly giving way as the internal systems that held everything together began to fail. The acid flow stopped being directed and instead flooded chaotically, no longer part of a process but the result of sothing breaking down.
The creature convulsed one last ti.
And then—
Silence.
Not complete silence, but the absence of resistance.
The pressure that had constantly surrounded was gone. The walls no longer tightened. The movent stopped.
For a mont, I didn’t move either.
I just stood there, breathing heavily, waiting for sothing to happen. Nothing did.
The snake was dead. A system ssage appeared in my vision, but I ignored it for now.
There was a more imdiate problem.
I was still inside it.
The body around had gone slack, but that didn’t an I could just walk out. The interior was still filled with acid and partially collapsed tissue, and the longer I stayed, the worse it would get.
I moved quickly.
Using what little strength I had left, I pushed forward, forcing my way through the loosened flesh. The internal structure had softened significantly after the explosions, making it easier to tear through, but it was still slow, exhausting work.
Each movent burned. Each step felt heavier than the last. But I kept going.
After what felt like far too long, I finally felt sothing resisting that was stopping from going out.
It was the outer layer. I braced myself and pushed harder.
The weakened body gave way with a wet, tearing sound as I forced an opening large enough to climb through.
Cold air hit instantly.
For a brief mont, my entire body froze. After everything, the sudden contrast felt unreal.
I dragged myself out, collapsing onto a hard surface, coughing as I tried to clear the lingering stench from my lungs.
Water splashed around .
That was the first thing I noticed. The second was the current. I lifted my head slowly, vision still blurry, and tried to focus.
I wasn’t on land. I was in a river.
Dark water flowed around , carrying debris, broken fragnts, and traces of sothing far larger. The massive body of the snake stretched across part of the river, partially subrged, its form barely visible beneath the surface.
For a mont, I just stared. Then I looked up.
The sky above was familiar yet unfamiliar at the sa ti. And so was everything else. The world had changed after all.
I let out a slow breath and leaned back slightly, letting the cold water carry so of the remaining heat away from my body.
I had survived barely.
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