God of Souls: Attaining the Strongest System in an Apocalyptic World
Chapter 34: Outmatched... Not outwitted

Chapter 34: Outmatched... Not outwitted

The snake beast did not take long before attacking Kael with extreme speed, lunging its head forward in an attempt to bite off his head.

With this obvious movement, Kael managed to sidestep, letting the snake beast slam its head into the ground.

This left an opening for Kael, and he took it, swinging a fast punch into the beast’s side with all his strength.

As his fist made a deadly impact with the snake beast’s skin, he immediately made a costly realization—his powerful punch had done nothing to the snake. Instead, his fist bounced off its metal-like skin.

’What the fuck?! Don’t tell me I’m not strong enough to—’

The snake beast retaliated with a shrill cry as it swung the end of its tail like a club, striking Kael’s waist. The unexpected attack sent him hurtling into the nearest wall.

"Arrrgh!" Kael coughed up blood from his mouth. Nonetheless, there was no time to rest as the snake beast was already crawling quickly towards him, ready to attack again.

’Damn why is it so energetic? Even after taking on those three, did they not do any damage to it at all? It does look wounded but..!’ He leapt out of the way just in time, letting the snake beast smash its head into the tunnel’s wall with a violent cracking sound as grit was sent into the air.

’Its so madly agile and still so fucking powerful!’

It continued attacking endlessly while Kael did nothing more than dodge, calculating every single move it made. He knew it was impossible to win against the beast with his current strength, and even his speed was barely on par with it.

There was no option left but to keep evading and wait for the best.

"Common think! Think you idiot! Use your brain!" He racked his brain trying his best to keep on dodging the beasts attack, at least he could continue this but...

That was all a thought—until the snake beast made a shocking move that stunned him.

Its skin was instantly consumed by a red, mysterious energy, which seemed to enhance the beast’s speed and power. It sprang forward with a much faster speed than before.

Kael managed to dodge, but not fast enough. The snake caught his left hand in its humongous fangs, lifting him off the ground.

This made him scream in unquestionable pain as the snake beast twirled its head violently in the air, hoping to tear his hand apart.

[Venom of the beast is being fought by the system.]

[Please free yourself from your current predicament... You are losing too much blood.]

[HP 8/20]

Kael saw the notifications, and his life flashed before his eyes. He calmed himself just enough to spot the other fang of the snake beast. He threw his other arm around it and pulled with all his strength.

"I’m not done yet! Even if it’s just a fang I take—I won’t go down without making this a living hell for you!"

He yelled at the top of his lungs, jerking on the fang of the snake beast with all his might. The snake beast shook even more violently, trying its best to throw Kael off.

The weakness of the strong, armored snake had simply been its insides.

As the tug-of-war between the two continued, Kael knew he had to act fast. His HP bar was dropping drastically.

[4/20]

"Activate Shockwave!"

A small explosion occurred around the snake beast’s mouth, separating Kael from it. The force sent both of them flying backward.

The snake crashed into the walls, while Kael fell sideways onto the ground in immense agony.

His body felt heavy, his breathing rapid. Some part of it was due to the venom, and the rest from being shaken up too much.

"Son... of a bitch!" Kael muttered, slowly rising to his feet. That was when he realized—his other hand was half-torn and mangled in a truly disgusting way. It was already starting to heal, but as for the broken bones, Kael couldn’t say the same.

But the snake had suffered similarly. He had pulled out one of its two enormous fangs, leaving it with only one remaining.

The snake, dazed by the attack, quickly became enraged. Glowing red all over, it let out a high-pitched shriek and catapulted forward at full force.

It was twice as fast as before, and from the way it attacked, it was obvious—it wanted to end this battle once and for all.

"If I die here, then I’m too much of a coward! If I can’t even kill a wounded intermediate beast—what sort of sissy am I?!"

Kael, still holding the large fang, gripped it tightly so that its sharp end faced downward. He made a sprint stance and raced toward the charging snake without a single ounce of fear in his movement.

The two met in the middle with full precision. The snake lunged forward to bite Kael’s head off, but Kael had somehow gotten fast enough to avoid the attack. Leaping above the snake’s head, he dodged and struck next.

He plummeted the fang into the side of the snake. With his strength and the fang’s sharpness, it sank completely through, making the snake shriek in agony.

But he wasn’t out of danger yet. The snake swung its large tail at him again.

This time, Kael was prepared.

The snake only had two decisive attacks—its head and its tail. Once he was fast enough to overcome both, neither was an issue for him.

Kael bent his knees into a crouch and used his Shockwave skill to pivot himself high up, letting the enormous tail miss him by a large gap.

"You fucking worm...!" Kael screamed, his bones rattling against each other, his flesh protesting in agony as if he had been thrown into a boiling pot of oil.

But he pushed further.

Angling his body, he aimed his descent directly at the snake’s head.

The snake saw his plummet as an easy attack to intercept, jerking its head backward before springing forward to sink its fang into him.

But it was wrong.

Just because Kael was in the air didn’t mean he was too immobile to dodge.

As the snake beast got close enough, he quickly used Shockwave to push himself just enough to avoid the bite at the last moment.

Then, he attacked.

With the snake’s head passing beneath him, he sank the sharp end of the fang into its cranium. A cruel crack echoed through the tunnel as the beast let out an ear-piercing shriek, shaking erratically.

Kael, still falling from the height, crashed back-first onto the ground, unable to move a muscle. From where he lay, he turned his gaze toward the snake beast.

If his attack had failed—this was surely it for him...

Seconds passed.

Then minutes.

And, just to his favor, the snake beast collapsed onto its side, limp and motionless.

It was dead.

He had killed the snake beast.

[Two Hundred EXP gained.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Seeing the lines of notifications, Kael felt more fulfilled than stressed and wounded.

"Of course... the hungriest spirit shall win."

He had defeated his first intermediate beast.