I Hate Systems

Chapter 257: The Cobra’s Fight

"Hiya!" The cobra shouted mentally as it barfed out the corpse of the mongoose that it had swallowed. The arrival of the mongoose, though dead, immediately caused a strain on the Night Ranger System Host.

She felt as if she was bloated, having eaten beyond her limit. It caused the activation of her abilities—those that relied upon the three mutated beasts in her space—to become a tad sluggish.

It did confuse her, but she didn't put much weight on it. After all, the situation was alarming enough as she was constantly asking her System about the means to find a solution.

Even though it knew the truth, the Night Ranger System still had to put on an act. And as it was busy in its act, it hadn't used any sensory means to detect the new entity that had appeared within its Host's space.

Whether or not it had the means to detect the cobra was another issue though.

Now that the cobra had barfed out the mongoose's corpse, it was able to move around swiftly as it swiped at the slowest member among the trio of mutated beasts, a bull. This bull was condensed as her crossbow while the porcupine was condensed as an attachment into the crossbow, becoming a stack of arrows that could be launched automatically.

As long as she pressed the trigger, an arrow would be launched while the force of rebound—thanks to the spring-loaded mechanism and the crossbow's structure—would load the crossbow automatically.

Though, she needed at least a second for this automatic reload to finish. Usually, it was faster for her to reload manually. All she had to do was pull back the string, which was faster when her other hand was free.

Her final ability condensed into a pair of gloves whose function was to unleash the burst element, causing her hands to move rapidly. Moreover, any weapon that she held using the gloves too were applied with the same effect.

That was how her sword slashes were so fast and packed tremendous power. And, the mutated beast that was condensed into this ability was a monkey.

The bull, the monkey, and the porcupine. Those were the Night Ranger System Host's mutated beasts. She was at Stage 3.

The cobra swiped at the bull's hind legs, piercing its teeth through its skin before injecting venom, alarming the bull, causing it to flare up instinctively.

With the cobra's input, Compass Carburettor Bestowed upon it Secret Society, causing some Mental Energy to flow into it before swapping Secret Society with Directional Misalignment. The stored Mental Energy was only enough for a second's use, but that was enough for the cobra.

It caused the bull to run towards the monkey while it climbed upon its back. The space was only enough for all three mutated beasts to be seated comfortably and move a little. It wasn't enough for them to run about.

Moreover, thanks to the presence of the mongoose, there was another obstacle to consider. In its fluster, the bull stumbled upon the mongoose, crashing into the porcupine that was unable to escape on time.

The impact crushed it while its needles pierced through the bull's eyes and nose, injuring it severely.

As for the monkey, it barely managed to evade on time when the cobra slammed its tail at it, sending it crashing into the bull.

With the Skill of Strength at Level 10 Bestowed upon it, the cobra packed some serious power behind its casual attacks.

It then coiled its body a little before springing towards the three mutated beasts, taking the chance to swerve through the obstacles and plunge its teeth into the porcupine's underbelly once.

The monkey managed to grab hold of its tail at this time, pulling it back. Unlike the other two mutated beasts, it had managed to grow three horns. So, it was pretty strong, not to mention the fact that the cobra's earlier attack only hurt it a little.

Just as the monkey tugged at the cobra's body, the cobra lashed out like a whip, noticing the monkey moving its body in such a way that the vectors of the radial forces ensured its head wouldn't be able to reach the monkey.

This was the easiest way to deal with a snake, something many wild animals instinctively knew about.

But suddenly, its body formed a layer of transparent crystal, making it tremendously tough as it contracted itself like steel, coiling around the monkey.

Darble!

Its body had turned into Darble, with the ridiculous harness of the material preventing the cobra from suffering any damage as it continued to tighten its coil like a python. Slowly, breaking sounds resounded from the monkey as its bones began to shatter one after another.

It tried its best to struggle, but its attacks didn't even scratch the cobra. After all, once killed and turned into an ability, the mutated beasts were unable to use the abilities that they possessed before death.

Only their wielder was able to use them. So, that only left them with their tough physique to fight with. Soon, the cobra shattered its bones, killing it, noticing that the other two mutated beasts too had died from poison, "I'm better than a python!"

Its body then expanded to ridiculous extents as it swallowed the bodies of all four mutated beasts, turning massive as it said through telepathy, "Uncle, I'm done here!"

"I'm in range." Compass Carburettor replied as its figure vanished, arriving within his space.

It then began to sleep as Compass Carburettor vanished using the ability of the boots, slumping to the ground in a tunnel far away, pressured as his space seemed like it was on the verge of collapse.

There was too much within, pressuring him, weakening him with the passage of every second.

"Uncle, shall I spit them out?" The cobra said upon seeing his struggle.

"No," Compass Carburettor grunted, "If you spit them out, their bodies would simply vanish. They can only exist within a space. Unlike the other mutated beasts, these should have been upgraded a little by their respective Systems. So, digesting them would make you stronger."

"That'll make things easier for us later on."