After the breakthrough, the snake's body was now covered by thick ice armor. That armor began to change its size and structure as two horns appeared on its head and a pair of ice wings appeared on its back.
"Wow, that's something." the man said after waiting patiently until the transformation ended. "Even so, the gap between us is too big for you to overcome after something like that."
After modifying its armor, the snake began to move around to test its new body. With the breakthrough, it became unable to use its previous elements, so most of its experience wouldn't be useful in that fight. Even so, feeling the power inside its body, the snake knew that right now, it was much stronger than it was a few minutes ago.
Not only was its body more resilient and stronger, but the energy inside it was also purer and denser, so it would be able to do more things with the same amount of energy while, at the same time, those things would be better.
This new elemental-energy seemed pretty versatile, so even if it could only use one element instead of many of them, it would still be worth it.
With a flap of its new wings, the snake shot dozens of icicles toward the young man.
With a quick movement, the man tapped on a new light screen before a flare appeared, protecting him from the projectiles.
But before the two attacks collided, the snake opened its mouth to release a blizzard that clashed with the fire and extinguished it.
Because of this, the projectiles continued with their trajectory, and the man found himself forced to evade or block most of the icicles, getting his right arm wounded by some of them.
"I must admit I didn't expect you to get so strong in such a short time. I'm going to get serious and all." The man said.
While hissing at him, the snake continued examining his enemy, which caused the man to smile.
"You see, a long time ago, "The Great Almighty" brought to my origin world what we call "The Reality System". Humans were able to do epic feats that before were only the stuff of legends by using their system panels. But not everyone received the same power. Those that went against the system's will saw their powers restricted, while those that followed it saw their might multiply by many folds."
As the man said those words, his body began to shine while the snake felt a powerful aura coming from him. Reacting to that, the snake released large amounts of ice-energy that began to freeze all the water in its surroundings and even the trees themselves.
"I'm one of those people that follows the system's will. And I did it to the point where I became one of its avatars. That means I can use all its functions without using a single menu." He said as his pupils turned white.
Before he finished saying those words, the swamp had already become a frozen landscape where nothing but the man and the snake were able to move.
"Now, I will show you what I'm capable of by using just a fraction of my po... " The man tried to say something before three ice spikes appeared from the ground and tried to impale him. "Hey! I haven't finished my speech! Forget about the fraction of my power. I'm going all out!"
While he was dodging the spikes, the snake flapped its wings and dashed at full speed toward the man.
Waving his hand in the air, tens of light runes appeared above the man before they transformed into light arrows that flew toward the snake.
The beast flapped its wings many times to dodge in the air, but the light arrows followed its trajectory, managing to land every single one of them on the ice armor.
Each of the projectiles left large holes in the snake's protection, managing to even make it bleed.
But that didn't stop the snake's movement.
The blood that it was losing began to freeze and merge with the armor, making it have a slightly reddish color.
The snake threw itself into the man, trying to bite his head off with a single bite, but failed when its teeth met the barrier surrounding him.
"You have become stronger during this fight, but you are still far from my level." The man said while thrusting his sword through the barrier.
The sword cut through the snake's armor, scales, and flesh as if it were butter. Cracks began to fill the beast's body as the light began to pass through them.
"You may have been the apex predator of your world, but on the scale of the multiverse, you are still nothing but prey." The man said before the snake's body turned into dust.
Here it is, today's chapter.
I hope you like it and that you have a nice day.
See you tomorrow for more.