The Snake could understand that something was off, but it couldn't do anything in that situation. Noah was keeping it stuck in its grasp. The creature had to tear its mouth apart to escape.
Noah wouldn't let it do as it wished. Each second spent in that situation was time that he couldn't use to fight, so he didn't hesitate to raise his sword to attack the restrained beast.
The Demonic Sword pierced the creature's scales and dug its skin before releasing a torrent of dark matter that destroyed its insides. The attack engulfed the beast's skull and came out from its back.
The Snake lost the upper part of its head after a single attack. Slashes capable of a large area of effect were pointless against that opponent. Noah only needed to be precise and deadly.
The frozen lands in the world surged toward the sky when they sensed the Snake's death. A storm made of large chunks of ice engulfed the duo and separated them.
Ice crashed on Noah and flung him away. His corrosive smoke couldn't prevent those chunks from hitting him, but they only managed to crack his armor when they landed on his body.
The dark matter that surrounded his figure began to freeze, but the armor forcefully expanded to create the dark world and prevented any chunk from reaching Noah's position.
Noah's physical strength was above the Snake now, but the storm could still hinder his movements, and he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let the creature stall.
The dark world enhanced Noah's awareness and allowed him to sense the traces left by the creature. The storm had already hidden the Snake's aura, but it had yet to cover the smell of blood lingering in the air.
Noah sprinted forward, and the dark world condensed in the form of a fiendish armor before he entered his dimension. The shockwaves released by the storm attempted to stop his movement technique, but Noah fended that pressure off by relying on his physical might.
A presence eventually appeared in the dark environment. Noah quickly came out of his dimension and saw countless ice-shards converging toward the corpse of the Snake that floated in the air.
Noah couldn't reach it in time to stop the healing process, but the same didn't apply to his assets. A giant reptilian head came out of his armor and spat a dark beam toward the motionless creature.
Snore's violent energy engulfed the quasi-rank 7 Snake and created a massive hole in its head. The ice acc.u.mulated until that moment crumbled, but more frozen lands separated from the ground to help the creature.
It was as if the Eternal Snake was the favored son of the world. Every piece of ice in the plane worked for the creature and tried its best to revive it.
Another storm crashed on Noah and flung him away, but he deployed the dark world again to resume his assault. In the many strategies that he had played inside his mind, the best one saw the Snake depleting all the ice without being able to revive.
Of course, that was only the best possible outcome. Noah had created multiple strategies before the battle, so he could adapt his approach according to the creature's reactions.
Noah charged forward until the Eternal Snake appeared in his vision again. Snore's head came out of his armor and launched another dark beam, and the ability successfully interrupted the healing process.
The ice began to radiate an ominous aura at that point. It seemed to have its own mind, and it didn't like that Noah kept interrupting the Snake's revival.
Entire frozen regions shot in the sky and aimed for him while giving birth to raging storms. Chunks of ice as big as mountains flew in his direction and crashed on his figure before shattering into a wave of smaller ice-shards.
Even Noah's new physical might didn't allow him to fend off those attacks. He inevitably lost his momentum as he tried to stop himself from crashing on the ground.
His saber-shaped runes had remained outside of the battlefield before that moment, but they flew to help Noah when he remained entangled in the storm of ice.
The dark sabers turned into smoke that seeped through the storm before condensing into a solid form once they reached Noah. They then flew toward him and began to rotate to open a path where he could escape.
The saber-shaped runes had arrayed themselves to create a drill-like structure that Noah followed to leave the storm. Many of them broke in the process, but they succeeded in making Noah reach a safe area.
Storms raged in the distance. Noah knew that his opponent was inside them, but he couldn't avoid what was about to happen. He knew what would come out from that violent mass of ice.
An angry roar suddenly echoed through the sky. A giant figure shot out of the storm and charged at Noah while releasing more silver liquid.
The divine armor had appeared around the creature. Ice covered its entire body except for its eyes and the insides of its mouth without affecting its flexibility.
The battle had already reached the point when Noah couldn't abuse his physical superiority anymore, but he didn't mind it. He calmly accepted that his first strategy had failed and that it was time to deploy the next one.
The chunks of ice that the Snake didn't use during its revival flew alongside the creature. Noah's opponent had also begun to fight differently after their last clash, but there was a limit to how much its fighting style could change.
Noah didn't show any fear and charged at the incoming beast without entering his dimension. It was in his interest to clash with the Snake, so he didn't let it lose track of him.
Cracks opened in the sky as the two charged toward each other. The Snake radiated a silver light due to its armor and the storm following it. Its assault made even the world tremble due to its connection with the frozen lands.
Noah radiated pure blackness. Corrosive smoke flew out of him and created a giant dark cloud as he charged toward his opponent. His spell had already covered most of the sky behind him during those short seconds.
The Snake lowered its head and flipped its body in the instant before the clash. Its massive tail swung toward Noah while carrying a wave of ice with it.
The creature had learnt from its past mistakes. Noah could kill it while it was inside the divine armor. Yet, the back of the defensive layer didn't have any opening, so it could attack its opponent safely.
Noah didn't slow down his charge at that sight. His cold eyes analyzed the tail for an instant before focusing again on his opponent's head.
He couldn't waste time against a material that he couldn't break. He had to remain focused on the spots where his weapons could inflict some damage.
The chunks of ice flying together with the tail suddenly crumbled as a shadow moved past them. Snore even came out of Noah's armor and hissed as it rose toward the massive tail.
A loud clash happened between the Snake's tail and Noah's puppets, but he didn't even look in their direction. He flew past the creature's body and reached its head, where he stabbed his blade in one of the openings.
Then, a storm of dark matter filled the insides of the divine armor. That was the fourth death experienced by the Snake in the battle.