9 Poison

The moment his eyes changed color, Lucas took in everything around him in an unprecedented way. The world was now very sharp and with its well defined colors, there was no longer the melancholy gray tone. Time again passed much more slowly, in those measly moments he could see even small specks of dust in the air that were about a foot from his eyes. However, that was not what surprised him the most.

As in the fight with the mutant man, he could now tell exactly where the snake was and its shape, even with his eyes closed, his perception would not change. Not only that, he could feel something else; it was some kind of pressure or presence or something else coming from her that he couldn't quite define.

This pressure was very precise, something like a source or core, and he could also feel that it emanated that same kind of aura as well. In addition to feeling the aura emanating from her, he was also able to quantify it, it was practically an instinct that told him that a certain amount of 'energy' was close. This instinct said that this core of the serpent had approximately the same energy contained in its own 'core'.

All of this information flooded his mind in the short instant his eyes went white. He barely managed to gather all those thoughts before the snake shrank back into a spring and like lightning leapt toward his neck with its mouth wide open.

Its very sharp fangs were spilling the pale green liquid that Lucas guessed was its poison. His brain was still in 'enhanced' mode and he saw it all rather slowly and something momentarily surprised him. He didn't see her tongue, but he wasn't distracted by that and turned his concentration to the snake.

With his mind now focused on the fight, he dodged to the left and taking advantage of the snake's momentum, slashed with his larger knife that was in his right hand, trying to hit the snake's head. However, this mutant, even in midair, managed to twist her body at an almost impossible angle, dodging the knife, but it didn't stop there. Still in her movement in the air, she launched her body toward her prey's arm, catching it successfully.

The young man was startled when he saw the snake's body wrapping itself around his arm and desperately used his left hand, which had the smaller knife, to cut it, hoping to make it loosen his arm. The instant the knife moved to wound the snake, the snake in turn turned its head and fired its green venom towards the eyes of its prey.

The green liquid flew so fast Lucas didn't have time to react. The venom hit his eyes full on. He instantly took a few steps back and brought his left forearm to his eyes. His pain was unbearable, it was as if they were being twisted, crushed and devoured by countless ants all at the same time.

"AAARGH"

Lucas couldn't help but let out a bloodcurdling scream, his voice not pleasant to hear at the moment, so the sound seemed to be a grotesque noise.

The snake, meanwhile, didn't stay still, it used those seconds to snake its way down its prey's arm, aiming for the neck. When he got close enough, he opened his mouth, extended his poison-soaked fangs, and bit into the neck.

With the eyes already useless and the pain incessant, the snake's fang now had one more catastrophe. The viper managed to bite your neck and inject its venom directly into your body! In the midst of despair and pain, he was no longer thinking straight.

The blood inside his body heated and bubbled, the torture caused was immense, but it was this pain that gave Lucas a few seconds of lucidity. These seconds, which were enough to notice something, he didn't need his eyes, the 'sixth sense' already informed him about his surroundings and the position of the snake.

Upon this realization, the young man with the poison dropped the knife from his left hand, arched his fingers, and thrust them into his right eye. The pain was already mind-blowing, so sticking her fingers in her eye didn't make much of a difference; with a hard tug, he withdrew his hand. In the center of it was an eye, originally with only a green pupil, but now completely green from the poison. He wasted no time and repeated the process with the remaining eye.

During this entire sequence of events, the snake was still hanging around its prey's neck, refusing to let go and continually releasing venom into its veins.

After taking his eyes away, Lucas felt his pain subside. Although he still had massive pain in the eye region, it was manageable. He could now focus on his opponent, but he realized something even more desperate, she had bitten his neck! The fear, already present in her entire being, exploded once more. If just touching his eyes, the poison has already caused such pain and destruction, imagine what it could do to his body.

Strangely, his body still wasn't aching, but he wasn't relieved by it, as he knew he would die if he continued in that state. Then, just after gouging out his eyes with his bare hands, he grabbed the snake's head still attached to his neck with his left hand and with quick movements used the knife remaining in his now free right hand to stab the snake.

However, he realized that it would not be an easy task, as the mutant snake didn't stay still and instantly contorted his body, using him again as a whip. His movement caused a new source of pain for Lucas, however, that pain was nothing compared to what he had felt before, as the snake's body hit his ribs rather than some sensitive area.

Lucas didn't stand still and immediately tried to stab her again, this time succeeding. The knife cut off the snake that was held tightly in his hand. However, just before the knife cut her off, she opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out.

Finally his doubt about what had happened to the serpent's tongue was resolved. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good experience.

The world slowed down for Lucas, he could clearly see ghostly skulls sticking out of his tongue and flying towards him. It was nerve-racking, as he never saw such a thing, those skulls were moving too fast and hit the young man full in the head, he staggered and fell to the ground.