Shang let go of the tail.
BANG!
The tail slammed into the ground, destroying the earth beneath it. If Shang had kept hold of the tail, his spine would have most probably been broken. At that point, he would be unable to move, which would have been a huge issue in this fight.
As the tail hit the ground, a small explosion of blood appeared below it. Shang had consumed a huge amount of life energy from the snake's tail, making it weak. Because of that, it couldn't perfectly withstand the strong impact.
At the moment, Shang's left arm was swollen with life energy, and he felt like it was about to explode. However, that didn't matter.
Just as predicted, the snake's head shot towards Shang. It would be difficult for Shang to block that attack with his sword in his position, but he didn't plan on doing that anyway.
Shang's arm pointed downwards.
BANG! BANG!
Shang released a Fire Blast and an Ice Blast in rapid succession. The knockback of the two blasts shot him upward for a couple of meters, and the snake's attack missed.
Shang's arm was nearly destroyed again, but it quickly regenerated thanks to it being filled to the brim with life energy. In nearly an instant, Shang's arm was in peak condition again, and its life energy got depleted.
Right now, Shang was over five meters above the snake.
As Shang stopped in the air, his eyes became cold as he readied his sword.
CRRR!
A new coat of metal appeared around the snake's tail, and it sharpened the tail in an instant.
Shang had just stopped in the air when the tail had already transformed into a blade again.
Shang had already expected that this would happen.
'I can't absorb all the metal instantly during an attack. Even if I could, the sheer weight and force behind it would destroy a huge part of my body.'
The snake readied both its head and blade as it looked at Shang.
'If the head hits me, my death is certain. If the tail hits me, I won't immediately die, but I will be severely injured. I can't block both attacks at once.'
'I have to end it here!'
Shang had already anticipated this situation.
He had been lucky that everything had gone according to plan up to now, but he couldn't trust his luck forever.
It was too dangerous to stay close to the snake. Earlier, he had to get in close in order to gain a weapon that could kill the snake, but now, he had it.
Shang also knew that he had only survived until now due to the three gashes on the snake's side. He hadn't been able to use them to injure the snake, but the gashes had probably slowed down the snake's attacks.
As Shang stopped in the air, time seemingly froze.
This instant seemed to go on forever in his mind.
It was the moment before the jump.
And then, time continued.
Shang began to fall as the snake's tail and head shot towards him from below.
'I have to kill it with this attack and survive its tail!'
Shang readied himself.
Just at that moment, a green blur arrived at the base of the snake's tail. In an instant, a terrifying blade of wind left the green blur.
CRKSH!
The terrifying sound of hard scales, bones, and flesh being destroyed echoed throughout the forest as the tail was severed.
The bird had recovered some of its Mana, and it had seen that the snake's tail had been weakened.
Because of that, the bird had swooped down while the snake had been preoccupied with Shang. Due to Shang's threat, the snake had forgotten to pay attention to the bird. A human might have remembered the bird, but the beast didn't.
Shang's eyes shone when he saw the tail falling to the side.
He hadn't expected that the green bird would strike right now, but he welcomed it.
Apparently, the bird still held a grudge for its failure to kill the Vanishing Snake earlier.
For just an instant, the snake got distracted by the searing pain.
At that moment, Shang saw his chance.
He pointed his left arm towards the sky.
BANG! BANG!
His regenerated arm unleashed a Fire and Ice Blast.
In an instant, Shang reached incredible speeds as he directly shot toward the snake's head.
He couldn't allow it to recover its focus!
In the instant in which the snake had lost its focus, Shang's shooting body reached its head.
And then, Shang struck.
CRRRRRK!
Shang's sword punched through the snake's mouth, destroying the entire thing.
However, the snake's skull eventually stopped the sword. Even with the upgrade, the sword wasn't powerful enough to cut through the entire head.
Shang's body hit the snake's head after his sword. The force of his body was too much for his arms to block.
BANG!
Shang and the snake's head fell to the ground.
Luckily for Shang, the injuries of the snake's head made its face rather mushy, cushioning Shang's impact.
For an instant, Shang couldn't breathe, but he was used to this sensation by now.
In a panic, the Vanishing Snake's head quickly lifted as a distorted sounding wind came out of the bleeding chunks that were once its mouth.
It was attempting to hiss.
At the same time, the Vanishing Snake quickly turned away.
And then, it fled.
It had lost its tail and its teeth. All its weapons were destroyed.
It had to regenerate!
Shang quickly managed to get his breathing under control again as he stood up.
Just before Shang chased after the snake, the screech of the green bird could be heard as it arrived beside the fleeing Vanishing Snake.
It had seen that its prey was injured and that it had lost all of its most dangerous weapons. Because of that, the green bird began to attack the snake violently.
The snake tried to throw the bird to the side by throwing its head around, but the bird easily evaded these weak and slow attacks.
As Shang chased after the fleeing snake, he finally got a good look at the green bird.
It had massive wings and powerful, long talons. The upper part of its beak was curved at the end, creating a sharp hook.
'An eagle,' Shang thought.
The green eagle scratched the snake's head with its talons endlessly. At some point, it even managed to grab the snake with its talons and started to ram its beak into the snake's head.
However, the Vanishing Snake didn't get many injuries. Without Mana, the green eagle couldn't easily get through the Vanishing Snake's scales.
The snake thrashed around under the attacks, trying everything in its power to get rid of the green eagle.
"Move!" Shang shouted as he arrived beside the snake.
The bird noticed Shang, screeched, and flew off again.
Under the barrage of the attack, the snake hadn't heard Shang's shout, which made it oblivious to his presence.
Shang had arrived beside the snake's head, his sword lifted high above his body.
And then, he struck down with all of his power.
BANG!
The sword hit the snake's neck, cutting through the scales and flesh. When it hit the snake's vertebrae, it stopped, but the sheer force of the attack fractured the vertebrae.
In its panic, the snake moved its head around erratically, which made the splinters of the bone dig into its marrow.
The Vanishing Snake's movements turned into spasming as it lost control over nearly its entire body.
Shang lifted his sword again and struck the snake's neck again.
BANG!
The snake's body seized once more before its movements became very small and weak.
Its eyes were wide open, and blood was flowing out of its mouth.
Silence.
Shang took a deep breath.
'It's over.'
