King cobras have a notorious reputation as fierce killers — regularly hunting and eating other snakes, including their own species if necessary.

Measuring between 10 and 13 feet, they are the longest venomous snakes in the world, and one of the deadliest.

In this video, an Indian king cobra perched in a tree spots a rat snake slithering below. King cobras have excellent vision and are capable of spotting prey from more than 300 feet away.

Flicking its sensitive tongue to gauge its target’s location and get closer, the cobra strikes, sinking its highly venomous fangs into its rat snake’s body. Unlike the king cobra, the rat snake is nonvenomous and typically preys on small rodents, birds, and eggs.

The rat snake puts up a valiant fight and attempts to bite the cobra while pinned, but it doesn’t stand a chance against this deadly predator. King cobra venom can take down an elephant in a few hours; for the rat snake, death comes within minutes.

Once the powerful toxins set in, they shut down the snake’s central nervous system, leading to dizziness, paralysis and ultimately, plunging it into a coma.

All that’s left is for the cobra to eat its victim, which it swallows whole without skipping a beat.