Glaring at the red skinned draconic man, I spat in his face before launching myself forwards, pouring my remaining energy into this last, final blow of mine.
He continued to smirk at me, ignoring me spitting on him.
Spreading his arms open, he smirked as he invited me to attack him, a disdainful look in his eye as he watched me approach.
Pushing the last of my mana onto my blade, I screamed as I stabbed forwards, my dagger-
My eyes went wide as it shattered, a thick, red plate appearing in front of the ice coated steel tip.
"Was that all, dog? Was that your final, pitiful attempt?"
Sneering at me, one of his hands shot forwards, wrapping around my throat.
"If so, that was incredibly pathetic. Remember, fire beats ice."
Rolling his eyes at me, he tightened his grasp on my throat, slowly crushing my windpipe.
Slamming my fists against his scaled body, I desperately tried to target any weak spots, aiming for his face.
However, he simply stretched his arm out further, still sneering at me.
"KAT!"
Hearing Jahi's shout, he glanced over his shoulder, grinning at the enraged Demoness, before saying "Are you angry? Angry that someone is touching your pitiful dog without your permission? Well, I hate to break it to you, but rabid dogs need to be put down..."
Turning back to me, his grin widened, revealing rows of sharp, gleaming fangs as he continued speaking.
"I'll do it for you; in fact, you should be thanking me, Demon. I'm doing this for you, after all..."
Raising another hand, a dark crimson ritual circle flared to life in his palm, and he started to slowly inch it closer to my face.
Kicking and scratching at him, I felt my vision blurring from the lack of oxygen.
Was this really it..?
I got to live for what, almost two years..?
Would I find myself back in that endless, black void?
Panic coursed through my system at that thought; I didn't want to go back!
"Resistance is futile, dog... You die here. To me..."
His grin widened, and the edge of my vision grew dark, making the panic and fear run rampant in my body.
My hearing was locked to the blood rushing through my body, and I could barely make out the screams of Jahi as she desperately used spell after spell to try and move past the sentient sword.
Looking towards her, I focused the entirety of my being on her...
In my two lives I've never felt anything like this...
I loved Kyoka, sure, but...
My heart was in pieces seeing Jahi's face wrenched in agony, her golden eyes streaming tears as she stared at me, her voice cracking as she cried out my name.
I knew that if I did return to that void, the eternity I spent floating around would be focused on her, and her alone...
Would she have loved me for as long as we both lived, like she promised?
Would we have had children together, and watched them grow up and have children of their own?
Would they take after her, or me?
What about Anput and Leone?
Would they be able to comfort Jahi for the next decade, century, millennia?
Or would Jahi push them away, isolating herself from love?
I hope not...
I hope she could move on from me...
Smiling at her, I felt tears drip from my eyes, further blurring my vision.
I'd miss her, so, so much...
It wasn't the void that scared me; it was being alone, without her...
Without the woman who so effortlessly carved her way into my heart, claiming me as her own.
Her warmth, her scent, her love...
I needed it.
And yet...
Feeling Lord Pele's claws sink into my neck, I realized that I would be without her...
All alone...
Again.
Even if, somehow, someway, I was given another life...
I don't think I could truly live it.
I needed her now; almost as much as I needed oxygen to live.
Was that... wrong? Bad?
Probably...
Devoting my entire being to her, living FOR her...
But...
I wanted to devote every ounce of my body to her; for her...
Looking towards the red skinned man in front of me, I tried to redouble my efforts to break free, but I had been starved of air so long now that my body refused to act, doing little more than weakly hitting his scaled body.
His flaring palm was almost on my face, and I felt the heat radiating from it, already searing and singing the hairs from my flesh.
"Did you know burning is among some of the most painful ways to die?"
Grinning sadistically at me, Lord Pele left his hand an inch from my face, about to say something else.
However, before he could speak he screamed, his palm exploding, small fragments of bone scraping my cheek.
Releasing me, I fell to the ground, coughing as I tried to breath.
"It is... would you like to experience it?"
A familiar voice entered my ears, and I turned my head weakly to the side, trying to focus my eyes.
"Fire isn't something you can just... play around with. It needs to be respected; revered. It is a force of nature, and it IS the most destructive magic known to us mortals. It can wipe out countries, reform the world as we know it..."
Someone approached us, and I gasped slightly as I saw Leone, but...
Red.
Two small horns sprouted from her forehead, and her skin had a sheen of crimson radiating off it.
Her long, ashen hair sparked, and her crimson eyes burned brightly in the dark room.
"And it is something that can easily turn you to ash..."
Raising her hand, we all had to cover our eyes as a giant pillar of flames consumed Lord Pele, the draconic man screaming in agony as he slammed against the wall of the pillar.
Keeping her arm outstretched, Leone slowly clenched her fist, reducing the size of the pillar, closing it in on the man.
His screams were unintelligible, and he continued to beat on the almost solid wall, his skin shriveling as the extreme heat eventually evaporated his blood, turning the man into a mummy.
However, Leone wasn't done, keeping the pillar alight on his corpse, the flames greedily licking at his now black skin and turning it to ash, even melting the bones.
[Draconic Humanoid - Lord Pele - has been killed (assist)! 102,782 xp]
[Achievement Unlocked! Improbable Victory]
[Improbable Victory: Won against something 10x stronger than yourself/party! Congratulations!
Reward: 10 Stat Points, 3 Skill Points, Skill [Hunter (Novice)]]
[[Hunter (Novice)]: Increases damage against larger enemies]
[Skill: [Growth (Apprentice)] -> [Growth (Adept)]]
[[Growth (Adept)]: Increases Quest XP by 75%, and Combat XP by 75%]
Hearing the various dings going off in my system, each one made my head pound.
'Please... off... deal with... later...'
[Understood... and good job, Kat...]
Blinking a few times, I eventually reduced my headache from 'Gigantic metallic hammer slamming into your skull from every direction' to 'Large metallic hammer slamming into your skull from every direction'...
Improvements, I guess...
My vision still swam, and I could feel tingling from the various pricks on my throat and the gash on my cheek.
Leone stumbled over to me, her features returning to normal as she paled considerably, before collapsing beside me.
Feeling her weakly take my hand, we both smiled at each other, before the darkness claimed us, plunging us into unconsciousness.
~~~
Jahi PoV
The floating sword before me clattered to the ground, and I rushed forwards instantly, towards the collapsed figures of Kat and Leone.
Anput was beside me, her olive skin covered in cuts and gashes, however she still had fluid movements, making me relieved.
At least one of them came out relatively unscathed...
Shaking my head, I crouched beside the two unconscious women, not knowing what to do.
My mana reserves were to depleted for any significant healing magic, and unlock them I wasn't that proficient in healing anyways...
On top of that, I didn't know enough about treating wounds to know if I could move them right now...
What do I do..?
Seeing Kat's fair skin paler than normal, paired with the dark bruise over her throat and cut on her cheek filled me with rage.
However, it wasn't directed at Lord Pele, but at myself.
I should've been stronger...
I should've protected them both from this...
Slamming my fist into the floor beside me, I growled in agony...
This was my fault...
Biting my cheek hard enough to draw blood, my eyes widened as I thought of something.
Leone is a vampire, and blood...
"Anput, wrist."
Light mana would kill her currently; she may use fire, but light is just... that much more dangerous for her kind.
Anput nodded, placing her wrist over Leone's bluish lips.
Frowning, I gently cut a shallow line into Anput's wrist, letting her blood drip into Leone's mouth.
Come on...
This needs to work...
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