Chapter 7: Hunting part 2

The Alpha Vestige finally grew tired of watching its subordinates being slaughtered. After rising from the ground, the monster let out a piercing screech so loud that Shoun was forced to cover his ears to protect himself.

—(This is looking really bad... Kaze won't be able to handle the two Wretches and the Alpha. Tch, looks like I'll have to deal with it too.)— Shoun quickly thought of a solution to their predicament. The only viable option he could come up with put him in even greater danger, but there was no other choice.— Kaze, go for the Alpha! I'll handle these two!

Without waiting for a response from Kaze, Shoun channeled another 5% of his total energy into his limbs and sprinted toward the Wretches.

Fighting these two would be much harder compared to his previous opponents, obviously due to the difference in rank.

Thanks to his ability, Shoun was much stronger than the creatures he faced, which was why he could easily decapitate the Vestiges or pierce their eyes. But this would be nearly impossible against a Wretch.

Their bodies were far more resilient. Even if Shoun used all his electricity to enhance his body—something he couldn't do at this point since he was already halfway depleted—he still wouldn't be able to cut off their heads or pierce their eyes. After all, he couldn't enhance his weapon in the same way. But all was not lost—he still had a trump card.

As he ran toward the Wretches, he noticed that both were already staring at him. Each had three fireballs the size of bowling balls ready to launch at any moment. Using the same trick as before would be difficult, especially since he didn't have much electricity left. If he won, he'd still have to help Kaze with the Alpha.

With no other choice, Shoun enhanced his arms a bit more and did the unthinkable—he threw his weapon at one of the Wretches. The dagger flew past the creature, creating a new cut, before disappearing into the air.

Shoun's strategy was to take advantage of his weapon's enchantment, which would progressively slow down his enemies, allowing him to finish them off with brute force. That's why he deactivated his weapon and recalled it as soon as he could. But that would take a few seconds, and he didn't have that kind of time—the six fireballs were already closing in on him.

With a quick movement, he dashed backward, narrowly dodging the fireballs. But as soon as he looked up, the Wretches were already charging another six fireballs while running toward him.

~Click Click~

[You have slain the "Profane Antlers." Difficulty bonus obtained.]

But before they could take another step, the sound of wind being cut echoed through the air. Both Wretches' heads rolled to the ground as the Codex sent a notification. Interestingly, Shoun still received points for killing one of the two Vestiges, likely the one he had wounded with his dagger.

—(I guess as long as I do my best and participate, I'll still get a reward.)

—Thanks for distracting them.

—Shouldn't you be dealing with the Alpha?— Shoun asked, looking in the direction of Kaze's voice.

—At first, yes. But that thing hasn't moved since it got up, so I thought it'd be better to come help you so we can deal with it together.

—Alright, lead the way.— With his weapon in hand, Shoun began running toward the creature. The wind beside him shifted, so he assumed Kaze was running alongside him, invisible, heading toward the monster. But just then, the Alpha sprang into action.

The deer's antlers began to glow green. The ground around the battlefield started to tremble, and massive roots shot out from the ground, blocking Shoun and Kaze's path to the Vestige.

Many more roots erupted from the ground directly beneath them, forcing them to dodge to the side.

—Change of plans. You keep going this way while I flank it.— Kaze's voice echoed as he began to move away.

At first, Shoun was more focused on avoiding being impaled by the roots, so for several moments, he concentrated solely on dodging. The young man tried to find openings to approach the Vestige, but most paths were blocked by roots ready to shoot toward him at the slightest misstep.

His electricity levels were dropping rapidly, so this fight needed to end soon if possible. Shoun realized he couldn't attack from his current distance. He could see gusts of wind being fired at the Vestige from the air and various angles.

This was obviously Kaze's doing, trying to inflict as much damage as possible on the Vestige. The creature sometimes blocked the wind gusts with its roots, other times dodged them with agile grace, but occasionally, the Vestige was hit. Its white fur was now stained with its purple blood.

Shoun could see that the Alpha Vestige was truly focused on Kaze. Knowing this was his chance, Shoun began to inch closer while dodging the roots. It wasn't until the deer turned its head that it was too late—Shoun was already behind it, dagger in hand, ready to plunge it into the creature's back, using a significant portion of his remaining electricity.

—Kiiiii!— A pained screech escaped the Vestige's mouth. It became much more violent, unleashing even more roots. Seeing this, Shoun and Kaze decided to retreat momentarily to avoid the onslaught of roots raining down on them.

Shoun barely had time to breathe. He was already exhausted and couldn't keep fighting for much longer. It was then that he noticed a root growing rapidly in his direction, forcing him to dodge. He planned to dodge to the right, which was momentarily free of roots, but before he could act, he heard Kaze's shout.

—Jump to the left!— Shoun quickly registered the words and turned to his left. All he saw was a cluster of roots on the ground, waiting to grow and impale him if he got too close. The young man couldn't understand why Kaze would urge him to put himself in danger. Then, something clicked in his mind, giving him a quick answer—Kaze wanted to use him as bait!

Shoun, offended and angered by this thought, ignored Kaze's instruction and jumped to the right. At first, it seemed like he was safe, but suddenly, a root outside his field of vision pierced his lower back, thankfully missing any vital points.

Pain flooded his mind, but only then did he realize something—Kaze had been trying to protect him. In that moment, Shoun snapped out of his distrust and saw a gust of wind striking the roots near the spot Kaze had told him to jump to.

—(I couldn't see this root, but Kaze could. He must've known he couldn't protect me from these but could from the others... That's why he told me to jump.)— Shoun quickly concluded as more roots shot toward him. He couldn't move or defend himself—his dagger was still embedded in the Vestige's back, and he hadn't had time to deactivate its summoning.

But Kaze didn't let him die. He appeared in front of Shoun, deactivating his Wind Cloak. Every root that came close was swiftly cut down by Kaze's katana. The masked man never complained about Shoun ignoring his orders—maybe he didn't find it necessary at the moment, or maybe it didn't bother him. Shoun couldn't decipher Kaze's true feelings, but it was clear that his intention had always been to protect him.

—I'm sorry... I'm sorry for not listening to you.

—...— Kaze didn't respond. He was too busy dealing with the roots. He didn't have much spiritual energy left either, and their situation was dire. When he saw that Shoun hadn't listened, he simply acted accordingly. He didn't get angry, didn't complain, didn't feel anything—or rather, he didn't feel anything he could identify. He only knew he had to protect Shoun, and that Shoun rejecting his help hurt—not physically, but in a way he couldn't comprehend.

—Leave me here. Go kill that thing.

—The roots will kill you.

—I'll cut them with my dagger.— Shoun said as his artifact reappeared in his hands. He had taken advantage of the moment Kaze was protecting him to deactivate and resummon it.— Besides, I know you can kill that thing. I trust you to do it.

Kaze didn't respond to Shoun's words. He simply reactivated his Wind Cloak and disappeared from sight.

For Shoun, who had suffered so much in his life, words without action meant nothing. After all, what good were the government's apologies when they couldn't bring his family back to life or undo what had been done to him?

That's why it was so hard for him to accept Kaze's help. Kaze was the one who had put him in this situation, the one who had forced him to get hurt. But at the same time, Kaze had promised to save him—something Shoun had initially doubted. It wasn't until he suffered for that distrust that he finally realized Kaze only wanted his well-being. After all, Kaze had been watching over him in the middle of a fight that was unfavorable for them.

—(When he said we had to trust each other's backs, he meant it. I agreed, so I have to hold up my end of the deal.)— Multiple roots shot toward Shoun just after Kaze left. He hadn't even had the chance to remove the root impaling his back, but he still defended himself as best he could, cutting like never before. But there was a limit—Shoun knew that at some point, he wouldn't be able to block.

And that moment came quickly when two roots launched at him simultaneously. Shoun chose to block the one aimed directly at his heart, but the other had already pierced his thigh by the time he reacted. This repeated multiple times until Shoun had three more roots impaling him. By now, he could barely think through the pain, and in a few minutes, he would bleed out and die.

Shoun briefly turned his head toward the fight between Kaze and the Vestige. Both seemed to be at a stalemate. The Vestige had multiple cuts, while Kaze's figure flickered in and out of visibility, a sign that his spiritual energy was nearly depleted.

The situation looked grim for both of them. They would definitely lose and die if something didn't change soon. So Shoun stopped defending himself from the roots shooting toward him. Many pierced his right arm in that brief moment, but Shoun didn't care. He simply raised his left arm, shaped his hand like a gun, and fired a lightning bolt with the last of his electricity at the Vestige.

The bolt flew swiftly through the roots and struck the Vestige. At that moment, due to the low amount of electricity, it only paralyzed the creature for a second—but that was all Kaze needed.

~Click Click~

The Vestige's head fell to the ground, and the Codex quickly displayed a notification to Shoun.

[You have slain the "Profane Antlers." Difficulty bonus obtained.]

At that moment, Shoun smiled. They had won—at the cost of severe injuries to his body, but he had brought that on himself by not trusting his companion. He cast one last glance at Kaze, who, without his Wind Cloak active, was running toward him to help with his artifact. But Shoun didn't see much more—he lost consciousness shortly after.