One versus Six

"What should I conclude from this situation?" I wondered, looking at the deer below me while holding on to the root of a tree coming out from the ceiling.

They were all out for my blood, roaring at me, jumping to catch and tear me apart. It was a good thing they couldn't climb, or else I can't imagine what they would have done to me.

But there was one more strange thing here. They weren't targeting Ruru at all—not even getting close to her, even when she was sleeping peacefully at the sealed exit.

"Well, I'm only going to tire myself out by just hanging here," I mumbled, taking out the mace from my back.

"You bastards are gonna regret messing with me!" I shouted as I let go of the root.

As I was falling, I grabbed the mace with both hands and hit one of the deer right on its head.

Two of them rushed from either side, pointing their antlers at me. I bent my knees and jumped upward, pushing off the ground just as they reached a hair's length from me.

They crashed into each other's heads and wobbled from the sudden impact.

"Bwahahaha, you lot are plain stupid!" I laughed, pointing at them from eight feet in the air thanks to the jump.

But karma hit me hard—as another deer rammed into me from behind mid-air and sent me flying into the wall.

"Ouch, that hurts. Well... may be I deserved that." I muttered as I stood up holding my back.

But they didn't give me a chance to breathe—one of them slammed into my side as soon as I got up. It dragged and rammed me four or five times before another one snatched me away, kicking and hitting me with its antlers.

But that didn't last long either, as the remaining three joined in, tossing me around like a soccer ball.

"Ow—ow! Stop, you fucking bastards! I didn't deserve that much of a beating!"

I grabbed the antlers of the deer attacking me with both hands and regained my balance.

Shouting with all my might, I began spinning, while holding its antlers. First slow, then I spun faster as the deer's legs slowly left the ground and hit another approaching deer with the body of the one I was spinning.

Then I let go, sending it crashing into two deer in the background—knocking all three down at once.

Without resting, I ran and grabbed the mace and hit the belly of another one jumping at me mid-air.

It fell closer to the one I hit at the starting of battle.

I didn't waste a second—rushing toward the two, placing the mace on my back, I grabbed the neck of one and the chin of the other, right where the cursed leeches were latched.

"Vivi, activate All-Devouring Breathing Technique."

"Initializing Host's request…"

" Cursed Beast detected!"

"Activating All-Devouring Breathing Technique…"

" Absorbing the Soulforce of Cursed Beast…"

As the purple veins faded from their bodies and spread across mine—from both hands all the way to my dantian—the deer began to roar in agony.

After a few seconds, the veins from my body slowly began fading and those deer also calmed down losing their consciousness.

"Absorption of Soulforce completed.

Soulforce absorbed: 73/100."

It's finally comp—," I sighed, but before I could complete my sentence, an antler struck the side of my face, sending me dragging several feet across the ground.

My ears were ringing from the sudden impact. Blood was coming out of my nose, and my jaw might have been broken. I touched my left ear where the antler had hit me. When I looked at my hand, it was red with blood.

I had become too relaxed while curing them and had let my guard down. But this wasn't the only problem. The deer — they weren't attacking me but were looking with hostility at the unconscious deer on the ground.

Now that the deer had been cured, they might be thinking of them as enemies as well. They pointed their antlers toward the unconscious ones and launched an attack aimed at their bellies.

"Oh shit, I need to save them. I won't make it in time," I mumbled, running towards them.

I ran with all my strength, but their antlers had already reached ear's length.

"Oh no, I was too late," I mumbled, clenching my fist in frustration.

But right before the antlers could hit them, a loud roar echoed through the hall.

All of the deer froze in place as Ruru entered the battle, walking straight towards them.

She stood in front of the unconscious deer and roared again, her thundering voice filling the entire hall.

The deer slowly stepped back, growling, and instead came running at me.

"Haha, you finally decided to step in, huh Ruru," I spoke in amazement, running toward the deer coming for me.

I grabbed the mace from my back, and as they reached closer, I slid, ducking low, and swung the mace upward, striking the deer in the middle at its lower chest between the legs. Its front feet left the ground, and it fell on its back.

I didn't stop there. Carrying the momentum, I put the handle of the mace in my mouth, grabbed both the back legs of the deer—who were on either side of the middle one—and pushed them back, making them fall onto the ground, their faces hitting first.

I took the mace out of my mouth, pushed off the ground, and jumped several feet above the land. "You ignored Ruru and attacked me, thinking that I was an easy target, huh? Now tell me—how does my mace taste?" I shouted as I hit the last one on the head from behind.

DING...

"You have learned a new skill: Beginner Mace Skill."

"Beginner Mace Skill: Your body instinctively exerts greater strength when fighting with a mace.

Note: This skill doesn't increase the Host's strength, rather utilizes the available strength more accurately."

"Fuck yeahhhhh!!! I finally got an attack skill!"