Almost Died

--AN) 12+ advanced chapters on https://www.patreon.com/invayne --

"Thing on the ceiling?" Yue was confused, but she soon heard something whizzing through the air.

Tomoya also heard this, causing her ears to twitch. Her instincts that she had honed since she began her descent into the abyss kicked in. She unsheathed her sword and spun her body around while wrapping Yue up with her tail and bringing her behind her. Her sword moved so fast that it had become invisible to the eye as she repelled the needles-like spikes that were being shot at her. Thousands of them descended on her, but her eyes did not waver even for a second because Tomoya knew that one wrong step would be her death. And death was the last thing she wanted. Even if she was not going to die, all her progress would be for naught. The stupid goddess did not explain much, so she could only figure things out on her own. 

Sparks continued to fly. But Tomoya was still getting hit by the spikes. There were just too many. It was impossible to block them all. Luckily, she was only being grazed and nothing more. 

Yue looked at the back that was protecting her without worrying about her own safety in shock. There was no reason for her to protect a person she had just met. But standing in front of her, using all her strength to defend against the attack, the fox girl was using her all to protect her. Yue's heart soared. This person was willing to use her own body as a shield. 

Yue's lips curled up into a smile as she pulled herself free from the fluffy tail and climbed onto Tomoya's back. She brushed the white hair aside and sunk her teeth into the delicate-looking snow-white neck. She took a couple of sips before giving the soft skin a light peck before raising one of her hands into the air. "Azure Blaze!" 

Tomoya watched as a large ball of blue flames formed in the air. After about a second, it shot forward and slammed into the massive scorpion monster on the ceiling. The monster let out a roar of pain before falling to the ground with a loud boom. Dust and debris flew out in all directions, but the onslaught of spikes had finally stopped. 

"Yue, hold on tight!" Tomoya would not let this thing recover. When she felt Yue wrap her legs around her waist and hug her neck tighter, she jumped into the air and quickly made her way over to where the monster was struggling to right itself back up. Without caring for anything else, Tomoya dived down with her sword over her head and slammed it down onto the tail. 

"Roar!!!!!!!!" The scorpion monster let out another roar of pain as its blood sprayed out from the spot where its tail was once connected to its body. 

It began to try flailing about even more, trying to turn right side up, but Tomoya took this chance to run up its stomach with her sword pierced into its flesh, blood spraying behind her. She ran all the way up to the head before flipping her body up into the air and slamming down with an elongated sword that extended half the room, slicing through the neck of the monster. 

Tomoya's body swayed slightly as she coughed up a mouth full of blood. "Tomoya!"

"Bastard got me good…." Tomoya complained. While trying to defend against the rain of spikes, just before Yue cast her spell, one slipped past her defense and stabbed into her in her chest. 

Yue quickly got off Tomoya's back and ran around to her front. She watched as Tomoya took out a vial and broke it open before pouring half of it over her wound and drinking the rest. "I'm fine…. But shit! That fucking hurt!"

When Yue saw the wound healing, she quickly pulled the spike out of Tomoya's chest. Only when she saw that no blood flowed and that the wound was closing up did Yue finally let out a sigh of relief.

[Ding!]

[Skill Acquired: Pain Resistance]

Tomoya wished she had this skill earlier. She could feel the pain slowly disappearing. She had to admit Hajime was really a cheat since he could get skills from monsters. Sadly, she got nothing but experience.

"Tomoya… are you really okay?" Yue asked, worry written all over her face.

"Yeah…." Tomoya forced a smile as she took a deep breath. "Almost died! Haha!" 

Yue stared at Tomoya, who was laughing and smiling and really did not know why she was so happy. She stared at the fox girl in confusion and asked: "Why? Why did you protect me? You barely know me. You could have run away!"

Tomoya pulled the Loli Vamp into her arms and hugged her tight.  "Because I need you. I need you by my side always. Isn't that enough of a reason?"

"You…. Don't do that again! I can't die, so no matter how many of those spikes shot into me, I would have lived!" Yue hugged Tomoya's waist. This person really made no sense!

"Even if that is the case, I would do it again." Tomoya rubbed Yue's back and kissed the top of her head. Yue pushed her face into Tomoya's chest and tightened her hug.

[Ding]

[Yue's Affection: +200]

[Affection Status Changed: Eternal Love]

Tomoya never thought winning the Loli Vamp over would be this easy, but when she thought back on it, it was the same for the story as well. The damn vamp fell in love instantly. But she could slightly understand. Being locked up for so long and having a knight in shining armor come and rescue you is something that might win over anyone's heart.

"Let's take a rest before we begin our descent. We will be able to find an exit once we reach the hundredth floor."