The food chain (Part 2)

A thick silvery cord suddenly shot out from the shadows, pulling the moth toward the abdomen of a three-meter spider.

The spider's silk was unbelievably strong yet elastic—so much that in a single move, the D-class Giant Huntsman Spider immobilized the E-class Ermine Moth.

With its frighteningly long legs, the spider hoisted the struggling moth up to its sticky web.

The Ermine fiercely beat its wings to escape, but Mikael's last attack had done more damage than expected.

It crippled the moth's ability to control its own wing. The more it struggled, the more it tore itself apart.

In its plight, the Ermine Moth released Deon. However, it was all for nothing as the Huntsman spider shot more silk around it, caging it in a cocoon stronger than steel.

Mikael had no time to watch the food chain do its thing as Deon fell from a height of seventy meters.

In a split second, Mikael's mind generated the most gruesome scenarios—Deon splattering like ground beef on the mountain floor… the system forcefully sending him back to the underworld… And him feeding hell's monsters with his flesh… for all Eternity.

Mikael looked into Deon's eyes.

It was not only Mikael who feared the outcome of this situation. Judging by the look of utter fear in Deon's eyes, it was evident that he, too, thought of all sorts of things.

Mikael swooped to intersect Deon.

65 meters.

Mikael shouted at the prince, "Deon! Give me your body!"

60 meters.

Deon heard Mikael's desperate cry, but the paralysis prevented him from giving his consent.

55 meters.

It took all of Deon's strength just to open his mouth and whisper, "Okay…"

50 meters.

Mikael felt the familiar tug as his soul entered Deon's body.

<Skill: Full integration Lvl. max is activated.>

<System Notification: Percent Assimilation with Co-player Deon Hensworth has increased to 50%>

<Alert! The host is in a 'Paralyzed' state. Physical Assimilation failed to initialize!>

<System Notification: Percent Assimilation with Co-player Deon Hensworth has decreased to 30%>

<System Notification: Percent Assimilation is less than 33.33%, Level 2 active skills are sealed.>

The series of blue panels momentarily blocked Mikael's vision.

38 meters.

A branch as wide as a sidewalk obstructed their fall.

'If we crash on that, this body's gonna have a few broken ribs at least.'

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

His body vanished and reappeared on the backside of the branch.

Mikael ran quick calculations in his head.

"How much MP do I have left?" He asked the system.

<System Notification: Total Available MP: 19/280>

"What?! Did I use that much already?!" Mikael exclaimed. Fortunately, there were no more branches on their way.

'That means I can only use teleportation once… Sh*t! I have to get the timing right or else…'

Mikael stared at the fast-approaching ground. He did his best to estimate the distance but the dizzying free fall confused his spatial perception.

In the end, Mikael made the mistake of activating the skill prematurely.

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

"Wha--?!" Mikael panicked when he continued to fall.

BAM!

He fell head-first one meter above the ground.

Due to his iron helmet and armor, Deon's body did not sustain any critical injuries. However, the impact still rattled his brain and bruised his body.

"Ugh…" Mikael groaned. The last time he fell was when he died, and the excruciating pain was something that he never wanted to experience again.

'Hahh… again… I fell again… in a mountain… and again, I am paralyzed.' Mikael stared at the star-filled sky as he was forcefully evicted from Deon's body due to MP depletion.

'Well… Being dead really has its perks. At least now I can't feel pain.' Mikael secretly thought as he watched Deon groan in pain.

Feeling guilty of injuring Deon's body, Mikael awkwardly apologized, "Kid. That… umm… I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

Deon, who was still in a state of paralysis, could not retort so he just rolled his eyes.

"Hey! To be fair, I technically saved your life." Mikael crossed his arms defensively as he floated beside his grumpy partner.

In response, Deon gave him the stink-eye.

"Okay. Okay! I'll protect you properly next time so go to sleep now. I'll be your guard tonight." Mikael surrendered.

Unable to move a muscle, Deon was forced to lie on the hard ground without even a blanket on.

His aching body shivered from the cold.

Deon felt alone in the vast wilderness for he couldn't see Mikael who had gone quiet after telling him to sleep.

'It hurts…' he thought. His eyes that stared at the twinkling stars in the night sky watered, 'it hurts… so much…'

The trees that swayed harmoniously… The stars that shone brightly… the clouds that drifted lazily… warped like a Van Gogh painting** as hot tears flooded Deon's vision.

Belated shock swallowed him now that the ordeal was over. A train of negative thoughts rammed into his fragile mind.

'I could have seriously died.'

'If sir Mikael wasn't there with me, I'd be dead by now.'

'It was just an E-class monster... I should have been able to kill it myself.'

'But I couldn't even do anything.'

'I burdened Sir Mikael with my weakness.'

'Am I really worthy of becoming his partner?'

'He's better off with anyone but me.'

'I-…'

'I hate myself.'

'…'

Subdued weeping rang into the quiet night.

'...'

'I-I want to be strong.'

Deon aggressively blinked, chasing the tears away.

'No—Stronger!'

With every passing second, His brown eyes burned brighter with determination.

'NO.'

'I want to be the strongest.'

That night, Deon Hensworth, Third prince of the Heinken Kingdom and the Greatest Military General in history made his first vow.

--Chapter end--

** pertains to Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting—the starry night.