Cold Feelings

"Fuck!"

Aurea lifted her left arm by pure instinct. If the Second-Rank had attacked half a second earlier, she would be lying on the ground with dozens of teeth eating away at her face.

Luckily, Aurea was faster than that…

A shield finished materializing on her left hand, perfectly positioned for Aurea to grab it firmly. It was made of flesh and fungi, giving off quite an uncomfortable smell. The most impressive feature about it?

The shield had a big mouth with several teeth in its middle, and the moment the tentacle hit the flesh… it began devouring. Mercilessly.

Noticing the ability of the Carapace, Aurea acted as quickly as she could, running toward the stunned Second-Rank. Already a step away from it, Aurea lowered the shield directly between its eyes and began eating them.

'Agh, fuck…'

Zenon was finally able to take a deep breath after receiving such a blow. It was so powerful that his ribs vibrated for some instant, making all of his insides tremble in pain.

Quickly getting up, Zenon ran toward Aurea and slashed the Second-Rank right on arm.

Aurea then lifted the shield and smashed it down onto the mushroom, splitting most of its stalk in half. After some moments, a set of Runes appeared in front of her, signaling the killing blow.

Not wasting a moment, Zenon ran toward the tall mushroom with three yellow eyes and before it could summon another Second-Rank, he began slashing all over it.

Sharp Fang's Attribute kicked in, making the mushroom freeze in place. With a swift movement, Zenon cut most of its stalk and punched the mushroom as hard as he could.

'C'mon, die already!'

Using all of his strength, Zenon punched the Third-Rank again, this time making it fall to the ground. Just as the stalk snapped in half, a set of Runes appeared in front of Zenon.

[You have slain a Third-Rank Mindful: Fungi Mother]

Zenon heavily panted as he looked at the Fungi Mother dead in front of him. The first thing that crossed his mind was the weakened defense it had. For a Third-Rank, Zenon expected it to be extremely sturdy even for the void augment but seems like he was incorrect.

Maybe its real power was in creating those smaller minions to fight for itself. Just then, an uneasy realization kicked in.

'I… I wouldn't like to fight five of these Fungi Mothers at the same time…'

Zenon remained still for some moments until a painful moan reached his ears. Looking at his side, he found Aurea kneeling while clutching his abdomen tightly.

Widening his eyes, Zenon quickly ran towards her. Just as he reached her side, he kneeled and sa-

"What the hell is wrong with you Zenon?!"

Taken aback, Zenon mumbled incoherent words before he managed to let out,

"I-I… what do y-"

"How in the hell do you remain in the ground for so long?!" Aurea spat.

Zenon looked at her in confusion before widening his eyes, recalling how long he remained knelt. From his point of view, Zenon spent a little less than a few seconds but it seems like that was wrong.

Zenon lowered his eyes and said, "I… It took me off guard."

Suddenly, Aurea moved her right bloody hand and grabbed Zenon by the jaw, and pulled him close to her face. Zenon managed to see all the pain she was going through just from that look.

"How does something take you off guard in a battle! Are you really that we-"

Aurea suddenly coughed, drenching her neck warmer in more blood, making some of it leak out and paint her neck red. The next second, she fell to the ground while heavily breathing.

'Oh… shit!'

Zenon pulled Aurea's neck warmer down and realized the amount of blood accumulated all over her mouth and nose. He then looked at her abdomen, which was leaking blood like crazy.

"Agh! Fuck! Don't die on me, Aurea! Call Phoe-!"

"Eeeeee!"

Zenon looked behind his shoulder after hearing that familiar scream. Phoenix flew as fast as his wings let him, arriving beside the pair in an instant and wasted no time putting his wings on top of her abdomen.

Leviathan also arrived by traveling through the void, which was way faster than outside of it. He appeared on top of Zenon's shoulder.

*Screech!*

"I know I fucked up!" Zenon gritted his teeth before shouting, "We need a safe spot. Have you found any cave or something?!"

Leviathan quickly nodded and disappeared again inside the void, prepared to lead the way.

Zenon then grabbed Aurea by the arm and put it around his neck. Phoenix stopped the severe bleeding but couldn't completely close the wound. Zenon would've loved an explanation but it's not like he could understand him anyways.

Getting up, Zenon began walking as fast as he could toward where Leviathan was signaling. He screeched at Zenon again, making him go even faster.

Since Aurea was not completely unconscious, she could run alongside Zenon as well. Waves of pain would assault her entire body but she would just grit her teeth and continue.

—

Both Unseens finally reached the cave Leviathan found. It took them more than ten minutes and a sense of dread like no other since Phoenix already called some Second-Rank closing towards them.

Luckily, they managed to find cover before they saw them, so everything was safe and sound.

Zenon let Aurea rest on the ground. He has seen her take some serious wounds but nothing made her feel so weakened as this. She was taking raspy breaths and his forehead was pretty much burning.

"Phoenix… Phoenix, can you heal her again?"

The white bird looked at Zenon while tilting his head before flying towards Aurea's leg and putting his wings on top of the wound. He managed to close the wound a little bit more but seemed like he was already exhausted.

Zenon put his back to the wall and began sliding down until sitting. He dismissed the Solis Vines, revealing the self-made clothes which were holding themselves together just fine.

Not like he cared.

His thoughts ran rampant with the same thoughts over and over again. Blaming himself for letting such a stupid mistake happen. Maybe he took his protection for granted since he had Aurea by his side.

But if he wanted to be a good companion, he also had to protect her when she couldn't do so. Mutual help will give the best consequences.

'Agh…' Zenon began scratching his hair, 'What to do… What should I do… I can't remain like this.'

Zenon looked at Aurea, who was still clutching her abdomen tightly. A sense of embarrassment washed over his body every time he did so, memories of what happened some minutes ago taking over his thoughts.

This time though, he couldn't help but sigh and summon the Ignited Recipient. After the small canteen appeared in his hand he walked toward Aurea and kneeled beside her.

"H-Hey, uhm… could you dismiss your armor?" Zenon stuttered.

Aurea gave him the same cold look she did for the last ten minutes but nonetheless complied. Zenon took a look at the wound while putting the vines away.

Then, he began pouring cold water around the wound, making Aurea subconsciously grab his hand before letting it go. Zenon cautiously cleaned the wound and also subdued some of the pain the girl was going through.

After that, Zenon took her neck warmer off and tried to clean it as well as he could. When he finished he put it on Aurea's forehead for the fever. She also gave her the Carapace to drink some water.

She looked at Zenon before saying, "Appreciate it."

Zenon dismissed the Carapace as he muttered,

"It's the least I can do."