Chapter 25: Got Her

Klay Panthor/Christ Skylar POV

I just woke up from what seems like a short nap; my body is in pain, and I'm currently sitting on the ground. I slowly opened my eyes, and my vision is blurry. The place is covered with fallen rocks and a bunch of dust. My vision slowly becomes clearer, and I finally see what's in front of me.

"NEERIAL!!" I screamed.

What appeared in front of my eyes was the sight of Neerial being smashed by the woman with the half-body of a snake. She smashed Neerial over and over again on the ground at a fast pace. I quickly got up to my feet and held my sword tightly.

I jumped in to swing my sword into the throat of the woman, but I stopped as the woman used Neerial's body as her shield. I immediately took a step backward and gazed into the woman's eyes.

"Ssssso, thisssss girl, is that important to you?" The woman asked.

I ignored her words and looked at the state of Neerial. Good. She's still alive. She's covered in blood, but she's still alive. I can tell because she's breathing. Neerial isn't that weak to immediately kick the bucket.

"Let her go," I said.

"And why ssssshould I do that?" asked the woman.

"Because you can't handle me while holding a body," I bluffed.

"You're funny, fine," said the woman. Throwing Neerial's body without hesitation.

"Catch her," I whispered.

A glint of shadow split in mine and quickly dashed on the location where Neerial would land and safely catched her. It's one of my summonses, the shadow assassin.

As long as the creature that I summoned is alive, it won't disappear. I can also keep these shadow assassins in my shadow because of their skills. And I still have two of them, and my summoning skill is available at the moment.

"A ssssummoner and a fighter... interesssssting," said the woman.

"Save the others," I ordered.

Two shadows immediately split from mine, and each one took Nova and Amberstone. All of my three shadows escaped from the castle through the window and left us.

Meeting the gaze of this strong individual in front of me reminds me of the goblin king that I fought. But the situation is different; my comrades are heavily injured, but they're still alive. Unlike last time, when I couldn't do anything, this time I did something.

Fear... I thought I had forgotten this feeling. But sadly, it still remains; my body is shaking just at the sight of this creature. I'm trying my best to stand on my feet. This feeling—this is the feeling that will make me stronger once again. I can feel it.

"Come," I said.

"With pleasssure," said the woman.

Immediately, she swung her tail towards me, and I blocked it just in time. She kept on attacking, and I kept on being defensive. The fight is clearly one-sided. It's one-sided, but I'm holding my ground. Both of us are trading blows at a fast pace.

The clanging of my sword can be heard all over the room. Movements are fast enough that they are almost impossible to track, and dust is appearing in the room.

An intense battle is happening between us. Neither side is showing any wide openings to each other. Cracks in the walls are beginning to appear, starting to break down from the shockwaves of our attacks.

The stones on the roof are starting to fall down one by one. I took advantage of this setting change and used the falling rocks to cover my attacks. The woman with the body of a snake also did the same, smashing a rock with her tail to land a hit on me. I saw it coming and blocked it successfully with my sword.

My sword is beginning to have visible cracks and scratches in it. But I didn't falter at all; I still have spares in my book that I can switch to anytime. I made sure that my enemy didn't know about this book of mine to catch her off guard.

"Enough," said the woman.

As soon as she said this, she picked up the pace. Her movements got faster, and it got harder to read. I'm barely blocking and dodging her attacks, and I'm unable to land a hit on her at all. But I saw an opening from her and immediately dashed in.

Before I realized it, her tail was coming straight into my face. It was a feint! I looked at it based on the trajectory and speed alone. I'm sure I'll die. I closed my eyes and just accepted my fate. It was a good life.

.

.

.

"WAKE UP, CHRIST!"

I quickly opened my eyes and saw Jonathan block the attack with his sythe. The block decreased the momentum of the tail but still sent us flying. Unlike earlier, we landed safely and took minimal damage from the attack.

"Took you long enough," I teased.

"And I saw you close your eyes, you retard!" screamed Jonathan.

The two of us stood fiercely and faced the wicked snake in front of us.

"I have a plan, but I need an opening," I said.

"What plan?" asked Jonathan.

"Just give me an opening, and we'll win," I said.

"You know that her level is two times higher than ours, at least, right?" asked Jonathan.

"Yeah, but she's incredibly underestimating us. I bet she can kill us with one cast of a skill, but she didn't. We'll use that to our advantage," I said.

"Heh, got it. But if this fails, I'll kill you," said Jonathan.

"If this fails, both of us are dead," I said.

The two of us just smiled at each other and dashed towards the enemy. We encircled her and attacked in turns. Jonathan swirled his sythe around as he launched his attack, and I just swung my sword towards the woman, then took a backstep. The both of us repeated this cycle, but the woman effortlessly blocked all of our attacks.

These repeated blows and counter-blows lasted for about three minutes. But mentally, it feels like hours of struggle against an impossible-to-defeat enemy. We struggle just to make a single opening. The woman who's effortlessly blocking our attacks waved her hand towards us. She's casting a spell!

"Jonathan!" I yelled.

Jonathan listened to my warning and immediately took a step back. A magic circle appeared in the hands of the woman.

[Poison Magic: Venom Drop]

A droplet of violet liquid appeared on the magic circle and splashed towards us. As we moved backwards, I noticed that the woman immediately dashed towards Jonathan and had her fist in the air, preparing to land a blow. She's planning to use the liquid to make Jonathan block it, and she'll land a clean hit.

I quickly jumped and swifted towards the woman and formed my sword for a stab. As if seeing my attack coming, the woman turned around towards me and landed her punch.

But I anticipated the blow; I predicted this opportunity! This is the opening I want! Good work, Jonathan! I took advantage of my form and stabbed my sword into her closed fist. Pulling myself onto my sword, I touched the woman's fist and started casting the spell.

[Death Spell: Level Drain]