Unexpected Savior

As Zenos saw the pale-skin get closer, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of powerlessness when he realized that he wouldn't be able to reach his shotgun in time.

Both Damien and Killian had noticed the situation Zenos got himself into, but they were simply too far away to provide assistance in time. The only real chance was if one of them flicked their gun out and shot a bullet, but while their aim wasn't all that bad, but actually really good considering their experience, asking them to perform a feat like that was simply too far out of their league.

It wasn't just the fact that the gun had to be aligned in the right direction, but that it actually had to be shot while slightly pointed down, as the flick would give the bullet an unnatural upward momentum.

Zenos saw his life flash before his eyes as he began to lose hope. Countless thoughts flashed by. He deeply regretted chasing after them, wishing that he just stood at the sidelines to watch as the rest did their foolish actions.

He couldn't help but curse at himself. Not so much for making the mistake he just did, but the fact he didn't learn from his past experiences. Because this wasn't the first time he jumped in to support another before despite going against his own judgment. It bit him in the back last time, and it did so once more.

His eyes shut as one last thought began forming in his mind.

'I'm such an idiot.'

He then heard the clear sound of flesh being ripped apart. And strangely enough, there was no explicit feeling of pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw it was Adonis. He had slashed the pale-skin in front of him in two.

His suit was mangled badly, especially at the point where the giant hit him. Blood was pouring out from nearly every part of his body, almost making it look like his suit had red veins lined up across it.

He was also shaking slightly, if it wasn't clear enough that his situation wasn't ideal.

Zenos felt a little strange, as when he initially said split, he said it while fully knowing that Adonis would probably get swarmed by the other creatures and very likely die after they retreated out of the room. To put it simply, he was very willing to use Adonis as a sacrifice, since that's what he believed would be the most efficient and best chance for their survival.

After all, sometimes people just have to cut their losses. Yet, it was the very person that he was willing to cut that had his back.

Before Zenos could even utter thanks, Adonis let out a rather loud pained groan before slashing another pale-skin that was next to him. Zenos decided to shut up. He rushed over to his katana with the space that Adonis provided him before supporting him to kill the rest.

And after that, the fight went rather smoothly, with everyone finishing the last couple of creatures.

By the end, Adonis slammed his katana on the ground to use it as support. From the way he was breathing, it was clear that he was exhausted. As for Damien and Killian, they were both essentially unscathed. Zenos was also having a bad time, having trouble breathing properly, but it was nothing close to Adonis' injuries.

Nonetheless, there was still a frown on his face as he looked at Damien.

"Look at where your plan got us. Now we're injured."

Damien rolled his eyes.

"The reason why the two of you even ended up like that was that you made mistakes. Adonis should've been more careful while attacking the giant, and dodged out of the way from the attacks."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"As for you, I saw you went to attack the monster in the torso. It's harder to hit the neck, but the problem with hitting them in the torso is that you have to cut through so much more to get all the way through. If you really are going to go for the torso, you have to go for smaller cuts if your strength isn't enough to cut all the way through."

Zenos frowned.

"All of sudden you just have an attitude."

Damien smirked.

"Am I wrong though?"

Zenos sighed.

"...But regardless, that was extremely risky."

Killian scoffed.

"But we didn't use any bullets."

Zenos clicked his tongue.

"Just look at how badly Adonis got injured. Was that really worth it?"

He gestured towards Adonis, but the person in question just remained silent, save for his heavy breathing. His eyes were closed and he just couldn't bother himself with arguing given how bad his injuries were.

Damien let out a small sigh when he saw this.

"I guess I'll help bandage him up then."

He went over to Adonis and pulled out the med-kit on him, opened it up, and got out the bandages. Damien coughed after holding it out.

"Hey, you gotta disengage your suit."

After a few moments, Adonis muttered softly.

"Disengage suit."

Unlike how it normally did so, the suit very awkwardly disassembled, repeatedly freezing for a few moments before continuing to move outwards. With all things considered, the fact that the suit could still work was quite impressive considering how damaged it was.

The skin-tight black clothes underneath were completely fine, though it was definitely drenched with Adonis' blood.

Without thinking about it too much, Damien began wrapping bandages around Adonis' torso, using quite a bit due to his naturally large size and size of his injury.

Killian and Zenos stood by silently. After a few moments of silence, Killian shot Zenos a glance.

"Hey, I'm not bandaging your injuries alright? You're doing that shit by yourself, they aren't even that bad."

Zenos clicked his tongue.

"I planned on doing it myself anyway."

He got his own med-kit out and began wrapping bandages around his own torso. While Adonis remained still, Zenos repeatedly let out hisses of pain. He clearly wasn't used to dealing with bandages, but he was improvising more or less good enough.

Eventually, the bandaging process was finished. Adonis was still in the same position as before. If it wasn't for his breathing, he would seem just like a statue. As for Zenos he slowly shook his head.

"My durability was definitely enhanced from the strength increase we took before, but that pale-skin still hurt me so badly with just one hit."

Killian shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not like they're kids flailing their arms around or something."

Zenos let out a soft sigh.

"Yes... but they are still far stronger than they look. If I got hit by one of those beforehand, I might've died instantly."

Damien gave a small nod.

"Well, it's a good thing we were never hit by one before then."

A moment of silence fell between them. Zenos muttered quietly, but the silence of the room made it audible to everyone.

"We really are dancing on the edge of a knife, aren't we?"

Damien smiled bitterly.

"...Well, I've always been doing that, so it's nothing new to me."

Killian blinked a few times.

"Huh. Well, I guess that doesn't sound too bad."

Zenos let out a sigh, before lying down on the ground.

"Whatever. I need a break though."

Killian frowned.

"We've just taken a damn long break though."

Damien shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, it can't be helped. They are pretty badly injured."

With that, sounds of heavy breathing from injured people were the tunes they heard for the next little while. Adonis ended up standing for nearly an hour before he ended up slumping down and hitting the ground.

Damien was a little concerned, but his breathing was still regular, while his bleeding had more or less stopped, meaning he was basically fine.

While everyone was embracing the silence Zenos spoke out randomly.

"I don't really know why I go with the ideas you guys come up with."