Standoff

Would I die if the venom spreading through my body paralysed me completely before Pest finished his spell? I needed to breathe to live. Would I be able to when just having lungs was an effort? The answer was, no. But I would be in much bigger trouble if the mantichora tore me apart with its claws.

"What sort of monster are you, I wonder…" I murmured, starting into its too human eyes. It stared back at me, seemingly not too eager to rush in again.

For an animal who used venom as their main hunting tool, a tactic of poisoning their prey and then simply stalking it until it died wasn't unusual. Especially with how wounded the mantichora was. What it didn't know was that I wasn't entirely without poison resistance… So I didn't move either, but kept my hand raised to send more wind blades if the mantichora as much as twitched towards me.

'How it goes, Pest?' I asked inwardly. 'Don't reply if this is going to interrupt your concentration.'