*Crash*

Damn it.

*Vroom* *Crash*

Come on.

*Crash*

Does this girl just not get tired or what?! I've been dodging these vines for the last 15 minutes! I don't think I can hold on for much longer!

"Persistent," She muttered, before waving her hand once more, causing the vines to attack me again, "You're really persistent."

Yeah, I get told that a lot.

I kept dodging the vines. You know, previously, I thought she'd be tired by now, y'know, since the vines speed were slower and whatnot.

But what is up with this? She isn't showing any sign of fatigue now! Did licking that flower give her energy, or what?

*Crash*

The vines are much easier to dodge now. Not because their speed is getting slower or anything, but rather, because of this girl's hand movements.

Believe it or not, I used to be a boxer. I was pretty good at it, too. Not a world champion or anything, I just went to one of the gyms and that's all. I've trained for a couple of years, and although I wanted to go world, I kept postponing it. It was a mixture of laziness and anxiety.

Regardless, that's not important, what's important is what they teach us.

Boxers train for years to read their opponent's movements- the movement of their shoulders, their muscles, their footwork, rhythm, habits- everything. I didn't think it would work here since I'm just mostly paying attention to her hand movement, and, well, it's not boxing, but it worked out fine.

Although It's a bit hard due to the pink tint in the air blocking my vision a bit, I could tell what kind of attack she would unleash by simply focusing on her hand and fingers.

Furthermore, I could now easily see the trajectory of the vines, and where they will land, even without the Third Eye.

So, the threat now isn't how difficult it is to dodge these vines, but it's for how long I could keep on dodging. Ignoring the aroma, my body is starting to ache, and I feel like my tongue is going to die at this rate, too, due to how many times I bit it.

Ah, screw this. I originally stopped using the gun due to its laughable speed, but in this case, I have to find an opening to attack. It's going to be a bit tough, for sure, but I'll fall from fatigue if I don't attack.

As the two vines from before tried to attack me once more, I elegantly ducked, dodging the vines with minimal effort, and then pointed the gun at her.

*Bang*

Blocked.

Not surprising, to be honest. I have 4 more bullets left in this thing, as well as the other gun.

I have to find a way where she can't block all of them at the same time. This will probably be my only chance at attacking her. Even if it didn't work, at the very least, she'll get a bit tired.

I hope.

"...I don't get it," she uttered, "Why are you resisting? Do you genuinely think you can survive that wretched Snake Demon if you managed to escape from me?" A new vine appeared beside her and launched toward me, and the other two attacked me as well, "Do you really think that?! When everyone in this building has failed to escape it and was turned into pieces?!"

Okay, lady, calm down. You seem more pissed at her than I am.

"...You're not exactly that much of a better choice, either." I finally exhaled and uttered this before inhaling once more. This holding-my-breath shtick is getting really irritating.

"I understand, in a way. However, that is still much better than getting ripped apart and having your soul absorbed by that Snake!"

With a shout, the vines' attacks intensify, their speed increased, and they just began to attack everything. They weren't aiming for me, now, they were just flailing around randomly, hoping to get me.

Ah, shit. How am I going to get a chance to hit her when all the vines attacks are unpredictable now? Shit, the only thing I can do is dodg-

*Rumble*

*Bang*

...?

"...?"

*BANG!*

*Vroom!*

WOAH, SHIT!

With pure instincts, I managed to jump a meter backward, as a metal door suddenly just flew to where I was previously at a ridiculous speed.

"WOOF!"

I've never felt happier hearing a dog bark. My attention immediately turned to where the door was, and in it, the sheer force of the door being flung had already ripped apart the multiple vines that were blocking it.

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And of course, where the door originally was, stood Eve, in all of her glory.

My god-damn savior!

Oh, and, her eyes were a bit glowing... and red.

I don't know what she did these past 10 minutes, since I stopped hearing the banging mid-way through the fight, but what matters right now is that she's here.

Also, wow, she's actually frightening when she's pissed.

"What is this Garast doing...?" She muttered under her breath, "Are you stupid or what? You should know that its finders keepers here."

"WOOF!"

"What- What did you just call me?!"

I can see multiple veins appear on that girl's forehead, as the veins once more get ready to attack. I slowly walked towards Eve, and patted her head.

"Woof~"

Stop looking at my groin. And here I wanted to thank you for helping me.

"What is this...?" The girl questioned, her eyes becoming sharp, "You. Do you... know that Garast?"

What the hell is a Garast? Is that Eve's species name? God, what kind of name is that?

Of course, I didn't respond. I simply pet Eve while looking at the plant girl.

"And here I thought I 'saved' you from that Garast back there. Then again, I suppose it should be obvious since you tried to help her back then. Hmm..."

Why the hell would I have helped her if she wasn't on my side? I'm not sure how else you would look at it, but I believe it was quite obvious that she was on my side.

"I'm not sure what you did, or how you even managed to tame that disgusting dog-"

"WOOF!"

"Shut up! I'm not the disgusting one here! You are!"

"Woof!"

"W-Wha?! I'm not a brat, you disgusting dog!"

Oh? Can this girl understand Eve? All I heard were simple barks. How did you manage to get all of that from a few barks?

Then again, I'm kinda getting better at understanding Eve, so I guess it isn't that unbelievable.

"Whatever! I'll put you back into the underworld, and then I'll continue-"

"Awoo!"

"-After all, what is a simple Garast in front of m-"

*Bang*

While she was busy disagreeing with Eve, I realized this was the ideal moment to incapacitate her. I shot a bullet at her at a horrible position and angle, but it should still hit, I hope. To be honest, I didn't expect it to get a full hit, but It turned out fine. I managed to injure her thigh.

"...!"

"A-Awoo...?"

Both girls looked at me with disbelief in their eyes, not believing that I just shot her when she was talking.

What?

"D-Did you just-"

"Awoo..."

Ah, shut up. You girls are such drama queens. I didn't hit a vital spot, and unlike humans, monsters could regenerate almost any injury with time, as long as it isn't their head or heart.

This kind of injury would be healed rather quickly. This was based on my game knowledge and the book that I read when I was here.

However, the important thing is that this will cause her to waste more energy.

"T-To think you'll go for such an underhanded tactic...!" Oi, you're one to talk! Most of your techniques were underhanded! I'm fighting you in the worst environment possible, too!

Whatever. Call me underhanded, I don't care.

...Okay, I care a bit. Damn it!

She tried to attack me with vines, but their speed was much slower than before, to the point, it was a cakewalk to dodge them.

"Ngh...!" Oh, right, she's probably in pain right now, too.

When she tried to attack me again, I didn't even need to dodge, as Eve simply tore the vines apart. I slowly walked towards the girl and pointed my gun at her head.

A shot to the head will mean a permanent death. They won't be able to regenerate it, and will instantly die.

She gave me glare, and-

[The following Flora tried to use "Mind Rape"!]

[The effect was successfully resisted!]

Probably due to her energy, she cannot mind rape me again. Realizing it didn't have any effect, a wave of fear flashed for a second in her eyes, but quickly disappeared as well.

Although she tried her best not to appear scared, I could tell, she was horrified. Her body was slightly trembling, despite her glare.

Then again, who wouldn't be? Who wouldn't be scared when a gun was pointed right at your head?

...

It's odd.

What is wrong with me?

Why can't I pull the trigger?

These fuckers want to kill me! Damn it!

"...What are you waiting for?" She said through clenched teeth, anger and fear evident in her tone.

I don't know, to be honest. It's like my body doesn't want to obey me. Hell, my finger is shaking right now.

Shit, I hate myself for this.

"Awoo..."

I glanced at Eve, then back to the girl. With a sigh, I holstered my gun and went to get my pants back. The concentration of the aroma in this is getting lower due to Eve breaking the door, so it's a bit safer to breathe.

"...? What are you doing?"

I didn't answer. I simply brought back my pants and wore them. She didn't try to attack me again, not like she can, anyways since Eve is here.

"Hey," I called out as I was tightening my pants, "If you ever try to attack me again, I won't spare you. Think of this as a warning."

"What...?"

I didn't look at her. I simply glanced toward Eve, which had an expression of relief on her face. "Hey," I called out to her, "Let's go."

"Woof!" The red, glowing eyes disappeared, and now, she simply returned to what she always looked like. Probably because I didn't kill this Flora monster, she was relieved. I doubt most monsters want to see other ones die in front of their eyes.

The girl didn't say anything as we were leaving. Although I didn't kill her, if what she said was true, then my soul is already marked. She cannot survive without me, probably. Any other human won't do, at least that's what she said.

But at least, I won't be the one directly killing her. It's her fault, anyways...

But still... why do I feel so... ah, screw this. Let's just leave.

...

...

... It was a bit annoying at first, due to the aroma and all that, but I finally managed to enter an area where the aroma didn't reach. No exit was in sight, as usual. This floor was bigger than the previous floor, no doubt about it. It has been almost an entire hour, and yet I couldn't find anything.

"...Where the hell is that exit, anyways?" I muttered under my breath as we continued walking.

I'm still conflicted that I let that girl survive. But, even if she tried to attack me again, she won't be able to do anything against me. I have seen through her attacks.

Besides, if she does attack me again, it probably won't be a room that's infested with that aroma. Although I had a hard time fighting her, but if I was in an environment where it didn't have that aroma and those vines blocking my movement?

I can win, I'm sure. She isn't strong. It was the environment that was the problem. On her own, she's just mildly annoying.

I stopped for a few seconds and headpatted Eve's head. I still feel uncomfortable, but headpatting her removes that uneasiness.

Ah~

This is much better.

Where am I right now, anyways? We've been walking for quite a while now. I can't see anything resembling an exit, none at all. Just where the hell is it?

"You can't find the exit because that Snake Demon used a spell to hide it."

"Awoo...?!"

Hmm? What do you mean-

Wait.

I immediately turned my attention to where the noise came from and pulled my gun towards the voice.

Light-green skin, hair that looks like it was made out of leaves, a skirt that looks like a flower, and a devious, child smile on its face.

Shit.

It's her again.

"Grr..." Eve growled at her, and was threatening to pounce at her.

"I believe I warned you," I told her coldly, my gun still pointing at her. She didn't do anything except for raising her hands. I thought it was an attack move, but no attack came. Even if it did, I have my Third Eye now, she can't do anything about it.

"Calm down," she said reassuringly, "I'm not going to attack you."

I raised one eyebrow at her.

"...Neither am I here to mate with you. Maybe."