‘Shit, the milhorn is too powerful!’ Hide’s thoughts yelled at him.

The crimson-eyed man dodged another barrage of sharp feathers thrown his way, ducking behind a tree and taking cover. Lyon, on the other hand, studied the creature, trying to find a weak spot. Both he and Hide knew that trying to beat an A-class monster at their current level was borderline suicidal.

”Tasty human for me to eat!” The milhorn screeched, flapping its wings and releasing more bladed feathers. Its feathers weren’t the only problem, however. Its voice and the vibrato it carried were doing something to the boys’ bodies. With every word it spoke, their bodies slightly became heavier and moved more sluggishly.

Lyon gritted his teeth, blocking more of the feathers. The night had arrived, making things harder to see. The blonde tightened his grip around the hilt of his two-hander, his pupils moving rapidly across the bird, trying desperately to find a weak spot.

”How long do you plan on hiding behind that tree, idiot?" Lyon yelled, frustration getting the best of him. Hide peeked his head out before quickly ducking back behind the tree as a group of feathers headed his way, sticking onto the truck.

“I’ll come out when it’s safe to do so!” Hide yelled back. The hemomancy mage immediately began planning his line of attack. He peeked his head back out and scoped the scenery. They were surrounded by tall oak trees, which limited the amount of movement the two men could make. However, this was perfect for Hide. Slowly, the young, crimson-eyed man exited from behind the tree and made his way around, moving towards the back of the milhorn’s space.

Lyon watched on, his eyes narrowing as his eyebrows furrowed. ’What on earth is he doing?” The crusader thought. Hide, on the other hand, crouched down before pulling a dagger out of his back pocket. He spun the silver blade around before he cut both his palms. The pain was excruciating, yet it brought so much pleasure to the masochist. Lyon watched on with wide eyes as the pools of dark crimson blood dripped down.

’How is he not dead from that?’ He asked himself. ‘Better het, why am I still standing around and doing nothing?!’ His next set of thoughts yelled at him. The milhorn stopped its barrage of attacks and zped forward, catching both men off guard.

‘Its fast.’ They simultaneously thought. Lyon braced himself as the large, monstrous bird appeared before him and began high-kicking. Its sharp claws clashed with the blade of his two-hander, pushing him back tremendously. Lyon dug his feet into the ground as best as he could, trying to balance himself, but to no avail. The creature was just too strong.

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Hide, witnessing this, knew he needed to act now. So, after enough blood spilled from his palm, he bent the liquid, moving it towards the tree trunks surrounding the area. Once the liquid splattered across the trunks, he then solidified the liquid, creating a net of some sort around the area. He then moved the ends of the bloody net towards the milhorn, watching as it tied itself around the creature. The vibrato screeches emitting from the monster crushed their bodies, and Hide almost faltered. Through one eye closed and gritted teeth, he persevered.

“Don’t stop with your attacks, Lyon!” He yelled out before closing his fist and tightening his hold on the monster.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Lyon yelled back, all fired up. “St. Maribel, give me strength.” He whispered. The blonde then moved his sword towards the front of his body and breathed in. Hide watched as a trail of what looked like steam entered the blonde’s mouth before exiting. It happened faster than Hide could blink. Lyon was now in front of him and behind the milhorn.

The ex-crusader then turned his sword around, placing it back into his scabbard.

‘I’m still amazed by his speed.’ Hide thought as he slowly got up. His eyes then looked past Lyon and towards Milhorn, who was staring back at them, not a single scratch to be seen on its body. Noticing Hide’s mortified expression, the blonde decided to look back.

“Impossible!” Lyon exclaimed, “I was able to hit it! I could have sworn the blade touched its neck!” He yelled out again, moving his arm around in disbelief.

They weren’t strong enough to destroy it, nor were they fast enough to react to the now-charging monster. Hide had now noticed the approaching mana of the rest of the group, but they weren’t going to reach it in time. Everything was moving in slow motion. The two men slowly turned around, turning their backs on the monster as they yelled.

“RUN!” The two men bolted, running as fast as they could from the milhorn. However, the creature’s voice still made their bodies feel sluggish, and they weren’t moving fast enough.

“You should have cut its vocal cords!” Hide yelled at the swordsman.

“Shut up!” The blonde yelled back.

“Tasty humans come back!” The milhorn screeched, sending shivers down the men’s spines.

“Nuh-uh!” They screeched back at it, picking up their speed.

‘Huh? What is that force?’ Hide thought. A large presence was among them. To Hide, the mage was easily A-class. He then turned his head to the side and noticed large azure orbs staring back at him. Without saying much, Hide grabbed Lyon’s head and forced him to duck down.

“Oi-“ The blonde swordsman was cut off as his eyes followed an arrow zooming out of the dark and piercing the head of the milhorn, instantly disintegrating the creature. “What was that?!” He exclaimed.

“My arrow.” A cold, feminine voice, with a slight raspiness, spoke up. Hide and Lyon stared at the tall, cloaked figure and gulped. A giant wall of mana surrounded the figure’s body, displaying the sheer amount of strength they wielded and the gap between the archer and the two.

To put it lightly, they were doomed.