We knew that woman was related to the sibling we found in the pit in some way, but seriously, if these two were truly related to the siblings we met, what were they looking for in this goddamn forest?

Were they exiled or something like that? I had no way to know the full story behind it. I doubted she would even make an effort to explain it to me. In fact, most of her focus was to kill me off.

To be fair, the most important question I should’ve asked myself right now should’ve been what was the probability that I would stumble upon an entire family in this cast and cursed forest.

With little to no surprise, the wolf attack didn’t even seem to have grazed the remnant in the slightest.

"Mourrez! Mourrez! Mourrez! "

Instead, it had the effect of making her even more chaotically enraged.

The wind and lightning tornado serving as walls began to rotate on themselves even more frantically than they already were.

While the woman also displayed some change, her entire body got coated by a thick layer of spherical wind bubble floating in midair. On the outside, six giant violet snake-like lighting-made creatures were formed, connected to her.

As if by appearance alone, each of these creatures weren’t frightening enough, each of these snake-like creatures was glaring at us with clear killing intent.

The six of them charged at us, while some were shooting lightning beams to attack, some were using their bodies to attack us.

She seemed to have decided to play it safe by remaining at a safe distance and leaving these snake-like creations to handle the offense.

Along with the wolf we did our best to dodge the incessant attack of these snakes but with the field being quite limited it wasn’t very evident to avoid each one of their attacks, we were left with no choice but to block and face head on these snakes attacks.

Though quite reticent and clumsy at cooperating together, we and the wolves being in this situation immediately got better at it.

This went on for some time, and the three of us began to feel the toll of exhaustion. After all, we were already on the verge of killing each other with the wolf earlier. We had already sustained a considerable amount of damage. We were far from our peak, and so we knew we wouldn’t be able to last eternally with this fight.

It was just a matter of time before we ended up being roasted to death by these giant snakes.

"Which is why I think I came up with a plan."

I clashed my sword heavily against the head of the snake. Having dealt the maximum damage the momentum of the clash could’ve offered, I distanced myself thanks to my new aerial maneuver technique, I then landed on top of Han’s head, who was just next to the wolf.

"I’m all ears."

"You won’t like this but I think we have little to no choice at this point."

"What’s your plan?"

"Well,..."

The plan in question, I hated it. It had a decent chance of success, but I’d rather have it for a very desperate situation, which is sadly the one we are in right now.

But still, I hated it, yet I knew it was our best shot.

I was not sure if it understood my words, but I shared the plan in question with our wolf. After all, the whole operation depended on whether or not it would be able to perform as intended.

I couldn’t tell if he did understand perfectly the "plan", but he seemed to perform exactly what was expected of him.

Changing its entire furs to a glowing halo of white and mustering its remaining strength, it charged at the snakes at breakneck speed to engage with them. The plan was to have him get the full attention of the snakes, but only four of them focused on the wolf.

It was not unexpected, so Han went to help the wolf, to also serve as a decoy.

Whereas I, my purpose in this plan lied elsewhere.

Taking advantage of the cover both of them gave me, I went for the remnant.

Using my aerial maneuver, I made my way amidst the chaos and, right above her, charged my mightiest attack.

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Before I could even unleash it, I felt her hateful gaze on me.

"Voleur! Voleur! Where is my Arthur?!"

My sword, there was no doubt about it, she could sense it.

From the sound of it and from how it felt, I knew she was, by the time I reached her, preparing to fire another lethal attack at me.

I knew that if I were to unleash my attack right now, it would be worn off by her upcoming attack, which would undoubtedly make my attack not even strong enough to get past her barrier, which would make every setup of this plan for naught.

So I waited.

I waited for the perfect opportunity.

The seconds I gave her allowed her to fully charge her attack, which she immediately blasted on me.

However, just as it was about to arrive, a small and familiar explosion exploded in front of me.

Thanks to his short-ranged teleportation, Han in his Chrackt form appeared in front of me.

Wings widely spread, with his entire body, he tanked the whole attack.

He successfully tanked the remnant attack, but I saw his foggy silhouette as I usually perceive him, reduced to countless microscopic particles.

Being in the dark for so long, his weird-looking silhouette became like faint candlelight to me. The sight of seeing it reduced to spreading dust, filled me with both sadness and anger.

Firmly grasping my sword, I was only a few meters away from the woman.

She and her shield were within reach. All thanks to Han's sacrifice, she no longer has time to muster any attack on me right now.

"You want this sword owner, do you? Get out of your barrier, I will reunite you together! " Charged with light, lightning, aina, and my wrath, I swung my sword at her.

With an insanely powerful blast, not only did it penetrate through her shield, but it also reached her.

Her body was sent blasting onto the ground.

Everything created from her magic seemed to have crumbled away, including both the giant snake and the storm barrier.

Wasting no time, I came at her because I knew she wasn’t finished yet. By the time I reached her, she was back on her feet and came at me with a...

"Pourquoi tu ne meurs pas!!"

With a punch

She came at me with a punch. Certainly, it was quite enhanced with her lightning, but I was in a situation where I literally felt no threat from it. I didn’t even bother to dodge it.

"Pourquoi tu n- blergh"

"Shut up!"

I let go of the sword she was so preoccupied with and kicked her in the gut, making her body arc in such a way that her body came at me like an offering.

Without holding back, I uppercut her, grabbed her by the collar, and threw her body in the direction of the charging footsteps I heard, which I knew belonged to the wolf which was now free of the enemy and was also seeking revenge on her.

Our friend the wolf received the woman’s body with a warm headbutt.

Her body then flew at me, Han, your faithful servitor, I was not dead. I merely lost one of my vessels.

Having taken one of my second vessels, I received the woman’s body with my body, slammed her many reprises against the hard and firm ground, and threw her back at Hon.

Sensing that the woman’s body was coming at me, I received her with a kick that sent her flying high in the sky.

I immediately propelled myself at her, to land another attack, but it was not the only one.

"I got her."

"It’s okay, I got her."

"Grrrr."

Even from the wolf, we got some reaction, just to show how much we’ve come to hate that person.

"I can-"

"Wait, together, we can make it, if we use it."

"FEEL THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!"

I couldn’t tell exactly how the tree managed to land a hit on her body at the same time.

Her body was once again sent blasting to the ground.

"Wooooh Yeeeeaaaaaaah, that was crazy ."

"Woah, we actually did it!"

The wolf let out something that I assumed was a satisfied grunt.

We were attempting to kill each other this morning, but at this point, we couldn't help but rejoice in satisfaction at having defeated a common foe like this one.

The frustration, and injuries we suffered aside, it was a very chilling experience.

And to be honest in time like this not seeing anything is quite a blessing, for what we just did was ganging an old woman.

Wasting time and sparing the enemy is not one of my customs.

I went to recover my sword and walked toward where the woman was to finish her off.

Maybe it was emotion, my wound, her strength, or just a lack of attention, but then at the time, I forgot one important detail that should’ve never been overlooked.

This woman was not alone, I, we completely forgot that.

Suddenly, hearing something charging at an unparalleled speed at us, I turned my back to face it, and saw that Han's vessel, which was in between the noise and me, was being blown to pieces by something, and that something was going straight at me.

It was so fast that I couldn't do anything.

When it passed through my chest, it took me some time to realize that it was in fact a spear.

It was only then that I remembered the man in armor, holding a spear? Han described.

The spear was within the flesh, yet blood was already gushing out.

It's hot, it's burning, and it hurts.

It was just a split second, but at that moment I believe I saw something I wasn’t meant to see.

I saw the face of the man impaling, I saw in the background the wolf that fought Han and me this morning, yet collaborated so well a few minutes ago.

And then it was all.

With the pain, my vision withered.

It was a very edgy line to say, but I fell into darkness.