Melissa glanced at Percy and saw the fiery fire in his eyes.
Don’t even think about it.
She channeled mana into her golden ring – her spatial storage – and replaced her wooden wand with a small rod. The rod was barely 30 centimeters long and black like the abyss. Melissa scoffed at Percy and infused mana into the rod as silver lines etched all over the rod surfaced. A bead of sweat trickled down her temples and her arms started trembling uncontrollably clutching the rod tightly.
Percy swallowed when the black rod appeared in Melissa’s hands. He didn’t know what the object could do, but his senses told him to be careful. The Coin of Prosperity in Percy spun wildly; the eyes of the devilish grimace glowing brightly.
Pristine glowing particles gathered at the tip of the black rod and melted into each other. They fused and transformed into a glowing mass of…mana.
Melissa was drenched in sweat, but the corner of her lips tilted upward. Her eyes flickered in excitement as she released the mana mass. A burst of mana was all it took to hurl the mana mass across the battlefield. It smashed into one of the unscathed Archyeas and pierced smoothly through its chest. The Archyeas looked down and reached for the empty hole where its chest had once been. A fountain of dark blood gushed from the hole, and the Archyeas collapsed. The Lesser Demon was dead before the body landed on the ground.
Seven hells!! She killed that Archyeas effortlessly… Maybe I shouldn’t anger her.
He glanced at the sweat-drenched noble girl and shuddered, imagining what would happen if the mana mass struck him. Not even [Reinforce] and several [Guard] shields would be enough to save him. Melisa smiled vibrantly and charged the black rod excitedly again. Her arms weren’t her problem at this point. Her entire body trembled wildly as the black rod was recharged. The young noble aimed the rod's tip toward the Pleacis and was about to release the mana mass gathered at its tip when the scenery changed again.
“The Pleacis is a Mutant. Careful!!” Ulfhar shouted at the top of his lungs when he realized what had happened. Not even a full second passed when the Bladed Demon vanished into a cloud of demonic essence. It disappeared and reappeared behind Melissa, its bladed arms brandished. One moment, the space behind her was empty, and in the next second, it was there. Percy – despite his high control of [A Hunter’s Smell] – smelled the demonic creature only after it emerged behind Melissa.
Nonetheless, the smell was strong enough to perceive the demonic creature before Melissa, who spun around tightly, clutching the black rod. She shuddered, not only in exhaustion but also at the sight of the Elite Demon. The Glacia Knights were too far to reach her, leaving her alone to fend off the Bladed Demon until her bodyguards arrived. They responded quickly, Ulfhar the moment he sensed the demonic creature’s mutation, but they wouldn’t make it. They weren’t fast enough to block the first few blows of the Bladed Demon.
The young noble had to fend for herself.
She raised the black rod, drawing the Pleacis’ attention to the object, and screamed when the Elite Demon attacked. One of its bladed arms whisked toward Melissa, whose eyes widened in terror. She lost focus and couldn’t control the mana gathered at the tip of the black rod anymore. The mana mass burst forth but struck the demon’s incoming arm rather than its chest. The Pleacis screamed loud as the mana mass severed its fleshly blade where its lower arm was supposed to be. Some of the demonic creature’s momentum was taken from the sudden attack, but it didn’t stop attacking. The remains of the Bladed Demon’s bloody arm moved too fast for the trembling noble to block. But Percy was still there.
This is going to hurt a lot. I’m so stupid.
He cursed himself while tackling Melissa. His mana reserves were sucked dry to enforce [Reinforce] right before the bloody pulp of the Bladed Demon’s arm smashed into his side. A disgustingly stretched crunch resounded in his ears as the attack reached him. His ribs shattered like toothpicks from the initial impact, and it felt like his organs ruptured.
The air in his lungs was drawn out, and he was hurled through the air. For a moment, Percy couldn’t differentiate top from bottom. It was not until he smashed hard into the dying ground that he realized where he was and what he’d just done. He couldn’t breathe, and a glance at his sides told him that the Elite Demon’s bloody remains of an arm impaled him.
It didn’t hurt.
Percy was beyond that point already.
Seriously…Is that how I’m going to die? As an idiot who was dumb enough to jump into the killing blow of an Elite Demon…to protect a snotty little noble girl?!
He barely finished the train of thought before he lost consciousness. Percy collapsed in the puddle of blood that formed around him and stopped moving as the chaos around him continued.
**
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Percy was tired and didn’t want to open his eyes, but the palpitating pain in his chest was too much to ignore. The underground swayed gently, but every move was uncomfortable, worsening his condition. He groaned in discomfort and moved his hand slowly to his potion pouch. His Ego-enhanced potions should ease the pain.
He reached out but grasped something else instead. His hand coiled around something warm and soft.
“Disgusting pig!” A familiar voice screamed out. Percy winced and let go, but the damage was already done. A leg came his way and stomped fiercely onto his stomach.
A wave of pain spread through Percy as his body tensed and bulged. His eyes shot wide open, and he realized where he was and what had happened. Percy suppressed another wince but looked at his hand and saw where Melissa Reeze’s leg had been a moment before.
Good job. You escape death to get killed for touching someone’s leg by accident. Are you tired of living? Percy asked himself, trying to endure the worsening pain in his chest. Something warm trickled down his chest. It spread to his back and drenched what he presumed to be bandages.
“This is so annoying,” Melissa cursed under her breath before retrieving a small vial. She removed the cap and pressed it into his hand. “Take this or die outside my carriage. I don’t want my reputation to suffer because of the likes of you!”
Percy’s mind was foggy, and he was having difficulties understanding what was happening, but a small interface popped up when Melissa gave him a potion.
[Potion of Accelerated Regeneration – Perfect Quality/Ordinary – 16,352 Prosperity]
He could barely keep his eyes open and had yet to figure out how he ended up in Melissa’s carriage, but it looked like they’d survived their bout with the Bladed Demon. That was good. He would have hated dying to the Pleacis like this.
Percy used his last bits of willpower to use [Consume] on Prosperity.
Potion of Accelerated Regeneration
Perfect Quality
Potency: Ordinary ⭐⭐⭐
[Regeneration⭐],[Healing Sleep⭐], [Healing Surge⭐⭐], [Regrowth⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]
[Regeneration] and [Healing Sleep] lit up, but Percy barely perceived that. He used his Ego while raising the glass vial to his lips as long as he had the strength to do so. Melissa barely paid any attention to him. She ensured he had enough strength to drink the potion and looked away in disinterest when the glass vial pressed against his lips.
[2,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Potion of Accelerated Regeneration’s [Regeneration⭐] is overflowing with Prosperity.
Potion Effect has been augmented to [Regeneration⭐⭐].]
[10,000 Prosperity has been consumed.]
[Potion of Accelerated Regeneration’s [Healing Sleep⭐] is overflowing with Prosperity.
Dormant effect has awoken.]
Percy didn’t know what happened once he was done. His Prosperity was used up, and the viscous liquid trickled down his throat. His expression distorted in disgust at how sour the potion was, but he didn’t hear Melissa chuckling. Percy fell asleep again.
**
The next time Percy woke up, he felt much better. His chest was still hurt, but he could get up without tearing his wound open again. He looked around but saw nobody.
Did they leave me alone? No, they wouldn’t leave their carriage behind like that.
Percy tilted his head and looked around. The bottom of the carriage was filled with blood and bandages, both probably his, but Percy was too focused on the scenery outside the carriage to realize how much blood he’d lost.
Where in the seven hells am I?!
There were no plains in their sight, let alone the little forest. Nothing about his surroundings seemed familiar.
A massive mountain range to his left and an even larger forest stretched as far as he could see.
“This is not Raewood or the Meiso Plains…Where am I?” He mumbled and spun around when he heard a faint neighing from the other side of the carriage. One of the Glacia Knights, a young man, glanced into the carriage and looked at Percy in surprise. His surprise was replaced by joy.
“It’s good that you’re awake. You’re a tenacious kid,” The Glacia Knight said, but Percy was unsure if that was a compliment or if he was getting teased.
The Glacia Knight turned around and shouted aloud.
“Our little suicidal hero is awake and jumping around!”
Percy’s hair stood up to its end, but he suppressed his gut feeling and emerged from the carriage on the other end. What awaited him were the remaining Glacia Knights and their miss sitting around a campfire.
Melissa looked at him with disgust and hatred, which Percy could only reciprocate. He had no idea what crime he’d committed to the young noble, but she surely wanted to see him hanging.
However, the Glacia Knights were a lot scarier than Melissa. He was aware of the noble’s dislike toward him. However, the Glacia Knights smiled vibrantly at him simultaneously. That was much more uncomfortable than the disgust, hatred, and mishmash of negative emotions she felt toward him.
What did I miss?