[Didn't you say how you wanted to be the greediest man alive? No matter the situation, you wanted those dear to you always safe. Where did that resolution go?]
[You know how some say "Never wanting to get hurt is greedy." How no one can always protect their loved ones from danger.]
[Isn't that is why you loved reading the Green-Eyed Hero comic? He always tried to save his companions and the innocent.]
Vincent suddenly felt like he reached the turning point in his life. He wanted to protect the girls even at the cost of his life, yet he didn't want to die and leave them behind. A greedy wish to always have the best side of the balance.
"Thank you. " Vincent pulled himself up and donned a gaze burning with resolve and determination. Then he continued while clenching his fists, "If this world is survival of the fittest, then we will survive, and none of us will die."
Kazumi felt like her job to clear his head and create a goal was finished. She stopped using Soul Visit to send him back for another round.
His conscience soon returned to the living world as he opened his eyes next. He contorted his face while deeply arching his brows from the sensation of pain. The pain he momentarily forgot rushed to his brian every passing second.
Vincent slowly turned his gaze at his trembling injured shoulder. A vertical cut with green sizzling blood and steam exited the wound. But he didn't have time to stop and wail from the pain; he had to continue fighting against fate.
Vincent pulled himself up while he tried his best to ignore the agony. His arm twitched and trembled from the intense pain, yet it could still move it by his burning resolve. The mutation seemed to suppress some of the pain.
A few seconds passed while Vincent fainted, opened his eyes, and slowly pulled himself up. The Demonic Beast could have easily killed him if it wasn't for Ester, who did her best to change the Demonic Beast's target
.
The moment Ester saw blood gushing out from Vincent, and watching him fall lifelessly on the ground, she started feeling her heart beating rapidly.
Ester felt both her hands trembling. She thought it was fear, but her frowning face told a different story. She raised her short sword and gazed at the blurry reflection of her face.
Ester had a deep angry frown. Her mouth angrily twitched, revealing her teeth. On her delicate face was a cold murderous glare filled with killing intent, making her think otherwise.
"It's not fear! It's anger! I... I can't lose someone that is kind to me again. My parents were enough." Ester confirmed. She never thought she could ever make a face like this.
Ester grabbed the piece of cooked mudcrab meat and wolfed it down without hesitation. She couldn't let Vincent die. She couldn't stay weak and shiver in a corner anymore.
A sudden burst of energy flowed through her body. Ester suddenly felt more confident, angry, and energetic. The effect of the cooked mudcrab meat immediately provided its effect.
Ester stepped away from the dried tree. An idea rushed to her head after remembering how by whistling, Vincent had previously acquired its attention. But Ester was terrible at it, so she had to do something else.
*Clang
*Clang
Ester bashed the short sword against the mudcrab rock-like shell shield as hard as she could. Shortly, the sound of metal hitting a rock reverberated, attracting the Demonic Beast's attention.
The Demonic Beast stopped with an annoyed vicious frown ringing in its ears. It turned its cold murderous gaze over to Ester and locked its eyes on her.
*Roar
The Demonic Beast noticed a frail-looking human making annoying loud banging sounds. It roared in anger, then plucked two rocks from its back.
Ester grinned as she was waiting for this moment. The adrenaline from the mudcrab meat made her temporarily fearless to some extent.
The Demonic Beast shot two rocks one after the other. Ester quickly hid behind the dried tree beside her. She knew it was a deadly attack and needed to be avoided at all costs.
Ester stood behind the dried tree, yet she faced the dried tree with the shield pointing towards the incoming projectiles. The dried tree didn't seem durable, so she wanted to be prepared for any rock that could penetrate the dried tree and hit her.
*Crack
The first rock missed its target flying in the far distance, but the second rock flew straight for Ester. It ended up hitting the dried tree dead center, penetrating a few inches inside its trunk.
Ester didn't need to check for the damage. The loud noise was enough to tell her the result. The dried tree seemed to have enough life not to break from a powerful single impact.
The Demonic Beast became furious for not hitting Ester. It plucked more rocks from its back with a deep frown and threw them at the hiding human.
Ester became shocked while the thought of death lingered in her mind from every rock thrown. Now she knew the terror first hand why Demonic Beasts are feared, an enemy that takes a full party of five high Rankers to kill with casualties.
*Crack
*Crack
Two rocks penetrated inside the trunk. The danger increased as the accuracy improved with every throw; the more the Demonic Beast threw, the more precise each rock cannonball became.
The Demonic Beast reached to pluck more rocks giving a few seconds of respite. It didn't seem Ester could hide very long behind the cracking dried tree.
Ester took this opportunity to increase the taunting and look at Vincent's direction. She went out of hiding and banged against the shield again to keep its attention only on her.
While doing this, Ester took a glance at Vincent. She could see him slowly pulling himself up with steam exiting his wound. This scene arose multiple emotions in her heart.
Her heart raced full of adrenaline while feeling both proud to help and angry at the Demonic Beast for hurting Vincent. The emotion of fear got lost between these surging emotions.
Ester banged against the shield, brimming with the rush of courage until the Demonic Beast seemed ready to throw more rocks and ignore the rising Vincent.
Multiple rocks soon shot towards Ester. However, the dried tree reached its limits after saving Ester over seven times.
The Demonic Beast was about to pluck more rocks, but a small yellow object suddenly fell in front of its eyes, abruptly stopping its attack.
The Demonic Beast gazed down when its nose twitched from catching a tempting scent. The pair of crazed soon eyes noticed a banana lying between its legs, releasing an irresistible alluring sweet scent.
The Demonic Beast twitched its nose again after picking up another banana falling nearby, then another and another. Around eight bananas fell and tumbled to different directions, forcing the Demonic Beast to turn its puzzled gaze to many directions.
The Demonic Beast suddenly became undecided on which one to eat first. Its intelligence seemed to lack the process of such decisions; only killing and eating was on its mind.
[Lupa succeeded at dropping the bananas and distracting it. But let's hurry because Ester and the tree in front of her can't hold much longer.]
Vincent stood up while regaining his composure to act. He quickly turned his gaze at Ester and noticed the dried tree that protected her.
'That dried tree is more robust than it seems. Maybe it became reinforced after it shriveled to half of its size. Or maybe its a tree similar to the massive one in the middle. But thankfully, it saved her life.'
'Ester was afraid, but now all I'm seeing is a courageous woman in front of me. I need to act even if this pain is unbearable.' He thought while understanding the situation without the need of Kazumi to say anything.
Vincent noticed a banana nearby, but he couldn't pick it up because his hands were still burning. He returned his gaze at Ester and shouted, "Ester, pick up the bananas and apply some numb paste inside them. It's my turn to distract it."
Vincent gritted his teeth from the pain rushing from his shoulder and ran towards the Demonic Beast. He shouted to attract its attention, "Hey, you mountain of hard turd! I'm gonna eat all these bananas, haha!"
The Demonic Beast turned its glare at Vincent, pissed by his provocation. Even though Demonic Beast couldn't understand him, it noticed him approaching a banana on the ground. The intention to steal it was as clear as day to the enraged ape.
The Demonic Beast rushed in anger with a furious deep frown, stomping its heavy feet with a quick pace to intercept the fruit thief and protect its treasure.
Ester placed the frozen horn in her pants. Then she took this opportunity to pick the nearest banana and apply the numb paste as quickly as possible to later help by throwing it.
*Clang
The Demonic Beast approached at a striking distance and delivered a heavy blow towards Vincent. He quickly raised his guard.
*Bang
The blow knocked him off his feet a few meters back, tumbling on the red grass.
'I can't faint another time! I have to protect my head at all costs!'
Vincent thought when getting flung from the strong impact. He raised his hand and protected his head from smashing on the ground, preventing blacking out for the fourth time. His hair didn't catch on fire when the burning hands touched his hair, similar to his skin
.
The Demonic Beast nose twitched and quickly turned its gaze at Ester. As the pair of crazed eyes locked on the frail-looking girl, a barely closed banana flew in mid-air, heading towards its direction.
A strange smell covered the banana's sweet scent, but the Demonic Beast wasn't very bright in its current condition. The Demonic Beast grabbed the incoming fruit and devoured the numb paste covered banana in a single bite.
[You better hurry to stand up. Ester threw a banana and is out in the open.]
*Whistle
Vincent pulled himself up and let out a loud echoing whistle attracting the Demonic Beast's attention. This gave Ester a chance to retreat, approach another banana, and repeat the process until the Demonic Beast couldn't move anymore.
The Demonic Beast rushed at Vincent, flailing its arms to hit him. But Vincent did the opposite as he ran away from the pair of dangerous arms.
It was like a tag game until the next sweet trap was made and thrown at the dumb enraged ape.
A banana flew in between the two a few seconds later. Like a dog trying to catch a thrown object, the Demonic Beast jumped to catch the numb banana and quickly ate it in a single bite.
However, the delivery service wasn't for free. The Demonic Beast ended up slipping and losing its balance from the momentum, falling on the ground with a loud thud.