Disclaimer:

“Dialogue”

‘Thoughts’

-Author notes-

Chapter 22: Killing the Hunter

Zephyr felt the wounds on his body disappearing.

The pain was gone, and he could once again move without a problem.

Eren stood in shock, watching as his brother collapsed face down on the grass with smoke coming out of his head.

His eyes flickered to Zephyr.

“What is this?” He was sure the boy had several broken bones in his body. It would be impossible for him to move, and yet…the instant after he killed Ark with a spell he had never seen before, he jumped to his feet and ran at him.

Eren was on full alert now, so when he saw Zephyr extend his spark-covered hand toward him, he was ready to react.

“Lightning Strike!” Zephyr yelled.

Eren saw the flash of light and tried to move out of the way but was hit on the shoulder.

“Tsk… I was aiming for the chest,” Zephyr lamented.

He only had two more shots before he ran out of mana.

Not wanting to give his enemy time to recover or to make sense of the situation, he shot again.

“Lightning strike!”

Eren's orange eyes opened wide. The pain in his shoulder kept him on full alert mode.

The spell was too fast to dodge, even with his enhanced speed, but his combat experience allowed him to predict the trajectory of the shot when he saw the hand movement.

This time, the Beastman Eren was able to completely dodge the spell and decided to counterattack.

‘Oh no… I only have one more shot…’ Zephyr lamented greatly.

He could not miss again or it would all be over.

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Despite his injury, Eren moved at an incredible speed, making it impossible for Zephyr to follow his actions.

The idea of capturing the boy alive was gone from Eren's mind. The only thing he could think about now was to eliminate his enemy before he was the one being eliminated.

After a series of jumps through the nearby trees, he saw an opening and went for it. His claws extended, ready to rip Zephyr to shreds.

Zephyr, on the other hand, was in a desperate situation.

He heard Eren moving around him, but he was too slow to react.

All of a sudden, he felt a presence behind him followed by acute pain on his back.

This wound had been slashed diagonally by Eren's sharp claws. Blood poured out, staining his robes even further.

The straps on his bag were also cut, letting it fall onto the grassy ground.

When he turned around, the Beastman was already gone. Back to jumping through the trees, making it impossible for Zephyr to aim his magic.

‘I have to wait for the perfect opportunity…’ He only had one chance, after all.

Something occurred to him then.

“Status!”

He had 15 available points. As fast as could, he dumped all his points into Dexterity, making it jump from 7 to 22.

Dexterity was the stat that governed speed and reflexes. Something he was in desperate need of right now.

Some message appeared, informing him of some new ability, but he ignored it.

He felt an immediate change in him.

It felt like time had slowed down. The Beastman who just seconds ago was a blurry shadow, he could now see him clearly.

He saw him land on a tree branch, he saw how his muscles moved as he latched onto a branch before jumping onto the next.

Zephyr saw his eyes flickering around, calculating where to move next.

He then saw those eyes move directly to him.

‘Here he comes.’ He knew. But now… he was ready.

Eren was completely unaware of what had happened, but he did feel a clear change in Zephyr. He just didn't know what happened exactly.

It became much harder to find an opening to attack; he felt Zephyr's eyes following his movements now. But he was starting to get tired, and the pain in his shoulder was becoming unbearable.

He had to make a move. It was now or never.

After one last jump, he positioned himself at his back again. His right hand was now firm like a blade, his aim was Zephyr's chest. Even if he could not hit the heart, as long as he pierced the lungs, the boy would die.

Eren propelled himself towards Zephyr at an incredible speed.

But at the last moment, Zephyr turned around. He had been able to predict the beastman's moves.

Eren had a bad feeling when he saw Zephyr turn around, but the boy never made an attempt at blocking his attack.

His claw went through Zephyr's chest and came out on the other side, splashing blood everywhere.

Eren had missed the heart, but this was still a lethal wound. Now all he had to do was to pull back and gain some distance.

It was a matter of minutes before the boy died.

When Eren went to pull his arm back, he was grabbed by Zephyr's left hand.

The grip was not too strong, and Eren was still able to pull back slowly, but not before Zephyr got his chance.

“Got you…” Zephyr moved his right hand close to Eren's face.

“Lightning…”

“Nooo!”

That was all Eren had time to say.

“Strike!”

The burst of lightning hit the Beastman square in the face as it did to his brother.

Zephyr released his grip and let Eren be pushed away from him by the force of the spell.

Leaving him with a gaping hole in his chest that would kill him in just a moment.

[Level up… status recovery]

The voice of the Goddess resounded in his ears. It was the most pleasant sound in the world.

He had gambled everything on this, and it paid off.