Chapter 70: 70.Feelings That Need Rediscovery-4

The silhouette of Tritia was outlined with a sharp red tint in Mylo’s blurred vision.

...Why... why are you here, Tritia?

He muttered unknowingly.

"Hmm? Are you really asking that?" Her raspy voice sliced through the ringing in his ears.

"Didn’t we have a deal where I help you with your goal? Come on, stand up. Let’s finish this. I have a lot of things to clean up with you. Hmm? Or do you need time to rest? Tell me."

Mylo’s bloodshot eyes could only stare at her.

cough!cough!

He tried to force himself off the dirt, but a searing, electric agony flashed straight through his left side, nearly folding him in half.

Focus, he told himself, gritting his teeth. Put the question of why she came back to the very back of my mind for now. Survival first.

He looked up at her through the haze.

"I need a moment to recover," Mylo grunted.

"Hmm! Then leave this to me for now."

Without missing a beat, Tritia’s claws dug deep into a lunging Tkern’s skull. She whirled her entire upper body, using the heavy carcass as an improvised flail and slamming it into three incoming Tkerns, scattering them across the dirt.

wham!

While Tritia held the line, Mylo focused on his internal status. He cast Sensory Numb.

Once.Twice.

He stopped. The spell’s feedback fizzled out, it couldn’t mute any more of the overwhelming, structural damage racking his ribs.

Damn it!

He turned his attention around and assessed the battlefield.

Right now, we’re surrounded by Tkerns, a Bearash, and the Nothrought. I’ve already damaged the Nothrought, but I don’t know if it’s enough. And I have to be extremely wary of the Bearash... Lunatic’s records didn’t mention a single weak point for that thing.

He took deep, shuddering breaths, inhaling through his nose and exhaling slow, hot air to steady his trembling hands.

His grip tightened on the machete in one hand and the sharp antler in the other, keeping his body coiled.

I have 288 Pran. Killing more Tkerns will yield more, but Sensory Numb is useless in my current state. That leaves Bliss Drain and Pleasure. I have to use them to create an opening. If I can touch the Bearash, I can find its weakness using Pleasure.

He glanced toward the thrashing beast in the distance.

As for the Nothrought... it’s not as smart as I originally thought. I don’t know why this ambush was waiting here, but for now, it’s just a mindless monster thrashing around.

It had been barely a minute, but Mylo forced his legs to lock straight.

The surrounding cloud of pitch-black dust was finally beginning to settle.

His eyes tracked Tritia as her claws sheared through another Tkern’s neck.

For a fraction of a second, his eyelids drooped, a wave of relief turned into physical exhaustion making his entire body feel twice as heavy.

No. Not now.

He clamped his jaw shut, his knuckles turning white around his weapons as his vision refocused.

"Tritia!" Mylo called out over the roars. "Get over here! I’m ready, I have a plan!"

"Hmm! I see. Tell me!"

They both sprinted inward, meeting in the center of the clearing and pivoting on their heels until their backs slammed together.

thump!

Guarding each other’s blind spots, they scanned the encircling monsters. Mylo felt the cold pressure of Tritia’s small back against his own, and an unconscious nod escaped him.

She was here. She was actually behind him.

Ah... so you found another excuse to crawl through another day, huh?

Mylo flinched.

The all too familiar voice echoed in his head once more, and for a fleeting instant, he saw the shadowy silhouette of his older self standing at the edge of the smoke, watching him with dark, hollow eyes before the image completely dissolved into the settling black dust.

"Tritia, our main targets are the Nothrought and the Bearash," Mylo whispered quickly, his eyes locked onto the lingering haze ahead.

"I’ve already injured the Nothrought under its stomach. That’s its weak spot. Otherwise, its hide is too tough for us to cut through."

"Got it. I will aim for it."

"No, don’t do it alone," Mylo countered immediately. "I’ll distract its attention, and you use that opening to take it down."

"Then what about the Bearash? Tell me."

"We ignore it for now. We stay away from it and focus solely on the Nothrought. It’s already thrashing around, so it won’t stay in one place for long. The Bearash, on the other hand, is heavy and slow on its feet."

Tritia opened her mouth slightly, but bit her tongue and snapped it shut. A second later, she opened it again.

"No. Hmm! I don’t think that’s very good."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I will distract the Nothrought since I am faster," she asserted, her voice leaving no room for debate. "You be ready to deliver the final blow."

"No, wait, we already decided-"

"Let me charge ahead!"

Before Mylo could even finish shouting, Tritia dropped to all fours and vanished straight into the black smoke.

skrrrt!

"Hey! Wait!" Mylo yelled, left standing alone in confusion. He tilted his head in disbelief for half a second before gritting his teeth and sprinting after her into the fog.

HOOOOOOOONNNN!

The agonizing, echoing roar of the Nothrought vibrated through the earth. The beast was wildly charging in wide circles, leaving a thick trail of dark blood pouring from its punctured stomach.

vrrrip!

Outpacing the monster in a blitz, Tritia suddenly skidded to a halt directly in its path.

The Nothrought whipped its massive head sideways, bringing its thick, sharp horn sweeping straight for her torso like a battering ram.

thump!

Tritia leaped into the air, landing lightly right on the flat of the moving horn mid-swing. Moving like a blur on all fours, her small frame darted straight up the length of the horn toward its head.

shhhk!

She bounded off its snout, her ascended claws coming down in an irregular strike across the Nothrought’s face.

GRRR-RAAAHH!

Huff... huff... huff...

Mylo, running with every drop of strength left in his battered legs, nearly stumbled as his eyes widened in shock.

Deep, gushing gouges were carved into the Nothrought’s armored skull, left by Tritia’s claws.

What the hell...? Mylo thought, his mind racing.

I couldn’t even leave a scratch on that hide with my blade, and her nails just carved through it like that? And she’s... she’s so much faster than before! What happened to her?!

There was no time to process it. The Nothrought was completely blinded by rage, its full focus locked onto Tritia.

She skidded across the dirt under the monster’s sheer inertia, but as she came to a halt, a massive, pitch-black shadow suddenly loomed directly over her.

"Tritia! DUCK!" Mylo screamed at the top of his lungs.

Tritia instantly flattened herself and rolled frantically through the black soil.

fump!

The Bearash’s long, narrowing-rod hand struck the ground right where her neck had been a millisecond prior, missing her by an inch and leaving a deep hole in the earth.

Mylo didn’t hesitate. He gritted his teeth, locked his eyes on the Nothrought, and charged head-on toward the wounded beast.

Catching sight of him, the enraged Nothrought lowered its head and charged right back at him.

The two mindless runners were locked on a straight-line collision course.

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