The axes in Nemmorino's hands began to tremble, as if they were trying to break free from his grasp.
A thick green liquid resembling poison, dripped down the blades, and with each swing, it splattered outwards, burning through the moss and dirt.
The roots imbued with the same poison, writhed in agony, as if they were sharing their master's pain. They moved aimlessly, blinded by the intensity of their fury.
One of them struck me with a lash like a whip, and the poison flared up on my robe in a pale green flame.
I cried out but not out of fear, but out of annoyance. The skin on my arms began to smoke, and a predatory gleam appeared in my eyes.
Cold lines flashed in the interface in front of me:
[ You gain +10 Immunity points ]
[ You gain +10 Immunity points ]
"Yes, keep going, the more pain I feel, the stronger I will become."
I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and dove back into the movement, jumping between the roots as if I were dancing to their frantic rhythm.
My body was already aching, my muscles refusing to obey, but a strange feeling was growing inside me, as if the disease itself was accepting me as one of its own.
Meanwhile Nemmorino's body began to break again.
His back arched at an unnatural angle, his bones cracking as if he were trying to shed his skin. His mouth opened in a scream, not of rage, but of pure, raw terror.
—I don't want... I don't want to go back... not to madness!
His words, distorted by his throats, seemed to come from dozens of mouths, echoing from the very earth.
Zikei, who was standing closest to the front, was already staggering. His face was covered in sweat, and his breathing was labored. He quickly checked his interface and, cursing, pulled out several flasks of a yellow, glowing potion from his inventory.
—Restore stamina and energy!
He shouted, throwing vials into the air.
The flasks arced scattering between the fighters.
Aka-32 caught one in mid-air tore the cork with her teeth and downed the contents in one gulp.
Her eyes flared with amber light, and her arms regained their strength.
Without wasting time, the moose smashed the flask against his armor, and the liquid spread across his body, momentarily infusing his muscles with renewed power.
I just put my face under the flying flask, and the potion spread over my cheek, soaking into my skin, and I felt my bones stop shaking.
[ Attention: your stamina has been restored]
—Move randomly! The roots are aiming at the trajectory, don't stand still!
Zikai shouted.
They began to move chaotically, not according to a plan, but as if in some kind of mad dance.
[System message]
[Mutagenic Instability Level: Rising]
[Boss enters unstable combat mode]
[Attention: The debuff "Weight of Metal" has been removed, allowing Disava to move freely]
I stopped, and you know what, I finally felt some relief under my toes!
The weight that had been pressing on my joints began to recede, and my bones were no longer "stone," and my muscles were no longer trembling as if they might burst.
My blood was flowing again, and my pulse was beating more steadily, returning me to a sense of my own body. I took a deep breath, and the air was heavy and filled with poison, but it tasted sweet.
I gripped the hilt of the blade, and the metal responded with a slight, almost living vibration, as if it recognized its owner.
"Great, it's listening again!"
So, what's next? It's pointless to just keep hitting the monster. I need to find a way to reduce its rage. At least a little.
I exhaled and activated the skill: [ Fragrance of the Petals ]
A light silver-pink haze appeared beneath my feet, smelling of something warm and springy, completely out of place in this swamp.
For a moment, everything seemed to calm down. The poisonous fumes mixed with the scent of the petals, making the air feel softer.
[ Attention for 120 seconds, you have extinguished the effect of the poisonous spores, and the health of all your allies can be restored during this time. ]
—Oh, that's great, Disava, I didn't know you could do that!
Exclaimed Elk, surprised for a moment as he watched everything around him relax, even Nemmorrino was filled with melancholy.
His massive body swayed, and his paws slipped in the mud. He seemed to be on the verge of becoming either a beast, a human, or something in between.
His cloudy eyes cleared for a moment, and a glimmer of something human appeared in them.
—Maraina...
A hoarse sound escaped his mouth.
The word sank into the swamp, but I heard it. He was calling out to his mistress, who was waiting for him to be freed.
He sighed, and instead of an axe, he pulled a thick root out of the ground as if it were a part of his own body.
The root twitched and bent, and the monster threw it like a spear with such force that the air howled.
—Everyone, run to the left! This root is about to fall on us!
Zikei yelled, his voice cutting through the battlefield.
I didn't immediately understand what was happening. I saw the root hurtling towards me like a massive arrow, and I barely had time to notice Zikei lunging forward.
He pushes me aside, and the whole scene seems to slow down. I fall into the mud, and Zikei raises his katana, striking it directly in the center.
There's a dull crack, like a bone breaking.
The katana trembles, but the log breaks at the seams, and in the next moment, the root knocks Zikei to the ground, pressing him against the ground, but luckily the katana doesn't break.
The mud erupts in a fountain, and steam and swamp mud fill the air.
—Zikei!
I shout, but my voice is drowned out by the noise of the shaking ground.
I see his hand, trembling, trying to pull his leg out of the quagmire, but the root holds him like a steel grip.
And Nemmorino growls again, hoarsely, breaking down:
—I didn't want to be a monster... but you want to kill me...
I stand up abruptly, the mud running down my face. I no longer feel fear, only a cold determination.
—Then let me end your pain properly!
What else could I do? It was necessary to take this monster on himself, while Zikei struggled to get out from under the log, where Elk and Aka-32 ran up to him in the background.
The roots, which had only been moving, now began to wriggle frantically, striking the air and spitting out poisonous droplets.
They hissed like thousands of snakes. Steam rose from each impact with the ground, and the entire screen in the party interface was flashing red.
I grabbed the item [ Nemmorino's Collar] that was still glowing in my inventory, and shouted over the swamp's noise:
—Listen! You can't kill him! This isn't a normal battle! The mission is to subdue him by putting a collar on him! If he dies, the mission will fail! He will lose his mind, and we will all lose!
My voice was desperate but firm. In the swamp, filled with roaring and squealing, my words sounded like a thunderclap.
Elk up to his neck in mud, barely managed to dodge a root and turned to me, shouting back in a hoarse, breaking voice:
—Are you crazy? This is suicide! Do you want to get flattened by that axe? Don't do it yourself! This is our first time fighting a Unique Monster, and no one knows what will happen if you do this!
He almost rushed towards me, but the roots tore the space between them, forcing him to jump back.
Zikei, still trapped under the log, stretched out his hand with the last of his strength and shouted:
—Disava, stop! Don't be a hero! Just because this monster can talk and feel doesn't mean it won't kill you! It's insane, you've seen what its poison does!
I looked at them both. The roots were beating nearby, the swamp was churning, the green light from Nemorino's scars was almost blinding.
I stood there, breathing heavily, and the collar sparkled in my hand, as if it could sense its owner's approach.
"If I don't put it on now... he'll lose his mind completely... and then no one will be able to escape..."
I looked at the monstrous boar, which was swaying, steam pouring from its wounds, and its axes trembling in its paws.
His breath was ragged, his eyes wild, but there was still something human in the depths of his being.
— I'm not going to lose this fight. I'm going to save him.
I said quietly, almost in a whisper.
After these words, I rushed forward, straight into the heart of the poisonous fog.
Katzu, watching the scene from the camera, shouted into the microphone, but the connection was interrupted, the signal lagged, and the camera screen began to flicker with green stripes.