'I'm dead.'
That was it.
There was no debate.
Xenos had no clever trick up his sleeve.
He couldn't see, couldn't fight, couldn't—
'…It was a nice run, at least.'
He smiled faintly, closed his eyes, and waited for the bite.
'XENOS!'
A roar slammed through his skull...
'DODGE RIGHT!'
Eris.
His body moved before his mind could argue, rolling right as a fang snapped into the ground where his chest had been, barely escaping the invitation to the donut hole club.
HISSSSSSSSSS!
Xenos scrambled to his feet and stumbled back.
"…Guess not yet."
He took a stance and asked:
'Can you see—'
'I CAN SENSE, NOW STEP BACK!'
He obeyed without hesitation or question.
Her voice... he trusted it completely.
'LEFT!'
'DUCK!'
'FORWARD!'
'UP—TWO STEPS—DIVE!'
'RIGHT—NOW—FEINT—PUSH!'
It was madness, even more than before.
Xenos couldn't see a damned thing, acting the part of a puppet strung along by Her roars, weaving through strikes, sliding between scales, following every command, despite how wrong some sounded, until eventually driving his blade home the moment She told him to.
A Python thrashed and fell before he pulled out his sword.
'Only two left.'
They weren't done yet.
'MORE! YOU MUST—'
Her voice suddenly cut off, making him flinch.
Xenos knew why...
'I can't have that.'
Her strength was running dry.
Before She could fade, he recklessly poured his Divinity into Her.
He felt his Soul tear, like ripping muscle from bone, but he shoved it through anyway.
His world tilted, their connection continuing its silence before the arrival of something soft:
'…You fool.'
Eris hesitated for a moment but roared again:
'TEN SECONDS! KILL THEM IN TEN OR WE DIE!'
Xenos, even now, grinned, his sword pointed forth.
"Fine. Countdown it is."
—
10
—
He slid under a tail, sparks flying as it scraped the stone.
—
9
—
He hacked upward, catching the belly of one Python.
—
8
—
Its jaws snapped shut inches from his throat.
—
7
—
Eris screamed, 'RIGHT!' and he barely dodged.
—
6
—
The second slammed into the first, their bodies tangling.
—
5
—
He climbed its back, driving his blade down.
—
4
—
Venom hissed through the air, burning his skin.
—
3
—
"RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Understanding that Hierophant, he roared back, plunging deeper.
—
2
—
The blade finally cut through its spine...
'DAMNATION!'
One fell.
—
1
—
But he didn't stop and lunged at the last Python.
His sword met its scales, but it pulled back instead of lunging, and Xenos...
...Xenos had missed, his blade only scratching it.
He had missed by less than an inch.
'NO!'
Eris's scream shattered in his head before fading to nothing.
Now there was only silence, darkness, him, and the last Python.
Xenos could barely hear the sound of its scales dragging against the grass.
But that didn't seem to deter him as he shut his eyes tight.
"Guess it's just us."
Before it could even think of attacking, he mimicked the motion of throwing his sword, twisting his arm, before letting it vanish into his inventory.
The Python slithered away at the empty throw, eyes tracking what wasn't there.
Xenos spun on his heel, using momentum once more, and actually threw the sword straight after calling it back, aimed at exactly where the sound of its movement originated.
It whistled through the air and cracked right into the beast's skull.
Far from deep enough, but Xenos was already there.
He threw his whole body onto the hilt, both hands pushing down with everything his dying body had, driving the steel deeper, through bone and brain.
With a loud hiss, the Python collapsed, and he allowed himself to fall alongside it.
He sprawled against its corpse, his chest rising and falling.
Ding!
—
╔══════════╗
║☆ LEVEL UP ☆║
╚══════════╝
[You've Slayed Python X 10]
[EXP = 35]
[Level: 13 → 14]
[+ 3 STAT POINTS!]
—
'…Worth it.'
With that thought, Xenos finally allowed sleep to claim him.