Chapter 126: Lizzie & Eli! [2] [Bonus]
The thing that climbed out of the fissure did so slowly.
Its body was lean like a hunting cat, but plated along the spine and limbs with bone-like ridges that resembled fossilized armor.
Its head carried three forward-curving horns, and its jaws were layered, not built for tearing, but for crushing.
Each breath it released came out as thin streams of heated vapor, and the ground beneath it sank slightly under its weight.
"Yeah, like that." Eli’s gaze sharpened. "Definitely a high-tier B-rank."
Lizzie tilted her head. "That sounded expensive."
"It means," he said calmly, "you should not engage it directly."
She looked at him. Then back at the monster. "Yeah, you don’t have to tell me twice."
The creature made the first move, crossing half the distance in a blur, claws tearing into the ground as it lunged.
"So what’s th—" Lizzie turned to her right but there was no Eli. "He left me!?"
She pivoted into the attack, her body turning just enough to avoid the full force of its jaws but it brought its arms forward almost immediately, catching her cleanly and launching her backward.
The impact folded her mid-motion and launched her across the dirt like a skipped stone as her body dragged across the ground.
She rolled once, twice, then slid to a stop. "Okay, I admit it," she said, pushing herself up with a laugh while wincing in pain. "Ya got hands." She spoke like the creature could understand her.
Because of its size, its turning radius was limited. Therefore, its blind spots were predictable, and that’s where Eli was after.
However, that did not make it slow. It noticed a blur moving from its side and quickly adjusted, tracking him even as he moved like a crimson blur.
Then it exhaled, and the vents along its body flared, releasing a burst of superheated air that distorted the space between them.
Eli stepped aside just enough to avoid the worst of it, though the heat still brushed past him like an open furnace.
"Adaptable," he murmured.
"Hey!" Lizzie called, already sprinting back in. "You friggin left me out there. Not cool, not cool at all!?"
Eli did not respond immediately because he was making calculations in his head. Trying to estimate the creature’s density, its reaction time, the durability of its hide.
Eli watched the creature move. The way its weight settled into the ground with each step, the speed at which it corrected its footing mid-lunge, and how little its body yielded under impact.
And he came to the conclusion that at his current output, anything he could dish out would be... insufficient. "My apologies if it seemed that way, but we might have a problem."
Lizzie saw the look in his eyes and grinned. "You trust me?" she asked suddenly.
Eli paused. That was not a question he entertained lightly. "...Define trust."
"Close enough," she said, already moving. She didn’t slow down or care to explain. She simply closed the distance between them in three quick steps and grabbed his wrist mid-motion.
The contact was brief, but the effect was immediate. Yellow essence flared around her first, then surged outward towards Eli and wrapping around him.
Eli became still, not because he chose to stop, but because everything about his body and perception shifted at once, forcing him to process the sudden change before he could act on it.
The world seemed to slow down as every movement the creature made unfolded with perfect clarity. And his body... his body was far stronger and faster than before.
Lizzie stepped back, hands on her hips. "There. Try it now."
The creature lunged again and Eli responded by raising his arm to the sky as residual particles began to take form just beneath the clouds.
Slowly, they gathered. Then condensed. Eventually, droplets appeared above the creature. First a few, then dozens, then hundreds, suspended mid-air.
They sharpened. They lengthened. They became spears. And when the creature sensed it, it was too late.
Eli flexed his fingers, brought his hand down, and they all descended, falling like rain.
The creature collapsed under the barrage, its body pinned and perforated in a brutal, controlled execution.
Silence followed as the yellow aura around him lingered. Then Eli lowered his hand slowly and flexed his fingers once.
"So," he said, voice quieter than before, "this is what the empowerment of a B-rank healer feels like."
He turned his head slightly, looking at Lizzie. Not casually this time, but with genuine, focused attention. "Impressive."
Lizzie whooped loudly, pumping her fist in the air. "Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! Ya felt that, right? Like you could punch the sun!"
The yellow aura faded gradually, power draining back to baseline, prompting Eli to flexed his fingers again, testing. "How long does this enhancement last?"
"About an hour if you’re just walking around," Lizzie said. "But when you go full power like that?" She gestured at the corpse. "Maybe twenty minutes. Burns through it fast."
"I see." Eli adjusted his gloves. "Then we should be strategic about when you apply it next."
"Don’t worry," Lizzie grinned. "I can spam it pretty much whenever. Just need a few minutes to recharge between casts."
He looked at her differently now. No longer as a partner, or a variable, or even something to manage.
He, who had lived only for contracts and flawless service, was experiencing something that unsettled him.
Then she wiped at her forehead with the back of her hand and let out a small breath. "Okay, yeah, that one got me a little."
Eli’s gaze dropped briefly to the cut along her side and the faint hitch in her breathing she was pretending wasn’t there. "You are injured," he said.
She waved it off immediately. "It’s fine."
"It is not fine." He insisted.
"I said it’s fine," she repeated, though she laughed lightly after, like it wasn’t worth arguing about. "Relax. I’ve had worse."
Eli held her gaze for a moment before looking away. "I’m sorry. I find larger injuries far easier to deal with," He looked down at his hands. "Smaller ones are... strangely unpleasant."
"Don’t sweat it," Lizzie said and immediately healed herself, closing up the cut. "There. All better, ya big baby."
They pressed onward, and eventually, the spore fog thickened as they approached boss territory.
Through the haze, they could see the ruins of the graveyard clearing. And beyond it, the sounds of battle already raging.
"Alright, big one ahead," Lizzie said, rolling her shoulders. Yellow essence already gathering around her hands. "You ready for round two of the Lizzie Special?"
Eli stepped closer. "The ’Lizzie Special’?"
She grinned. "My buff, obviously. Gonna hit ya with it again before we go in." She placed her hand on his arm, and the yellow aura surged. "This time, let’s really make it count."
Eli felt the power flood through him again. He felt five times stronger, every sense heightened. "Shall we continue? Your friends appear to be... enthusiastically engaged already."
Lizzie’s eyes sparkled with pure mayhem as distant roars and clashes echoed from the ruins ahead. "Oh hell yes."
Eli adjusted his gloves as a small, genuine smile curved his lips, rather than the polite mask he’d worn for centuries. "After you, Miss Lizzie. Let us make an entrance they will not soon forget."
She burst into the clearing first, and her healing aura exploded outward in a brilliant green wave that washed over the battlefield, restoring everyone caught in its radius.
Not far behind, Eli gained height by stepping on air and ascending as blood gathered in his grip.
At the apex, the blood condensed into a massive sword, easily three meters long, and he dove, bringing the blade down toward Sly-rak’s skull with devastating force.
