Chapter 481: Chapter 481 - Unique Monster(Part 2)
"Hm, looks like the girl won’t last much longer. Time to finish you off, I’m not into banging corpses, so I need to get started before she dies. Not that this wasn’t fun and all, but I’ve had my fill...I’ll rip your Core right out of your head and crush it, and you’re not going to be able to do a damned thing about it!" He exclaimed, as he teleported in front of me and drew back his fist.
Now, Magic Eater!
"Wha-...?!" He blurted out, as I snapped the jaws of Magic Eater around his intangible body.
His eyes widened in alarm as I drained his Mana through Magic Eater, tensing as I met his gaze.
Good, it’s working. In fact, it’s working better than I expected...
"What’s wrong? You should move before I drain all your Mana. Go on, use your intangibility. Teleportation would work too. Better hurry, before it’s too late," I remarked icily, devouring his Mana rapidly.
"Sh-Shit!" He exclaimed frantically, starting to run away, but he was nowhere near fast enough to outrun me, I followed after him to keep him from getting out of Magic Eater’s range.
He has to use Mana to maintain his intangibility or to teleport, but any Mana he tries to channel gets instantly consumed by Magic Eater. So long as I make sure he doesn’t get away, he’s done.
He then cried out in pain as I blasted him with blue flames, forcing him to regenerate and use up even more Mana, a visibly panicked look on his face as he desperately tried to get away from me.
It wasn’t long before I’d consumed every last drop of his Mana, deactivating Magic Eater before slamming my fist against the middle of his face with all my strength, streaks of blood flying out of his mouth upon impact.
"Th-This can’t be happening!" He yelled in despair, no longer healing since he was out of Mana.
I tilted my head across as he drove a wild punch towards my face, evading the strike before I whipped my arm across and sliced his throat open, choked gasps ringing out.
I whipped my tail across, slicing through his knees, a sharp yell ringing out as he fell over and hit the ground with a thud, blood pouring out of the stumps left around his legs, before I tore his arms off too.
"Time to die."
"N-No...no, wait, please! I-...!"He began to plead, before I split his head open with my left blade, exposing his Core.
I ripped it out and set it down, striking it over and over with my blades with all the strength I could muster, cracks starting to spread out across the orb after several strikes, before it finally shattered, the broken shards losing their glow and going dull.
I then tensed as a weak groan rang out, before I rushed over towards Celes, her face deathly pale. Blood was pouring out of her mouth, her breaths hollow and shaky, her eyes barely open.
"H-Hey, you did it...way to go," She uttered with a weak smile.
"D-Don’t talk, you need to take it easy! I...I know, I-I’ll get you to the nearest town, find a Healer and force them to-...!"
"C-Come on, you...you and I both know...there’s no time...for that. I...I’m sorry. It looks like...I’ll be leaving you alone...a lot earlier than I intended to," She apologized, placing her hand on the side of my face as tears welled up in my eyes.
No...no, no, NO!!! Not again, damn it, I...I don’t want to lose her, haven’t I lost enough already?! There has to be a way, something, ANYTHING...!!! Please...
Huh? A screen just popped up.
A System Alert? What is this-...
"Y-Yes...yes, accept! Do it quickly! Now!" I yelled frantically.
"What...?" Muttered Celes, as her eyelids began to flutter.
"J-Just hold on a bit longer, Celes, it’ll be okay, it’s going to be okay!" I exclaimed, taking hold of her hand.
The shards of the Core I’d shattered floated up, before zipping towards Celes. The shards rejoined to form an orb, which began glowing brightly as it phased into her head, a glimmer of hope welling up inside me as her injuries healed, the color returning to her face as her breathing stabilized.
I-I don’t know what just happened, but...thank goodness. I really thought I was about to lose her...
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Huh?
"I really should not be interfering in the living world like this, but I decided to make an exception. This is a one time thing, though."
That voice...the Goddess?
I see, so this was your doing. Thank you...
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Oh, I’m back.
"Hm...? What the...? It doesn’t hurt anymore...wait, am I still aliv-...woah!" Exclaimed Celes with a startled look on her face, as I pulled her into a tight hug, an immense wave of relief washing over me.
"I...I’m so glad. I thought I lost you..."
"Y-Yeah, me too...but, um, how? How am I not dead?" She responded in bewilderment.
"I was so scared, you have no idea the sheer despair I felt-..."
"W-Wait, slow down," She interrupted as she pulled back with a confused look on her face, adding, "I don’t get what just happened, I-...mpfh!"
Swept up in the moment and letting the whirlpool of emotions in me take over, I cupped her cheek as I pulled her in towards me, pressing my lips against hers and kissing her tenderly.
Huh? Wait, no...
I quickly pulled back as I snapped out of it, feeling mortified.
"I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-...I mean, I did, but-...!" I stuttered apologetically.
"N-No, it’s okay, you don’t need to apologize, I didn’t hate it or anything, though it did take me by surprise. Actually, it...it felt kinda nice," She mumbled as her cheeks turned red, touching her lower lip with her fingertip as she averted her gaze, before shaking her head and adding, "A-Anyway, um, l-let’s set that aside for now. More importantly...could you please explain how I’m still alive?"
