This was the second time that Erin had frozen up in the midst of battle and would have been defeated and killed already if it wasn't for Leon who saved her just in the nick of time each time.
Maybe it was because she couldn't use her other senses or because she had a fear of snakes, she didn't exactly know why but she did indeed freeze up, and she could hide from the fact that she blundered her life two times only to be saved by Leon.
She couldn't help but feel embarrassed as this was the same person she slapped and humiliated half an hour ago for being weak and looking for other options other than to fight.
Even though what she did in the heat of the moment was correct, there was no excuse for Leon to even suggest leaving their comrades behind while they ran with tails between their legs.
"Listen, I am sorry about earlier, you are definitely very brave and it was rude of me to judge your whole character by just a single moment where you must have been feeling overwhelmed and defeated considering what they had just fought in the third wave," Erin said while riding on Leon's back who was maintaining his super speed and basically making the snakes follow him in an endless game of catch.
However, it was only time before one of the snakes would make the lucky leap and be able to bite one of them and Leon didn't want that chance to arrive for the snakes at all.
He thanked Mako internally as he was the one who had given him, the best solution of a lifetime. Even though he was expending energy in large amounts by seamlessly transitioning between abilities that weren't energy efficient, he still had enough for this fight to last.
He increased the conversion rate of the energy into the fire aura and basically super-blasted the blade to get back to those same hot temperatures.
Once both the combat knife as well as the Darkwing shiv were both glowing red and extremely hot, Leon carefully handed Erin the blades back and told her to go ham at the Frost Cobras, saying that she should leave her defense to him which she reluctantly agreed on.
The Frost Cobras were continuously chasing after the speeding Leon and would always surround him in exactly 2.3 seconds after stopping at a particular place, meaning, he had to carefully drop Erin within the time window and resume running and fighting while also leaving Erin aware of her surroundings so that she could also resume fighting.
Leon achieved this by accelerating to his top speed as he ran in circles and once he was fast enough he used his earth ability to suddenly raise a small angled ramp which he could jump off of. The increased speed plus the big jump would be able to create enough distance between them that he could quickly drop Erin back down and both can resume the fight once again.
Leon executed the move exactly as he had envisioned it and was finally able to create some distance between them and the Frost Cobras. He quickly dropped Erin off who was more motivated and determined than ever with both of her hands covered in frost to protect them from the insane heat that the blades were emitting ready to slaughter every single one of those Frost Cobra beasts.
The Frost Cobras themselves were also pretty aggravated at this point as they were basically forced into this game of cat and mouse where they were just endlessly chasing after something that was impossible for them to reach.
Several more Frost Cobras decided to stay back and utilize that ice-shard projectile ability on Iris while she physically fought against the ten that were coming.
However, as soon as the first set of ice shards was launched at her, she didn't even look up and acknowledge them as she just continued to fight the ones that were in Infront of her.
Her eyes were glowing once again, and her body was summoning more and more force making it easier for her to stab and kill the Frost Cobras in a single stab; however, she still needed to move carefully as she couldn't put all her attention on one snake as many were targeting her and since she could hear anything, it was very easy for one of those Frost Cobras to launch a surprise attack on her and given their massive jaw size, they could easily bite her whole in a single bite.
The ice shard projectiles were also making their way towards Erin, but halfway through their journey, Leon appeared out of nowhere, still using super speed and hardening to kite most of the Frost Cobras, but this time, his hands were also on fire.
Using his new flaming hands, Leon punched through the incoming ice shard obliterating them into a million pieces, protecting Erin's back as she fought the ones that were close to her.
However, Leon didn't stop there as now that Erin was riding on him, he could release all of his top speed without worrying about making her become sick. His leg armor began to glow once again as Leon activated its active skill, giving him another massive boost in speed.
With his now boosted speed and one of the skills from his speed ability also activated that used the save-up energy in a single burst of speed, Leon recreated the same move he had used to end all of the Silver Wolves of Wave 1 in a single shot and now he was aiming to the same her.
His body turned into a blue streak as he raced around the area at an extremely fast speed in a zigzagged manner. Since he was running so fast, he actually couldn't keep up with his mind and it was the same as before where he was actually just running a bit blind, unable to control where he would go, purposefully hitting the trees in order for him to change the direction of his running.
While running his flames ignited on fire with as much intensity as a Level 1 ability would allow and he began hunting the Frost Cobras one after another.
First of all, he targeted the Frost Cobras who choose to remain on the outskirts of the fight and just continuously spam their ice-shard projectile ability, hoping to impale and immobilize their prey making them easy to eat.
Leon burst through the air at top speed leaving his afterimages in the form of a blue streak that followed after him wherever he ran. With such great momentum and a fist covered in flames, Leon began punching the heads of Frost Cobras one by one while they were charging their next projectile attack.
Even though it wasn't a stabbing attack, the sheer force of the punch was enough for the tough scales on their body to crack and for the flames that engulfed his hand to seep through inside and deal damage to Frost Snakes, something they could bare at all, and began to completely burn and disintegrate right on the spot.
Leon ran through each snake one by one in a straight line, destroying the heads of every single one that he punched straight through leaving them to burn and disintegrate.
On the other hand, Erin was also putting in the work as even though she couldn't use ice to attack the beasts as it would be ineffective, she could still use it strategically in order to fight them in a more controlled manner.
Using a combination of her wind ability to steer away and her ice ability to raise different structures that blocked paths, Erin was able to direct the Frost Cobras coming to attack her to follow her preferred path of attack, one where only she knew where the ins and outs were, eliminating the chance of a surprise attack by the Frost Cobras all the while she kept stabbing them with her hot blades, and Leon kept protecting her back.
After both Leon and Erin had found their momentum and figured out the winning strategy against the Frost Cobras, they didn't even stand a chance against them who wiped all of them in about ten minutes.
Both were extremely exhausted at this point, having expended a lot of energy in that battle than they deemed necessary, but in the end, it was all worth it as they had succeeded in defeating the 4th wave which meant that there was only more to go before this accursed night would be over.
As they sat amongst the ashes of the burnt-up Frost Cobras, catching their breath, they couldn't help but start laughing as they both had already forgiven each other for the events that took place before the fight began.
Erin didn't really hold back when she slapped Leon in the shelter but she lost all credibility of her words when she was saved by the very same person she called a coward not once but twice and each time it was because she was the one cowering in fear.
After a small discussion where they basically apologized to one another creating an even stronger bond of friendship than before, both of them decided to quickly collect all the crystals of the Frost Cobras and head back to the shelter for a well-deserved rest.
They quickly gathered all of the crystals using Leon's speed ability and then slowly walked back together to the shelter.
It was at this time that both of them had only one thought in mind, all five of them were completely exhausted at this point, and even with the help of healing pills, rest, and a ton of good food, they could still only fully recover with a minimum time of 8-12 hours which wasn't the time that they had unfortunately.
All five of them were drained both physically and mentally, and not only were their energy reserves deleted but their very body had also thrown in the towel as there was only so much fighting that a body could do at any given time regardless of the amount of energy the person still has.
Both of them entered the shelter, thinking the same thought in their mind, about how to tackle the fifth and final wave, when they saw Mako resting against the same wall as before but he had a huge smile on his face.
"Oh, you guys are back! You came just at the perfect time, I have great news for both of you!" Mako exclaimed as he quickly greeted both of them who were standing by the door.
Visit freewe𝑏nove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience