The hero asked me if I yielded as if I was on the losing end. Through the sudden pain and the nauseating amount of blood loss, I smiled.
"|Small Cure|." [Solace]
I figured that since we swapped wounds, I could heal them since they weren't inflicted by the hero's spear itself. Lo and behold, all my cuts vanished.
"What?!" [Edwill]
He was taken by surprise as I grabbed his spear to pull myself up, allowing me to shoulder bash him a fair distance.
"Ugh!" [Edwill]
He staggered back a bit, still managing to keep his spear.
("I could've sworn I swiped it during my attack.") [Solace]
Maybe I had slippery hands? In any case, the hero regained his composure after looking at my state.
"Hah! Your wounds may have healed, but you're still down a limb." [Edwill]
He was right. |Small Cure| could only heal, well, small wounds. Larger cuts and such would require several uses of the skill itself. Even so, multiple uses of the skill was far from enough to regrow my arm.
("Ah… I messed up.") [Solace]
I was a bit in a hurry to stop my bleeding when using |Small Cure|, leading to me accidentally growing skin over my dismembered arm. If I had left that one open, I probably could have stuck it back on.
("Well, one arm's enough.") [Solace]
Is what I said, but then I started to have a hard time defending myself.
"|Ring|!" [Edwill]
A burst of sound emitted from his spear, disrupting my senses. It sounded like an explosion, alongside a screeching sound as if it didn't belong there.
("M-My ears!") [Solace]
All I could hear was ringing in my ears, which somehow led to little lights appearing in my vision. This left a bit disoriented, leading to Edwill closing the distance and attacking.
"|Sonic Stab|." [Edwill]
A lightning fast thrust came at me, forcing me to take the spear into my remaining arm.
"Ngh!" [Solace]
I clenched my muscles to prevent the spear from exiting and decided to attempt to break it.
"Something like this…!" [Solace]
With a painful twist of my arm, I snapped off the spearhead.
"Wha…?!" [Edwill]
"You have gained |Experience|. |Experience| limit reached. |Pain Resistance| has gained a level." [Spirit Guide]
"That was easier than I thought." [Solace]
Judging by how it came off, it looked like the spear had been cut before.
("I'll just leave the spearhead in my arm for now.") [Solace]
In the midst of Edwill's surprise, I sucker punched him.
"Ugh!" [Edwill]
With my fist in his gut, I casted |Explosion Arts|.
"Ack!" [Edwill]
He was blown away, tumbling as his leather armor fell off from its burnt straps.
"This… tenacious demon…!" [Edwill]
He punched the ground in frustration and picked himself up.
"So? What now?" [Solace]
I flaunted the spearhead in my arm.
"Hmph." [Edwill]
The hero showed annoyance as he took out another spearhead from a small bag strapped to his waist.
("Oh, he has spares.") [Solace]
Edwill then attached it to the spear shaft, making the weapon whole again.
("Great.") [Solace]
As I prepared myself for combat again, I saw Edwill's face turn to shock. I could see that he was looking behind me, so I turned as well.
("What is he-") [Solace]
I felt cold steel pierce my abdomen as soon as my head swiveled. I turned back to find Edwill stabbing me.
"You cunning fox…!" [Solace]
It was all a trick for me to look away. That rat bastard.
"It was your fault for looking." [Edwill]
He twisted the spear before attempting to rip it out. I kinda guessed he would do that so I flexed my abs and punched the handle to break off the spearhead again.
"You-!" [Edwill]
"I indeed!" [Solace]
There was no more room for hesitation. I rammed my hand into Edwill's stomach wound he swapped with me, causing him to curl up in pain.
"Argh!" [Edwill]
"|Explosion Arts|." [Solace]
Casting it with the hand inside Edwill, he turned into a pile of meat. Guts, blood, and bones flew in all directions. Too bad I didn't have the time to relish in victory.
"Warning: The use of |Last Stand| has been detected." [Spirit Guide]
The chunks of what used to be Edwill stuck back together, returning him to peak condition.
"...Are you serious right now?" [Solace]
I couldn't help sighing as I realized I had to fight him again. Even if he was now naked.
"You… managed to kill me…?" [Edwill]
He seemed rather shocked about it.
"Yeah. I did. I would prefer it if you stayed down though." [Solace]
Edwill picked up his spear shaft angrily.
"I will kill you." [Edwill]
"I'm opposed to that idea." [Solace]
Just as we were about to fight, Edwill's expression turned to surprise as he looked behind me.
"I'm not falling for that shit again." [Solace]
Surprisingly, this time it was real. I felt a tap on my shoulder as Doppel pulled up.
"How… You defeated Bella…?" [Edwill]
Doppel tossed down a stick with a cut string attached.
"Bella's bow! How dare you!" [Edwill]
Did Doppel just copy what I did to the mage? Either way, it made Edwill hesitant to engage us.
"Glad to know you have my back." [Solace]
Instead of getting ready for combat, Doppel made some finger-signs at me.
"What?" [Solace]
A few more signs.
("People are coming?") [Solace]
Is he telling me hero reinforcements are coming?
"More enemies?" [Solace]
Shaking his head, Doppel pointed at the defeated Royal Guards.
("Ah… Demon reinforcements.") [Solace]
He must be warning me in case I wanted to hide my strength from the demons.
("Now that he mentions it, I can hear shouting getting closer.") [Solace]
I could barely make out the voices, but I think the demons coming were from the medical division.
("Damn. Do I continue fighting or do I feign loss?") [Solace]
In the end, I chose something else.
"Hero. Would you like to make a deal?" [Solace]
Edwill grew suspicious of me. I mean, who can blame him?
"What kind?" [Edwill]
"I'll allow you to pick up your friends and leave. In return, we don't fight." [Solace]
He went silent for a bit.
("Come on, hurry it up!") [Solace]
As he was contemplating I could hear my reinforcements coming closer.
"How can I trust you?" [Edwill]
"Like this." [Solace]
I dispelled |Doppelganger|, sorry Doppel, and made myself comfortable on the ground next to Lemin and Belrick.
"You're… feigning defeat?" [Edwill]
"Are you going to leave or not?!" [Solace]
"There they are!" [???]
Some medical demons appeared, causing me to close my eyes and go limp. I did open one eye slightly enough to see Edwill immediately pick up his archer and mage on one shoulder while dragging the big |Heavy Knight| guy with one arm. It was strange to see how fast the hero left.
"The hero is getting away!" [???]
"Wait, there are wounded here!" [???]
I closed my eyes knowing that the hero was gone. After that, I kind of passed out.