The Wolf was not safe either. Fueled with rage and recklessness, its own attack took its own life as no traces of the Wolf remained on the battlefield. Pillar of flames and suffocating toxic smoke covered the area.
「Phoenix Rebirth Skill has been activated」
「With the blessing of the Phoenix your death is only temporary, be reborn from the ashes and hunt down your foe.」
「Phoenix Rebirth is now on cooldown...」
And within the empty smoke, a maelstrom of ashes began to converge in the spot where the Wolf formerly was...
...
Meanwhile, in Elizabeth and Kon's point of view...
Kon's antenna began to send out danger signals towards him, warning them that they should quickly move out of their path now or they would die. Kon losing his insect-like composure due to sheer panic shouted.
"ELIZABETH.....WE...DIEEE...IF...KEEP...RUNNING...STRAIGHT...MUUUST...GOOO...SIIIDEEE...NOOWW...!" Kon quickly wrapped around Elizabeth's left arm, pulling her to move to the side, but her sheer size made it useless.
"STOP SHOUTING! I ALSO KNOW OF THE DANGER," filled with frustration and panic, Elizabeth shouted back at Kon. Her instincts were also blaring red signals. She didn't know why but her years of living here in Vertalum told her that death was incoming and she should act quick.
Desperation took hold of Kon's mind as he didn't know what he was doing. His body simply moved on its own as he uncoiled around Elizabeth's left arm and snatched the ball of vines from her hand.
"Huh? Why?" Elizabeth asked, confused about Kon's actions. As much as she wanted to take Vaeden away from Kon, he was already tightly wrapped around the ball of vines.
"THROW...US...NOW...!" Kon shouted at the confused Elizabeth. He couldn't understand what made him take this course of action, but he felt that this should be the best for their survival. Every second was crucial, and each second that passed made Kon more and more nervous.
Elizabeth sighed. Kon was acting strange. The insect wasn't always like this. She couldn't understand what was happening to the panicking centipede. Yes, something guaranteed death came their way, but why would he act like this?
"THROW...THROWW...THROWWS...PLEASE...!" Kon begged Elizabeth desperately. To his surprise, he didn't expect himself to go this far. Just what is this feeling? He thought inwardly.
Hearing Kon's pleading words, Elizabeth hesitated for a second. She couldn't look Kon in the eyes as she kept running forward. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she instinctively knew it was already too late for her to move to the side.
She clenched her teeth and decided. As long as if it's for her friend Vaeden she'll do anything. They've only known each other for two days. Yet, her years of loneliness within the bizarre world of Vertalum faded away with just knowing Vaeden.
As she grabbed Kon, who was wrapped around the ball of vines, she immediately knew she made the right choice. She stared at him for a moment giving him a silent goodbye.
Her arms bulged with power as she swung over her head before letting go of Kon, effectively throwing him far away from her. A bit dazed from the amount of force placed on that throw, Kon noticed himself already soaring in the middle of the air.
He quietly looked back to Elizabeth, who was already a few meters below him and Vaeden. The battlefield lay quiet, and time seemed to stop as Kon stared at Elizabeth, who was standing still watching them fly away from her.
It was the calm before the incoming storm. They both knew what was going to happen next. Accepting this thought, a bitter feeling rose up within Kon's mind. It was another unfamiliar emotion he had to deal with. Kon wished Vaeden was awake to teach him about it.
Expecting the pending danger, Kon turned his gaze away from Elizabeth and began to properly wrap around the ball of vines to prepare for landing. He would use his own exoskeleton to take the brunt of the fall.
As his head poked within the neatly weaved vines, he saw the unconscious rat he had only been with for a single day. It was too dark for him to see Vaeden's features, but he was reassured that he was still there due to his steady breathing.
A few moments after that, Elizabeth finally uttered her words as she watched Kon turn away from her, "I guess it's too late for me, huh. Take care of each other, Kon," She stopped in her tracks and waved her arm in the air bidding them a proper goodbye...
...and a few moments later, an immensely bright light engulfed Elizabeth.
...
...
"Damn, I can never get used to that feeling," a voice within the scattering smoke spoke. A few moments later, the figure of a wolf was revealed. Its past wounds were no more, as all of its injuries were completely healed.
"I've already died more than eight times in this world, contrary to my flames that mostly feel warm to me. Death feels cold as hell!" It chuckled, slowly walking forward, "Really? Hell? WHO AM I EVEN TALKING TO?!" the Wolf guffawed, "I really am losing my sanity," It sighed as the air around it began to distort due to the quick rising temperatures it emitted.
"Wait! That's a joke! I'm already insane! HAHAHAHAHHA," continued the Wolf as it kept talking to itself. Its rage-filled demeanor was nowhere to be seen. Why was it acting this way? Because the Wolf was sure its trump card landed, and the thing that made the Wolf's mood feel even better was that his system didn't notify him that he had killed a creature.
"Lucky! For it to survive my strongest attack! That deer sure is something else HAHA! WHAT A STURDY FELLOW! TOO BAD IT'S GOING TO END UP AS VENISON IN MY STOMACH!" Years of minimal human contact made the Wolf lose every inch of its sanity. The Wolf was already previously insane on Earth, but the conditions on Vertalum made him even more so.
"VENISON! I HAVEN'T TASTED THAT BACK ON EARTH! BUT I GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO TASTE IT HERE! BOY, OH BOY!" laughed the Wolf as saliva dripped down the edges of its mouth, "Of course, not as good as human flesh." He added, calming himself down.
"I can smell your roasted flesh from this far, don't hide from me, DEER! RAHAHAHAHA," warned the Wolf as it began to hasten its footsteps directly towards a particular direction.
Tahk. Tahk. Tahk. Tahk. Tahk. Tahk.
...
...
"To hell with this wolf," Elizabeth mumbled under her breath. Countless burns filled her body and her horns which were once majestic were now charred black with most of the edges missing, "What kind of suicidal maniac would pull such a thing?" she grumbled.
The gentle green light slithered all over her body closing most of the shallow wounds. The attack that occurred a while ago left her in a critical state, but due to her skill "Ingenium", she managed to recover by a meager amount.
"Urgh..." A whimper escaped out of her lips as she laid her back on a tree. She managed to limp her way out of the molten field that the attack left by manipulating the Earth around it to create a path for her.
"Kon and Vaeden wouldn't have survived that attack," She was satisfied with her decision of throwing them far away from her, but if the Wolf decided to go for both of them they had no way to protect themselves against the Wolf.
"I can smell your roasted flesh from this far, don't hide from me, DEER! RAHAHAHAHA,"
The Wolf's declaration rang throughout the silent battlefield, "It's after me now?" she gritted her teeth and further increased the mana usage of her healing ability that came with Ingenium.
「You have 3/185 MP remaining.」
「Further usage will leave the candidate in a lethargic state due to the status "Mana Deficiency"」
"Damn it!" She let out a frustrated voice, "It's impossible to fight in this state. I have no mana to use my abilities either. I'm in a pinch." She assessed her current situation. The tides weren't in her favor and she needed to think of something quick.
"This is going to be a gamble," She spoke to herself hesitating to use the remaining mana she had left.
Small flowers began to grow around her. Their petals were shaped in unusual ways as some of them grew into squares while most of them didn't even form a proper shape.
「You have 0/185 MP remaining.」
「Your mana has been depleted」
「Further usage will leave the candidate in a lethargic state due to the status "Mana Deficiency"」
She grabbed one of the flowers and crushed it with her fingers. A pungent aroma began to fill the air as she scattered the crushed flower everywhere.
"Let's hope this is enough to attract that thing," Elizabeth prayed.
"Attract what thing?" A voice appeared beside Elizabeth questioning what she was talking about.
Knowing who this voice belonged to Elizabeth slowly turned her head towards the direction of the voice. There she saw the Wolf's face only a few inches away from her face grinning.
"Hello there, Deer" the Wolf greeted as his grin became even wider showcasing his sharp teeth.