Nathan didn't hesitate and when he saw the streams of blood coming dangerously close to them, he stepped in front of Maya.
He knew that if she died after this attack, he would be finished too, so he did what he did best. Die.
A stream of blood sliced through his right arm, forcing him to drop his sword, and a second later another one pierced his head, killing him instantly.
A moment later, knowing the attacks that would wound and kill him, Nathan cut the streams of blood with his sword. He couldn't dodge them or Maya, who was behind him, would definitely die, so he had no choice but to wait for the streams of blood to stop.
Cutting off the two streams he had seen in his premonition, Nathan concentrated on the next two, which again cut through part of his body and another through his heart.
Again, Nathan cut both streams with fluid and precise movements. But there were so many that it was impossible to cut them all, so he had no choice but to stop the most dangerous ones and ignore the ones that would only cause minor injuries.
For nearly twenty seconds, which felt like an eternity, Nathan's body began to fill with minor wounds. His clothes tore, dozens of cuts appeared all over his body, his body began to fill with his own blood, but Nathan did not stop.
In just half a minute Nathan had died more than ten times, but at some point, the ogre's blood stopped coming, instead Nathan watched as a red fist came dangerously close to him.
'I can't dodge it'
The fist caught him square in the chest, sending him flying dozens of meters from where he stood.
Nathan fell to the ground and rolled before stopping seconds later. Dozens of his bones were broken, all of his ribs were broken, the bones of his chest piercing his lungs dangerously.
But despite all his injuries... Nathan did not die.
The blow was not strong enough to kill him, so Nathan could not retreat... now he could do nothing.
His vision was blurred, he had lost consciousness for a few seconds due to the pain and was now only kept conscious by the adrenaline in his body.
Behind his mask, which was still intact, his face was covered in blood from the blow. His legs were broken, and he had no feeling in his left arm, every breath a torture.
His sword had been left where it had been struck, now behind the ogre who had stepped forward to attack Maya. But at his side was his bow and the arrows he carried. With her right arm, ignoring the hellish pain she felt throughout her body, she grabbed the bowstring to pull it closer to her.
With each passing second, he felt his consciousness begin to fade, but Nathan refused to close his eyes and watched as Maya began to fight the ogre again.
And then he saw it.
Nathan was surprised but did not hesitate, knowing that this was one of the few chances he had to get out of this situation. He might die from his wounds a few minutes later, but at least he would try to kill the ogre.
With a trembling hand, Nathan removed his mask and let it fall to one side of his body, revealing his wounded and bloodied face.
Without thinking, Nathan brought the bowstring to his mouth and bit down on it with all his strength.
With his right hand he tightened the grip on the arrow and began to pull the bow forward. Nathan felt as if his teeth were going to fall out of his jaw, but he ignored the pain and just kept pulling on the string.
With his vision turning red and on the verge of fainting, Nathan tried to aim as best he could. Which, given his condition, was an almost impossible task.
But he did not care, and with every drop of concentration Nathan aimed his bow... then he loosened his grip and opened his mouth, and the arrow flew.
The ogre continued to attack Maya, who was slowly being overpowered without Nathan's support. Then the girl felt a breeze behind her, but she didn't have time to see what it was. But she didn't have to, the arrow flew past her towards the ogre... and missed.
The arrow did not hit the ogre, instead it passed by its head and continued on its way.
Maya had no time to think about Nathan's failed attack as the ogre continued to attack her. She felt that she could not continue for long, her attacks were doing nothing to the ogre, and she was beginning to tire, making it harder for her to dodge the ogre's fierce attacks.
A few seconds later, Maya made the first mistake of the entire fight, a small slip was enough to make her unable to dodge the ogre's incoming attack. She could only stand still as she watched the ogre's fist approach her face, but she didn't close her eyes, she wasn't about to lower herself so low as to miss the attack that would end her life.
But suddenly something strange happened, the ogre's fist stopped abruptly a few centimeters from her face. Maya went pale and, as if all the exhaustion had come in an instant, her legs gave out and she fell to her knees.
Then she saw it, a sword with a faint silver glow piercing the ogre, right next to the shard in its chest.
Maya didn't understand what was happening, it was Nathan's katana... but he couldn't even get up. Then the sword came out of the ogre's body, and he began to fall lifelessly to his side.
As the big ogre's body fell to the ground, Maya saw it.
Syril's hair was silver like the moon, and his pupils were also grey with a beautiful glow. The katana was brimming with her essence, and his face had a grey mark running from his forehead down the left side of his face to his neck.
The hand he was not holding the sword with was full of blood, the tendon torn as if something sharp had cut it, but Syril could care less about his wound. A second later she dropped the sword and, ignoring Maya who was still silent, ran over to Nathan's body, who had long since passed out.
"Nathan!"
Syril reached Nathan's body and crouched down before placing her fingers on his neck, trying to feel his pulse.
The glow in his hair and eyes began to fade, along with the strange mark on his face. A tired expression appeared on her face, but she was more focused on feeling Nathan's pulse.
It grew paler by the second, but suddenly she felt a slight pulse and sighed in relief. But it was only for a second, because when she saw the state of Nathan's body, she knew that he would not live more than a few minutes if he was not treated immediately.
Syril tried to stand with his wounded hand, moaning in pain.
Nathan had not missed the arrow, he was aiming at Syril, at the rope that bound her.
His attack managed to free one of her arms but severed the tendon in her hand. Syril didn't blame him, as she had managed to catch the ogre off guard.
She could have used essence to free herself, but then the ogre would have known she was there and lost the element of surprise.
Even with Syril's support, the three of them would not have been able to defeat the ogre in a three-on-one fight. It wasn't until Nathan was incapacitated that he saw her looking at him, and then he released her.
Anyway, Syril looked at Maya and shouted at her.
"What are you waiting for?! Get me a first aid kit!"
Maya looked at her in bewilderment and quickly ran to grab the first aid kit from her backpack that she had dropped before the fight. She rummaged through her backpack, then ran back to Syril.
Maya handed the white box to Syril, and she began to treat Nathan, while Maya could only remain silent with a difficult expression on her face as she looked at Nathan's bloodied face.