It skidded back several metres away from him, releasing it from his grip. The black spots that had appeared in Emery's vision gradually began disappearing, but he still hadn't regained any of his senses or mentalities.
"Emery!" Elyn's voice called out next to him, "It hurt you!"
Her voice was so sweet. Had she really come back from saving herself just to save him? He could barely think straight, but he had to snap out of it.
He shot to his feet quickly, trying to ignore the incredible pain, but it was rather difficult.
"Come on, Elyn," he muttered, grabbing a hold of his head with one hand and tugging her with the other one. "Let's get out of here before that thing attacks us again."
She didn't budge.
"What are you doing? That thing is a Class Nine Threat! It will kill the both of us with power to spare!"
Unfortunately for him, the white-haired girl didn't seem to understand that concept.
"No. It hurt you, so we will kill it!"
And then she turned away for him. She kicked off the ground, balling one hand into a fist as she descended on the snake monster.
HISS~!
The creature's eyes constricted, and it also flew into the air, mouth open and fangs ready to bite down on Elyn.
She twisted her body mid-air, and landed on the ground instead, then jabbed upward with her elbow. The blow struck the green-scaled figure, sending it flying upward a few metres back up.
Emery watched dumbfounded as Elyn followed through with another kick into the air and one drop kick to the snake's torso.
Was she actually beating a Class Nine creature right now?
For a moment, he had hope, but that was quickly extinguished by the next thing that happened.
The snake slithered up with little to no problem and stared at both of them with unveiled mockery.
Then it opened its mouth once more to reveal a dark purple liquid that bubbled up.
"Elyn, dodge!"
~SWHIP~
It shot out of the thing's mouth before she could heed his warning, and landed on the girl's right leg soon after
'Shit!'
The purple liquid seeped into her bare brown skin, and not long after patches of purple appeared on her leg.
How was she even supposed to move or react to any of the attacks now?!
[Ding!]
[Your summon is infected with dangerous venom!]
The system announcement didn't help much. How could a chef such as himself even help in a situation like this?
He didn't have the answer to that.
Meanwhile, Elyn didn't stop moving even once. She charged fist first into the snake's path and punched forward.
It slithered to the side and then swiped at her feet with its tail.
HISSS!
Now it was official. Elyn had gotten into its trap. It began constricting her entire body slowly after that. Her body went limp and all the muscles in her body seemed to freeze at the same time.
'Fuck, what should I do?!'
The snake creature didn't seem to notice him as it enjoyed toying with it's prey. But it meant he had one chance.
'My knife? Where's my knife?'
His eyes scanned the entire terrain and found the knife. Except it was directly next to the snake that he needed to kill.
'I was planning to throw it from afar!'
He would still have to do it now. Elyn was dying! He would not allow her to die! Not after she had risked her life for him!
'Come on, you can do this! Just one chance. I just need one chance to end it all!'
So he tossed all those useless thoughts aside and just ran straight for the knife and the snake beast.
He let his arm fall, and the wind blew against the countless dozen injuries that had assailed him. And soon enough he got close enough to the snake that he could hear it breathe in nothing but excitement.
'Now!'
He picked the knife up in one swift movement, then jabbed it into the creature's side!
HISSSS!!
Jackpot!
It let go of Elyn, who fell to her knees. She was in a much better state than he had been, though.
[Ding!]
[New Skill Learned: Stealthy Blade!]
Emery ignored the impromptu notification and looked at the creature once more.
"Elyn, let's end this," he said. It didn't matter, anyway. She would insist on fighting, no matter what he said. So… they might as well just fight!
"Okay, Emery! You aim for the other side too!" she yelled and took to her feet once more.
It was almost as if she hadn't just almost died a second just before.
'Forget about that. I need to focus immediately!'
He did as Elyn said and rushed for the snake's other side. It was still blindsided by the previous attack, so it was only easier.
One shiv and it was enraged once again.
Elyn followed after with multiple punches to Emery's first knifing. But what was that silvery energy?
HISSSSS!!!
Before he even had time to react, the beast roared and reared its large head. Its green scales gradually turned into a pitch-black. Four limbs grew at its torso and its body expanded by quite a bit.
'A fucking dragon!'
This was way out of their league!
"Jeez, so much noise," a voice interrupted.
A figure had suddenly appeared between them and the raging Pseudo-wyvern.
'Who?'
The person had dark hair and wore a bright red coat.
"What were you guys thinking facing an Anomaly at your measly levels?" the person asked, still not looking back at them.
"No matter. I'll just have to deal with it now."
Emery tugged Elyn and did as he was told. Whoever this person was, they clearly weren't weak.
"I bet this will fetch quite a good price with Hemp's little bastards."
****
Author's note: How's everyone finding this so far? Fun fact, I wrote Chapters 7-9 in almost one sitting. I had to take about twenty minutes' worth of breaks total. Tell me your thoughts about the book in the comments below this!