Steve ran toward Alex's injured body without any planning or intention; it was almost an involuntary response. While he was sprinting, the boss also started his death march toward Steve.
Now, having dealt with one obstacle, it was time to retrieve his artifact from another prey.
One desperate figure approached the one he had dealt with; there was no hurriedness in the boss's walk, he calmly closed the distance between Steve and himself.
Finally, Steve reached Alex's figure lying on the ground, devoid of any movement, as if every shred of energy had emptied from his being. Although a hollow breathing could be heard, it was still far from good, as with each passing second, even that was disappearing.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
He yelled while taking a stance of random karate posture in between Alex and the boss, with every intention to fight the adversary to guard the one at his feet.
It didn't matter that he didn't have the capability to harm any evolved creatures above or in stage 5. It didn't matter that each step the boss took near him was suffocating.
So what if he couldn't survive the boss? He could at least take one hit, right? Or maybe two, what matter now, is that he will try. He will try to defend the one who had defended him, even if that cost him his life.
—BOom!
Suddenly, before Steve could think anything more, intense pain assaulted his abdomen, as if he had been struck by a truck; his vision turned blank, momentarily losing his sight from the impact of the boss's fist on his abdomen.
The fabric of the battle armor he was wearing tore apart, each thread dancing and stretching to its limit to absorb as much force as it could, but it was shredded apart in the process.
But what was different here was, instead of flying back, his body stood still, firmly holding against the boss's strike. In the next breath, his vision also returned, but his insides twisted around, and he vomited; the liquid was mostly containing blood with green bile juice.
This vomit landed on the boss's chest, some of it entering his body through the gap in his thoracic cage . This act fueled the octopus's anger further, entirely breaking the scale of his fury. To vent his wrath, the boss grabbed Steve's right hand and pulled it out with alot of force.
—Splash! Red blood spilled as Steve's arms was detached from his shoulder.
This was not the end; to further calm his fury, the boss decided to land a kick on Steve's abdomen. When it landed, the impact tore through his body, making a legendary attack known as a donut shape hole in the body.
Steve's body was propelled back in straight trajectory landing on the wall of the dome that was a obstacle in pathe and then sliding down on the ground two steps away from Alex.
Steve attempted to take aid from the wall behind him, in which he was successful. His body, back supported by the wall, had a large hole, one arm detached. The center wound on his body became a fountain of blood, as crimson fluid started to emanate, covering areas around. The pool of scarlet water reached Alex's face.
Step, step... The boss started his march toward Steve, each footstep sending a sense of dread. His eyes focused on Steve's left hand, which was still attached to the body, tightly holding the artifact as if Steve's life depended on that sphere.
Meanwhile, the octopus-headed boss's intentions were to retrieve that artifact so he could complete his evolution into Stage 4.
Alex's body was between the boss and Steve. From Steve's side, crimson liquid reached, a wet sensation permeating his face. Because of that, Alex's eyelids trembled in a violent attempt to open up.
Slowly but surely, Alex was gaining his sight. During the time he had spent passing out, a lot of things had happened. He didn't know what type of situation he was in because he could hear everything word by word but was unable to open his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a humanoid leg of the boss covered with crystalline armor approaching Steve's beaten form. Instinctively, he moved his arm, grabbing the leg and trying to block further advance. There was no strength in his arm, but the boss stopped, maybe annoyed or irritated.
Frustrated by Alex's grip, the boss turned around, one of his arms grabbing his prey's head. He moved the body up in the air, both of the octopus's arms coiling around Alex's body like victim in a python's grip.
With each of Alex breath, the grip seem to tightened.
Crack…this sound echoed as some of Alex's bones broke apart.
—Thud!
Alex move his hand and punched boss head.
One
Alex said with this counting the grip on his body also tightening
He attack again —thud!
Two
The evil spirit floated beside Alex, sighing at the pathetic attempt of desperate survival. Meanwhile, the boss increased his grip strength, with the intention of crushing Alex's body to pulp.
Three.
He paid no attention to the weak, child-like punch.
Albeit, that was what this boss mistake was.
Four With this, Alex's fist was coated with spirituality; the boss's danger sense screamed at him to defend.
Alas, it was too late.
The fist cut through the air with a buzzing sound and landed on the boss's head.
Spirituality within that attack entered the octopus's head, messing with the inside, and then, with a resonating sound...
—BoOom!
It exploded apart;
Alex's body flew back opposite to Steve as, in that last moment of life, the boss had thrown him away intending to kill him with last strike.
—Thud!
Alex landed on the ground, his back taking aid from the wall behind him.
There was no strength left in his body, as most of his ribs were broken, and it seemed he had a lot of internal injuries. He was unable to sense his limbs at that moment, entering a state of paralysis.
—Hehe he! He laughed at his own helplessness.
Thu–he spit beside him his saliva carried blood and said.
"Pathetic!"