The green powder quickly landed on Emery's face and made him cough.

'Was it poison?!'

The reason Emery's thought automatically directed to poison was because the same thing had happened in the past. This once again emphasized the dangerousness of this cunning witch, as she truly had so many methods under her sleeve. This powder also somehow reminded Emery of the potion that made him, Lanzo, and the rest of the Misthire village fall unconscious last time.

While Emery was wondering what this powder's effect was, his face changed and the grin on Meave's face grew wider. His question was answered as he felt his strength gradually seeping out his body and saw his silvery fur slowly receding.

Within seconds, Emery could perceive his power had been cut in half.

Meave showed a victorious grin, as she watched the struggling figure in front of her. Alas, the witch clearly underestimated Emery's ability and his resolve.

Emery shouted out loud, channeling his willpower to the world, as he gave his utmost to resist the effect of the powder.

The witch was shocked once again as she watched Emery breaking the last layer of roots, "This is impossible!! How strong your fey bloodline is!?"

Unfortunately, Meave could do nothing other than watch as the reality Emery created hit her like a truck.

CRAACKKK!!!

Even after being pierced by multiple shadow blades and weakened by the powder, Emery was still able to force open the sphere that surrounded her.

The shock of the witch due to what Emery had done made her decide to use her retreating spell once more. Hence, she did exactly just that.

She was about to touch the wood below her and escape when Emery foiled her plan. He had moved fast enough to grab both of her shoulders with his claws and swiftly crush them, disrupting her from doing what she wanted to do.

"You are not going anywhere!!" roared Emery as he put more strength on his arms.

Sounds of crushing bones were followed by the witch's screams of agony and this time, Emery was absolutely sure what she experienced was real.

Not that he cared about it, but Emery wasn't going to lie and said he was not happy to hear it. On the contrary, he was overjoyed! Extremely so.

"Argghhhhh!! You will regret this!!"

Meave cursed Emery and the next thing she did once again surprised him.

Through his spirit reading, Emery could tell her strength increased significantly, followed by obvious changes on her body.

Emery's claws on both her shoulders were being pushed back as black gleaming fur slowly surfaced on her skin, while her body was growing with every passing second.

She was transforming into her Fey form!

She was a Fey, after all. Of course, she had the same ability as Emery!

Realizing the situation, Emery swiftly grabbed her neck with both of his arms. He was trying to end her life before she finished her transformation. But to his complete amazement, her transformation turned out to be much bigger than he thought!

His two transformed hands couldn't even choke her previously small neck!

Meave's current physique was bigger than Morgana when she transformed, much much bigger.

After Meave let out a wolf's roar, Emery realized she had transformed into a stage three Fey Monstrous Transformation.

Looking at the towering figure before him, Emery could finally experience what his opponent had felt when they faced his own stage 2 transformation. Following her transformation, a hazy gaze could be seen in her eyes as Maeve lost her mind.

Emery immediately took out the only item able to kill the creature in front of him, because he knew how terrifying Meave would be with the stage 2 Fey Transformation. Not even a second later, the item was already in his hand, the black tier 3 dagger.

The head! Aim for the head!

[Hidden Blade]

In a split second, Emery's hand moved in a flash as the dagger shot forth.

Tap!

The dagger froze in midair as only a meter was separated between it and its target.

Just one more push! It was so close!

Emery's eyes bulged when he saw the measly distance that could determine the life and death of his.

Alas, the black wolf already grabbed his body first with its two large hands, causing the dagger to be unable to reach the former. On the other hand, the wolf clasped its hands with all its strength in order to crush Emery into pulp.

"Arrrghhh!!" The pain from the crushing made Emery drop the dagger. He couldn't believe the sheer strength it could exhibit.

Emery tried to resist with his own strength, but it seemed the powder started affecting him even more due to his momentary loss of focus.

Darkness slowly crept on Emery's vision while memories began fleeting over his mind.

'NO!'

Emery bit his lips! He couldn't give up now!

He realized this wasn't the time to conserve his strength anymore. He had to give everything he had or this would be the end of him!

In an instant, Emery activated his battle art technique.

[Immortal Gate - stage 4]

[Battle power increased by 8]

[Current battle power: 75 (60)]

Emery gritted his teeth as he withstood the excruciating pain. Once again, he tried with both hands to release his body. However, he was about to do so when something unexpected happened!

The monster in front of him opened up its jaw and bit Emery's neck with its sharp teeth!

CHOMP!

She bit the part between his neck and shoulder, and tore off a piece of his flesh!

Blood splattered all over them as Emery once again screamed in pain.

If it wasn't because of his [Granite Skin], he would probably already be dead with that one bite.

The monster even took the time to chew the piece of meat!

Emery's strength just kept dwindling while the monster continued its streak of rampage as it tried its best to bite a piece more off Emery!

CHOMP!

Another big chunk of flesh was torn away by the beast. This time, it was from his shoulder.

'Is this it? Am I going to die here?' The thought of giving up appeared in Emery's mind but he quickly suppressed it.

Realizing his attempts to overcome the monster were pointless and not willing to give up at the last second, Emery suddenly thought of one move he had never tried before, because it needed a lot of concentration. However, looking at his current situation, he truly had no other means.

Even though Emery's body was still being held by the monster, his two arms were actually still available. Therefore, he made up his mind to try the move.

While the monster was enjoying its second bite, the half-unconscious Emery casted [Spatial Gate] spell with one arm. The circle was just small enough for his other arm to go through.

From the small circle, Emery took out the same pitch-black dagger that was supposed to be on the ground.

"One more!!" This time he casted another circle, a little bit bigger and in front of his shaking hand that held the dagger.

[Hidden Blade]

Splatt!! Unexpectedly, the dagger had pierced through the monster's eye!

Roooaaarrr!!!

This was the first time Emery used the gate as a means to strike, and he succeeded!

Due to the pain, the monster was forced to release him from the pain. The dagger, after all, pierced deep into its eye.

Not wanting to let this precious opportunity go, Emery used the last wisp of his energy to jump towards the monster's head, pull out the dagger and stab it on its neck!

ROAR!!

Unfortunately, Emery wasn't strong enough to pierce the dagger deep enough to kill it.

As a result, the creature instinctively grabbed Emery and smashed him to the ground before deciding to flee into the forest in its heavily wounded state.

Looking at the fleeing creature, Emery wanted to give chase, but he himself was not sure if he could survive much longer. A chunk of his neck and shoulder were gone and caused severe bleeding, after all.

[Nature Blessing]

Emery only managed to cast the spell for a few seconds before the layer of green on his body started dwindling, a sign that his spirit force was exhausted.

Shaking his head inwardly, Emery fell to the ground with a thud, while the bleeding still continued. He lay on the grassy field while his consciousness began to blur.

The next second, Emery's blurring consciousness could vaguely hear the sound of footsteps approaching where he was. He could not be sure if it was real or just his imagination. With that thought in mind, his consciousness dived into endless darkness.

***

"My lady!!! Here he is! Lanzo is here!"

"Is he alright, Yvain?!"

"He bleeds really bad."

"Then what are you waiting for? Save him!!"

"This… Princess, this. They are definitely his clothes.. But it's... not him!"

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,