...

...

Still alive?

...

...

Still, nothing.

...

...

How distressing. I steeled myself for what was to come, but now, my mental preparations have crumbled. Why aren't they attacking?

I nervously opened my eyes and realized what was going on.

*Hiss!

Over 10 meters long snake with gray scales and two green slit eyes was slowly climbing down the nearby rock pillar. The monsters have either frozen in place out of fear or scattered in all directions.

I appraised the huge monster out of habit.

Magnatofa Level ?? HP: 110/110

Just great...I feel how Odysseus felt, probably sighing in relief as he escaped clutches of Scylla, only to be met with Charybdis.

What a salvation, the salve for the fading glimmer of expectancy...

It's just too frustrating.

It's repulsing to be viewed as nothing but food. Even worse, the monsters are fighting among each other for this delicious piece of meat, as they see us.

Knowing this, it feels even more wrong to give up, but knowing your struggle is futile is heartbreaking.

Does it even matter in which monster's jaws we end up in?

Well, at least it might be somewhat better to be devoured by one big guy instead of being torn apart and split between many.

...What am I even thinking?

This is the thinking of someone, who has accepted death.

My pandora box is completely empty.

Once again, this is the end, I thought.

The giant snake's emerald eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

Before I knew it, my train of thoughts became sluggish, while my body completely froze. Even trembling Celine was petrified.

We were helpless against its hypnosis.

Opening its menacing jaws extremely wide, the rotting and putrid smell dispersed in the air. I couldn't even register its movement as it lunged at us with opened mouth, ready to devour us.

My heart literally froze in the last moments of my life.

'UNSIGHTLY BEAST!' Distant savage cry laced with murderous intentions thundered in my ears.

*Bang, Puff!

I couldn't properly perceive what was happening around me. When I got myself together, I witnessed the giant Magnatofa in a miserable condition.

I was astonished to find our predator in such state. Recalling what happened moments ago, realization dawned upon me.

The giant snake was skewered by flying, rotating stalagmite. Its scales instantly broke apart from the collision and its whole body was hurled, smashing against the uneven surface of the rock pillar.

The stalagmite didn't fall from above. It was thrown. Who saved us? Wait...that voice...ah.

'CELINE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!' Hoarse, forceful and worried voice rang from the distance.

It really was him...I felt complicated emotions stirring my heart.

My echolocation detected someone running in our direction at breakneck speed.

As expected...it was Fake.

Before long, he appeared in our sight.

I flinched upon closely observing him. Topless, disheveled, dirty, wounded, yet his crimson eyes shone in the darkness like an inextinguishable lantern. His whole being gave off brutal, suffocating aura. Good god, what an asshole, take better care of my precious body, will ya?

I don't know why, maybe because I've become a monster, but I can perceive something as vague as an aura. I don't know if the other monsters can also feel it, but if they do, they would want nothing to do with the existence that gives off such baleful, dangerous feeling. If not for my reasoning and intelligence, I would have long since fled out of instinct.

...

It felt great to be alive again. Though him rescuing me was only by chance, while his real intention was to save Celine, I still felt grateful, even if he didn't know of my existence yet.

But that was about it. Fake was dangerous, in my opinion. He was no friend to me, especially when I secretly wanted my body back, which he currently possessed. If I somehow managed to accomplish it, where would he go then? No matter what, we were destined to be enemies. Besides, his character was rotten, so we would never get along! Thankfully, he didn't know about me yet, else he would squash me to a pulp with little to no effort.

...

Celine didn't respond to Fake's concerned shout. She appeared still petrified from shock.

Fake ran to us and shook Celine, closely examining her, appearing anxious.

'Celine, are you alright?' He repeated with a gentler tone, relieved to see her alive.

Celine dumbly nodded her head, still appearing out of it. Tears were frozen on her face, while her expression was blank.

Fake's concerned expression was overwritten with anger, which he directed at the giant snake. The murderous aura erupted from him as he gently let go of Celine and charged at Magnatofa like a savage beast.

*Hiss!

Despite having been seriously injured, the snake moved incredibly fast and lunged at Fake from the left flank, aiming at his waist, revealing its 4 ivory fangs.

Fake moved irregularly, dodging the attack by hair's breadth. His body spun in the air while his kick blasted the giant snake's head backward, deforming its lower jaw.

Giving a painful howl, the giant snake attacked even fiercer, but Fake didn't fall behind in wildness. Every single punch or kick that connected with the giant snake's body brought disastrous consequences. Tough scales weren't enough for defending against his brutal assault.

The fight appeared rather savage with the duo exchanging deadly blows, but if closely observed, only then would one understand how terrifying the duo really was.

The snake tried biting and poisoning Fake at first, but his reaction speed was great, so in order to find the gap in his defense, the giant snake did a lot of faint attacks and moved irregularly to find the opening and weaken the enemy.

Meanwhile, despite appearing reckless, Fake's every movement was calculated. His every attack was aimed to overwhelm and beat up the enemy while avoiding its bites, attempts to suffocate him and small poisonous mist spraying attacks.

Due to Magnatofa being too fast, inevitably Fake got bitten twice or thrice, but the snake was also hammered countless times by that time. Both their attacks weakened over time as injuries accumulated on their bodies.

After a while, the duo got out of my vision range, so I could only detect them through echolocation.

If he lost, Celine and I would also die, so I didn't want him to lose.

After a while, the brutal fighting sounds coming from the darkness ceased.

I already knew the results.

Feeling threat to its life, the giant snake lied on the ground and slithered away. Fake wanted to chase him, but he was in no condition to chase after the enemy and finish it off. Besides, he was poisoned, so it was impossible to catch up to it.

A while later, the vague figure of Fake emerged in the darkness. I noticed a deep bloody gash, which appeared on his chest, probably from the tail whip. There were also several deep bite marks on his body. The bitten area was beginning to swell, while blood constantly leaked from his injuries. Despite everything, his crimson eyes still shone like before.

Just looking at him was enough to give anyone shivers.

'Everything's alright.' He spoke gently. His bloodstained face broke out into a smile, which soon distorted as he started spitting black blood while coughing excessively.

With a pale face and shivering body, he collapsed on one knee.

I appraised him. His maximum HP increased by about 50%, so he must have gotten even stronger than the last time.

As for his condition, he had two debuffs - bleeding and poisoned. Despite that, he was still forcing himself to stay awake.

'Are you alright?' Celine asked tearfully, awoken from the traumatizing shock of almost losing her life.

Fake responded to Celine's heartfelt concern with a genuine smile, which appeared somewhat forced due to the terrible injuries and pain he was enduring.

'I am, cough, cough...sorry for the last time.' He spoke with regret while wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, then began dragging his beaten body to Celine.

You...this guy can't possibly be at it again, right? I mean he's not in the right condition...

'A, Alan?' Celine noticed the strange atmosphere and called him with trembling voice.

Fake crawled closer and smiled, which appeared somewhat devilish. He put his hand into his pants pocket and said.

'Open your mouth.'

Huh?! This bastard's still at it again. Fucker! I was outraged.

Celine trembled and tried distancing herself from him, but Fake lied on top of Celine, trapping her. Little me was forced away from her embrace and ignored.

Bastard, if you do this, I'm not going to forgive you! I swore in my heart.

'You're hungry, aren't you?' Fake smiled while rummaging inside his pants pocket. He took out the crushed cookie piece and gently forced it into Celine's mouth. She was stunned and so was I.

'Haha.' He chuckled hollowly and passed out on top of her.

...

...

...

I was left speechless.