Kai cleaved his scimitar in a crescent arc with strength, and the impact was resounding.

It pushed the fish-monster back.

He could see the fish-monster’s eyes were unfocused, and its limbs were trembling like it was now experiencing a seizure. Even the way it blocked the strike was rigid, almost failing to raise its trident in time.

All were the effects of suffering a cut from the Blood-phantom Scimitar.

The Fatal Whispering Wound was taking effect.

In the next second, the fish-monster’s eyes fixed on Kai again. There was a change in its gaze that could be felt instantly by anyone around. The change was that it now saw Kai and Matilda as dangerous people.

And thus, it stopped holding back. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Kai made a follow-up slash, but it was blocked by the trident.

A heavy punch crossed his face, forcing his head to turn—and when he blinked and snapped from the daze, the trident was already coming. He raised his scimitar, blocking the swing, but a grunt was forced out of his mouth.

Its attack is heavier now.

Clang—!

Kai wanted to keep going, but the mud was slippery.

He fell to one knee, and the fish-monster saw this as an opportunity.

But this battle is a two against one.

Matilda launched herself toward the fish-monster, colliding with it hard, giving enough time for Kai to get back to his feet and go back to the fight. Both fought as one once again, giving no room to breathe.

Steel works and grunts dominated the next moment.

Kai swung high, aiming for the throat. The fish-monster parried it and countered with a punch to the face, but Matilda slammed her shield against its back, causing it to miss. Its tail flicked at Matilda, slipping through her defense and striking her side.

It burned her clothes away and reddened her skin.

Below, Kai swiped the leg, but the trident slammed into the mud, blocking it.

This created an opening as Kai’s fist hammered into its face.

Matilda drove her shield into the mud, and Kai instantly knew what she wanted. He ducked on instinct; the trident whistling past his skull by a hair. He spun, scimitar already arcing, and cracked it hard against her planted shield to use her imprint once more.

Knowing what would happen next, Kai immediately charged in again without thinking.

The concussive blast would disorient the fish-monster, especially considering it was now also suffering from the Furies’ whisperers. However, this time, it wasn’t as straightforward. A thick string of water was fired from the fish-monster’s fingertip.

It caught Kai off guard, but he tilted his head in time to avoid it.

He was already within range to land another hit on the fish-monster, but a shout stopped him.

"Behind you!"

Kai looked over his shoulder, and his pupils dilated.

Bam—!

Like a broken doll, he was launched to the side, sliding and bouncing against the mud until his back slammed against a tree. He spat blood to the side and coughed. He raised his gaze and saw that a clone made entirely of acid water was now attacking Matilda.

It attacked a couple of times and then melted back to water.

He wasn’t expecting the fish-monster to create a water copy with that string he dodged.

But he has no time to stay idle.

A dozen beads of acid water formed above the fish-monster’s head; each sphere glistened with lethal intent. And when it pointed at him, the beads streaked forward like bullets. Kai hurled himself into a roll and dodged the first one.

Behind, a tree erupted in sizzling ruin as the acid splashed against the bark and melted it.

He dodged again and again until the last one streaked with a dangerous hiss.

Once again, Kai charged straight at Matilda to make another blast.

And as expected, the fish-monster fired another string of water, creating the water copy.

It has adapted to this tactic, using the water copy to buy itself some time to recover from the stun inflicted by the concussive mana blast. "I never thought an Awakened Monster could be this aware. It’s abnormally smart." Kai whispered.

Even fighting against all Awakened Monsters in Ixos, none was as aware as this.

"It’s used to fighting," Matilda rose to her feet. "Even more used to it than us."

Both of them charged again, exchanging blows with the big fish-monster as their lungs burned in exhaustion. But through the chaos, something flickered in Matilda’s eyes. She caught sight of a strange hitch in the big fish-monster’s rhythm.

Something that she brushed off as a coincidence earlier.

For some reason, her attack slipped in its defense more times than Kai’s attack.

She wasn’t faster than Kai, nor was her attack more unpredictable.

And yet, her attacks landed more times.

In fact, throughout the exchange, Kai couldn’t land a single attack on it.

’It’s overly cautious of the scimitar,’ Matilda thought inwardly.

Suffering from the Fatal Whispering Wound made it conscious of the scimitar. And whenever it was given the option to either block the scimitar or eat a bash from Matilda’s shield, it always chose to block the scimitar.

One weakness that they could exploit right now.

And when her eyes met with Kai’s, it seemed he also noticed the same thing.

Kai vaulted over a vicious swing; the trident passed clean beneath him. Mid-air, he raised his scimitar high overhead. Both hands locked around the hilt, which was a clear sign that he was about to make a heavy vertical slash.

And the fish-monster reacted accordingly, trident up, stance braced—already preparing for a counter.

Bam—!

The force rattled throughout the length of the trident.

But it was then that the fish-monster realized that Kai swung down with his fists.

No scimitar in sight.

And before it could move, Matilda had already come from below—scimitar in hand. Kai had dropped his scimitar, handing it over to Matilda when he raised his hands overhead so that she could sneak an attack in.

The fish-monster wasn’t worried about her as much as it was with Kai.

It allowed her to sneak in an attack, carving a deep, gaping wound across its stomach.

A squeal rang as the fish-monster recoiled. And that same breath, the whisperers inside its skull intensified.

The voices increased, and the frequency intensified.

The Fatal Whispering Wound was compounded with the second slash.

Roar—!

Just as Kai and Matilda thought this was the end of the line for the fish-monster, it let out a roar. Acid water exploded from its body, forcing Kai to leap away to avoid the full brunt and Matilda to hide behind her shield.

Brutally, the fish-monster wrenched Matilda’s shield and grabbed her neck.

It then dived into the water, bringing her into the depths.

Matilda grabbed the fish-monster’s hand, trying to force it to let go, but she couldn’t.

Her golden shield dissolved into mana.

And her lungs failed as her body made a forceful inhale, pulling in water that choked her.

Gritting her teeth, her eyes glowed with golden light as she struck the submerged rock on the subsoil to use her imprint once again. The very last one she could muster before running out of mana. The concussive blast detonated underwater with devastating force.

It shoved the water aside in a violent, momentary crater.

And it also pushed the fish-monster just enough for her to fold her legs against her chest.

She kicked upward with both feet, landing them squarely against the fish-monster’s chin.

It sent the fish-monster flying into the air.

But it wasn’t a finishing blow.

Matilda wasn’t intending it to be a finishing blow.

It was a setup.

Kai appeared above it, scimitar in hand.

Black flashed.

And the monster’s head separated before it could fall back down again.

Splash—!

The murky water slammed back together, submerging the crater before the big fish-monster’s carcass fell back down heavily. Kai landed on a big tree root on the side and fell to one knee, gasping for breath.

"I did not think it was going to be that hard," He muttered inwardly.

It was simply an Awakened Monster.

Kai had killed many of them back in Ixos, and he was now stronger than he was back then. Not to mention, he was also not alone, fighting it with Matilda. Killing the big fish-monster should be a walk in the park.

But that was not the case.

Seems like there are levels to Awakened Monsters.

Pain screamed through every inch of him. The battle had left him with open wounds, bruises, and contracture scars. The damp air made it worse. Each drifting droplet stung the acid burns like fresh fire.

He dragged in ragged breaths, chest heaving, and then paused.

Slowly, he glanced over his shoulder.

Matilda hadn’t surfaced yet.

"Shit."

Kai turned and dived into the murk. He tracked the faint trail of her mana and then brought her out. As expected, she was unconscious. Too much water had flooded her lungs while she had been pinned below by the fish-monster.

"Matilda," He shook her shoulders.

No answer.

He placed his index finger under her nose.

Nothing. She’s not breathing.

Kai quickly brought her to a more solid ground and laid her on her back.

He had walked this road before. In the past, he had learned, painfully and desperately, in order to pull Bella out of the dark corners of her mind. Once, she had tried to end it all by throwing herself into a lake.

Fortunately, He’d arrived just in time, dragged her from the water, and performed first aid.

Do anything he could until help came.

So, he knew what to do.

But as he leaned down to give Matilda rescue breaths, she coughed.

Kai turned her to the side, helping the water out of her system.

It took a moment, but Matilda slowly regained her consciousness and blinked a few times.

Her eyes then focused on Kai, and she instantly realized what had happened.

"Did you have enough? Did you savour my lips enough?"

"Savour your lips? You mean rescue breaths? No. I was about to, but you woke up."

"That’s a shame for you."

Kai was offended.

With his life on the line right now, how could his mind even go there? It’s impossible.

"What even made you think I’d take advantage of you?"

"You did ogle me at the first trial."

"That’s because you’re only in your underwear, and I didn’t even look at you that much!"

"Lighten up, I’m joking," Matilda chuckled, pushing herself upright. Her gaze swept across the entire battlefield—carcasses strewn through the mud and deep scars carved into the earth from their clash. "Did we kill it? Did that thing really die?"

"Yeah, it’s dead."

In the next fifteen minutes or so, Matilda rested on the side while Kai fed his Primordial Lock the fish-monster carcasses. He was excited to see that the big fish-monster’s carcass gave him three percent, which was three times the normal amount.

Matilda noticed Kai left one carcass untouched.

"Aren’t you going to absorb that one, too?"

"Nope."

"No?"

"I was thinking," Kai looked at the carcass, and then back to Matilda. "Are you hungry?"