(Arin's POV)
"Cough!"
The sound was wet, rasping, and agonizing. Yet to me, it was the most beautiful symphony I had ever heard in my entire life.
Erika's body jerked violently. Her back arched stiffly like a bow, and from her lips that were previously turning blue, a clot of clear fluid mixed with blood was expelled.
Her lungs, which had been silent moments ago, now greedily sucked in oxygen again, creating a loud wheezing sound in the silence of the cave.
"Breathe, you fool! Do not stop," I whispered. My hands still trembled over her sternum.
Her eyelids fluttered, though they did not open completely. The flush of life slowly crept up her face, changing the pale, corpse-like skin tone into a faint reddish hue. Her heart, though weak, was now beating with an independent sinus rhythm.
Without wasting a second, I snatched Erika's leather waist bag lying not far from my feet. The contents were messy, but my eyes quickly scanned the glass bottles there. There were no high-quality Elixirs, only Low Regeneration Vials and a few Mana Stabilizer pills.
I forced Erika's jaw open, stuffing a mana stabilizer pill under her tongue so it would dissolve quickly into the sublingual blood vessels, then poured half the contents of the red vial down her throat.
I applied the rest to the horrible purple bruise on her chest, the trace of the brutal cardiopulmonary resuscitation I had just performed. Her ribs might be cracked from my pressure, but at least she was alive.
Erika groaned softly. Her breathing began to regulate, though it remained shallow. She was safe for now.
Once the adrenaline flooding my brain receded due to relief, the "bill" for my own body came due, demanding payment.
"Argh..." I collapsed beside Erika, leaning my back against the cold and damp cave wall.
The world spun in my head. It felt as if thousands of hot needles were being stabbed simultaneously into every inch of my body.
I looked down, staring at my hands. My fingers were swollen, the skin on the knuckles peeled off completely, revealing the red flesh underneath. Unfortunately, that wound was just the beginning.
My back felt wet and sticky. When I scratched it slightly, my fingers were covered in fresh blood again. The slash wound from the Golem earlier turned out to be deeper than I suspected. It likely penetrated the dermis layer down to the trapezius muscle.
My legs, especially the calves, throbbed violently in rhythm with my still-racing heartbeat. Muscle tears, double hematomas, and perhaps hairline fractures in the tibia bone.
If I were my own patient, I would pronounce the verdict: Mild hypovolemic shock and multiple blunt force traumas. Unfortunately, the doctor here was also dying.
With remaining forced strength, I reached for the rest of Erika's bag contents. I took a roll of bandages and a pungent-smelling herbal ointment. Crushed Sun-Nettle root, effective for blood coagulation but excruciatingly painful.
I bit my own collar, then poured the remaining red vial onto the open wound on my arm.
"Mmmph!" A suppressed scream escaped through my clenched teeth. It felt like being doused with molten iron.
With trembling hands and stiff movements, I began to bandage myself. Not a neat hospital-style dressing, but an emergency military wrap. As long as the bleeding stopped, as long as my muscles were bound tightly so I could still move.
I tightened the bandage knot on my calf, ensuring the pressure was enough to hold back the pain but not enough to cut off blood flow.
A ragged breath escaped my lips after finishing treating the wounds, while cold sweat soaked my dust-covered face.
We could not stay at the mouth of this cave. This place was too open, and the smell of our blood would attract other predators within minutes. I looked toward the pitch-black interior of the cave.
I had to drag Erika deeper inside. Hide until she fully regained consciousness, I thought.
Just as I was about to slip my arm under Erika's armpit to lift her, my ears caught that sound.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Not the steps of a single creature, but many steps sounding fast and hurried.
I turned sharply toward the forest, to where the afternoon sunlight began to dim behind the fallen trees.
There, emerging from behind the bushes, were short, hunched figures with brownish-green scaly skin. Long snouts, pointed yellow teeth, and crude spears in their grasp.
Kobolds.
One, two... five... ten... fifteen of them.
They ran fast, heading straight for the cave where we were sheltering.
I forced my legs, which felt like they were about to fall off, to stand. I positioned myself in front of Erika's still-unconscious body, drawing the sword that now felt as heavy as a ton.
My plan to rest was destroyed. If they got in, we would both just be minced meat.
The Kobolds got closer. Their squeaking sounds and footsteps echoed, filling my already dizzy head cavity.
"Damn it," I cursed. The bitter taste of bile rose to my throat. "Do you have dog noses or what? Tracking the smell of our blood so quickly."
I forced my violently trembling legs to take a stance. No more Piston Heart. My heart was too fragile to be pushed any further. I only had residual adrenaline and pure technique.
The horde of monsters drew closer. Their yellow eyes bulged wide, their mouths foaming. They ran irregularly, overtaking each other, as if driven by collective madness.
"Come here, you ugly monsters!"
The first Kobold jumped. Its rusty spear aimed straight at my chest.
I did not parry because I had no strength left to clash power.
I loosened my right hand's grip on the sword hilt, letting the tip of the Longsword drop following gravity, then rotated my wrist at the last second.
Technique: The Pendulum (Minimum Junior Aura).
The blade swung from bottom to top. Not with biceps muscle, but purely utilizing wrist torque as a pivot.
SLICE-CRACK!
The sound of the breastbone splitting was horrifying. I did not slash him; he crashed himself into my sword at full speed.
His running momentum became a weapon against himself, splitting his body from the groin to the sternum.
However, there was no time to breathe. Two more came from the left and right.
"Move!" I shouted.
I spun my body, using my shoulder as a pivot. My sword swept horizontally. Since I was not using Feather-Touch due to the depleted battery, the sword felt incredibly heavy.
The impact did not cut, but crushed. The ribs of the Kobold on the right shattered, throwing him into his friend on the left.
Four, five, six... they kept coming.
It was very strange. They did not try to surround me. They did not use typical cunning Kobold tactics and just... crashed into me blindly. As if I were merely a rock in the middle of the road blocking their escape route.
"Why are you so panicked?!"
I thrust the sword into the seventh Kobold's neck, then kicked its carcass toward the crowd to create distance. My breath felt like a cheese grater in my lungs.
Just as I was about to behead the eighth Kobold, the forest in front of us exploded.
It was not an explosion of fire. It was the sound of giant trees snapping simultaneously.
CRACK-BOOM!
The ground beneath my feet surged up, sending me and the remaining living Kobolds tumbling. Thick dust spewed from the tree line, followed by a shadow covering the afternoon sun.
From behind the dust, a metal hand as wide as a wardrobe snatched a panicked jumping Kobold.
SQUISH.
Like squeezing a rotten tomato. Red fluid and innards sprayed from between the metal fingers, raining down on the ground with wet splattering sounds.
Heavy footsteps vibrated my molars.
THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
The figure stepping out was the Silver Golem. However, it was not smooth like before. Its body was full of deep scratches and one of its eyes was cracked.
Its left shoulder, where I had slammed the sword pile earlier, still looked dented and leaking.
My blood froze. Those Kobolds... they were not attacking me because they smelled my blood. They were running from it, just like me. Terrified prey.
The remaining living Kobolds screamed shrilly, ignoring me completely, then ran helter-skelter into the forest on the other side of the cave.
Now, only I stood at the cave mouth. Behind me, the unconscious Erika. In front of me, the Silver Golem discarding the leftover Kobold meat from its hand like throwing away trash.
Its one remaining visual sensor rotated, then locked onto me. A low humming sound emitted from its chest. It was the sound of an engine full of rage.
"You really hold a grudge, don't you?" I whispered.
I lifted my trembling sword. The tip of the sword dropped, touching the ground. My hands were no longer strong enough to hold it straight.
The golem did not charge this time. Its hydraulic system was likely damaged. It walked with a limp, but every step was certain.
It raised its right fist high.
Overhead Smash.
A simple and slow attack. But with a weight of five tons, it was enough to flatten this cave.
I could not dodge because my legs were numb. I could not parry; my bones would turn to mush.
There was only one way left.
I changed my grip. My left hand released the hilt, shifting to grip the middle of the sharp blade.
Technique: Blade Grasping (Minimum Senior Aura).
My leather gloves were sliced, blood dripped, but this gave me maximum control for a close-range thrust.
"Come on!"
The giant fist descended. I did not retreat; instead, I stepped directly into its range.
I tilted my sword, pressing the pommel against my right palm and holding the blade with my left hand.
I turned this sword into a short spear. My target was the Axillary Gap. The only point where the steel plate had to open for the arm to move upward.
CRASH!
The Golem's fist struck the ground beside me. However, its forearm, the iron plate part, slammed into my right shoulder.
A loud POP sound rang in my ears.
My right shoulder was forced out of its socket. Ligaments tore instantly. My world turned white for a moment due to neural shock. The pain was so intense that my brain briefly refused to process it. My right arm instantly went numb, dangling uselessly like dead meat.
However, the sacrifice paid off. My sword sank half a meter into its armpit, tearing the main hydraulic cables.
The golem roared, the sound of metal clashing with static. It flailed its arm wildly.
I was thrown. My body flew three meters, then slammed into the stone wall of the cave. My world spun as if the sky and ground had swapped places.
"Cough!" Fresh blood spurted from my mouth. It tasted salty and warm.
I tried to get up. Unfortunately, my right arm hung dead at my side, its position strange and horrifying. My legs did not respond to brain commands.
My vision began to narrow into a gray tunnel. The ringing in my ears deafened the roar of the Golem pulling my sword from its armpit.
Ah... this was it. This was the limit.
I watched the Golem slowly turn its body toward me. Black oil leaked from its armpit, but the creature still refused to fall. Its heavy metal foot lifted, shadowing my body, ready to crush whatever lay beneath it.
My brain, usually noisy with physics and anatomy calculations, suddenly went silent. No new strategies, no Inertia Violation, and no more way out.
One second passed in gripping silence.
Two seconds passed, feeling like a long century.
However, the strike never came.
Instead of the sound of crushing bones, my ears caught another sound. The sound of dragging footsteps, weak, yet sounding so firm amidst the ruins.
I forced my heavy eyelids to open.
Right in front of me, blocking the sunlight and the monster's shadow, stood a figure in a torn mage robe. Her usually beautiful black hair was now dull, covered in dust and crusts of dried blood. Her legs trembled violently, as if merely standing upright required all her remaining life force.
However, that back was straight. There was not a shred of hesitation there.
Erika stretched her left arm to the side, a protective gesture to shield me lying behind her. Her right hand gripped the oak staff tightly. At the tip of the staff, a glow of blue light began to ignite. Very dim, yet stable.
"E-Erika...?" My voice escaped as a hoarse whisper that was barely audible.
She did not turn. Her gaze locked straight ahead, piercing right into the single eye of the Silver Golem.
"Do not touch..." Her voice was small and raspy, yet laden with a cold rage I had never heard before in my life.
The air around us suddenly vibrated. The mana particles at the tip of her staff did not spread wildly as usual. Those particles condensed, compressed to an extreme point, producing a threatening low hum. Dust on the ground was pushed away by the massive air pressure.
"...my Arin!"