Chapter 48 The Monster Tide Before anyone could react, they were already...
Before anyone could react, they were forced into the battle.
Most of the magical beasts were enormous and incredibly powerful. Their sudden charge easily scattered them. Of the group, only the witch managed to hold her own; Tarasco could barely manage. Catherine and her two companions, however, struggled against the beasts' attacks.
At first, the witch was able to keep an eye on the uncooked meat while fighting. But as time went on, more and more frenzied monsters came toward them, and she gradually became too busy to spare any time, having to focus all her energy on fighting.
"Damn it! How come there are more and more monsters?!"
Benson had barely finished slaying the monster in front of him with his greatsword when another ferocious beast opened its mouth and lunged at him.
Catherine remained silent. Looking at the clearly abnormal state of these magical beasts, she guessed who was behind it all.
I never expected there would be so many marked monsters in the Devil's Forest...
Benson wielded his greatsword with ferocious skill amidst the pack of beasts. Lucas also poured all the potions he had practiced and crafted over the past two days into the beast horde, indiscriminately throwing in whatever potions he could find, whether offensive or hallucinogenic. Catherine, meanwhile, clutched the pendant around her neck, waiting for her chance to strike.
The witch and Tarasco shared most of the monsters, with Benson and the others splitting the remaining half. Even so, they were still fighting three or four monsters each, making their battles incredibly difficult.
Catherine had considered cutting open her skin to enter the mutated state.
However, this would cause her to completely lose her mind, and she had no idea how long this state would last. Putting herself in such a completely uncontrollable situation was far too much of a gamble.
So she could only try to weave and dodge among the wild beasts, and use the pendant to kill the monsters a few times in the gaps, trying her best to avoid them colliding with her—those mountain-like bodies, if they collided with her, would probably cripple her even if she didn't die.
She had just dropped to the ground, dodging the tail of a giant lizard, when a yak-like monster charged straight at her.
At this point, it was too late for Catherine to stand up; she could only quickly roll to the side, narrowly avoiding the sharp horns on its head.
The yak was so large that it moved rather clumsily. When Catherine rolled over, it didn't change direction quickly and headed back towards where she had been—where only a pot of stew that was almost cooked remained.
As water splashed everywhere, the scalded yaks let out painful howls.
The witch was binding several magical beasts with vines when she heard the sound and turned around... just in time to see her pot of meat flying in the air.
"Damn beast!!" she screamed, and the vines immediately pounced on the yak.
Catherine silently pursed her lips as she watched the yak being torn apart by vines.
Not only did he fail to hit anyone and get burned, but after the battle, he'll likely become the next witch's stew. Why does this seem a bit tragic...?
However, given the current situation, she obviously cannot remain standing there for too long.
Catherine glanced at the situation around her and began to consciously run towards Tarasco and the witch—in such a chaotic battle, only the two of them might still have the energy to take care of her.
The pendant is running out of uses. She's unsure which press will trigger the end of its uses. So, before that happens, she needs to find herself a "bodyguard."
Just then, a sharp claw suddenly reached out and grabbed at her from the side.
That angle was extremely tricky. Before getting close, it was blocked by the bodies of the surrounding monsters and was difficult to spot. But now that it was right in front of them, there was no room to hide.
Catherine's eyes widened in shock as she watched the claw draw ever closer. She tried to lean back to avoid it, but a giant python blocked her way. If she dared to move backward, its thick tail would snap her in two.
A gust of wind swept in from her side and behind, but Catherine no longer had the energy to spare for that direction.
She felt she was forced into a mutated state, but the next second, her body was suddenly lifted into the air... Hot blood splattered in front of her, and a drop or two even splashed onto her face.
The claw and its owner were separated in an instant.
Everything happened so fast that Catherine, sitting on Tarasco's back armor, was still somewhat dazed.
His large hand cradled most of her waist, and seeing that she was still stunned, he patted her a few more times, as if to comfort her.
Perhaps because the crisis had just ended… Catherine felt her heartbeat wasn't quite quick enough to return to normal immediately. It was pounding so fast that she involuntarily turned to the side and wrapped her arms around Tarasco's waist.
The brawl is still ongoing. But the good news is that the number of monsters, after reaching a certain peak, has begun to slowly decline.
Although the movement was slow, everyone in the battle keenly sensed it. Catherine raised an eyebrow; it seemed she wasn't important enough for the Holy See to release all its magical beasts to kill her.
Everyone was racing against time with the monsters, trying to drag the battle out little by little until they gained the upper hand.
Time passed slowly, and in the end, most of the monsters' attacks landed on the witch and Tarasco. Benson and Lucas were, after all, just ordinary humans, and Lucas was a child; their physical strength and attack capabilities couldn't sustain them for that long.
The witch frowned, looking extremely impatient.
But whenever Benson and Benson reached their limit, a few vines would be swung out, pulling them back from the brink of death time and time again.
Gradually, only a handful of magical beasts remained. With a wave of her hand, the witch unleashed thousands of vines, slaying the remaining beasts within the vine net.
The chaotic battle is finally over.
All of them had numerous wounds, some deep and some shallow. Among them, the witch had the lightest injuries, followed by Catherine. Aside from a few minor injuries when she was fleeing from the monster horde at the beginning, Tarasco shielded her in his arms and blocked most of the attacks himself.
The witch sat on the vines, yawning. Compared to before the brawl began, she just looked a little listless, as if she hadn't woken up properly.
Benson and Lucas, on the other hand, were lying on the ground without any regard for their image as soon as the fight ended.
Catherine loosened her grip on Tarasco—during the battle, she had been afraid of falling and affecting his performance, so she had kept her arms around his waist the whole time, curled up like a baby, buried in his chest.
Now she straightened up, gripped Tarasco's arm, and looked him over anxiously: "How are you? Are you hurt anywhere?"
The response she received, however, was the rising body temperature of her subordinates.
Catherine: …………?
After such a chaotic battle, is this all you're thinking about?!
She coughed somewhat awkwardly, asked the witch for some healing potions, and then patted Tarasco, gesturing for him to lead her into the cave.
Lucas watched the alien spider's retreating figure with some doubt: "It's so dark in the cave, how could you see the wound clearly?"
The witch grinned at him: "Children shouldn't ask questions like that."
Benson, standing nearby, added a few more logs to the fire, focusing intently on cooking the meat in the pot, seemingly oblivious to their conversation.
-
As soon as they entered the cave, the sunlight was cut off. Catherine's eyes were momentarily disoriented, which made her feel the touch beneath her even more clearly.
The patch of skin that touched Tarasco's skin became increasingly hot from his rising body temperature.
A slight friction sound came from the surrounding air as Tarasco leaned down, allowing them to share even their breath and body heat at that moment.
He had a fever, and she didn't mind getting infected.
Catherine heard a faint rustling sound near her ear. The overly quiet cave amplified the sound several times over, sending it straight into her brain through her ear canal, causing a strange itch.
She grimaced uncomfortably on one side of her shoulder, trying to rub her ear to get rid of the itch. But Tarasco pulled her into his arms at that moment.
Catherine's movements were abruptly interrupted.
What followed was a familiar offensive.
They were undoubtedly too familiar with each other, and as soon as Catherine raised her head, Tarasco kissed her at the opportune moment.
Compared to Catherine's previous lovers, Tarasco was clearly not the gentlest of them all—in fact, he was a beast and didn't know what gentleness meant.
However, his strength lies in his focus.
As one of the top predators in the Devil's Forest, patience and astonishing focus are essential qualities. Only with these can they prevent their prey from escaping. And now, he has instilled these two qualities in Catherine.
Darkness obliterates the perception of time.
Catherine had no idea how much time had passed; she only felt her strength rapidly waning, while Tarasca was clearly still full of energy.
She instinctively raised her hand and placed it against Tarasco's chest, creating a small, safe distance between them.
"You still have injuries..." she murmured, using the excuse she had just come up with.
However, Tarasco was very uncooperative and completely ignored what she said.
After being modified by the witch, Catherine is no longer strictly speaking human. Therefore, her physical abilities are naturally much better than those of humans. But now, this has become a disadvantage.
Catherine looked up and angrily bit Tarasco's shoulder.
But Tarasco, with his thick skin and tough exterior, saw this little bit of retaliatory rain as more like a spoiled act.
...
The cave fell silent. Tarasco, panting, raised his hand to touch her face.
His body temperature was slowly returning to normal, and the soft skin under his hands, which had initially felt cold from being covered in tears, was gradually warming up.
He couldn't resist leaning down and biting her cheek.
The taste is just as good as I imagined...
Tarasco, mindful of the fragility of humans, deliberately withdrew his fangs and controlled the force of his bite. Catherine felt a slight sting on her cheek, but her skin wasn't actually broken.
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