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Deon, after Alexia had gone her own way, began to prepare. He started by blending into the environment to completely hide from the pack of demonic wolves. The next moment, after finding a discreet spot, he took out the hydra's body that he had previously slain from his dimensional ring.
Looking at the lifeless body of the hydra, flashes of their battle surged into Déon's mind before he murmured:
"It's the law of the strongest that rules here. You eat or you are eaten."
He wasn't certain that his plan would work every time, but the probability that it might succeed wasn't negligible either. So, he had to try, and in any case, even if his plan failed, there was Alexia's necklace, which was also a ticket out.
Having his vital energy drained to convert it into mana before leaving this portal didn't please him at all. He cared about his lifespan and didn't intend to die young. Gathering his energy, Déon crouched down and began his work.
It had been a good ten minutes since Alexia had parted ways with Déon. Barely had she left him when the pack of demonic wolves caught up with her, and she engaged in battle.
Even though she found Déon's plan risky, there was a chance that it could work. And as crazy as it might seem, this situation would actually benefit her if he managed to close the portal without running away, because she was just one step away from ranking up.
Knowing that melee attacks were not effective against the pack's alpha, Alexia had only focused on long-range combat.
This time, the pack's alpha was fighting in a rather strategic way. He sent shadows toward Alexia to force an opening in her guard, then took advantage of it to attack.
As for Alexia, she remained very vigilant. She used fire to repel the shadow wolves and kept the alpha at a distance thanks to the wind magic of her summon. Her fight was purely defensive — she would not kill the alpha this way. It looked more like she was waiting for something.
Moments later, a whistle rang out. It was the signal she had been waiting for. Upon hearing it, she dismissed her first two summons to call forth a third one: a gnome.
Taking advantage of the few seconds it took Alexia to summon her new elemental spirit, the alpha wolf charged toward her at incredible speed. In less than three seconds, it was in front of her, slashing with its claws while opening its massive jaws to swallow her whole.
"Haha, too bad, big guy," said Alexia, quickly jumping back while using her earth spirit to collapse the ground where the wolf had landed, throwing it off balance.
The alpha wolf, losing its footing, roared in rage and sent the shadow wolves at Alexia. But she, thanks to her elemental spirit, summoned earthen spikes that ended up skewering the entire pack, including the alpha.
Fwish
An arrow had just struck — not in the wolf's mouth, but in one of its eyes.
"Too bad. If you had known… you should have gritted your teeth and endured instead of howling," she continued with a slight smile on her face.
The next instant, the shadow wolves began to disappear, leaving the alpha alone, howling in pain.
"So, ready for the final battle?" Déon's voice rang out behind Alexia.
"Yes," she replied, turning to meet his gaze. He was badly battered but smiling. She felt a pang in her heart seeing him in that state — after all, all of this was her fault.
"Stop appearing behind people like that. I almost attacked you, you know?" she continued, while the alpha wolf kept howling and tried to get up.
"Haha, sorry. Without this technique, I'd be more vulnerable. Right now, I'm not in the best physical shape. Plus, I don't have much mana left and my—" Déon stopped mid-sentence when he saw the wolf getting back up.
Seeing him stop, Alexia turned and saw the alpha standing, ready to attack them. His skin was eroding at an alarming rate, starting from the eyes.
In the meantime, what had once seemed firm now looked limp. Just as he had predicted, the poison was truly toxic. He thanked the heavens for having had the luck to meet Alexia when he had been poisoned. Admittedly, unlike the alpha, the hydra's poison hadn't infiltrated his bloodstream, but he still remembered the burning sensation on his face when he had taken the hydra's acid spray full on.
"It's a matter of minutes before the poison reaches its heart. We just have to hold out until then," said Déon to Alexia, drawing a sword coated with what appeared to be poison from his storage ring.
Sensing death approaching fast, the alpha once again tapped into its life force to boost its abilities. Then, focusing on Alexia, it made a huge leap, slashing its claws through the air toward them. And the fight resumed with full force.
The alpha was focusing on Alexia because it had trouble sensing Déon, even though he was right in front of it. Nevertheless, it wanted to kill at least one member of the duo before dying, so it spared no effort.
Alexia parried the wolf's relentless attacks as best she could, occasionally using earthen spikes to impale it with the help of her earth spirit.
As for Déon, he focused on the alpha demon's old wounds, repeatedly striking them with his poison-coated sword. His body was aching, and he was exhausted, but stopping now could cost him his life.
Alexia and Déon worked in such perfect sync that one might have thought they had always fought together.
Even though Déon could follow the creature's movements thanks to his innate skill, he had a delay in reaction time. Alexia, on the other hand, could react in time but struggled to keep up with the alpha's movements. They covered each other's backs.
They felt that this battle, which had seemed to last an eternity, was nearing its end, as the alpha demon's attack intensity had lessened. Then, suddenly, the alpha demon abruptly changed its target.
Once focused on Alexia, it turned toward Déon. The change in rhythm was so fast that he couldn't react. Déon was sent flying into the air.
Alexia was about to help him when she was surrounded by three shadow demon wolves.
"Damn, I thought you didn't have enough energy for that," Déon muttered, realizing Alexia couldn't help him in the next few seconds.
The alpha demon didn't wait for Déon to land before charging. It roared with all its might, then leapt into the air with the clear intent to strike Déon.
Déon couldn't move freely in midair and was at the alpha demon's mercy. A swordsman never lets go of his blade, but he had dropped his when he was sent flying. He saw death approaching and desperately tried to think of a way to get out of this unharmed, when his vision blurred and he saw lines.
The scene lasted only an instant before he realized the alpha demon's momentum had suddenly stopped midair and its minions had vanished.
Now, he was in free fall, about to crash, when a light breeze softened his landing. It was Alexia, who had just used her wind spirit.
"Deon, are you okay?" Alexia shouted, before seeing that he had fainted.
Now that all the adrenaline keeping him awake had dissipated, a sharp pain flooded his body, making him lose consciousness.