"Get into my sphere, Kaya!" Azrael shouted.
Kaya didn't hesitate and sprinted straight through his barrier. The air inside was cleaner, and her senses sharpened. Strangely, the change made her relax.
Azrael, meanwhile, stayed on edge.
Right in front of him sat a huge jar of mana potion, and Mary's stern stare said it all: drink, now. He hefted the jar and frowned at how heavy it was.
The lid came off with a twist, far too modern for something like this. Azrael swallowed hard, lifted the jar with what little strength he had left, and poured the mana potion down his throat.
He tried to pause. Mary jammed her umbrella under the jar and kept it tipped, forcing more down.
"Drink more, faster!" she shouted.
Are you a grandma now, forcing her grandson to eat?! Let me catch my breath!
With every gulp, he looked worse. Cold sweat slicked his skin, and his eyes went wide, trembling.
I've watched some good choking porn and it was kinda hot, but this has to be staged. No way anyone can enjoy this. Cum is sticky to begin with—
"Ptuewh!"
Cursed by his own stupid thoughts, he choked. Azrael coughed hard and turned his head, saliva and mana potion dripping down his chin.
"You were thinking of something naughty, weren't you?" Mary asked. Her eyes were frightening.
Azrael shivered. "Of course... not!"
He wasn't admitting that.
"Average stats don't mean you can get by with a small mana potion," Mary said, glancing over her shoulder at the darkness between the trees. "If you can't chug it, drink at your pace until the monster makes its first move."
No matter which way they ran, they were already within its attack range. It was either fight or teleport away.
Mary wasn't in favor of the latter. A retreat would give Azrael too much of a false sense of security, and then he'd stop taking risks and grow the wrong way.
"Anything we need to know about this monster, Kaya?" Mary asked.
"Yes! It's a boss-grade variation that won't stop until its head is cut clean off its body. Small damage won't even make it flinch! It also produces a Shadow Forest Snake poison mist. If you inhale it, your organs will shut down eventually!" Kaya explained.
In the darkness, the monster opened its jaws. Black fog spilled out and rolled straight for the sphere.
It couldn't get inside, but it didn't need to. The mist blanketed everything around them, swallowing the forest.
The forest went black.
Even sound felt muffled, but Azrael and Mary could still hear Kaya's faint hiss. She tried to track it as best she could, yet even her special organ wasn't working in this.
"I can't find the monster's head anymore..." Kaya bit her lip, disappointment in her eyes.
Mary caught the crestfallen look.
Words of comfort rose in her chest, but she swallowed them down. In the end, she was Azrael's guardian, and he'd already shown little interest in Kaya. There was no need to get attached.
Ahead, Azrael stared into the dark with a smirk.
"You look confident all of a sudden," Mary said.
"The initial shock wore off," Azrael replied, straightening. "I'm back to myself."
"But you haven't finished the mana potion," Mary whispered.
"It's fine. This much mana will do." Azrael cracked his knuckles. "I can't look lame with a threat looming over us. The girls are watching, and my little angel wants this snake brought home. I've already planned a few moves.
"Kaya, you said it won't react to small damage. Let's immobilize it."
"Yes! Spear's ready. What do you need?" Kaya raised her voice.
"Just stay still for now," Azrael said.
Sadness flickered across Kaya's eyes before she nodded anyway.
At his feet, Azrael formed 2 more bonsai trees. They shot up fast and filled most of the sphere, crowding them in. Mary drifted down and clung to Azrael's leg while Kaya went still as a statue.
With a thought, Azrael sent the branches spearing out. They punched through the barrier like blades, never letting venom in, and sank into slick flesh.
"I can tell I hit it," Azrael said. "The branches won't push any farther."
"What if you hit the trees instead?" Mary asked.
"Nah. I have a good memory because of Blink, so I remember the directions. I aimed for the gaps between the trunks, where that snake's slithering around. Now we wait until it wedges itself."
Crack! Crack! Crack!
"Branches are snapping, Master Azrael!"
"I can hear it!"
A force slammed them sideways. They hit the invisible wall hard. Gravity felt wrong.
Only Azrael understood at once.
"It ate us." His face went ashen. "That fucker ate us..."
Kaya swallowed hard.
Mary bit her lip and looked up at Azrael. "We should return to your dungeon now. This monster has the upper hand against us... Azrael?"
He didn't answer. He just stood there.
After a few breaths, he shouted, "I'm supposed to be inside a woman, not a snake!"
"Drop it already!" Mary snapped. "This is serious!"
"It's as serious as you say, my little angel." Azrael clenched his fist like he was swearing an oath. "I can't let this blasphemy slide. I'm taking this thing down right here, right now. We're inside, which means it's taking us straight to its stomach lining. I'll break it from the inside!"
"Big problem with that plan, Azrael," Mary said.
"Which is?"
"The Conditional Sphere adapted to our new location, the snake's stomach. You have a new law at your fingertips, and the old one is gone! We're short on time, and we're low on oxygen again!"
"Motherfucker!"