Chapter 100: Arm (1/2)
Witnessing Enatsu's fear in the eyes of his colourful parrot demon, Yoichi looked down on him. The fresh air of that night stroked his belly, exposed because of the mid-air jump wind.
Under his free-falling body, the snake had stood still in the same position. With its mouth still busy, it was ready to hit Yoichi with its tail as soon as he reached the right height.
Predicting the enemy's obvious move and knowing that, if he too failed the counterattack, he would end up pierced by that dark spike, Yoichi relied on the force of gravity.
Clenching his fists and narrowing his eyes to resist the strong wind of the freefall, he pushed his arms to the maximum of the upgrade. As calculated, the snake's huge black tail snapped quickly toward him, as if it were a baseball bat trying to hit for a homerun.
Shioko was still there, covered in her blood and that of the snake, while one of its curved teeth had sunk into her biceps. With one hand, the red-haired tamer clung to that wild demon's mouth, knowing that if she fell, it would tear off her arm with a bite.
When her gaze raised hopelessly towards Yoichi, something mind-blowing happened. Using his arms hard as rocks, the young tamer took advantage of the speed reached due to his weight to counter the snake demon by surprise.
With a fist so strong that it unleashed a shock wave, he hit the tail of the dark reptile, repulsing it in an instant. Unbalanced its long, muscular body, Yoichi prevented it from attacking a second time, leaving him exposed to his next strike.
”Leave her!” screaming in anger and using the shockwave backlash, the young tamer gained a few moments in freefall to coordinate. Joining his hands and crossing his fingers, he hit the Hebigure's nape with a double punch.
The precise and powerful blow managed to overcome the resistance of the dark demon's hard scales: the strong pressure on the nerve between his neck and head forced it to close its eyes and open his jaws wide.
The curved tooth clutching Shioko's arm was suddenly pulled out of her flesh, dropping her to the ground.
Holding her arm and not even trying to get up, Shioko rolled on the sand. As soon as she saw the scene from above, Enatsu deactivated Sora's skill and began running towards her.
The merchant put fear aside for a moment, knowing that without his help, the helpless Shioko could be devoured in one bite. Running clumsily through the sand, he saw the huge dark shape of the snake getting closer and closer.
When Yoichi landed on his feet, Enatsu grabbed the bow and Shioko, lifting her by the armpits. She helped her companion by crawling her feet, and together they move away from the giant demon, leaving everything in Yoichi's hands.
”You killed the inhabitants of this place, and you tried to kill my guildmate! You won't get away with this! Aaargh!” he thundered as his sand-stained blond hair and blood floated in the wind.
Taking advantage of the moment the enemy was breathless, Yoichi punched him in the face for the second time. His pointed knuckles cut the flesh under the demon's scales at its jaw, at the exact spot where it received the first attack.