The enemy flicked her tail towards the direction of Ezio and the others. Ezio chose to block the tail with his scimitar but the force knocked him back and sent him flying backwards. He landed on the hard ground and tumbled for a few feet before his body finally stopped after it hit a tree.
He spat out blood after colliding with the tree trunk and he could feel the pain on his body. He was also aware of the scratches and wounds he got from rolling on the ground because of the stinging pain coming from his arms and back. He wheezed and took control of his breathing before he used the trunk as support so that he could stand up.
The woman's tail was as hard as a rock, luckily his blade was not easy to break. According to his master, his blade was ranked as mythical. Since it did not break, it only meant that the enemy was below the mythical level. Even so, Ezio was not rest assured that he could defeat the enemy because he himself was not strong enough.
He then summoned a gate and he entered, the gate then appeared above the serpent-woman. He dropped down from above with his weapon positioned to hack the woman. In that instant, a tail blocked the attack and the collision between the tail and the blade created sparks.
Ezio did not stop though, through the gate he transferred to another location with his blade ready to slice the enemy. He managed to wound the woman's side before he again disappeared and appeared at a position far away from the enemy's tail. His movements became faster as the wounds on the woman's body increased.
There were also a couple of times that the tail was able to hit him which slammed him on the ground or sent him flying. However, he did not stop. There was still a couple of minutes before Isaiah could be ready and he did not want the enemy to focus her attention on him. He gritted his teeth and clenched his sword before he appeared again behind the enemy.
Before he could land a hit on his enemy, the woman's tail was already there and blocked the scimitar. He was pushed back as he entered the gate again to appear in front of the woman but he was blocked again. He then realized that the woman was unto him.
"This is getting difficult," he mumbled to himself as he transferred again and appeared above the woman's head with his scimitar's end targeting the woman's head.
The blade was only a few inches away from burying itself on the serpent-woman's head when a flash of black appeared and slammed on Ezio's body. It felt like his organs moved and was crushed because of the impact. He could also feel the blood from the back of his throat as he landed on the ground. He was really not good at fighting.
All he could do in that situation was to swing his sword and hope that it would damage the enemy. He couldn't help but laugh at himself even in that situation because of how weak he was. He coughed a few times and he could vaguely hear his name from a distance but the ringing in his ear was louder.
A shadow was casted above him as he saw the end of the woman's tail blazing downward with so much force that it made the wind around them whoosh. He was going to be crushed into a pulp but his instinct to survive was greater. In that last minute he used his weapon to block the tail and used that break to open a gate and transport himself to a safer place.
"I can't really hold on," he felt pity for himself. He looked at the direction of where Isaiah and the sentinels were and saw that the enemy was on her way towards them.
She must have thought that he was as good as dead. He still had mana but the problem was he couldn't move his body and his vision was getting hazy. He couldn't concentrate and he couldn't mobilize his mana to at least create a gate that will transport them elsewhere.
Isaiah saw how Ezio did his best to give him more time and thanks to that, he was able to recover some of his mana. It may not be enough but he was sure that it was enough to at least make the serpent-woman unable to move. They would then take that chance to escape from her.
While the enemy was busy with dealing with Ezio, Isaiah had been preparing the spell of his lightning rain and was busy setting it up by creating a trap spell that would make the serpent-woman freeze just in time for him to activate his spell. He saw that the enemy was now moving towards them so he prepared himself and watched with hawk eyes as the woman slithered towards them.
The moment she entered the trap spell, it activated which successfully trapped her. He then activated his lightning rain spell above the enemy and let it manifest. Several lightning struck and hit the enemy directly. The lightning entered the open wounds of the serpent-woman which made it tremble because the power from the spell entered its body.
Ezio saw that the attack was effective, he then used that time to squeeze out the last of his strength and created a gate that swallowed Isaiah and the unconscious sentinels. He then created one behind him as he let himself fall into it. Two gates appeared inside their room in the inn where they came out.
They were able to finally breathe at least because they escaped. Although they were a bit battered and wounded, they were still glad that they survived. Now that they were back at the inn, they used one of the talismans inside the room to ward off any evil spirit that might try to enter their room.
While they were recovering, they were also watching the sentinels and keeping tabs on their condition. After a while, they could see some twitching from their limbs which gave them the hope that they could survive. Although they managed to get back a part of their magic, they didn't know who to deal with what was happening inside the dreams of the sentinels.
Their only hope at that moment was for them to overcome their nightmare and wake up safe. The night passed as if nothing happened and when the leader of the town woke up he was so scared when he saw Ezio and Isaiah already at the dining table and were already eating their breakfast. The five sentinels who were with them were also eating already.
"Good morning," Isaiah greeted the leader who was still frozen from where he stood.
The man gave a nervous laugh before forcefully clearing his throat. He carefully walked towards where the visitors were and gave them a cautious smile. Ezio could only frown as he avoided looking at the man because he might only get angry.
"Good morning too, young master! How was your sleep?" The leader continued to act like normal in front of them but he was already panicking inside.
"Good and I feel energetic so thank you for letting us stay for the night," Isaiah answered while Ezio was silently grumbling to himself.
"That's good to hear then, young master." The man's face twitched but he couldn't remove the smile plastered on his face.
"Since the weather is good, we will set out now and return to central. If you ever face any other difficulties after this, just write to the duke." Isaiah waved his hand and the sentinels stood up. They went out to prepare the carriage they used.
The leader of the town was becoming more and more nervous after seeing that they would be really leaving. If they managed to escape the Mighty One, their town would be the one to suffer because it did not receive the offering. His smile slowly faltered the moment they reached the carriage that was already parked outside of the inn.
Ezio entered the carriage first but Isaiah took his time. "What are you doing?" Ezio asked in an irritated voice. He couldn't wait to get out of that place.
Isaiah wanted to wait for the leader to speak or at least approach him that's why he deliberately slowed down his steps. He was sure that the leader had a reason why he needed to do that to them even though he knew that they were sent by the duke. That serpent-woman must have a hand on it.
"Young master!" The leader finally broke and swallowed his pride. He feared that the Mighty One would come after them because her prey managed to escape.
Isaiah was waiting for this. He halted on his steps and turned around to look at the man. "What is it?" He casually asked with a confused look on his face.
The leader looked around first before he spoke, "May I have a word with you before you leave?"
"Is there a problem?" Isaiah continued to act clueless despite him knowing what the man would talk about.
