I stood there, paralyzed, watching Sarah’s motionless body. She fought bravely against the Boss, we and Leo saved her when she was too tired to fight, but now she was sprawled on the ground.
That was my fault. If I had defended myself, she wouldn’t have had to save me. If she didn’t take the hit, I was supposed to be in that position. And now she was...
’No, she’s not dead yet! I refuse to accept that!’ I thought to myself, trying not to fall into despair. ’I have to pull myself together. Calm down.’
Her body was distant enough for me to check her condition. I wasn’t sure if she was alive or not, but I said inwardly that she was alive. I didn’t know if I was lying to myself or not, but I did it anyway.
The Sheep was still alive, and if Leo and I didn’t defeat it, the three of us wouldn’t get out of this dungeon alive. So I’ll have to bear it, suppressing my own feelings. ’Please, hold on, Sarah. I’ll make sure to bring you to safety.’
But for now, I had to deal with the real demon in the room. That demonic sheep, after tackling Sarah, was finally turning itself in my direction, but it seemed different from before.
Maybe because now I was closer to it, I could tell. When it was fighting Sarah back there, the beast was trying to hit her from different angles, while evading the Swordsman’s attacks. Its physical energy and terrifying aura filled the area.
But it wasn’t like this anymore. Don’t get me wrong. I still could feel its killing intent, of course now its hate was directed only at me, but the intensity was lower, and I could tell that something was off.
The same creature, before the explosion, would have quickly taken me down after failing on the first attempt. I took a better look at my enemy, and I discovered why.
The Sheep was gasping, and its body was shivering a bit. It felt our last attack. I couldn’t tell how much, but it was obvious that we managed to hurt it.
"Leo, keep pressuring it. It got hurt by the last attack, if we continue to attack we can kill it." I shouted to the blond guy, our last line of attack.
"Good work, Rick! Now let me handle this." He responded to me and ran towards the enemy, getting closer through a blind spot on its right side, positioned like a baseball player ready to strike.
"Stunning Strike!" Leo swung his sword against the monster for the third time. Considering his abilities, I doubted that he would be capable of using this skill once again, so to immobilize the foe he needed to hit the target.
"Huh?" Leo was surprised by the monster’s agility. Even attacking from that angle, the monster lowered its head, avoiding the attack.
"Son of a bitch..." I cursed that animal.
Leo’s attempt may have awakened the Sheep’s instincts, and it managed to avoid Leo’s Stunning Impact. We couldn’t deal with it like we were fighting a dumb goblin. I hate to admit it, but the beast was as smart as us. Not only that, it was stronger. However, the Boss knew that if we managed to stun it one more time, it would be our win.
That’s why it kicked Leo in the solar plexus. "Huh?" Leo spat blood from the impact, and he was launched a few meters away.
"Hmm... Goddamn!" Leo said, trying to get up.
He was still conscious, but he didn’t have enough strength to stand, so he remained where his body landed. I thought that the monster would try to finish him off, but that wasn’t the case.
"What...?" The Sheep ignored Leo. From its point of view, Leo was out of combat. It still had a personal vendetta with me, because I tried to burn it alive. I was its priority, and Leo would be dealt with later.
"Ha, are you fucking kidding me?" I laughed at how bad the situation had gotten in such a short period of time.
I couldn’t hold the laugh. A monster of this level of danger was prioritizing me over the protagonist. In stories from my world, this single gap would be used by the MC to stand up and try to save his comrade.
But that was not the case. Leo was still lying there, angrily gritting his teeth. "Stand up! Stand up, stupid body!" He was fighting to get back on his feet.
Sarah was still lying on the floor, unconscious. One side of her forehead was stained with the crimson color of her blood.
Everyone was out of combat now, so that meant that from three party members, I was the last one standing. I was completely by myself.
’Nobody is gonna save me.’ I let this fact sink in while the Sheep was ambling in my direction. I was paralyzed in front of the danger, like a frog frozen by the gaze of a serpent.
’No way in hell!!’ I told myself, breaking free from the trance brought on by fear.
I could die there. If I did, Sarah and Leo would die, and I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t give up, even if I died.
Maybe something that I had prepared using alchemy could help. I didn’t have anything with destructive power like the Fire Bombs I used before. All that I had were a Tear Gas Bomb and a Smoke Bomb. They could buy me some time, but if I couldn’t deal damage to this thing, I would just be delaying the inevitable.
’Damage?’ I had a weapon. My dagger. But this toothpick wasn’t able to defeat the Sheep. ’If I could deal more damage to it... So what should I...?’
The assassin’s skills that I had were only good enough to hide so I could make a surprise attack. But I was in an open room without obstacles, and the creature’s eyes were fixed on me.
’I cannot accept defeat! Think! Think! Think! There must be a way! Something! Anything! How should I defeat this monster?’
My mind desperately searched through Rick’s entire backlog for anything that could save us. If there was a way to defeat it, the answer might be in my memories. And then one idea crossed my mind. There was one thing that I could do to take this thing down for good, but...
’This may be the stupidest idea I’ve had in my two entire lives combined, but it’s my best bet.’ I gulped, not knowing if I was doing the right thing, but sometimes a man needed to make sacrifices. Everyone worked hard trying to win, and I should make their efforts pay off.
The Sheep was preparing to attack me, but I surprised the creature using my Tear Gas Bomb.
"Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" It bleated loudly, its eyes affected by the bomb. Of course, my goal wasn’t to cause damage, at least not for now. Luckily, this didn’t affect humans, and the gas didn’t obstruct my vision as much as the Smoke Bomb.
I just needed an opening. I quickly positioned myself behind it while it was still confused, its eyes burning, shaking its head. Then I jumped in its direction and grabbed it by the torso.
The good side was that I somehow managed to hold the damn thing and stay on top of it. But the bad part was that the wool ball didn’t like it one bit when I tried to ride it, so that damn monster started to get agitated, bucking violently, trying to throw me off.
I had to concentrate. I just needed a few seconds. I didn’t have the luxury to think about anything else. Neither the pain in my muscles from the effort to hold on, nor the smell of burning wool. I needed to concentrate on the Sheep’s structure. If I could manage this, I could win.
The animal got more agitated. It ran around the room as fast as it could, bucking with ferocious intent. My muscles were almost giving out, and I was gasping, trying to breathe, but I couldn’t let this happen. Now I was too close.
It was all or nothing. If that monster was still strong enough to make me fall to the ground, it was my loss. But if the opposite happened, it would die for sure.
I thought that the moment would never come. My hands were going numb. I thought that I wouldn’t be capable. It was only a few seconds, but maybe I wasn’t good enough even for that.
But while the beast was going mad, running through the room, my eyes caught a glimpse of something red. It was Sarah’s hair. The girl still looked as if she were in an eternal sleep.
’I need to take this thing down so I can save her.’ This obvious thought kept me going.
I remembered what I was fighting for, and my heart filled with courage once again. "I won’t lose to you!" I shouted at the Sheep, and at that moment I felt my hands tingling. Finally, I managed to stay in contact with the beast for fifteen seconds.
"I won!! Rot in hell, you demonic sheep!!" I shouted with the last breath of air in my lungs. "Decompose!!"
As I spoke those words, I could smell blood spraying everywhere.