Summoned and Unwanted

Inside its dead brain, mutation blood with memories of a couple of minutes ago was infused, causing the undead bear to learn even if it was dead. The mutation allowed the undead bear to recall with its dead brain how Awa was hit once.

Similar to how Awa was hit before, the undead bear pushed its upper body with great strength and rose on its two hind legs. The colossal unkillable monstrosity covered the moon, yet instead of becoming intimated, Awa grinned.

Although the undead bear intended to land a hit on Awa, the body was raised in the perfect position to receive a good hit to the gut and possibly cause the bodily reflex of puking.

Vincent could be saved this way, or so Awa hoped.

Awa shot a shadow line on the stomach covered with hundreds of earth spikes protruding from its skin.

“Give me Vincent, BACK!” She shouted before shooting her body and delivering a powerful destructive kick.

*Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom*

Plow, Zero, the female Cefeye, the three Dullahans, and a couple of Cefeyes observed what was happening instead of trying to flee.

.....

Awa repeatedly landed one destructive kick after the other, like a ball attached to a toy paddle with a rubber band.

The view of a colossal monster attempting to hit a small person was astonishing. Hit after the other, those who witnessed a small being contending against the colossal monster started to feel hopeful.

Awa was inspiring those who looked at her in different ways.

The three Dullahans felt the urge to fight alongside Awa, even if their bodies felt fear. The three wanted to take revenge for all the Dullahans the undead bear killed and for eating Vincent.

The Cefeyes felt the urge to fight instead of running away. The more Cefeyes woke up or helped the injured, the more they became filled with the urge to take revenge.

On the other hand, Plow didn’t feel the desire to fight or take revenge. She felt very sad, and her tears could not stop.

Zero didn’t act. It didn’t attempt to move. It simply remained being carried by the Dullahan while looking at the undead bear’s stomach.

Hit after the other. All of them connected. Hardened earth, flesh, and blood spilled. But no reflex of puking happened.

Awa delivered one last kick before jumping away. She slowly descended with the use of her shadow cape. Her eyes stared at the stomach and the throat, yet her wish didn’t occur. Vincent remained in the belly of the monster.

Awa frowned when the bear’s paw was swinging at her. She was going to be hit soon if she did nothing.

Awa grabbed her cape and pulled it. She attached the shadow line to the ground and kicked upwards to pull herself down.

The undead bear’s paw passed through the shadow cape Awa left floating in the air. The smoke-like shadow cape didn’t disperse like any kind of spoke. It moved along the wind of the paw swing.

The darkness spread and increased at an astounding speed from both directions. In mere seconds, dark clouds surrounded the undead bear.

Awa clenched her fists and uttered, “Dusk Fall.” Before jumping and entering the dark clouds.

The undead bear swung its paws, but nothing was hit. Once. Twice. Trice. The undead bear could not land a hit on Awa.

The undead bear extended a lot of earth spikes from its body. In the blink of an eye, all the dark clouds became impaled by pointy spiked earth.

This was the moment Plow, the three Dullahans, and the Cefeyes started to believe Awa had died. However, such depressing thoughts didn’t stay for long.

*B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-boom!* Like a ricocheting cannonball, Awa used the dark clouds formed by the shadow cape to bounce back and forth with minimal effort.

The more time passed, the faster Awa became. The damage she inflicted was substantial, but the damage to her legs was also accumulating.

However, even though her legs were reinforced with the Iron Leg and Stong Leg Traits, the muscles and bones of her legs were still getting damaged because of the speed and constant impacts. Awa was also feeling winded after attacking relentlessly.

While Awa was tenderizing a lot of the hard undead bear’s skin, an unfortunate thing happened. The undead bear learned Awa’s new attack pattern thanks to the mutation.

The undead bear went on the defense. Numerous earth spikes continuously emerged from its body. No matter how many spikes Awa had destroyed, new ones kept appearing and extending toward Awa until getting destroyed.

Awa was in a pickle because her current move was failing her. She needed to do something drastic soon, or getting Vincent out of the undead bear would become impossible.

Awa heard a strange sound coming from below. She jumped up high in the sky and looked down. Her eyes opened wide at the surprising view of vines emerging from the ground and sewing the undead bear’s legs to the ground.

Awa moved her gaze and saw Zero on the ground and Awa beside it. The three Dullahans held a spear made from Zero’s vines. On the ground beside them was the female Cefeye with her eye focused on Awa.

Awa looked back at the undead bear. Its movement was temporarily hindered, yet Awa knew that if the undead bear retaliated against Zero’s binding, those on the ground would all be impaled.

Awa had to rescue Vincent and now save those on the ground. She needed a way to do both at the same time. At this critical moment, darkness surrounds her. She could not see anything.

*Awa’s Soul Domain*

Awa blinked her eyes. She saw a dim green ball in front of her. Her body was nudged all of a sudden. When her gaze moved to her right, she saw a headless horse. Awa was in her Soul Domain.

“You are Kazumi, right?” Awa moved her head to look around and continued, “Where is Vincent? I can’t see him.”

Kazumi shook her body. [Your soul and mine are in here. No one else other than us is here.]

“... does it mean... Vincent is dead?...”

[Yes. Vincent has died. The little ones are sharing their life force with Vincent to keep his soul alive at the moment.]

[I, too, spent a lot of my mana to keep his soul alive. As you are seeing, I am not that great, hehe.]

“You can... giggle in the face of death...”

[Vincent has taken a gamble with his life on the line. It is not Vincent who could alter the fates of everyone but the thing inside of him. That thing we named it Egos can save both Vincent and everyone.]

Awa became shocked to hear Vincent was dead and was later told he could live if something inside of him would awaken.

Awa was confused, yet now wasn’t the time to doubt. Now was the time to act.

“What can I do to help.” She asked.

[You need to recover Vincent’s body and touch any part of his body. I will use the last of my strength to invite you into Vincent’s Soul Domain. I need you to break the seal.]

“Okay... but how? How can I do what you ask when the monster is recovering very fast? The earth magic is covering the injured parts of its body, and I can’t inflict deep wounds.”

Awa needed an answer, but Kazumi didn’t have one. She needed to learn about Awa’s potential and might.

Kazumi was curious to know if Awa had what it took to recover Vincent’s body. However, Awa was the only person nearby who could attempt to accomplish such a feat.

[I am sorry, Awa... but I can not give you the answer you seek.]

[Vincent is at the bottom part of the stomach. That is where you need to cut somehow the stomach open and recover Vincent’s body.]

[The other way is too dangerous to attempt...]

“What is it?” Awa questioned with an unwavering voice.

[You would need to enter inside the undead bear’s body and reach Vincent. However, the body is highly acidic. I do not know how much in pain you will be and how long you can survive.]

“I... I will do that then...” Awa responded. Now her voice wavered because of feeling uncertain things could turn out well for them.

*Step, step, nudge* Night touched Awa’s back. Their emotions and thoughts connected with one another. Night shared with Awa the ultimate and final skill both could use to recover Vincent during this special moment.

“I can do it. I can recover Vincent now.” Awa stated with confidence.

[Hehe. It looks like lady luck might be on our side.]

[Okay. Before I send you back, I want you to know to depend on Plow if anything unexpected happens. I told Plow a couple of emergency scenarios before meeting with you.]

Awa nodded and closed her eyes.

*Living World*

Awa opened her eyes. The time was quickly returning, and her body was slowly freefalling.

The first thing Awa did was to recall the shadow cape. Afterward, she created a heavy shadow ball and kicked it high up in the say. After kicking it, she attached a shadow line to the rising ball.

Awa evaded the undead bear’s paw not by falling but by rising higher up in the say. High enough for Awa not to be reached.

When the kicked ball stopped rising, Awa contorted her body and kicked with the ball attached to her leg.

Right before her body was about to move in one direction, Awa kicked with her free leg. The shadow cape expanded, and Awa mysteriously spun in the sky in perfect balance.

The moon became covered by an expanding dark cloud. It became difficult to see. Only a few places that were being illuminated by burning shacks had clear visibility.

“Eclipse. ” Awa said before pulling and kicking the ball at the perfect moment.