"FIFTEEN MINUTES!! SURVIVE FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES AND YOU WILL LIVE!!" A voice unfamiliar to the four remaining adventurers reverberated from the shadows, forcefully snapping them out of bewilderment.
Realizing that someone, probably a high-ranked adventurer, was there to help them, the frightened four finally managed to regather their wits.
They grasped their weapons tightly as desperate yet determined expressions emerged on their faces, a single thought resonating in their minds.
''Fifteen minutes! I will live if I can hold on for fifteen minutes!''
As the party started to make moves to defend themselves, Shye heaved a sigh of relief, refocusing on the opponent in front of him.
The charging ko drew closer.
Raising its long right arm, the ripper ko swiped its ws diagonally, aiming to rip Shye apart into three pieces.
However, how could such a basic attack hit the ace representative of a champion academy?
Recognizing the swipe attack as nothing but an opening, Shye charged forth, kicking up clouds of dust as he disappeared from his original position, reappearing close to the ko by using his skill, [Dash Lv.4], to skillfully dodge the ko''s attack and ce himself in a position to counterattack at the same time.
''Let''s test how tough this thing is.'' he thought as he ferociously swung both greatswords downwards, aiming to sever the ko''s extended right arm.
*SPURT*
As nimble and strong as the ko might be, it seems like it wasn''t blessed with a quick reaction time, allowing both greatswords to sh deep into the ko''s right arm, prompting purple blood to spurt out of the horrifying wound.
Therger Ripper Ko howled in agony as the synergizing elements of water and lightning momentarily paralyzed it, giving the loathsome ashen-haired adventurer in front of it ample time to retreat to safety.
Sessfully making it through a momentary suffering, the ko''s scarlet eyes locked onto Shye.
The darned thing was absolutely furious.
However, Shye wasn''t intimidated. Not a single bit.
Why would he when the ko''s dominant arm was limping, just a few muscle fibers away frompletely separating from the rest of its body?
Although his [Power sh Lv.4]-powered attack failed to cut through the creature''s right armpletely, it achieved his desired result.
With one arm basically useless, the ko struggled.
Having just one arm for offense made it simple to anticipate the creature''s assaults, enabling Shye to elegantly evade and dodge its subsequent attacks.
However, the ko already learned its lesson.
It refrained from extending its arms too far, wary of another lethal blow, thus opting for slightly less forceful yet morepact attacks.
Realizing that its partner was in trouble, the slightly smaller ko stopped attacking the gold-ranked adventurer party, promptly turning its attention towards Shye to help therger ko who seemed to be losing the battle.
As he noticed a huge shadow charging at him from his peripheral vision, Shye turned his head to look.
''Crap!'' Shye inwardly cursed upon recognition that the other Ripper Ko was out for him.
He swiftly jumped backward to reposition, ensuring that both Kos would be in front of him as it would be hard for him to fight both should one manage to position itself behind him.
Gnashing his teeth as unpleasant memories resurfaced in his mind, Shye resolved to fight the two monstrous creatures by himself, not expecting any help from the adventurer party.
''Come then, you damned kos!'' Shye inwardly scowled, fiercely gazing at the kos as he opted to take an aggressive approach instead of a defensive one—just as he had always done.
Without waiting for the charging ko to close the distance, he fiercely dashed towards the injured one, aiming to either incapacitate itpletely or inflict severe wounds before fighting both of them in a two-versus-one.
There was no room for holding back.
Transparent and decaying mana wings materialized on Shye''s back followed shortly by a hair-raising howl that reverberated across the savanna, capturing the attention of other predators.
However, since such a howl couldn''te from prey, the monstrous creatures who heard it opted to stay away.
As for the charging smaller ko whom Shye inflicted with a few stacks of [Fear], it was momentarily stunned, unsure whether to continue charging for a short single second.
Short as it may be, the slight hesitation was a difference maker, allowing Shye to arrive in front of the wounded ko, dodge its bite attack by jumping, and cleanlynd one of his trump cards: [Draconian Roar Lv.2]
With yet another terrifying roar reverberating across the savanna, the few creatures who decided to check things out threw their instinctive ns out the window.
The draconian roar seemed way too dangerous after all.
As for the poor wounded Ripper Ko, it was trembling in fear.
Naturally, Shye, who knew what would happen should his roar hit its mark, was able to swiftly capitalize on the opening, cutting deep into the neck of therger, one-armed ko.
Unfortunately, his strength attribute was still a bitcking.
Since he was only able to cut through around two-thirds of the ko''s neck, its head tilted to the side, threatening to fall off anytime soon.
Shockingly though, the ko…was still alive and was able to activate one more skill, [Ripper''s Rage Lv. (N/A)], as it hovered around the edges of life and death, unsure of which side it was on.
The following bone-chilling scenes appeared as though they came straight out of a nightmare.
With its head harrowingly tilted to one side, therger ko''s eyes turned pitch ck.
The fur in its body then fell off revealing its muscr marsupial physique which suddenly turned red—muscles bulging as though it would escape the confines of the scarlet skin at any given time.
Shortly after, the ko, who didn''t know whether it was dead or alive, charged towards Shye, its tilted—almost decapitated head hung nearly upside down, shaking disturbingly as the ko''s not-far-from-headless body unnervingly advanced towards him, making his hairs stand on end.