“Get down.”
Before he could even reply, I grabbed Cassion’s collar and dragged him down with me as I crouched.
Just a split second ago, something huge flew over our heads.
It was so massive that you’d wonder how exactly it could fly in the air.
THUD!
And the sound of its landing was as huge as it was.
I could feel the ground rumbling beneath my feet.
Creating a cloud of dust, a boulder caught my eye.
“Wow.”
I unconsciously let out an admiring tone.
It flung a rock as huge as that just like a ball?
Indeed, that’s what you’d call a demonic beast.
While I was in awe, Cassion stiffly turned his head.
“That’s… a deer?”
He muttered in disbelief.
I followed his gaze and looked over there as well. And there the deer was—three times as tall as a wild boar. It was scratching its front hoof over the ground.
Every time it took a step, more and more dust rose. Each of its legs were massive enough for it.
‘The book said it was just five times bigger than a regular deer…’
Somehow, I seriously began to question the novel’s prose and how it described things.
Even if I rub my eyes and wash them, too, that deer was ten times the size of a regular one.
Huff, huff.
Every time it exhaled roughly, its huge nose flared and its mouth opened as well.
The long canines protruding downwards were exceedingly sharp.
Green saliva dripped down those fangs.
I don’t know exactly what those are, but I don’t think it would be very pleasant to get bitten by those.
The antlers on its head were also extraordinary.
Compared to its face, the two antlers jutting out from the sides of its ears were pretty. They also looked as hard and as huge as trees.
It seemed like those antlers were what flung that boulder a while ago.
Sure enough, just looking at the size of those magnificent antlers would make you think that it wouldn’t be strange that an entire boulder went flying in the sky like that.
While keeping my eyes on the deer, I stood up and swept my knees. Then, I reached out to Cassion, who was still crouched down to the ground.
Still gawking at the deer.
“Be careful. You could’ve died just now.”
Towards the outstretched hand, warmth reached.
Cold fingers grasped the other hand, holding fast to his palm.
“Yeah, I almost died. Never mind rolling on the ground, I almost rolled over dead.”
Cassion muttered as though he felt overwhelmed.
Fortunately, this wasn’t enough to make him lose his fighting spirit, seeing as he had enough energy to joke about the enemy.
Of course, it’s true that he almost died just now.
With a small smile, I let go of Cassion’s hand.
He stood side by side with me. His shoulder was slightly stiff, but Cassion soon took out his sword.
Shiiing—
With that distinct, sharp sound, the whip sword that I had gifted him was unsheathed.
I also reached into my skirt pocket.
Pulling the string out, the drooping skirt came loose.
In no time, from inside the dress, pants appeared.
This was the outfit I prepared for today.
A detachable skirt with pants underneath.
I changed into this earlier at the same time Evelyn also changed hers.
“Ah, I should’ve done this much sooner.”
A wave of belated regret washed over me.
But what can I do?
I already reached all the way to the top of the mountain with a fluttering skirt.
Shrugging, I threw the piece of cloth that had been my skirt to the back.
Flap—
Accompanied with that sound, the cloth fluttered through the wind.
Like a flag that would mark the beginning of a battle.
I reached down to my waist again.
This time, I pulled out a hard folding fan that was the length of a forearm.
With one gesture, I opened the folding fan, and a sharp sound split through the air.
The sound alerted the deer, and it started to stomp its feet with even rougher movements.
With only the hazy dust rising constantly, the tense silence filled the surroundings.
* * *
“Ke-heup.”
After rolling on the ground once, Cassion raised himself from the floor while letting out a quiet groan.
But it lasted only for a moment.
He moved quickly again and ran towards the huge deer.
His long sword scratched the ground.
As it stretched out into the length of a whip, rocks and debris went into the air as they were hit by the sword.
And those rocks combusted into flames when the sword hit them.
Those fireballs flew straight at the deer.
However, demonic beasts were inherently intelligent.
Before the fireballs could even touch it, the deer spat out its green fluids at them.
After being soaked by the sticky saliva, some rocks then dropped down to the floor.
The other remaining fireballs were smashed when hit by the deer’s tail.
As if the deer was mocking the attempt, it let out a strong huff.
“Damn it.”
Cassion muttered under his breath.
He haphazardly untied the mask that was blocking his view and threw it behind him.
The sweat that was trapped under the mask trickled down.
When he roughly wiped the sweat off his forehead, his sleeves got soaked immediately.
“Ah, this reminds me of the old days.”
Amid the tense situation, a relaxed voice, which did not fit the mood, could be heard.
Unconsciously, Cassion was about to look sideways towards the source of the voice, but he managed to pull himself together and kept his focus on the deer.
If he were to look away for even a second, he wouldn’t be surprised if his head would get lopped off at any given time.
“What are you talking about suddenly?!”
Cassion shouted out his question, and in response, Rosetta shook her head.
He didn’t see her do that though, so it was a futile shake of the head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
So Rosetta answered him casually, then she smiled and moved her hand.
Pang—
The deer scowled as the sound of the fan unfolding traveled through the air.
The demonic beast instinctively did not like that sound.
Whenever he heard it, trouble always went its way.
Grrrr—
The alerted deer let out a quiet roar.
Still, Rosetta didn’t care and just fanned herself.
As if she had no intention to attack.
She was reminiscing about her distant past.
As she was dealing with the demonic beast here, she was naturally reminded of her second transmigration.
Back during the days that she was running around trying to catch supernatural entities.
‘Gosh, I did all sorts of things back then, too.’
Her recollection made her smile.
In fact, compared to the supernatural entities that she had been dealing with at that time, dealing with this deer right here was like child’s play.
And yet now, she was in terrible shape.
“We’re both in terrible shape though, so it should be fair. Right?”
With a grin, Rosetta muttered, then the deer let out a cry again.
While she was standing with ease, Cassion was on his guard, crouching his torso forward.
The heavily breathing deer rolled one front hoof vigorously.
Unlike its huge body, it was considerably quick and agile.
At once, the deer’s long fangs came right in front of Rosetta’s eyes as it reached where she was standing.
But there was nothing there anymore.
The only thing that remained on that spot was the tree that Rosetta had been leaning against, and so its sharp fangs struck the tree and broke it in half.
Chew, chew. Ptui.
The deer looked as if it was just spitting out a broken toothpick. Watching this, Cassion clicked his tongue.
“Are you alright?”
His black eyes turned towards where Rosetta was as he asked.
Moving to that spot before anyone knew it, Rosetta was next to Cassion now, and she nodded nonchalantly.
“Yeah, I’m fine. But…”
“But?”
The two people who were talking had their eyes fixed on the angered deer.
As if entering a fever of wrath, the deer took out its anger on the surrounding boulders and kicked those.
Every time it moved, startled birds flew up into the sky.
Flap, flap—
No one knew how many flocks had already left the trees around this area already.
Looking up at the startled birds above, Rosetta continued.
“Seems like we need to finish this quickly. With how noisy it’s being, people might start to come here.”
“Would it be better for me to just roll on the ground?”
Cassion asked as he heard Rosetta’s monotonous voice, neither high nor low.
And because he asked in such a serious tone, Rosetta chuckled.
For a moment, their eyes almost met, but Cassion quickly averted his gaze.
He was afraid that he would be lost in those golden eyes if they were ever to make eye contact.
“No, you don’t have to.”
And after that brief answer, the short distance between the two became wide once more.
This was because the angry deer took the tree it broke with its antlers and threw it straight at them.
Cassion quickly escaped, but Rosetta stood still and reached out.
The fan in her hand soon tore the tree apart.
The shattered wood flew around her like firewood.
In the meantime, Rosetta remained standing tall.
But was that all?
The largest and sharpest part of the split tree slipped on one side of the folding fan and rushed back towards the direction it flew in.
Screeech—!
In an instant, the deer let out a violent wail as it was cut directly on its forehead.
New, dark blue liquid flowed out of the open wound.
Momentarily enraptured, Cassion stared at Rosetta.
“Don’t look away. What if you die while looking away?”
At her vicious joke, he looked forward once more.
“I mean, I couldn’t help but look.”
When Cassion complained, Rosetta replied firmly.
“I also know how pretty I am, but… if you don’t want to start sightseeing as a ghost, you’re better off focusing on the enemy right now.”
Listening to her words, Cassion nodded.
Indeed, Rosetta was right.
The ‘white-yellow deer beast’ was a much tougher opponent than he had expected.
Its speed did not match its massive build.
From tail to antlers, it did not move carelessly. Its entire body was a weapon.
It swung its tail and broke those trees, and with it used its antlers to fling boulders.
And as he saw just now, its sharp fangs pierced that tree.
In addition, it had such a wide field of view that, no matter where he went, its eyes quickly caught up to his movements.
Cassion’s hold on his sword was tightened with full tension.
But soon, he almost lost his vigor the moment Rosetta said this next thing, as though she was humming.
“For your information, the demonic beast’s weaknesses are its jaws and its field of view.”
It could see well in a wide range, but its top and bottom views were narrow.
Cassion blinked at her nonchalant voice.
“Why are you telling me that just now? When half the trees around it have already been flung away?
His tone expressed how genuinely dumbfounded he was.
Rosetta looked away and smiled awkwardly.
“I mean. Where else will you get another opponent for some actual combat practice? I meant for you to take this opportunity and build some experience.”
Rosetta’s friendly voice just made Cassion gape blankly at her.
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