Summoned and Unwanted

Each step Vincent took was done without hesitation. He didn’t rush to land a hit. Instead, his eyes keenly looked at his large enemy.

Vincent wanted to gauge the power of the mysterious mutated demonic beast. His powers were limited, and the support he could receive was weak. Plow could only stay in her form for not longer than a minute currently, and Zero had expended a lot of Limb Seeds from its body.

Vincent’s senses were sharp because of his dangerous sense. A perceptive reception to danger built from facing more life-and-death fights than one would wish to participate in.

Vincent side-jumped and kept running. The ground faintly trembled before a sharp spike about four feet tall emerged from the ground.

“Vincent Vincent can do it.” *Pho* Plow cheered. Even though her words were positive, Plow’s thoughts weren’t so positive. Plow felt terrible not to have the strength to help Vincent.

Zero didn’t cheer like Plow. Instead, Zero remained level-headed while waiting for an attack to reach them or follow Vincent’s orders.

On the other hand, the most comfortable out of the four was the most emotionally uncomfortable. Even though the air was cold and even though the clothes weren’t warm enough to make a person who was sitting sweat, Awa had cold sweat appearing on her forehead.

Awa saw Vincent strangely jump step to the side. The moment she understood his action was because he was about to be impaled by an earth spike. Awa recalled her father and how lucky he was to only lose one arm.

.....

Awa momentarily heard the same word she had heard before.

After hearing Vincent say, “Critical Time” once, Awa noticed his speed dramatically increase. Additionally, she could see the snow under his feet scattered as if every step he took produced a small gust of wind.

Awa soon saw Vincent punching Orso’s head and retreat by jumping back. Awa became astonished a man was so fearless that he would challenge death head-on.

‘Did he tell me the... truth?’ *Gulp* ‘Was the human really not a slave trader? Only proud warriors would risk their lives to protect others.’ While Awa was pondering about Vincent, she realized a crucial part of the puzzle puzzling her mind. ‘Is he protecting me?...’

To Awa, the mutated bear the Dullahans called the great Orso was a terrifying existence. Not only it killed a few Dullahans and cripple her father, but it made the difficult season of the winter more challenging to find food.

Orso was an existence the Dullahans deemed not able to defeat. An existence that would have forced them to migrate to a different place if they had the resources to travel.

This was information about the Dullahans Awa felt ashamed to tell. However, the man she was reluctant to tell this information to was fighting against her people’s words nightmare.

*Tsk* “Its fur is already hardened.” Vincent commented before he jumped back to avoid a large paw with claws swinging at him.

The fur of Orso was hard to cut with a blade. It meant Vincent could not use Soul Dimensional Storage to fight with.

Vincent noticed Orso was opening its mouth while Kazumi sensed mana gathering. Vincent instinctively prepared to move out of the way, and when Kazumi warned him of an impending attack, he was certain Orso was preparing for a dangerous attack.

The moment Vincent moved out of the way and away from the cabin, Vincent recalled Orso does not have a projectile attack spell.

The question was soon answered. From Orso’s mouth exited an earth spike toward Vincent’s previous location, similar to a lance. The spike made of earth had a lot of yellow-colored parts, and the sound of a faint pained moan could be heard.

Vincent used Soul Invite on himself and canceled the skill. Vincent’s perception increased, and his body moved slightly quicker than usual with five percent powered Primal Insight.

Vincent extended his hands and grabbed the earth spike. Vincent grunted while using all his strength and wind sigils on one side to pull the earth from Orso’s body.

The attempt succeeded on the first try, and unlike what Vincent expected, the earth spike didn’t offer a lot of resistance.

Vincent used the momentum of the great strength he used to twist his body and spin. Vincent held the earth spike firmly and slammed the hardened earth on Orso’s head.

*Crack* The hardened earth of the earth spike shattered upon impact with Orso’s tougher hardened fur.

Vincent frowned upon seeing Orso shake its head as if such a powerful blow could only disorient it for a second. However, pon a keener glance, Vincent noticed a great chance to take advantage of.

The sides of Orso’s mouth had ripped because of the earth spike spell. That was the reason the earth spike had areas with a yellow color, and a faint pained moan sounded.

“Yellow blood?” Vincent questioned.

[Your mutated blood is green. Does it mean the mutated blood of Orso is yellow? Is that the reason the mutated blood inside Plow was acting up.] Kazumi questioned.

“Are you suggesting that our mutations oppose each other?” Vincent asked while clenching his fists.

[This is all we can assume for now. That means you better be careful. Your mutation isn’t acting up, but it doesn’t mean Orso can not entirely affect the twenty-five percent of mutation left in your body.

While Vincent and Kazumi conversed, their eyes soon noticed a problem. The ripped mouth was recovering, and yellow steam was rising in the air.

“What the...” Vincent momentarily froze after his eyes witnessed an occurrence similar to Overload.

[Impossible! How can it have regeneration? And a mutated regeneration at that!]

Vincent and Kazumi weren’t the only ones shocked. The moment Awa saw Vincent smack the earth spike on its head and the moment she saw Orso unhurt, she knew deep down how no man could kill such a terrifying beast.

‘We Dullahans are proud warriours, but how can we kill something like Orso? I saw Orso receive a very powerful attack, but the attack could only stun Orso for a moment.’ Awa thought while her face became paler than before.

Awa moved her gaze to Plow. She could see the little fox’s desire to fight alongside Vincent, even if it was impossible to win.

Awa moved her gaze to Zero. She could see the small plant remain on high alert, even if it was obvious Vincent had no chance to win.

‘How can they remain loyal? Why don’t they run for their lives?...’ Awa stopped thinking and opened her eyes wide. ‘Why am I thinking like this? Why do I think about escape? I am a proud Dullahan. This is the best way for me to ascend to Valhalla.’

Awa took a deep breath and exhaled. She looked a Vincent and said loudly, “Your actions are honorable. I can let you come with me to Valhalla and be with honorable warriors.”

“Hahaha.” Vincent laughed, and his rough voice made his laugh sound maniacal.

“Laughing? Have you gone crazy?” Awa questioned his sanity.

“Thanks for thinking about me. Thanks for inviting me to Valhalla. It means I and not a slave trader in your eyes anymore.”

Awa didn’t know how to respond. She could only look shocked. Awa’s words meant exactly as Vincent described, yet she hadn’t yet accepted Vincent.

Plow jumped on Awa’s lap. She raised her body on her rear legs and placed her two small front legs on Awa’s chest.

“The promise.” *Pho* “Vincent Vincent never lies. Please accept the promise. Vincent Vincent will win to keep the promise.” *Pho*

Awa couldn’t believe a little talking blue fox was asking her, a proud Dullahan, to accept being escorted by a human.

Awa moved her head to look at the fight. Vincent was acting casual, yet she could tell he was on high alert. On the other hand, the mouth was nearly completely healed.

Awa soon saw Vincent sidestep in succession. Multiple one-foot-tall earth spikes emerge from each of his previous locations. Awa was shocked this was all happening while Orso remained still and recovered from its self-inflicted wound.

Awa saw Vincent jump high up in the air and turn his body upside down. He pulled his arm back before as if he was preparing to throw a punch to the ground.

Awa momentarily saw an earth spike extend from the ground. She could hear the power of the impact loud and clear as if she was standing beside them.

Vincent landed on his feet. *Tsk* “It is as you told me, Kazumi. This monster is constantly recovering its wounds. Could it have medium or high recovery?” He said after clicking his tongue.

Awa noticed one of her cheeks was warm and wet. She moved her gaze and saw Plow looking at her with a pair of puppy eyes. It was obvious Plow was now begging Awa to accept the promise. Only then can Plow feel reassured that Vincent is going to win.

“Fine. Human...”

“Vincent Vincent is Vincent Vincent.” *Pho!*

*Sigh* “Vincent. I accept to be escorted if you kill Orso. Make it pay for trampling on us Dullahans. Make it pay for crippling my father. Make it pay...” *Sniffle* “huh?” Awa stopped talking when her eyes felt wet. She raised her hand and wiped her eyes. On them were tears.

“The prideful Dullahan has finally accepted my help.” Vincent raised a thumbs up at Awa and continued, “I wasn’t thinking of losing my life anyway. And if I had no way to win, I would have given you the power to fight.”

“Me? Fight? How?” Awa asked, confused about how it could be possible.