Getting spoiled in a woman dominating world Chapter 482: The First Companion [6]

Brandon slumped against the wall, sliding down until he sat upon the icy stone floor.

Gazing at the severed arm sprawled before him, he shut his eyes briefly, willing his ragged breaths to calm.

'I never imagined we'd split up the instant we passed through the door. I hope Rheanne's okay...'

'Given her strength, she should be fine.'

A trembling, bitter chuckle escaped his lips.

He tilted his head back against the rough stone wall, eyes fixed on the ceiling above.

His mind wandered: 'Worst of all, ether skills are sealed in this chamber. I can't heal my arm using Dhayun's skill.'

He couldn't linger here.

Movement was his only choice.

With his one good arm, Brandon hauled himself upright, steadying against the wall.

One final glance at the severed arm on the ground.

Then, he pivoted away.

"No time for self-pity," he grumbled.

Ripping cloth from his trousers, he bound the stump tightly to staunch the profuse bleeding.

He resumed his trek along the corridor, sword trailing lightly in his right grip, its point grating on the stone floor.

Every few paces, he paused, bracing against the wall, gasping for air amid surges of vertigo and agony.

Yet onward he pressed.

Surrender was never a choice.

Loved ones awaited his homecoming.

Brandon pressed on.

Step by agonizing step.

Blood continued leaking from the stump.

His gaze stayed locked ahead.

He shoved off the wall he'd clung to, briefly using the loaned sword as a crutch before clasping it firmly in his right hand.

"Haa... One of you bastards bit off my left hand," he whispered harshly. "Let's see how you enjoy me paying it back."

Lifting his head, a pair of sinister crimson eyes gleamed from the shadows ahead.

The beast advanced into the dim rune glow.

A grotesque ox-headed humanoid emerged, a Minotaur-esque horror.

Thick, shadowy hide cloaked its brawny frame, with enormous horns arching skyward from its head.

A colossal axe of charred bone and serrated rock filled its huge right fist.

A low, rumbling snort rumbled out, and Brandon's sword grip clenched till his knuckles blanched.

Pain shoved aside in his thoughts, he compelled his body forward.

'Come on... just one more battle.'

He lunged ahead.

The Minotaur bellowed and barreled toward him, axe sweeping in a broad sideways sweep.

Brandon ducked low, knees skidding over the stone.

The axe whooshed above, barely missing, cratering the wall behind and hurling stone fragments everywhere.

His sword arced in a fierce upward slash, gashing the Minotaur's vulnerable flank.

The edge plunged in, tearing hide and flesh, spurting blackish blood.

"GRRAAHHH!!' The beast howled furiously, axe crashing down in a devastating overhead blow.

Brandon tumbled aside; the axe pounded the spot he'd vacated, splintering stone and rippling shockwaves down the hall.

Riding the roll's force, he bounded up and surged forward once more.

He vaulted onto the Minotaur's arm, scampering up the hulking appendage like a slope.

At the shoulder, he thrust the sword down with every ounce of leftover power, targeting the neck's root.

SHUNK!

Deep the blade buried.

The Minotaur howled and flailed wildly to dislodge him.

Brandon clung tight, wrenched the sword further in, then pulled it out and jumped clear.

The Minotaur spun to face him, and he rushed in anew.

Feinting left, he dodged right under the descending axe.

Sliding beneath its legs, he rose behind and hacked the knee tendons with a mighty side slash.

The beast's legs gave way.

To one knee it crashed with a booming impact.

Brandon wasted no moment.

He sprang onto its back, scaled to the shoulders, and hammered the sword down.

CRACK- BOOM!

Through neck and spine the blade hacked.

*thud* The hideous head tumbled ahead, bouncing heavily across the floor.

The corpse teetered briefly before crumpling into a pile, dark blood spreading below.

Beside the fallen foe, Brandon hit the ground as sight dimmed from fatigue and hemorrhage.

Propping on the sword, "Fuck... that was brutal."

A profound, unsteady inhale, then he willed himself upright.

"Can't rest now..."

Leaning the sword on the wall, he fished a ring from his pocket: 'I grabbed my storage ring off my left arm, but access is blocked now.'

'This chamber blocks ether skills, so it must treat storage rings the same way.'

His eyes shifted to the minotaur's corpse: 'Is this thing even an aberrant?'

The aberrant creatures he knew appeared bizarre, and they dropped a core upon being slain.

’...Perhaps the towers simply harbor strange monsters.’

He resumed walking. ’Anyway... I need to locate Rheanne and escape this tower.’

---

"Huff..."

A labored, heavy breath burst from Rheanne’s mouth as one drop of blood trickled into her left eye, clouding her sight in a sticky, warm blur.

She blinked deliberately to dispel it, yet the agony caused everything to spin and waver.

’Was I too overconfident?’

’Simply because I command this power... and after years of training, I’ve grown so strong...’

She’d become accustomed to unmatched supremacy. The lone protector, the sole warrior capable of confronting rifts and towers when others faltered.

Kings trembled before her. Emperors sought to bind her. No monster ever withstood her blade.

’Did that pride make me believe I could conquer any tower?’

Regret and self-blame flickered in her sky-blue eyes, making them quiver.

’Worst of all, my abilities are sealed inside this domain for some unknown reason.’

"Urgh..."

A muffled groan of torment escaped her as she struggled to shift.

A gigantic spear pinned her against the icy stone ground.

It had stabbed clean through her back, right below her stomach, embedding deeply into the floor and anchoring her there.

Blood surged from the injury, forming a pool around her and seeping into the rock.

With each strained breath, more blood frothed from her mouth, reddening her pale lips and trailing down her jaw.

Battling the drowsiness of pain, she lifted her head gradually.

Her eyes fixed on the hulking beast looming above.

An immense Minotaur humanoid wore a crown of warped black iron and bone upon its head.

A dozen additional Minotaurs formed a ragged half-circle behind it, their huge axes and spears slung over shoulders, observing with quiet, ravenous eagerness.

Rheanne clenched her jaw. ’No... I’m just lacking experience.’

For too long, she’d depended on her superior might and spatial control; without them, vulnerability struck.

Now, the consequences caught up.

The crowned Minotaur advanced with deliberate slowness.

Its enormous axe lifted before descending in a languid sweep, halting mere inches from her throat.

Even as blood streamed from her mouth and chest wound, Rheanne glared up at the beast.

Her hand jerked toward the silver blade lying beyond grasp, dislodged in the surprise attack.

Her fingers clawed futilely at the stone.

Eyes shut briefly, she willed steady breaths amid the torment.

’Kael... where have you gone?’

Thoughts of the youth she’d recently encountered—the second soul in her endless years able to harness that scarce energy—stirred worry blended with comfort.

’If only separation hadn’t torn us apart...’

’I refuse to perish here.’

With a grunt of anguish, her free hand seized the spear’s handle piercing her.

Fresh blood oozed between her knuckles as she yanked, but it sat too firmly lodged.

The crowned Minotaur hoisted its axe for the fatal strike.

Defiance in her gaze, Rheanne met its stare. "Come on then,"

The blade arced downward.

In that desperate instant, Rheanne’s mind shifted not to her fate, but to the young man lost within the tower.

’Kael... live on.’

The axe plunged.

Yet before contact, a far-off rumble reverberated down the hall.

*THOOOM*

"GUUUARRGHHH!"

Rheanne’s eyes flew wide, hope igniting within her.

The Minotaur halted, cocking its head at the noise as well.