Getting spoiled in a woman dominating world Chapter 484: The First Companion [8]

Dark pools of blood stained the flagstones, spreading outward.

The atmosphere hung heavy with the sharp metallic tang of blood mixed with the arid, dusty smell of stone.

Icy blue flames flickered from torches lining the walls, hurling long, wavering shadows over the floor.

In the heart of the turmoil, Brandon and Rheanne held their ground back-to-back.

Minotaurs bellowed fiercely and rushed in from every direction.

Four attacked Brandon together, lifting their axes and spears high.

He surged ahead in a sudden burst.

With a rush of boosted speed, he weaved low between the lead pair, unleashing an upward sword slash in a fierce rising arc.

*sleesh* His blade tore through one Minotaur's chest and sliced the second across its throat.

Black blood gushed in broad sprays as the pair stumbled back.

He pivoted sharply without pause, smashing a spinning kick into the third Minotaur’s knee.

His amplified power crushed the joint with a sickening crunch, sending the beast crashing down.

Before it could rise, Brandon plunged his sword through its skull, nailing it to the stone.

The fourth Minotaur swept its axe in a broad sideways sweep.

Brandon dropped under the blow at the final instant, the edge hissing past his head.

He rose within its reach and rammed his shoulder into its torso, flipping the huge beast over his back with the force.

As it slammed down, he whirled and hacked downward in a savage overhead chop, severing its neck. *spleesh*

Meanwhile, three Minotaurs barreled toward Rheanne all at once.

She advanced smoothly, blocking the initial axe with a sharp CLANG, then whirled to carve a deep wound across the second Minotaur’s chest, unleashing a fountain of blood.

The third attempted to circle her, but she struck it swiftly.

"Gurgh-" The beast ripped apart in mid-charge, its form exploding into scattered chunks of meat and bone over the ground.

Her motion never halted.

Four more Minotaurs barreled at her next.

Rheanne glided among them with graceful precision.

She deflected a spear thrust, twisted her sword to parry an axe, then retaliated with a rapid stab straight into a Minotaur’s heart.

She rotated once more, her blade gleaming in a sweeping horizontal cut that beheaded two others in one fluid move.

Crimson splattered her white gown, yet none of their strikes touched her.

All of a sudden, three Minotaurs sought to overrun Rheanne, but Brandon dashed over, shoving one away with his power and slashing another down the spine, allowing her to impale the last one cleanly.

Brandon narrowed his eyes. ‘No wonder you’re staying back now...’

He eyed the Minotaur king, where its crown shimmered softly as fresh minotaurs materialized.

‘It seems able to summon even more of them.’

Endless Minotaurs pressed on without mercy, yet the duo stood firm without yielding.

Before long, the ground drowned in blood.

Mangled bodies stacked high around them.

"Haa... Haa..."

Brandon’s breaths came ragged as fatigue seared his lone arm.

His severed left arm pulsed painfully with each motion, new blood trickling out despite some healing.

Rheanne paled, her footing faltering from blood loss, though her sword held steady.

Yet another swarm of Minotaurs charged forth.

Brandon confronted them directly.

He evaded an axe swing, whirled close to the ground, and hamstrung two Minotaurs, forcing them down. Downward stabs ended them swiftly.

Rheanne fought at his side, blocking a spear before thrusting through a Minotaur’s neck.

She wrenched the blade out with a twist, spraying gore over her attire.

Now fully back-to-back, they guarded one another’s flanks and compensated for each other’s vulnerabilities.

"Shit-" Brandon’s foot slid on the gore-smeared rock, but Rheanne’s sword whipped out, lopping off the arm of the Minotaur poised to hit him.

When one tried sneaking behind Rheanne, Brandon leaped in and bowled it over, skewering its chest with his blade.

The battle drained them utterly.

Still, they wouldn’t yield.

At last, after endless slaughter, the final Minotaur fell with a choking bellow, its corpse slumping in a bloody pile.

Quiet descended once more.

Just their labored gasps echoed.

"Haa... Haa... Haa..."

Brandon remained amid the slaughter, chest rising and falling sharply as blood trickled from his stump and countless fresh gashes.

Rheanne rested lightly against him, her injuries still oozing though she’d stemmed the gravest with ether.

Her white dress hung in tatters, drenched red and plastered to her body.

Sweat and blood clumped her long white hair, yet her sky-blue eyes blazed with relentless resolve.

She lifted her gaze toward him, a faint, tired smile gracing her blood-smeared lips. "We make a good team, don’t you think?"

Brandon released a brief, gasping chuckle. "Oh, sure we do."

His eyes drifted beyond her to the enormous silhouette looming at the chamber's distant end.

The Minotaur King.

The entire fight had unfolded under its watchful eye without any interference, its colossal axe casually draped over its shoulder.

Brandon narrowed his gaze. "I guess you are out of your juice too."

Suddenly, he seized Rheanne’s hand with his right and hurled her skyward.

"Huh?"

Rheanne froze in shock for an instant, her eyes flaring wide with astonishment.

’Is he using me as a decoy?’

In midair, she whirled like a pale tempest, slamming her silver blade down in a fierce overhead chop aimed at the Minotaur King.

The king lifted its massive axe to parry.

CLANG!

Right then, with the king’s focus and defenses locked upward, Brandon burst ahead.

SWOOSH-

He materialized before the Minotaur King in one explosive dash. "You’re left open now."

Channeling all his leftover power, he thrust the blade straight into the king’s belly.

*SLEESH*

The sword plunged deeply as the Minotaur King unleashed a roar that quaked the chamber, shuddering the stone pillars and fracturing the floor below.

"GUUUUAAARRRRGGHHHHHH!"

Pain sent it reeling backward, yet Brandon gripped tight.

He wrenched the blade cruelly to enlarge the gash, then ripped it out in a burst of black blood.

The king lashed out with its axe in furious reprisal, but Brandon slipped beneath the stroke and rolled clear, springing up crouched next to Rheanne, who had alighted smoothly after her skyward assault.

Panting heavily with one hand clamped over her wounded stomach, Rheanne offered a weak smile on her bloody lips. "You’re reckless," she said.

"You’re welcome," Brandon retorted, smearing blood from his face using the back of his right hand.

Another roar erupted from the Minotaur King as it barreled directly toward them.

Brandon and Rheanne synchronized their movements.

Its axe arced in a broad, devastating sideways sweep.

Brandon slid low under the edge, then surged up to rake his blade across the king’s thigh, tearing open a new profound slash.

Rheanne vaulted above the very swing, twisting through the air, and hammered her sword down in a mighty overhead blow that gouged the king’s shoulder.

"ARRGHH!" The beast howled in agony and fury.

It lunged to stomp Brandon flat, but he tumbled aside at the final instant.

Rheanne dropped onto the king’s back, thrusting her sword into its spine. *SHINK*

The king bucked savagely to shake her loose.

Brandon grabbed the opportunity.

He sprang onto the king’s arm, sprinted along the gigantic limb, and plunged his sword into the creature’s chest, targeting the heart.

SHUNK!

Deeply the blade sank.

Leaping higher, he clenched his fist and infused his final ether into the strike.

*THOOOM* His punch smashed the beast’s huge face, snapping its neck aside.

Backward it crumpled, slamming into the ground with a deafening crash that rattled the whole chamber.

Brandon towered above the defeated king, his sword still buried in its chest.

Rheanne slipped from the king’s back, touching down shakily at his side.

She pressed against his side for balance, her hand clutched to her abdomen.

A prolonged silence stretched between them.

Then Rheanne uttered a gentle, aching laugh.

"We... actually did it."

Exhaustion filled Brandon’s gaze as he looked at her. "Yeah... We did."

With a slick sound, he yanked his sword from the king’s chest, then extended his right arm to steady her.

Rheanne accepted it with thanks, resting against him as they stood amid the wreckage.

Now the radiant archway at the chamber’s far end throbbed with increased brilliance.

Brandon eyed it briefly, then turned to Rheanne.

"Guess that’s the exit."

She pivoted to face him. "Imagine, that door leads to another chamber like this."

Brandon: -_-

’Don’t jinx it like that, idiot.’

’Surely it’s the exit, right?’

’...right?’