Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Cane grabbed Ai’s wrist before he pulled her behind a huge boulder that hid both her and Cane. Ai struggled to keep up with him, but once safe, she fell to her knees.

"Ai, keep hiding here. I will take care of the monster. Just make sure you do not come out of here, no matter what, alright?"

Cane asked her, and Ai quickly shook her head in agreement. That finally gave Cane some room to fight the monster.

He ran out of the hiding spot, and the monster immediately turned its attention toward his form. He was distracting the monster, and he took its attention to the other side of the room. Google seaʀᴄh noᴠelfire.net

The snake-shaped monster tried to slap Cane with its tail, but Cane was both small and nimble. He was easily able to get out of the way of any attack. It made the snake more and more frustrated, and it kept attacking Cane even faster.

However, Cane had an ultimate weapon in the form of his stealth, and he used it every time the monster was too close to attacking him.

When his presence suddenly vanished, the monster pulled back and flinched. And that hesitation gave Cane the window to be able to attack back.

However, just because he attacked the monster did not mean he would hurt it as well. His attacks were just too weak.

[Guardian of Azur (Lv60)]

The tag shone above the monster’s head as it attacked Cane. The monster was no longer attacking Cane directly but the areas around him.

It made the ground unstable for Cane to step on, and he clutched the half-broken wall so he would not fall directly where the monster was attacking.

’Tsk, how tough. The only soft part of this monster seems to be its mouth. Will I have to attack close up to get him?’

Cane saw no other choice. He pushed toward the monster when he suddenly saw the monster pause and turn around.

Ai had thrown a rock at the monster in order to distract it from Cane.

"Cane, let me help as well. I will distract the monster for you, so just... don’t get hurt."

Ai was shaking as she came out of her hiding spot. She looked terrified but determined at the same time.

The monster also left Cane and headed toward her, causing Cane to curse.

’Shit-! Don’t tell me that Ai has a higher taunt value than me?’

It made sense that Ai would have the higher taunt count compared to Cane. She was the target of a quest that involved protecting her. That did not make the situation any less irritating than before.

"Come at me, you beast. I am not afraid of you."

Ai yelled as the monster opened its mouth to swallow her whole. Cane’s heart thundered in his chest as he hurried toward her.

He somehow made it all the way to stand in front of her and got ready to shoot.

’It will be fine. Even if I die, I will respawn. But I don’t know what will happen to Ai if I fail to protect her.’

Most NPCs in Clash Online were immortal, and failing their quests would just reset them. But there were also a few ’special’ NPCs who were gone once you failed their quest. What was worse—no one else could interact with them either.

Cane did not want Ai to disappear, so he made that decision.

The snake bit through Cane’s shoulder, and all he felt was pain.

[Warning: Your HP has fallen dangerously low. Please recover your HP or you will die.]

The system warned, and Cane frowned. The system message felt ominous, but the pain made him unable to feel much.

’It’s too painful. Should I just die and respawn? That would be so much better.’

Just as Cane decided to do that, his system blazed red. Red screens appeared all around him and covered his senses.

[User will not respawn if user dies]

[Emergency protocol will be initiated. External connections will be severed]

[Support going online]

The sudden messages caused Cane’s chat and even Ai to look startled.

[HaremKingXXX: What the hell is that? Someone, clip it-]

Before anyone could do anything, the game crashed the chat and disconnected it. The monster attacked Cane and Ai, but a barrier charred its body.

"T-This is... a curse?"

Ai whispered as she looked at the red all around her. She could not understand what was happening, but she felt that a part of her understood what was happening.

Cane was dying, and this curse was trying to keep him alive.

"What should I do? I need to save Cane... but how?"

Ai questioned as she watched the red spreading. Something in her told her that she could use her power to heal Cane and push that red back.

But her instincts told her that if she interacted with this curse, then she would be putting her life in danger.

The best course of action for her would be to not do anything and let Cane die. Someone else could take over his quest and—

"Stop it! Stop telling me this. I can’t let Cane die. H-He’s... an important person to me. He’s the only important person to me right now, so I... will help him out."

Ai made up her mind quickly, and her determination won in the end. She reached her hand and felt it sink into the sea of red that surrounded Cane.

[Warning: Do not engage or you will corrupt your module. It may affect your physical form as well.]

"A physical form? Do I have one? I do not recall it. Heck, I do not recall anything anymore. But I still know what I must do."

Ai kept pushing forward. The pain in her arm threatened to overwhelm her, and she felt like her bone was breaking.

But her determination kept pushing her forward, and finally, she was able to find it—Cane’s chest—and she rested her hand on top of him.

"Don’t worry, Cane. I will save you."