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Ryu's POV
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"Astrid! Thanks for the save! " (Airi)

"Yeah, you got it~! But anyway, you're not going to be able to get close with that magnitude of magic." (Astrid)

"Yeah, I thought so too. What about this shield?" (Airi)

"It can't move. It's basically a large, immovable barrier." (Astrid)

"... Can you do enhancement?" (Ryu)

"Eh? Sure, I can, but if you get hit by those, you'll die for sure." (Astrid)

As if confirming those words, a shard gouges out a 2 foot hole just before the shield.

"Speed me up. I won't get hit." (Ryu)

I stare into Healer's eyes, not hesitating for a second.

"... Fine, I'll do it. But enhancement magic isn't my forte." (Astrid)

"Good." (Ryu)

"I call upon the spirits, answer my call, bestow upon thee thy power of Haste." (Astrid)

As the chant finishes, a faint blue glow appears around me, signifying that the spell had been cast successfully.

As I get ready to run, the faint blue glow shivers slightly, showing that it was already nearing its limit.

I dash forwards, wind flying past my face, the cold chill of the ice magic stinging my cheeks.

I could both feel and see my speed having increased, with my legs moving abnormally fast, and the fact that the trees ahead of me were closing in fast.

While still running, I turn to the Fenrir and dash towards it.

My speed catches it off guard, knowing that I was probably fast than it right now.

It swings its claws, but it had obviously not caught up to my speed yet as I had already run past the claws and gouged another cut out of the legs of the Fenrir.

The lack of a howl surprises me, and I turn to see the Fenrir facing me, holding back the urge to howl in pain, knowing it'd be useless.

"You stupid wolf..." (Ryu)

I mutter under my breath, trying to provoke it into a fight.

It answers my call and growls at me, before dashing towards me.

As it reaches me, I step into its path and swing my sword down, which is followed by a spray of blood staining the Fenrir's snow white  fur.

It whimpers under the pain as it jumps back in an attempt to dodge the attack.

I hope for one last attack as I go into a run, facing the monster.

Having gotten accustomed to my speed, the Fenrir times its attack perfectly, and I try to dash to the side to dodge it.

But just before I can place my foot on the ground, the blue shimmer that surrounded me finally fizzles out of existence, and I can feel my body grow slower.

"Oh sh-- Kuh!" (Ryu)

I get swatted away from the Fenrir while I was focused on the speed boost having worn out.

Landing on the ground atleast 10 meters away, I roll backwards a few times before spitting blood.

"Hey, Ryu! You ok?" (Airi)

"Mm. I'm go- Gakh!" (Ryu)

As I go to stand, a stabbing pain hits me in my chest and I cough blood up.

It seems the impact from the Fenrir broke a few of my ribs.

Barely breathing, I struggle to stand against the pain in my chest and my lack of breath.

Thankfully, my previous attacks to the Fenrir had caused the ice spikes to stop, so I could take my time standing up, if not for the Fenrir.

"Ryu!" (Airi)

"Focus on, the Fenrir." (Ryu)

While they were bothered about me, the Fenrir had managed to close the distance between us by a lot.

A 10 meter gap had suddenly closed to 4, and I could feel fear creeping back towards me.

Unable to get a long breath, I can only kneel in the face of the Fenrir.

The ground tremors as it takes another step towards me. And another. And another.

Quickly, it was right above me. The snarling mouth was right above my head, ready to end my life.

It lowers its head, and I close my eyes, ready to die.

Until I feel the ground disappear from beneath my feet.

The Fenrir had picked me up in its mouth.

In its eyes, I could only see bloodlust and anger, so it wasn't trying to save me.

I was probably it's hostage.

"FIGHT IT!" (Ryu)

"What about you?!" (Airi)

"What about me?! What about the other damn soldiers here who deserve to live?!" (Ryu)

My voice was getting more strained as I shouted, and I could feel my lungs protesting through the pain.

My consciousness seemed to crumble at the edges of my vision as I struggled to take a breath.

"You don't think they'll live?! They will, and so will you!" (Airi)

"Yeah? They won't if you don't fight this thing!" (Ryu)

"... Gah! You piss me off!" (Astrid)

After her shout, Healer sends a ball of mana into the air, which soon explodes into a ball of light, blinding both me and the Fenrir.

Soon after the explosion, I'm jolted to the side as the Fenrir struggles to stand.

Knight had cut the tendons of the Fenrir's front left leg during the time she was given when it was stunned.

She wasn't finished there though, and just as quickly as before, I'm thrown to another side as another leg's tendon is cut, leaving the Fenrir completely immobile.

Knowing it was at its life's end, the Fenrir moves me so that one half of my body was inside its mouth, ready to bite me in half.

Once again, I close my eyes, ready to accept my fate.

"Don't you dare!" (Airi)

The strength in the Fenrir's jaw loosens slightly as Knight cuts its snout slightly.

This injury was very little to the Fenrir however, as the strength that was lost was quickly regained.

"Good job, Airi, for keeping the dog entertained." (Captain)

I feel a gust of wind as the Captain speaks, before a falling sensation overwhelms me and I feel the impact of the floor, softened by the mouth of the Fenrir.

I still cough up slight bits of blood from the impact as it irritates my chest wound more.

"Ryu, you ok?" (Captain)

"Just a slight, chest wound." (Ryu)

My voice is extremely weak as I attempt to answer the Captain, still unable to take a good breath.

My vision seems to be fissling the last bits of light out as my consciousness grows dimmer.

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Astrid's POV
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"Astrid! Healing, now!" (Captain)

"What is it?" (Astrid)

"He said it was a chest wound..." (Etsu)

While speaking Etsusu lifts Ryu's clothing around his chest, revealing a large red mark, accompanied by unusual swelling.

"... Looks like a broken rib." (Astrid)

I take a closer look at his chest, before noticing the lack of a rising chest.

"Hey, he's not dead is he?!" (Astrid)

"What? No, I feel I pulse." (Etsu)

"He's not breathing..." (Astrid)

I out my hand over his mouth, checking for a breath, and feel a small one.

"No, he's breathing, not alot though..." (Astrid)

"So? What is it?" (Captain)

"I think the attack from the Fenrir broke a few ribs, but those ribs punctured his lungs. Which explains why he, fell unconscious... Wait, he's feeling the drawbacks of the enhancement magic..." (Astrid)

"Would he be able to survive the way back to camp?" (Captain)

"Hm. Probably, but you'd have to be extremely careful with him. If you move him about too much, there's a chance the other lung will get punctured, then he wouldn't be able to breathe at all." (Astrid)

"How long has he got then?" (Etsu)

"Long enough to get to the capital. That is, unless his other wounds don't kill him first, or the punctured lung gives him a heart attack." (Astrid)

"How would we know?" (Etsu)

I simply shake my head at Etsusu's question.

Instead, I walk towards the start of the fight, focusing on the several soldiers who were either severely injured or dead.

In the ambush, it seems that 4 of them got pierced by the first icicles, and another 5 got killed by the firnirs.

Of the 50, 9 had died, and around 14 were severely injured, alongside another 7 who had some minor wounds.

Thankfully, the ones who were severely injured would be able to make it back to camp after some basic first aid and some help, so I decided to do all of the healing back at the camp.

As for the Fenrir, it seems like Captain wanted to hand the body to Alzibria, while he wanted to keep the head that he had cut off.

And so, after the dead and living had been accounted for, we returned back to camp at midday.

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Author Notes
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Wow, this chapter is a lot longer than I thought it would be. This one is nearing 1500 words, and it might even make it with this author note.

Anyway, through this one chapter, I found out way more about punctured lungs than I needed to.

Did you know that humans can live on one lung? Or that punctured lungs rarely kill, but in the case they do, it's through cardiac arrest as the air that was supposed to be in the lungs is pushed throughout the body, squishing the organs and putting the heart under pressure?

Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter!