What up people?! I've had a bit of writer's block and laziness attack these past few days, which gave me difficulty in writing this chapter, you can kind of notice at the middle to end part of the chapter, it'll feel like it dragged on a bit longer than necessary, but I tried to make the fight as realistic as I could, since I didn't want it like last time where the two duked it out and went all Gintama style, losing a shit ton of blood without dying, so I tried to be as sparing in the brutality as I could, but tried ramping up the damage received without full-on mutilation, if that makes any sense. But I kinda suck at writing fight scenes so I apologize in advance, I promise I'll work on it.

Again, please don't hesitate to comment your thoughts and suggestions in the comment section, and pointers or advice you give me is invaluable and will help me improve the story and other future stories for your reading pleasure.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now, happy reading!

I do not own Danmachi

Chapter VII: Encounter

Third Person POV:

"Hah... hah... where...?"

Bell wearily took in his surroundings, breathless from chasing his assailant for a bit of time until she suddenly made a sharp turn which was noticed by him a second too late, when he turned toward the direction they had gone, they were nowhere to be found.

Currently in the middle of the dark, thick forest on the eighteenth floor, and with his assailant nowhere to be found, Bell finally regained his mind and mentally scolded himself for acting so rashly, now he had potentially left the camp vulnerable to any other possible threats around, which was not out of the question considering the current predicament he found himself in.

Taking a moment to take a deep breath and relax, he internally debated whether he should continue his search for the mysterious hooded assailant, or immediately return to camp, the choice was a no-brainer, he needed to get back to camp and report this to the others.

Vaguely remembering the way he came from during the intense chase, he decided to take a minute and observe his surroundings for any landmark to use and saw that there was a glimmering lake nearby, where not too far from it, was a rather tall tree. Deciding that he could climb that and find his way back, he made his way toward it, or so he would have had a voice not called out to him.

"It is quite unfortunate that you had to see that"

The lone female voice heard in the eerie silence of the nighttime forest immediately attracted his attention

Turning his head to see the source of the voice, to find out the identity of his assailant

Taking note of the woman in front of him, who possessed fiery scarlet yet smooth strands of hair along with sharply contrasting emerald-green irises that of a predator, wearing a battle suit that was more than revealing, making one question if it was supposed to protect the user or was more of a fashion statement, in her deceptively dainty, but in actuality, robust arm was a three-headed stockwhip, indicating that it was supposed to be used on beasts rather than on humans, but as her demeanor would suggest, she will make an exception for the boy in front of her.

"W-who are you?! You're the one who attacked me?!"

Bell shouted out at her, which made her crack the slightest hint of a smile in amusement

"You're strong, I can tell... that punch I gave you earlier would definitely have killed all but first-class adventurers..."

She acknowledged her foe's strength, dodging his question

Deciding that she wasn't going to entertain him on his first two questions, which to be fair were pretty stupid questions in the first place, decided to ask her something else.

"Why were you over there at the camp?! What were you intending to do?!"

Bell interrogated her, but the woman was silent for a while, it wasn't after a few seconds of silence had elapsed until she finally decided to respond

"What was I doing there huh...?"

She began, but before Bell could question her what she had meant by that, she followed up

"I was just about to take out the trash but you had to notice me... it could've all gone smoothly, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now"

Narrowing her eyes at him in annoyance as she spoke, Bell's face took on an expression of horror at what she had just revealed to him

"W-What do you mean?! Answer me!!!"

Bell snapped at her, confirming his suspicions that she was up to no good, he needed to get back as soon as possible

"So impatient..."

Revis shook her head at the boy's hotheadedness, then proceeded to fasten her whip to the side of her waist, which told the boy she was readying herself for combat.

"No matter, it won't matter to you once you're dead!"

Without warning, she sped like a bullet toward the surprised albino boy, who was taken aback by the woman's sudden, speedy approach.

"Whoa!"

With less than a second to react, Bell barely saves himself from getting slugged in the face again, blocking her nasty right hook with his left arm, he cringed at the force behind the blow

'Crap, she's really strong...!'

Not giving the albino even the slightest moment to regain his bearings, she quickly and expertly planted her right foot onto the ground, sharply pivoted her body, and delivered a swift yet robust kick precisely aimed at the boy's right temple, which barely missed its intended target by a hair's breadth, as the boy saw it coming from his peripheral vision and reacted accordingly, ducking and avoiding and barely avoiding a migraine-inducing blow.

Left vulnerable as her left leg was still suspended in the air, Bell seized the chance and administered a leg sweep to the woman, which left her at the mercy of gravity, and of Bell Cranel, or that was until she prevented her head from crashing onto the floor and earning herself a concussion by bracing herself for the fall and letting her forearms receive most of the force from the fall, leaving her in an ideal position to deliver a powerful and unexpected upward kick which connected with the boy's chin, sending him a few meters into the air and forcing out blood from his mouth from the force of the blow.

Crashing down and rolling pathetically on the floor, Bell nursed the painful vertigo from her surprise counterattack

"Ack...!"

Assaulted by pain and with his vision blurry, he forced himself to get up and face the approaching enemy, who appeared right in front of him the second he got back up to his feet.

"Don't make this harder for yourself"

The woman suggested in a monotonous voice, cocking her arm back and preparing to administer another hit to the wounded Bell Cranel, but was caught off guard by Bell suddenly moving faster than what he had been moving previously and turned the tables with a quick, right hook at her abdomen, which sent her stumbling back from the force, but what had surprised her the most is that Bell didn't follow up the chance he got with the surprise attack, which made her eyes slightly widen in realization.

"Are you... holding back...?"

Her eyes gradually narrowed further and further, gaining an ever more dangerous glint to them, if it was one thing she hated the most, it was when adventurers held back against her, or even condescended her, it was simply something that she did not tolerate, making her often lose her cool despite her usual aloof demeanor.

Instead of answering her question, Bell remained silent and returned her fierce glare, but one filled with determination, not hate, as the one she was sending him now.

"You... do not underestimate me!!!"

Emitting a snarl, she pushed herself off the ground with speeds greater than what she had displayed earlier, Bell was once again caught off guard by her swift response, barely managing to intercept her nasty, right hook with his left arm, but was ill-prepared for the knee that connected with his chest, which forced the air out of his lungs, the force of which, sent him crashing into a few trees, destroying them.

"Augh! *Hack*! *Hack!!!"

The pain was much too great for the boy at the moment, Bell felt his legs numb and his arms heavy, he was utterly at the mercy of the woman in front of him, who stared daggers down at the pathetic, half-dead albino boy in front of her as if he were the most disgusting scum ever.

Grabbing him by the throat, she tightened her grip on the boy's throat, enough to hamper his ability to breathe

"Auuugh...!!!!"

Bell tried to get her to let go, but she wouldn't, connecting her fiery, enraged emerald irises with his distressed and panicked rubellite ones as she lifted him to face-level

"You-"

She greatly tightened her grip on his neck, which totally prevented him from breathing, which made him flail like a fish out of the water

"Do-"

Immediately sending a punch to his face, which connected, making the boy cringe in pain

"Not-"

Another nasty blow, which drew iron from the boy's mouth

"Look-"

Then another

"Down-"

And another

"On-"

His consciousness was fading and fast, he needed to do something, anything!

"Me-"

With newfound energy, the boy reacted this time, delivering a sharp knee into her solar plexus, which caught her off guard and forced her to let go of him

Bell Cranel decided that enough was enough, it was clear that this person in front of him had full intentions to kill him, so there was no need to hold back anymore.

As if a great monster had been awakened, Bell reappeared in front of the very surprised woman in the literal blink of an eye, showcasing his absurd speed

Attempting to subdue the boy before he connects any attacks, she threw a fist toward his face, but it was all in vain as the boy swiftly ducked at the last moment and threw a powerful punch to her sternum, which knocked the air out of her lungs, sending her flying into some adjacent trees, uprooting them from the sheer force of the collision.

Not about to let her regain her bearings, Bell sped toward the area where she crashed into, which was covered in dust that was thrown up from the impact, obstructing his vision.

It was hard to see anything with all the dust and debris thrown about, which left him woefully vulnerable to her whip, which did some damage on the boy's chest, cutting the skin and sending him crashing into a tree.

"So you were holding back this much... "

The woman's ominous figure suddenly appeared from the smoke, getting ever so closely to the boy who nursed the cut wounds on his chest, with her whip in her hand, she mockingly clapped

"I'm almost offended that you pulled your punches by that much... but I guess surviving against me for so long does warrant some praise, so I truly commend you for not dying yet"

She stopped a few meters in front of the boy, who was getting up, leaning against the tree for support as he readied himself to face her once again

"But for how long?!"

As soon as her last syllable was uttered, she sent her whip speeding towards the boy

Ducking as fast as he could, Bell avoided getting slashed in half as she had put enough force behind her whip to bisect the poor tree behind him, pushing off of the remaining tree stump to catch her before she renews her attack, Bell rushed the woman, who readied her free arm to throw a fist to intercept the incoming boy.

"FIREBOLT!"

Finally deciding to use his magic for the first time in the fight, Bell aims it at the ground right in front of her, throwing up dust and soot, disorienting his opponent

"ACK!!!"

Catching a bit of dust and dirt in her mouth, she spit it back out into the ground, annoyed by the stubborn adventurer's antics

"Clever, but you're starting to ann-"

Before she could finish that sentence, Bell delivered a devastating kick to her side, which likely broke a few ribs if the whimper of agony she weakly let out was anything to go by

Crashing like a lifeless ragdoll onto a nearby tree, she grit her teeth with so much force that she felt them slightly crack

'Presumptuous pest, I've had enough of this!'

Her staff started to glow with an eerie violet aura, which promptly forced the boy to stop advancing towards her vulnerable figure in apprehension, observing with hawk-like acuity his opponent lest she make any sudden moves.

And made sudden moves she did, at speeds nearly imperceptible to even first-class adventurers, she sharply snapped her arm up, with the heads of her whip also snapping up, out from the heads came three slits of razor-sharp, pure concentrated energy.

Not expecting the attack, Bell hurriedly jumped out of the way, but not before his forearm got cut slightly at the slightest contact with one of the slits

"Yikes!"

Bell let out a distressed cry as he felt the sting from his forearm getting cut, accompanied with a burning sensation, which felt familiar.

Then he noticed it

'T-This is the same as that time...!'

Remembering when he fought against Dix Perdix, his eyes narrowed

"So it's also cursed, huh..."

His wound refused to stop bleeding, with blood continuously coming out from the rather tiny cut he sustained, he needed to avoid sustaining further damage lest he lose too much blood.

"I need to end this quick and get back!"

Clenching his fist, he opened it and pointed it out toward the direction of his opponent, who had already gotten up to her feet but did not move from her spot, as if waiting for her opponent to make the first move.

"FIREBOLT!!!"

Shooting out a few firebolts in rapid succession which sped toward her, she responded by cutting them all down with her energy covered whip, which exploded upon impact and generated smoke, forming a smokescreen.

Not at all surprised that the boy was right in front of her after the smokescreen cleared, she wasted no time in moving to intercept the boy with a backhand to deter him from getting too close, duck to avoid the backhand, he got into her personal space and readied to deliver another nasty hit.

But she quickly reacted in time, grabbing the fist he sent straight at her, tilting it at a weird angle and responding with her own, which connected, sending the boy stumbling a few steps back. Disoriented from the blow he received, he barely reacted to the three threads of her whip speeding toward him, ready to split him into three, bloody pieces, pushing himself off the ground and toward the woman, he renewed his assault, cocking back his right fist to deliver a punch, which she noticed and moved in accordance to, readying herself to duck and drive her arm through the boy's torso, but was taken aback when the boy suddenly delivered a nasty knee, which anticipating his right hook, ducked, but then came face-to-face, or face-to-knee with Bell's knee.

The nasty blow pushed her feet off of the ground, sending her tumbling a few feet away, clutching her now broken and bloody nose in agony.

Profoundly enraged that the boy inflicted even more damage to her, she renewed her assault with vicious vigor, rapidly rotating around her axis, sending out countless razor-sharp beams of pure energy flying everywhere, causing significant collateral damage to the area around them.

Having no weapon in his hand to protect himself against the barrage with, Bell resorted to dodging to the best of his abilities, which worked for the most part, but eventually sustaining multiple cuts of varying sizes, none fatal but the cumulative blood loss will start to debilitate him, leaving him vulnerable.

With little choice left, Bell called upon his Argonaut ability, which was his saving grace in the most dire of situations.

His right arm now gained a soft, clear-white glow

The gentle sound of small chimes rang out, until they gradually got louder and louder until it was as loud as a church bell, Argonaut had been charged for thirty seconds.

Dodging as best as he could, Bell maneuvered and dodged in such a way that he every so slightly, but surely got nearer to the origin of the maelstrom.

Time seemed to slow down for the boy, whether it was the dire situation warranting the utilization of the fullest extent of his perceptual abilities, or if his life flashing before his eyes, he did not know, but he pressed on.

Raising his now shining right hand, he said the magic words

"FIREBOLT!"

Then from his right palm erupted a terrible, enraged and wanton torrent of flames, heading straight toward his enemy

Forced to stop spinning due to the ferocity of Bell's unleashed Argonaut-augmented firebolt, she weakly raised her hands in a vain effort to protect herself from the fiery maelstrom, which consumed her whole.

The surrounding trees were lit up by the sudden torrent of flame released, with the temperature of the vicinity rapidly rising and making it hard to breathe.

"Hah... hah..."

Bell Cranel's lone, weary and injured figure stood in front of the sea of eerily dancing flames, the harsh glow illuminated the area in a light-orange hue yet casted harsher shadows around its darker corners and crevices.

"I... I need to get back!"

With his enemy vanquished, or incinerated... Bell limped his way toward the tree he saw earlier, seeking to climb it and find out where he was...

Or that was the plan, until he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, the killing intent he felt went through the roof.

'I- Impossible, s-she's still...'

But Bell wasn't allowed to finish that thought when he felt a powerful blow on his back, which cut his back and drew blood, sending him rocketing and crashing onto the tall tree he saw earlier

Unable to cry out in pain due to the sheer power behind the blow, his body went limp with the accumulated damage he received

"Ack...!"

Bell Cranel was slowly starting to lose consciousness

Fighting the overwhelming urge to close his eyes and simply surrender his life against the powerful foe, he immediately noticed that he was suspended quite high up in the air, just high enough to see a certain expedition force's campsite.

'!!!'

Now wide awake, he mentally took note of the direction and distance of the campsite, which wasn't too far, with reference to his location, then tried to get off and onto the ground again.

But before he could do that, his opponent suddenly appeared in front of him and decided to do that for him, albeit much more harshly, like slamming him against the ground harshly.

The poor boy was hacking out blood from his mouth and probably broke a few ribs with the impact, wracked with pain all over, he struggled to get up and defend himself, when his assailant once more appeared in front of his supine form.

"I grow tired of your tricks, boy..."

The woman's clothes, along with where her skin was exposed were quite scorched, suffering from first to second degree burns which caused unsightly and painful blisters, her hair slightly singed, but nonetheless still able to fight.

Bell tried to get up, pushing himself off of the ground pathetically, when she helped him get up... by kicking him in the face, sending him flying a few feet into the air and crashing a few meters away, now facing toward the sky.

Coughing out blood, he struggled to even breathe, it felt like he was drowning.

"A-ack...!"

Producing a weak, pained cry, he struggled once more to get up when his opponent appeared in front of him again, this time grabbing him by the neck, which further reduced what little ability to breathe he had

"U...agh...!!!"

Bell grabbed at her arm and applied pressure on it, but she was unflinching as she tightened her grip on his throat.

"After I'm done with you, I'll be finishing off those Loki Familia scum."

Her glare grew even colder as Bell continued to struggle against her iron grip, but she was intent on making sure he stays down for good

"You were powerful, I'll give you that, but its only natural that the strong triumph over the weak, that's just how life works..."

Cocking her arm back far, intent on driving it through his chest and silence the boy once and for all, she nodded at him in respect

"For the great battle we had, I shall remem-AUGH!!!!!!!"

Her cold and monotonous suddenly screamed in agony when a stray, lone beam appeared from the trees and went through her outstretched left arm that was choking the albino boy, completely obliterating it, but aimed precise enough as to not hurt him.

Dropping to the ground after the woman's arm that was gripping his throat was quite literally vaporized, Bell Cranel sharply inhaled, filling his lungs with much needed air and seized the chance that he got, with all the strength he could currently muster, delivered a sharp kick to the woman, who was clutching in great agony the bloody, gushy stump of what was once her left arm, in the face, sending her rocketing off toward a few trees.

"B-Bell Cranel!!!"

The distressed and panicked feminine voice of somebody he recognized was heard

"L... Lefiya-san...?"

Bell panted, his body seriously debilitated as a result of all the damage he had taken earlier, struggling to get back up to his two feet to properly receive the elf who was rushing to him with an extremely worried expression on her face.

Unable to stand for very long, his knees buckled as he fell forward

"Watch out!"

Lefiya rushed to prevent his fall by catching him in her arms, clutching the boy as if the slightest pressure will hurt him, she unfortunately did not have any healing potions with her since she rushed towards his location the second she noticed him rushing off, and thus the only thing that'll help was a healing spell.

"S-Sit down please, I'll start chanting my healing spell"

Fighting down the fierce blush on her cheeks, she assisted the heavily injured boy onto a comfortable sitting position as she started to inspect the extent of the damage he received

"It's a good thing I got here when I did..."

She trailed off when she saw the numerous bruises and lacerations the boy had accumulated, which made her heart ache from witnessing what the boy had to endure.

"L-Lefiya-san... ho-how-augh!!"

Bell attempted to ask her something, but was cut short when he suddenly clutched at his left chest, yep he definitely broke a few ribs

"P-Please! Don't try to talk, you likely broke a few ribs!"

She shushed him as she prepared to chant her healing spell

"I'll start now"

As if she were a strict teacher advising her student to behave, with her tone, she implied that she will not tolerate any distractions or interruptions, promptly making Bell stay still and just let her do her thing.

But before she could open her mouth, a profound chill went down her spine, making her break into a cold sweat

Bell felt it too, the killing intent was at an all time high, which also caused his heartbeat to accelerate in panic

"You worm...!"

It was as if the devil himself had spoke those words, with how guttural it sounded, as if the speaker was not human

The two adventurers felt they were in immediate mortal peril, Lefiya began to hyperventilate while Bell struggled to get up.

"That was a cheap trick, which was the only reason you got me you elven wench!!!"

Appearing from the smoke was the bloodied, and bereft of a left arm, which was wrapped up in cloth taken from her now, ripped cape. The woman was absolutely livid, her face contorting with rage giving her the visage of a deranged psychopath.

With every syllable she spoke, venom dripped out of her mouth, each word more bitter than the last one she uttered

Lefiya trembled in fear as the woman got closer, unable to move as she was paralyzed with terror, as if she were a deer caught in the headlights of a vehicle

"L-Lefiya-san...! P-Please ru-augh!"

Attempting to snap the girl out of her terror-induced stupor, Bell failed as his fractured ribs made it hard to speak or even breathe

"Killing you will be fun... but not yet! I think I'll make it hurt for a while until I grow bored of youI!!"

With the last word of her expression uttered, she rushed toward the elf with extreme speed, much faster than what her eyes could perceive, appearing right in front of the terrified elf in less than a second, which caught her off guard.

Giving her not even a millionth of a second to react against her initiative, the woman delivered a devastating slug toward the elf's delicate face, which received it in full force, sending her flying and crashing into a few trees.

Unable to cry out from the intense pain, Lefiya whimpered as pain wantonly assaulted her body, tasting iron in her mouth, she struggled to keep her eyes open, the sweet lull of unconsciousness ever so slowly yet surely seducing her to slumber.

Taking her sweet time, the woman made her way toward the injured elf, who looked like she was halfway at death's door.

"No matter how many of you vermin accumulate, you all shall fall at the face of true and absolute strength!"

With her footsteps getting more and more audible, Lefiya struggled to push off of the tree she was leaning against, intending not to be such an easy target for the woman, but another nasty slug was enough to send her crashing back onto the tree.

"AUGH!!!"

Lefiya let out a cry of pain, coughing out blood from her opponent's brutal administrations, a trail of blood trickling from her left nostril.

Forcefully grabbing the injured elf's throat and slamming the back of her head deeper into the tree, the woman glared at her with a glare that promised an eternity of pain and suffering.

"N...ngh...!"

With her still intact right arm firmly grasping Lefiya's throat, infuriated green irises met terrified glassy blue ones.

"Rest assured elf, after I'm through with you and the boy, I'll be sending your insufferable Familia straight to hell as well..."

Smiling for the first time as far as she could remember, bloodlust coursed through her veins as her smile contorted into a maniacal grin

"N-No...!"

Lefiya , alarmed by the threat to her dear Familia, weakly tried to resist the woman's iron-grip, but found herself deeper in trouble as the woman intensified her hold, further constricting her ability to breathe

"A-Augh...!!!"

Lefiya's consciousness was starting to fade, as bitter tears fell from the corners of her eyes

'I-I'm sorry everyone... I guess this is it for me...'

Noticing the elf's rapidly fading life force, the woman loosened her grip on the elf just a tiny bit, allowing her just a modicum of breath, just enough to keep her conscious through it all

"Hey now... don't go so soon... I haven't even had my fun y-"

Her words abruptly died in her mouth as she suddenly felt a powerful grip on her right forearm

Snapping her head toward the source of the grip, her eyes flared in fury

"Y-you...!"

She snarled at the one who had interrupted her fun. Firmly grasping her forearm was the bloodied form of Bell Cranel standing tall and proud as if the fight they had earlier had never occured.

She tried to yank her arm away from the boy's grasp, but she found that she could not move her arm even the slightest bit, so instead, she had just resorted to sending a swift kick his way, which was immediately blocked, his free hand moving at a speed imperceptible to even her eyes.

"W-Wha...?!"

With profound confusion replacing the enraged countenance she had donned earlier, she stared in shock at the boy's agility.

"S-So you were holding ba-AUGHHHH!!!!"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as Bell promptly applied significantly more pressure on his grip, crushing her forearm and forcing her to let go of the injured elf, who was starting to lose consciousness from the damage she had received earlier as she was a mage and was therefore not accustomed to receiving such devastating blows from her opponents.

With her vision rapidly darkening, she barely made out the outstanding strands of white hair of her saviour

"B-Bell... Cran-"

The elf promptly passed out

Cringing in pain, the woman glared at the boy and retaliated with another kick aimed at the boy's right temple, which was promptly stopped as he grabbed her speeding leg and harshly pivoted his body, uprooting her from the ground and sending her shooting into a few trees, with much more force this time.

Throwing up a large amount dust and debris from the impact, the woman felt her scalp getting split from the impact, the warm feeling of blood trickling down from her forehead to her chin.

"Ngh... h... how is he still..."

She nursed the devastating headache she was experiencing at the moment as she barely saw the boy's lone figure limp toward her, as if he were a specter that materialized out of nowhere, haunting her.

Not giving the woman any time at all to regain her bearings, Bell Cranel disappeared at imperceptible speeds even to her, only for him to immediately reappear right in front of the injured woman, greatly shocking her

"Tch!"

Barely reacting in time, she lunged to the side and narrowly avoided getting her head slammed further into the tree, considering herself lucky since the force behind the boy's blow completely destroyed the tree behind her earlier.

Wasting no time, she took out her whip, ignoring the acute pain of her crushed forearm, she activated her magic and expertly swung her weapon, aimed dead straight at the boy, who was yet to brace himself

'Direct hit!'

She could tell, the boy will not be able to dodge even at his speed, but readied herself to anticipate any other tricks the boy might pull since he had held back this much until now, but what she didn't expect was for the boy to brazenly reach out with his arm and grab the incoming whip, firmly stopping it on its tracks

"W-what?! H-how...?!"

She was in utter disbelief, how did he not sustain any damage from his hand coming into contact with her weapon?

Then she noticed that his arm that grasped her weapon was glowing white, with the sound of bells ringing in the area becoming more cacophonous.

"Y-you-!"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as Bell sharply and abruptly pulled against the weapon she held, yanking her towards the boy, who received her with a nasty slug to the face, which sent her crashing into the ground with an incredible force.

"AUGH!!!"

Getting the air forced from her lungs, she was left at the mercy of the white-haired albino monster in front of her, which unfortunately for her, showed her not a single shred.

Raining blows on the supine figure, with each more devastating than the last, the woman could do little to prevent the one-sided onslaught

His pale knuckles drawing even more blood with each consecutive hit, whether it was his or her blood, the boy did not know, the only thing he knew at the moment was that she hurt his precious friend, and that was unforgivable.

With her face battered and bruised, nose and a few ribs broken, scalp split open, one arm barely usable and the other gone, along with numerous other wounds from the skirmish between the two, the woman acknowledged that she will definitely lose should the battle drag on and therefore needed to get out immediately.

'C-Crap... I won't make it at this rate... I need a chance to escape!'

Panic overriding her senses, the scarlet haired woman kneed the berserker adventurer in the gut, forcing him to stop his relentless assault, then without leaving him any chance to recover, delivered a disorienting blow toward his head, which connected, leaving the boy incapacitated and unable to retaliate.

Deciding that she was in no further state to fight, she chose the ideal option, which was to turn tail and leave, disappearing into the dark and eerie forest, leaving both heavily wounded adventurers for dead.

Well, you can tell that I lost my creative juice around halfway the chapter. I decided not to have Bell completely destroy Revis here like last time, as I felt like it lessened the impact of Lefiya saving him, so I went with him getting his ass handed to him by Revis until he finally beats the living hell out of her for hurting Lefiya, which is more dramatic in my opinion. Anyway, I'm outta here, I'll see you lovelies in the next one!