Sete rolled on the ground covered with gray leaves, dodging the monster's blows from her vital points. The seeds she had in her hands scattered around her, but at the moment she was too focused on defending herself to remember that.
Four thin bloody lines burned on her right arm, the blinding pain clouding the young deity's vision. These were no ordinary wounds.
— Ugh! — Sete groaned, covering the shallow scratches with her left hand as she got up.
The Lynx retreated back into the vegetation, disappearing from view. The girl was then able to examine her injuries: the cuts weren't deep, but they hurt excruciatingly. What seemed really serious was the faint purple-black smoke emanating from the area, some kind of poison from Chaos and End present in the creature's claws.
— Come fight me directly, if you dare! — She challenged it, struggling to ignore the pain and wielding her spear again. Sete couldn't let the animal play with her again; the only way to defeat this thing would be to fight it hand-to-hand, without tricks. — Just you and me, a serious contest...
It seemed to understand her, as it leaped out of the dense bushes right in front of the young deity, growling defiantly.
The battle that followed was swift and bloody. Sete exchanged a series of blows with the huge feline, both injuring each other in the process. Gasping for breath, the young deity and the Lynx paused briefly when they heard someone approaching.
— NO! — The girl screamed, throwing herself in front of the monster without a second thought as it leaped toward Ethan and Reed, who had probably come looking for her.
The seeds scattered on the ground sprouted immediately, influenced by the explosion of power from Sete, who acted purely on instinct. The huge variety of leaves, vines, and flowers grew wildly, delaying the creature's attack, but they were not precise enough to completely stop the onslaught.
Even more irritated by the interference, the Lynx advanced with surprising speed and precision, sinking its poisonous fangs into Sete's left shoulder. At that moment, a large amount of warm blood flowed from the wound, and the unspeakable pain brought some clarity to the young deity's mind.
In a matter of seconds, she was able to organize her thoughts: she drove the spear — which she still held in her hands — with all her strength between the ribs of the mutant animal, controlling the vegetation from the seeds to do the same, voraciously piercing the body of the gigantic creature in several different places.
The animal struggled in a desperate attempt to free itself from the deadly plants, but its movements only made Sete groan in agony, the bite on her shoulder increasing the painful grip and blood pouring from the wound. The paw with huge claws swung toward Ethan, and he would have suffered toxic scratches if Reed hadn't stepped in front of him, hugging his pale body.
Five bloody lines streaked across his muscular tanned back, blood staining his white T-shirt where the cuts were. Ethan seemed too shocked to say anything, but Reed gave him a reassuring smile, somewhat overshadowed by the pain of his injuries.
The Lynx of Chaos and End finally stopped moving, his slit pupils losing their shine: it was dead.
However, Sete also fell, her vision gradually darkening. She no longer felt anything, the only thing she heard before losing consciousness was a male voice shouting her name in the distance:
— SETE!