Free Web NovelChapter 140: My Husband Does Not Die in Puddles
The monster tossed its head wildly, throwing him backwards into the deeper currents. Water rushed over his face, filling his ears and nose.
The beast dragged him down swiftly, pulling him away from the shoreline and into the suffocating depths of the reservoir.
Standing on the shore, Misha watched the white mana signature of her husband sink below the surface, disappearing completely from her vision as the corrupted water scrambled her sight.
Kane was trapped underwater. He was still blind, bleeding profusely from his arm, and now wrestling a level one-hundred predator on its own home turf.
Kane sank fast. The beast dragged him deeper into the reservoir, thrashing wildly to disorient its prey. Bubbles slipped past his lips as oxygen became a premium commodity in his burning lungs.
’You brought a barbarian into the depths,’ Kane mused, forcing his rising panic down into a cold, calculated focus. ’Big mistake, ugly. I don’t need to see to know exactly where your teeth are.’
Keeping his irritated eyes firmly shut, he refused to waste energy trying to blink away the swamp sludge.
Relying entirely on his passive combat senses, Kane let his warrior instincts take over. The water pressure shifted against his skin. Currents pushed and pulled, mapping the creature’s movements as it released its harness to prepare for a lethal, finishing strike.
A sudden displacement of water hit his right side. It was circling him, waiting for him to drown or flail blindly in the chilling silence.
’Come on,’ Kane urged mentally, floating steadily. ’Take the bait. Open wide.’
The current shifted drastically. The beast lunged forward, opening its huge jaws wide to snap him in half.
Kane didn’t try to swim away. Dodging underwater against an aquatic apex predator was a fool’s errand.
Bracing his core, he pulled his knees up tightly into his chest, waiting for the perfect fraction of a second.
As the jaws closed in, Kane kicked out with everything he had. He drove his left boot directly into the roof of the monster’s mouth and his right boot into the lower jaw, locking his legs perfectly to hold the cavernous maw wide open.
The creature thrashed, confused by the sudden, painful resistance. It tried to clamp down, but Kane’s reinforced boots and berserker strength held the jaws apart, turning its own bite force against it.
’Say ah,’ Kane thought with a grim, bubble-filled smile.
Reaching forward, he wedged Mjoldr deep down the monster’s exposed, fleshy throat. Gripping the handle tight, he unleashed his aura all at once.
Crimson energy flared from his core, channelling directly into the axe. He detonated the shockwave right inside the beast’s stomach.
Up on the shoreline, Nadia gripped her dagger so tightly her knuckles turned white. She stared at the bubbling surface, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"We have to do something!" Nadia yelled, looking frantically at Misha.
"He has been under for too long! No human can hold their breath while fighting a monster!"
Misha stood perfectly still, her white eyes fixed on the center of the lake.
"Wait."
"Wait? He is dying down there!" Nadia argued, stepping closer to the muddy bank.
"My husband does not die in puddles," Misha replied calmly, though her fingers curled slightly into her palms.
Suddenly, the murky water boiled. A towering geyser of lake water and bright red blood erupted into the sky, raining down over the reeds like a crimson monsoon.
Silence returned to the reservoir.
A few moments later, the surface broke. Kane waded out of the bloody surf, taking slow, deliberate steps toward the dry bank.
His tunic was shredded to ribbons, and his left arm bled freely, dripping crimson onto the grass. Behind him, he casually dragged the severed, scaly head of the mutated behemoth by its jagged horns.
Dropping the monstrosity onto the shore with a wet thud, Kane exhaled a long, exhausted breath.
Misha rushed over immediately. Uncorking her canteen, she pulled a soft cloth from her pouch. "Keep still, husband."
"I cannot see a thing, Misha," Kane admitted, leaning down slightly so she could reach his face.
"Feels like someone rubbed crushed glass into my corneas."
"You always find the messiest way to win," she chided gently. She poured fresh water over the cloth and wiped the acidic sludge from his eyelids with practised care.
Cool relief washed over his stinging eyes. Blinking a few times, Kane found his vision clearing, revealing the worried but composed face of his oracle.
"Better?" Misha asked, wiping away the last of the grime.
"Much," Kane nodded, rolling his injured shoulder to test the joint.
"Thanks for acting as my radar back there. I would have been fish food without those callouts."
"Next time, try not to use your own arm as bait," Misha suggested, stepping back to inspect the deep bite marks on his bicep.
Nadia stood frozen a few feet away. She looked from the mangled, three-ton monster head resting on the grass to the battered warlord who just dragged it out of the depths.
He got blinded, ambushed by two local legends, and still walked away making jokes with his wife.
The defence potion Kane forced her to drink glowed faintly across her skin. It served as a quiet reminder that he secured her safety before risking his own life.
The previous emperor would have sacrificed a hundred peasants before getting his own boots wet, yet this barbarian jumped into the fray without a second thought.
Her knees hit the ground.
"I was wrong," Nadia whispered, bowing her head completely.
"About what?" Kane asked, grabbing a bandage from his pouch to wrap his bleeding arm.
"Everything," she admitted, looking up with absolute reverence. "You are not just a conqueror. You actually bleed for the people you claim."
"I’ll accept flattery as much as you want."
"The southern district is yours, Kane," Nadia pledged, her voice ringing with newfound loyalty. "We will farm, we will build, and we will follow your orders without question."
’Loyalty secured,’ Kane noted, offering the rebel a quick nod. ’Sometimes you just have to show them you are the bigger monster in the swamp to get their respect.’
A familiar blue interface flared across his vision, floating right above the dead creature’s snout.
[Mutated River Behemoths Slain.]
[Substantial EXP gained.]
[Level Up! Current Level: 142]
[Stat points available for distribution.]
