Aequus was kicked a long way back, feeling as though every bone in his body had come loose.
At the last moment, he had pulled Christa into his arms, and she went flying with him.
They rolled several times across the ground before finally stopping.
"Hiss... that really hurt."
Aequus sucked in a sharp breath and climbed to his feet.
Anyone else would probably have been in too much pain to move.
But was Aequus just anyone? He had endured Randall's Special Training.
A mere "scratch" was hardly worth mentioning!
"Aequus, can you still fight?"
Christa gritted her teeth and stood up.
"I can. Stay behind me!"
Aequus knocked his fists together.
But his moment of bravado lasted less than a second before he started coughing.
Just then, the monster that had been searching everywhere for Christa turned its head, fixing its scarlet eyes on her.
"Is that monster immortal or something?"
Looking at the gaping hole in the monster's chest, Aequus sucked air through his teeth.
"We probably have to blast his whole body apart," Christa said grimly. "He doesn't seem able to regenerate."
Aequus gave a bitter smile at her words.
Blast him apart? His fists could probably barely break through the monster's defenses.
Besides, he was seriously injured. He would be lucky to manage seventy percent of his full strength.
Even the slightest movement sent searing pain through his upper body.
Thud—thud—
The monster approached.
The surrounding pirates hurried out of his way, staring at him in terror.
Aequus clenched his fists, enduring the pain.
He knew he could neither step aside nor retreat. In Christa's current condition, one more hit from that monster would certainly kill her.
The ten-meter-tall monster seemed to be trampling on his heart.
He loomed impossibly high, like a mountain whose summit