Chapter 16: Finishing Off
Stelle didn't have any problems with Max's decision so she dodged a tail coming at her and backed away. Standing some distance away, she looked at the battle with interest swirling in her eyes.
On the other hand, Max felt overwhelmed getting attacked from every side. Deadly paws that could flatten his head, tails that could snap his bones, fangs that could rip apart his throat—everything was coming at him from every direction.
However, instead of feeling despair, he felt a sense of excitement building within. He resisted the urge to grin and fought back... which was just dodging around.
His dull blade wasn't sharp enough to pierce their thick fur, but it was fun. He was fighting them to increase his reaction speed, which was improving at a visible rate.
His thoughts halted when he noticed the rat backing away. Then, it ran towards him on all of its four limbs and its horn pointed towards Max.
There was no way to dodge, too, because other One-Horned Rats were surrounding and attacking him from other sides. He ducked under one of its paws and quickly thought of a plan.
'I need to be fast,' Max thought, his heart pounding against his chest, adrenaline rushing through his veins. 'Wait...Wait... Just a little more!'
Just as the One-Horned Rat was about to slam its horn on his torso, Max spun on his toe, barely dodging the horn attack and a following tail-whip attack that would have surely taken away his skin.
The rat collided with one of its own, piercing its thick fur and drawing blood from it. The bleeding rat screamed in pain and slammed its paws on the other One-Horned Rat.