Chapter 95: Childish Bet
The first wild beast rushing toward them looked like a rhinoceros.
But the one standing before Maeve was three times larger than any rhino she had ever seen back on Earth. The massive horn on its head was as long as a dance pole, with a razor-sharp tip that looked powerful enough to pierce through almost anything.
"Maybe... we should run," Maeve muttered, staring blankly at the giant beast. For a brief moment, she felt like giving up. At this rate, they were going to become the wild beasts’ first meal after the migration.
"What do you mean?" Cerus stepped forward with a wide grin. "We can’t run backward. They’ll just chase us. Besides..." His smile grew even wider. "This is fun!"
What fun?!
Maeve almost screamed because Cerus clearly had no intention of running away.
Axan calmly spoke up, "We just need to get past them. We’ll be fine."
"Yes, but how?!" Maeve pointed at the charging beasts. "By running straight toward them?!"
"Exactly!" Cerus answered without a hint of hesitation.
Before Maeve could stop him, he had already rushed forward. He grabbed the rhino’s massive horn with both hands.
"You have no idea how much I’ve missed seeing beasts other than that damn Cindermaw!" Cerus shouted, laughing.
Maeve’s eyes widened when she she saw, Cerus lifted the giant rhino by its horn and swung it to the side. The enormous beast crashed into the others with tremendous force, sending several of them flying through the air together.
Maeve stared at the unbelievable scene with her mouth hanging open.
’Why do I even worry about these people?’ She thought.
The giant rhino rolled across the ground before crashing into several other beasts, throwing their entire charge into chaos.
A moment later, Cerus laughed and dashed toward the next one without slowing down.
Maeve let out a helpless sigh before a thought suddenly crossed her mind. ’Actually... this might be a good chance for them to strengthen their brotherhood!’
Cerus was charging straight into the middle of the herd without thinking twice, while Axan preferred to stay calm and watch the battlefield before making his move.
Their fighting styles were completely different, but if they could learn to work together, they would become even stronger than they already were.
"Axan!" Maeve called. "Don’t just stand there! Help him!"
Axan let out a soft sigh. "I was planning to."
With that, he stepped forward and raised his hand. A translucent barrier appeared in front of Cerus just as another massive beast lunged at him.
The beast slammed into the barrier with a loud crash, stopping it in its tracks.
At the same time, Cerus used the opening to leap forward and strike it with a powerful punch, sending it flying into the herd.
Maeve’s eyes lit up. "See? That’s exactly what I mean!" she said with a smile. "You two make a pretty good team."
"Mostly because of me," Axan said calmly. "He’d probably be dead by now if I weren’t here."
"I heard that!" Cerus shouted from a distance. "Take it back! I can fight these beasts just fine without your help! If anything, you’re the one who wouldn’t survive without me!"
A deep frown appeared on Axan’s forehead. "We’ll see."
"What?!" Cerus yelled. "You want to bet on who can reach the mating cave first? Fine! The loser isn’t allowed to touch our mate at all!"
Why did she suddenly become the prize for their bet?! She hadn’t even agreed to any of this!
At first, Maeve thought Axan wasn’t the type of person to entertain such a childish bet.
But to her surprise, he actually replied, "Then come back here, you moron. It won’t be fair if you’re already that far ahead."
Maeve slowly turned to look at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. He accepted it?!
Cerus let out a loud laugh before turning around and sprinting back toward them. "Now that’s more like it!" he shouted. "Don’t cry when you lose!"
"I should be the one saying that," Axan replied without changing his calm expression.
Maeve rubbed her forehead. "What are you two even doing?" she groaned. "There are giant beasts trying to eat us right now!"
Neither of them listened. Instead, they stood side by side at an invisible starting line, completely ignoring the chaos around them.
"But doesn’t one of you have to carry me?!" Maeve called out, trying to get their attention by pointing out the obvious. "Hey! I can’t get through all those beasts by myself!"
"And wouldn’t the one carrying me be slower than the other?" she added.
She truly hoped those questions would knock some sense into them. Maybe they would finally realize that working together was much smarter than competing with each other.
Unfortunately, Maeve had been far too optimistic, because what they said next completely blew her mind.
"What if we take turns carrying Maeve every ten minutes?" Cerus suggested.
"Deal," Axan answered without the slightest hesitation.
Maeve blinked. "That’s not the part you were supposed to agree on!"
Before Maeve could protest, Cerus scooped her up with one arm. "Hold on!" he shouted.
"W-Wait!"
He shot forward like an arrow. The sudden burst of speed nearly made Maeve’s heart jump out of her chest. The wind whipped against her face so hard that she could barely keep her eyes open.
"Oh no..."
A giant wolf-like beast lunged at them from the side. Without slowing down, Cerus twisted his body and slammed his free fist into its head.
Boom!
The beast was sent flying into a group of creatures behind it, clearing part of the path.
"Left," Axan said calmly.
Cerus immediately changed direction. A second later, a translucent barrier appeared in front of them.
Several horned beasts crashed into it at full speed, buying Cerus enough time to dash past them.
"We’re making good time!" Cerus laughed.
Maeve, however, wasn’t laughing at all. "I think I’m going to throw up!"
"Ten minutes." Axan’s voice was as calm as ever when he spoke.
Cerus clicked his tongue but still kept his promise. Without stopping, he tossed Maeve toward Axan.
"W-What?!" Maeve let out a startled yelp as she flew through the air.
Axan caught her smoothly against his chest, as if this had been planned from the beginning.
Before Maeve could even catch her breath, Axan had already started running.
"Can you two stop throwing me around?!" she cried.
"It’s faster this way," Axan said calmly.
Before Maeve could answer, another beast charged straight at them.
Axan didn’t slow down. He raised one hand, and a barrier appeared beneath the beast’s feet.
The sudden wall threw the creature off balance. Before it could recover, Cerus leaped over Axan’s shoulder and smashed it with a powerful kick.
The beast tumbled across the ground with a roar. "Next one is mine!" Cerus laughed.
Maeve tightened her grip on Axan’s clothes as they kept running.
She had wanted them to improve their teamwork, but she had not expected that teamwork to include passing her back and forth like luggage while fighting giant beasts at full speed.
After being passed back and forth more times than she could count, they finally made it through the herd of wild beasts. Since the beasts had no reason to return to the place they had migrated from, Maeve no longer had to worry about them chasing her.
To her surprise, though, the race didn’t end there.
The two of them kept running at full speed. Fortunately, they stopped throwing her through the air, but every ten minutes, the one carrying her would gently set her down, and the other would immediately pick her up before taking off again.
It was still exhausting.
By the time they reached the mating cave, they had arrived much faster than she and Ikarus had the last time.
"I got here first!" Cerus shouted as he slapped his hand against the cave wall with a proud grin.
"What? I got here first," Axan argued. "My hand touched the cave first."
"Are you blind?! I touched it first!"
Axan let out a scoff. "Maybe you’re the blind one."
"ENOUGH!"
Maeve’s voice echoed through the dry forest so loudly that a flock of birds burst out of the nearby trees and flew into the sky.
The two men instantly fell silent. They turned to look at her at the same time.
Maeve took a deep breath, her eye twitching. "I’ve had enough of this ridiculous competition!"
The moment the words left her mouth, Maeve’s face suddenly turned pale. She quickly covered her mouth. "Ugh."
Before either of them could react, she hurried a few steps away and threw up.
Cerus and Axan froze. The smug expressions on their faces disappeared in an instant.
"Maeve!" Cerus rushed toward her.
Axan was only a step behind him. "Are you alright?"
Maeve stayed bent over for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Her stomach still felt like it was spinning after being carried, tossed around, and running at full speed for so long.
Cerus knelt beside her with a worried look. "I’m sorry. I didn’t think you were feeling this sick."
"Do you need water," Axan said, already turning to leave.
"Go away!" Maeve suddenly shouted and slapped their hands. "I don’t want to talk to either of you."
"Not until you stop fighting over every little thing!" she continued, glaring at them. "You two act like children!"