They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World-Chapter 197: Resonance [1]
Scarlet didn’t give him a second to breathe.
With a guttural, chest-deep growl, she slashed her free hand in a vicious arc aimed directly at Shax’s throat.
Shax grunted, violently wrenching his sword free from her grip and throwing himself backward.
Her claws caught the empty air.
Shax skidded to a halt, lowering his stance. The shock on his face melted away, replaced by a dark, greedy smirk as his eyes raked over her glowing green slit-pupils and feral features.
"A demi-human," Shax chuckled.
"Today sure is my lucky day. A pristine exotic like you will fetch an absolute fortune on the black market."
Scarlet’s response was a deafening, inhuman roar.
She launched herself off the cavern wall, a blur of scarlet hair. Shax brought his sword up, the wind mana roaring to life around the steel.
CLANG! CLANG!
Sparks showered the dim cave as claw met steel.
Scarlet fought like a wild beast, using her agility to weave through his strikes.
She was fast.
But Shax was experienced, his movements economical, waiting for openings.
She dodged a horizontal cleave by dropping to all fours, springing upward to rake her claws against his guard. But he countered.
They separated, circling, both breathing slightly hard.
While the cavern echoed with the sound of their collision, a pair of soft, trembling hands grabbed my shoulders.
"Jin! Jin, look at me, please!"
Tessa slid into the dirt beside me, her face pale and streaked with tears.
My vision was swimming.
"Hold on," Tessa sobbed, her hands shaking wildly as she swiped over her storage ring. The magical distortion rippled, and a heavy glass vial filled with a thick, glowing crimson liquid materialized in her grip.
She popped the cork with her thumb and pressed it to my lips.
"Drink. All of it. Please." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
I didn’t argue. I weakly tilted my head back and chugged the healing potion. It tasted like ash and copper, but the moment it hit my stomach, a searing, stitching heat exploded outward.
[System Alert: High-Grade Restorative Detected. Cellular regeneration initiated.]
I gasped, my back arching off the stone floor as the potion fought a brutal war against the lingering magic in my wound.
Tessa didn’t stop there. She summoned a second vial, this one glowing a brilliant, sapphire blue, and practically forced it down my throat.
A mana potion.
The icy numbness in my limbs began to recede. I dragged in a ragged breath, forcing my eyes back to the fight.
It was turning into a bloodbath.
Scarlet ducked under a lethal thrust, but Shax twisted his wrist, sending a condensed blade of wind grazing across her shoulder.
Scarlet hissed as blood sprayed from the deep cut, but she didn’t retreat. She used the momentum of his missed thrust to step inside his guard, her claws sinking deeply into the leather of his chest piece and drawing four ragged lines of blood across his ribs.
Shax staggered back, his face twisting into an ugly sneer of pain and pure annoyance. He touched the torn armor, staring at his own blood.
They were both bleeding now. Both breathing hard. Both showing signs of fatigue.
"Enough of this bullshit!" Shax snarled, stepping back and raising his voice toward the cavern entrance.
"Get in here! All of you! Take the bitch down!"
The four remaining assassins didn’t hesitate. They flooded into the cavern, their weapons drawn, levels flashing in my peripheral vision.
[Lv. 26] [Lv. 23] [Lv. 25] [Lv. 22]
Scarlet spun around, baring her teeth at the new threats.
Scarlet’s tail bristled, her stance shifting to something more defensive, she’d positioned herself directly between them and where I lay with Tessa.
Five against one.
All of them were trained killers.
And she was already wounded and tired from fighting Shax.
"Scarlet, run—" I tried to shout, but it came out as a weak rasp.
She glanced back at me for just a moment, her green eyes meeting mine.
Shook her head.
"I’m not leaving you both."
Then she turned back to face the five assassins closing in, her claws extended, her body coiled.
Ready to fight.
Ready to die if that’s what it took.
No.
I can’t let this happen.
I tried to stand, using Oathstorm as support.
My legs gave out immediately, the wound in my stomach screaming in protest.
Tessa caught me before I hit the ground.
"Jin, no! You can’t... you’re too injured—"
"Argh!"
The healing potion had stopped me from dying in the next few minutes, but I was still critically wounded.
The four new assassins spread out, encircling Scarlet with practiced coordination.
Shax stood back, sword ready, watching for any opening.
"Last chance, fox," he said. "Surrender. Come quietly. I’ll even let the boy and his girlfriend die peacefully if you cooperate."
Scarlet’s answer was a growl that made the cave walls seem to vibrate.
"I’ll take that as a no."
He nodded to his men.
They attacked as one.
Scarlet met them with everything she had, claws flashing.
She caught the first assassin across the throat, his scream cut short as he collapsed gurgling.
Spun and raked her claws across the second one’s chest, opening deep wounds that sprayed blood.
But the other two got through her defense.
One blade caught her across the back, a shallow cut, but painful.
Another struck her leg, making her stumble.
Shax moved in while she was off-balance, his wind-enhanced strike aimed at her legs, not to kill, but to cripple.
She twisted desperately, took the hit on her side instead of her knees.
Blood sprayed.
She staggered but stayed standing.
She can’t win this.
I watched helplessly as they closed in, as Scarlet’s defenses crumbled under the coordinated assault.
And knew that in seconds, she’d fall.
And then we’d all die.
Unless I could do something.
Anything.
Please.
Anything at all.
My hand tightened on Oathstorm.
The sword pulsed once.
Like it was responding.
Like it was waiting.
And deep in my chest, where the Ring of the Warden sat bound to my soul, I felt something stir.
Something I hadn’t noticed before.
A connection. A resonance. Between the ring, the sword.
