Dravin gasped, seeing Freya thrashing in the lake. Her arms flailed, grasping for an anchor, but her wrist seemed snagged by the very net she had created.
The net had successfully caught one of the hippo demon's horns, but the demon's furious struggle had yanked Freya straight into the water.
Dravin sprinted to the water's edge.
It was very clear that Freya couldn't swim. And her power was dramatically weakened in the water.
Dravin's heart nearly stopped as Freya ceased struggling and began to slowly sink out of sight. He had to save her.
Just as Dravin lunged toward the lake without a second thought, he halted.
Not from fear, but because a pair of fiercely glaring eyes made him freeze.
Dravin slowly turned his head. His gaze locked with the red, blazing, angry eyes of the Hippotimere.
No… Why are you looking at me? Look away… Please tell me you're not looking at me, Dravin tried to comfort himself.
The chef dared not move an inch. His eyes flickered to where Freya had disappeared, she was gone. He couldn't wait any longer.
Dravin shifted slightly.
The hippo took a deliberate step forward.
It was a stalemate: if Dravin didn't move, the hippo demon stayed put, occasionally opening its mouth to let out an ear-splitting roar.
"Rubby, this bubble gum, can it let me walk on water?"
[Whoa… you're a smart Chef. Of course! Like any bubble, it can float on water.]
Dravin clenched and unclenched his damp, trembling fists, fumbling in his pocket for the bubble gum. He began chewing it immediately.
His plan was to use the bubble to run to where Freya sank and pull her up by the net. Hopefully, her wrist was still snagged.
The one-minute countdown timer appeared on the translucent screen before him. He chewed rapidly, keeping his attention fixed on the hippo's movements.
But this time, the hippo started walking toward Dravin—slowly, but with grim certainty.
His breath hitched. The clock showed 35 seconds. He chewed on, having no other choice.
With 20 seconds left, damn it, the hippo was approaching faster.
He still had 10 seconds, but if Dravin didn't run now, the hippo could easily gobble him up with that terrifying, elastic tongue.
He ran.
He sprinted with all his might along the shore of the lake. The hippo followed, its tongue darting out as if trying to lasso Dravin's body.
He ran until he couldn't feel his legs, and his head felt like it would explode.
The timer vanished. Dravin instantly began blowing the bubble gum.
It worked exactly as the instructions promised, the bubble engulfed him and swelled.
Once Dravin was certain the bubble surrounded him completely, he bravely set foot on the water's surface.
Dravin then ran sideways toward the visible end of Freya's net.
But the hippo followed his movements, pulling the net in the opposite direction.
Every time Dravin chased the net's end, the hippo made it impossible to reach.
Dravin stopped dead in the center of the lake, now facing the hippo.
He was panting hard.
Shit. I have only 6 minutes before this bubble bursts. How can I reach the net if this keeps happening? Is Freya even alive? She's been underwater for over two minutes.
[Don't worry, Chef. She might be unconscious, but her weakness is mostly a psychic state. She can't die as long as her magical capsule keeps her in a dormant state. It's like a blue translucent capsule that engulfed her, just like that. It could last for 444 hours.]
Ah… so she's immortal and could literally mummify herself for days.Should I worry about her or not then?
But if I leave her here, would anyone come to save her?
[No, Chef! She is all alone. Unless another Hunter happens to look for her, but I doubt someone would. Her personality is not likable at all.]
So, I'm her only hope.
If Dravin remained still, the hippo would advance slowly.
Every time he tried to maneuver toward the net, the chasing hippo simply pulled the net farther away.
The net was now off to its left. And this bubble could defend him from the hippo. So…
Dravin clenched his jaw.
He ran straight forward.
Faster.
Just as he predicted, the hippo was momentarily confused by his movement directly toward it.
It hesitated to charge, simply standing still as its red eyes glowed intensely.
The demon clearly hadn't expected its target to run toward it instead of away.
And if his next prediction was right—
Dravin dropped his body low, aiming to slide between the hippo's massive legs and under its left side.
It was true.
The moment his bubble brushed the hippo's body, the demon was knocked completely off balance, tumbling hard to the right.
Instantly, the net anchoring Freya was jerked upward.
Freya, encased in her transparent blue capsule, surfaced, and Dravin swiftly leaped to catch her.
He caught her.
Freya was safe inside his bubble, and her blue capsule slowly faded.
His right hand slid to her waist to support her weight. She was unconscious.
But the problem still raged.
Freya's net was still tangled on one of the hippo's horns.
The demon, roaring and struggling to right itself, pulled Dravin along because the other end of the net was caught on Freya's wrist.
This was dangerous. If his bubble grazed the hippo again, the impact would knock the monster back, violently tossing them.
Worse, Freya's wrist was already red, it would be torn clean off if this continued.
Dravin tried to free Freya's wrist from the net with his one free hand.
The hippo's pull kept yanking them closer, and Dravin's exhausted efforts to pull the net only felt futile.
He couldn't yank the thousands of tons of hippo, so his only option was to untangle the net.
But every time he loosened a loop, the hippo's pull instantly tightened it again.
Midway through his gasping struggle, with the bubble set to burst in only two minutes,
Dravin sighed in despair.
"Rubby, what should we do? Her wrist will be torn off if this keeps up!" he yelled in a panic, seeing specks of blood appear on the red ring around Freya's wrist.
Dravin kept pulling the net with his free hand, his other arm locked around Freya.
His hands and entire body shuddered as he tried to pull the demon's weight.
"You can't pull it that way." Freya's faint whisper made Dravin look down. Her eyes were fluttering weakly.
"Fre—Freya… are you awake?"
"Lend me your aura. I'm too weak."
"H—how?"
"Like this."
And with that, their lips touched.