Chapter 658: Warm and Gentle, But Terrifying

Benjamin was simply there, where a moment ago he had not been, and the air around him hummed with a power that made her teeth ache.

Benjamin’s fist looked as though it was aimed straight at Sekhmet’s chest, which was the reason she kept her arms locked in place to block exactly there.

She braced herself for the impact, tightened every muscle in her torso, and then planted her feet as best she could.

However it was his leg that connected hard against her ribs instead—a low, sweeping kick that came from nowhere and everywhere at once—and the force of that single kick forced a thick mouthful of blood to come spilling out from between her lips.

The impact sent her body flying a far distance through the air exactly like a ball that had been blown outward by the force of a bomb.

The world became a blur of sky and ground. Her arms fell away from her chest. Her mouth filled with the taste of copper and iron.

While she was still in the air she tried as hard as she could to reconcile the immense pain that was spreading through her entire torso—her ribs had cracked, she could feel them shifting with every breath, could feel the sharp edges grinding against each other—and at the same time she kept searching for any place where she might land without breaking more of herself.

A rooftop or a pile of debris. But Benjamin was already in the air as well, and before she could adjust her position he slammed into her with the back of his hand in a heavy open strike that drove her body downward even faster than before.

The strike caught her across the shoulder and the side of her head. Her vision went white, her ears rang, and the ground rushed up to meet her.

The moment she finally hit the ground she forced herself back onto her feet through pure will—her legs shook, her ribs screamed, her vision swam—and immediately began seeking a way to run back toward the rest of her friends who were still waiting.

Of all the Apex Girls who were present on that day, Sekhmet was the one who felt the most terrified and the most deeply concerned about the situation they were in.

What she hated more than anything else in that moment was the thought of being left alone with Benjamin, because she at least wanted to be able to see her friends one last time when the end finally came for her.

She wanted to see their faces. She wanted to hear their voices. She wanted to not be by herself in the dark.

She began running again with a speed she had not managed to muster in a long while.

Her broken ribs ground together with every step. Blood ran down her chin and dripped onto the cobblestones.

Her vision had begun to narrow at the edges, the world growing darker and smaller with every passing second.

And even though it was not even a full second before her feet touched the ground, she still managed to cover a great amount of distance, her heart pounding so loudly that she could hear every single beat inside her own ears.

The sound filled her head. It was the only thing she could hear besides her own breathing.

A terrified need to know whether Benjamin was still chasing behind her made her turn her head back over her shoulder to check.

The street behind her was empty, and there was no one there.

Nothing but dust and broken stone. When she saw that no one was standing there she turned her face forward again, and gasped: in that moment she found Benjamin already standing directly in the path ahead of her.

He was not running. He was simply standing there with a look of curiosity on his face, as though he had been waiting for her to catch up.

Trying to force her body into a sudden brake from the high speed she was still moving at did not stop her in time.

Her feet slid on the loose stones. Her broken ribs sent a spike of agony through her chest.

But when she frantically tried to change direction and escape to the side, Benjamin swung his leg in a low, precise arc that connected with hers and completely destabilized her balance.

He did not intend to break the bone—the kick was too controlled for that—but the contact still snapped it, and Sekhmet was thrown into a violent uncontrolled crash that only ended when her entire body slammed hard into the solid corner of a nearby wall.

The wall did not move. Sekhmet did. She bounced off it and landed in a heap on the ground, her body twisted at an angle that felt wrong.

Pain lit up every part of her body at once and her leg was clearly broken beneath her.

She could see the bone pressing against the skin, and she could see the blood running down her shin.

When she finally managed to raise her head in an effort to get her bearings again she found an attractive face standing only a few breaths away from her own.

Benjamin had crouched down beside her. His elbows rested on his knees. His chin rested on his palms. He was looking at her the way a child looks at an ant before deciding whether to step on it or hose it down.

The sudden closeness frightened her so completely that she raised both of her hands at once to protect her head, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her whole body trembling without pause.

Her ears pressed flat against the sides of her head in pure instinctive fear.

"Oh? Cooperating, are we?" Benjamin muttered while he raised one of his hands toward her. His voice was soft. "Thanks. That saves me a lot of time."

[I’m... going to die here...?] was the only question Sekhmet could ask herself in that moment as she felt a slender hand settle against her chest.

The hand was warm and gentle. But the hand was the most terrifying thing she had ever felt.

***

The world went pure white.

[So this is the new version? And why did you choose that form, Sys?]

Benjamin asked while he stood in an area that was completely covered in white light. There was no ground. There was no sky.

There was only light, stretching in every direction, soft and endless, without temperature.

{Affirmative. As previously explained, sexual relation is no longer necessary in linking Master’s soul to bonded individuals. Though Master cannot seize complete dominion over the beastkin with this alone, I can form a bond from this. Should I proceed?}

[As long as you don’t cause trouble for me, sure. There’s nothing she has that I don’t have anyway. I just want to watch her life a bit, since I was getting bored of bullying them. But I still find your form mocking, though.]